Tropical rainforests are thought to posses more plants and animals than any other forests on earth. Most tropical rainforests are located around and near the equator, they have existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years. But they are among the most endangered ecosystems globally due to humans. They are an important part of human life and are know as the “lungs of the planet” they have many animals, and many natural medicines come from tropical rainforests. Because of there importance it is vital that we should try to conserve them. Tropical rainforests are home to some of the most beautiful plants and animals in the world, such as Jaguars and the Rafflesia flower, not only are they home to rare species but also “at least half of the known species of plants and animals in the world are found within tropical rainforests” (Park, 1993, pg.26). So many plants and animals live in tropical rainforests because rainforests are the earth’s oldest living ecosystems. So destroying tropical rainforest will mean that many of these species will become extinct, but these are species we know about “It is estimated that from 10 million to more than 100 million species are still undiscovered” (Garrick, 2008, pg.126). So if destroyed there could be many undiscovered species that will never be found. The Amazon rainforest has the most variety of species on the planet. It is also home to approximately 8600 species of birds, to put it into comparison you can compare the number of hummingbird species of the Amazon rainforest around 319 to the 27 found in the USA, which shows the how diverse rainforests are.
Because tropical rainforests cover large areas, cutting them down can lead to global warming. This is because when forests are cut down it causes higher concentrations of greenhouse gases. Specifically deforestation causes high level of carbon dioxide, it is released when forests are burned or when they