The Amazon is located in the northern part of South America. The following map shows where it is. It is located in the green section of the map. The Amazon is located in the state called Amazonas. The most important cities located in this region are Manaus (where we were), and Belem.
As you can see, the Amazon is not only located in Brazil. It is also located in some other countries in South America, like Peru. The size of the Amazon basin is 2.5 million square miles. The length of the Amazon river is 6,500 miles long. The Amazon basin in actually nine times the size of Texas!! That's huge!! The only river longer than the Amazon river is the Nile river, in Egypt. The Amazon is a huge natural resource for the world. However, people in the world negatively affect the Amazon. They cut down trees and use huge amounts of limited items from the Amazon. Another bad thing is the concern of the indigenous people. About 500 years ago, 10 million Indians were living in the Amazon. However, today, less than 200,000 Indians are living in the Amazon. More than 90 tribes have been wrecked since the 1900's. But, people in the world also affect the Amazon positively by using its resources in a good way. Did you know that sixteen percent of the world's river water goes throught the Amazon delta?? Also, when it is the season of flooding, the Amazon rises an average of 30 feet. Woah!! The Amazon river begins in the Peruvian Andes, and goes all the way east over the northern half of South America. You know what is cool? The Amazon river meets the Atlantic Ocean at Belem, Brazil!! The drainage basin covers 2,722,000 million square miles. It lies in the countries of Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and three Guyanas. The Amazon gets about 9 feet of rain per year. Did you know that 50 percent of this returns to the atmosphere through the foliage of trees? Most of the Amazon river's water comes from the snowmelt from the Peruvian Andes. Between the months of June and October, the water level rises by thirty to fourty five feet. About 15 million years ago, the river flowed westward into the Pacific Ocean. The Amazon rainforest covers more than 50 percent of Brazil. A cool fact is that at some times the river is one mile wide, and at other times it can be thirty five miles wide!!
Topic 2: Climate and Vegetation
1 map=CLIMATE MAP 2 map=VEGETATION MAP
The Amazon's climate is very hot, humid, rainy, and dry. The Amazon has a very varied climate! Look at the map above to see the climate. The vegetation in the Amazon is very interesting. Before we talk about the vegetation, look at the green map to see what the vegetation is like. The vegetation in the Amazon includes four layers (or communities). Each layer has different ecosystems, animals, and plants. The emergent layer is the tallest layer. The main layer of the rainforest in the canopy. Most trees in the canopy have smooth, circle or oval leaves to have a point, that is called a drip tip. The drip tip allows water to drip of the leaf quickly. The leaves are very dense, and block 80% of the sunlight. Varioius fruits and flowers grown in this layer. The floorest floor is the lowest layer, and hardly any plants grow there. Only about 2% of the sunlight gets through. Many nutrients are in this layer. The next layer is the understory. It only gets about two to five percent of the sunlight showing. The plants in this layer find a differentw ay to adapt to this shadowy layer. Sadly, the Amazon's trees grow in the poorest soil. The temperatures and the amount of rain stays the same throughout the year. The average temperature is about 79 degrees farenheit. More than 20% of the rainforest has been wrecked and is GONE FOREVER! :( Scientists have predicted that at the rate of descruction now, the rest of the forest could be gone in 40 years. People have adapted to the climate and vegetation by finiding medicine and cures from plants for their survival and health. Believe it or not, some of those medicines can be the cure for terrible diseases. Although many medicines come for the Amazon, scientists have only tried one percent of the fruits. Maybe the fruits will be helpful in the future. The Amazon rainforest is a great place, so treat the way you would like to be treated!!
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário