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A major problem in the Amazon Rainforest is deforestation which largely results from trees being cut down by humans and forest fires. In the rain forest, humans cut down a large amount of trees but recently a forest fire has added to this problem causing enormous destruction. The Amazon has been badly disrupted by these changes and is even said to be the front line of deforestation in the whole world.

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Because Cattle Ranching has grown in popularity in the recent years, this attributes to the reasoning behind deforestation. The trees are cut down in order for the ranchers to have enough room and land to work efficiently. Humans cutting down trees in the Amazon is a major problem and needs to be limited.

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Fires in the Amazon have been occurring for a long period of time but recently the forest fires have been so intense, causing huge areas of the rain forest to be destroyed. From 2017-2019, large, intense fires destroyed a lot of the rain forest, leaving over 20% of the forest totally destroyed in recent years. The fires still continue in 2020 but are beginning to come under control.

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The animals that call the Amazon home are greatly in danger. The cutting down of trees has been a been contributor to the loss of wildlife homes. There are so many different species that have habitats in the trees and are being destroyed when cut down. Some species aren't able to adapt to these changes and are in danger of extinction. Because of the sporadic fires that have been occurring, not only are they in danger to lose their home but also their life.

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Since the temperature continues rise in the Amazon, much of the biodiversity and wildlife has been greatly impacted. The changing temperature has altered the rain patterns in the forest which has led to some extra flooding (as seen in the image below) or sometimes even drought. This has led to plants dying that live on the floor because now they are being flooded along with receiving too much sunlight.

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Many bird species in the rain forest rely on flowers and plants for nectar or simply as food. The hummingbird and some species of brightly colored flowers have a mutual feeding relationship. The hummingbird pollinates the flower while in return it receives nectar as a food source. Since some of these flowers are dying due to the changes of the rain forest, the hummingbirds also become at risk. Mutual feeding relationships in the Amazon are the most at risk of these changes because if one species is impacted then so is the other.

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The trees of the rain forest provide most of the blockage of sun and protection for the floor organisms. Since many of these trees are being cut down, the to layer of the rain forest isn't as thick and can't block out as much sun. This change has led to rising temperatures in the overall area inside the forest, while climate change has also contributed to the temperature problem.

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Some solutions to the problem of deforestation have arisen. Many say to reduce the number of trees cut down to a smaller percentage. If this can't be done then it is suggested that we start planting more trees. On estimate, about 15 billion trees are cut down a year compared to the 5 billion that are planted. This is a net loss of trees and soon we will run out if this continues. A group called YULA has been dedicated to planting trees in the Amazon which is a very beneficial solution. These solutions could save the ecosystem of the rain forest along with the biodiversity there.

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Some of the proposed solutions to reduce the deforestation in the Amazon like planting more trees or cutting down less are great but there is no guarantee that they can solve the problem. Even if the government mandates that the percentage of cut down trees is reduced, people can still illegally cut down trees and get away with it. Another problem with the solution of planting more trees is that some tree species in the rain forest take a very long time to grow and become stable in the environment. This may require supervision of the newly planted trees which can be expensive. Another risk with this solution is that there may not be enough time to wait for these trees to grow and become developed enough before the it's too late.

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-The Amazon is the largest rain forest in the whole world
-About 1/10 of the worlds wildlife lives in the Amazon
-The Amazon produces more than 20% of the worlds oxygen
-The Amazon River ,which part of it is contained in the rain forest, is the second longest river in the world

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Climate 101: Deforestation | National Geographic

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In this project I used some scientific terms that are defined here:
Deforestation- The action of clearing an area of trees; destroying an area and wildlife by cutting down trees in the area
Cattle Ranching- a large, clear land area that is full of cattle; in the Amazon, large land areas are cleared for this activity
Ecosystem- a biological community of organisms interacting with each other and the environment
Habitat- the home of an animal or species; many animals are losing their habitat in the Amazon
Biodiversity- The variety or diversity of plants, humans, and animal species (life in general) in an environment
Mutualism- the dependence between two organisms for well being

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(Deforestation)

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The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest and the largest river basin on the planet. More species are found here than anywhere else.

The region is believed to be home to 10% - 1 in 10 - known species on Earth. Of plant species found in this region, 75% are unique to the Amazon, and there are 3,000 species of fish, the largest number of freshwater fish species in the world.

Today, the Amazon is facing a multitude of threats as a result of unsustainable economic development; 20% of the Amazon biome has already been lost and the trend will worsen if gone unchecked.

Amazon is the biggest deforestation front in the world and interventions are urgently needed to prevent a large-scale, irreversible ecological disaster.

WWF estimates that 27 per cent - more than a quarter - of the Amazon biome will be without trees by 2030 if the current rate of deforestation continues.

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The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest and the largest river basin on the planet. More species are found here than anywhere else. The region is believed to be home to 10% - 1 in 10 - known species on Earth.

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Latin America is one of the global regions most vulnerable to climate change, and increased forest fires are just one symptom. Amazonian fires caught international headlines in July and August of 2019, bringing much needed attention to the ongoing onslaught on the environment and peoples of the region. While the fires have somewhat faded from the news cycle, deforestation rates continue to go up, and the very real threat towards Indigenous peoples and the environment continues, particularly in Brazil.The U.S. plays a large role in Amazonian deforestation through the consumption of products that contribute to deforestation in their supply chains. Despite a dire political situation in Brazil, U.S. markets can create a real impact when it comes to curbing current alarming trends.

The Amazon rainforest helps regulate global climate, yet deforestation rates in the nine countries that house the forest are increasing. An expanding agricultural and cattle frontier, together with mining and uncontrolled economic exploitation are some of the primary causes for deforestation. Scientists warn that there needs to be increased monitoring and regulation, as well as resources to combat fires-fires which are exacerbated by climate change and drought. A recent study analyzed the carbon sequestration capacity of the Amazon and found that between 2003 and 2016, the Amazon actually emitted more carbon than it could absorb. However, Indigenous land and protected territories absorbed more carbon than areas without protection. Researchers found that 70 percent of the total carbon emitted from the Amazon between 2003 and 2016 came from areas outside of Indigenous-held land and protected areas. Weakening environmental protections and continual threats on Indigenous lands thus threaten not only the Amazon but the entire world.

The Brazilian Amazon is 1.5 times larger than portions of the jungle found in any other country, making Brazilian policy and protections particularly important globally. Since the election of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in 2018, continued harmful policies and archaic, racist rhetoric have helped increase the rate of Amazonian deforestation ( reaching a new record for being at its worst level in five years this January). According to the National Institute of Space Studies (Inpe), 284.3km2 of forest coverage was lost in January 2020 alone. The Inpe previously released information about an 85 percent jump in deforestation from 2018-2019, a rise that is attributed by ecologists to a so-called "Bolsonaro effect."

Forest fires have recently been so bad that Brazil has authorized national security to help combat them. The Minister of Justice, Sergio Moro, approved a force made up of police officers with military training to help support the environmental agency Ibama in the northern state of Pará through the end of the year. Another move by the Bolsonaro government has been the creation of an Amazon Council and Environmental Police force that will be led by vice president Hamilton Mourao (an avowed mining enthusiast), to oversee "the activities of all the ministries involved in the protection, defense and development, and sustainable development of the Amazon." With these changes, Bolsonaro is amplifying a military presence and emphasis on unhindered development to the region-similar to the goals of the brutal military dictatorship that held power in Brazil from 1964-1985.

Bolsonaro has been busily gutting environmental agencies, and in early February signed a draft law allowing large scale mining, oil and gas extraction, and other destructive activities on Indigenous territories. The draft law, PL191, fulfils one of Bolsonaro's main campaign promises: to bolster the economy through resource extraction. It is currently a crime to mine on Indigenous land in Brazil (lands which make up 13 percent of the country's territory), yet 10,000 illegal miners have invaded Yanomami territory, one of the largest relatively isolated tribes in South America. Invasions such as these, along with murders of Indigenous peoples and environmental activists have greatly increased since Bolsonaro's rise. Bolsonaro is also set to appoint an ex-missionary, Ricardo Lopes Dias, to head the department for isolated and recently contacted tribes. This, along with a seemingly never-ending barrage of racist remarks, has provoked fears of genocide of uncontacted Indigenous groups. Anti-Indigenous policy is now essentially state policy in Brazil.

In response, Indigenous groups have been organizing against Bolsonaro's policies, holding protests in the nation's capital, Brasilia, and speaking publicly about continued attacks on their territory and the murder of Indigenous leaders-actions that threaten not just their own land but the fate of the Amazon itself. In a recent forum held in Washington, D.C. on "Resisting the Right-wing Assault in Brazil," Joenia Wapichana, a Congresswoman from the state of Roraima (in the Amazon region) and the first and only Indigenous woman elected to Brazilian Congress, called for international solidarity and support of Indigenous peoples of the Amazon. The best way to do this, she noted, was through heavily monitoring U.S.-Brazil supply chains and trade networks and calling on companies to not use materials from deforested lands.

The U.S., as a major purchaser of beef and soy from Brazil, can play a large role in protecting the Amazon from further deforestation. For example, a new motion is being adopted by the City of Los Angeles to help eliminate the purchase of products derived from deforestation. Bolsonaro seems to pay attention when it comes to trade, and actions in the U.S. to address the deforestation crisis can hopefully serve to push the political needle in Brazil.

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Latin America is one of the global regions most vulnerable to climate change, and increased forest fires are just one symptom. Amazonian fires caught international headlines in July and August of 2019, bringing much needed attention to the ongoing onslaught on the environment and peoples of the region.

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The destruction of the Amazon, explained