Human Interactions
Biodiversity is the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Biodiversity is very precious and worth preserving. Biodiversity is very beneficial and valuable to society. It contributes to medicine, agriculture, and the provision of ecosystem goods and services.
Many factors of human interaction have negatively affected the tropical rainforest environment. Waste has been dumped into rainforests for many years. For example, production of oil by Texaco in Ecuador rainforests led to the company dumping millions of gallons of toxic waste into rainforests that acted as pollution recipients. Another negative factor is deforestation. When people slash and burn forests, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere causing global warming and air pollution. When loggers extract trees from the rainforest, they leave behind wood chips that pose as a danger for forest fires. Every year, tens of thousands of forest fires are set. The use of heavy machinery can even lead to soil compaction. The removal of trees can cause nutrient depletion in the rainforest. Mining causes waterways to have pollution in them causing fish and other sea animals to become endangered and inedible. Oil spills can lead to water pollution, soil pollution, and air pollution. Effects of oil spills are cancer, tumors, deformities in newborns, and destruction of aquatic life.
A positive human interaction would be medicine. There is an estimated 3,000 plants on the Earth that can be used to actively fight cancer. About 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest. About 25% of the ingredients in today's cancer-fighting medication are solely found in the rainforest. If the rainforest was destroyed, humans would lose its natural pharmacy.
The best thing that you can do to help the rainforest is to join an organization that is already protecting rainforests. They are already preserving rainforests and doing everything that they can to save them. They protect individual species from extinction and preserve natural habitats and ecosystems. They protect the Golden Lion Tamarind monkeys. This monkey is the most endangered of all rainforest animals. It is nearly extinct because of its valuable fur which can bring $20,000 on the black market. Some organizations include Rainforest Relief, The Rainforest Foundation, and The Rainforest Action Network.
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