happening. >> how extensive is the damage, we are going to find out. that is why we are going to walk every trail, stream and swamp we come across to see what is out there. i'm an into enintoeninto entomologist. i'll share my findings with a biologist specializing in ecology and evolution and an engineer who has designed everything from bionic eyes to space satellites. that's our team, now let's do some science. ♪ welcome to "tech know," i'm phil and you guys know i spend a lot of my time in the jungles and do my research in the tropics and usually looking at spiders on butterflys and i went to costa-rica to look at something different and there are scientific issues out there and protecting the rain forest is one of them and maybe it's not quite high enough on the list because we are realizing now that rain forests are doing incredible services for us in society. >> they are doing them completely for free and do dot think about rain forests providing fundamental services but they do. >> as someone who lives in new york and visited costa-rica it takes so much cokeep new york running and so many systems and the rain forest is so much more complicated and complex. what is amazing is the services you see in the rain forest do not just stop there and are effecting us here in los angeles and that is something that scientists are just now beginning to realize so let's take a look. ♪ if you listen closely you can hear the lyrics, the poetry of the rain forest. among its troops is this guy. literally you see postcards with this thing. here is looking at you, kid. check out these farm hands, working dusk to dawn to cultivate their garden. stunning beauty, unparallel veracity, the magic that is the rain forest. ♪ i traveled to costa-rica to check out the health of these eco systems and the tall, dense jungles are known for warm climates, lots of rain and sheltering more than half of the world's plant and animal species. although rain forests comprise a small percentage of the earth, they do big things, in human terms they are a critical component to how we function. >> i love to think of the amazon, the rain forest as the lungs of the planet. >> reporter: they are more like the heart of the biosphere. >> reporter: our tale of the rain forest brings us to all places here, nasa laboratory in pasadena, california where scientists use techniques ranging from boots on the ground to satellites in the sky all to understand our living, breathing, green earth. ♪ the resent study by research scientists dave and josh says friend. >> what our study shows is the tropics really dominate the metabolism of our planet and from dominate the fossils from the atmosphere and really cleaning up the planet. >> reporter: research employed satellite mapping, forestry data and good old fashion jungle gum chewing and these trees are consumers of carbon dioxide one of the greenhouse gasses that contributes to global warming and their research suggests tropical rain forests may absorb reported. >> if forests were not taking up carbon than the simple answer is there would be 25% more carbon in the atmosphere than there actually is and the rate of warming would be approximately 25% faster. they are helping to regulate our climate. >> reporter: despite an overall decline in the destruction of rain forests over the past decade it's still a story of paradise lost. farming, construction, pollution, and drought just to name some of the threats to some of these incredibly complex eco systems, understanding and documenting the life this these pulse. >> so we just got into the bat cave and it's absolutely amazing. the length of the antenna are incredibly long which tells you that this thing is specifically adapted to living in the dark. >> what do we have inside? >> we have insect soup. >> some of these are amazing, look at that, mosquito in there, the best i have seen. >> reporter: nasa colleague senior scientists sachi spends most of his time in and around global forests. >> there used to be a term in the 70s and 80s called hamburger effect means the forest are for grazing man and for animals. effect. >> reporter: he says we need to the future. >> you are actually reducing the bio diversity of the world plot. >> reporter: but the trees appeared to be fighting back and a global movement underway for financial incentives to not degrade these rain forests, some places in the world are getting the message. >> costa-rica is kind of a good example and kind of one of the green countries in the world. >> reporter: we are heading there next to the deep jungle. >> we heard there may be vampire bats in there. >> reporter: we want to hear what you think about the stories, join the conversation by following us on twitter at al jazeera.com/"tech know." world continue to be diminished there is an unique bright spot in costa rica, this is a 720 acre rain forest that once was partly devastated by pasture use. this is all you plant. today through pretty impressive environment efforts it's a shining example of bio diversity the founder. >> most of the cheese we are looking at over here we planted 12 years ago and originally this was pasture. >> and now with this. >> coming back and regenerated. i like your garden, looks nice. >> reporter: this reserve gave me the incredible opportunity to search for new species and to check out how the local wildlife is doing. when the sun goes down a lot of creatures come out and the rain forest comes alive at night and why we are walking every trail, stream or swamp we come across to see what is out there. let's get started see what we can find. this is one of the iconic animals of costa rica and you see postcards with this thing, take a look. why. one of the things we are looking for is glass frogs and they are imagine magnificent glass frogs and see through, what are we looking at? >> guarding the eggs and the other thing is it gets dry if it doesn't rain for a couple days, he will urinate or water the eggs so they do not dry out. >> reporter: that is a pretty caring father for you. species like glass frogs are sensitive to pollution and help us to understand the state of the forest, documenting their presence or absence serves as a time stamp letting us know what is here today so we can compare that to how man has effected this forest in years to come. the next day the search for species continues in the most mysterious of places. right now paul has taken me to a cave in the middle of the rain forest and heard there may be vampire bats in there. i can hear the bats. there she is. you are up. all right. you are on first? >> sure. >> oh, good. >> yeah, pretty low in here. ♪ bats mostly get a bad wrap but in real life they are an important part of our eco system and calil of university of river side is a real life batman who studies the winged mammals. >> they eat a bunch of bugs and drink nectar and eat pollen and bats. >> reporter: i never worried about being attacked by a bat but the thought of entering this cave was still a bit daunting and i keep telling myself it's all for science. we just got in the bat cave and it is absolutely amazing. i'm drenched already covered in mud and there are about 50-100 bats. ♪ it's a little muddy in there but saw some good stuff. there is a stream down there and let's maybe cleanup a bit. back in the rain forest a critical part to understanding its condition is knowing what's living in there, take a close example. >> they are coming out at night and can find butterflys sleeping and i will wake it up a bit so i can show you guys. and to us it looks like an owl but to a predator when you see it on the side it actually looks more like a lizard or a snake's head and the idea is when this butterfly is resting it will tag the back end and try to get the neck of the lizard and you can tell looking at these parts in here it's a male and they smell really distinctly and smell kind of like burnt ketchup which is kind of weird. >> reporter: with all the data collected over days in the field it's time to hit the books to found. >> you can actually see the color of the bones. >> oh, yeah. >> green bones. >> there it is. >> and it tells us. >> wow. some frogs have green bones, who would have known? ♪ what does it mean to you every time you can add a new species to your species list? >> process of discovery and process of linking all of the organisms that live here together and learning more about their connections and interactions with each other. ♪ studying and documenting life in the rain forest is so extremely important for science, it is strenuous work and the conditions at times hazardous but often the rewards are phenomenal. ♪ so when you discover a new shee sheepecies. >> it was found here and when so we know the condition of the rain forest at this time, it's a relatively new reserve and others nearby in costa rica and this is well-known documenting species for decades and using the data center and seeing the effects of global warming. >> if you look at species through the optic of climate change the idea that species have quote, unquote natural ranges but now it's changing and temperatures are warming say that is going to affect where these species occur and where they live and go and in a place like where you were in costa rica with a lot of mountains eco systems they are moving up the mountain and when happens when mountain. >> that is in a complex eco systems in the rain forest and in the u.s. and species in the rocky mountains and butterflys moving further up. coming up, next we are go doing meet a scientist who is recycling pollution into works of art. ♪ >> monday. >> a lot of these mining sites are restricted. >> a silent killer. >> got a lot of arsenic in it. >> you know your water's bad and you know you're sick. >> unheard victims. >> 90 percent of the people will get some type of illness from the water. >> where could it happen next? >> i mean, they took away my life. >> "faultlines". al jazeera america's hard-hitting... >> today they will be arrested. >> ground-breaking... >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning investigative series. water for coal. monday, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile planet >> criminal gangs risking lives >> it's for this... 3 grams of gold >> killing our planet >> where it's blood red... that's where the mercury is most intense >> now, fighting back with science... >> we fire a laser imaging system out of the bottom of the plane >> revealing the deadly human threat >> because the mercury is dumped into the rivers and lakes, it then gets into the food chain... >> that's hitting home >> it ends up on the dinner plate of people... >> techknow only on al jazeera america >> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile planet inside these walls teenage thieves and arsonists, gang-bangers, drug abusers even kids who kill. >> my anger was pretty bad. >> but, this once notorious juvenile lock-up is trying something new. >> what does playing the piano do for you? 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