Why are rainforests so important?

Rainforests are a treasure trove of biological heritage. They’re the habitat where the ancestors of humans first evolved and where our closest living relatives—chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas—still live. But today rainforests cover only about 2 percent of Earth’s surface area. What do we lose when rainforests disappear? For one, biodiversity. Moist tropical rainforests like the Amazon Rainforest are considered biodiversity hot spots, meaning they have the greatest concentrations of animal and plant species of any ecosystems on the planet. In fact, perhaps two-thirds of Earth’s species live exclusively in rainforests. Human destruction of rainforests puts many of the species that live there at high risk of extinction. According to some estimates, more than a hundred species of rainforest fauna and flora become extinct every week. Rainforests also provide carbon sequestration. Forests of all types are the largest carbon reservoirs on land. By using carbon to help trees grow, they keep that carbon out of the atmosphere. When rainforests are slashed and burned, their carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide—contributing to global warming. Finally, tropical rainforests got the nickname “the lungs of the Earth” for a reason. Rainforests recycle rain by returning water to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, facilitating more rain around the world. If rainforests were to disappear, drought would likely follow.