The tropical regions help to conserve and balance the ecosystem. There is a large biodiversity near the equator.
The tropical regions cover the area at and near the equator of the Earth. This region is located between the tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn, as shown in Fig.1. The tropics cover approximately 40% of the land area on the Earth. It also exhibits about 80% of biodiversity, as well as maximum diversity in cultures and languages.
The tropical areas are mostly moist and humid. They are generally perceived as warm to hot. Tropics are in close proximity to the oceans. There are few unique organisms and plants that can dwell healthily in the associated weather conditions, depending on their location. Also, these areas undergo extreme climatic changes and have active deep ocean. Thus, they are always at high risk of damage such as cyclone, hurricane and tsunami etc. Â
The tropical regions help to conserve and balance the ecosystem. There is a large biodiversity near the equator. It is supported by the suitability of the environmental conditions for sustaining diverse living species, than in any other part of the Earth. This has attracted much attention from environmental researchers and marine biologists.Â
Despite being blessed with natural beauty, the organisms and plants in the tropics are always endangered due to varied infections. These diseases are quite unique to the region. Some of them, although well known, have been largely neglected, such as the Dengue. This has led to the launch of a special program on research and training in Tropical Diseases (TDRs). This is a collaborative initiative between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Furthermore, the United Nations (UN) has declared June 29 as the ‘International Day of Tropics’ to celebrate the extraordinary and astounding diversity of the tropics.This day also highlights the opportunities offered and the challenges faced by tropical nations.Â
Particularly, these tropical regions face unavailability of nutrition rich food and lag behind other nations in technology and development. Nevertheless, these regions are anticipated to be amongst the most populated areas by 2050, accounting for two- third of the global population of children. It has thus become imperative to make a note of the sluggish development in these territories and implement direct or indirect measures for advancement, betterment and modernisation of the population residing in the tropics.
Editor: Dr. Prajakta Dandekar-Jain
References:
- https://www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/index.shtml
- https://www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics
- https://www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_ecology#Conservation_and_management
- https://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imagee.htm
- https://www.expedia.com/Tropic-Of-Cancer-Beach-Williams-Town.d6264038.Vacation-Attraction
