Due to the widespread effects of deforestation, the medicines yet to be found in the forest will remain undiscovered, and the global warming, polluted air, and damaging weather patterns will only continue to increase.

             Tropical rain forests cover a very small portion of the world, yet contain at least half of all plant and animal species (Gay 8). This however does not include the millions of insects that live in the forests. Scientists believe that of the 20 million species of plants and animals identified, there are still another 30 million unidentified deep in the rain forests (Chadwick and Sartore 17). .

             More than half of all the plant species in the rain forests are trees. The rate of deforestation has risen since the 1500"s, and more plant and animal species have died each year. An area of 125,000 square miles disappears every year, and along with it thousands of plant and animal species that will never be seen again (Richardson 106). When rain forests are cut down, the large animals of the forests, such as leopards and apes have a tough time surviving in smaller habitats. This is one of the major factors in the extinction of the animals in the rain forests. The possible usefulness of forest materials to medicine, agriculture, and industry has only just begun to be explored. "At a snap of the fingers, an acre of tropical rain forest literally disappears" (Gay 11). In spite of the fact that forest products are very useful to humans, less than 50 percent of the original tropical rain forests remain (Vandermeer and Perfecto10). At this rate of deforestation, all tropical rain forests will be gone in a very short amount of time. .

             Tropical rain forests that are being cut down at an alarming rate have many uses in every day life, but are more useful left alone. Every year 12 million acres of tropical rain forests are cut down for logging, farming, cattle ranching, mining, timber, and other wood products (Tangley 69).