Green lungs of the Earth

According to the Bible, God created the whole world in six days. On the third day, according to the will of the Creator, the planet was covered with plants - trees, herbs, flowers of the most bizarre forms and colors. Majestic forests became home to thousands of representatives of flora and fauna and decorated the Earth with a bright, juicy carpet.

Forests are usually called lungs of the planet and this is really so - the colossal massifs of vegetation provide oxygen to all life. But apart from this, they are the regulator of the average temperature on the planet and the concentration of carbon dioxide. By the way, the level of the latter is steadily growing, while the areas of virgin forests, according to environmentalists, are constantly shrinking.

Forests are usually called lungs of the planet, photo WEB

Now the forests occupy a little less than 40 million km2, which is about a third of the entire land surface. But a few decades ago, forest tracts covered its half ... Sad statistics seriously worried professionals, but despite all the efforts of "green" organizations, under protection today is only 18% of the world's forests.

The largest is the taiga forest. On more than 6 million hectares of Taiga, the third part of all the world's trees is concentrated, and therefore this ecosystem has the greatest impact on the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is noteworthy that fully Taiga is sunlit no more than one month a year, any tree takes about 50 years to grow here!

The largest is the taiga forest, photo WEB

But the Amazon forest - the largest array of rain forests on the planet - does not know such a problem. It stretched across the territories of eight countries and in its area exceeds all rain forests taken together. According to experts, the luscious greenery of the Amazon basin produces a fifth of the Earth's oxygen. But it was not always so. The oldest rain forest is considered to be the forest of the Australian Park Daintree - its age, presumably, is 135 million years.

The lush green of the Amazon basin produces a fifth of the Earth's oxygen, photo WEB

The forest expanse of its greatness and scale invariably attracts a person. Some areas are so picturesque that they become incredibly popular among tourists. For example, the amazing beauty of the national forest park in China Zhangjiajie is so fantastic that it became the site of the "Avatar" shooting. Giant cliffs resembling columns are completely covered with bizarre vegetation, and viewing platforms with a glass floor perfectly complement the sensation of soaring above the world.

Zhangjiajie National Park became the place of filming "Avatar", photo WEB

Another forest that has conquered the hearts of tourists is in Japan. Sagano - bamboo thickets, which are cut through the tourist path - came to admire from all over the country in the VIII century.

Sagano - thickets of bamboo, photo WEB

Another strange forest grows, literally, on Lake Caddo in the United States. It is a continuous labyrinth created by marshes, canals, cypress bushes and islands, overgrown with bearded moss. Something similar and, at the same time, completely different, can be seen in Kazakhstan, on Lake Kaindy. A whole fir forest has sunk in its waters and now hundreds of dried up trunks rise above the water surface, like the masts of sunken ships. Turquoise lake waters, which absorbed the forest, attract divers from all over the world like a magnet. Авиабилеты по низким ценам от надёжных авиакомпаний на airlines.aero Покажем недорогие авиабилеты на соседние даты. А на странице билета вы найдёте информацию о багаже, обмене и возврате авиабилета.

Lake Kaindy (left), Lake Caddo (right), photo WEB

Not being a lover of underwater walks, you can see something incredible in other places. For example, in Poland, where there is a "curve" forest. Here the trunks of more than four hundred pines have a strange shape, clearly created not by nature. It is commonly believed that this artificial plantation was cultivated by the Germans since 1930, but for what purpose and, most importantly, how - it is not yet clear.

However, on the planet still colossal forest areas remain virgin, never knowing the person. Their boundaries are gradually narrowed, being cut down and suffering from fires. While the dynamics are disappointing - according to experts, some forests completely disappear from the face of the Earth in 30-50 years.

Curve Forest in Poland, photo WEB

In order to draw people's attention to the problems of forests and increase public awareness of their role in climate change, 47 years ago, at the UN Assembly, a decision was made to establish an International Forest Day. The initiative was taken up by all UN member states and today, when a real threat looms over the most powerful ecosystem of the planet, this day is celebrated in one way or another in almost every country in the world.

The day was not chosen by chance - it is generally accepted that spring comes on from the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere. So, the world is renewed and the development of a new life begins.

Victoria Romanova, Russia, Moscow

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