What are some distinctive characteristics of the tropical rainforest?

Answer 1

The Amazon rainforest is the largest of all the forests in the world. It covers almost the entire Amazon basin, mainly in Brazil, but also extending into neighbouring countries. The total area of this vast forest is around 4 million km2, however approximately 14% of the rainforest has already been destroyed. This deforestation still continues at a rate of nearly 20,000 km2 a year. The rainforest has a warm, wet, humid, sticky climate. It rains every day, at very regular intervals, starting and ending very suddenly. This is called "convectional rainfall", a term which describes how the rainfall comes about, because the sun heats the ground, which heats the air nearest the ground causing it to expand and rise, and then, when it reaches a certain height, condenses to form clouds and finally falling as rain. It is very common to have storms with this kind of convectional rainfall. The plants in the rainforest have had to adapt to this heavy rainfall order to survive. The rain causes the river to flood for a few months every year so plant life has adapted to handle this volume of water so as not to drown. There are several ways in which they have done this. Trees tend grow tall, up to 40m high, so as to brake through the low cloud layer and gain the sunlight. The trees are straight and only grow branches at the top and to support this structure they grow buttress roots. The leaves have tips that curve downwards so the rain drips off. The rainforest is actually a deciduous forest, meaning that the trees shed their leaves, although it appears to be evergreen, as the trees loose their leaves at different times. The undergrowth will spring up wherever light reaches the forest floor and fallen leaves and plant matter rot swiftly to provide the nutrients that the rest of the plants require. There are millions of plant and animals that coexist in the rainforest, and yet thousand of species are still undiscovered by humans. Everything in the forest relies on everything else, creating one of the most complex ecosystems in the world. When trees and plants die, for example, their dead organic matter rots, and the nutrients are used by new and existing trees and plants to grow. The people who call the Amazon rainforest home are known as "native Amazonians". They live by a process called "shifting cultivation", where they live in one area and farm it and move on to a new area when the land is no longer cultivable. This method does not harm the forest and allows it to recover naturally. The native people use the wood and foliage of the forest to build huge houses. They cut down trees to create farmland and gain the materials they need to build and feed the fires. The ashes from the fires are returned to the ground and provide all kinds of nutrients for the soil. Everything the people take from the forest they give back in one way or another, making their way of life very economically friendly and not harmful to the forest. Native Amazonians do not just farm crops such as manioc, yams, beans and pumpkins, they also hunt and fish. After five harvests, the land is too damaged to use again and the people more on, however due to the increasing use of the forest by commercial businesses, the land available to these people to farm has reduced and the native people are forced to return to areas they have already used before it has had time to fully recover (a process that takes up to 50 years). Huge areas of the Amazon rainforest are being cleared for agricultural use and animal pastures. Cattle farming for fast food products is particularly popular and a very lucrative business. In order to create enough land area to support these cattle, Ranch owners "slash and burn" the forest, a process that involves hacking down and burning the trees and undergrowth, until the land is clear of life. When this land is abandoned, it takes a very long time for the forest to recover and start to grow back and when it does, it is no long a true rainforest, instead it is a thick "secondary jungle" and lacks many of the defining features possessed by the true rainforest. The deforestation of the rainforest is having a devastating effect on the environment, both locally and globally. The local effects are mainly concerned with the loss of habitat and death and extinction of many species of animal, whereas globally the effects are unsettling the climatic balance. The process of photosynthesis is conducted by all plant life and allows tree to take in carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouses gasses, and a substance which is harmful to humans in large quantities, and excrete oxygen. When there are fewer trees, more carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide escapes into the atmosphere producing a blanket over the earth, stopping heat from the sun form escaping and ultimately heating the earth, causing global warming. The Amazon rainforest has been described as the "planet's lungs", so it is no wonder that the rainforest deforestation is the cause of much debate. The mining industry also plays a role in the destruction on the rainforest. Mining is very important to the expanding Brizilian economy and deposits of minerals, such as diamond, aluminum ore (bauxite), manganese, iron, tin, copper, lead and gold, can be found throughout the Amazon basin. The competition of mining of gold and other minerals has led to very lax environmental practices. Huge quantities of sediment have been washed into the regions rivers, along with up to 9000 tons of Mercury, which is used in the mining process. The river has also become polluted with oil, litter and human sewage, due to the carelessness of the miners. All around the mining vicinity, vegetation, animals and settlements have been destroyed. Although larger companies are beginning to take steps to avoid an environmental catastrophe, such as replanting, the impact on the area has been very severe, and it is doubtful whether or not the area will recover. There is a vast road, the Trans-Amazonian Highway, stretching for nearly 5300km from Recife in the east to the Peruvian Andes in the west. Construction began in the early 1970's and it is the main route across the rainforest. It is also crosses by some roads leading both north and south, some of which are gravel paths, although others are paved. There is also a railway and another is being proposed, all part of the ambitious development program by the Brazilian government. The improvement of power and communications have made logging, ranching, mining and transportation much easier and cheaper, adding to the growing problems. However there are many disadvantages to this development, most of which are environmental hazards. The road construction, mining and other processes, involve the use of many pollutants. Many trees have been cut down causing ferther loss of habitat. As the rainforest becomes opened up its decimation increases further. The native Amazonians also suffer from the continued invasion as at least one untouched tribe is discovered each year of the project. Not only is their way of life disrupted, but their land is destroyed. Yet they still have no say in the matters of the rainforest. The rivers of the Amazon Basin have huge amounts of potential energy and the Brazilian government has decided to harness this power in the form on Hydro-Electricity. They plan to build up to 31 dams in the Amazon region by 2010. The biggest Hydro-electric project in the Amazon is called the Tocantins River Basin Hydro-Electric Project, which plans to use the Tocantins River into a series of lakes and dams, stretching for over 1,200 miles and consisting of 8 large dams and 19 smaller dams. These dams provide both power and irrigation, but they do not create many jobs, since it is expensive to employ workers to operate the site and these workers need a higher level of education to do the job. There is also a large amount of irreversible environmental damage caused by these dams. A typical dam site is a valley of the primary rainforest, sometimes including an Indian village and farmland used by the native Amazonians and these people depend on their land and rivers for water and food. After the dam is built the surrounding land slowly floods, driving the natives away from the river and eventually drowning the village. This flood also destroys the forest, endangering the animals and plants, sometimes to the point of extinction.

Answer 2

the amazon theamazon is the most special rainforest in the world because years and years people found a tiny mushroom that is now the cure for child lukemia. wow what a place!!! the amazon theamazon is the most special rainforest in the world because years and years people found a tiny mushroom that is now the cure for child lukemia. wow what a place!!! the amazon rainforest sucks but look up jaguars there so cool.

Answer 3

crazy hairType your answer here...

Answer 4

It is very rainy,humid, and can be warm.