Amazon Rainforest
hideThe Amazon rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonia), also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), of which five and a half million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, and with minor amounts in Colombia, 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 it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.
The Amazon rainforest was short-listed in 2008 as a candidate to one of the New7Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation. As of February 2009 the Amazon was ranking first in Group E, the category for forests, national parks and nature reserves.
For more information about Amazon Rainforest, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with amazon rainforest
Researchers hail innovative plan to save rainforest, reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Nov 05, 2009 |
2.3 / 5 (3) |
1
An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers ...
Ancient rainforests resilient to climate change
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 01, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (7) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate change wreaked havoc on the Earth’s first rainforests but they quickly bounced back, scientists reveal today. The findings of the research team, led by Dr Howard Falcon-Lang from Royal ...
Even singers in the bird world have to deal with cover artists
Sep 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two competing species of Amazonian birds use the same songs to communicate with each other, Oxford University scientists have found, the first evidence that convergent evolution can arise ...
The secret jungles of ancient France
Jul 16, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ah, Paris. Land of the Eiffel Tower, delicious French bread and... tropical rainforests? Sacrebleu! It seems unlikely, but scientists have discovered evidence that France may have been a hot, wet tropical ...
Deforestation causes 'boom-and-bust' development in the Amazon
Jun 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Clearing the Amazon rainforest increases Brazilian communities' wealth and quality of life, but these improvements are short-lived, according to new research published in Science. The study, by an intern ...
Coral Triangle could die by century's end: WWF
May 13, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (9) |
9
Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a ...
Reserves found to be 'effective tool' for reducing fires in Brazilian rainforests
Apr 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Rainforest reserves - even those disturbed by roads - provide an important buffer against fires that are devastating parts of the Brazilian Amazon, according to a new study by a trio of researchers at Duke University published ...
Will dams on Amazon tributary wreak global havoc?
Apr 05, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
4
The Xingu River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, runs wide and swift this time of year. Its turquoise waters are home to some 600 species of fish, including several not found anywhere else on the planet. A thick emerald ...
Scientist warns that palm oil development may threaten Amazon
Mar 24, 2009 |
1 / 5 (2) |
1
Oil palm cultivation is a significant driver of tropical forest destruction across Southeast Asia. It could easily become a threat to the Amazon rainforest because of a proposed change in Brazil's legislation, ...
