Tropical rainforests

Tropical rainforests lie around the equator between the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer and cover approximately 6 percent of the Earth’s total land area. Just a few thousand years ago tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 percent of the Earth’s land surface.

MANILA, Philippines – Within the tropical zone, tropical rainforests are located in three main regions; Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The largest unbroken stretch of rainforest is found in the Amazon River Basin of South America. Over half of the forest lies in Brazil, which holds about one-third of the world’s remaining tropical rainforests.

Tropical rainforests receive a nearly constant amount of exposure to the sun, as well as more intense energy from the sun, thus providing ideal growth conditions.

The tropical rainforests play an elemental role in regulating global weather in addition to maintaining regular rainfall, while buffering against flood, droughts, and erosion. They store vast quantities of carbon, while producing 40 percent of the world’s oxygen.

The Amazon Basin literally drives weather systems around the world. The tropics receive two-thirds of the world’s rainfall, and when it rains, water changes from liquid to vapor and back again, storing and releasing heat energy in the process.

With so much rainfall, an incredible amount of heat is released into the atmosphere – making the tropics the Earth’s primary source of heat redistribution.

The rainfall in the Amazon region is said to be decreasing due to indiscriminate deforestation.

In 2005, the Amazon forest suffered its worst drought in over 100 years raising serious environmental issues. If deforestation continues at the current rate, given the sensitive nature of Amazon’s ecosystem, no forest will be left for the future generations.

Source: Tempo