Modern Cannibals of the Wild

The author, Basil Johnston, is trying to portray the connection between a mythical story from the Aboriginals and the way we are destroying the environment today, from his article Modern Cannibals of the Wilds, written in 1991. Johnston begins his article by telling a story about a habitat filled with many different species such as: fish, birds, insects and other wildlife. Then, Johnston continues to introduce a cannibalistic mythical creature called weendigoes, who feed on human flesh to try to satisfy his never-ending hunger. After Johnston introduces the mythical weendigoes, he transitions into introducing the modern weendigoes who care reincarnated as humans, depicted as industries, corporations and multinationals who dwells on wealth and profits from forestry. As the story continues, the use of woodsmen with axes to harvest trees converts to clear-cutting tractors, as the corporations’ greed increases. Industrial destruction of the ecosystems from greed, selfishness, and ignorance of the human nature will have negative impacts on the environment, wildlife and the climate change.

The main idea of the article is the affect of deforestation on the environment, wildlife and climate change. Deforestation results in soil deterioration. Forests store nutrients that are required for all plant life. Without trees to fill these roles, many forest’s lands can quickly become barren deserts. Deforestation also impacts the habitat for million species. Majority of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help conserve the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Cutting down forests will cause a decline in photosynthetic activity which results in the