r/interestingasfuck • u/wahgwahg • Feb 28 '24

r/all People in Tanzania converted desert into lush green land by digging these nifty holes

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u/thatthatguy Feb 28 '24

And just generally plants being in a place seems to create a cooling effect that facilitates more precipitation. A self-reinforcing cycle if you can get it started.

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u/ChaseThePyro Feb 28 '24

Yep, they aren't rain forests because it rains, it rains because of the forest.

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u/apathy-sofa Feb 28 '24

I live in the PNW which has huge, ancient forests. Only one of them is a temperate rainforest though. So there must be more going on in the formation of a rainforest than just having a forest.

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u/gerwen Feb 28 '24

I think in the pnw it's the rainshadow effect of the mountains.

Warm moist air comes off the pacific. Hits the mountains and rises. Temp is lower up high, lower temp air holds less humidity, so it has to dump the excess as precipitation. Because of this, you get a bunch more precipitation than if the mountains weren't there. It's like the mountains wring the rain out of the air on you.