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Rainforests are important for many reasons. Very importantly, the plants clean the air. By absorbing carbon dioxide they help slow down the greenhouse effect. Rainforest trees store carbon dioxide in their roots, stems, branches, and leaves. Destroying the rainforests causes carbon dioxide to be released, which makes the greenhouse effect worse.

Rainforests actually create the rain that gives them their name. As water evaporates from the forest back into the atmosphere, it forms clouds above the rainforest. The clouds release the water back as rain, which evaporates into the atmosphere, and so on in a cycle. Rainforests affect the rain and weather patterns in other parts of the world. Removal of the forests can change the rainfall patterns elsewhere.