Greatest Extinction Since the End of the Age of Dinosaurs？
The atmosphere and oceans are not the only parts of the environment being damaged. Rain forests are being quickly destroyed as well， and their survival is questionable. E.O. Wilson， a biologist1 at Harvard， called the depletion2 of rain forest areas " the greatest extinction3 since the end of the age of dinosaurs4."
Unlike some environmental issues，rain forest depletion has fortunately received significant public and media attention.Despite the opposition5 to the cutting down6 of rain forests，the problem continues. Every year，Brazil chops7 down an area of forest the size of the state of Nebraska.In addition to8 the Amazon's rain forests， many other forests are being cut down as well.In Indonesia， Zaire9，Papua-New Guinea， Malaysia，Burma10，the Philippines，Peru，Colombia，Bolivia，and Venezuela11，rain forests that were once great have been lost.
According to some estimates， 50 million acres of rain forest are cut down every year. The United Nations says the figure is closer to 17 million acres. The World Wildlife Fund says that every minute， 25 to 50 acres are cut or burned to the ground.
The world's growing population has been a primary cause of rain forest destruction. More people need land to live on and wood products to consume. Limiting population growth may be the first in a series of steps that would limit the destruction of the rain forests.
恐龍時代以后的最磊規模滅絕？
環境破壞并非只限于大氣和海洋。熱帶雨林也在迅速地遭到毀壞，它們能否幸存都是一個未知數。哈佛的生物學家E.O.威爾遜把熱帶雨林地區的毀盡稱做"恐龍時代以后最大規模滅絕".
與環境的一些其他問題不同，熱帶雨林的減少已經幸運地引起了公眾與媒體的高度重視。然而盡管反對濫砍亂伐的呼聲不斷，該問題依然繼續存在。每年巴西砍伐的森林面積相當于內布拉斯加州的大小。除了亞馬孫河流域的熱帶雨林，其他地區的許多熱帶森林也正在受到不斷的砍伐。在印度尼西亞、扎伊爾、巴布亞新幾內亞、馬來西亞、緬甸、菲律賓、秘魯、哥倫比亞、波利維亞和委內瑞拉，曾是龐大的熱帶雨林已經消失。
據一些人士估計，每年遭砍伐的熱帶雨林面積達5000萬英畝。聯合國稱實際數字更接近1700萬英畝。世界野生動物基金會說每分鐘有25到50英畝的熱帶雨林樹木被砍伐或燒毀。
世界人口的日益增長是造成熱帶雨林破壞的一個主要原因。越來越多的人需要土地來生活以及木制品來消費。控制人口的增長或許是一系列遏制熱帶雨林毀滅的步驟中的第一步。
注釋：
1.biologist n.生物學家
2.depletion n.耗盡，枯竭
3.extinction n.消亡
4.dinosaur n.恐龍
5.opposition n.反對
6.cut down砍倒，殺死
7.chop vt.砍，劈，斬，剁
8.in addition to除…之外（還）
9.Zaire 扎伊爾（非洲中部國家）
10.Burma 緬甸（東南亞國家）
11.Venezuela 委內瑞拉（南美洲北部國家）
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