Earth’s Largest Rainforest 

The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest rainforest. It surrounds the Amazon River, which is the second-longest river, carrying about one fifth of the world's total river water. The rainforest itself is immense, covering half of Brazil and including parts of seven other countries--overall, it is roughly 2.1 million mi²! The biodiversity of the rainforest matches its huge size. Scientists have identified more than 40,000 different plants, about 4,800 different animals, and more than 100,000 different invertebrates (organisms lacking backbones such as worms) as native to this specific rainforest.

All rainforests play an important role in maintaining the Earth’s oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water cycles. Since the Amazon rainforest is the largest, it obviously has a much bigger job. It is very important to maintain the integrity of this rainforest, or life as we know it would drastically change (and possibly even cease to exist!).

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