THE RAIN FOREST Where are tropical rainforests Tropical

THE RAIN FOREST

Where are tropical rainforests? Tropical rainforests are located in a band around the equator in the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This wide band is called the "tropics. "

• One of the most talked about places in the world is the rain forest. • It is called the rain forest because it rains a lot. Temperatures are high. These high temperatures cause evaporation of water, which results in frequent rain in the tropics.

• It is also a very hot and humid place. The climate remains the same all the time. • The largest rain forests can be found in the African Congo, the Amazon Basin in South America, and Southern Asia. Tropical rainforests cover only about 7% of the Earth's surface.

Canoe in the rain forest. Congo

• This amazing ecosystem has more species and plants than all the other ecosystems in the world combined. • Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Poison Dart Frog

Tree boa

• Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen. • More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. • The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it continuously recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen. Tropical orchid

Rain forest Indonesia

• A tropical rain forest has more kinds of trees than any other area in the world. • About 1/4 of all the medicines we use come from rainforest plants.

• Approximately 3000 fruits are found in the rainforest. Though people around the world only eat about 200 of the fruits that come from the rainforest areas. Carnivorous plant

The Amazon • The Amazon rainforest is the biggest tropical rainforest in the world, covering over five and a half a million square kilometers. Carnivorous plant

Rain Forest Ferns

Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world.

Red orchid

Saint orchid

The Amazon tribes • There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200, 000. In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's. • With them have gone centuries of knowledge of the medicinal value of rainforest species. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, rainforest peoples are also disappearing.

• Animals and plant species become extinct when their environment is destroyed. • Scientists say that over 500 square miles of the rain forest is destroyed every minute.

Red eye frog

Tree boa

Why is the rain forest being destroyed? • There are many different reasons. One of the reasons is that farmers can make fields to grow plants. The rain forest is also chopped down to use the wood for things like furniture.

• Organizations have been set up to try and keep people from cutting down any more rain forests. Mountain gorillas

Poison dart frog

Rain forest tree top hornbills

Rain forest scarlet macau

Rain forest tree frog walking on a branch.

Rain forest capuchin monkeys. Costa Rica

Rain forest lizard. Puerto Rico

Rain forest monkey eating a coconut. Malaysia

Rain forest red eye tree frog

Mountain gorilla