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The Amazonian People's
Struggle
 Indigenous people such as the Yanomamo and
Kayapo have been living in the Amazon rainforest for
as long as 32,000 to 39,000 years. There were about
6.8 million indigenous people when the first

Europeans first arrived to South America in the 16th
century. Presently, following the results of Europeans
bringing persecution, slavery and diseases to the
Southern American continent, and continued
deforestation of their homes, the Brazilian Amazon is
home to between 280,000 and 350,000 indigenous
people. According to the anthropologist Darcy
Riberio, 55 indigenous populations vanished in the
first half of the 20th century alone.
Greenhouse Gas Trees?
 According to the World Carfree Network (WCN),
cars and trucks account for about 14 percent of global
carbon emissions, while analysts attribute about 15
percent to deforestation. How does this occur? When
trees are chopped down, they release the carbon
they are storing into the atmosphere, where it joins
with greenhouse gases from other sources and
contributes to global warming.
Dried Up Drinking Water
 The water cycle of an ecosystem can be disrupted
by deforestation. Trees extract water from the earth
through their roots and release this water into the
air. When trees are removed, the water in the can no
longer be extracted efficiently and the region may
become drier. Deforestation reduces the amount of
water in the soil and moisture in the atmosphere. The
removal of trees also cause erosion and can cause
flooding or landslides. Aquifers are affected as well by
deforestation. Deforested lands also lose the ability
to intercept and retain precipitation properly, and, as
Mouth
Potty Mouth by the NUMBERS
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football fields of forest a minute are
lost to deforestation. This is equal to 12
to 15 million hectares of forest a year.
(Dried Up Drinking Water continued) a result, water
may pool more easily and cause rapid runoff that can
cause flash flooding and localized floods. According to
one study, in deforested regions in north and
northwest China, the average annual precipitation
decreased by more than 30% between the 1950s and
1980s. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is found in
the Amazon Basin.
The Rainforest: A Living
Medicine Cabinet
For thousands of years, tropical rainforest plants
have been use to improve the health of humans both
in the rainforest and around the world. Presently over
7,000 medical compounds prescribed by doctors are
derived from plants that grow in the rainforest. These
plants include:
 Trumpet Tree: All parts of the tree are used in
traditional medicine to treat respiratory
illnesses and rheumatism.
 Periwinkle: Extracts of the periwinkle plant
have two of the most active tumor fighting
agents. It is used widely and very successfully
in treating leukemia and Hodgkin's Disease.
 Lemongrass: Has antibacterial and antifungal
properties which aid in treating fevers, colds,
and coughs. Lemon grass tea is a very popular
herbal tea.
 Annatto Tree: Oil extract of the Annatto tree is
used for protection against UV rays.
The destruction of rainforests threaten the availability
of these, and many other, lifesaving plants.
Positive Deforestation?
Despite the previously discussed negative
consequences of deforestation, some argue that
good can come from the deforestation of rainforests.
Deforesting the Amazon can be positive for the soy,
timber and biofuel industry because there is a lot of
potential for money to be made in previously nonagricultural areas. However, the gain from harvesting
the timber is only in the terms of immediate cash
compensation. After that, the logger will have to wait
for more trees to mature, which is not good for the
forest, or the loggers profit margin. Additionally, the
removal of vegetation exposes the soil to heat and
rain. When forests are cleared, soil cover, which
consists mainly of vegetation, is removed as well. This
exposes the bare soil to extreme conditions produced
by the sun's heat and rainwater.
The Future of Deforestation
 In November of 2012, world leaders met at a U.N.
climate conference in Doha, Qatar, where the topic of
tropical rainforests was discussed. Tremendous
pressure’s face countries that push for deforestation:
urbanization, increasingly meat-based diets,
population growth, and the demand for timber and
agricultural products. What can be done to try and
combat the continuing threat of deforestation?
Experts at the conference agreed that unless all
countries take responsibility and address the
continuing issues of deforestation, then the state of
the world’s tropical forests will continue to decline.
Countries can do this by evaluating where the world’s
growing population will acquire food and natural
resources.