A Race Against Time and Threats
Stunningly diverse and almost incomprehensibly vast, the Amazon rainforest is rapidly nearing a tipping point that could leave the entire ecosystem irreparably changed. With a conservation-friendly government in Brazil, these next two years are our last best chance to save the world’ s largest and most important rainforest.
With a breadth that almost spans an entire continent, the Amazon rainforest is so vast it can be difficult to comprehend.
Once, the Amazon’ s seemingly impenetrable canopy covered 1.7 billion acres from the Atlantic coast in the east to the foothills of the Andes Mountains in the west. That’ s nearly the size of the continental United States. Even today— after approximately 18 % of the rainforest has been cut, burned, or bulldozed to the ground— the Amazon remains the world’ s largest and most ecologically and globally important tropical rainforest.
From above, the Amazon presents an undulating view of green treetops— some rising far above the rest— with occasional splashes of color from flowers, fruits, or high-flying tropical birds. Beneath the canopy, the light dims and the complexity rises. From the treetops to the ground below, lush tangles of vines and tree-dwelling mosses, ferns, flowers, and other epiphytes cling to far-reaching branches and sturdy trunks. The forest floor supports a dense understory of shrubs and young trees, each competing for whatever scraps of light their leaves can reach.
Everywhere in this forest, there is life. Approximately one-third of all terrestrial animals find shelter and food in the Amazon. Some estimates suggest that 1 in 10 of the world’ s species— including all plants and animals, both aquatic and terrestrial— can be found here. The vegetation and biomass help regulate our climate by storing an estimated 123 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This is roughly three times the world’ s CO 2 emissions in 2024. Perhaps most surprising and important of all, the Amazon’ s vegetation is so abundant it helps sustain the water cycle that keeps the entire ecosystem alive.
We don’ t yet know how many plant species live here, but we do know the Amazon rainforest quite literally could not exist without them.
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Cattle pasture in Amazonas Brazil | Paralaxis