From technicianonline.com:
As part of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ monthly “Science Cafe,” Meg Lowman discussed the hard facts of the state of the world’s rainforests Tuesday at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh.
Lowman, director of the museum’s Nature Research Center and research professor of natural sciences at N.C. State, said the talk centered on explaining the realities of the rainforests, including their value and how to conserve them. She also used the Cafe as an opportunity to clear up common misunderstandings about rainforests.
As one of the first researchers to discover the mass amounts of plant and animal species living among the forest canopies, Lowman certainly knows the topic.
According to Lowman, the world’s rainforests do not solely provide luxuries — they also provide some of the most basic things important to human survival.
“Rainforests provide almost everything we eat — from coffee, to chocolate, to cinnamon,” Lowman said. “But the [rainforest] also provides oxygen, fresh water, medicines, foods, construction materials, homes to millions of species and climate control.”
