South America's Amazon River

Home to the largest rain forest in the world, the Amazon River meanders for nearly 4,000 miles and delivers an average of 170 billion gallons of water an hour to the Atlantic Ocean (Linden 76). The entire system covers 2.7 million square miles (almost 90 percent of the contiguous United States) and reaches into eight countries besides Brazil, including Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia (Ibid. 77). The mighty Amazon River feeds over 1,000 tributaries and is second in length only to the Nile's 4,000 miles (Ibid.).

The jungle surrounding the river is so dense and filled with so many kinds of life forms it is almost impossible to calculate the number. Each tree alone may support up

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azon Highway, a system of roads that run west from the coast at Recife toward the Peruvian border. To encourage a land rush similar to the American West, the government offered transportation and other incentives. As part of the deal, homesteaders were allowed to keep the land if they "improved" it by cutting down the trees. The results were the same as in the past and most gave up and returned to the cities. However, the government has not given up. It continues to build roads, dam and settlements with funding from the World Bank and Europe. The environmental repercussions of this continued development and destruction of the rain forest could be catastrophic. If scientists are to be believed, it could lead to climatic chaos. Because of the huge volumes of clouds the rain forest generates, the Amazon system plays a key role in the way the sun's heat is distributed around the globe. "Any disturbance of this process could produce far-reaching, unpredictable effects" (Ibid.). Further, the forest stores at a minimum 75 billion tons of carbon in its trees which when burned spews carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since air pollution from cars and factories have already put pressure on the air, the continued burning of the
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Amazon River, South American, CO2 Ibid, Europe Brazil, Bank Europe, Acre Peru, Christopher Columbus, Ibid Considered, Ibid Scientists, World Bank, rain forest, amazon river, world bank, brazilian government, rubber products, south america, world amazon, plan amazon, tribes forced, trees cut,
Approximate Word count = 1984
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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