World’s Cloud Forests Threatened
The world’s cloud forests, which strip moisture from clouds and supply millions of poor people in developing nations with fresh water, are in danger of being wiped out by climate change, claims a report released Monday by the U.N. and the World Conservation Union at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cloud forests are a source of water for the capital cities of Ecuador, Mexico, and Tanzania, as well as numerous other spots throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They also provide a home to hundreds of species found nowhere else on the planet. Cloud forests are particularly sensitive to climate change, but are also threatened by logging, agriculture, and construction.
