Natural water towers

Mountains usually have steep, sloping sides and sharp or rounded ridges, and a high point called a peak or summit. Most earth scientists classify a mountain as a landform that rises at least 1,000 feet or more above its surrounding area. A mountain range is a series or chain of mountains that are close together. Mountain ecosystems are important for biological diversity, particularly in the tropics and warmer temperate latitudes. Isolated mountain blocks are often rich in endemic species. Mountains help man with all the freshwater they need for agriculture and daily life. Mountains are the world's water towers as described in the “water cycle”, water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. Therefore mountains get more rainfall than low-lying areas.