AMAZON FACTS AND FIGURES

AMAZON FACTS AND FIGURES

The mighty Amazon River begins in Peru and flows 4,600 miles towards the Atlantic Ocean, where its mouth is populated with an archipelago of islands. One of these is Marjos, the largest island in the world which is the size of Switzerland. Along the way, many smaller rivers feed into the Amazon, and at many intersections of these tributaries, the waters flow side by side for several miles without mixing. This has different names such as, “The Meeting of the Waters,“ “The Wedding of the Waters,” or “Marriage of the Waters.“ The Amazon itself also has several different names as it flows through different areas.

The water of the Amazon is a muddy yellow brown color, caused by the silt and other sediment it carries, and its depth varies. It is also the wet season, and the river is filled with all kinds of debris such as clumps of grass, branches, trash and logs. Our ship was affected by both these factors, and we could often hear and feel the propellers working through shallow water and sand bars. On one occasion the captain announced that we had to stop and back up to try to dislodge a large log that had become caught in the propeller -- a maneuver which was successful.

The rainforest/jungle is about 1.2 billion acres, about half of the world’s remaining rainforests. It covers 9 nations: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The rainforest is also know as Amazonia, and 60% is in Brazil. The rainforest is often called the “lungs of the world” producing 10% of its oxygen. Rainfall varies between 67-78 inches per year because the earth moves very little at the equator, and water is easily evaporated from the ocean. Rain, however, leaches out soluble nutrients so the soil is poor. There are many cattle ranches and soy is now an increasing crop. Transportation is mainly by boat, but a Trans Amazon highway network was completed in the 1980s and connects all major cities of the Brazilian Amazon interior.

Now here’s some of the statistics (more than 1/3 of world‘s species live here):

2.5 million insect species

2,000 bird and mammal species (1,294 birds & 727 mammals)

40,000 plant species

3,000 fish

428 amphibians

378 reptiles

More than 100 species of monkeys

1 square mile can contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants

Many important medicines come from plants only found in the Amazon region.

In the 1940s President Vargas’ government started to develop the interior. Roads were cut through the forests but the soil was hard to cultivate. Cattle farming was introduced, and this deforested the area. About 1/5 of the total area has been clear cut and fortunately preservation of the remaining forest is becoming more prominent. Devastating droughts like the one in 2006 could change the rainforest into savannah or desert, and this could have dire consequences for the world’s climate. It’s vital to preserve this diverse part of Earth.