The Amazon rainforest is big. Almost unimaginably big. To begin to grasp its immensity, consider these numbers: The Amazon rainforest covers about 2% of the world"s surface area, nearly 2.1 million square miles across South America, mostly (nearly 60%) in the country you see here, Brazil. It"s an area that accounts for over half the Earth"s remaining rainforests. The breadth of biodiversity is incomparable—nearly 16,000 different tree species, 40,000 species of other plants, 2.5 million insect species, and over 2,000 different types of birds and mammals. Incredibly, perhaps a tenth of the planet"s known species call the Amazon home, many of which have not even been identified.
A misty morning in Brazil
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Taking the forest to the cloud
-
Salmon return to the Copper River
-
Rockin with the rockhoppers
-
American robin
-
A different view of sharks
-
Darwin s Arch
-
Shadows on the solstice
-
Aw shucks, it’s oyster season in Galway
-
Cordouan Lighthouse, France
-
Bird s-eye view on World Environment Day
-
Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
-
Inside the Oculus
-
Bonifacio on the island of Corsica, France
-
International Surfing Day
-
A fair that s star-studded
-
Churún Merú waterfall in Venezuela
-
World Bee Day
-
International Polar Bear Day
-
Lighting it up for Vivid Sydney
-
World Meteorological Day
-
It s harvest time on World Food Day
-
Celebrating women in science
-
Bald cypress trees in Georgia
-
A hidden jewel in Croatia
-
Sutherland Falls in Fiordland National Park
-
Ring of fire
-
World Migratory Bird Day
-
A circular celebration
-
Storm rolls over the grasslands
-
Make way for robots