热带雨林

苏堤春晓 · 发表于 2007-1-27 09:11:02

苏堤春晓 · 发表于 2007-1-27 09:13:35

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The Disappearing Rainforests
We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.
One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.
Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.
The Wealth of the Rainforests
The Amazon Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world.
The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the \"Lungs of our Planet\" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

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热带雨林蕴藏着世界最丰富多样的生物资源
不同于独立于荒原的针叶林，不同于错落有致的乔木林，热带雨林是铺天盖地的，林木参天蔽日，莽莽苍苍，绵亘上百里。层次和群落都特别丰富，生机茂盛得一丝空隙都不放过。上层是刺破云端的参天古木；底层落叶深厚，花草丛生；中层乔木、蔓藤盘根错节，缠绕不休，不放过一丝阳光。
热带雨林位於赤道附近,平均气温有摄氏27度,而且年平均降雨量有400到1000cm，雨林里茂密的树木在行光合作用时,能吸收二氧化碳释放出大量的氧气，就像在地球上的一个大型\"空气清净机\"所以热带雨林有『地球之肺』的美名。除此之外，热带雨林水汽丰沛,蒸发後凝结成云，再降雨,成为地球水循环的重要部份；不仅有助於土壤肥沃与生物生长，也有调节气候的功能。

热带雨林每年以17万平方公里的速度在地球上消失
雨林是全球最大的陆上供氧站和二氧化碳消纳处，是地球之肺。但大量砍伐和火灾等造成大面积雨林消失。保护热带雨林迫在眉睫。亚马孙的雨林现正处于严重的危险之中，因为人们为了开辟土地来种庄稼，或饲养牲畜来供应美国的肉类市场，正以惊人的速度对它滥伐滥砍。
　
但是人类为了要扩张土地、贩卖木材，每年有将近2、3个台湾大小面积的雨林遭到砍伐，二氧化碳无法为雨林利用，而有加速全球'温室效应'的可能。虽然热带雨林很遥远，但是我们还是可以做一些事来保护它,例如：不要买雨林树木做成的家俱、动物毛皮、与节约用纸。一旦雨林消失了就算我们做再多的补救工作，也无法使它恢复。让我们一起来声援保育热带雨林的活动，为了生长在那儿的生物、为了地球。