RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION

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Term Paper Title	RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION
# of Words	1081
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.32

RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION

“This we know- the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” –Chief Sealth of the Duwamish Tribe. (Nations,108).
Rainforests are some of the most valuable resources we have, yet they are
being destroyed in massive proportions. Many medicines, foods, natural insecticides and oil producing trees are found in the rainforest. (Nations, 92). The rainforest also holds endless possibilities for useful, undiscovered resources. These could include cures for disease and new food crops that will be wiped out before they are found because of the destruction of the rainforests.(Nations, 93). The rainforest is also home to millions of species of animals, plants and insects as well.(Allin, 1). It is estimated that five out of six rainforest species have never been seen. (Nations, 92) This adds up to millions of organisms that have never before been encountered. This demonstrates that more species live in the rainforest than any other ecosystem on earth, and we are obliterating their only habitat. (Nations, 91). The rainforest is also a big producer of the world’s oxygen supply. (Mercer & Green, 4). When we destroy the rainforest, we are destroying our own oxygen supply. This essay will explain the causes for rainforest destruction in Central and South America only. Massive destruction of our precious rainforests is caused by logging, colonization due to over-population, and cattle ranching. (Nations, 93)
     The first major cause of mass destruction in the rainforest is logging. There can be as many as 200 different species of trees on one acre of land.
(Allin, 1). This high number of different species of trees means there is only a few commercially valuable trees per acre.(Nations, 99). Trees considered commercially valuable are mahogany and tropical cedar. (Nations, 99). These trees are used for paneling, boats and furniture.(Nations, 99). Loggers must bulldoze roads through the forest to find enough of these valuable trees to make a profit. (Mercer & Green, 4). This consumes many other trees that are in the way of the road. The trees in the rainforest are connected at the top with vines, so when one commercially valuable tree gets cut down, on average 17 other non-commercially valuable trees fall down with it. (Nations, 100). Because of th...

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