The rainforest is an important component of the earth’s ecosystem, and it is home to a diverse range of animal and plant populations. In the rainforest, you can find a wide variety of animals, plants, insects, and other living things of all shapes and sizes. These are the “natural resources” of the rainforest, which provide us with a profusion of supplies that we require in order to survive.
In addition, the rainforest has a tremendous impact on the climate of the planet. It serves as a carbon sink, absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. As a result of deforestation, the ability of the rainforest to absorb and store carbon is reduced, which can have a detrimental impact on the climate.
The World’s Largest Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest, located in South America. The Amazon rainforest has about 390 billion individual trees classified into 16,000 distinct species, making it the world’s largest and most diverse tropical rainforest. There is one species for every ten on the planet, and the region is home to more than 30 million humans.
Did You Know?
- There are nine developing countries that share the Amazon rainforest: Brazil (which has 59 percent of the world’s rainforest), Peru (which has 12 percent) and Colombia (which has 8 percent). Other countries that share the Amazon rainforest include Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
- It is estimated that the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad’s Sahara desert contributes more than 56 percent of the phosphorus-containing dust that fertilises the Amazon forest.
- The Amazon biome is home to four of the world’s ten largest free-flowing rivers, including the Amazon River, which is second only to the Nile River in length.
- The Amazon rainforest is more than three times larger than the Congo Basin, which is the world’s second-largest rainforest. Just over a third of the tree cover in the tropics is found in the Amazon rainforest.
- The Amazon Rainforest, sometimes known as the “Lungs of the Earth,” is responsible for the production of more than 20 percent of the oxygen used by the world’s population.
- Forested places with dense canopies (top branches and tree leaves) have a nearly black forest floor, with only one percent of the available sunshine reaching the ground. When it rains, the canopies are so dense that it might take up to ten minutes for the rainwater to reach the ground surface.
- In the Amazon Rainforest, there are between 400 and 500 indigenous tribes living there, with an estimated 50 of these tribes having had no contact with the outside world, demonstrating that parts of the Amazon remain relatively unspoiled by human activity and civilisation.
- Brazil’s cattle industry, which is fueled by the international beef and leather trade, has been responsible for approximately 80 percent of all deforestation in the region, or approximately 14 percent of global annual deforestation, making it the world’s most significant single driver of deforestation.
- Rainforest Partnership has designated June 22nd as World Rainforest Day in order to promote awareness and inspire action to protect the world’s rainforests.
Sources:Wikipedia, Earth, WWF, One Tree Planted, Green Peace
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