Aug

Rainforests - The Quick and Dirty Facts

Wild and wondrous, rainforests extend from as far as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.

They nurture thousands of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth and provide life’s essentials such as our medicines, food and water.

Temperate and tropical rainforests help regulate the Earth’s temperature and weather patterns.

Rainforests contain many of the essential plants used in the treatment of cancer.

Fifty percent of the world’s plants and animals can be found in the rainforests.

Selected Threats to Rainforests

More than half of Earth’s original rainforests have all been destroyed. They are the victims of unsustainable agriculture, ranching, logging, mining, and other destructive practices.
Every year, 50 million acres, are cut down. Primary rainforests in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Haiti have been lost entirely, with the Ivory Coast fast approaching the same fate.
Every second of every day, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That’s 86,400 football fields of rainforest per day.

Other Quick Facts about Rainforests

Covering less than two percent of the Earth’s total surface area, the world’s rainforests are home to 50 percent of the Earth’s plants and animals.
Rainforests can be found all over the world from as far north as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth, except Antarctica.
There are two major types of rainforest: temperate rainforests and tropical rainforests.
The largest temperate rainforests are found on North America’s Pacific Coast and stretch from Northern California up into Canada.
Temperate rainforests used to exist on almost every continent in the world, but today only 50 percent – 75 million acres – of these forests remain worldwide.
Rainforests are critical in maintaining the Earth’s limited supply of drinking and fresh water.
A typical four square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.

Rainforests Resources

Rainforest Facts