Rainforests supply the world drugstore. Twenty-five percent of all drugs were derived from rainforest organisms. Curare, a muscle relaxant used in surgery, ipecac for dysentery, and quinine for malaria are all drugs from rainforests. Not only do many drugs come from rainforests, but rainforests also provide a future resource. Along with food and drugs, rainforests provide other useful resources.
World climate is chaotic, and perturbations in one area can have unpredicted consequences elsewhere.
Tropical rainforests provide cooling effects of shade and transpiration. The thick expanses of trees act as windbreaks. The removal of the rainforests may not only alter local climate, but it might change aspects of world climate as well. In a time of increasing human population, urbanization, suburbanization, and pollution, one refuge we have is unspoiled nature. Actual visits or multimedia journeys to tropical rainforests allow us to witness nature in splendor.