Deforestation
Deforestation in a huge problem in the rainforest. Large portions of Amazon forests are cleared as global demand for cattle and soybeans increase. As more and more large ranchers & soybean planters enter the rainforest, they displace more small farmers, forcing them to cut down even more trees to find a place to farm.
Cattle pastures occupy about 80% of deforested areas in the Amazon. Cattle waste and pasture runoff contaminate rivers. Some ranchers manage their fields by using fire, which often spreads into the remaining forests. The climate effects of ranching-related deforestation alone include the release of over 340 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year.
Cattle pastures occupy about 80% of deforested areas in the Amazon. Cattle waste and pasture runoff contaminate rivers. Some ranchers manage their fields by using fire, which often spreads into the remaining forests. The climate effects of ranching-related deforestation alone include the release of over 340 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year.
Diet & Medicine
About 80% of the developed world's diet comes from the rainforest. Common foods such as avocado, bananas, black pepper, Brazil nuts, cashews, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, coconuts, coffee, corn, figs, ginger, grapefruit,
guavas, gum, lemons, mangoes, oranges, pineapples, potatoes, rice, sugarcane, tomatoes, vanilla, winter squash, and yams all came from rainforests.
Rainforest plants also have medicinal uses as well. Approximately 25% of all medicine comes from the rainforest. Curare, an anesthetic, Quinine, a cure for malaria, rosy periwinkle, which treats lymphocyic leukemia, and the cocoa bean (chocolate has been proven to ward off heart disease) all have important health benefits.
There are an estimated 1.500 species of plants that are belived to have some medicinal value. However, we do not know if the trees we cut down or the vines that grow on it may be the cure for cancer or AIDS. This is one of the reasons we should be careful about conserving our resources for the right reasons.
guavas, gum, lemons, mangoes, oranges, pineapples, potatoes, rice, sugarcane, tomatoes, vanilla, winter squash, and yams all came from rainforests.
Rainforest plants also have medicinal uses as well. Approximately 25% of all medicine comes from the rainforest. Curare, an anesthetic, Quinine, a cure for malaria, rosy periwinkle, which treats lymphocyic leukemia, and the cocoa bean (chocolate has been proven to ward off heart disease) all have important health benefits.
There are an estimated 1.500 species of plants that are belived to have some medicinal value. However, we do not know if the trees we cut down or the vines that grow on it may be the cure for cancer or AIDS. This is one of the reasons we should be careful about conserving our resources for the right reasons.