Earth: Rainforests

Maria’s family is on holiday in Malaysia. Today, Maria is trekking with a guide through a very dense forest. It’s very hot, humid, and the forest is full of living things. The guide explains that they are in a rainforest - one of the oldest on Earth. Rainforests are dense forests, which grow in places that receive a lot of rainfall.

Rainforests are found on all continents except Antarctica. The largest rainforests are located around the equator - a line that splits the Earth into two. It is always warm near the equator - temperatures range from 21 to 30 degrees Celsius all year round. This is the tropical climate zone. Rainforests in the tropical climate zone are called tropical rainforests.

Tropical rainforests cover large areas in Central and South America, Central Africa, and Southern Asia. They are hot and humid. Further away from the equator - to the North and to the South, there are areas that belong to the temperate climate zones. In these areas another type of rainforest can be found - temperate rainforest. Temperate rainforests are located along the Western coast of North America, Chile, New Zealand, and even Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom!

Temperate rainforests can be as humid as tropical rainforests, but not as warm. Temperatures here in the temperate rainforests range between 10 and 21 degrees Celsius. There are two distinct seasons: chilly, rainy winter, and warm, relatively dry summer. Altogether, the rainforests cover about six to seven percent of the Earth’s land surface. But rainforests are home to more than half of all the species on the planet!

This warm and humid environment creates perfect conditions for many plants to grow. For example, in the world’s largest tropical rainforest - the Amazon rainforest in South America - there are around 40,000 different species of plants! Such a great variety of plants makes the rainforest a perfect place for countless animals to live - birds, frogs, monkeys, butterflies, and so many others. Most can’t be found anywhere else! Rainforests are very old, some of them have existed for more than 100 million years!

They might once have been home to dinosaurs! Unfortunately, rainforests have been disappearing alarmingly fast in the last few decades. The total area of the Earth covered by rainforests is less than half of what it used to be 70 years ago. The main reason for this disappearance is human activity, especially deforestation. The trees of rainforests are a great source of wood, but cutting down the trees gives access to an even more valuable resource - land.

The land where rainforests grow, and the climate there, are suitable for growing crops or raising livestock. These make it attractive for farming, which destroys large areas of rainforest. And as the rainforest habitats disappear, a great part of the diversity of life disappears together with them. Luckily, many people and organisations around the world try to prevent this and protect rainforests. Even learning about rainforests and sharing this knowledge with others can make a big difference.

Maria decides she will tell all her friends what she has learned, as soon as she is back home.