Rain, Forest, Rain!

Question: What region of the world plays the most vital role in determining the future of our planet?

Answer: Amazon Rainforest

As the largest, most diverse tropical rainforest on Earth—home to more than 10% of the world’s known biodiversity—no region is more important in our efforts to stabilize global climate than the Amazon Rainforest. Because when that goes, so goes the world.

Before getting into the vital role of the Amazon for our planet’s health, we should dispel a commonly held belief (clear the air, so to speak). Perhaps you’ve heard the Amazon Rainforest described as the "lungs of the world," as it provides some 20% of the oxygen for the planet. That’s not just misleading, it’s wrong. While there is a clear link between the health of the Amazon and the health of the planet—and lots of things to worry about if it disappears—our breathable oxygen supply isn’t one of them. Most of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere was created over the course of millions of years by microscopic ocean plants. The oxygen created by the rainforest’s vegetation, however, is largely consumed by the animals living there. The loss of the Amazon would be devasting, but science tells us that we have at least a million years before we have to start worrying about leaving the house pushing an O2 tank. If anything, it might be more accurate to describe the Amazon Rainforest as Earth’s air conditioner, not its lungs.

The most concerning aspect of the loss of the Amazon has to do with the vital role it plays in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Amazon is a "carbon sink," which is a good thing—it removes more CO2 than it releases. By absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, the rainforest is responsible for removing around two billion tons of it each year—about 5% of the world’s total emissions. It also influences local and global weather by pumping some seven trillion tons of water per year into the atmosphere and recycling well over half of its own annual rainfall back into the atmosphere. But as we lose more and more of the Amazon through deforestation and other human activities, it is approaching a tipping point—a time when it stops removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and begins releasing it instead. And without the Amazon as a "carbon sink," we’re pretty much sunk.

But global climate isn’t the only thing dependent on the Amazon. It may be massive (more than two million square miles spread across eight South American countries—about two thirds the size of the United States), with half of the world’s species of plants and animals calling it home. But more than 40 million people also live here, including some 350 indigenous and ethnic groups, who depend on its resources for survival.

The main culprit? Deforestation

It’s no big secret that the Amazon is under threat. We’ve all seen news reports of wildfires destroying vast swathes of the rainforest, killing countless animals and destroying their natural habitats. But deforestation is the primary culprit in the shrinking rainforest. More than 300,000 square miles (larger than the state of Texas) have been lost over the past 50 years. Clearing of the forest in the Amazon, which began in the 1960s, peaked in the 1990s, primarily to make space for activities such as cattle ranching, farming, and resource extraction (legal and otherwise). But because the soil in cleared areas was only productive for a short period of time, farmers would have to continue clearing more and more land to ensure successful crops. Over the past decade, deforestation rates finally declined, but not entirely. With ongoing logging, agriculture, and mining, it is estimated that an area the size of a football field is lost not every day, not every hour, but every second.

A river runs through it … a big one

Yes, the Nile beats it out by about a hundred miles as the longest river in the world. But in every other measurement, nothing even comes close to the Amazon River. It contains more water than the Mississippi, Nile, Yangtze, and the next four biggest rivers combined, delivering some 55 million gallons of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean every second. That’s one-fifth of all the freshwater in all of the world’s oceans. If you ever found yourself stranded a hundred miles out to sea off the South American coast, odds are you could dip your cup off the side of your raft and still come up with fresh water from the Amazon River.

With more than a thousand tributaries (17 of which are no slouches, at more than a thousand miles long each) the Amazon River qualifies as the largest drainage system in the world. How wide? During the dry season, it’s anywhere from two to six miles wide, but during wet season it can reach an astonishing 30 miles across (if by some miracle you found yourself able to walk on water, you’d need about eight hours just to cross it!). At its mouth, the Amazon is even wider—about 235 miles wider. Now that’s just showing off. Not that it needs any more superlatives but covering an area of more than a million square miles in northern Brazil, it also represents the largest river delta on the planet. It’s pretty deep too. Averaging around 66 to 164 feet in depth, the Amazon plunges to a depth of 330 feet in some sections.

Something else to consider about the Amazon Rainforest and its environs is how much of it remains a mystery. Setting aside its value in influencing the world’s climate, there are completely new species of plants and animals being discovered all the time. And while the vast majority of indigenous peoples in the rainforest live in towns and villages, it is believed that more than half the world’s "uncontacted" tribes continue to live in voluntary isolation deep in the jungle. Not only is the Amazon Rainforest well worth protecting, but the future of our planet may just hang in the balance.

Some fascinating facts you may not know about the Amazon River and Rainforest:

• Where the rubber didn’t meet the road—During the 1920s, auto tycoon Henry Ford needed massive amounts of rubber to make tires for his cars. With rubber manufacturers in East Asia driving up the price of raw materials, Ford decided to cut them loose. So, he came up with the brilliant idea of establishing the world’s largest rubber plantation in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Purchasing more than six million acres along the Amazon River in Brazil, he built a huge power plant, a hospital, a golf course, bakeries, restaurants, a hotel, and thousands of homes for employees to live in—calling his new settlement Fordlândia. Ford employees from America were relocated to work at the new factory alongside native Brazilians—who were all expected to live Ford’s mandatory "healthy lifestyle," which consisted of singalongs (in English-only), poetry readings, and square dances. Oh, and alcohol was strictly prohibited everywhere in Fordlândia.
  
  Perhaps not surprisingly, his venture proved to be a spectacular failure. Not only did Ford plant the wrong type of rubber saplings (he hadn’t bothered consulting with a botanist) those that did grow were hit by leaf blight. Malaria soon became a serious problem as well, and workers started rioting. After ten years and not much to show for it, Ford retired from the rubber industry, losing the equivalent of $200 million in today’s dollars. The Brazilian government bought back the land for a pittance.


• Surf’s up!—During the biannual equinox—a twice yearly event when the sun, moon, and earth are aligned—a natural phenomenon called the pororoca ("great roar") occurs on the Amazon River. The incoming tide at the mouth of the Amazon creates a powerful tidal bore (wave) up to 13 feet high that can travel 500 miles upstream, making it one of the longest and most dangerous waves in the world. So, of course, surfers love it.


• Medical miracles—The Amazon Rainforest is home to more than 40,000 plant species; 25% of all Western drugs are derived from rainforest plants; only about 5% of the plants in the Amazon have been studied. Math was never our strong suit, but it would seem that the potential for discovering new medicines and treatments is huge.


• Does this water taste funny to you?—The first European to "discover" the Amazon River is believed to be Vicente Yanez Pinzon. In March of 1500, the Spanish conquistador was about 200 miles out to sea when he noticed that he was sailing in freshwater. After turning towards shore to look for the source, he made it to the mouth of the Amazon, which he named Rio Santa Maria del Mar Dulce. Later shortened to Mar Dulce, meaning "sweet sea," that name didn’t stick either.


• But I get all the credit—The Spanish conquistador often given credit as the Amazon discoverer is Francisco de Orellana. While fruitlessly searching for El Dorado with Pizarro, Orellana went on to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River in 1541. Naming it Rio de Orellana (because why not?) it would soon become known as "Amazonas" based on Orellana’s documented skirmishes with female warriors who attacked his expedition—which reminded him of the legendary Amazon women of Greek myth.


• All creatures great and small—With the Amazon home to one in ten known species on Earth, why even try? A few standouts, however, include the green anaconda, the world’s largest snake. Up to 30 feet long and weighing more than 500 pounds, they are non-venomous. But they don’t have to be, as they simply crush their prey instead. Size isn’t everything in the Amazon—some poison dart frogs smaller than a thumbnail pack enough venom to take down ten adult humans. Far more friendly residents include pink river dolphins—which are actually a light shade of grey. It’s just that their skin is so thin that their blood vessels show through, giving these playful creatures their pinkish hue.


• Go drill somewhere else—It sometimes seems that victories in the fight to preserve the Amazon Rainforest are few and far between. But in the summer of 2019, an Ecuadorian court managed to successfully block their government’s attempt to sell off more than 500,000 acres of rainforest—a region which was inhabited by Waraoni people for centuries—for oil exploitation.

Embark on a 3-night Amazon cruise during O.A.T.’s New! Brazil in Depth: Rio de Janeiro, Amazon Cruise & the Pantanal adventure.