I am here in the jungle, a half-day’s journey by pickup truck and boat from the nearest major city, two-thirds of the way up the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, the tallest structure in South America, to experience a force that defines the Amazon rainforest as we know it.

The hundreds of billions of trees, spread over the 2.1 million square miles of forest below, channel a colossal volume of water into the air every day. Alongside that water, they emit an elixir of chemicals that react to form particles, inducing that moisture to fall back out of the sky.

The rainforest, amazingly, makes about half of its own rain.

In the early morning hours, a huge upward torrent of fog emanates from the treetops, spreading so thick that it’s impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. This moisture rises into the sky and condenses as it cools, forming clouds (scientists call this the evapotranspiration process). When it meets dust and particles, it forms drops that create rainfall.

Read the Full Article