1. The earth has more than 80,000
species of edible plants.
If you’re ever in the mood to try
something new, the good news is that
there is certainly food you haven’t
tasted yet still growing somewhere in
the world. You’ll probably have some
trouble finding it, however, because …
2. 90 percent of the foods humans eat
come from just 30 plants.
Out of tens of thousands of plants
we could eat, mankind chooses
to consume only about 30 of them. It’s
crazy to contemplate how limited our
diets are compared to all of the
different foods we could be eating. If
you think the selection of which plants
we eat has anything to do with their
nutritional benefits, however, you’d be
wrong …
3. Nutrition doesn’t factor into the
crops we do mass produce.
The world’s largest farmers have
pursued certain crops because they can
grow a lot of them more quickly, easily
and inexpensively to turn a better
profit. As a result, most of the most
healthful plants stay off of our dinner
plates because they aren’t available at
grocery stores. Still, sustenance isn’t
the only thing humans rely on plants
for …
4. 70,000 plant species are utilized for
medicine.
As it turns out, humans are more
diversified in the plants we use for
medicine. Although a large portion of
that figure applies to traditional
medicine, modern medicine is not
excepted from plant help. Half of the
drugs prescribed in the U.S. have plant
origins , many coming out of the
rainforest, yet …
5. Only one percent of rainforest plants
have been studied for medicinal
potential.
Given how valuable plants can be
medicinally, the rainforest houses a
host of possible cures for ailments new
and old. This untapped resource could
still hold the key to medical
breakthroughs. Of course, a lot of this
potential could be lost considering …
6. 80 percent of the Earth’s original
forests have been cleared or destroyed.
The same forests that dominated the
land 8,000 years ago are all but gone.
Approximately four-fifths of the
forests are gone thanks to human
intervention—just think of how many
plant species may have been lost in
that process. If you thought protections
were in place, actually …
7. Just 10 percent of the world’s plant-
rich areas are protected.
Of the most biodiverse areas on the
planet, only 10 percent are officially
“protected” to ensure the survival of a
multitude of species—plant and animal
alike. Worse still, many of the
supposedly protected areas are done so
nominally only, leaving plants
threatened by external factors they
should be safeguarded from. This is
especially problematic because …
8. More than half of plant species are
native to just one country.
Chances are, a plant you find in one
part of the world is not currently
growing anywhere else . As plant
habitat is ruined, there’s little point in
hoping that the killed plants could be
found and harvested somewhere else
in the future. For this reason …
9. 68 percent of plants are in danger of
going extinct.
While scientists have only examined a
fraction of the existing known plant
species, of those that have been
studied, 68 percent face extinction in
the not too distant future. Since plants
can’t just up and move as their habitat
is being destroyed, they are even more
vulnerable than endangered animals.
It’s happening quickly, too, since …
10. Plant species are going extinct—
about 5,000 times faster than they
should.
Some will argue that species would go
extinct even without human
interference. While that’s certainly
true, it’s the rate that plants are dying
off that raises alarm. Thanks to climate
change , deforestation and other
human-influence factors, experts
believe that species are going extinct
somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000
times faster than they would naturally.
No comments:
Post a Comment