The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest on Earth and its destruction has many long

lasting effects including: loss of biodiversity, accelerating climate change, and influencing largescale synoptic weather patterns, including those in South and North America.
Deforestation comes in many forms. In many cases, it starts with a road cutting through the
forest, which then allows loggers, farmers, miners and hunters to easily access once-isolated
areas. It has been reported that 95% of all forest destruction in the Amazon occurs within 5 km
of a road[i]. Both local and international demands drive deforestation, as swaths of forest are
slashed and burned for subsistence plots as well as industrial plantations. In the Amazon,
much of the larger-scale destruction is on behalf of cattle ranching and soybean production[ii].
Furthermore, government programs and policies, such as those for increased transportation
infrastructure, can lead to unintentional deforestation as roads are built through the forest 2.
In terms of absolute loss, approximately 25,000 square kilometers of Amazonian forest has
been cleared each year on average in the decade of the 1990s, which is roughly the size of the
state of Massachusetts annually. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UNs report
states that Brazil has suffered the most deforestation, with a loss of 42,330,000 hectares
(163,436 square miles) roughly the same area as the state of California2. As much of the
Amazon rainforest is found in Brazil, this is significant loss to the worlds most important forest.
Overall, it is estimated that 17% of the Amazon has been lost to deforestation within the last
half-century[iii]. This may not seem like much, but consider this: scientists say that in order to
maintain the consistent level of rainfall the rainforest is used to, a minimum of 70% of the
Amazon must stay intact. At the current rate of deforestation, we may pass this threshold within
the next 50 years. Whats more, it is projected that eighteen of the Amazons 32 major forested
ecoregions will lose more than 40% of their forest cover by 2050 and 12 will lose more than
70%.
Why should deforestation of the Amazon be stopped? For one thing, its the economically
smart thing to do: harvesting an acre of timber from the rainforest nets $400/year. Ranching
cattle on an acre gives $60/year. However, sustainably harvesting resources from an acre of
rainforest nets $2400/year and employs local people. Furthermore, there are many ecological
benefits to preserving the Amazon. It is estimated that 11 years worth of carbon emissions are
stored in the trees of the Amazon, and roughly a third of all carbon emissions come from
burning the rainforest. Therefore, deforestation contributes to global climate change in two
facets: by removing an important carbon sink and by releasing greenhouse gases.
The Amazon plays a huge role in regulating global weather patterns. Through transpiration (or
releasing water from the leaves of the trees) and other mechanisms, it creates clouds that
cause precipitation around the world. Scientists report that deforestation of the Amazon would
lead to significant drying not only of that region, but also areas as far away from South America
as the Midwest United States and West Africa[iv].

Moreover, the Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, with a new
species being discovered every three days for the past decade. It grows much of the food we
eat, and many of the compounds found in modern medicine originate in the Amazon. If the
forest were to be lost, incredibly important resources would disappear along with it, and we
would be left scrambling to find their nonexistent replacements.