verse areas in the world. They cover less than ten percent of the earths land, yet contain two thirds of all plant biomass and half of all the species on earth. Even worse, because of free trade, there are no laws prohibiting this deadly procedure. There are thousands, if not millions, of species present in the rainforests that have yet to be documented. However, if their habitats continue to be destroyed, we will never be aware of their existence and learn of what secrets they may hold.A good illustration of this problem involves loggers and the threatened yew tree. Until recent awareness of the problem, loggers would go into forests and perform the clear cut process. To clear cut means to free the area of all trees, regardless to whether or not theyd be used or left to die. One of the trees that was cut and then left to decay was the yew tree. The yew contains a chemical called taxon which has recently been used as a successful cancer treatment medicine. If recent progress in cancer research had not been performed and the yews had become extinct, we may have missed out on a possible cure, or at least treatment, for a devastating disease.Humans have always felt a special connection with the earth and the now large movement called environmentalism (or the Green Movement) has been slowly growing. At the present time, eight out of ten U.S. citizens consider themselves environmentalists. Because of its growing popularity, politicians are currently trying to find ways to incorporate the protection of the environment into plans for economic growth.One of the early environmentalists in America was Henry David Thoreau. He and other early environmental philosophers embraced the theory of transcendentalismone which regrets a materialistic society. Also, national environmentally concerned organizations (present in the United States) such as the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, and the National Wildlife Federation, were form...
