Today, the total percentage of forest cover on the earth is approximately thirty percent (“Deforestation”). This represents approximately nine percent of the planet's total surface area. The largest tropical forest is the Amazon River basin, located in South America. The Amazon is home to many species of animals, insects, plants and trees. Many trees and plants in the Amazon produce about twenty percent of the earth's oxygen and absorb carbon. However, the size of the Amazon is decreasing every day due to continued deforestation of the land. Deforestation occurs when the forest on a land is cleared or destroyed, in order to be used for other actions (“Deforestation”). The Amazon is twenty percent smaller than it was about forty years ago (Wallace). Every two hours to two, an area larger than two hundred football fields combined is cleared (Wallace). With ongoing deforestation actions in South America, the world could face numerous effects that will affect all living species. When deforestation continues to occur, the global environment is increasingly impacted by greenhouse gases. Since these greenhouse gases allow sunlight to penetrate the Earth, a certain amount of light is reflected back into space, called infrared radiation or thermal radiation (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change and energy "). Greenhouse gases trap thermal radiation escaping from space (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change and Energy”). When thermal radiation is trapped, it causes an increase in the Earth's temperature ("Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change and Energy"). These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, a gas absorbed by trees (“Greenhouse gases, climate change and energy”). As trees absorb carbon dioxide, they produce and release...... middle of paper .......lib.csufresno.edu/stable/2873721?seq=1Sioli, Harald. “The effects of deforestation in the Amazon.” The geographical review. Flight. July 151 1985. 197-203. Internet. April 15, 2014 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/633533 “Water Cycle Summary.” USGS. and Web. April 15, 2014 Retrieved from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html Szalay, Jessie. Deforestation: facts, causes and effects. March 6, 2013. The web. April 15, 2014 Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.htmlWallace, Scott. “Agriculture in the Amazon”. National Geographic. and Web. April 15, 2014 Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/#page=1 “What is biodiversity? California Biodiversity Council. State of California. and Web. April 15, 2014 Retrieved from http://biodiversity.ca.gov/Biodiversity/biodiv_definition.html