What Is the Effect of Deforestation in the Amazon on the Environment and Our Future?

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Research Project

What is the effect of deforestation in the Amazon on the environment and our future?

Eva Cremers, 14024101

The Hague University of Applied Sciences

European Studies, 4-year programme

2014/2015

Executive summary

During the execution of this research project, desk research has been done on the reason why the Amazon rainforest is important for our existence, what consequences will develop from the deforestation of the ancient forests in the Amazon and how the future Amazon will look like if deforestation continues, in order to answer the central question „what is the effect of deforestation in the Amazon on the environment and our future?”.

It has been found that in the Amazon live a vast number of various species of   animals and plants, which makes it very important for the biodiversity on our planet. Subsequently, biodiversity is very important for human existence, because it sustains much of modern agriculture and provides food security and sustainability in food supply for current and future generations. Furthermore, it became clear that the trees in the Amazon forest compensate (much of) the large emissions of carbon dioxide, which are caused by both human and natural sources and cause further pollution and global warming, in the atmosphere by absorbing it from the air and turning it into oxygen (photosynthesis), which is a very important component of the air we breathe. Moreover, 70% of the plants that have been identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute as useful in the treatment of cancer (and other diseases) grow in the Amazon rainforest. It is also important to mention that, according to WWF, the plants in the tropical forests and woodlands exchange large amounts of water with the atmosphere and that the rivers exchange large amounts of energy with the oceans, this makes the Amazon rainforest important for the global water cycling and for rainfall. Even though local communities do benefit from the deforestation of the Amazon at first, they will not profit from it on the long term because resources on the land degrade, making it impossible for the local population to survive on them.

Finally, resources claim that the Amazon will turn into an „impoverished kind of savannah” and substantial changes in seasonality, along with more severe droughts, will occur if climate change goes on .

From this, it can be concluded that if drastic measures are not taken immediately, soon enough more of the Amazon forest will be lost and the quality of life on Earth will deteriorate.

Table of Contents

• Introduction                                                                                                         4

• Methods                                                                                                              5

• Results                                                                                                                6

• Discussion                                                                                                        12

• Conclusion                                                                                                        14

• Annotated Bibliography                                                                                    15

1. Introduction

By now, we all know the degradation of our environment is becoming probably one of the biggest problems of this century.

According to WWF, the World’s leading conservation organization, the Amazon rainforest, which is contained in 9 different South-American countries (Brazil, Peru,    Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana)^[1], but mostly within Brazil, is disappearing very quickly.^[2] The people who are being held responsible for the deforestation of the Amazon can be farmers or large companies and do this for financial reasons.^[3]

Conservation organizations worry about the future of the Amazon rainforest, especially because they noticed that, despite the gradual decrease in deforestation between 2005 and 2012 because of better maintenance and protective laws, deforestation has increased since 2013 (by 29% compared to 2012). ^[4]This is probably  because of the loosening of the laws that protect the Amazon and the environment.

As the decrease of the environment is becoming more evident, the deforestation of the Amazon is becoming an increasingly discussed topic, although there are still some things that remain unclear, especially when on one hand there are people claiming the conditions of the Amazon are getting worse and on the other hand  there are people claiming there is nothing to worry about. The purpose of this report is to answer the question: what is the effect of deforestation in the Amazon on the  environment and our future?

In order to answer this question, research has been done on the reason why the Amazon rainforest is important for our existence, what consequences will develop from the deforestation of the ancient forests in the Amazon and how the future Amazon will look like if deforestation continues.

2. Methods

In order to answer the research questions for this project, desk research has been done. I started off by looking for information sources regarding the Amazon rainforest and I found an article (David Medvigy, Simulated Changes in Northwest U.S. Climate in Response to Amazon Deforestation”) on the database Academic Search Premier, which described the consequences for the environment from deforestation in the Amazon. Furthermore I found several, reliable websites on Google of organizations like WWF (or WNF), Rainforest Concern, Nature Conservancy and the Center for International Forest Research. In addition to that, I also found a series of trustworthy news articles, with many statistical and scientific information, about the Amazon from The Guardian and BBC News. Google Scholar provided me of other useful sources like T.C.H. Sunderland, „International Forestry Review” and Philip M. Fearnside, „Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences”. Finally, mongabay.com has also been an important source of information that made me able to make comparisons and to consult statistics about the causes of deforestation, for example.