Lester Brown, universally respected author of the yearly State of the World re- port, has said that the destruction of tropical rain forests is one of the ten most serious worldwide problems. Thus, it must be the case that this is indeed a very serious problem.

Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions.  these regions are cultural units rather than governmental units --  formed by history and geography and shaped by the economics, literature and folkways that all the parts of a region share. what makes one region different from another? a region's multicultural heritage as well as distinct demographic characteristics like age and occupation make regions different and special. within several regions, language is used differently and there are strong dialects. there are also differences in outlook and attitude based on geography.