Rain Forest
This research paper is about the natural wealth of the rain forests. It focuses, in particular, on the priceless treasure of plants that contain ingredients for, as yet, undiscovered drugs. While it is true that ‘saving the rainforest’ movement has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, more work in this direction needs to be done if we are to avoid their complete destruction. Hence, this paper will attempt to bring out the importance of the rainforest in the context of the invaluable wealth it holds and discuss the key question of “ Do we have enough time to discover all of the drugs from the rain forest before we destroy it?” The rainforest is a dense, tropical forest in a region having a high annual rainfall. Rainforest are found mainly in South and Central America (the Amazon), West and Central Africa, Indonesia, parts of Southeast Asia, and tropical Australia. There is no one kind of rainforest although scientists divide them into three broad categories: tropical dry forests, tropical moist forests, and true tropical rainforests. (Britannica Article, 2001) Did you know that the rainforests covered over 15% of the earth’s land surface just 15 years ag
It is important that the reasons behind the rapid destruction of the rainforest are clearly identified. A comprehensive plan for the protection of this most valuable natural treasure also needs to be put in place. It needs to be realized that all of us, irrespective of where we live and what we do, would be the beneficiaries of a scheme that preserves the rainforest. Mining operations also result in destruction of rainforests. This is a particular problem in Brazil which has large reserves of iron ore, gold, precious stones and oil. Large scale mining operations also result in pollution as dangerous pollutants such as mercury are used in strip mining. Constant water runoff in the rainforest carry these pollutants far and wide. It may not be commonly known that Rainforests currently provide sources for one-fourth of today's medicines, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources, and 70% of the plants having anti-cancer properties are found only in the rainforest. The most interesting thing is that scientists have so far tested less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants. (Rainforest Facts, n.d.). This brings us back to our original question of whether we have enough time to discover all the drugs from the rainforest before we destroy it? The answer is that it is not possible to discover all the drugs. Indeed, the rate at which we have managed to destroy the rainforest, we would never know how many invaluable potential drugs have already been lost forever. But there is a very real and viable alternative to destruction of the rainforest. If we follow the alternative we would not have to be involved in a mad rush to discover all the drugs before the forest is destroyed. We would have all the time in the world to conduct our research and benefit from a perpetual natural treasure.
Some topics in this essay:
Wealth Rainforest,
Britannica Article,
Pharmacy World,
Viable Alternative,
Amazon Tropical,
Wealth Rain,
Cancer Institute,
Mining Mining,
Animal Farming,
Amazon Basin,
destruction rainforest,
discover drugs,
02 2001,
october 02 2001,
october 02,
rapid destruction rainforest,
rapid destruction,
wealth rain,
found rainforest,
retrieved october,
importance rainforest,
retrieved october 02,
species plants animals,
operations result,
national cancer institute,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1612
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
More Essays on Rain Forest Professional Papers: |
CUSTOMER SERVICES
|
|
Saved Papers
You haven't saved any papers.
|