Recent Changes

By Abhijit Naik
Published: 6/28/2010
Article 2:
THE AMAZON BASIN: Amazing Facts and Figures
The Amazon basin has the most developed rainforest of anywhere in the world. Over two-thirds of all the fresh water on earth is found within the Amazon basin and over 20% of the earth’s oxygen is produced there. Although exact numbers are not known, the basin may contain up to one million plant species. The Amazon basin is drained by the Amazon River and its thousands of tributaries. The basin covers an area of approximately 2.5 million square miles (650 million hectares) which is approximately 40% of South America. If superimposed on the United States, it would cover nearly all of the contiguous 48 states!
The Amazon is teeming with life. It is a birders paradise containing more species than any other ecosystem, and there are more than 4,000 species of butterflies. The lush forests of the Amazon basin are home to reptiles, amphibians, primates, tapirs, capybaras, even jaguars. The river itself contains freshwater dolphins, manatee and more than 2,000 species of fish which incidentally is more species than has been recorded for the entire Atlantic Ocean!
The climate in the Amazon is consistent with daytime temperatures ranging from the mid to upper 80’s and falling to the low 70’s in the night. Rain falls approximately 250 days of the year. While many areas have distinct rainy and dry seasons, others do not. Even the high water level is not necessarily dependent on rainfall during the rainy season, but on other factors such as the rate of evaporation and transpiration of plants. There are about 100 inches (250 centimeters) of rainfall per year in the Amazon with the forest creating about half of its own rainfall. This intricate water cycle has helped to create the diversity of life found in the Amazon basin and has sustained its existence for millions of years. It remains to be seen what devastating impact the human intervention of deforestation will have on this cycle.