Amazonia

The Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía) is a moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon Basin of South America. The area, also known as Amazonia or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.2 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers, located within nine nations: Brazil (with 60 percent of the rainforest), Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations bear the name Amazonas after it. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

The amazon has a wide variety of rare species. The name Amazon is said to arise from a war which Francisco de Orellana had with a tribe of Tapuyas where the women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe. (Orellana's descriptions may have been accurate, but a few historians speculate that Orellana could have been mistaking indigenous men wearing "grass skirts" for women.) Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the ancient Amazons of Asia and Africa described by Herodotus and Diodorus in Greek legends. Another etymology for the word suggests that it came originally from a native word amazona (Spanish spelling) or amassona (Portuguese spelling), meaning "destroyer (of) boats", in reference to the destructive nature of the root system possessed by some riparian plants.

Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: Giant leaf frog)
Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.

The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species[citation needed], tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.

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 kilometer of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes 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 catalogued.

Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km², an area twice the size of Portugal, with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. In February, 2008, the Brazilian government announced that the rate at which the Amazon rainforest is being cut down has increased significantly over the past few months. During the last five months of 2007, more than 3,200 sq. kilometers (an area equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island) was deforested during a time when deforestation would normally drop.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Amazon
• River
• Forest
• Deforestation
• Conservation
• humanities
• medicine

[alexcetera]

O que tem Portugal a ver com a NOSSA Amazônia? Por um acaso não é o Brasil o País que mais preserva suas florestas no Mundo? E por um acaso não é a Europa que possui apenas 6% de suas florestas originais? Seria por acaso que Portugal desflorestou mais de 20% do território brasileiro durante três séculos para plantar, explorar, matar e escravizar?

O seu legado histórico é sua herança. E não queremos vossa ajuda!

Brazil eternamente

[marcelovv01]

O Brasil é o país q + preserva no mundo,alem de obrigar os produtores a preservar 50% de suas propriedades,ainda tem +60% da amazonia protegidos por lei,os brasileiros infelizmente estão se submetendo a vontade das nações desenvolvidas,q ñ podem competir com o Brasil no agronegocio e ficam inventando mentiras,eu moro nessa região e sei q ainda existe muita floresta,q nós queremos conservar,ao contrario dos países desenvolvidos q acabaram com suas matas.E nós q somos "devastadores"?!

[yarasantana23123]

Mais como dizem as pessoas so vao dar valor quando a perder....

[yarasantana23123]

Bem voce pode estar certo meu caro philokiko

Porem nos brasileiros, deveriamos cuidar mais da Amazonia, e mostra para o mundo que nos nao precisamos de ajuda, para sinplesmente cuida da Amazonia.

Se o Brasil preservase mesmo a Mata do Mundo como estao citando em aluns comentarios que nao quero citar o nome. Para que o governo do Brasil quer coloca Usinas? Para sinplesmente fala que e *Chike?

E as pessoas que vivem la? que vao ter que sai das suas proprias terras, como Animais...

[lilplayabloodz]

Bla bla bla,quanta asneira..."O Brasil é o pais que mais preserva a mata no mundo"...viu isso aonde? na globo?...vocês acham que alguem respeita as leis nesse pais?claro que não,voce vai la derruma uma arvorezinha,leva uma multa e no outro dia pode começa tudo de novo,é assim vai todas as leis do Brasil sil sil...

[philokiko]

@yarasantana23123 Cara os americanos destruiram tudo e mataram 99% dos nativos e criaram um país onde tudo é fraude sua democracia nunca foi democracia,sua economia é baseada 100% em dívida,na realidade são parasitários do mundo.

[philokiko]

@Fleshjam Pensa você

[Fleshjam]

@philokiko Não, a Amazónia é do Mundo.

[StowAlex]

~ Nice video ~

[yarasantana23123]

Olha, Sou da Amazonia, no Acre em Rio Branco; e ele existem, e querem sabe da verdade? A amazonia de todos nos, Apenas os brasileiros, nao cuidao do bem mais precioso que existem em nosso pais que e a Amazonia. Gente nao adianta so Fala vamos ter mais ATITUDES sera que e tao dificiu de se ver que a Amazonia esta pedindo socorro a muito tempo? E DIGO MAIS os Estados Unidos sabem o que falam? A AMAZONIA E NOSSA PORQUE PARA QUE O BRASIL QUE A AMAZONIA SE NAO CUIDAO DELA COMO DEVERIA?!