One can't survive for a minute without lungs. Because lungs provide us with oxygen, which is the most vital requirement for life. Do you know that, much like our lungs, our planet also has lungs which provide the planet with oxygen?
Amazon forest produces 20% oxygen on our planet and are known as the lungs of earth. Today we are going to share some important facts about Amazon which is home to hundreds of thousands of different types of animals, insects, and birds.
Amazon, also known as Amazonia, is the world's largest forest, spanned across 5.5 million square kilometers. According to wildlife experts and archaeologists, Amazon forest is almost 55 million years old. It covers an area of almost 20% of the whole South America. In other words, it is 7 times as large as a country like Pakistan. It extends up to 9 countries including Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Ghana and French Ghana. 60% of Amazon forest is in Brazil, 13% in Peru, 10% in Colombia, while the remaining 17% is in the other 6 countries.
How did Amazon get its name?
It is believed that a Spanish tourist Francesco attempted to cross Amazon River in 1540. He came in conflict with a native tribe, Tapuyas. Francesco saw native women fighting the battle. Those women resembled ancient Greek warrior women, the Amazons, in their looks. That's how the Amazon forest got its name.
Amazon River
Amazon River and Streams Amazon River is the largest river by volume. It's as long as, 6500 km. One can imagine the size of this river by the fact that during dry season, its width averages between 3 and 9 km. However, during rainy season, it gets as wide as 48 km. To get an estimate about the volume of water on Amazon, consider the fact . That the next 5 biggest rivers after Amazon, combined, don't have as much water as Amazon. It is the second-longest river after the Nile.
Nile is 300 km more in length as compared to Amazon. Water from Amazon falls in the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes one-fifth of all the fresh water going into oceans. According to a research, 20% of earth's fresh water from Amazon flows into oceans at 219,000 cubits per second. For comparison, the flow rate of Indus River is only 25,485 cubits per second.
Water streams in Amazon
Almost 1100 water streams flow through the Amazon forest. Out of those, 17 streams are more than 1500 km in length. These water streams are a source of life for flora and fauna in the forest. And it is because of these streams, that the whole area gets rains throughout the year. One of these Amazon streams have boiling water. According to experts, its temperature is 93 – 110 degrees centigrade. If some animal falls into this stream, it cannot come back alive.
Animals and Insects
According to a safe estimate, almost 30% of the animals on earth, live in this forest. In the last 2 decades, 2000 new species of animals, birds, and insects have been discovered which are not found anywhere else. These animals also include different types of monkeys, jaguars, and gorillas. Other to 430 new mammal species, Amazon is house to almost 1500 very rare species of birds. These include different species of eagles, parrots, sparrows, nightingales, and many others.
One of the more famous birds is Macau which is a large parrot with beautiful colors. Furthermore, Amazon has 100s of different species of reptiles, not found anywhere else. Among these, there are many species of snakes, scorpions, and crocodiles. Other than these 2000 species of animals and birds, Amazon forest has no less than 2.5 million different species of insects. If we only mention spiders, there are almost 3000 species present. Some of them are big enough to prey on birds.
Amazon is also home to 120 different venomous species of frogs, strong enough to kill a dozen people. These frogs are found in different colors and they most appear in rainy season. There is a rather unique specie of ants found on Amazon, with sting as potent as a bullet. Its venom is strong enough to kill a healthy man in a matter of minutes. That's why this ant is called bullet ant.
Besides, Anaconda snakes, usually seen in Hollywood movies, are also found in this forest. Although not venomous, these snakes can swallow their prey alive. Among other exotic animals, Amazon also has a rather lethal specie of bats, that can make a hole in the body of animals without them knowing it. Of the most dangerous animals in Amazon forest, Jaguar is the most dangerous. It's one of the 4 biggest cats in the world. It's heavier than a tiger with a bigger head.
Aquatic life
On Amazon is as unique as any other animal. Rivers and streams of Amazon have about 3000 different species of fish. Pink dolphin which is a rather unique creature is also found only in Amazon waters.
Flora in Amazon
Flora in Amazon has almost 40,000 different species of plants whereas 18,000 species of trees. According to a safe estimate, there are about 390 billion trees on Amazon. Some of these trees are so dense that light does not touch the ground beneath them. And sometimes, even the rain water reaches the ground 15 minutes after it starts raining.
Some of these trees are almost 60 meters or 200 feet (ca. 61 m) broad. Amazon forest constitutes 20% of all forests on earth. Researches say that every year, forests around the world absorb 200 billion tonnes of carbon.
Out of that, almost 70 billion tonnes or 35% of carbon is absorbed by Amazon alone. One can fully understand the importance of Amazon from these statistics. Life on Amazon is not limited to animals, plants, and insects, but it also has about 20 – 30 million humans.
Tribes on Amazon
Amazon has about 400 native tribes with no contact whatsoever with the outside world. The forest means everything to them. That's where they are born, spend their lives and breathe their last. Among these tribes, Wari and Culina tribes were considered cannibals. But this theory did not have the backing of strong evidence. Their contact with the outside world seems rather impossible. However, researchers have gained a lot of information about some of these tribes. And they are in touch with these tribes.
In recent past, an indigenous Amazon tribe is discovered which is too primitive to count beyond two. According to a researcher, Dr. Gordon, the people of this Piranha tribe are so primitive that they can't draw a picture; not even a straight line. The tribe has a population of 200 individuals.
As explained earlier, Amazon produces about one fifth of the oxygen of earth. Therefore, not just Amazon, but all the forests and trees of the world are significant for human beings. They are the key to reduce global warming by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.
Therefore, we cannot say this without a sad face, that like all other forests, Amazon has also fallen victim to human greed. According to a research, one fifth of Amazon forest has been cut since 1950. Another research suggests that just in last year, 10,881 square kilometer area of Amazon forest has been destroyed. Besides human caused damage, Amazon has also faced the wrath of natural calamities.
During the fires of 2019, hundreds of thousands of animals on Amazon got killed. It also burnt everything in an area of, 7600 square kilometers. According to experts, the Brazilian government has encouraged agriculture and mining in the recent past. And therefore, an increase in deforestation has been observed. Now other countries like Peru and Bolivia are following the footsteps of Brazil.
Forests are not only important for wildlife but for human life in general as well. Therefore, we advise you to take care of trees, as it is the same as saving the future of humankind.
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