Tropical rainforests take in vast quantities
of carbon dioxide (a poisonous gas which mammals exhale) and through the
process of photosynthesis, converts it into clean, breathable air. In fact, the
tropical rainforests are the single greatest terrestrial source of air that we
breathe.
What’s truly amazing,
however, is that while the tropical rainforests cover just 2% of the Earth's
land surface, they are home to two-thirds of all the living species on the
planet. Additionally, nearly half the medicinal compounds we use every day come
from plants endemic to the tropical rainforest. If a cure for cancer or the
common cold is to be found, it’ll almost certainly come from the tropical
rainforests.
Tragically, the tropical
rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. According to Rainforest
Action Network, more than an acre-and-a-half is lost every second of every day
(refer to the entries below to see, quantitatively, what that translates into).
That’s an area more than twice the size of Florida that goes up in smoke every
year!
“If present rates of
destruction continue, half our remaining rainforests will be gone by the year
2025, and by 2060 there will be no rainforests remaining.” http://www.savetherainforest.org
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