The rainforest, the "earth's lungs," is the greatest source of air that we as humans and animals breathe ("Facts"). Rainforests only cover approximately 2 percent of the world's total land mass, but they are home to over two-thirds of all living species. However, the rainforests are depleting at an alarming rate. Things such as logging, agriculture (including shifted cultivators, cash crops, and cattle ranching), fuel wood, large dams, mining and industry, colonization schemes, and tourism all affect the depletion of the rainforests. Many people devote their lives to saving the rainforests, and try their whole life to stop industries from destroying them.

Rainforests are not only the largest supply of oxygen we have, but it also supplies us with half of the medicinal compounds we need. "If a cure for cancer or AIDS is to be found, it'll almost certainly come from the tropical rainforests." ("Facts") Every second we...