Costa Rica Research Paper

Ever wanted to go south to a Latin American country? Well there is plenty to choose from but my best pick of where to go would be to this little, beautiful country culturally and physically, called Costa Rica. You don 't believe me, huh? Decide for yourself.

The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About

Forests have been cut, crops planted, pastures seeded, and urban areas paved. One of the most troubling consequences of human modification of ecosystems is an ongoing loss of species and therefore a loss of biodiversity around the world. The current extinctions have a human cause: habitat loss (such as clearing of tropical rainforests); the introduction of invasive species; unregulated hunting and fishing; and pollution of water, air, and

Costa Rica, a country of Central America, covers an area of 19,730 square miles. The capital is San José. Extending from northwest to southeast, Costa Rica is bounded on the north by Nicaragua, along its 185-mile northeastern coastline by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by Panama, and along its 630-mile southwestern coastline by the Pacific Ocean.

In the world there are various places that are attracted from people and culture around the world. Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north that is an amazing place to visit and learn from.

In Central America, Costa Rica is well known for being one of the most democratic nations. Since 60 years, Costa Rica has had peaceful democratic elections between governments. Moreover, Costa considered one of the most successful countries in Central America, economically. Two explanations for this success are agriculture dependency and relations with the U.S.

Gaze upon a country with luscious rainforest and beautiful architectural buildings as far as the eyes can see. Talk to locals who are more than welcome to help a stranger in need and experience the wonderful culture and cuisine. Let’s take a step into a new world filled with excitement and cultural adventure or better known as Costa Rica.

The official name of Costa Rica is Republica de Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a country located in Central America; between Nicaragua and Panama. The country area is comparative to West Virginia though slightly smaller and borders both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. Costa Rica has a tropical and subtropical climate. Its dry seasons are from December to April, while its rainy seasons are from May to November. Costa Rica's capital is San Jose. There's a lot of great things in Costa Rica that attracts tourism; including Volcanos. There are four volcanos, two of them are active and rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanos, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65. (Costa Rica, Factbook)

Edward O. Wilson’s The Future of Life chronicles the lasting effects of the damage that mankind has done to the environment and presents concepts that could prevent further devastation. Wilson highlights many areas that are considered to be tourist attractions for their vibrant biodiversity and illustrates just how many species were lost in such places due to human actions. He induces the awareness that biodiversity is being tragically lost to deforestation and ignorance of man by appealing to the sense of biophilia in his audience.

Rainforests are the predominant natural vegetation throughout the wet tropics. The defining characteristics of a tropical rainforest are temperature and rainfall. Wherever temperature is high enough and rainfall heavy and regular enough, there is rainforest (Bagheera, 1996). Tropical rainforests of all kinds once covered approximately 14 percent of the Earth’s surface, more than eight million square miles (Conservation International, 1998); forming an equatorial green belt around the Earth rich in diverse plant and animal species. Humans have already destroyed half of this forest area, with most damage occurring in the last 200 years (Bagheera, 1996). In 1987 alone

Information discharged by the legislature of the United Kingdom uncovered that the nation encountered the steepest drop in carbon outflows in 2014, after over two decades. Economy of United Kingdom developed by 2.6 percent in spite of its ozone depleting substance emanations falling by 8.4 percent.

loss of an enormous amount of species. Scarcity of natural resources has posed a large

Franck and Brownstone define biological diversity as 'the variety and variability of living organisms and the biological communities in which they live' (36). Decades of progress in both the scientific and political arenas have advanced environmental legislation to protect biodiversity at not only the ecosystem level, but for specific species and genetic material as well. Research has shown the importance of every organism and their role in the global ecosystem, and legislation has gradually matured to protect not only species which may become endangered, but the habitats they need to survive as well. Growing consciousness surrounding environmental issues has enabled these protections to be

Ecotourism is the activity of going to natural environments and enjoying what it has to offer such as breath taking scenery and wildlife. Home to approximately four million people (“Costa Rica”), Costa Rica is known for being one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world which leads to the popularity of ecotourism in the country. There is a growing demand of eco-tourists and this country is able to fulfill the market. The developing country has much to offer such as rain forests, natural parks, and wildlife. Tourists are inclined to visit the protected areas and natural parks. As a result, these natural resources bring tourists income into the country. Although the government’s attempts at attracting visitors to the ecotourism industry in Costa Rica seem to be successful, it also has its negative effects on the economy.

The health of the earth degrades with the destructive activity of human beings. A recent study by a group of scientists looked at twenty four different services that the earth’s ecosystems provide for humans, ecosystem services, and found that fifteen of them are in need of desperate help (Gazette 31 March 2005). These services are vital to the survival of both human and nonhuman life and include filtering water and providing nutrient rich soils and ocean waters. Many of the members of these various ecosystems are also decreasing in numbers. In a British survey of bird populations found that in the 200 birds of Britain tracked there was about a 54% population decrease between the 1968-1971 tacking period and the 1988-1991 tacking period. In two other surveys of 254 native plant species from the same area there was a decrease of about 28% during the past 40 years. Humans are pushing the sixth mass extinction (Gazette March 19, 2004).