Group items tagged

Video of the Brazilian government and deforestation

Deforestation of the Amazon numbers and statistics about. Also good graphs about where deforestation has occoured

Cattle For reasons similar to agriculture, ranching is not very adaptable to the land of the Amazon Rainforest. The grasses required to feed cattle, like the crops maintained in agriculture, are not resistant to the natural forces of the Amazon Basin and quickly deplete the nutrients of the surrounding soil. The nutrients that were once in the soil are removed from the ecosystem, shipped away as ground beef. Studies on land use have also suggested that the continuous movement of cattle on the unprotected land results in soil compacting, which increases the density of the soil material, resulting in decreased root penetration, water infiltration, and gas exchange.3 This means that larger flora, requiring a more extensive root system, are unable to grow under the compacted soil conditions, leaving the land for grass and woody shrub encroachment. The possible solutions to preventing nutrient loss are similar to those suggested for agricultural systems. Cattle ranching remains a very important industry in Brazil and is becoming even more vital to the Brazilian economy. The Brazilian commercial cattle herd is the largest in the world.4 Beef and milk are the two top livestock products in Brazil5 and exports of Brazilian beef grew to $1 billion (USD) in 2001. By 2003, Brazilian beef output is expected to reach 7.4 million tons, with exports of 925,000 tons. One problem in Brazilian beef exporting has been the existence of foot and mouth disease in some Brazilian states. This has caused the United States to be very stringent with Brazilian beef imports. However, the United States and Europe are still major importers of Brazilian beef.6 For every 1/4 lb hamburger consumed in the US from rainforest beef, about 55 square feet of rainforest was cleared. Although many fast food chains claim not to use rainforest beef, this claim is simply not valid. The USDA doesn't have an adequate system of labeling where beef is from. Thus beef grown in the rainforest can pass th

This article gives examples and facts explaining that Eco-Tourism is the most valuable way to use the rainforest benefiting people (tourist) and the environment

The Amazon rainforest is still under threat from cattle ranching. The forest is being cut down at an astonishingly fast rate as the need for grazing land increases. Since many can make a good living from cattle ranching the rainforest will continue to be destroyed.

Ecotourism is more profitable than other ventures like cattle ranching, timber logging and farming, researchers have shown for the first time for a region of Peru. The findings are likely to give local people the financial incentive to keep neighbouring virgin rainforest pristine, helping to lock away carbon.

Gold prices

Mining causes a release of mercury

The perspective of the presidents

Something about science

By SYLVIA WESTALL Love your new dining room table ... but did you ask the salesman whether it's made from chopped up rainforest trees? A growing number of shoppers are doing just that when buying furniture because of concerns about the effects of shrinking rainforests on global warming and the extinction of rare species of flora and fauna that inhabit these forests.