14 DAY TRIAL // Writing in a recent issue of the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, a team of researchers argue that, under a business-as-usual scenario, rainforests have high chances to be severely damaged by the world's increasing population.
In their paper, the specialists detail that this is because, as the human population continues to increase, so does the global demand for food.
In order to keep up with the rise in food demand, the agricultural industry will surely have to expand.
What worries the researchers who worked on this study is the fact that, unless human society figures out a way to raise livestock and grow crops in a more sustainable fashion, tropical ecosystems will end up hurting.
The specialists also warn that, all things considered, an increase in the number of people inhabiting the planet will translate into a higher demand for biofuels, especially given the fact that many countries are turning to such energy sources in order to improve on their ecological footprint.
Needless to say, a higher demand for biofuels is bound to also have a negative impact on the environment.
“This growth, in concert with rising per-capita consumption, will require large increases in food and biofuel production,” the specialists write in their paper, as cited by Mongabay.
Furthermore, “We foresee major expansion and intensification of tropical agriculture, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America; continuing rapid loss and alteration of tropical old-growth forests, woodlands, and semi-arid environments; a pivotal role for new roadways in determining the spatial extent of agriculture; and intensified conflicts between food production and nature conservation.”
Recent reports made public by the United Nations say that, according to information at hand, the world's population is very likely to soar to 11 billion individuals by the end of the century.
Besides, other investigations have shown that, judging by the current population growth rate, the global food demand will double by the year 2050.
In order to cope with this increase in the world's food demand, the agricultural industry would have to begin exploiting an additional 120 million – 1 billion hectares. Given the fact that land is cheaper in the tropics, most of this expansion is expected to take place in such regions.