Food Fight: The True Cost of Agriculture in the Amazon Rainforest
Date
2021-12-07
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Abstract
Amazon Rainforest deforestation has been a volatile topic over the past half-century, but it has truly come to light in the last five years. Past governmental administrations in Brazil had numerous laws/regulations in place to prevent detrimental use of the forest edge. This is the most vulnerable are of forest because it is easy for humans to access. As the Bolsonaro administration has risen in Brazil, environmental regulations have fallen by the wayside. Since 2016, political ideology has become increasingly economy-based, and this has threatened the sustainability of the rainforest. Resource-intensive agriculture is supported because it yields the highest profits, which is what is best for Brazil’s economy. To combat this recent spike in deforestation, I will investigate new ways to potentially increase the effectiveness of agricultural processes so that less farmland has to be use and less rainforest is destroyed. I will also research the relationship between building a stable economy and sustainable agriculture. This natural ecosystem struggle stems from the balance of providing for a growing population, sustaining one of the largest biomes on Earth, and satisfying human greed. By understanding the impact of economy on agriculture and vice versa, Brazil can begin to make stable change that benefits both economic and environmental ecosystems.
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Forest volatility, Brazil -- political climate, Sustainability, Sustainability, agricultural, 2021 Sophomore Research Conference, Ecosystems, Interdependence