Which Came First - The Rain or the Rainforest?

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Here's a question I'd never thought to ponder before: which came first, the rainforest or the rain? One would suppose there was rain before the rainforest appeared, but was it as much as a rainforest normally gets? MinuteEarth explains the cycle of water moving through a tropical forest, and what happened millions of years ago to kickstart this cycle. However, mankind is doing extensive damage to the rainforest, which is already showing signs of disrupting the water cycle that was establioshed so long ago. This may have implications for global weather in the years to come. -via Viral Viral Videos

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This reminds me of the experiment done on a barren desert island in the equtorail atlantic. The island of Ascension originally had very little flora and fauna. In the 1600s It was referred to as "very bare, and nothing to be had there." Then in the 1800s the english began importing plants to the island in hopes of transforming the island. They were successful, as one inhabitant noted "not a cloud would pass over the heavens, nor a drop of water fall; but since the land on the mountain has been so much cultivated, a gradual increase of rain has taken place—seldom more than a day passes over now without a shower or mist on the mountain; and during the first ten days we were here constant little showers fell"
source: http://faculty.washington.edu/dcatling/Catling2012_GreenMountainSubmitted.pdf

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