Question

Which one is referred to as lungs of planet Earth?
a. Western ghats
b. Lake Victoria
c. Greenland
d. Amazon rain forests
e. Himalaya

Answer 1

Hint: “Lungs of Earth” name is given to a place which is full with extreme biodiversity which provides home to almost three million species of plants and animals and is the largest tropical rainforest of the world. Billions of different small and large plants absorb tons of $CO_2$ every year and slow down the harmful Global warming process.

Complete answer:
When we talk about Earth, the most important thing for survival of all species is oxygen, which is helpful in respiration of millions of organisms. Oxygen is produced by plants having chlorophyll that is green plants and some algae and bacteria which have the ability to produce oxygen through their metabolic processes.

So, for production of oxygen biodiversity is very important. Amazon rain forests are the home for millions of species of animals as well as plants. These forests are present on the tropical basin of Amazon river and they cover much area of northwestern Brazil and Colombia, Peru and other South American countries. It is very famous for its biodiversity and production of large amounts of oxygen.

Amazon rain forests produce almost 20% of overall oxygen produced every year Thus, Amazon rain forests are called “Lungs of Earth”. But every year these forests and large biodiversity faces a problem of forest firing which affects wildlife, Global environment and local tribes. These fires are natural as well as due to human actions for having more fields for farming, cattle ranching and logging.

These fires have affected ecosystems and biodiversity drastically. Large animals like tigers and jaguars run and escape from fires but small creatures like frogs, lizards and sloths are not able to escape from the fire and die, so we need to control these fires for longer survival of life on Earth.

Hence, The correct answer is option (D).

Note: Himalayas is the largest mountain range in the world and has 9 out of 10 of the world’s highest mountains or peaks in the world. These are the source of most of the rivers of Asia and help in regulation of temperature and climate worldwide. But Lungs of Earth that is Amazon rain forests are the home of the largest biodiversity of the world and produces the highest amount of oxygen as compared to others including the Himalayas.