Labs / Geography
Biome Explorer
Every biome on Earth is set by just two numbers: how warm it is and how much rain falls. Drag the point across the Whittaker climate diagram (or nudge the sliders) and the landscape on the right rebuilds itself — from bone-dry desert to dripping rainforest. Flip on seasonality to see how a dry season or a hard winter changes the same place.
Biome Tropical RainforestNPP ≈ 2,200 g/m²/yr
Plants Broadleaf evergreens, lianas & epiphytesAnimals jaguar, toucan, howler monkeyFound in Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, Borneo
What to try
- Keep the rainfall high and slowly cool the temperature down. Where does rainforest hand off to taiga, and why does no forest survive the coldest corner?
- Two spots are both scorching hot — one wet, one dry. Why is one a jungle teeming with life and the other nearly empty?
- Watch the net primary productivity readout as you move around. Which climate grows the most living matter each year, and which grows almost none?
- Grassland and savanna sit close on the diagram. What separates a prairie of bison from a savanna of elephants and acacias?
- Turn seasonality on for the savanna and the taiga. How does a place survive months of drought — or months buried in snow?