How green are you?

Every day, another section of the world’s tropical rainforests is cut down, burned down, bulldozed down. The mass destruction of the rainforests of the Americas, Africa and South-East Asia will have a more devastating effect on everyone than a pile of chopped-down trees could ever tell. Killing the rainforests will change the world’s climate and the effect could be as severe as that of nuclear war. And, if the tree clearance continues at the same rate, the rainforests will have disappeared in 50 years time. Gone with them will be half the species alive on earth. Gone, too, will be possible cures for AIDS and cancer from the wildlife and plants which have already proven themselves as an invaluable source for so many remedies. Rare and beautiful animals, birds and plants will be wiped out. And, of course, there’s the plight of the rainforest people themselves.

If you’re still not sure how you are affecting the plight of the rainforests and how what happens there affects you, think on. Western appetites for hamburgers and a meat-heavy diet has caused acres and acres of trees in America to be failed to provide land for cattle farming. Without trees to ’fix’ it, soil is washed away from mountainsides, leaving bare slopes, which leads to an atmosphere called the ’greenhouse effect’, which in turn leads to strange weather patterns thousands of miles away. Another side effect of cropping trees is crop failure. Water sources dry up and countries like Ethiopia suffer drought.

Already, many people are using their fame to give the rainforest issue attention. You, too, can get involved. Contact Friends of the Earth and Living Earth for info on what they’re doing to halt the destruction and how you can help.

19 Sept 88.

O que são "Friends of the Earth" e "Living Earth"?