Global Environments By Amanda Losurdo

Rainforests

Map of the Rainforests of the world Tropical Temperate

What are Rainforests? A Rainforest is a tall dense jungle that covers 6% of the worlds surface. The reason it is called a “Rain” forest is because of the amount of rain that falls per year. There are four different layers of the rainforest The forest floor, The Understory, The canopy and The Emergent.

What lives in a Rainforest An incredible number of animals live in rainforests. Millions of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals call the rainforest their home. Insects are the most found animals in a rainforests. Tropical rainforests have a greater variety of plants and animals than temperate rainforests because in temperate rainforests, most of the animals are ground dwellers and there are fewer animals living in the forest canopy. Interesting Fact: Some of the plants that live in the rainforest help make important medicines to cure diseases.

What is the climate? It is almost always raining in a rainforest. Rainforests get over 2m of rain each year. This is about 3.8 cm of rain each week. The rain is more evenly distributed throughout the year in a tropical. In a temperate rainforest, there are wet and dry seasons. During the "dry" season, coastal fog supplies abundant moisture to the forest. 


Where are rainforests found? There are two types of Rainforests Tropical and Temperate. You will find a Tropical Rainforest in South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. The Temperate Rainforest are found along the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada (from northern California to Alaska), in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway.

Why is it there? Tropical rainforests cover about 7% of the Earth's surface and are VERY important to the Earth's ecosystem. The rainforests recycles and cleans water. Tropical rainforest trees and plants also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, stems, leaves, and branches. Rainforests affect the greenhouse effect, which traps heat inside the Earth's atmosphere.

Who discovered the rainforest? No one actually discovered the rainforests they are natural.

How did it get there? The rainforest got there all by itself. Trees started to grow and then animals started living there and as they breed it got more and more bigger.

Polar Lands

Map of the Polar Lands

What is the Polar Lands? The polar lands are all ice and there is no vegetation and permanent ice cover. They are considered to be the most harshest environment on earth.

What lives there? In the Antarctic the only permanent animals that live there are Seals and Penguins. In the Arctic there are a range of animals like the Snowy Owl and the Arctic Fox. There is one plant life that is called plankton.

What is the climate? Since the polar regions are the farthest from the equator, they receive the least amount of sunlight The large amount of ice and snow also reflects a large part of what little sunlight the Polar regions receive, contributing to the cold. Polar regions have extremely cold temperatures, heavy glaciation wherever there is sufficient precipitation to form permanent ice, and extreme variations in daylight hours, with twenty-four hours of daylight in summer, and complete darkness at mid-winter.

Where is the Polar Lands Polar lands are located at the northern and southern points of the earth. There are 2 regions of Earth; The Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle.

Why are Polar Lands getting destroyed? The Polar lands are getting destroyed because people are letting out gases that are released into the atmosphere when people burn fuels like coal and oil to make energy. Also climate change is effecting these islands.

Who protects the Polar Lands? The WWF organization protects all the animals that live on the polar lands.

How did it get there? The ice formed all by itself by the really cold weather on both ends of the world.

Wetlands

Map of the Wetlands

What is it? A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish.

What lives here? The animals that live there are mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and insects. Some plant life includes mangrove, water lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, black spruce, cypress, gum and many more.

Where are the wetlands? The wetlands are located in Asia, Africa, North America, central South America, Australia, Canada and Europe

Why are the wetlands so important? Wetlands are important because they are highly productive ecosystems, and are able to capture energy and provide food for many animals. Also they are a significance to the aboriginal people.

Who protects these Wetlands? The Ramsar Convention helps protect the wetlands by encouraging people not to litter or do anything that is not right so you don’t hurt any endangered or extinct animals.

How many wetlands are there in the world? There are 64 Ramsar wetlands and there are 900 nationally important wetlands.

You Tube video on the Wetlands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg80hBlJ5eI