Global Climate

Tropical rainforests serve as very important buffers that moderate our global climate. They do so because their tremendous amount of plant life continuously take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for photosynthesis. In doing this, rainforests help prevent global warming because a build up of carbon dioxide serves as a greenhouse that traps in the sun's rays.

Therefore, destruction of this ecosystem could contribute to global warming, and hence have disastrous effects such as the melting of polar caps and flooding of coastal areas, where most of the world's largest cities are located.