Title: The Loss of Rainforest Speaker: Julliana Barra, IEP Student Core 1 Level 8 Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the importance of rainforest and the consequences of it loss. Thesis Statement: We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. One and half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Key words: Ecoloy, Biodiversity, Conservation. Introduction: 1. Attention-getter: The Amazon Rainforest is the Largest Rainforest in the World and it can be found in Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname. This Rainforest covers 40% of South America. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. 2. Establishment of Ethos: The Amazon Rainforest was formed during the Eocene Era, (about 55 million years ago). Many tribes full of Amerindians lived in the Rainforest and some of them are still living there. In the past 15% of the Rainforest has been destroyed covered by water many times because of the Rising Sea Levels. Rainforest is being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners. Rainforest once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforest could be consumed in less than 40 years. 3. Preview: First I’ll talk about what it is exactly that the Amazon Rainforest is and how it contribute to the world, it’s importance; followed by the consequences of losing such an important environment. Instruction to the audience: I would like to ask you to leave the questions for the end. ( Trasition: Now I’ll describe what exactly is the Rainforest. Body: 1. Fauna and Flora : Flora and fauna refer to plant and wildlife, respectively. A. In the Amazon Rainforest there are many plants and animals. More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants. At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rainforest use over 2,000.
• Some examples of plants are : White Trillium, Opium Poppy, Cinchona Tree, Foxglove, Coca, Grass, Buttercups, Castor Beans and Buttress Root. • Some examples of animals are : Jaguar, Sloth, Spider Monkey, Harpy Eagle, Caimans, Poisonous Arrow Frog, Golden Lion Tamarin, Anteater, Giant River Otter, Toucan, Electric Eel and Anaconda. 2. Value to the world : The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the " Lungs of our Planet " because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. A. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest and one-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin making it critical to maintain the Earth's limited supply of drinking water. As well Rainforests act as the world's thermostat by regulating temperatures and weather patterns. B. Rain forests require high levels of precipitation, which comes from rain. A healthy forest takes in that rain and returns it to the atmosphere so it can be recycled (a process called evapotranspiration). C. Rainforests provide many important products for people: timber, coffee, cocoa and many medicinal products, including those used in the treatment of cancer. Seventy percent of the plants identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute as useful in the treatment of cancer are found only in rainforests. But the interesting fact is that less than one percent of the tropical rainforest species have been analyzed for their medicinal value. So imagine how much more the rainforest could contribute to the medical treatments. 3. Reasons: A complex web of factors is contributing to the destruction of the rainforests. A. logging: Millions of hectares are cut down every year for bussiness, often illegally. The most valuable wood is taken and not replaced. So people from the land take advantage on it as well and start to build their houses on those deforested areas. B.Mining: Mining companies are responsible for much deforestation. They cut down trees to extract gold and others minerals. Their activity often causes pollution. C. Location: However, one of the biggest contributors to rainforest destruction is that they are often located in developing countries. As a result, the forest lack protection and are in danger from wealthy developers, companies and from poor landless people. D. Agriculture and pasture: Small and large agriculture, and pature have a big part in deforestation as well, because people from the land use agriculture as a way to subsist.
Consequences of it’s loss: Without a healthy base of vegetation, there is greater runoff of water. This upsets the balance of water circulation, which over time is likely to make a rain forest highly unstable and the level of oxygen would be low. A. Extinction: A tragic effect of the loss of the rainforest is the extinction of plats and animals that could provide us with food, medicine or valuable products. Thousands of species disappear each year. This leads to a poorer world with less biodiversity. B. Soil: Another result of the destruction of the rainforest is that soils and nutrients are washed away. When the trees are cut down, the soil is exposed to the heavy rain and quickly becomes infertile and useless. The forest cannot grow again. C.Global Warming: One of the most serious effects is global warming. When the tress in the rainforest are cut down, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide acts as a blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and warming the planet. This can have a huge consequences for the world’s climate. Conclusion: Despite increased public awareness of the importance of tropical rainforests, deforestation rates are actually on the rise, mostly due to activities such as commercial logging, agriculture, cattle ranching, dam-building and mining, but also due to subsistence agriculture and collection of fuel wood. Indeed, as long as commercial interests are allowed access to these economically depressed areas of the world, and as long as populations of poor rural people continue to expand, tropical rainforests will continue to fall. References: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0626_amazonrainforest.html http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talks-daily- destructionhttp://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/causes.htm
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