A report provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations indicates that roughly 7.3 million hectares of forest are lost every year. This is approximately Panama’s size! It is a great catastrophe and the people world over should gather against such mishaps.
I present you some reasons why the rainforests should be taken care of in every sense of the word.
- Millions of species are domiciled in the rainforests. Did it ever click in your mind that over 70% of the animals and plants of the earth have the rainforests as their homes? This is the significance that rainforests have over our ecosystem. Imagine a scenario whereby the world has no rainforests! What would happen to the flora and fauna? Which would be the home of dolphins if all the wet stuff on the earth was done away with? It would be detrimental to imagine and suicidal on their existence.
- The researchers say that there are millions of various species of plants and animals that are not yet discovered. If the current rate of deforestation was to be allowed to continue, then it would be a nightmare to imagine that even a quarter of those discoveries would come to see the light of day. They would be killed before they get to the full discovery. Over 130 species of rainforests are eliminated every other day.
- We all fall sick time and again and we take medicines more often than not. Of all the medicines we use, 25% of them originate from the rainforests. This statistic is only 1% of the species of the rainforests that have been researched on for medicinal value. Imagine what more the trees have if they were researched on all of them! It is not a crazy thought to imagine that some of diseases that trouble us such as HIV and malaria could have their cure on the trees not yet touched for research.
- The water cycle is regulated in all manner of sense by the rainforests. The trees store up water in their roots and later release it into the air hence playing a major role in water cycle. More than 50% of the water in the world’s ecosystem is held up in the Amazon. Imagine a scenario where we had no plants. We would be having a drier and drier climate making it impossible to live on earth.
- A great percentage of the food we eat originate from the Amazon. These foods include nuts, coffee beans, pineapples, and bananas among many others. The current deforestation rate stands at about 45-57 thousand square miles every year. This is an equal measure to over 35 fields of football for every single minute! What a statistic?! This means that our supply of food will be significantly affected.
- Deforestation greatly affects the economies of the world. Some of the effects are increased flooding areas, impassable bridges that close roads therefore affecting the transport network.
Well, today, I will make you aware of the bitter truth that the world and every single species living are facing from, and for all the consequences, only we humans are responsible.