The rainforest plays a very important role in the lives of humans. A lot of people have no clue of how important it is. As a matter of fact, because of the rainforests, many people have lived. One-fourth of existing medicines are derived from tropical plants whose homes are in the rainforests of South America . For every acre that is lost in the burning season, there is one acre less that we have for possible life saving medicines. About seventy percent of plants used in anti-cancer drugs come from the rain forest. We are slowly destroying ourselves and the environment. Whether we realize it or not, t

It is very devastating to hear of the destruction the rainforests face every day and over the years. In 1974, Brazil started a forest fire of 20.6 million square feet (3,900 square miles). The fire ragged out of control and was later marked the largest forest fire in Brazilian history. This 1974 fire is now considered small to others in the recent years. On average the burning season lasts up to four months out of the whole year. During this period of time, it is not uncommon for the majority of South America to be covered in a thick blanket of smoke. The bulk of these fires, when combined, are equivalent to the great inferno of 1988 at Yellow Stone National Park. Emitted from these devastating fires every year are billions of carcinogens and poisonous gases that end up in the atmosphere. The gases and pollution have been building for many years, and scientists believe that the atmosphere is due to reach its saturation point very soon.

Those responsible for the devastation of the rainforests is the ruthless logging companies along with the complete ignorance of the local peasants and governments that aid in the yearly loss of the hundreds of thousands of acres of essential rainforests. In Latin America cattle ranching for export trade is the chief culprit in rain forest destruction. The bullheaded ranchers fail to see the effects of their burning the land. After land is burned and raped of the minerals the land becomes dead. These are some of the problems but, “Land degradation caused by grazing is by far the greatest challenge in Latin America” (Caufield, 113). There is a false illusion of an endless rainforest, so every couple of years, the ranchers move on an either try and sell the land or burn more of the rain forest and convert it to pastures. The U. S. does not offer much help; the destruction of the rain forests takes five cents off the price of an American h

Some topics in this essay:
South America, Tucurui Dam, South Americans, Park Emitted, War II, London York, Peoples’ Alliance”, America” Caufield, Latin America, Central American, south america, rain forest, rainforests south america, forest fire, effects deforestation, devastation rainforests, reach 150, destruction rainforests, innocent lives, virgin forest, burning season,