Overview Rainforests are a critical part of our environment. They not only provide oxygen for humans, homes for animals and approximately two-thirds of the known plant species on earth but they are also carbon sinks. Rainforests are truly magical places, so magical that scientist have yet to discover how to recreate one. They manage erosion and flooding, supply consistent rainfall and play an important role in global warming. Tropical rainforests are often called "jewels of the Earth" as well as the "world 's largest pharmacy”. This is due to the fact that a quarter of the worlds natural medicines can be found within them. The Amazon Rainforest for example is frequently refereed to as “the lungs of the earth” because it acts similarly to lungs …show more content…
Humans rely on the rainforest for many things, but if we keep depleting them faster then they can regenerate we will face consequences. There are millions of reasons why rainforests need to be preserved, for example… Renewable Resources: A renewable resource is only renewable as long as it can replenish itself as fast or faster then we are using it. Rainforests are huge providers of timber, medicinal plants and food. A large percent of our everyday needs are found in the rainforest. Things such as chairs, tables, decks, fences. These everyday products are all made from timber currently being cut down in rainforests across the world. Also a number of plants and trees in the rainforest are responsible for many medicinal properties. Quinine for example, was the first known antimalarial. It comes from a neotropical tree, and curare, used as a poison for arrow tips by indigenous peoples in the Neotropics, it has also been proven useful for heart conditions. In todays society around one quarter of medications come from natural sources. Most pharmaceuticals come from plants, although some come from fungi, bacteria and reptiles (snakes), all of which can be found in rainforests. Even on a smaller scale, rainforests are huge producers of foods such as cocoa (chocolate) and coffee beans. In fact, rainforests are the largest producers/exporters of coffee beans, which …show more content…
As the organisms on earth continue to deplete, we more then ever need sources of genetic variability. Rainforests are outstandingly diverse and provide a vast reservoir of genetic potential. If we lack genetic resources, we will no longer have a way of improving the breeding of plants and animals. Like it or not all plants and animals in our society came from wild at one point in time, but have now been modified by interbreeding. As we continue to reduce our gene pools and sources of variability we more then ever need to preserve the
Tropical rainforests are an extremely unique and diverse ecosystem that are located around the earth’s equator. They once covered roughly 7% of the world, but due to human encroachment that has dwindled to just 2%. It is a highly moisture rich environment that typically receives anywhere between 60 and 400 inches of rainfall annually and average humidity ranges from 70 to 90%. A high average year round temperature, coupled with the moisture rich environment, creates an ecosystem that allows for a level of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. This also results in a specific type of layering design that allows the system to survive and recycle its nutrients.
Ending Destruction of the Rainforest As destruction of the rainforest continues, man slowly paves the inevitable path to a clear end. It has been known that the rainforest is an essential provider for the balance of the mother earth and that it acts as a key for life as we know it. Yet, the world still decides to quietly watch the disappearance. In fact, most people realize what exactly is taking place. But, however, instead of trying to aid in the termination of this disaster.
almost a quarter of the medicine we us today. The soil in rainforest is not the richest but on the
The ecosystem I have chosen is tropical rainforest. In the following paragraphs, I am going to firstly introduced the structure of tropical rainforest in brief, with the second part of the plant ecology and last the diversity within this ecosystem.
The Amazon Rain Forest Is in Danger of Being Destroyed" by Devadas Vittal. Rain Forests. HaiSong Harvey, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002. Reprinted from Devadas Vittal, Introduction: What Is the Amazon Rainforest? Internet: http://www.homepages.go.com/homepages/d/v/i/dvittal/amazon/intro.html, November 1999, by permission of the author. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010021212&mode=view
There are many rainforests in the world but one of the biggest one is the Amazon rainforest, which is located in the northern half of South America and lies in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The Amazon also lies in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The size of the Amazon resembles the size of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Since this rain forest lies next to the Equator, the climate is warm and humid. The average temperature is in between sixty-eight to ninety- three degrees. The Amazon has two seasons but each one is six months each. They are classified as the wet season and the dry season. The wet season occurs between December to May and the dry season occurs between June to November. The average rainfall is fifty to two hundred and sixty inches per year. The forest floor only gets up to two to five percent of sunlight since the canopy blocks the sunlight from getting to the forest floor. The Amazon rain forest got the nickname, the world’s pharmacy, because many medicines have been found in the tree bark, the tree’s leaves, and other parts of the trees.
No matter where a person lives, even if it is not near a rain forest, the complete destruction of rain forests will affect living conditions. For years rain forests have provided countries around the word with valuable resources, minerals, lumber, and energy. In Brazil alone the rain forests contains 45% of Brazil’s hydroelectric power. The minerals found in the rain forests of Brazil are estimated to value 1.6 trillion dollars, while the lumber that the rain forests can provide total 1.7 trillion dollars (“In the Forest” 1). Nutrients from decomposing organisms can be found throughout rain forests, including in soil and in trees. To continue destroying forests also destroys the important materials that they are providing to humans.
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.
The natural resource of wood is being used at an unsustainable rate, with minimal effort to change societal views on the depletion of this valuable natural resource. Much of the wood we use today comes from old-growth tropical forests, and in many regions it is harvested illegally. Recently in England, it was revealed that the major department store, Marks&Spencers, made much of its garden furniture out of Nyato wood which was logged illegally from Indonesian rainforests. Looking at this problem from a micro-level orientation, we can clearly see how the actions of individuals in both Britain and Indonesia affect one another.
The Human Impact on Rainforests Human Impact on Rainforest is it a necessity? Rainforest are the beautiful gift of Mother Nature. It consists of the most magnificent species and plants in the world. 4.2% of the world’s animals live in the rainforest. This statistic it self shows how bad it would be to destroy such essential part of the worlds biodiversity.
...later time. Though it is simply impossible to know what the ultimate effects will be on our long term survival as a species, it is important to bear in mind that, once a species has been eliminated through extinction, it cannot be brought back. So, for the overall health of our rainforests, their biodiversity, and the limitless potential contained therein, it is crucial for us, as humans, to make as honest an effort as possible at their preservation.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
Tropical rainforests have many species of plants and animals. They are very interesting and many scientists today study it. Rainforests are an important part of our environment and it is important for us to protect it. That’s why we have to stop global warming.
There’s an insane amount of medicinal purposes as to why we need the forests. Not even just from plants, there are animals we need in there as well. For example, there’s a snake inside the Amazon whose venom makes you lose blood pressure. Scientists found out which exact chemical makes your blood pressure drop. Once they found it, they knew how to help people that have high blood pressure. The funny thing is that everything that has to do with forest conservation always turns into something with monetary value. In an article read online from “Rainforest.org”, it’s said that, “billions upon billions of dollars have flowed into the world’s economy due to the prescription medication arising from the world’s largess biological ecosystem.” So, if we continue to ruin the world’s forests, the world’s going to run out of medicine to find, and eventually humans will stop getting treated. There’s only one way to face this, and that is through forest conservation.
The social and moral implications of diminishing rainforest biodiversity are great. From a human welfare perspective, the livelihoods of tens of millions of indigenous peoples depend on the forests, but thousands are being pushed out of their homes because they lack the shelter and support that the forest once gave them (Salim 3). These groups have "developed knowledge and cultures in accordance with their environment through thousands of years, and even physically they are adapted to the life in the forest" (Nyborg). For many of the people living in these areas, the forest is the only resource they have providing them with food, shelter and cultural ties. With the invasion and destruction of their homeland, rainforest peoples are also disappearing.