Carson said that perhaps a fifth of the Amazon basin, in the south, may have been savannah until the shift, with forests covering the rest. In one lake, Laguna Granja, rainforest plants only took over from grass as the main sources of pollen in sediments about years old, suggesting a link to the arrival of Europeans. The purpose of the earthworks is unknown - they could have been defensive or for drainage or religious purposes. And understanding the forest could help solve puzzles about climate change.
The Amazon rainforest affects climate change because trees soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they rot or are burnt. Brazil has sharply slowed deforestation rates in recent years.
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Science The controversial sale of 'Big John,' the world's largest Triceratops. Such a perception of the area merely scratches the surface of what is in reality a highly complex and dynamic environment. The basin actually encompasses a variety of landscapes and ecosystems. When the Andes Mountains began to rise due to great pressure on the tectonic plates along the eastern side of the South American continent about 20 million years ago 6 , this emerging mass blocked the flow of the Amazon River.
Freshwater lakes formed as a result, and the flow of the river gradually reversed to its current eastern course. About 10 million years ago, the river reached the Atlantic Ocean, close to the city of Belem in Brazil.
Eastern trade winds that blow from the Atlantic Ocean account for about half of the rainfall, with the other half due to evapotranspiration - the loss of water from the soil by evaporation and through transpiration from plants 10 - in the Amazon River Basin. HydroSHED of the Amazon - high-resolution elevation data used to create a global hydrological database. Click to enlarge. The unpredictability of an Amazon downpour In the Amazon River Basin, rainfall follows a seasonal pattern, and there is a great difference in precipitation from one place to the other, even within the centre of the basin.
Get to know The Amazon wildliife, people and rainforests function along with the rhythm of the seasons. The Fate of the Amazonian Areas of Endemism. Conservation Biology 19 3 , 2 Lewinsohn T.
Conservation Biology. Volume 19 3 , 3 Woodshole Institute. The Amazon. Indigenous peoples in Brazil. The Amazonian languages today.
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