When someone says "Amazon," the first thing that usually comes to mind is online shopping.
But we're not talking about an online store today; we're talking about the world's largest
rainforest, the amazon.
The forest, which is home to more than 30 million people and one out of every ten known
species on the planet, covers 5.5 million square kilometers or about 2.1 million square
miles, an area larger than the EU and more than half of the United States.
The sheer immensity of the forest is enough to indicate that it may be sheltering some
of the planet's most horrific secrets.
Be it odd tribes, animals or the mysterious architecture, amazon is going to amaze you.
Join us today as we unravel the hidden truths about the mysterious amazon.
Bigger than all of the other rainforests combined, Amazon is roughly the size of the forty-eight
contiguous United States.
It covers some 40 percent of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South
American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and
Suriname, as well as French Guiana.
It is home to one fifth of the world's bird species, 1/3 of the world's blooming plants,
16,000 different varieties of 390 billion trees, 2.5 million bug species, and one in
five of the world's fish species The Amazon River is the world's largest river
by discharge volume of water.
It has always been in dispute with the Nile for being the longest river.
The Amazon River, often known as the World's Mightiest River, contains around one-fifth
of the world's freshwater in just over 30 miles or 48 kilometers.
The river was named by Francisco de Orellana who is a Spanish soldier and is credited with
being the first European to explore the length of the river in 1541.
He named it the Amazon after encountering and engaging in battles with female warriors
who reminded him of the Amazons in Greek mythology.
These nomadic warriors belonged to the Scythians, a group of ancient tribes noted for their
expertise of horseback riding and archery.
The words ‘Amazon Rainforest’ conjures up images of lush green canopies, exotic wildlife,
and tantalizing rivers meandering out of sight.
But, just like once these female warriors were, this tropical paradise is also home
to up to 30 million people who rely on the rainforest's natural resources to survive,
much as their forefathers did for thousands of years.
Indigenous people make about 1.6 million of the population, with over 400 different indigenous
groups.
The Amazon's indigenous population has maintained, protected, and improved the jungle for thousands
of years while remaining a fully integrated part of it.
Some tribes live in isolation and avoid interaction with the outside world.
Their number decreased massively because of the diseases like smallpox, measles, and the
common cold that European explorers had brought with them.
These tribes are now protected by Brazilian authorities, who have enacted protectionist
'no contact' regulations in recent years to guarantee that they are left alone.
These uncontacted tribes are in danger from the outside world as not only they can learn
about the realities of this world but also, they are not even immune to contagious diseases
such as measles or flu.
We have no idea how they communicate or what their civilization is like.
It is still a surprise how these tribes manage to survive in the rainforest where we can
not even spend an entire day out in rain.
The Amazon is home to not only these people but also 10% of the world's known biodiversity.
With one in ten of the world's species calling the Amazon Rainforest home, you'd think there'd
be some pretty incredible creatures there!
Of the amazon fauna, birds range from brightly-colored macaws, toucans and hummingbirds to the harpy
eagle, which is the heaviest and most powerful bird of prey in America.
There are also other little creatures that include the famous – and cute – red-eyed
tree frog, and the famous – but not so cute – poison dart frogs.
Among insects, there are Leafcutter ants, which can harvest large amounts of foliage
while also assisting in its growth, and blue morpho butterflies, whose colors are so vivid
that they can be seen by pilots flying over the forest.
One of the rainforest’s most famous inhabitants is the jaguar.
And how can we forget about the trees while talking about the forest?
The most common tree in the Amazon Rainforest is the Euterpe precatoria.
It is a pine tree that can reach a height of 20 meters.
Its fruit is edible and is consumed by the native people.
Trees like the rubber plant, which produces latex used to make rubber, and walking palms,
which have peculiar, stilt-like roots, are two more prevalent trees.
As the Amazon is a dense forest, no one would have thought that it might be hiding one of
the greatest archaeological mysteries.
You might have heard about many lost cities that were drowned in the water.
The forests are not behind and the Amazon also has its own lost city, El Dorado.
The origins of El Dorado can be traced all the way back to South America.
And, like other timeless stories, the story of El Dorado contains some truthful elements.
When Spanish explorers arrived in South America in the early 16th century, they heard tales
of a tribe of indigenous living high in the Andes mountains of Colombia.
El Dorado, according to the natives, was never a place, but rather a ruler who was so wealthy
that he reputedly clothed himself in gold from head to toe each morning and washed it
off each evening in a sacred lake.
The search for El Dorado began with many archaeologists and travelers, but it remains a mystery.
Well, this is not the only mysterious site in amazon.
Many geoglyphs have also been found in different areas.
A geoglyph is a massive design or motif constructed on the ground by clastic rocks or similarly
enduring landscape components such as stones, living trees, gravel, or dirt.
Hundreds of circles dating back thousands of years have been uncovered in the Amazon
rainforest's earth including 450 geoglyphs, or geometrically carved ditches, covering
around 13,000 square kilometers in Brazil's Acre state.
Because they were hidden by vegetation, these circular geoglyphs went unseen for millennia.
They were apparent from the air due to years of deforestation in the area.
According to the researchers, the geoglyphs' exact function is not known.
Archeologists didn't discover enough items to identify if it was a community, or if the
geoglyphs' design makes a defensive or military function.
They speculate that they may have served as ritual gathering places.
Though the purpose of the geoglyphs is intriguing, the research focused on how such structures
were created.
Their discovery began in the 1980s when rainforests were cleared for cattle grazing, and many
more have since been identified using Google Earth as more satellite data for the area
has become available.
As with time, more area is required for cattle grazing and agriculture, and as a result,
people have begun to ruin the Amazon.
The Amazon rainforest took millions of years to develop, yet humans have destroyed major
portions of it in just a few generations.
When South America's modern states emerged, humans began to devastate the forest.
The Amazon rainforest has lost 18% of its original forest cover since the 1950s, and
up to 50% of the forest has been partially devastated.
As the Amazon is a rainforest, one might think that it would never catch fire.
But the fire that has destroyed the habitats of indigenous people and imperiled millions
of animal species is one of the key causes of its destruction.
Humans are responsible for the vast majority of fires.
In the Amazon, fires rarely start on their own.
According to NASA, while the Amazon rainforest is normally wet and humid, the driest months
are July and August, which mark the start of the dry season, with fire peaking in early
September and ending in mid-November.
The most recent fire was in 2019 the reason for which were the farmers and ranchers.
As more forest burns, more grasses grow, drought stress spreads across the weakened forest,
and what remains is much more vulnerable to fire.
Although the cleared area is suitable for agriculture, it is unlikely that it will be
reforested.
As per the reports, the number of fires in Brazil in that year was the highest on record
since 2013 and was up by 85% from the year before.
The consequences of Amazon's destruction extend far beyond Brazil and its neighbors.
The rainforest in this area produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen.
The Amazon is known as the "lungs of the planet" and plays an important role in climate regulation.
The world would drastically change if the rainforest were to disappear, with impacts
on everything from farms to drinking water.
The governments are taking measures to stop such acts of destroying the forest but as
the habitats of this planet, it is also our duty to preserve it instead of destroying
it.
The amazon forest is an incredible place and our lives, in one way or the other, depend
on it.
What do you think about its role, share with us in the comments section below.