Sci-204 Environmental Science

iLab Week 1 |

Raul J Ortiz |

Sci. 204 Environmental Science5/9/2015Deforestation |

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1.0 Discuss 5 products that come from tropical rain forests.

Chocolate

All chocolate originates from the cacao plant? Whether it’s milk chocolate, dark chocolate, Hershey’s Kisses, Snickers etc. The cacao plant grows in the wild in Central and South America. Its cultivation can be a forest-friendly source of income for the indigenous people of the Amazon.

Moisturizer

Most moisturizers include ingredients that can be found in nature. Many plants form the Amazon – like Brazil nut and coconut oil – are fantastic for the skin.

Medicines

Aside from using plants in moisturizers, they can also be used in medicines. Of the plants in the world that have properties which can combat cancer, 70% of them exist only in the Amazonian Rainforest.

Shampoo

We eat, moisturize and fight cancer with the help of plants from the Rainforest. Now we can add bathing to that list. A larger portion of ingredients found in shampoos, soaps and even shaving creams, like the passion fruit, are grown in rainforests as well.

Nuts

We all love our nuts. Many delicious and nutritious snacks come from the Amazon as well. Cashews and Brazil Nuts, as the name implies, come from the Amazonian Rain Forest as well.

2.0 With clear examples, discuss 5 major causes of deforestation.

Commercial Agriculture

Hundreds of combine harvesters, line up side by side to harvest soybeans in Mato Grosso state in western Brazil. Farmed on a marketable measure to fulfill international markets, which by the way are gradually more significant culprits of deforestation, soybean is one of several cash crops grown, responsible for 68% of forest loss in Latin America and about 40% worldwide. Commercial agriculture is the biggest threat to forests because deforestation involves clearing 100% of the trees for croplands, pastures and tree plantations.

Cattle Ranching

Cattle graze carelessly in fields of northern...