35+ Tropical Rainforest facts

Rainforest

What are Rainforests?

Rainforests are the tallest, hottest and dense forests situated near the equator and are supposedly the oldest living ecosystems on the planet Earth. With the highest amount of rainfall; Rainforests are a crucial part of our ecosystem as it not only provides us with air, water, medicine, food, and shelter but they are our best natural defenses against climate change because they can absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. For this reason they are sometimes referred to as ‘carbon sinks’ of the world. If you don’t know much about rainforests, then here are some well-known facts about them. They are a tad bit different from the habitat us humans are used to. With our help, you’ll find some beneficial facts about the tropical rainforests that you may not have known before.

Below are 35 facts on Tropical Rainforests

Fact 1: Although the rainforests only cover 2 percent of the total surface area of our planet; in reality, about 50 percent of the plants and animals on the earth live in those Rainforests.

Fact 2: These forests receive the most amount of rainfall in comparison to all the other habitats in the world.

Fact 3: Rainforests are not only located in South Africa but other parts of the world too; such as Alaska and Canada along within Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Fact 4: Rainforests are found in all continents except in Antarctica as it is too cold for any rainforest species to survive there.

Fact 5: Temperate and Tropical are two different types of rainforests. Though the Tropical rainforests are the ones found most commonly around the world.

Fact 6: Rainforests aid in regulating the temperature around the world as well as help regulate weather patterns.

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Fact 7: A fifth of our freshwater is found in the tropical rainforests, The Amazon basins to be exact.

Fact 8: Rainforests help in maintaining our supply of fresh drinking water, so they are critical in the sustainability of humans as well as the earth.

Fact 9: Around ¼ of natural medication has been discovered in the rainforests.

Fact 10: Within only four square miles of the tropical rainforest; approximately 1500 flowering plant species, 750 types of trees and many plants can be found which help in battling cancer.

Facts 11: 70% of the plants used in treating different forms of cancer are found only in the tropical rainforests of Earth.

Fact 12: Over 2000 species of plants that are found in the tropical rainforests can be used to help assist in cancer treatment because they carry anti-cancer properties.

Fact 13: The Amazon Rainforests is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Fact 14: Only about 1 percent or fewer species of plants in the tropical rainforests have been studied to determine their value in the world of medicine. So you can imagine how far along we have to go!

Fact 15: Everyday practices such as agriculture, ranching, logging, and mining creates threats to the rainforests every day.

Fact 16: Deforestation has caused the rainforests to lessen significantly. History suggests there were around 6 million square miles of rainforests; but because of deforestation there is only less than half of that remaining in the world.

Fact 17: If the rainforests keep on decreasing at this rate, then 5 to 10 percent of their species will be extinct after every few years. 

Facts 18: 90% of the World’s forests are situated in developed or under-developed countries in the world.

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Fact 19: Every second that passes by, there’s a part of the rainforest that is deforested. In reality, we almost lose over 80,000 football fields of rainforests each day.

Fact 20: There are various types of animals that are exclusively found in the rainforest, most of them cannot survive elsewhere as they highly depend on the environment of the rainforest which provides them with their specific basic needs.

Fact 21: From the 1.2 billion people living a life of poverty worldwide, 90% of them depend on the rainforests as a source of income in one way or another.

Fact 22: This fact may come as a shock to some people but a lot of oxygen supplied throughout the world is supplied from these tropical rainforests even though they are miles and miles away from your home.

Fact 23: 70 to 85° F is the average temperature maintained inside the tropical rainforests.

Fact 24: The rainforests produce a lot of products used in our daily lives such as timber, coffee, coca, and many medical products also including those used to treat cancer.

Fact 25: New colonies and industrial units made by the state government, landowners and multinational logging companies are causing rainforests to be destroyed constantly.

Fact 26: In the tropical rainforests, trees are so dense that it takes approximately 10 minutes for the rainfall to seep through the canopy and find its way to the ground.

Fact 27: 80% of the flowers found in the Australian rainforests are not found anywhere else in the world.

Fact 28: More than 56,000 square miles of natural forests are lost each year.

Fact 29: Insects are one of the major organisms living within these tropical rainforests.

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Fact 30: Due to heavy deforestation throughout the world, only 2.6 million square miles of rainforests remain.

Fact 31: Every day we are destroying rainforests equal to the size of 86,000 football fields; this if you consider the amount of rainforest being destroyed on a yearly basis takes the tally to around 31 million football fields till date. Basically, we’ve cut down trees (without replantation) equivalent to 31 million football fields!

Fact 32: Many animals including snakes, frogs, birds, insects, cougars, chameleons, turtles, Jaguars are found in the tropical rainforests.

Fact 33: Due to the current rate of depletion, it can be said that 5-10% of the tropical rainforest species will be lost every 10 years.

Fact 34: Out of the many rain forests, 57% of them are located in the developed countries.

Fact 35: The US National Cancer Institute has found over 70% of plants that can cure cancer which is found in these rainforests.

Fact 36: Almost 90% of the West Africa’s rainforests have been cleared until now!

Fact 37: Amazon rainforests grows more than 3000 fruits that are edible!

In conclusion, it is very necessary to preserve our rainforests, even if we don’t live near the rainforest they still have an impact on our lives, with these facts you can see the importance rainforests has on our lives and we as humans inhabiting this planet must take important measures to help preserve these tropical rainforests for the sake of prospering humanity and the longevity of the planet.

Awareness must be given to individuals and governments on the importance of these tropical rainforests and how they should be preserved so that our future generations don’t have to see a future that is devoid of this invaluable habitat.

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