The Amazon Rainforests - Crown Jewel of the Natural World Misty
sunset on the Amazonian forests along the Tambopata river,
French Guiana The Amazon rainforest forms a pulsating network of
water and trees: every year, its canopy receives between 1,500
mm and 3,000 mm of rainfall. Eastern trade winds that blow from
the Atlantic Ocean account for about half of the rainfall, with
the other half due to evapotranspiration - the loss of water
from the soil by evaporation and through transpiration from
plants - in the Amazon River Basin. Together with an average
temperature of around 24 °C or more, the constant water cycle
not only creates the typical humid and warm atmosphere of a
tropical rainforest, but more importantly regulates local and
regional climates. If evapotranspiration and its role in
maintaining ecological balance is disrupted, the climate
throughout the region - and well beyond - will be significantly
affected.