by Maria A.
How much do you know about the Amazon? You might be thinking about the online shop, but I am talking about a marvelous place in South America. It’s very important to South Americans and to the entire world. It’s called the lungs of Mother Earth. Just like human beings have two lungs, our Earth has two lungs too, the Amazon rainforest and the Congo rainforest in Africa. The trees and vegetation provide oxygen for all of humanity and balance the ecosystem.
The Amazon has one of the largest rivers in the world and is one of the principal reserves of sweet water. It has many resources like wood, gold, and oil. The river is very wide and is called the ocean river. It goes from two miles to sixty miles wide. This river keeps eight countries united as siblings—Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, and Venezuela—and makes possible the life of all kinds of living creatures in the area.
The Amazon shelters many tribes who want to maintain their culture far away from modern civilization. But those native Amazon people and the different species are affected by huge deforestation caused by climate change (fires) and tree felling (human deforestation), mining, and oil extraction. It is important to know that this deforestation has increased since 2008–2020. Research shows companies cut 13,000 trees per hour. The principal reason for cutting down trees is to create pasture for livestock.
Different species are affected: on the ground jaguar, giant armadillo, sloths, monkeys, poison dart frogs, reptiles like anaconda, turtle, varieties of birds like macaw, insects; in the river piranhas, the pink dolphin, and varieties of fishes are at risk of extinction.
Human beings need to take more responsibility to protect our ecosystem and all lives in the Amazon because according to scientists planting trees in other areas is not replacing the rainforest.