100 Facts Rainforests – Bitesized Facts & Awesome Images to Support KS2 Learning

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million hectares of tropical forests; all told, humans have destroyed nearly half of the world’s original forest cover. particulates even higher than those experienced that year during the pollution crisis in New Delhi, India.

The rainforest is also home to some of the world's most delicious fruits, such as papaya, mango, and pineapple. Deforestation reduces the moisture released into the atmosphere decreasing rainfall and leading to drought. Next there’s the understory layer, between the canopy and the forest floor – lots of birds, snakes and lizards live here. This moisture contributes to the formation of rain clouds, which release the water back onto the rainforest.The rainforest is also home to some of the world's largest and most dangerous snakes, such as the anaconda and the boa constrictor. The Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, respectively, have the second and third largest areas of tropical rainforest. The canopy layer of the rainforest is often referred to as the "rainforest roof" and can be up to 100 feet above the forest floor. Considering how much of our medicines are has been discovered in the rainforests, they certainly seem to have a lot more to offer. Less rainfall and warmer temperatures cause droughts of historic proportions which often lead to forest fires.

So many species become extinct in such a short period of time, that the impact of the industrial age can be compared to the catastrophe of a comet strike on the diversity of life. The canopy offers sources of food, shelter, and hiding places, providing for interaction between different species.The facts show there are over 10,000 species of these in the Congo Basin, 30% of which are not found anywhere else in the world.

On top of that, 70% of the 2,000 tropical plants that the US National Cancer Institute has identified as helpful can be found in rainforests, tropical and temperate rainforest facts show. Fact 8: Rainforests play an essential role in maintaining the Earth’s limited supply of drinking water and freshwater, so they are crucial to the sustainability of the earth. Rainforests are forest ecosystems characterized by high levels of rainfall, an enclosed canopy and high species diversity.

Moreover, the tree canopy in rainforests is so thick that it allows just 5% of sunlight to reach the understory.