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Causes and Effects of Deforestation in the Amazon
Most people know that the Amazon is a large rainforest, but barely anyone understands that it accounts for almost half of the remaining rainforests on the Earth. The rainforest is being destroyed at the rate of 2 million hectares per year. This deforestation has been caused by multiple things.

One of the causes of deforestation is the immigration of non indigenous people into the area. They have increased in number from 2 to 20 million since 1960’s. They pose a threat to the rainforest because they require housing and in order to get land they often cut down trees. Another cause is coming from the people who are poor in Brazil. In order to make money, people can work for companies that chop down trees for lumber and other things. Ultimately, this is just the result of market and economic situations. With the spike in population, more and more government and private projects have been placed in area’s that include the Amazon forest. Many of these projects help to connect larger cities at the cost of rainforest. A somewhat smaller problem, but still important, is the rising issue of man-made fires that can devastate the parts of the Amazon affected.

As a result of deforestation many of the indigenous plants and animals of the Amazon lose their homes. When parts of the forest are “clear cut” it makes it extremely hard for trees to regrow and for the animals in those areas to find new homes. Another method of clearing parts of the Amazon is to burn it. When the forest is burned it not only destroys the homes of the animals that reside in the Amazon, but it also kills many.

Although the effects deforestation is not unknown to the world, it still continues to happen as a result of large corporations and the desire of the people to receive quick and easy money. However, more and more people are beginning to become aware and take a stand to deforestation. Large activist groups such as, Green Peace, have been educating their communities and getting them to petition against large corporations that operate in the rainforest. Even major companies have taken a stand against deforestation. Some of these companies include Wal- Mart and the World Bank. The voices of these companies is influential and important towards finding an end to deforestation. When the economy is in recession, more and more companies and workers feel the need to make money no matter how it is done. Some companies have offered jobs to these people and they work within the restrictions of deforestation; however, it is the companies that abuse these people and get them to clear cut large portions of the forest with no regard for the ecosystem or the environment around them that a the leading cause of problems in the Amazon. These companies continue to destroy the plant and animal life of the Amazon and ruin the environment. The burning of trees lead to a gigantic mass of pollutants entering the ozone and it kills all the animals within that area, or they are displaced from their natural habitats. The forest is being destroyed at an extremely fast rate, 2 million hectares per year.

=== Reference List "World Bank, Wal-Mart Take Stand Against Brazilian Deforestation Beef."TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. Butler, Rhett. "In the Battle to Save Forests, Activists Target Corporations."Environment 360. Yale, 24 June 2010. Web. 15 May 2013. Laurance "The Future of the Brazilian Amazon." Science 291.5503 (2001)Web. 14 May 2013