Name: Rainforests 101 | National Geographic
Uploaded: 2020-01-21T02:37:32.000Z
Duration: 3 min 41 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

- [Narrator] Shrouded in a blanket of clouds they awaken.

Their canopies of green glitter in the sun.

- And one of the planets richest ecosystems

Rainforests are the oldest living ecosystems on the planet.

Some can trace their origins to over 70 million years ago.

Back to a time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

While the giant reptiles have disappeared

growing on every continent except Antarctica.

Two types of rainforests are scattered across the globe.

Temperate rainforests are mainly found in the mid-latitudes.

Often near cooler, coastal, mountainous regions.

Tropical rainforests are primarily located

in warmer climates between the Tropic of Cancer

As their names imply, temperate and tropical rainforests

receiving up to about 33 feet of rain per year.

This precipitation plays a critical roll in creating

an exceptionally lush and biologically diverse habitat.

While rainforests only make up about 6100:01:35,770 --> 00:01:38,300 of the Earth's surface area, they are home

to over half of the World's plant and animal species.

that extend far beyond the rainforest boundaries.

Rainforest plants produce an assortment of food items.

In fact, an estimated 70% of the plants used

in cancer treatments are only found in rainforests.

On an even larger scale, rainforests help

It's lush, green vegetation regulate global temperatures

by absorbing massive amounts of radiation from the Sun.

They also absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide

about 40% of the planet's breathable air.

Over the past few centuries, rainforests have disappeared

Factors such as economic inequalities, human development,

and demand for natural resources have fueled

the deforestation of these rich ecosystems.

At the current rate, rainforests, which have survived

may completely disappear within the next century.

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Rainforests 101 | National Geographic

massive

critical

vast

thrive