Save The Rainforest!
By: Delaney Helgeson
The Rainforest?
Have you ever thought about how much the rainforest affects our lives? It’s probably much more than you think. The rainforest is important to our world because it provides us with many foods and medicines, it is essential to the recycling of water, and produces oxygen and homes for animals.
Foods and Medicines in the Rainforest
The rainforest provides foods, medicines, and spices for people all over the world. You may not know it, but 80% of the world’s diet originally comes from the rainforest. Foods like bananas, coffee, avocados, pineapples, potatoes, rice, chocolate, cinnamon, sugar cane, vanilla, and many more delicious foods are grown in the rainforest. Also, there are so many medicines in the rainforest, many that have even been known to act against cancer cells. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has found about 3,000 plants that fight cancer. 70% of those plants can be found in the rainforest. Are you against cancer? Then be against deforestation.
Recycling Water in the Rainforest
When it rains over the rainforest the plants soak up the water and eventually release it into the air as water vapor during photosynthesis. The moisture in the air evaporates and condenses into clouds, which can travel far around the world. That rainwater refills our lakes, rivers, and waters farmer’s crops. When rainforests are cut down, less moisture evaporates and condenses into clouds, therefore, there is less rain. This could result in a drought. The average canopy tree in the Amazon releases about 200 gallons of water into the air per year. Think of how much water that could be if so many trees weren’t being cut down!
Oxygen and Animals from the Rainforest
Rainforests are often described as “The Lungs of the Earth”. The Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. Not only does the rainforest produce so much oxygen, it is home to so many species of animals and plants. More than half of the world’s species of animals, plants and insects live in the rainforest. About 137 species of plants and animals are being lost every day. If the rainforest is cut down, where will all of the innocent animals, and insects, and plants live?
Ways You Can Help!
The rainforest effects you, your community, and the entire world. If you are interested in helping save the rainforest there are millions of ways you can help:
- When buying things like bananas, coffee, paper and tissue buy the ones that were harvested in a sustainable way or are rainforest safe.
- When you use paper, recycle it when you are finished.
- Support or donate to a save the rainforest program.
Even the small steps make a difference. Now, stop monkeying around and let’s get to the root of this problem!