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Tropical rainforests are located around and near the equator, therefore having what is called an equatorial climate characterized by three major climatic parameters: temperature, rainfall, and dry season intensity. [21] Other parameters that affect tropical rainforests are carbon dioxide concentrations, solar radiation, and nitrogen availability.
Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. [ 2 ] Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation , the resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere .
About half of the world's tropical rainforests are in the South American countries of Brazil and Peru. Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rainforests.
Tropical climates have an average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher every month of the year, with significant precipitation. [9] [11] Af = Tropical rainforest climate; average precipitation of at least 60 mm (2.4 in) in every month.
Some leaves in tropical forests from South America to South East Asia are getting so hot they may no longer be able to photosynthesize, with big potential consequences for the world’s forests ...
Most of the interior of the Amazon basin is covered by rainforest. [6] The dense tropical Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. [2] It covers between 5,500,000 and 6,200,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 and 2,400,000 sq mi) of the 6,700,000 to 6,900,000 square kilometres (2,600,000 to 2,700,000 sq mi) Amazon biome.
The Andes, likewise a comparatively young and seismically restless mountain range, runs down the western edge of the continent; the land to the east of the northern Andes is largely tropical rainforest, the vast Amazon River basin. The continent also contains drier regions such as eastern Patagonia and the extremely arid Atacama Desert.
The Köppen climate classification is the most widely used climate classification system. [2] It defines a tropical climate as a region where the mean temperature of the coldest month is greater than or equal to 18 °C (64 °F) and does not fit into the criteria for B-group climates, classifying them as an A-group (tropical climate group). [3]