Farming In The Amazon

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FARMING IN THE AMAZON According to Ladatco, the Amazon is the largest and densest rainforest in the world. Its vegetation represents 1/3 of the worlds remaining forest and provides about 15% of the earth’s new oxygen. It is located in northern South America and covers 2.5 million miles. It runs through eight countries and the second largest river is in the Amazon. The rainforest contains almost 40000 different plant species. There are also over a million different species of animals from jaguars to monkeys to tarantulas. Spiders and insects alone exist in over 500 000 different species and it is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of unclassified species still to be discovered. National Geographic means the benefits the Amazon provides are of incalculable worth. It produces 1/3 of the earth’s oxygen and 1/5 of the earth’s fresh water supply by its water cycling. The Amazon absorbs carbon dioxide and cleanses the atmosphere, and therefore prevents global warming. It also has thousands of different endangered species that are threatened to extinction by deforestation. According to World Wild Life more than 350 indigenous ethnic groups are living in the Amazon, some for as long as thousands of years. Today, more than 30 million people live in the region and are dependent on the Amazon’s ecosystem for food and shelter. Farming in the Amazon causes deforestation and has many other environmental impacts, yet still a number of crops such as soy and coffee are cultivated there. Cattle ranches also exist. Soy Plantations Soybeans are an important crop all over the world, they are frost sensitive and the best growing conditions are, according to Encarta Encyclopedia Online, in a temperature between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, like the Amazon. Commercial farmers produce the vast majority of soybean consumed in the world. This is mostly done

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