Amazon dilemma. What will you do?

**strategist.com** · January 17, 2011, 02:37 PM

This dawned on me after reading some interesting facts about the Amazon.

Here goes:
It is said that underneath the Amazon forest lies the rich untapped resource of iron that can supply the world for the next 200 years. Now imagine all sources of iron around the world had been exhausted and what is left are in the Amazon. Anyone can see the dilemma? If you cut down the entire Amazon, you have ripped 'the world's lungs' out from mother Earth and cause devastating man-made climate change. But not getting the iron may also mean we are going back to Stone age. Another twist I will add is that humans are still (for some reason) unable to colonise other planets and even moon around this time.

What are you going to do?

**Helm** · January 17, 2011, 02:53 PM

Couldn't we just dig numerous mine shafts under the forest leaving the the forest itself more or less intact? That's the neutral option, the neutral option often tends to be the best one.

**Marie Louise von Preussen** · January 17, 2011, 02:56 PM

As long as there is the opportunity for profit, people will do it. Irregardless of the long term consequences.

**justicar5** · January 17, 2011, 02:57 PM

not mine it, keeps the prices of scrap iron up, which is handy.

**Phier** · January 17, 2011, 03:18 PM

The Amazon being 'the worlds lungs' is environmentalist obfuscation basically.

They have been trying to sell that for decades. If the Amazon rainforest became a glass parking lot there would be disturbances in weather and the like, but the world would keep breathing.

While I think iron is a bad example, lets assume the question you ask is true for arguments sake.

Its cutting ones nose off to spite ones face, though we wouldn't go to the stone age, we would go to the ceramic age.

**Denny Crane!** · January 18, 2011, 04:26 AM

Forest management isn't that difficult, but it does cost money. Bear in mind that we've already been losing massive amounts of rainforest anyway, every single year enormous amounts. But it could be replaced. One idea would be to set up a trust that buys forests and other land and tends it. Now that land could be tended out but on a contract that required full restoration and removing of infrastructure.