A Closer Look Most of the worlds rainforests lie near the equator and have tropical climates. However, cooler rainforests exist in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. The worlds largest rainforest is located in the Amazon River basin. The Amazon rainforest has been described as the lungs of our planet because it continuously recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen, with a significant percentage of the worlds atmospheric oxygen being produced in this region. Besides helping to regulate the worlds climate, rainforests host an extraordinary diversity of life. Scientists believe that as many as half of the Earths different species of plants and animals are found only in the rainforests, which take up a mere 7 percent of the worlds landmass. By some estimates, more than half of the Earths original rainforests have already been burned or cut down for timber or grazing land, and more than 130 plant, animal, and insect species are thought to be going extinct daily as a result of the lost habitat. Currently 25 percent of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from tropical rainforest ingredients, and 70 percent of the plants with anticancer properties are found only in this shrinking biome.