Why is the amazon important
Why the Amazon is so important
this is the earth and this portion here
is the Amazon as small as it may look
when compared to the rest of the planet
it actually has a huge importance for
life due to the part it plays in the
water cycle and temperature regulation
we'll talk about this and also about the
role of animal life to illustrate how
important it is to safeguard the
connections between the Andes Mountains
the Amazon and the Atlantic Ocean
a very common metaphor to refer to the
Amazon jungle is that of a lung because
it exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide
with the atmosphere which of course is
crucial in order for all of us to be
able to breathe but the jungle goes
beyond that so much so that a big part
of South America would be a desert
without it but why let's begin by
pointing out that water is mostly
accumulated in the oceans
although the sun's heat evaporates it
making it go up in the air it's still
necessary for wind to push the vapor
landward otherwise water would not reach
the continents the vegetation would die
and large extensions would dry up the
part where the Amazon enters this
scenario is by enhancing the function of
trade winds the Amazon attracts air and
it also retains the groundwater this is
a fascinating hypothesis it claims that
forests are also responsible for the
generation of winds because the trees
transpiration creates vapor that
condenses when it cools condensation
lowers air pressure creating a vacuum
that sucks air out of the ocean toward
the continent this process multiplied by
the 600 billion trees in the Amazon
produces strong humid winds almost like
flying rivers coming from the Atlantic
and thus the clouds and rain that
hydrate the continent are created now in
the continent we find the Andes
Mountains they receive the water brought
by the winds hold it in their vegetation
and distribute it all over the land
through the rivers and the rivers carry
water back to the ocean restarting the
process with this we've covered the
water cycle now let's look at the
temperature we know carbon dioxide acts
as a barrier that prevents
heat from leaving earth this is the
famous greenhouse effect well trees
counteract that effect by absorbing
atmospheric carbon dioxide in
photosynthesis via this process
aided by underground carbon dioxide
deposits the Amazon removes more than a
trillion tons of this gas every year
thereby delaying global warming which is
a consequence of our excessive
production of greenhouse gases there's
another way the amazon regulates
temperature by making clouds it turns
out clouds especially the whiter ones
reflects sunlight preventing it from
reaching the ground and heating us too
much the thick Amazon rainforest stores
large amounts of water in its roots so
evaporation and plant transpiration
generates seven times more vapor than
does the ocean which means many more
clouds that reflect more sunlight in
short regulating the amount of oxygen
and carbon dioxide keeping temperature
within certain limits and participating
in the water cycle by creating winds and
keeping water in the ground are some of
the functions that the Amazon performs
in tandem with the Atlantic Ocean and
the Andes Mountains however we still
don't have the full picture what are we
missing animal life
we've all heard for example about the
importance of birds for the
dissemination of tree seeds but every
animal every plant every insect even
fungi and minerals all of them play an
important role in Earth's physical
chemical and biological processes
because looking at it from a broader
perspective the earth is one single
system a self-regulating organism every
being that lives on earth is therefore a
part of the big planetary organism so
the resilience of the whole depends on
the participation of each one animals
make a notable contribution with their
possibilities of movement and metabolism
but there's one particular animal
capable of transforming earth in
previously unseen ways humans humans and
earth the world is inhabited by various
cultures with diverse customs and
beliefs the Amazon natives as well as
Western society are human groups that
like all of us are part of the big plan
three organism but these two groups
customs and beliefs imply very different
relationships between them and the rest
of nature what kind of relationships
have they had with the Amazon let's
start with the indigenous peoples
although there are more than 400
different cultures living in the jungle
all of them actually share a common way
of relating to nature in their thought
and their practice they become one with
the air the water the vegetation and the
animals so they acknowledge that their
bodies and their very lives are
interdependent with the jungle and
therefore act as the jungles partners
for thousands of years of ties between
the Amazon and the indigenous peoples
life has been completely sustainable in
all its diversity it would be a mistake
to assume that they manage this by
refraining from transforming nature
there's evidence that one tenth of the
amazon highlands used to be fertile land
developed for human use we also know
that they have influenced the selection
of species for ritual and culinary use
after all they reached populations of
millions living in the forest how did
they achieve this balance with knowledge
indigenous education prepares
individuals to live in harmony with
their natural and social surroundings it
teaches respect for the cosmic guardian
spirits and this leads them to use
resources responsibly and to understand
that consumption affects the flow and
distribution of energy in the global
system as a result their practices are
consistent with these ideas and they
seek to preserve the balance that their
actions touch so for example the Amazon
natives used to resettle every 20 years
in order to let nature regenerate
what about Westerners well their
relationship has been different instead
of feeling integrated in a totality
Westerners have thought of themselves in
an isolated manner in their process of
cultural construction they often create
a particular dichotomy between nature
and society they insistently resort to
nature for raw materials to build and
sustain the space they've made for
themselves the city for this reason the
Amazon has served them as a source of
wood and oil and proved an obstacle to
the raising of life's
to name but two of the processes that
end up destroying the balance between
the forest and its creatures it has been
in some an incomplete understanding of
natural balance with undesirable
consequences for life
only now have Westerners begun to
realize the importance of sustainable
growth for their civilization for that
precise reason we have started a great
worldwide ecological discussion today we
want to say that a very important step
towards sustainability is ensuring the
preservation of the Amazon and it's
connection to the Andes Mountains and
the Atlantic Ocean because this
ecosystem doesn't perform all those
ecological functions as just a group of
trees and rivers far from that the
forests the ocean and the mountains must
be an ecological continuum for the flow
of energy and information this entails
the flow of land rivers and air rivers
oxygen carbon dioxide and other
chemicals sedimentary rocks as well as
genetic information and cultural
practices so that all these elements
together guarantee the diversity that
gives more resilience to the whole
system the work done so far has been
very important and a great part of the
territory that needs to be integrated
into sustainable models has already been
protected governments have made an
effort to create protected areas and
recognize indigenous territories but
there are still some areas that need
protection in order to guarantee a full
connectivity this connectivity will not
only strengthen the environment services
the planet's resilience and climate
stability but it will also give us the
opportunity to join forces with
indigenous peoples to rethink our
relationship with earth what is the best
way to relate to it what makes up our
wealth what does our future depend on
this is an opportunity that can inspire
us all leaders and citizens to look
together for answers and make the right
choices for us as part of one big global
system our planet Earth
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