pported by Brazilian government because of increasing global concern of air pollution. It is a fact that the issue of global climate and the greenhouse effect surpasses regional boundaries, which affects the atmosphere as well as the biosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for at least one half of the greenhouse effect, in which atmospheric gases, mostly produced by human activities, trap the sun’s heat, slowly warming the earth. Deforestation by burning accounts for up to 25% of the annual global CO2 emissions. A tree’s composition consists of half carbon, and by burning them; we release all of that carbon into the atmosphere. Astonishingly, three-fourths of deforestation in the tropics is due to burning, which releases about 2.4 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year (5). An example of the effect on the people would be found in Santa Catarina, Brazil, where “the environmental secretary estimates that 80% of the local hospital patients have respiratory ailments caused by acidic pollutants”(4). There are many dangerous and ecological threatening effects to global warming. Rising sea levels due to melting of several large glaciers could affect coastal communities through more frequent flooding and increased soil salinity. There could also be dire implications for the organisms, which live in the sea, especially if the warming of the atmosphere leads to a subsequent warming of ocean temperatures. Another major concern involves the soil. Because the topsoil in the rainforest is so thin, it lends itself to rapid soil erosion. Without the trees there to act as a buffer between the soil and the rain, erosion is practically inevitable. Soil erosion then leads to greater amounts of run off and increased sedimentation in the rivers and streams.There are many ways to decrease the rate of deforestation in Amazonian Brazil. Reforestation practices would not only repopulate the bare land, but it has a...
