Mind Blowing Facts About The Amazon Rainforest - Did You Know

 

• Facts That Are Absolutely Mind Boggling

Number 1. 20% of the total oxygen present in the atmosphere of planet Earth is provided by Amazon rainforests.

Number 2. This forest is home to almost 70% of the plants which have cancer-fighting properties.

Number 3. 10% of the world’s wildlife species live in the Amazon rainforest.

Number 4. The Amazon rainforest is spread across nine countries.

Number 5. The Amazon rainforest hosts the Amazon River, which is the largest in the world by volume and the second-longest in length globally.

Number 6. The rainforest is home to very many dangerous animals From poisonous reptiles to predatory creatures.

Number 7. There are about 50 indigenous tribes with their own language and culture living in the Amazon rainforest.

Number 8. It takes about ten minutes for rainwater to fall to the ground in an Amazon rainforest.

Number 9. More than 16,000 tree species, 2.5 million insect species, 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fish species, 1,300 bird species, 427 mammal species, 430 amphibian species, 380 reptile species, and perhaps thousands more species that have yet to be discovered call the rainforest home.

Number 10. Of all tropical rainforests, the 5.5 million square kilometres that make up the Amazon are the largest. Its so big that the UK and Ireland would fit into it 17 times.

Number 11. The Amazon spans across Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela,Guyana,Suriname and French Guiana.

Number 12. Around 400 to 500 indigenous Amerindian tribes call theses forests their homes. There are a lot of people who have never interacted with the outside world.

Number 13. The Amazon has a rich ecosystem. There are 40,000 plant species, 1,300 bird species, 3,000 types of fish and 430 mammals. It also has 2.5 million different insects.

Number 14. Electric eels, piranhas, dart frogs, and snakes are just some of the dangerous animals that call this place home.

Number 15. Due to the thickness of the canopy, the Amazon floor is in permanent darkness. It is so dark that when it rains, it takes around ten minutes of time for the water to touch the ground.

Number 16. Every second, 55 million gallons of water are released into the Atlantic Ocean by the Amazon.

Number 17. The most common tree in the Amazon Rainforest is the Euterpe precatoria, a pine tree which grows up to 20 metres tall. Its fruit are edible, and are eaten by native people.

Number 18. 25% of all western pharmaceuticals come from rainforest based ingredients, yet less than 1% of the trees and plants in the Amazon have ever been tested by scientists.

Number 19, Tropical rainforests only cover about 6% of the Earth’s surface, but they are home to more than half the world’s total plant and animal species.

Number 20, There are about 3,000 fruits in rainforests; westerners consume about 200 of them, whereas indigenous peoples use about 2,000.!

Number 21. The average amount of Saharan dust falling each year on the Amazon basin amounts to 27.7 million tons, as measured by NASA's CALIPSO satellite

Number 22. This dust from the Sahara replaces roughly the equivalent amount of phosphorus washed away from Amazon soils each year by rain and floods.

Number 23. More than 50% of the windblown dust fertilizing the Amazon rainforest each year comes from the Sahara Desert in Africa, more specifically from the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad

Number 24. Whilst deforestation has slowed in recent years, the Amazon rainforest is still disappearing at a rate of 1.5 acres every second, meaning the Amazon will be completely destroyed within 40 years if deforestation continues at the current rate.

Number 25. With deforestation continuing at such a fast rate, we have created the most rapid extinction rate in the history of the world. On a daily basis, 137 species of rainforest go extinct.

Number 26. The Yanomami tribe is the biggest tribe of the Amazon rainforest with 20,000 members.

Number 27. There are less than 30 people in the smallest known tribes, which include the Akuntsu and the Kanoe.