THE AMAZON

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THE AMAZON

• Destruction of a Natural Treasure

Amazon Tapir
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Size

• One BILLION acres
• 43,560,000,000,000 square feet
• Largest Rainforest on Earth
• Size of the United States
• Covers 40 of South America
• Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia,
  Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname

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Biodiversity

• In a small 4 square mile area
• 1,500 species of flowering plants
• 750 species of trees
• 125 mammal species
• 400 species of birds
• 100 species of reptiles
• 60 species of amphibians
• 150 species of butterflies
• More fish species in Amazon than entire Atlantic
  Ocean!

Amazon River Dolphin
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RATES OF DESTRUCTION
Green Anaconda
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EVERY SECOND

• An area the size of two football fields
• 65,340 square feet

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EVERY MINUTE

• An area 29 times the size of the Pentagon
• 107,467,997 square feet

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EVERY HOUR

• An area 684 times the size of the New Orleans
  Superdome
• 1,549,342,080 square feet

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EVERY DAY

• An area larger than all five boroughs of New York
  City
• 8,948,966,400 square feet

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EVERY WEEK

• An area twice the size of Rhode Island
• 86,144,256,000 square feet

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EVERY MONTH

• An area the size of the country of Belize
• 253,331,020,800 square feet

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EVERY YEAR

• An area more than twice the size of Florida
• 3,666,455,654,400 square feet

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So, for that first year alone

• Thats 8.4 of the Amazon rainforest being
  destroyed.

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AND

• With each additional year that passes, the size
  of the rainforest shrinks, so that percentage
  gets EVEN LARGER.

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If present rates of destruction continue, half of
the rainforest will be gone by 2025, and by 2060
the rainforest will cease to exist.
Amazon Jaguar
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HELP SAVE THE RAINFOREST

• If you are thinking one year ahead, sow seeds.
• If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree.
• If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the
  people.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Practical methods, such as recycling,
conservation, composting, and lifestyle changes
can be found here http//www.savetherainforest.or
g/savetherainforest_002.htm If you want to
directly contribute to a foundation that is
dedicated to not only preserving the rainforest,
but other areas in trouble throughout the world,
go here http//www.ecologyfund.com/ecology/_ecolo
gy.html