The Amazon rainforest: The wonders of Earth's most unexplored wilderness, explained

[Judi Lynn]

By Helen PilcherPublished: 28th May, 2023 at 08:00

Welcome to the world’s biggest, most beautiful, and most biodiverse rainforest.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world. It’s also the most biodiverse. One in ten of all known species are found here, including many that are endangered and found nowhere else. It’s big and it’s beautiful, and it’s vitally important, not least because it stores vast amounts of carbon, influences rainfall patterns across South America, and affects climate on a much broader scale.

In the last 40 years, around a fifth of the rainforest has been felled or burned to make way for cattle ranches and other activities. Now scientists fear it’s on the verge of irreparable damage. We lose it at our peril.

We need to act now to save one of the world’s last true wonders.



The Amazon Rainforest covers 5.5 million square kilometres of South America. Base image by Getty Images

Spanning nine nations including Brazil, Peru and Colombia, the Amazon rainforest occupies 5.5 million square kilometres. Less than half of this area is protected. The Amazon River, which runs through it, flows for more than 6,500km. It’s the world’s second longest river after the Nile and is responsible for around 15 per cent of the planet’s total river discharge into the oceans.

Who lives in the Amazon rainforest?
People have been living in the Amazon for at least 10,000 years. Ancient settlers cultivated native trees such as the Brazil nut, maripa palm, and cocoa tree, and in time this influenced the rainforest’s makeup. The southwestern section, for example, is rich in these species.

When the first Europeans arrived in South America in the late 15th Century, there were about 6.8 million indigenous people living there. The colonists carried infectious diseases, such as malaria and influenza, that killed millions of Amazonians. Thousands more were enslaved or displaced.

More:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/the-amazon-rainforest/