The health of the Rainforest is the key to our Survival
Life on this Earth cannot exist without our Rainforests. This not new news, and yet still our Rainforests are being thoughtlessly destroyed. Every moment brings us closer to a world devoid of life, yet those ignorant to the consequences still persist. Why? What motivations, besides greed, can bring about that which will serve to devastate this planet? Is man truly so bent on self-destruction?
My daughter and are at present studying the Biomes of this planet, and the Rainforest. In our home studies we must learn those integral parts that make up this Earth. The biosystems, ecosystems and all that lives in the natural world and keeps this planet in balance. It is quite disturbing to try to answer her many questions, and she is becoming quite alarmed with the current events happening around our planet, and with good cause. It is sad to think of what the world will be when she is grown, and the daunting task we are setting forth for our children. She asks me “What will I tell my children, Mama?”.
I try so hard to paint a picture of all the wonders in nature, yet it is quite difficult to do when nature is disappearing so rapidly. The virgin Rainforests are home to 61.8% of all the biological diversity on Earth. In this, the richest environment for life, we are destroying a land area which is equivalent to the size of the city of Tokyo Japan ( 240 square miles ) every day. This equals 6417 acres per hour, 107 acres per minute or 1.78 acres per second. This issue of Rainforests destruction and mass species extinctions is the #1 issue facing humanity. If we do not stop this NOW, it will be too late.
It is believed, based on the Fibonacci series of numbers which are found throughout nature, that there are approximately 560 Rainforests species extinctions per day. This equals one Rainforests species extinction every 2 minutes and 33 seconds. We are but a strand in the fabric of life, all intricately interdependent on one another. And yet here we are, in the mere geological blink of an eye, eroding the very foundation of our own existence with mass species extinctions. This 6th great mass extinction period on Earth that we are insanely causing by the suicidal annihilation of the Web of Life, will very soon bring about our own extinction.
The Omega Point is the point in time, when all of the devastation we have inflicted over the years to our life support ecosystems finally becomes too much and they irreversibly fail, no longer able to sustain Homo Sapiens. What this translates into for our future generations is an ever increasingly nightmarish slippery slope to extinction.
Rainforests are some of the world’s most ancient and complex ecosystems. They cover a mere 2% of the Earth, yet more than half of all plant and animal species live there. The rainforest is home to creatures as famous as the jaguar and poison dart frog, as well as lesser-known and even unidentified species.
I will be following up soon with more about the life that still exists within the rainforest.
“This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Chief Seattle
Forests and Trees
While “General Sherman” may be the world’s biggest tree, the world’s tallest tree is another giant sequoia named “Harry Cole.” Harry measures over 112 meters from base to crown – the height of a 37-story building!
29.6 per cent of the world’s land area is covered by forest. About 10 per cent of that is in Canada. Rain forests generate about 40 per cent of the world’s oxygen. A 30 meter tree with 200,000 leaves can suck up 43,000 litres of water and breathe it into the air in just one growing season. Medicine in aspirins originally came from the bark of a willow tree. One acre of trees can absorb over 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide in a year. Every ton of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and saves 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity – enough energy to heat the average home for six months.
“We cannot win this battle to save the species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well — for we will not fight to save what we do not love.”
