Justin Rickett
Mr. Monteleone
5/26/09
Every second, about 1 ½ acres of rainforests disappear, and everyday,
approximately 137 plants, animals, and insect species are lost due to rainforest
deforestation. Rainforests are destroyed because of logging, farming, supplying
fuelwood, and mining, and many more. They are quickly diminishing before our
eyes! Rainforests are the Earth’s environmental treasures, but many people are
not aware of their importance, and how serious the problem of the disappearing
rainforests is to our environment. Therefore, people should be educated on why
we need to save the rainforests in order to take action to protect them.
Trees in the rainforests help the environment by producing oxygen. The
Amazon Rainforest is called the “lungs of our planet”, which alone produces over
20% of the world’s oxygen. 40% of the world’s oxygen comes from tropical
rainforests. Trees in the rainforests also provide habitat to creatures such as
monkeys and birds. The Amazon Rainforest contains a bigger variety of animals
and plants than any other place in the world. The more deforestation of
rainforests happens, the quicker animals/plants go threatened, endangered, or
extinct. Experts predict that over half of the species of plants, animals, and
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Justin Rickett
Mr. Monteleone
5/26/09
microorganisms on Earth will be seriously threatened over the next 25 years due
to the disappearance of the rainforests.
Rainforest deforestation can change the climate and temperature on Earth.
When trees are cut down, they can’t take carbon dioxide out of the air, causing
the greenhouse gases to trap in heat, and making the Earth hotter. Also, the
supply of water could dry up. Trees use water during photosynthesis, without
trees water will stay on the ground, which is not evaporated by the heat of the
sun to form rain and clouds. There would be less rain, which can seriously
threaten the survival of animals/plants. There could also be more floods because
there would not be enough trees around to soak up water from the rain. As a
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Justin Rickett
Mr. Monteleone
5/26/09
result of the decrease in rainforests, the population of people, plants, animals,
and microorganisms will be severely affected. For example, there used to be
about ten million Indians in the Amazon Rainforest 5 centuries ago, and now
there are only 200,000.
Did you know that 25% of drugs used today come from ingredients in plants
that originated in the rainforests? The medicinal plants in the rainforest help
make drugs to treat problems from toothaches to childhood leukemia. Of all the
plants that are identified to have anti-cancer functions by the U.S. National
Cancer Institute, 70% of them can be found ONLY in the tropical rainforests. In
1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical companies involved in the study of
rainforest plants and their medicinal usage, now there are more than 100
companies and U.S. government agencies devoting their time to the study.
Rainforests used to cover 14% of the land on Earth, now there is only about
6%. After knowing the serious effects rainforest deforestation have on our
environment, and the importance of the existence of the rainforests to our lives,
people should use every power they have to stop the rainforests from
disappearing. It’s time to act now before it’s too late!
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Justin Rickett
Mr. Monteleone
5/26/09
Bibliography
http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0303.htm
http://www.coolearth.org/337/bringing-rainforests-into-the-classroom35/information-for-students-164/what-effect-does-deforestation-have-397.html
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0907.htm
http://www.savetherainforest.org/savetherainforest_006.htm
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1007.htm
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
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