Human impact on the tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are an important biome because they provide 40% of Earth's oxygen, they take in carbon dioxide, and have one of the highest levels of biodiversity and cultural diversity of any biome. People use the tropical rainforest for medicine, food, timber, travel, homes, farms, and spices. To meet human's needs, 30 acres of the tropical rainforest are being cut down every minute. Scientists estimate that tropical rainforests the size of Pennsylvania are being chopped down each year and that if the deforestation continues at this rate then the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Tropical rainforests used to cover 14% of the world, but they now only cover 6%. There is an estimated 137 plants and animals being lost every day due to the destruction of the tropical rainforest and there are approximately 50,000 species lost a year including medicinal plants. The destruction of tropical rainforests is leading to erosion, is limiting terrestrial biodiversity, is taking away many of the world's medicinal plants and could alter the Earth's patterns of rainfall and wind and ocean currents because the tropical rainforest plays such a vital role in the Earth's water cycle.