Neature Talk; The Amazon

Covering about 2.1 million square miles, the Amazon Rainforest is by far the largest rainforest on our planet. In fact, the Amazon is so large, the United Kingdom and Ireland could fit inside of it 17 times. The Amazon, filled with hundreds of completely unique animals that can be found nowhere else on Earth, also contains one of the worlds largest rivers. 

The Amazon doesn’t just sit in South America and look pretty though, it actually has a huge job that helps people millions of miles away. While housing hundreds of diverse creatures and indiginous, uncontacted people groups, the rainforest also absorbs massive amounts of Carbon Dioxide recycling this into Oxygen, helping to both reduce greenhouse gases, and increase the amount of Oxygen we breathe. It is no joke when the Amazon is referred to as the world’s lungs. 

The Amazon, unfortunately, has recently been under attack. Due to deforestation, wildfires, and the continuous urbanization happening around it, the rainforest is continuously being forced to shrink to a smaller size. Several animal species are being forced to move to areas of the forest they have not previously occupied due to these unfortunate events. 

One example of a species being critically threatened by the continuous deforestation is the Iquitos Gnatcatcher. This bird only occupies an area of the Amazon of about 8 square miles, when this area was heavily targeted by deforestation, the bird population was drastically reduced. It is currently estimated that this species’ population is between 75-375 total animals in the wild. 

Our planet has supported us for thousands of years, the least humans could do is to take care of it while we are here. If you want to have a say against the issues targeting the Amazon, visit rainforest-rescue.com/petitions.