What the dying Amazon Rainforest and your cheeseburger have in common
Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest has escalated tremendously, and it is caused from something you might not think of immediately. In order to keep up with an increasing demand for beef there has been a dramatic increase in rainforest clear cutting through man made fires. In fact, data from the national institute for space research in brazil shows an increase of 85% more fires as recent as 2018. The reason why these cattle ranchers are burning such large areas of rainforest is in order to create fresh pastures for their cattle. The amazon rainforest is such a vast area of biodiversity that it actually effects the climate in this region. Due to evaporation these large areas of forests can create rainstorms. So, with this practice of clear cutting the region is starting to dry up increasing how strong these man-made fires can be. Not only is the region drying up we are losing one of the biggest carbon sinks on the planet and natural oxygen creating factories. Those are not the only reasons to be alarmed regarding this issue. When the ranchers burned these forests, they are releasing carbon into the atmosphere and putting greenhouse gas emitting animals on this land.
What kind of monster would willingly burn this region of great importance to the planet? From the outside looking in you might look at these cattle ranchers has horrible people. But in a country of not many economic opportunities we must hold on to some empathy for these cattle ranchers that they are just trying to provide for their families. The simplest call to action that I can suggest to you the reader is to stop eating beef or cutting down on beef consumption. On the surface this is the easiest practice I believe we can be a part of in order to stop the clear cutting of the amazon rainforests. But on the other hand, we have to think about the people who depend on this industry to provide for themselves.
This industry goes deeper than you think. There are bigger cattle ranch moguls that have effectively paid off the Brazilian government in order to illegally clear-cut protected regions of forests. These areas are not tracible, therefore are grey regions. Since there is so much illegal activity surrounding this industry it is impossible to keep track on how much forest is being clear cut.
In order to tackle this huge issue, I believe we must have a three-part solution. We must hold the Brazilian government accountable by making these regions economically visible to the rest of the world so we can have a clear pull of data. Furthermore, getting rid of the grey zones will hold the government more accountable for illegal pay offs they are receiving. The second is we need to make it more desirable to cattle ranchers to keep the land they already have and make it more productive. Currently it is far too easy and cheap to just clear more areas of forest than to make already burned land more productive for cattle ranching. If we implement such practices like rotation practices the families of cattle ranchers that depend on this industry can still provide for themselves. In holding the Brazilian government more accountable subsidies can be provided to the cattle ranchers for showing proof they are making their current lands more productive. In turn we lose less forest while still keeping these ranchers’ livelihoods intact. Lastly the most immediate practice we can implement is to cut down on our consumption of beef. Yes, this might affect people who depend on this industry but there are some short-term sacrifices that must be made to prevent the collapse of this precious ecosystem. This issue in the amazon rainforest is so dire we must act quickly with anything we can do for the time being.
