Rainforests are the lungs of our planet. Let’s learn five riveting rainforests facts for kids.
Rainforests are large areas of land covered by a canopy of trees with very warm and wet weather. Their climate and their large amount of greenery and rain makes it the perfect home to many animals, bugs, and plants. Rainforests only make up around 6% of the Earth’s surface but they hold over 50% of the animal species’ in the world. The Amazon rainforest contains 427 species of mammals, over 1000 types of birds, and 2.5 million insect species’. We also know that there are many species that are undiscovered in the rainforest.
The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, it covers over 2 million miles of space in South America. There are parts of it in Brazil, Peru, Guyana, French Guiana, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Suriname.
The Amazon river dolphin is also known as the pink river dolphin due to its unusual colouring. When they are born their skin is grey but it thins over time and the blood shows through. This means that the skin turns pink. They also are more pink when their blood pumps faster. This is a bit like when you blush when you are exercising or embarrassed.
The rainforests are sometimes called nature’s medicine cabinet because of how many medicines we have gained from the plants that grow there. Over 120 medicines we use to treat illness have been created using plants from the rainforest. We also know that lots more plant species exist in the rainforest and haven’t been discovered yet. We might even find cures for lots of diseases by learning more about this interesting ecosystem.
Rainforests have a very biodiverse ecosystem which is good for the planet. The plants and trees of the rainforest breathe in carbon dioxide and create oxygen. We need oxygen to breathe and we need carbon dioxide to be taken out of the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.
The rainforests also help the world’s water cycle as they create clouds due to the heat, the water cycle makes sure we have clean drinking water and absorbs heat from the planet.
However, deforestation has a big negative impact on the ecosystem of rainforests and the planet. When the trees are cut down they can no longer help the environment and they release stored carbon into the atmosphere. We need to find alternatives to deforestation so we can stop doing this harm to our planet and save the beautiful rainforests.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about rainforests as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how important the environment is to our planet Earth, you can move on to learn more about our environmental topics like: Ecosystems and Amazon River.
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