Why Does It Rain So Frequently In The Rainforests?

32 Replies

Rain forest are forest with heavy annual rainfall. I always see the rainforests on Discovery or Natgeo tv channel. And, I was wondering why does it rain so frequently in the rainforests?

Rainforests covers less than 2 percent of the Earth's total surface area, the world's rainforests are home to 50 percent of the Earth's plants and animals. Evergreen forest get an annual rainfall of at least 406 centimeter. Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth, except Antarctica.

A Rainforests...

  1. Receive >1500 mm of rainfall each year
  2. Rainfall relatively evenly distributed throughout the year, >100 mm/month
  3. Evergreen trees
  4. Relatively little change in temperature throughout year
  5. High humidity

Early morning misty view of the rain forest of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Borneo - rainforests photo
[ Photo Credit: Early morning misty view of the forest of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Borneo Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC ]

So why does it rain so frequently in the rainforests?

After searching for couple of hours, I finally found the answer to my question -

  • Solar radiation is strongest near the equator
  • The equator is mostly covered by water so a large amount of water evaporates
  • As air heats it become less dense and rises
  • As air rises it cools and water condenses to form rain which is why the tropics are wet
  • Air flows from high pressure to low pressure areas
  • Hadley cell - system of air and water vapor circulation near the equator
  • Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) - convergence of northern and southern Hadley cells, moves from 23N to 23S with the change in season
  • Rain forests fall within boundaries of ITCZ
  • Spinning of the earth (Coriolis effect) means that Hadley cells are actually curved
  • In areas where there are mountains near the coast and prevailing winds are towards the continent, water evaporates from the ocean, as it rises over the mountains it cools and water condenses to form rain - this is the reason for most temperate rain forests

Now I'm feeling little satisfied :)

Further readings:

32 thoughts on “Why Does It Rain So Frequently In The Rainforests?”

  1. elga

    Hello…
    I really like your picture so much… it looks so peaceful…
    I hope you don’t mind if I take it…

    Thanks…

    Reply ↓
    1. Anonymous

      wowowowowowowowowo i hate rainforests i tthink they r just waste of land prove to me y they r important

      Reply ↓
      1. Anonymous

        Been more than a year since you posted this, but I got a good reason for why rainforests are important.
        One fourth of ALL medicines we use today came from plants in the rainforest. And we are still discovering new plant species every year. Who’s to say that the cure for cancer isn’t in the rainforest?

        Reply ↓
      3. marj

        First of all, let me tell you that everything that you see is important. If not because of rain forest you might not be here, living and breathing. Rain forest produce more than 80% of Earths Oxygen. Aside from that, 50% of all species (including plants) lives on rain forest, which are of course, essential to human life. if you still still don’t get it. Go back to Elementary. No Offense Meant. Peace!

        Reply ↓
  4. Tinkerbell

    Hi…

    I really like your infomation I used it to help me find out more about Tropical Rainforests in homework I had to do for school.I can tell the class and the teachers what i found out now!!

    Bye…

    Reply ↓
  5. josh

    hi i need help with my geography home work
    the question is why do raingorests have so much rain? Explain how tropical thunderstorms work
    plz help

    Reply ↓
    1. leo

      the rainforests have loads of rain because the rainforest above is near the equator, the water on the equator evaporates and gets drawn to the rainforest… it rains.

      Reply ↓
      1. Rainforest....um.....person!

        THANK YOU!!! YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!! Man, I can’t believe I didn’t know this!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!

        Reply ↓
  7. boo

    hi, thankyou for your information, most sites just dribble about stuff.
    you have helped me with my geog project!!!!! yay!

    thanks again x

    Reply ↓
  13. Rose

    I think the information is good but they are just bullet points on why. I think to extend it more you need to explain in detail more fully on how the effects of all these reasons why it rains so much, effects the rainforest itself. But thanks for the information!

    Reply ↓
    1. jerrly casserly

      I complertely agree with rose right it in a paragraph it would be better but it did help me a bit cheers :)

      Reply ↓
  17. cutie pututie

    hi.Thank you so much u saved me! i have this water works project thing in school and i decided a rainforest.So then i had a month to do it and………well i didn’t really work on it till today hehheh.and its due……………………….TOMORROW. But now with ur website im pretty much done!

    Thanks Again,
    Cutie P.XOXOXO

    Reply ↓
  19. jia chaudry

    very good piece of information
    high rain is one of the reasons rain forests have diverse ecology and the highest amount of biodiversity than any other place on the terrestrial ecosystems.

    Reply ↓
  23. Student

    Thanks SOO much. This is highly appreciated. You helped me with your homework with straight forward answers that I couldnt find anywhere. Thanks again in advance. You made my life much more easier and my homework got an A!! :)

    Reply ↓

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