The problem of deforestationThe world's forests are in grave danger. Over half of the original forest cover has been destroyed and the situation is set to worsen unless the current alarming rate of deforestation is controlled. Every minute, approximately 26 hectares of forest are lost – an area equivalent to 37 football fields – and it is not difficult to understand that if this continues we will end up with a planet without forests. This would be catastrophic: not only are forests home to some of the earth's most important species, they also play a vital role in regulating the climate and making the planet habitable. Much of the land was once covered by trees, but most of these were cleared long ago to make way for an ever-expanding human population. This is especially true in temperate regions such as Britain and other parts of Europe, where agriculture quickly took over the landscape and has now reduced large forests to tiny pockets across the landscape. However, it is only relatively recently that tropical forests have come under serious attack. On a global scale, at the beginning of the 20th century the tropical forest was twice the size it is today, and of the original 1.5 billion hectares only about 700 million remain. The rate of deforestation in Africa is a cause for extreme concern: approximately four million hectares. hectares of forest are destroyed every year, to the point that 45% of its original forest cover has disappeared. Commercial logging, clearing for agriculture, roads and railways, forest fires, mining and drilling, firewood harvesting and clearing...... middle of paper ......all of nature is a vast interconnected system that currently exists in a more or less balanced state. Tampering with such important factors as rainforests could cause irreversible damage to the world as we know it. A further consequence of deforestation concerns the scientific possibilities that would be lost with the disappearance of tropical rainforests. It is estimated that only a small fraction of the plants and animals that live in rainforests have been identified, and some scientists speculate that many of these could hold the key to finding cures for some of the deadliest diseases known to man. For example, the US National Cancer Institute has cataloged approximately 3,000 plants with anticancer properties, 70% of which are found in tropical forests. Who knows what other secrets the rainforests hide?