Amazon Rainforest The Amazon Basin Biodiversity Environmentalism

The forest lies in a basin drained largely by the Amazon River, with 1,100 tributaries. This basin was formed in the PalaeozoicThe Palaeozoic is a major division of the geologic timescale, one of four geologic eras. The division of time into eras, the largest division of geologic time, dates to the 18th Century. The Palaeozoic includes six geologic periods; from oldest to younges period, between 500 and 200 million years ago.

2 Biodiversity

The region is home to ~2.5 million insectSubclass Apterygota Symphypleona globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Palaeodictyoptera extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata ( dragonfl speciesThis article discusses biological species. Also see combinatorial species for the mathematical meaning of the term. Species is also a movie by Roger Donaldson. In English "species" is both singular and plural. The word " specie" is unrelated and is used t, tens of thousands of plantGreen algae land plants (embryophytes non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta liverworts Anthocerophyta hornworts Bryophyta mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta clubmosses Equisetophyta horsetails Pteridophyta "true"s, and some 2000 birdFor other meanings of bird see bird (disambiguation). Many see text Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones. There are almost 9000 known species of birds ins and mammalSubclass Monotremata Monotremata Subclass Marsupialia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Subclass Placentalia Xenarthra Dermoptera Desmostylia Scandentia Primates Rodentia Lagomorps. The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants. One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or cataloged. (Note: Brazil has one of the most advanced laws to avoid biopiracyBiopiracy can refer to unauthorised use of biological resources e. plants, animals, organs, microorganisms, genes; unauthorised use of traditional communities' knowledge on biological resources; unequal share of benefits between a patent holder and the in, but enforcing it is a problem.)

3 Environmentalism

There has been concern among environmentalists for many years, regarding the deforestation of the region, stemming mainly from the fact that more than one fifth of the Amazon Rainforest has already been destroyed; and much more is threatened. Not only are environmentalists concerned about the loss of biodiversity which will result from the forest's destruction; but, they are also concerned about the release of the carbonAlternative meaning: Carbon (computing Carbon is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol C and atomic number 6. An abundant nonmetallic, tetravalent element, carbon has several allotropic forms: diamonds (hardest known mineral). Bindi which is held within the trees -- this carbon will accelerate global warming.

The deforestation of this area in the 1980s was largely considered catastrophic. Yet, in 1996, the Amazon was reported to have shown a 34 per cent increase in deforestation since 1992. A new report by a congressional committee says the Amazon is vanishing at a rate of 52,000 square kilometers (20,000 miles²) a year, over three times the rate for which the last official figures were reported, in 1994.

Environmentalists commonly stress the fact that there is not only a biological incentive to protecting the rainforest, but also an economic one. One square kilometer in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to provide potential earnings of $682,000 per year if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $100,000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $14,800 if used as cattle pasture.

The Forca Aerea Brasileira has been using EMBRAER R-99 surveillance aircraft, as part of the SIVAM program, in an attempt to halt rainforest molestation. At a conference in July 2004, scientists warned that the rainforest will no longer be able to absorb the millions of tons of greenhouse gases annually, as it usually does, because of the increased pace of rainforest destruction. The large-scale cutting of trees begins a cycle in which farmers burn leftover jungle scrub to replenish the soil, which releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide (200 to 300 million tons in 2003) into the atmosphere, that are in turn absorbed by the rainforest.

9,169 square miles of rain forest were cut down in 2003 alone.

4 See also

Illegal logging

5 External links

Amazon conservation

Rainforests Wonders of the World

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1 The Amazon Basin