Human Impacts of the Amazon Rainforest.
The Amazon rainforest was once a dense, lush and vibrant place fulled with life, covering vast expanses of land throughout the world, however, although it retains many of these characteristics, it is getting smaller at extreme rates, and has lost 40% of the total area it once covered. The loss of rainforest land not only results in less plant life but also takes away the natural habitat of many other species, ranging from insects and micro-organisms to apex predators such as panthers, lions, and jaguars.
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Deforestation is the main impact humans have on the amazon rainforest, removing millions of trees at shocking rates, all the land in the picture (left) was once all rainforest, now it is likely all gone, and the land has been turned into grazing land for animals such as cows. The trees once encompassing this great land have all been cut down for use as lumber, building houses, and furniture, and for use as fuel.
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A product of the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest is that due to the lack of tree cover, the thin soil dries out quickly, and nutrients become less accessible to plants, leading to a decline in plant life, which as the plants dry out, the heat and direct sunlight of the Amazon Rainforest sets the forest alight, which although this was a factor before humans intervened, after our intervention there are more areas without tree cover, more areas which are victims of intense heat and direct sunlight. If the Amazon Rainforest continues to decline at this rate, then it will be erradicated within 40 years.