Destroying The Future
The Amazon Holds the Secret to Saving the Planet and Millions of Lives.
Amazonia carries within its boundaries the greatest diversity of species found in any rainforest including the largest assortment of plant life found anywhere on the planet. According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a typical patch of just 4 square miles in area may contain as many as 1,600 species of flowering plants, up to 750 species of trees, 400 different types of birds, 150 species of butterflies, 100 different kinds of reptiles, 60 amphibian species and insect life so abundant that no one has yet been able to document all of them. The Academy estimates that there may be as many as 42,000 species of insects per single hectare equivalent to 2.47 acres. And yet each year, more than 10,000 square miles are lost forever.
Of the 1.4 million rainforest plant species identified by scientists thus far, a mere fraction of one percent has been properly studied for their potential value in medicinal, nutritional, and industrial applications. Currently, medicines derived from these plant species represent a worldwide industry totaling nearly 40 billion dollars annually. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified more than 2,000 tropical rainforest plants that yield chemicals with the potential to fight cancer.
Sad but true, today our planet is threatened by the greatest "extinction spasm" since the one that occurred during the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Amazon Rainforest covers about four percent of the earth's surface and contains more than half of all species found on the planet, many yet undiscovered. Some scientists believe that by the year 2050 a quarter of all species on earth could vanish. They point out that the majority of these are those found in the Amazon Rainforest. Assuming conservatively that 10 million plants and animal species inhabit our planet, this projection translates to between 15,000 and 50,000 species becoming extinct in the tropics each year or roughly 40 to 130 species daily. In his book "Primary Source: Tropical Forests and Our Future", Norman Myers points out that this loss will represent the "greatest single setback to life's abundance and diversity since the first flickering of life almost 4 billion years ago." In 1986, more than 10 years ago, a group of nine leading American biologists warned that the massacre occurring in the Amazon Rainforest is a threat to civilization second only to "thermonuclear war".
Through mankind's continued destruction of this complex ecosystem we are slowly ruining the chances that research scientists have to someday find the cure for cancer and other terminal diseases that today are killing millions and threaten many millions more.
Do you want to make a difference? If your answer is "YES", then together we can change our planet's destiny. Simply sign up as a sponsor of M.I.E's Save the Rainforest programs because our tomorrow depends on our actions today.
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