Rainforest Facts

Rainforests are the repository of infinite beauty and alluring mystery. To top it all, they form the basis of the earth’s survival by acting as the oxygen tank of the planet. Indeed without the extensive rainforest cover the very survival of life on this earth would be questionable. Apart from this, the value of rainforests is so enormous that even with all the rapid progression in science and technology, rainforests are still a mystery. The resources that the rainforests hold in terms of genetic diversity of its life forms and the forest wealth can never be replaced. With the rapid destruction of rainforests, there is a danger that we may even not know of all the things that we are losing. Every year hundreds of plant, animal and insect species get extinct due to deforestation of rainforests and this loss is all the more heartening because some of the extinct species have yet to be studied or discovered. Rainforests are also an enormous vault of knowledge. Every leaf and every organism in the rainforests literally has an interesting fact or two to its name. Given below in the article are a few such facts on the enigma that is the rainforests.

Interesting And Fun Rainforest Facts

Giant bamboo plants that are found in rainforests grow up to 9 inches a day.
Rainforests cover less than 6% of the earth’s land mass. But in this about 2/3^rd of all the living species of the planet are found. Once, rainforests covered about 14% of the total landmass.
Rainforests have the highest density of life forms. Almost thousand of species can be found every square kilometer.
The Amazon Basin of South America, African countries near the equator as well as some countries in the south pacific have the largest track of rainforests.
The tropical rainforests that circle the earth’s equator receives around 160 to 400 inches of rain per year. The rainforests in the equatorial region maintain a near constant temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, throughout the year.
Rainforests are known as the lungs of the earth. Albeit, they function just the opposite of how the lungs function. Rainforests absorb huge quantities of carbon dioxide and convert them to oxygen. As such, they are responsible for 28% of the earth’s oxygen turn over.
The rainforests are so dense that it is said that it takes about ten minute for the rain to reach the ground. In many areas of the rainforests, sunlight doesn’t reach the ground level. Thus, the undergrowths in rainforests are quite restricted.
In the rainforests of South America alone there are 2000 species of butterflies. About 3000 species of fruits are also found in rainforests.
The bio-diversity of rainforests is so rich that every four square mile of a rainforest contains about 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians and 150 species of butterflies.
It is said that there are more fish species in the Amazon than in the entire Atlantic Ocean.
Every second one and a half acres of rainforests are destroyed. At this rate, it is estimated, that the earth will lose all its rainforests in another 40 years. According to experts, every day due to rainforest deforestation about 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost.
Rainforests contribute about 25% of the ingredients used in pharmaceuticals.

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