Each year, people burn or cut down 143,000 square kilometers (55,000 square miles) of the forest. People who burn or cut down trees do it for different reasons: farmers cut down trees in order to get more fertilize¹ lands to grow rice or vegetables, and use the woods as fuel. Timber² companies cut down trees and turn them into furniture or paper productions. As to goal miners, they remove the forests to find out whether there are goal underground.

每一年，人们都会砍伐14.3万平方千米的森林（约5.5万平方英里）。人们砍伐树木出于种种原因：农民们为了得到更肥沃的空地来种植大米蔬菜，砍下的树木用来取火。木材公司用树木来制作家具或是各类纸制品。至于那些开采煤矿的人，把树木砍掉就是为了检测是否有煤矿在下面。

However, many of us fail to realize that forests are the lungs of the earth. When we cut down trees, we also push ourselves in to a dangerous situation. That is the global warming. When you come to think about it, there are only few ways to solve these negative effects: stop cutting down trees blindly; try to find some clear energy that can replace oil and coal. But these solutions can be impractical³ to some degreed.

然而，我们中的许多人都没有意识到树木等同于地球的“肺部”。当我们砍伐树木时，我们就把自己推入一个危险的境地——会引起全球气候变暖。想到这些，只有为数不多的几个办法可以解决这个问题：停止盲目地砍伐树木；寻找可以代替石油和煤矿的新能源。但是，就目前来看，这几个策略并不可行。

Why trees can be so important to the whole nature? First of all, trees are the habitat of many animals. When we cut down trees, we not only destroy animals’ habitats but also ourselves. We just gradually destroy natural links. The result is that many spices of animals and plants are dying out. Secondly, cutting down trees cause global warming, to some degree. Naturalists⁴ compare forest to human’s lungs. The forests absorb the carbon dioxide and other gas that cause global warming, and then give off the oxygen that good for the human beings and other living creatures. It’s refreshed the air as well as reduced the noise. If the air quality is bad, people may die from cancers, or the new diseases for which they have no immunity⁵. Forests also play an important role in the prevention of natural disasters. Warmer temperatures cause water to expand and also create more water by melting polar ice caps. That’s to say, the nations which near the ocean may have been flooded by the water. But the forests can prevent water loss and soil erosion⁶, and cool off the global temperatures. It’s the key to keep the balance of the nature.

为什么树木对整个生态环境都如此重要呢？首先，树木是小动物们的家园。当我们砍伐树木时，我们不仅仅毁掉了它们的家，也毁掉了自己的。一步步的，我们慢慢分解了整个生态链，所造成的结果就是大批的动植物种类灭绝。其二，砍伐树木在某种程度上造成全球变暖。生态学家把森林比作人类的肺。森林能够吸收二氧化碳和其他引起气候变暖的温室气体，然后转化成氧气供地球上的生物呼吸。树木不仅能净化空气，也能减少噪音。如果空气质量下降，那么人们就有可能死于肺癌，或者是其他致命菌。森林在预防疾病的过程中起到了重要的角色。气温的上升导致北极的冰层融化，水平面上升。也就是说，临海的城市也许会被海水淹没。但是森林就能够阻止水土流失，使气温下降。它是保证全球生态平衡的关键。

Sometimes people only care about money making; they don’t care about the price we pay for the pollution. When the disaster is around the corner, we may be afraid and frustrated⁷. The earth, on which our economies have always been based, is suddenly threatening our existence. All we hope that is this overpopulated, over industrialized planet can carry on for a longer time. And maybe, it’s time for us to realize that we should protect the earth, stop cutting down trees blindly and madly.

有时候人们只关心挣钱，却对我们所付出的代价不管不问。当灾难来临时，我们会害怕、会彷徨。我们赖以生存的地球，却突然变成了威胁我们生命的东西。我们只希望，在这个人口过度、工业过度的星球能继续撑下去。也许，是时候我们应该保护地球，停止盲目疯狂地砍伐树木了。