Tropical (热带的) rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and according to a new report by Rainforest Foundation Norway, humans are to blame. The world's dependence on coal, farming, beans, palm oil and mining has resulted in two-thirds of Earth's tropical rainforests being completely destroyed, and the remaining ecosystems being put closer to a tipping point.
Tropical rainforests once covered 14. 5 million square kilometers of Earth's surface, but now, just one-third of that remains undamaged. Of the original area tropical rainforests once occupied, 34% is completely gone and 30% is suffering from damage. All that remains is roughly 9. 5 million square kilometers, and 45% of that is in a degraded (恶化) state, the report says.
Researchers blame human consumption for the loss. While agriculture has always been a driving factor of rainforest loss, the report said that energy consumption, international trade and the production of beans and palm oil, logging and mining have been the largest threats (威胁) over the past century. A significant number of US products rely on resources from tropical rainforests. The country heavily relies on palm oil, rubber and cocoa, all of which come from forests around the world. Often, these resources are harvested from illegally destroyed lands.
Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of the Earth's biodiversity and have more carbon in living organisms than any other ecosystem. In addition to supporting significant animal life, tropical rainforests are also necessary for slowing down global warming. These unique ecosystems are suffering from constant abuse, through our bottomless appetite for land and resources, said Anders Krogh, the author of the report. "We expect that upcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits provide specific targets and measures to protect tropical rainforests.
The researchers also believe that the loss of tropical rainforests puts the whole world at the risk of future diseases. "Huge deforestation (毁林) is violating nature's natural virus protection systems," Krogh said." The outbreak of COVID-19 should bring rainforest protection to the top of the agenda of all policy makers and world leaders concerned about preventing the outbreak of new diseases."
