Some Facts about the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest is a Big Deal. It really is.
Big in size. It covers parts of 9 countries in South America and is about the size of the lower U.S. 48 states combined.
Big in what it has to offer. We're used to thinking a geographical treasure belongs to a place, like the Everglades to Florida or the Grand Canyon to Colorado. That's not the way it is with the Amazon. For one thing, the Amazon is literally a part of you and me. Since 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe comes from the Amazon Rainforest you could say with every fifth intake of air, we breathe in one of its gifts. Besides, if you're like me you probably like every bit of oxygen you get into your lungs. I know I wouldn't be happy with 20 percent less.
The Amazon is also the container for a fifth of all the fresh water on earth. It's got the greatest biodiversity of anywhere on earth. There's more. Much, much more. It's the source of most of our wonder drugs for heart and cancer and many of our western pharmaceuticals. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants with anti-cancer properties, 70% of these are found only in the rainforest. From an herbal standpoint it is Mecca.
Big in trouble. Deforestation is what happens to a rainforest when some people's shortsighted greed and other people's desperation intersect. The resulting destruction of an irreplaceable resource the world desperately needs is staggering. Some 4,600 sq. miles of the Amazon rainforest were destroyed in 2008. A staggering example of rainforest deforestation. That's the equivalent of taking an ax to almost the entire state of Connecticut.
I know you care. But what can you do?
Maybe more than you may think. But first, here's a fun exercise. Take in a nice deep breath. Feel your lungs fill with oxygen. Fill them fully, hold a moment. Now release about 20 percent. Hold another moment and fully release. Now breathe in 20 percent less than full. Hold and release. Just one little reminder why we care. Did you know that if the rainforest is destroyed the human race will not survive?
Here's another exercise. Think of someone you love who has needed blood thinner or cancer medication or heart medicine or quinine so they wouldn't get malaria while travelling. I don't want you to think of what would have happened if they hadn't gotten it. That's too nasty. I just want you to savor and appreciate how it helped.
That too is a reminder of why we care. So much of the herbal bounty of the rainforest is yet to be discovered. Only a fraction of the species have been named, far fewer studied. So much potential healing.
So, what can you do?
- You can go online and pick your rainforest preservation group. Donate.
- Buy a bit of land.
- Find a social organization that works with indigenous economies and buy from them.
- Buy rainforest herbs that utilize social projects in the Amazon.
- Write to your Senator.
- Travel to the Rainforest and fall in love with it.
- Find your own way, and then whatever it is, own it.
Visit this site and you can start helping At this site you can pay as little as $1.00 to begin helping. Maybe the most important way to help is the easiest. Share your knowledge and concerns. Talk to your family, friends and colleagues. Help them to care. They want to breathe too.
More Tragic Realities . . .
- 1.5 acres of rainforest is lost every second
- 80-90% of Earth's remaining rainforest is predicted to disappear by the year 2020
- 137 species of plants and animals go extinct every day
- 50,000 species of plants and animals go extinct every year
- It was only 500 years ago that the indigenous population was in the millions
- Deforestation is the second principal source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, contributing 25% of carbon emissions to our atmosphere