The Tropical Rainforest of Malaysia- Sarawak
UGB 224E Natural Wonders of the World
Term paper
The Tropical Rainforest of Malaysia – Sarawak
Introduction
As we all know that deforestation sharply accelerated in these decades, more and more forests disappeared. Environmentally, it causes global warming, soil erosion, decline in biodiversity, degraded ecosystem and water- cycle.[1] Economically and ethically, the deforestation caused by logging and commercial agriculture by the developed countries, like the U.S. The people in developing countries lose their long term profits when the rainforests disappear.[2] In our opinion, it is unfair for the developing countries to lose their long-term income and the biodiversity of the forests in order to satisfy the needs and the high living quality for people in developed countries. Obviously, it is urgent for us to slow down the mushrooming deforestation because of its serious damages in environment, economy and so on. Therefore, we would like to look into deforestation and take the tropical rainforest of Sarawak in Malaysia as our case study for the following reasons. Firstly, the tropical rainforest of Sarawak has precious primary forest cover in the world. Secondly, Malaysia’s rates of deforestation are the highest in Asia, so it is worth to have a research on it.[3]
Characteristics of Tropical Rainforests
Tropical rainforests mostly locate among 10 degrees north or south of the equator. The average annual rainfall is mostly over 2,000 ml and the average temperature is between 25 °C -30 °C. Temperature difference is small. They are homes for many animals and plants on the earth. 80% of the world's species are found in tropical rainforests. There are lots of plants with different species and five layers (the ground layer, the shrub layer, the understorey layer, the canopy layer and the emergent layer).
The Importance of the Tropical Rainforest
Economically, lots of grown crops and spices came from tropical rainforest originally. They are still mostly grown on
Term paper
The Tropical Rainforest of Malaysia – Sarawak
Introduction
As we all know that deforestation sharply accelerated in these decades, more and more forests disappeared. Environmentally, it causes global warming, soil erosion, decline in biodiversity, degraded ecosystem and water- cycle.[1] Economically and ethically, the deforestation caused by logging and commercial agriculture by the developed countries, like the U.S. The people in developing countries lose their long term profits when the rainforests disappear.[2] In our opinion, it is unfair for the developing countries to lose their long-term income and the biodiversity of the forests in order to satisfy the needs and the high living quality for people in developed countries. Obviously, it is urgent for us to slow down the mushrooming deforestation because of its serious damages in environment, economy and so on. Therefore, we would like to look into deforestation and take the tropical rainforest of Sarawak in Malaysia as our case study for the following reasons. Firstly, the tropical rainforest of Sarawak has precious primary forest cover in the world. Secondly, Malaysia’s rates of deforestation are the highest in Asia, so it is worth to have a research on it.[3]
Characteristics of Tropical Rainforests
Tropical rainforests mostly locate among 10 degrees north or south of the equator. The average annual rainfall is mostly over 2,000 ml and the average temperature is between 25 °C -30 °C. Temperature difference is small. They are homes for many animals and plants on the earth. 80% of the world's species are found in tropical rainforests. There are lots of plants with different species and five layers (the ground layer, the shrub layer, the understorey layer, the canopy layer and the emergent layer).
The Importance of the Tropical Rainforest
Economically, lots of grown crops and spices came from tropical rainforest originally. They are still mostly grown on