Environmental Pollution Essay Example
Environmental Pollution Essay Example

Environmental Pollution Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 3 (641 words)
  • Published: May 28, 2017
  • Type: Case Study
View Entire Sample
Text preview

The vital significance of tropical rainforests extends beyond their inhabitants, highlighting their essential function.

Many countries with tropical rainforests, which are often poor, face the urgent issue of rainforest depletion. This poses threats to nature, economy, culture, human health and longevity. Therefore, it is crucial to discuss tropical rainforests. Despite this situation, some cultures that depend on the rainforest still exist in West Africa, Borneo and the Amazon where communities only cut down small amounts of trees for building homes and firewood while hunting and gathering food in groups. Nevertheless, these people's lives are rapidly changing.

The destruction of tropical rainforests leads to endangerment of both homes and lives of inhabitants. This destruction is caused by activities like mining, oil and gas exploration, and logging that require roads through indigenous territories. These activities introduce outsiders w

...

ho can bring diseases such as pneumonia, colds, and measles into the region. This puts at risk the culture and livelihoods of people living in the rainforest. In addition to human safety concerns, tropical rainforests are globally important due to the discovery of numerous plant species with significant benefits.

The Tropical Rainforest Coalition (1996) states that tropical rainforests possess medicinal plants, which can potentially cure diseases like cancer and AIDS. More than 1,400 varieties of tropical plants have been recognized as effective in treating cancer. Along with their medical advantages, rainforests offer resources such as food, fuel wood, shelter, and work opportunities through their diverse vegetation and wildlife. Furthermore, these forests play a vital role in storing carbon globally and producing oxygen.

Often dubbed as the "lungs of the planet," tropical rainforests play a crucial role in producing essential oxygen for bot

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

humans and animals. These forests also aid in maintaining stable global weather patterns by preventing floods, droughts, and erosion while ensuring consistent rainfall.

Although tropical rainforests are crucial for human well-being, they are being destroyed by farming, logging, and mining activities that clear land and utilize wood. The government profits from these actions, which motivates continued destruction. Moreover, the timber is exchanged with other nations.

When valuable hardwoods are cut down in a forest by timber companies in an irresponsible manner, the surrounding vegetation is usually destroyed, putting the wildlife that depended on it in danger. Throughout the world, individuals are clearing land for agriculture. Although it is necessary for people to grow food, there is no law in many countries that prevents people from entering forests, cutting them down, burning the dry plants, and planting seeds. As diverse flora contains most of a rainforest's nutrients, the soils that facilitate biodiversity are generally thin and poor. Although farmers can grow crops in the ashes of burned forests for a few years, the nutrient-poor soils ultimately become depleted, and colonizers must move deeper into the forest and start anew. Ranchers frequently utilize abandoned lands to graze livestock.

Feeding a single cow in the tropics requires six acres of pastureland on average. Deforestation occurs not only due to fuel wood requirements but also because of illegal logging and development projects such as highways, dams, large-scale mining, and petroleum projects. To combat this issue, it is important to allow rainforests time to heal from human-driven activities such as logging.

The protection of tropical rainforests requires efforts in research and strong conversations. One conservation approach is ecotourism, which involves taking visitors on hikes

instead of cutting down the forests. To safeguard wildlife, protected areas and rehabilitation centers are also being established. The key to forest protection lies in a feasible conservation approach that promotes sustainable use and development of rainforests. Along with responsible development, restoring degraded forest lands and creating protected areas is essential for securing long-term benefits. It is crucial for everyone worldwide to take action towards protecting tropical rainforests as they are vital for mankind's health.

Protecting tropical rainforests is essential to avoid human extinction.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New