Essay On Deforestation In America

Goodbye Green: Deforestation in America

Small beads of water hang precariously from the tips of wide green leaves over 100 feet above the ground. Every inch of space on the way down is packed with color, from the vivid greens of leaves, mosses, and vines, to the rainbow of orchids and bromeliads hanging from the interwoven webs of branches. In addition to their natural beauty, forests are a vital part of the Earth’s natural environment. They are home to some of the most biodiverse conditions on the planet and are a source of materials used by humans everywhere: food, shelter, medicine, and more. Despite the absolute vitality of healthy forest environments, deforestation is destroying swaths the size of Panama every year. There are many types of forests, ranging from the coniferous evergreens in the taiga to the temperate and deciduous forests of North America to the tropical palms of pacific islands, but tropical rainforests are the most commonly destroyed for a variety of purposes. Lush rainforests once covered over 16% of the Earth’s surface. They now cover around 2% and that number is dwindling. Forests like these

Materials like timber and paper products are an obvious material commonly sought after in forests as well as cocao and coffee but the most significant of the many resources of forests are modern medicines. Over 25% of modern medicine come from plants discovered in rainforests including 70% of the plant-based medicines used to treat cancer. Over 2,000 different species of plants have been discovered to help treat cancer alone and less than 1% of the species of plants in tropical rainforests have been analyzed to determine their medical value. Over 56,000 square miles of natural forest containing lifesaving medicines are lost each