Rainforests are prime ecosystems for generating moody weather. The Tongass National Forest in the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska is a perfect example. At 16.7 million acres (6.76 million hectares), it is the largest national forest in the U.S. The Tongass is part of the Pacific temperate rainforest region, which stretches from northern California to Prince William Sound in Alaska and is considered the most expansive on the planet.
Storms from the Pacific Ocean dump prodigious amounts of moisture on the mountainous terrain. Rain and snowmelt are a constant source of water which is the lifeblood of a landscape rich in flora and fauna. Consisting of Douglas fir, western red cedar, Sitka spruce, and western hemlock, these trees and surrounding vegetation contain more biomass per area than tropical forests. They are an important sink for carbon storage.
All five species of salmon and other fish thrive in the streams and rivers, which support robust populations of brown and black bears, eagles, otters, sea lions, and other wildlife. This photo of Windfall Harbor on Admiralty Island was taken in the early morning and showed the characteristic rainforest mist rising from the landscape to join the clouds. This moisture will return as rain completes the hydrologic cycle.
The atmospherics lend a mysterious, primaeval mood to this wilderness area. It reminds me of a journal entry Henry David Thoreau, arguably America’s first environmentalist, wrote in 1853. In this photo, one can imagine that the world has been recreated sometime during the night and is fresh and new. “Mornings of creation”, he called them.
Upload YOUR Picture • WIN $200 Cash
Did you know that now we offer a VIP membership? Create your Personal Portfolio Page and let us share your published pictures with over 300,000 members and followers.
Benefits of VIP membership:
• Your Personal Portfolio Page – click here to see a sample
• We promote all your pictures to over 300,000 followers via our social media pages
• Download all new issues of the magazine
• Download all back issues
• Download premium eBooks worth £19.45.
• Your uploaded pictures/posts stay attached to your page for as long as you are a VIP member, which could be forever
• Fast Support – we aim to reply within 12 hours
• Submission Priority – your submission goes to the front of the queue
Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor