A tropical rain forest is a forest which receives 4 to 8
meters of rain each year.
Where are tropical rain forests located?
Rain forests are located within a narrow region near the
equator in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia.
Why are tropical rain forests important
to our earth?
Rain forests play an important role in the climate control
of our planet by having an affect on the wind, rainfall, humidity,
and temperature. Within the rain forest, water, oxygen, and
carbon are recycled. This natural recycling helps to reduce
flooding, soil erosion, and air pollution.
The rain forests support over one half of the plant and animal
life on Earth, even though they cover only 2% of the Earth's
surface.
Approximately one fourth of the pharmaceuticals (medicines)
we use come from plants of the tropical rain forests. According
to the National Cancer Institute, 70% of the plants from which
we make medicines and that are effective in the treatment
of cancer can only be found in the rain forests.
What is happening to our rain forests?
27 million acres of the Earth's rain forests are destroyed
each year due to man. The activities which threaten the rain
forests are: agriculture, clearing and developing of land,
beef cattle ranching, logging, and the building of dams and
hydroelectric plants. This results in a loss of 100 acres
of rain forest per minute and 80% of the rain forests in the
world are now gone. The destruction of the world's rain forests
at this rate causes 10,000 plant and animal species to become
extinct each year.
