The earth is considered one of the most beautiful planets in the universe. It is the only planet in the galaxy that has enough water to support life. Unfortunately, the planet is suffering due to many environmental problems that may affect people, societies, and ecosystems. These problems can result in major consequences for everyone's daily life. The major environmental problems that are facing the world today are deforestation, global warming, and water pollution.
The decimation of Earth's forest is one of the most serious global environmental problems (Paul and Anne 162). Deforestation can affect biodiversity, the atmosphere, and land. The loss of forest means the loss of many habitats for many species. The current statistics shows that as many as 100 species become extinct every day with a large portion being attributed to deforestation (Innes). This unnatural extinction of species endangers the world's food supply, threatens many human resources and has profound implications for biological diversity (Steger and Bowermaster 100). The lack of biodiversity and a reduced planetary gene pool could have many unforeseen ramifications, some of which could be fatal to the future (Innes).
Many valuable chemical compounds are created in the jungles. Alkaloids, a small plant from Madagascar is proven effective in treating Hodgkin's disease and childhood leukemia. Curare, made from plant that grows only in the Amazon, is used in heart operations as a muscle relaxant. More than 225 rain forest plants from Costa Rica alone are thought to be potential anti-cancer agents. Unfortunately, as the forests are cut, many of these potentially life-saving tropical plants disappear forever. (Steger and Bowermaster 102).
When an area of rainforest is either cut down or destroyed, there are various climate changes that happen as a result. Because of the exposure to the sun, the soil gets baked and the lack of canopy leaves nothing to prevent the moisture from quickly evaporating into the atmosphere.
