A better lifespan

Introduction The Himalayan region, spanning Bhutan, Nepal, northern India, Pakistan, and the Tibet Autonomous Region, may be defined by its mountainous geography, but it is characterized by tremendous ecological diversity. This diversity results from the altitude, slope, and aspect of the mountains and complex glaciology and hydrology as well as the climate and the micro-climates that the range itself shapes. It is evident in alpine pastures and fertile valleys; high altitude deserts and montane; temperate, tropical, and subtropical forests; grasslands; and glacial lake and river systems. The ecological diversity of the region is matched by that of its human communities, which adhere to a range of religious beliefs and cultural practices and pursue complex livelihood strategies. Understanding this relationship—between people and the environment—has been an enduring theme in studies of Himalayan ecology. Some scholarship takes the Himalayan region as an important site i...

The Himalayas consist of a mosaic of diverse forest ecosystems and ecoregions, with different forest types suited for distinct elevation bands. The Himalayan subtropical pine forests extend nearly 3,000 km across the length of the Himalayas, traversing Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Chir pine ( Pinus roxburghii ) is the dominant pine in the ecoregion. While the Kali Gandaki river valley divides the region into a drier western forest and a wetter eastern forest, the two sections have similar ecosystem dynamics and species assemblages and thus are considered one ecoregion. Monsoon rains from the Bay of Bengal deliver rains to the eastern Himalayas, causing this region to be wetter than its western counterpart. Fires are common features of these chir pine forests, thus the understory is relatively sparse save for a few species of grass. These include Arundinella setosa , Imperata cylindrica, and shrubs from the genera Rubus and Berberis . The Himalayan subtr...

Between May 2000 and August 2005, Brazil lost more than 132,000 square kilometers of forest—an area larger than Greece—and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Why is Brazil losing so much forest? What can be done to slow deforestation? What can be done to save the Amazon rainforest in Brazil? Today Brazil faces an enormous challenge: how to balance economic growth with the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. Rehabilitation and increased productivity of formerly forested lands Expansion of protection areas Development based on concepts of sustainable use of some existing forest Land policy reform Law Enforcement Rehabilitation and increased productivity of formerly forested lands In reducing the loss of tropical rainforests we must not only be concerned with the transformation of existing natural ecosystems, but also the more rational utilization of already cleared and degr...

Climate change may have a significant impact on the Amazon, according to a number of studies conducted since the mid-1990s. Of particular concern is the link between sea temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and drought in the Amazon. As the tropical Atlantic warms, the large parts of the Amazon may see higher temperatures and less rainfall. The changes could have cascading effects on the region's ecosystem, killing trees and leaving forests more vulnerable to fire. Some models forecast a transition towards seasonal forests and savannas toward the end of the century, as climate warms. 2005: a peak at the future? 2005 is viewed by some researchers as a precursor to the impact climate change could have in the Amazon. In 2005 the Amazon experienced the worst drought in memory. As rivers dried up, remote communities were isolated while commerce slowed to a standstill. Thousands of square kilometers of land burned for months on end, releasing more than 100 milli...

The Amazon Basin contains the world's largest rainforest, which represents over 60 percent of the world's remaining rainforests. More than half this forest lies in Brazil. The Amazon rainforest affords the planet with irreplaceable ecosystem services that are increasingly being recognized by researchers and policymakers. Precipitation Through transpiration, the Amazon rainforest is responsible for creating 50-75 percent of its own precipitation. But its impact extends well beyond the Amazon Basin, with Amazon rainfall and rivers feeding regions that generate 70 percent of South America's GDP. Models indicate that moisture from the Amazon influences rainfall as far away as the Western United States and Central America. Carbon storage The 390 billion trees across the Amazon rainforest locks up massive amounts of carbon in their leaves, branches, and trunks. A 2007 study published in Global Change Biology estimated the the forest stores some 86 billio...

Most people understand that the Amazon is Earth's largest rainforest, but here are ten other facts you should know about the Amazon. Click on these links if you'd like to learn more about The Amazon or tropical rainforests generally (including 10 facts about rainforests ). The Amazon is the world's biggest rainforest, larger than the next two largest rainforests — in the Congo Basin and Indonesia — combined. At 6.9 million square kilometers (2.72 million square miles), the Amazon Basin is roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States and covers some 40 percent of the South American continent. The "Amazon rainforest" — which defined biogeographically includes the rainforest in the Guianas, which technically are outside the Amazon Basin — covers 7.8-8.2 million square km (3-3.2 million square mi), of which just over 80 percent is forested. The Amazon River is by far the world's largest river by volume. It has over 1,100...

Deforestation data is annual on this page. Monthly updates are here . Since 1978 over 750,000 square kilometers (289,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. Why is Earth's largest rainforest being destroyed? For most of human history, deforestation in the Amazon was primarily the product of subsistence farmers who cut down trees to produce crops for their families and local consumption. But in the later part of the 20th century, that began to change, with an increasing proportion of deforestation driven by industrial activities and large-scale agriculture. By the 2000s more than three-quarters of forest clearing in the Amazon was for cattle-ranching. Drone photo of deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon for soybeans. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The result of this shift is forests in the Amazon were...