Why are rainforests so important?: Quick Facts

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tropical rainforest

World map highlighting Earth's terrestrial biodiversity hot spots in red, showing regions with exceptionally high levels of species richness and endemism. These hot spots are distributed across parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mediterranean basin, Africa, Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as select areas in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Smoke rises among scattered trees during slash and burn forest clearance in the Amazon rainforest, with charred ground and partially burned vegetation visible.

$Latex flows from a cut in the bark of a rubber tree into a small bucket on a lush green plantation in Thailand, with rows of rubber trees in the background.$

Why are rainforests so important?

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biodiversity Carbon sequestration Rainforest Tropical rainforest Temperate rainforest What Happens to Earth If the Amazon Rainforest Is Completely Burned?Cloud forest Tropical dry forest jungle