Tropical rainforests appear in tropical areas near the equator. Abundant rain makes the forest grow particularly lush. Most of the tropical rain forests in the Amazon basin are located in Brazil. There is abundant rainfall here, and the melting of snow and ice in the Andes brings a lot of running water, which is flooded most of the year. The rain forest is muggy and humid almost all year round, with the temperature of about 33℃ during the day and 23℃ at night. The Amazon rain forest is the largest rain forest in the world, with 7 million square kilometers. It extends from the low slopes of the Andes to the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Amazon rainforest is very important to the health of the whole world and all living things in the world. This forest has a great influence on the world climate. Forests can absorb carbon dioxide. The abundance of carbon dioxide makes the earth warm, and even the polar ice caps melt, causing floods. Trees also produce oxygen, which is necessary for human beings and all animals to live. The oxygen produced by Amazon rainforest accounts for 1/3 of the global total oxygen, and is called "the lung of the earth". The timber in this forest area accounts for 45% of the world's total timber reserves, with an accumulated timber volume of 800 million cubic meters and an economic value of more than 700 billion US dollars. Biological species account for 1/5 of the world, plant species and birds each account for half of the world, and fresh water resources account for 18% of the world. There are more than 2000 kinds of freshwater fish in the river, which is a very precious treasure house of biological resources for human beings. There are many kinds of wild animals in the Amazon Plain. At the end of the 9th century, according to a British naturalist, * * has14,712 species of animals, of which more than 8,000 species are unknown. There are now more than 65,438+million known species of animals and birds, and there may be millions more to be discovered. In the Amazon rainforest, about 60 different kinds of trees grow in an area equivalent to 8 ~ 10 houses and gardens. This is 15 times the number of trees in the same area of Europe or North America. The Amazon ecological zone accounts for 60% of Brazil's territory, with a forest area of 4 million square kilometers, of which rainforest accounts for 65%. Therefore, the impact of the Amazon river basin on the global climate and ecological environment is decisive.
Due to improper development and unfavorable protection, the Amazon rain forest in Brazil is being seriously damaged, the area of tropical rain forest is decreasing at an alarming rate, and the forest coverage rate is reduced from 80% to 58%, which leads to the destruction of animal and plant resources and a series of environmental problems such as soil erosion, rainstorm, drought and land desertification. Experts say that this situation may pose a threat to species protection and global climate balance. According to experts' estimation, compared with 2000, the loss of rainforest reached 44,000 square kilometers, which was three times that estimated by the Brazilian government. The deforestation rate in the Amazon region is amazing, and a forest the size of a football field disappears there every 8 seconds on average. At present, the Amazon rainforest is suffering from the second serious destruction in history, which has attracted close attention from Brazil and international environmental protection organizations. Satellite data show that more than 20,000 square kilometers of forests have disappeared since August 1999. The most serious deforestation in history occurred in 1995, when 29,000 square kilometers of forest were destroyed. Up to now, the total area of destroyed forests in the Amazon region has reached 582,000 square kilometers, which is larger than the whole Bahia state of Brazil. WWF warns that if deforestation is not effectively controlled, Amazon will remain empty in the near future.
First of all, the reason for the large-scale reduction of forests is that a large number of immigrants have flooded into the Amazon region in recent years, resulting in a shortage of agricultural arable land, so the phenomenon of deforestation and land reclamation in the peripheral areas of the Amazon is very common. In addition, due to the lack of effective management, disorderly mining, road construction and housing construction are another reason for large-scale deforestation. At the same time, fires caused by man-made or natural factors have also reduced the forest area. Facing the grim situation, the voice against deforestation is getting stronger and stronger. Environmentalists point out that forest, as the main body of terrestrial ecosystem, plays an irreplaceable role in water conservation, soil and water conservation, and mitigation of drought and flood disasters. Deforestation will seriously destroy the ecological balance, and the consequences are unimaginable. They believe that we should make full use of the unique natural conditions in the Amazon region to develop ecotourism, which can not only promote local economic development, but also protect the ecological environment.