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Rainforest Climate Question

 
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First of all, I know next to nothing about global climate, let alone rainforests. I grew up on the plains...a bit different from a rainforest. So please bear with me if this seems daft.

Now, my question is theoretical...which is why I put it into meaningless drivel, but I am hoping some super smart math/statistics people will stumble in here.


Question: With the amount of precipitation or water vapor that comes from any given "healthy" rainforest...what would our world (global climate) look like if all the land space were covered with healthy rainforests?
 
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Since we have polar regions it would take at least 3 suns to accomplish this. Might want to move them back a bit. Night would no longer exist. Sea level would rise as every glacier everywhere would melt. Nocturnal critters extinct, most temperate and polar species extinct. Lots of mildew.
 
Marcella Rose
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As it would take a very long time for something like that to happen...wouldn't animals learn to adapt? And the indigenous people of the Amazon have spaces cleared for farming...so it is not like anything would be encouraged to become extinct...it would just be "different."

All the pictures of rainforests I have seen there seems to be this haze, like the vapor you see on say venus or jupiter. Would rainforests on that scale produce a sort of vapor canopy on our planet? I find that part quite interesting to know about.


***Like I said before, this is just theoretical. I don't expect to see this happen.
 
steward
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Location: Northern Zone, Costa Rica - 200 to 300 meters Tropical Humid Rainforest
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Dale Hodgins wrote:Since we have polar regions it would take at least 3 suns to accomplish this. Might want to move them back a bit. Night would no longer exist. Sea level would rise as every glacier everywhere would melt. Nocturnal critters extinct, most temperate and polar species extinct. Lots of mildew.



Nope, don't need three suns, just yank the world straight so there is no tilt. The difference between the tropics and the rest of the world is that our day light / night cycle is just about equal, all year round, which removes most weather patterns (we think a 20 mph wind is strong!)

This is my understanding.

In the rainforest, you tend to get a rain once or twice a day, for about an hour at a time. Then it clears off and you get sun. During the rainy season it can be very regular, we get ours at 4 am and 4 pm, roughly. It is a warm rain - even when I think it is cold, like yesterday. Cold to me is 70F.

Loss of rainforests in the tropics have disrupted this according to the old timers in our area.
 
Fred Morgan
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Marcella Rose wrote:As it would take a very long time for something like that to happen...wouldn't animals learn to adapt? And the indigenous people of the Amazon have spaces cleared for farming...so it is not like anything would be encouraged to become extinct...it would just be "different."

All the pictures of rainforests I have seen there seems to be this haze, like the vapor you see on say venus or jupiter. Would rainforests on that scale produce a sort of vapor canopy on our planet? I find that part quite interesting to know about.


***Like I said before, this is just theoretical. I don't expect to see this happen.



If you straightened the tilt, you might end up with a continual cloud cover. It would be interesting to know if Venus has a tilt. Just checked, Venus is tilted 177.3 degrees, the earth, 23.5. This means it rotates backwards to us, but has no seasons. (you could say there is no tilt, just it doesn't rotate the same direction as earth does). This means Venus has no seasons, and of course, this means no cold fronts / warm fronts - and the resultant winds. Which means you have one big cloud.

Tropical rain forests tend to be hazy due to almost no wind. But I haven't noticed it being that much. From our home, we can easily see 90 kilometers most of the year - and we live in a low land tropical rain forest.
 
Marcella Rose
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Fred Morgan wrote:
If you straightened the tilt, you might end up with a continual cloud cover. It would be interesting to know if Venus has a tilt. Just checked, Venus is tilted 177.3 degrees, the earth, 23.5. This means it rotates backwards to us, but has no seasons. (you could say there is no tilt, just it doesn't rotate the same direction as earth does). This means Venus has no seasons, and of course, this means no cold fronts / warm fronts - and the resultant winds. Which means you have one big cloud.

Tropical rain forests tend to be hazy due to almost no wind. But I haven't noticed it being that much. From our home, we can easily see 90 kilometers most of the year - and we live in a low land tropical rain forest.




Ok, this is really fascinating. For one...the idea of the tilt of earth having so much impact is amazing! Thank you, thank you! Love that information!


***Speaking of the tilt of the earth...has anyone else been watching the moon in your area? The position seems off to me. Recently the cresent was on the bottom instead of the side and that bothers me.
 
Dale Hodgins
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Marcella Rose wrote:

***Speaking of the tilt of the earth...has anyone else been watching the moon in your area? The position seems off to me. Recently the cresent was on the bottom instead of the side and that bothers me.


Dale here
I have a giant sky hook that's just collecting dust. I'll attach it to the crane tommorow and get that fixed. I'd prefer that the tides be at even 12 hr. intervals so I'll make some adjustments. Two birds, one stone.
 
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