RP173 The Wild Amazon

 RP173 The Wild Amazon

Step inside, and the air is rich and heavy, full of oxygen that the plants breathe out. Everything is green. The light comes down through the leaves of the trees high above. Growing things pile on top of each other—vines on trees, moss on vines, fungi and flowers everywhere. Animals large and small hide in the tangled plants. It seems quiet, but the air is actually full of the sound of leaves and insects moving. This is the Amazon rain forest.

The Amazon rain forest covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. It covers five and a half million square kilometers, mostly in Brazil but reaching into some other countries as well. It is ancient, at least 55 million years old. It is full of fresh water from its many rivers.

The Amazon rain forest has the most animal and plant species in one place in the world. One in 10 living species of plants or animals make their home in the Amazon. One in five of all birds live in the Amazon. It is incredibly rich, and we have discovered and documented only a small part of it.

That is why the destruction of the Amazon is so frightening and so serious. Deforestation—cutting down forests for farming or pasture—is a major threat. Though the deforestation rate has slowed, the Amazon still loses many miles of forest every year. For every mile lost, we may lose valuable plants and animals. We also depend on the plants in the Amazon for oxygen. killing them may accelerate global warming.

The Amazon is one of the world's few remaining wild, mysterious places. Let's protect it before it's too late.