Credit to A. Davey (Flickr.com)
Public perception on environmental change focuses around the idea that global warming is the only issue facing today’s youth, but, in reality, there is another silent killer that appears to be a much more immediate threat. Independent of ozone depletion and fossil fuel burning is the looming threat of deforestation. Al Gore’s documentary on global warming focused on the long-term effects of climate change that seem too far off in the future to worry about, however, the effects of some of these particular debates are much more immediate than you may think. One study produced by a group of scientists, Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon, explores the implications that current farming and deforestation practices could have on the world and how climate change’s wrath could become much more immediate than expected.
The Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon study was conducted using a complex mathematical system that integrated in factors of population, economics, agricultural production, and crop and pasture productivity to predict what the future would look like in environmental terms (Lapola). Each of these separate categories are taken into account in order to most accurately predict what effects the environment could experience if current levels persist until the year 2050. In other words, the methods of this study were basically taking every small factor and major issue that could effect the shape of the Brazilian and Amazonian landscape over the next 40 or so years. And what the study found was nothing short of breath-taking.
Based on the original research conducted, it was found that the changes in the land use and productivity in South America by 2050 could consequently lead to a 30% reduction in precipitation, a possible 44% decrease in the crop yield of soybeans, and even a 3.8 degree Celsius rise in overall temperature (Lapola). These projected worst-case-scenario findings are staggering, especially since these statistics are on target to become reality for young adults in just 40 years. The somewhat distant future of the world becomes much more clear with the negative consequences that could result. Although the study focuses on the South American effects from these issues, the consequences are anything but isolated.
Hypothetically assessing the study conducted can provide a better understanding for the overall value of what is happening in South America and how it could effect current young adults for the next thirty years. Given the idea that the yield of crops and cattle productivity could take a drastic dive due to over-harvesting, over-grazing, and land producing under potential, the South American economy would respond in a similar fashion. Brazil is currently the fourth biggest producer of meat per capita in the world, and with such a high volume and dependency on this industry, it can simply not afford an environmental deterioration of its product (Lapola). If such a trend occurs, the livelihood of Brazil’s economy comes into question, and in response, South America’s overall economy would struggle. The “trickle-down effect” that this potential issue is showing is that if climate changes begin affecting Brazil’s cattle industry in a negative fashion, the world’s economy will take a major blow as well. This principle also applies to the idea of a decreased soybean product yield as well.
The good news in the light of all this negative environmental world talk is that the Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon study does more than just present numbers in a way that grants a projected depressive future for the lives of people in the world, it offers solutions. The main causes of the climate change in this area are the natural climate change due to agricultural practices as well as the decline of deforestation of the Amazon, and this scholarly article explains what will happen if current practices are not adapted to fit this future. The “study suggests that agriculture, especially cattle ranching, will need to adapt to these two upcoming shifts in the Amazonian system (climate change and the end of deforestation),” (Lapola). In layman’s terms, the study is based on the the premise if business continued as usual, and did not respond to changes in both climate and deforestation, then South America would face a range of varied consequences. However, the study “suggests that both the identification of impacts and the adaptation to them should be tackled in a multidisciplinary and integrated manner, considering conservation strategies and projections on population growth, changes in lifestyle, and agricultural production,” (Lapola).
The Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon report helps demonstrate the climate issues that are soon to affect the South American countries near the Amazon. Findings from the study show that if the current agricultural practices around this area do not adapt to the environment of the future, then the world could be in the midst of big problems. The study provides key insight into determining factors that should be taken into account for the agricultural community if it is to adapt to fit the new climate. Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon provides an eye-opening look of what the future of climate change may hold for the world and the people that live in it, and it serves as a warning for young adults to help them recognize that the once distant climate future is much closer than it seems, and that changes must be made to avoid catastrophe.
Deforestation Study
Works Cited
Lapola, David M. "Impacts of Climate Change and the End of Deforestation on Land Use in the Brazilian Legal Amazon." EBSCO Host. Earth Interactions. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3>.
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