Tropical rainforests, home to more than half of the world's species, are one of the most exciting and interesting places on Earth. To many, these areas are known as jungles due to the large amount of vegetation found. Tropical rainforests are found in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which is located in the equatorial region. These forests are found in Central and South America, West and Central Africa, as well as Southeast Asia. Some other places also include small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Due to their location in the ITCZ, tropical rainforests are characterized by warm, humid temperatures. Tropical rainforests provide many services to the Earth. However, these forests are being cut down every year at an alarming rate. Deforestation of rainforests has important negative impacts that can affect the global environment. Therefore it is necessary to address it now, so that the effects do not increase in the future. Deforestation of tropical rainforests is a major cause of environmental change. It is the removal or destruction of forests. However, the big question is what factors lead to deforestation. Proximate causes are human-committed activities such as agricultural infrastructure and expansion, wood extraction, and more. These causes are driven and triggered by demographic, economic, cultural, political, institutional, and technological factors (Geist & Lambin, 2002). It is undeniable that population pressure is one of the major drivers of tropical deforestation. The relationship between population size and deforestation is quite clear. As the size of the population increases, the demand for land increases, which consequently leads to forestry moving further and further into the foreground... to the center of the map: in-depth articles. NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/printall.phpMalhi, Y., & Grace, J. (2000). Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 15(8), 332-337. Nobre, C. A., Sellers, P. J., & Shukla, J. (1991). Amazon deforestation and regional climate change. Climate Journal, 4(10), 957-988.IPCC. (2007). Policies aimed at reducing deforestation. (n.d.). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg3/en/ch9s9-6-1.htmlSandler, T. (1997). Collective action and tropical deforestation. International Journal of Social Economics, 24(7/8/9), 741-760.Voldoire, A., & Royer, J. F. (2004). Tropical deforestation and climate variability. Climate dynamics, 22(8), 857-874.