Rainforests are our friends and it's heartbreaking to say that we are slowly, but surely losing them.

    Most people wouldn't give a second thought to the tropical rainforests. They are out of sight so therefore they are also out of mind. All of us tend to forget that the rainforest provides for us. And every once in a while we need to be reminded. They are the home to some animals (ones we know about and the ones yet to be uncovered). The rainforest, also gives us the gifts of some of the foods we enjoy and the medicines that we need to fight disease. The rainforest holds the key to our future.

    The tropical rainforest have and are good to mankind. But what have we done to them? At one point in time the rainforest covered 14% of earth's surface, now the only cover 6%. Experts say that the remaining rainforest could be consumed in forty years.

    Think about that for a second. That's not in the distant future. That time is right now, in our lifetime. Our grandchildren will only know rainforest and it's contributes through history textbooks. Is that what we want for ourselves and generations to come? Here are some facts to consider:

    ½ acres of rainforest are lost every second 
    More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plant, animals and insects live in tropical rainforest 
    Nearly half of the world's species will be destroyed or threatened in the next quarter of a century 
    There was at one time 10 million Indians living in the Amazon Rainforest. Today there are less than 20,000. 
    The rainforest provides 3,000 fruits 
    At least 80% of the develop world's diet originated in the tropical forest 
    More than 20% of the world's oxygen is provided by the rainforest 
    Rainforest are being destroyed because the value of the land is seen as timber by short sighted government, multi-national logging companies and land owners 
    Sources of destruction:

    Commercial logging (main cause) 
    Clearing land for gazing animals and substance farming 
    Government (leading threat) 

    雨林是我們的朋友，但是毫無疑問，我們正慢慢地失去這個朋友，真令人痛心。

    大多數人都不會想到熱帶雨林。他們遠離我們的視野,因而也遠離我們的思慮。我們往往會忘記雨林為我們提供了什么，我們需要不時被提醒。雨林是某些動物生存的家園，這些動物有些是已知的，有的則尚未被發現。雨林也提供了我們喜愛的食物和對抗疾病所需的藥材。雨林掌握著我們未來的鑰匙。

    熱帶雨林對人類至關重要。然而我們對雨林做了什么呢？雨林曾覆蓋地球表面的14%，現在只剩下6%。專家說現存的雨林有可能在四十年內被消耗殆盡。

    想想吧!四十年并不是遙遠的未來。那就發生在我們的有生之年。我們的子孫后代將只能從歷史教科書上了解雨林。 那是我們自己以及我們的后代想要的嗎？我們需要深思以下幾個方面:

    ·雨林每秒鐘消失半英畝。

    ·全世界估計有1000萬動植物、昆蟲物種，一半以上棲息在熱帶雨林。

    ·未來二十五年里,將近一半物種會被破壞或生存受到威脅。

    ·曾經有1000萬印第安人生活在亞馬遜熱帶雨林，今天剩下不到兩萬人。

    ·雨林提供3000種水果。

    ·至少80%的食物原產自熱帶雨林。

    ·雨林提供的氧氣占大氣氧量的20%以上。

    ·雨林之所以被破壞是因為目光短淺的政府、跨國伐木公司及土地所有者只看到土地的木料價值。

    破壞源:

    ·商業采伐(主要破壞源)

    ·為放牧動物和農業耕作進行的土地開墾

    ·政府(主要威脅)