The Importance of the Amazon Rainforest
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 billion tons of carbon or more than a
third of all carbon stored by tropical forests worldwide.
Biodiversity
The Amazon is home to more species of plants and
animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet — perhaps 30
percent of the world's species are found there. Besides their intrinsic
value as living organisms, these species have potential value to humans
in the form of medicine, food, and other products.
Local benefits
Within the Amazon Basin, tens of millions of people
depend on services afforded by the forest. Rivers are the main vectors
for transportation, while logging and collection of non-timber forest
products are major industries in many cities, towns, and villages. The
rainforest helps suppress — but not completely eliminate — the risk of
fire, in addition to reducing air pollution. Fish in Amazon tributaries
are a huge source of protein in the region. Annual floods replenish
nutrients in floodplain areas used for agriculture.
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