For World Rainforest Day we take you below these clouds to the Amazon River Basin and the largest rainforest in the world. Numbers help the story of this extraordinary place: At more than 2.1 million square miles, the Amazon accounts for half of Earth’s remaining tropical rainforests. And a fifth of the world’s fresh water flows through this river basin. Perhaps a tenth of the planet’s known species call it home, many of which have yet to be identified—that’s trees, plants, fish, mammals, and a third of Earth’s bird species. Now take a deep breath. The ‘Lungs of the World’ produces 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen, while storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide, earning it an all-star ‘carbon sink’ status.
Reflections on the mighty Amazon
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Panda Day
-
Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
-
Carnival comes to Olinda
-
Pretty poetic for a pit
-
AAPI Heritage Month & Lei Day
-
National Moon Day
-
Poppies for Armistice Day
-
Kings of the Kalahari
-
Old Town in Prague, Czech Republic
-
Hidden beauty in Thailand
-
Party like it’s 5779
-
World Laughter Day—it s a hoot
-
A house of grand scale(s)
-
Modica, Sicily, Italy
-
Seville celebrates first world tour
-
Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!
-
A big birthday for Big Bend
-
Petrified Forest National Park
-
Join the parade for World Elephant Day
-
Sea fireflies at the seashore
-
Winter solstice
-
Ahh-tumn
-
Amphitheatre of El Jem, Tunisia
-
Pumpkin patch
-
Oktoberfest begins
-
Green fields of grain
-
A bison preserve
-
A night of art and culture
-
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
-
International Day of Peace