Per the New York Times, "By one estimate, for every acre of rain forest cut down each year, more than 50 acres of new forest are growing." In these warm, humid tropical areas, "trees more than 100 feet high" grow within 15 years, "a thick rain-forest canopy" appears within 20 years, and elaborate ecosystems are formed in less than 50 years. Similarly, New Scientist has documented how a mid-Atlantic island developed a "fully functioning cloud rainforest ecosystem virtually from scratch in just 150 years."