What is a rainforest and why does it matter?
Earth's Green Lungs
What is a rainforest and why does it matter?
Picture the wettest, greenest, loudest, most alive place on Earth. That's a rainforest. It rains almost every day, trees grow taller than skyscrapers, and more creatures live in one square mile than in most entire countries.
Rainforests grow near the equator, where it's hot and wet year-round. All that warmth and water is like rocket fuel for plants. A tree that would take fifty years to grow in your backyard shoots up in ten years here. The forest piles layer upon layer—roots, bushes, tree trunks, branches, treetops—until sunlight barely touches the ground.
