Technology and the Rainforest :: essays research papers

With all the technological advancements, the rain forest has been greatly effected. Not only have the trees been cut down but also there have positive aspects to the technology concerning this precious resource. Peter White, a chief writer for National Geographic magazine once said, " The tropical rain forest may well be nature’s chief liberty of experience from which all of humanity can learn, not only how to do things but also what a vast variety of things may be possible"(24). We all can learn from this for, the rain forest is a key to our environment and with all the technology destroying it and barely replacing it we all should think about what is happening and what can be done to save it. With the great progression of technology through this century the rain forest has rapidly been destroyed. Being the home of nearly 50% of all species, the rain forest is a resource that should and must be saved. It is once thought that the tropical rain forest once spanned the great space of 1.5 billion hectares. But as the time goes on slowly that number diminishes. In the year 2000 it is theorized that there will only be 900 hectares left on this world (Palmer/4). Even though there is not any rain forest in the United states, the rain forest greatly effects us in ways not known to all. Many medicines are found in the rain forest and many of them treat common diseases. Malaria for example is a disease that has it’s treatment coming from quinine, taken form the cinchona tree in Peru. Also when you have surgery, d-tarbocuranine is greatly relied on as a muscle relaxer. It is made form curare, derived from an Amazonian liana (Palmer/23). This research shows that the m! edicinal aspect of the rain forest is definitely needed for the advancement of technology itself. Much of the new technology being made in the times that we are living in now, relies on the rain forest. The packaging in which all the new stereos and CD players are shipped, come from the trees. These trees are cut down into small pieces to make cardboard for the selfish needs of humanity (White 28). A massive amount of women have been on birth control and one of the major components of the pill is diosgenin. This is made from wild yams found in Mexico (Palmer 23). This draws the conclusion that the technology that we have now might not be as advanced with out the rain forest. But at the same time the technology that we are developing are having the adverse effect on the source of the advancement. Rain forest depletion is a real problem in the world