THE PLIGHT OF YANOMANI
EXTERNAL IMPACTS
In 1950, foregniers began to enter the Yanomami's territory and now the outsiders have deforested the area, poisioned the area, devolped cattle ranching and mined for gold. Contact between the outsiders and the Yanomami have brought in disastrous problems for the Yanomami, with their land being destroyed and with the decreasing amount of food, the Yanomami are facing a horrible crisis.
Cattle Ranching:
Cattle Ranching is the most dominant cause for Yanomami losing their homes as in order for cattle ranching to take place, a large amount of area will need to be cleared. 80% of deforest areas are now inhabited with cattle and with the reduction of trees, climate changes is now a threat to the Amazon. From about 340 million tons of carbon dioxide let out each year from the pastures for cattle ranching, the Yanomami are gradually having breathing problems and are developing more diseases each year. The pastures also cause a higher risk of bush fires and soil erosion.
Additionally, the cow industry contributes a remarkable amount of methane emissions, from the gas that cows let out. Along with the cattle pastures, methane emissions further elevates the possibility of having an outbreak of wildfire. Furthermore, methane is a major component of greenhouse gas and is 21 times more harmful to humans than carbon dioxide. The methane breathed in by the Yanomami can produce dizziness, headaches, suffocation, weakness, nausea, vomiting and loss of coordination and consciousness.
Although cattle ranching may be unacceptable, it does have some extremely advantageous points. Cattle’s urine contains of a substance that kills bacteria and thus, has an extremely strong immune system against diseases. The urine is therefore then constructed to make a medicine for humans. Moreover, cattle ranching provide all dairy products that give necessary nutrients to the human body to function. The calcium in the dairy products can effectively prevent breast cancer, blood clotting, obesity and high or low blood pressure. As well as the dairy that comes from cattle, the meat it provides contains nutrients that cannot be found elsewhere or in another animal. Beef is a meat that has one of the most irons and the iron is consumed the most be humans. As a result, beef also has a large concentration of zinc, with 25% of the zinc absorbed by the human body.
Gold Mining
The illegal gold mining in the Amazons have caused Yanomami to suffer in numerous ways. Miners who invade the area of Yanomami tend to fight and kill them and recently, there was a direct attack on the Yanomami. The miners had set fire to their home and witnesses report of dead and burnt bodies. Additionally, the Yanomami have less modern technology and with this in mind, they rarely ever survive a fight.
Killing Yanomam is not the only organisms they kill, animals that Yanomami eat are gradually lessening. In order for miners to be able to search for gold, they must clear the area of trees which includes the animals. With animals not knowing how to defend themselves, they are easily and adequately slaughtered, and soon the Yanomami will lose their only food supply.
Gold miners in the Amazon have furthermore brought disastrous diseases to the Yanomami such as malaria and silica through contact between them. Additionally, Yanomami is clueless to how to cure a simple cold and does not know what is happening to them. With all the confusion, Yanomami is slowly becoming corrupt and in chaos, while many die of unknown diseases.
However, the miners are the most detrimental when it comes to the rivers. The illegal miners pollute the rivers with poisonous and deadly mercury that affect both the fish who inhabitats the rivers and the Yanomami who use the rivers to wash and drink. The miners use the mercury to separate the gold from the soil which is a deadly metal. It poisons the river’s fish and water, polluting it with mercury. Now, Yanomami are catching nothing in the rivers and are dying from drinking and washing in the polluted water. Thus, another food source is gone. The affects mercury has on the human health are disastrous, with affecting a child’s growth by delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities, in a more serious situation a child could become death, blind and retarded. Blood pressure, memory loss, vision loss and numbness of fingers and toes are all possible if an adult was exposed to mercury. This decreases the population of the Yanomami by up to 20% and moderately Yanomami will cease to exist if this continues!
However, there are also a few benefits of gold mining and with the people who have no other choice than gold mining to afford their living cost, many would be homeless without gold mining. Some people’s lives may also fully depend on the money earned from gold mining. Additionally, gold is used for many appliances such as medicine, dentistry, space crafts, satellites and jewellery. Without these appliances, many lives would be extremely different and strange, without the powerful technology of satellites and space crafts.
Logging
Logging in the Amazon forests has immediate and unintended effects on the Yanomamo’s supply and also their traditions. In some instances, logging transpires in areas of the Yanomami’s habitat, and regardless if it occurs outside of their area, the logging reverberates their food supply, water supply and the rivers, in which they use for transportation.
With their food supply being taken along with the trees, they will need to move and relocate along somewhere with more food and resources. However, this establishment of a new home can lead to the Yanomami entering the towns and cities that surround the Amazon forests. Here, the Yanomami live an extremely sorrowful and despairing life of being unemployed and the disease that follow from being homeless.
Nevertheless, there are some positives and advantages of logging in the amazon forest. Logging provides indispensable materials and resources which are used by humans such as homes and construction material. Additionally, logging lowers the probability of a bush fire because if a fire were to occur, it would not spread as quickly from the gaps between trees. Considering this, it would save many lives of the Yanomami if lightning were to hit the forest. Most crucially, logging clears the land and brings new sunshine to the under storey of the forests which invigorates the plants to grow and develop.
Agriculture
The growth of agriculture in the Amazon forests are increasing at a rapid speed, affecting both the environment and the indigenous people, Yanomami, in positive and negative aspects.
Agriculture uses an abundance of land in the Amazon forests causes habitual lost from the mass deforestation, with up to 12 million hectares of forest cleared each year. The loss of habitat menaces the whole ecosystem and other species, but also affects the Yanomami’s food supply. With animals getting killed along with the trees, the Yanomami’s food resources are gradually deducting and lessening. Soon, the Yanomami would starve and die off. Additionally, farmers need to remove the trees even more as farmers need habitats for marine animals near fresh water locations.
Farming in the forests use about 70% of the planet’s freshwater and most of this water is wasted and dissipated. The reason for this is because many farmers apply the water in an incorrect manner and leakage may occur. Further, thirsty crops are also planted which do not suit the environment of a forest. With all this water going to waste, they travel back to the freshwater streams where sediments from the wasted water may conjoin with the freshwater, generating damage to the freshwater ecosystem.
During the process of clearing the forest and when a farming land is produced, the loose soil is frequently blown away by wind or washed away by the rain. Soil soaked and carried off in the rain are generally found in river, lakes and other water areas. The soil then forms sedimentation in marine habitats and freshwater streams which the Yanomami depend on for washing, water supply and food supply. Soil erosion cannot be prevented with about 10 million hectares of farm land lost per year due to the natural weather. With the soil erosion occurring, soil can no longer absorb water from the rain and thus, there is a higher risk of flooding in the Amazon forest.
Although agriculture does help the environment, it produces an immense amount of pollution from the widespread contamination. The pesticides sprayed on farmlands have increased by 20% over the past 50 years and these chemicals cause pollution throughout the homes of the Yanomami people. The pesticide is also applied using aeroplanes which increase the pollution in the environment as farmlands usually aren’t in a very pristine condition. In spite of the fact that fertilization is not as toxic as pesticides but when in contact with marine animals and their habitats, it will alter their current ecosystem and nutrition system. The marine animals affected will lead to the Yanomami’s sickness as the marine animals would have consumed the poisonous fertilization.
Climate changes can also transpire when agriculture is produced in farmlands as the deforestation of the land, animals, and farming applications contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.
On the other hand, farming provides biodiversity at all levels and although soil erosion may occur, with farming, the soil is able to develop into a more healthy state. Moreover, agriculture provides most of the world’s food and hunger in many parts of the world would have been far worse if agriculture wasn’t developed. Despite the fact that farming does negatively influence on the environment the Yanomami habitat in, it also advantages their atmosphere inviting bugs that kill other pests.
