Essay Finale Terry Luong Orso-1 June 1

Topic 1 Describe how the issue of rainforest destruction in Latin America affects the region and the global community. Support your examples with detailed explanations. Identify solutions to this problem from the standpoint of a Brazilian politician and a politician from the United States.

Intro paragraph Rain forest destruction in Latin America is a global wide problem. The destruction of many trees has decreased the amount of oxygen we have and increased the amount of carbon dioxide we have in the air along with many other problems. There are also many other problems with deforestation within the local community that are difficult to fix.

Negative Effects of Deforestation in Latin America Deforestation in Latin America is causing a few problems, but is also benefiting the economy, which makes deforestation a hard issue to fix. First off, many native tribes are being threatened by deforestation. The native tribes have resided within the forest for many decades and now their home is being threatened to be destroyed. Another problem is the rubber tappers losing their jobs. The rubber tappers rely on trees to get their rubber to make a profit, but since the deforestation, finding trees to get rubber from is getting harder and harder.

Negative Effects of Deforestation Worldwide Deforestation affects more than only Latin America. The cutting down of trees reduces the oxygen supply in the air, and more carbon dioxide resides. It also aids in global warming, because the green house gases keep the earth hotter and eventually the whole climate with change for the worse. Trees are a necessity in keeping the balance between nature and human society. Without enough trees, the amount of green house gases in the air will increase and the amount of clean air will decrease.

Solutions- Brazilian Politician The solution for this problem is relocation of the natives and a debt for nature swap, maybe even ecotourism. We can make land reserves of other parts of the forest for the natives and if we can convince them to move, problem solved. If we can have financial aid from other countries and organizations, we won’t have a need to cut down the forest for profit. We will gladly protect the forest as long as we get paid for it.

Solutions- U.S. Politician The deforestation in Latin America is outrageous. The deforestation is just aiding in global warming and is harming the environment. The best solution to stop global warming is for Latin America to stop cutting down trees completely. They should increase ecotourism, as many citizens in the U.S. would like to go see the wonders of nature. The main thing though, is to stop deforestation completely. Our planet is starting to heat up and eventually the last thing you would have to worry about is the economy.

Conclusion There are many problems that deforestation causes on a global and community scale that have viable solutions. Both parties of the U.S. and Brazil agree that ecotourism is a great way to benefit the economy and keep the forest. These steps are benefiting our environment and slowing global warming.

Ricky Florii’s Critique The strengths of this solution is that if everyone agreed to the solution then deforestation would be completely stopped. One of the reasons this might not work is that some people might not agree to completely stop cutting down trees therefore the problem wouldn’t be solved. Steps that need to be taken to stop that is to provide strict monitoring of the areas that want to be protected. Severe punishments also need to be created so people won’t try and cut down trees anyway. An alternative solution would be to involve the government to issue out propaganda, create laws, and take the steps necessary to end deforestation. Overall this is a good plan but more monitoring needs to take place and this will be a foolproof plan.

Pictures A forest completely destroyed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lacanja_burn.JPG

Pictures An ecotourism resort. (off of rainforest solutions powerpoint 4th marking period)