The Great Bear Rainforest

       The Great Bear Rain-forest is a wonder of nature commonly forgotten. Settled on the coast of British Columbia, this temperate rain-forest sits between Vancouver Island and the Alaska panhandle. Although rain-forests are commonly associated with tropical climates, the Great Bear Rain-forest has an average low of 24 degrees F, and an average high of 70 degrees F. With upwards of 15 feet of precipitation every year, it's understandable why this area is a rain-forest.

      Spanning roughly 12,000 square miles, the Great Bear Rain-forest is a true wilderness. Home to grizzly bears, black bears, gray wolves, mountain lions, wolverines, martens, and fishers, the rain-forest is certainly not short on carnivores. These forests are also home to black-tailed deer, raccoons, porcupines, squirrels, pikas, and flying squirrels. This British Columbian coast is also a paradise for bird-watchers, home to geese, swans, ducks, grouses, loons, ptarmigan, vultures, osprey, hawks, cormorants, and of course, bald eagles. The neighboring waters are home to humpback whales, dolphins, and orcas. The very foundation of the Great Bear Rain-forest is it's trees. Some older than 1,000 years, the land is inhabited by Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, and Red Cedar, along with mosses and ferns.

      The Great Bear Rain-forest is named for it's own natural paradox: white black bears. These are also known as Kermode or Spirit bears. These extremely rare ursids are found only in this particular forest. Most Kermode bears are black, but about ten percent have blonde fur. These bears are just one of the reasons why the Great Bear Rain-forest is such a unique and important ecosystem.

The Amazon

      The Amazon River has the largest amount of water out of all rivers, and travels over 4,100 miles. The Amazon is located in Northwest South America. This freshwater ecosystem is home to a bountiful array of aquatic species. Many very large fish are found here such as the arapaima, the paraiba catfish, and the infamous electric eel. Other wildlife includes caimans, anacondas, and pink river dolphins.

      The Amazon Rain-forest covers over 1.4 billion acres of pristine land. Home to the largest concentration of known species, the Amazon Rain-forest is a biodiversity hot-spot. To name a few, jaguars, macaws, tapirs, monkeys, capybaras, and dart frogs are a few famous species of the Amazon.

      Although many fight to protect this beautiful landscape, the Amazon is at risk in many ways. Dams built in the river cut off many aquatic species, killing them. Logging removes immense amounts of rain-forest, destroying habitats and homes. Oil wells, gold mines, and over-fishing are also major contributors to habitat destruction. Climate change has caused some of the largest droughts in a century, which is wiping out certain ecosystems. If humans don't do something to save the Amazon, this great rain-forest may be gone soon.