Rainforests play crucial roles in the ecosystem of the Earth, as they support the largest variety of animal and plant species, house most indigenous groups that live in isolation, and power the strongest rivers.
They also consume huge amounts of carbon, affect weather patterns and rainfall, and regulate local temperatures.
World's Biggest Rainforests
The Amazon Rainforest
Roughly thrice the size of the second largest rainforest when it comes to primary forest extent, the Amazon is the winning rainforest when it comes to mass. It also houses the Amazon River, which is the biggest river in the world.
The rainforest also takes up 40% of the total area of Brazil. It also accounts for 20% of the liquid freshwater of the planet.
The famous tropical rainforest houses one in ten known species. More than 40,000 plant species can also be spotted inside the rainforest.
The canopy cover of the Amazon also helps with the regulation of humidity and temperature. It has also been linked to patterns in regional climate via hydrological cycles that depend on forests.
Due to the rainforest's incredible mass, the Amazon is at the forefront in annual forest loss. In fact, within a span of 17 years, more than 30 million hectares of its primary forest got cleared.
Moreover, with the degree of burning, scientists are now worried that irreparable damage could be happening within the rainforest.
The Congo Rainforest
The Congo Basin contains another large tropical rainforest that only comes second to the Amazon.
The Congo rainforest is situated within the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), which makes up 60% of the lowland primary forest of Central Africa.
The Congo Basin contains around 10,000 tropical plant species. Around 30% of these species are unique to the area.
Endangered wildlife, such as bonobos and chimpanzees, also fill the rainforest's lush forests. Moreover, there are also 1,000 bird species, 700 fish species, and 400 other mammal species present within the area.
Moreover, humans have dwelled in the area for over 50,000 years. The region offers shelter, fresh water, and food to over 75 million individuals.
Until early 2010, deforestation within the Congo Basin stayed relatively low. Chronic political instability, war, a lack of wide industrial agriculture, and poor infrastructure all help limit the region's forest loss.
However, in recent years, deforestation in the area has seen a sharp upward trend.
The Australasian Realm
The Australasian rainforest includes tropical forests in northeastern Australia and New Guinea. It also includes scattered islands that used to be connected during the last ice age when sea levels went down.
The extent of the forest is worth 89 million hectares of tree cover.
Australasia saw the second-lowest primary forest loss rate since 2001. However, due to plantation conversions and logging, deforestation has also been seeing an upward trend.
While there are other massive rainforests that cover the planet, all of the tropical rainforests play an outsized role across the world.
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