Before 1900, rainforests covered 14% of the world's surface. Today they cover 7%. The reason for this is simple. They have been cut down to provide land, paper, wood, medicines, minerals, and fuel. But it's not only trees which are disappearing. Every rainforest also contains millions of animals, insects and flowers. These are destroyed, too. If man continues to cut down rainforests, more than one millions species of plants and animals will become extinct by the year 2030.
Governments in rainforest countries need to plan and work together. They should also protect certain areas and plant new forests.
ENERGY
At the moment, 94% of the world's energy comes from fossil fuels. There's enough coal for the next 300 years, but only enough gas and oil for the next 50. What happens then? Well, one answer is nuclear energy. But after the Chemobyl disaster in 1986, many people think nuclear power isn't safe
There are four Green Solutions. They all use natural energy already in the environment. Wind energy (Britain's first 'wind farm' opened in Scotland in 1988); Solar energy (from the sun); Wave energy (from the sea); Geothermal energy (from 'hot rocks' under the Earth).