Amazonia is the largest river basin in the world, and its forest stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the tree line of the Andes in the west. A brief treatment of the Amazon Rainforest follows. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Isaacson, Andy. 70 percent of South America's GDP is produced in areas that receive rainfall or water from the Amazon. In the 1970s, construction began on the Trans-Amazonian highway. In a typical year, the Amazon absorbs 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide; during 2005 instead 5 gigatons were released and in 2010 8 gigatons were released. Aerosols over the Amazon each September for four burning seasons (2005 through 2008). 2000. The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species,[38] tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. In the river, electric eels can produce an electric shock that can stun or kill, while piranha are known to bite and injure humans.
California is also on fire, so is the Arctic Circle, and now Australia’s bushfire season is underway. A 2009 study found that a 4 °C rise (above pre-industrial levels) in global temperatures by 2100 would kill 85% of the Amazon rainforest while a temperature rise of 3 °C would kill some 75% of the Amazon. [52] These farming practices led to deforestation and caused extensive environmental damage. One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $6820 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $148 if used as cattle pasture.[75]. Amazon Rainforest, large tropical rainforest occupying the Amazon basin in northern South America and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). [90] The researcher used a combination of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Thematic Mapper (TM) to accurately place the different portions of the Amazon into one of the four classifications. The 2010 drought had three epicenters where vegetation died off, whereas in 2005, the drought was focused on the southwestern part. The Amazon carries a large volume of water contributing 20% of global river runoff to the oceans. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. [81], A new study by an international team of environmental scientists in the Brazilian Amazon shows that protection of freshwater biodiversity can be increased by up to 600% through integrated freshwater-terrestrial planning Amazon community battles Chinese oil firm: ‘Rainfall tastes like coal’ Local people object to widespread practice of flaring, where natural gas produced from oil wells is burned [97], In 2010, the Amazon rainforest experienced another severe drought, in some ways more extreme than the 2005 drought. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in AD 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó, and inland dwellers. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-Rainforest, World Wide Fund for Nature - Amazon rainforest, Amazon Rainforest - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). For the river, see, Sahara Desert dust windblown to the Amazon, Impact of early 21st-century Amazon droughts. Star attraction of the place: [61] As oil companies have to set up their operations by opening roads through forests, which often contributes to deforestation in the region. In this region sunlight strikes Earth at roughly a 90-degree angle resulting in intense solar energy. Studies by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the average rainfall in the Amazon show that rainfall has been declining since about 2003, … The Amazon Tropical Rain Forest is the largest rainforest on Earth and covers around 40% of the continent of South America. The high amount of rain combined with a warm year-round climate makes the Amazo History Among the arthropods of the Amazon Rainforest are spiders (including orb weavers and tarantulas), scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, butterflies, wasps, rhinoceros beetles, ponerine ants, mantids, and walkingsticks. [3], More than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in the Amazon, which are subdivided into 9 different national political systems. The forest widens from a 200-mile (320-km) front along the Atlantic to a belt 1,200 miles (1,900 km) wide where the lowlands meet the Andean foothills. With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest. Editorial Lexus 2000 p. 925. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-human primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as have ethno-biology and community-based conservation efforts. The weather will vary during the dry season as rainfall decreases. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 2007 Ecuador initiated a unique plan to preserve a portion of the forest within its borders, which lies in Yasuní National Park (established 1979), one of the world’s most biodiverse regions: the Ecuadoran government agreed to forgo development of heavy oil deposits (worth an estimated $7.2 billion) beneath the Yasuní rainforest if other countries and private donors contributed half of the deposits’ value to a UN-administered trust fund for Ecuador. It expanded again during the Middle Miocene, then retracted to a mostly inland formation at the last glacial maximum. Amazon Rainforest makes you enjoy the rainfall of leaves, pleasant breeze and amazing parts of nature. By 2016 the state oil company Petroecuador had begun to drill and extract petroleum from the park. Archeologist Betty Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in a Counterfeit Paradise. 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