FACT 3 (deforestation) About half of the world's original forest cover has been destroyed by man, and we continue to wipe out the rainforests at a rate of about 2 acres per second.
Some quotes to illustrate…
The world's forests are being devastated. Nearly half the forests that once covered the earth are gone. In just 15 years, between 1980 and 1995, more than 400 million acres of forest were lost - an area larger than all of Mexico. Even more discouraging, the rate of forest destruction is accelerating. (Solar Living Source Book, Real Goods, 1999, p3)
Tropical rainforests provide between 25%and 40% of all pharmaceutical products. Three thousand plants have anticancer properties; of these 70% inhabit the rainforests. The rainforest contains such a plethora of life that humans have been unable to classify and name all of it. Many species are becoming extinct without their existence ever being recorded. Just under two acres of rainforest are destroyed every second. ( www.therainforestsite.com )
It is estimated that if current wood consumption trends continue, all natural woodland in the former 'homeland' areas of South Africa will be denuded by the year 2020. (Enviro Facts - Energy and Environment, ShareNet, Howick, 1999)

This information was made available by the;
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