Environmental Causes: Cause And Effects Of Tropical Rainforests

Question: Causes and effect of tropical rainforest deforestation

Most rainforests occur in tropical regions of the world, though temperate rainforest habitat is in certain higher latitude areas of every continent. A rainforest is described as tall, hot and dense forest near the equatorial regions generally being the most densely vegetated and having the highest biodiversity of both plants and animals and is believed to be the oldest living ecosystems on Earth which gets maximum amount of rainfall. Most of the rainforests in this world are located around the middle of earth like South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The countries taking the biggest share of rainforests include Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, Bolivia, Angola, Mexico,

At least two-thirds of the total plant species grows in the rainforests. The hot and humid climate of rainforest is very supportive to the growth of plants and animals. It is believed that there will be many millions of species of plants, insects and micro-organisms thriving in rainforest which have not been discovered still. The main benefit of rainforests is that they supply much of the earth’s oxygen. They absorb carbon dioxide produced by man-made activities and produce oxygen on which all humans and animals survive. They also contain millions of species of exotic plants and animals. Rainforest supplies many things essential for the survival of human and other living

A tragic effect of the loss of the rainforest is the extinction of plants and animals that could provide us with food, medicine or valuable products. Thousands of species disappear each year. This leads to a poorer world with less biodiversity. One surprising result of the destruction of the rainforest is that soils and nutrients are washed away. When the trees are cut down, the soil is exposed to the heavy rain and quickly becomes infertile and useless. The forest cannot grow again, and the people who used the land have to move on. One of the most serious effects is global warming. When the trees in the rainforest are cut down, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide acts as a blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and warming the planet. This can have huge consequences for the world’s