Rainforest Deforestation



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Our Earth's Rainforest are declining at a startling rate. There are over 100,000 acres being destroyed everyday. At the current rate experts believe that our rainforests will be wiped out in less than 40 years. There are many reasons why our rainforests are declining. We have destroyed our forests for agriculture, fuelwood, cattle ranches, and the logging industry. Other indirect causes of deforestation are poverty, debt burden, and overpopulation. There are many species that have been extinct or will become extinct because of deforestation, and if we continue to deforest many more will become extinct as well. According to a study by the University of Maryland, the earth as a whole lost 2.3 million square kilometers of tree cover between 2000-12, largely due to logging, fire, disease or storms. However, the planet also gained 800,000 square kilometers of new forest, translating into a net loss of 1.5 million square kilometers, equal to the size of Mongolia. We tend to forget that we need the rainforests in order to survive.



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