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Deforestation of The Rainforests Essay

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Rainforest Deforestation
The intensity of the beauty of the rainforest is indescribable and timeless, and cannot be simply captured by a photograph. It’s one of nature’s most mystical biological treasures, created over millions of years. However, the rainforest is far from just being a beautiful refuge for exotic animals because also rainforests have a profound effect on the lives of humans around the world. Most people are simply not educated about deforestation and the distinct characteristics that rainforests possess which are vital to our existence. This ignorance is leading to the evitable extinction of rainforests around the world, and will profoundly affect every human being on the planet. In the past, rainforests covered near 14% …show more content…

Every acre in the rainforest is suggested to house over 750 different types of trees and 1,500 different species of plants. Devastatingly, this incredibly diverse kingdom is being destroyed everyday at the hands of men. Over 50,000 species of plants and animals have become extinct every year due to deforestation (Taylor).
There is no doubt that you, or someone you know, has been affected by a plant-derived medication found in the rainforests. For example, a plant called the periwinkle contains the basis of a special drug called Vincristine. Vincristine is one of the world’s most powerful anti-cancer drugs and has saved thousands of children with Leukemia since its discovery. However, the periwinkle is just one of the hundreds of plant species used in western medicine, seeing that 25% of all western medicine is derived from specific ingredients found only in rainforests ("Facts on the Rainforest"). Given that scientists have only had the opportunity to study 1% of all plant life in the rainforest, we could literally be killing the cures for many devastating diseases: “The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest” (Taylor). In addition to their medicinal value, rainforests are also considered the earth’s powerhouse for oxygen, and scientists estimate that forty percent of our oxygen is created there ("Rainforest Biomes"). Therefore, the

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