Largest ecosystem of earth

A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall. Rainforests are Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species—even though they cover just six percent of Earth’s surface. This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna; a 10-square-kilometer (four-square-mile) patch can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies. Rainforests thrive on every continent except Antarctica. The largest rainforests on Earth surround the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats. Even the cool evergreen forests of North America’s Pacific Northwest and Northern Europe are a type of rainforest. Rainforests’ rich biodiversity is incredibly important to our well-being and the well-being of our planet. Rainforests help regulate our climate and provide us with everyday products. Unsustainable industrial and agricultural development, however, has severely degraded the health of the world’s rainforests. Citizens, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and conservation groups are working together to protect these invaluable but fragile ecosystems. Rainforest Structure Most rainforests are structured...

The four spheres of the Earth. • The four spheres of the Earth are: the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere • The biosphere includes all living life on Earth: animal, plant, fungi, protist and monera • All four spheres must work in harmony to allow for the balance of life to succeed of Earth. Any threat to one sphere, will have drastic effects on the others. The earth can be split into one of four major subsystems, namely: land, water, air, and all living things. These categories are known as spheres, and are the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, respectively. The first three of these spheres are abiotic, meaning they are not living things, while the fourth - the biosphere - contains all biotic, or living creatures and organisms (everything from plants, to animals, to bacteria). Atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth, which we casually refer to as simply ‘air’, is actually made up of a mixture of gases and vapours. The Earth’s atmosphere forms a barrier, or bubble around the Earth, and is held there by the force of gravity. This keeps the vapours of the atmosphere from escaping into outer space. It is also this atmosphere which makes the earth inhabitable. The combination of chemicals in the air, as well as the way in which the atmosphere creates a barrier between the Earth and the harmful rays of the sun, makes an environment in which animals, plants and human life can thrive. The layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere can be separa...

Climate change threatens food, water, and shelter Cover Image) Living Earth (Modified by ArcheanWeb) — Original Credit: By NASA images by Reto Stöckli, based on data from NASA and NOAA. Instrument: Terra — MODIS — Earth Observatory: Twin Blue Marbles, Public Domain The year was 1967, and humankind had ventured into space. As a species, we are perpetual tourists. Photo keepsakes were a must-have once we left our earthbound domain, so in 1967 the first color photos encompassing the whole Earth arrived home courtesy of the Department of Defense Gravitational Experiment (DODGE) satellite. Digital photography was not what it is today, and the color photo was really a composite of three photos taken with red, green, and blue filters. Five years later, the Apollo 17 crew took the iconic “Blue Marble” photograph. For the first time in Earth’s history, the planet could be examined in a single view. The gaian ecosystem we call Earth finally came into focus, and we saw it as our largest ecosystem. We grapple daily with environmental and climate change issues ranging in scale from microbial changes in soils to vast islands of plastic polluting our seas. Massive forest fires, melting ice sheets, and devastating hurricanes capture the headlines, and it is easy to forget how interconnected our world is. Photos of our planet, taken from afar, remind us of the big picture — life on Earth is a single web of life. At the highest level, Earth’s surface forms a connected, planetary-scale ecosy...

Grand Canyon - (Wisanu Boonrawd/ Shutterstock.com) Majestic natural wonders are a sight to behold, and due to the effects of human intervention and climate change, some are in danger of being lost. Get acquainted with these impressive five ecosystems and learn about the dedicated organizations that are working to preserve them. The 1.4 billion acres of rainforest is mostly concentrated in Brazil but spans eight other South American countries. THIS MIGHT BLOW YOUR MIND: Considered one of the most biodiverse tropical rainforests in the world, the Amazon houses an estimated 390 billion trees, one fifth of the world’s birds and a tenth of all the species on the planet. ORGANIZATION TO KNOW: Through advocacy, education and conservation, Listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world, and is bigger than the UK, Switzerland and Holland combined. THIS MIGHT BLOW YOUR MIND: The Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 130 different sharks and rays, endangered sea turtles and marine mammals . ORGANIZATION TO KNOW: The Mangrove forests are comprised of special trees which can grow in salty sea water in tropical climates. Sundarbans mangrove forest is one of the largest in the world covering an estimated 10,000 sq.km of land and water. THIS MIGHT BLOW YOUR MIND:Sundarbans has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and supports one of the largest populations of endangered Royal Bengal tigers. ORGANIZATION TO K...