Once upon a time, the rainforest was full and plentiful. The vast tropical forests covered over 14 percent of the world. Imagine over fourteen percent of the world looking like this.
Pretty, huh? These rainforests were booming ecosystems, too. Home to millions of species of insects and thousands of birds, mammals and fish. The forest houses vibrant rainbows, not only from the light passing the waterfalls, but also the bright, unforgettable flashes of colours from the animals that inhabit the rainforest.
The Amazon is referred to as "the lungs of the world." The rainforest is more than just a pretty face, because the Amazon produces 20% of the world's oxygen, you could probably say it's sort of vital to the planet (unless you look really good with an oxygen mask).
Pretty, huh? These rainforests were booming ecosystems, too. Home to millions of species of insects and thousands of birds, mammals and fish. The forest houses vibrant rainbows, not only from the light passing the waterfalls, but also the bright, unforgettable flashes of colours from the animals that inhabit the rainforest.
The Amazon is referred to as "the lungs of the world." The rainforest is more than just a pretty face, because the Amazon produces 20% of the world's oxygen, you could probably say it's sort of vital to the planet (unless you look really good with an oxygen mask).
I hope you all have oxygen masks, and I do hope you look dashing in them.
The amount of land the rainforests cover has dropped dramatically from 14% to 6%. Over half of the world's tropical forest area has been permanently lost. In the last 50 years, over 17% of the Amazon has been lost to deforestation. Every minute of your life 36 football fields worth of wood are being lost. 15 minute shower? 540 footballs fields worth of forest.
To be fair, a bit of this is due to climate change, what with the raging wildfires and so on. Fire does have a tendency to destroy. Realistically though, most of the devastation comes from your homeboy, the human.
Tropical logging is the new 'in thing'. Especially for multi-national logging companies. At 400$ a hectare for timber who WOULDN'T be for it? Probably the 90 native tribes in Brazil alone that have been wiped out in the last 20 years by the British. (It's hip to be unsustainable)
You know what else is cool? Land development. Yea, because I guess the people who were ALREADY living there were doing it wrong in the eyes of these people. So they come in, cut down their trees, colonize them or scare them off, and (try to) develop the land.
Did you know that we're losing 50 000 species of plants, animals and insects every year as a result of rainforest deforestation? Did you know that 15% of green house emissions are because of deforestation? Did you know that 1/4 of the active ingredients in cancer fighting medications come from the Amazon?
But seriously, don't worry about it, dude. You don't have to see it so why should you even care (besides the fact that 20% of WHAT YOU BREATHE comes from here)?
The amount of land the rainforests cover has dropped dramatically from 14% to 6%. Over half of the world's tropical forest area has been permanently lost. In the last 50 years, over 17% of the Amazon has been lost to deforestation. Every minute of your life 36 football fields worth of wood are being lost. 15 minute shower? 540 footballs fields worth of forest.
To be fair, a bit of this is due to climate change, what with the raging wildfires and so on. Fire does have a tendency to destroy. Realistically though, most of the devastation comes from your homeboy, the human.
Tropical logging is the new 'in thing'. Especially for multi-national logging companies. At 400$ a hectare for timber who WOULDN'T be for it? Probably the 90 native tribes in Brazil alone that have been wiped out in the last 20 years by the British. (It's hip to be unsustainable)
You know what else is cool? Land development. Yea, because I guess the people who were ALREADY living there were doing it wrong in the eyes of these people. So they come in, cut down their trees, colonize them or scare them off, and (try to) develop the land.
Did you know that we're losing 50 000 species of plants, animals and insects every year as a result of rainforest deforestation? Did you know that 15% of green house emissions are because of deforestation? Did you know that 1/4 of the active ingredients in cancer fighting medications come from the Amazon?
But seriously, don't worry about it, dude. You don't have to see it so why should you even care (besides the fact that 20% of WHAT YOU BREATHE comes from here)?