Deforestation Devastation

Rainforests throughout the world are being destroyed and cut down by us; for the excessive amount of paper we use at school, for the magazines in which we love, and even for the toilet paper we use. Rain forests are one of the oldest existing ecosystems in the world, but maybe not for long. At the rate in which deforestation is occurring, which is approximately eighty acres every minute or roughly the size of Florida in one year (“Rainforest Alliance”), future generations may only be able to experience what was the beautiful jungle through pictures and descriptions. Can you imagine a world without wild life, without many of the exotic species? Although cutting down rainforests can produce short-term wealth, it should no longer be acceptable in the future because these forests can contain vital resources that could be used as medicine, their destruction is endangering species, and deforestation is terrible for our environment.

The rainforests contain delicate resources that could be lost through deforestation. These forests are so incredibly large with an array of organisms that have yet to be discovered. The average rainforest contains approximately 1,500 different types of plants in a 4-mile-square area, and in one acre, eighty different kinds of trees can be found (“Rainforest Alliance”). Of the approximately three to thirty million extinct species, 250,000 have been identified as plants (“Biological Diversity”). Many vaccinations and cures for severe illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease or cancer could be found in these plants that are becoming extinct. Certain medicines that originated from the rainforest are already being used to help treat headaches, malaria and many others. Although some of the plants that help ...

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... has already been destroyed” (“Rainforest Alliance”). With this awareness of the negative effects due to cutting down the rain forests, we can make a choice together to change things now. If the habits of deforestation are left unaltered, carbon dioxide will increase and oxygen will decrease in the atmosphere, the resources for medicinal advances will be lost, and many species will become extinct which could cause other ecosystems to collapse as well. As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you with to see in the world.”

Works Cited

"Biological Diversity." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th Edition 1 Nov. 2011: 1. Badger Link. EBSCOhost. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.

"Even Selective Logging is Destructive." Environment Dec. 2005: 4. Badger Link. EBSCOhost. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.

"Rainforest Alliance." Rainforest Alliance n.d.: 1, 13. Badger Link. EBSCOhost. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.