Q.Which of the following forests is known as the 'lungs of the planet Earth'?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The Amazon rainforest is widely called the 'lungs of the planet Earth' because of its massive role in producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide.
The phrase 'lungs of the planet Earth' is not a formal scientific term but a powerful metaphor. It refers to a forest that, like human lungs, takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen on a scale large enough to affect the entire planet's atmosphere.
The Amazon rainforest, sprawling across much of South America, is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. The NCERT chapter itself notes that this vast forest is estimated to produce, through photosynthesis, roughly 20% of the total oxygen in the earth's atmosphere — a staggering contribution, even though this is a scientific estimate rather than a precisely measured figure. This is why environmentalists and scientists often call it the planet's lungs.
While the Amazon is the most famous example, all large forests contribute to oxygen production. The Amazon's title comes from its unmatched scale and global climatic impact.
Let us look at the other options briefly. Taiga forest (A) is crucial for carbon storage but has much lower oxygen output per square kilometre than a tropical rainforest and is not called the 'lungs of the planet'. Tundra (B) is treeless and cold with negligible vegetation cover. Rain forests of North East India (D) are ecologically rich but regional, not globally-scaled like the Amazon. …
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