Rainforests only cover a small part of the Earth’s surface but they are sometimes called the lungs of the world. They help control the world’s weather and affect the air we breathe.
Rainforests help to recycle gases in the air.
Trees and other plants breathe in the opposite way to humans and animals. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide (which we breathe out) and breathe out oxygen (which we breathe in). This helps to balance gases in the air and ensures there is plenty of oxygen for us to breathe.
Rainforests soak up the heat from the Sun.
Dark green rainforests absorb the heat and strong sunlight that shines in the tropics. When rainforests are cut down and lighter coloured vegetation grows instead, it creates a mirror effect. Sunlight and heat are reflected back up into the atmosphere causing it to warm up.
Cutting down rainforests is helping to make the Earth warmer.
When rainforests are destroyed, there are fewer trees to remove carbon dioxide from the air, so it starts to build up. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat from the Sun like the glass in a greenhouse. This is called the greenhouse effect and it is making the Earth warmer.