Unknown Plants and Species

Are there any unknown plants in rainforests?

Scientists are continuing to discover new species of plants and animals. Many rainforest plants provide us with food and medicine. One quarter of the Western medicines that we use today are derived from plants, yet less than one percent of these tropical trees and plants have been screened by scientists for pharmaceutical properties. Tropical forests have given us chemicals to treat or cure inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes, muscle tension, surgical complications, malaria, heart conditions, skin diseases, arthritis, glaucoma and hundreds of other maladies.

How do rainforests affect the Earth's climate?

Around the world, rainforests store an estimated 610 billion tons of carbon. By absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, storing the carbon and giving us fresh, clean oxygen to breathe, tropical forests act as the Earth's thermostat, regulating temperatures and weather patterns. More than 20 perecent of the world's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest. Excess carbon dioxide produced by cars, industry and uncontrolled logging and burning in tropical forests all contribute to global warming.