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The document describes the unique rain forest along the Pacific coast of North America, which extends from northern California to southeastern Alaska, characterized by tall evergreen trees and diverse wildlife. It also explains the phenomenon of a 'rain shadow' created by mountains, resulting in significantly less rainfall in areas like Yakima compared to Olympia, leading to desert conditions. This contrast in climate is due to the mountains blocking moist air from the Pacific Ocean, causing rain to fall on one side while leaving the other dry.

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7 views2 pages

Untitled Document

The document describes the unique rain forest along the Pacific coast of North America, which extends from northern California to southeastern Alaska, characterized by tall evergreen trees and diverse wildlife. It also explains the phenomenon of a 'rain shadow' created by mountains, resulting in significantly less rainfall in areas like Yakima compared to Olympia, leading to desert conditions. This contrast in climate is due to the mountains blocking moist air from the Pacific Ocean, causing rain to fall on one side while leaving the other dry.

Uploaded by

cy6fx2t82m
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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iRain Forest of the North

1
Most of the rain forests in the world are in warm parts of South America, Africa, and Asia,
near the equator. But a smaller rain forest grows along the Pacific coast of North America. It
stretches all the way from northern California to southeastern Alaska.

2
The narrow strip between the seacoast and the mountain peaks receives a great deal of
rainfall. The weather is cool but not terribly cold. These conditions support a huge amount of
life in the northern rain forest.

3
Trees grow as tall as 250 feet high and 30 to 60 feet around. Many are hundreds of years
old. More than 30 kinds of trees grow in the rain forest; most are evergreens such as pine
trees. Mosses and ferns grow on tree trunks and hang from the branches; getting water
directly from the wet air, they do not need to put roots into the soil. So much plant matter
covers the forest floor that new trees often begin on old, fallen tree trunks. Moss and ferns
grow on the fallen trees too.

4
Tall trees and fallen trees also serve as homes for hundreds of kinds of animals. Many wild
elk, a kind of animal that looks like a large deer, find plenty of plants to eat on the forest floor.
Their eating helps make room for more plants to grow in the amazing rain forest of North
America.

Rain Shadow
1
The Pacific coast of the northwestern United States is known for its rainfall. The Washington state capital,
Olympia, receives more than 50 inches of rain a year. But in Yakima, less than 120 miles to the east, annual rainfall is
only about 8 inches. How can the climate be so different in two cities so close together?

2
Mountains run north and south between the two cities. Yakima lies in a “rain shadow” as a result. The chart shows
how a rain shadow forms.

3
Air filled with water blows in from the Pacific Ocean. When it meets the high mountains, the wet air is too heavy to
blow over the top. Clouds pile up along the western mountain slope, cooling as they rise. When they get thick enough
and cool enough, water pours out of the clouds in the form of rain.

4
With the water gone from the clouds, the dry air is light enough to cross above the tops of the mountains. It warms
back up as it comes down the eastern slope. This warm, dry air brings very little rain. Just as a tree casts a shadow
by blocking the sunlight, the mountains create a rain shadow by blocking the wet air. The dry land in the rain shadow
is a desert.

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