Tropical Rainforest Facts
Rainforest is described as tall, hot and dense forest near the equator and is believed to be the oldest living ecosystems on Earth which gets maximum amount of rainfall. If you don’t know too much about tropical rainforests, then you will probably be surprised to find that there are a few little known facts out there about them. This type of habitat is very different, in comparison to many of the other habitats that you are used to being around. Here you will find some important facts about the tropical rainforest that you may not have known previously.
Below are 35 facts on Tropical Rainforests
Fact 1: Rainforests only cover around 2 percent the total surface area of the Earth, but really about 50 percent of the plants and animals on the earth live in the rainforest.
Fact 2: Rainforests are the forests that receive high amount of rainfall.
Fact 3: You can find rainforests in many countries, not just in South America. They can be found in Alaska and Canada, as well as Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Fact 4: Rainforests are found on all of the different continents, except for Antarctica because it is far too cold there for the environment to be conducive.
Fact 5: There are two different types of rainforests, and they include both temperate and tropical. The tropical rainforests are the ones that are most commonly found around the world.
Fact 6: Rainforests help to regulate the temperatures around the world and the weather patterns as well.
Fact 7: A fifth of our fresh water is found in tropical rainforests, the Amazon Basin to be exact.
Fact 8: Rainforests help to maintain our supply of drinking water and fresh water, so they are critical in the sustainability of the earth.
Fact 9: About 1/4 of natural medicines have been discovered in rainforests.
Fact 10: Within four square miles of tropical rainforest, you will find 1500 flowering plant species, 750 types of trees, and many of these plants can be helpful in combating cancer.
Fact 11: 70% or more of the plants that are used to treat cancer are found only in the tropical rainforests on the planet.
Fact 12: Over 2000 types of plants that you find in the rainforest can be used to help aide in cancer treatment because they have anti cancer properties.
Fact 13: The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.
Fact 14: Less than one percent of the species of plants in the tropical rainforests have actually been analyzed to determine their value in the world of medicine.
Fact 15: Rainforests are threatened each and every day, especially by practices such as agriculture, ranching, logging and mining.
Fact 16: There were around 6 million square miles of rainforest in the beginning, but now because of deforestation, there are really only less than half of that still found in the world.
Fact 17: If the rainforests continue to decline in the way that they have been, then about 5-10 percent of their species will go extinct every ten years.
Fact 18: 90% of the worlds forests are in the underdeveloped or developed countries around the world.
Fact 19: Every second there is part of the rainforest that is cut down. In fact, you probably lose over 80,000 football fields worth of rainforest each and every day.
Fact 20: There are a lot of different types of animals that can be found in the rainforest, and most of them cannot live anywhere else because they depend on the environment of the rainforest for their most basic needs.
Fact 21: About 90% of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide depend on rainforests for their daily needs.
Fact 22: A lot of the oxygen supply that we have throughout the world is supplied by the tropical rainforests, even though they are miles and miles away. This may come as a shock to some people.
Fact 23: The average temperature of the tropical rainforest remains between 70 and 85° F.
Fact 24: Timber, coffee, cocoa and many medicinal products are few of the products produced by rainforests, including those used in the treatment of cancer.
Fact 25: Rainforests are constantly being destroyed by multinational logging companies, land owners and state government to make way for new colonies, industrial units.
Fact 26: Trees in tropical rainforests are so dense that it takes approximately 10 minutes for the rainfall to reach the ground from canopy.
Fact 27: About 80% of the flowers found in Australian rainforests are not found anywhere in world.
Fact 28: More than 56,000 square miles of natural forest are lost each year.
Fact 29: Insects make up the majority of living creatures in the tropical rainforest.
Fact 30: Due to large scale deforestation worldwide, only 2.6 million square miles remain.
Fact 31: A slice of rainforest, approximately equivalent to size of rainforest is destroyed each second which is equivalent to 86,400 football fields of rainforest each day which is equal to 31 million football fields of rainforest each year.
Fact 32: Variety of animals including snakes, frogs, birds, insects, cougars, chameleons, turtles, jaguars and many more are found in tropical rainforests.
Fact 33: At the current rate of depletion, it is estimated that 5–10 percent of tropical rainforest species will be lost per decade.
Fact 34: Most of the tropical rainforests, approximately 57 percent, are located in developing countries.
Fact 35: About 70% of the plants identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute which can be used in the treatment of cancer are found only in rainforests.
When it comes down to it, it is really important to preserve our world’s rainforests. If you think about how much of an impact the rainforests actually have on our life, even if we don’t live anywhere near a rainforest, you will really see the importance of keeping them around. There are hundreds of other interesting facts out there about rainforests that may surprise you as well. If you haven’t taken any time to learn about the rainforest, then most of this information may actually be new to you. If you have learned about it, whether from school or other sources, then you may know most of this information, if not all of it.
Try to learn more about the tropical rainforests and what you can do to help preserve them. After all, it really just takes everyone doing their part. Even if you think that you can’t make a difference, you are wrong. Everyone can make a difference, and when you think about it – you have to be the change that you would like to see in the world and if you do this and set a great example, others will do the same.
