Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparison - Essay Example Deforestation has been an ongoing process on this planet from time immoral. The transformation of forested lands by human activities is one of the major reasons for global environmental change and biodiversity loss. There are several reasons for which forest and its natural resources are exploited and overexploited. Forests are cleared, degraded and fragmented by timber harvest, conversion to agriculture, road-building, human-caused fire, and in numerous other ways. Deforestation is a local problem that can have global consequences and is a treat to human civilization. This paper compares the impact of deforestation in China and Amazon. Economic growth and environmental degradation continues to coexist in China. This has resulted in unsustainable rates of deforestation, high levels of air pollution, and low levels of water quality and quantity (Siciliano, 2006). Deforestation in China has not been a recent issue it had started with the expanding agricultural activities to support human life. Robert Marks in his book entitled Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt examines the correlations between economic and environmental changes in the southern imperial Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (a region historically known as Lingnan, "South of the Mountains") from 1400 to 1850. Marks in-depth analysis show the impact of population growth on land use patterns, the agro-ecology, and deforestation; the commercialization of agriculture and its implications; the impact of climatic change on agriculture; and the ways in which the human population responded to environmental challenges (Marks, 1998). Earliest history of agricultural activities in Lingnan shows that this region was known for the cultivation of sweet potatoes till the end of seventeenth century. Planting sweet potato required no fertilizers and less labor and could be planted in the hilly, sandy