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How viruses shape our world. The era of greyhound racing in the U. See how people have imagined life on Mars through history. See More. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide.
If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U. The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope. A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover. Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws.
In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections. For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.
All rights reserved. Climate Deforestation Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet's land mass, but humans are cutting them down, clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale. What is deforestation? Find out the causes, effects, and solutions. See all of National Geographic's videos on deforestation here.
Share Tweet Email. Cats, dogs, pigs, cows and goldfish. All the way from Asia, pets all over the country are eating food containing palm kernel meal. Imported products are products grown or made in other countries and then shipped to the UK, the opposite of this is exports - products made in the UK and sent to other countries. One victim of palm oil plantations is the orangutan. Sadly, experts believe deforestation for palm oil is the single greatest threat to orangutans in the wild.
According to the IUCN, over the last ten years their numbers have halved and up to are killed every year, despite their status as protected species. See our orangutan factsheet below for more information. In Britain we destroyed our ancient forests thousands of years ago and used the land for farming.
But we now know more about the important role that forests, especially rainforests play. The soya companies are often owned by foreigners, who are there to make money, so it does nothing to benefit the local people and their economic situation. Beneath rainforests there often lies a wealth of natural resources in the form of mineral and gold deposits. Often people involved in small scale gold mining use mercury to extract the gold.
Mercury is banned in Indonesia but is readily available for purchase by individuals. As well as damaging people's health, the mercury used goes on to pollute river systems and is the second-worse source of mercury pollution in the world, after the burning of fossil fuels.
Large areas of forest in Indonesia are protected by law against any prospecting or open cast mining, although new rules do allow underground mining in protected areas. Once roads are built to reach the mines, it becomes easier for illegal logging and poaching to take place. Brazil has the world's largest iron ore mine and has rich reserves of other metals such as zinc, nickel, tin and aluminium.
It is possible that some of its forests may be opened up for mineral exploration. The Amazon river is the second longest in the world and with its many tributaries it is a source of energy which could be harnessed. Brazil suffered an energy crisis in and is keen to develop this source of power.
Unfortunately, the building of hydro-electric dams often results in major flooding which harms wildlife and can change the eco-system of the river downstream. Wood rotting underwater also releases carbon dioxide and methane greenhouse gases.
The Xingu river is the site of the world's third largest hydro-electric dam, the Belo Monte project where square miles square km will be flooded. Many indigenous people such as the Kayapo Indians are concerned about the potential loss of land.
The construction was completed in The Amazon and its neighbors — the Orinoco and the Andean rainforest — account for Southeast Asian islands, mostly belonging to Indonesia, collectively rank second in terms of forest destruction since , with much of those forests cleared for palm oil plantations.
Central Africa ranks third, with most of the destruction centered around the Congo River basin, due to traditional and commercial farming as well as logging.
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