Amazon Rainforest Map

Map of the Amazon Rainforest

amazon_forest

The Extent of the Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest is about 5.5 Million square kilometers and it represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests. It is estimated that about 587,000 square kilometers of the Amazon has been deforested since the colonization by the Europeans. The deforested land is primarily used for raising cattle and farming soybeans. The map above shows the current extent of the Amazon.

The Importance of the Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon represents over half of the world’s rainforest and it is the most species rich biome in the world. It is estimated that one third of all species live in the Amazon. There are still many more plant and animal species not yet discovered. Many of these species could contain substances valuable for producing various types of medicine.

The plants in the Amazon absorb and contain carbon from the air. Therefore destruction of the rainforest would release carbon into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Burning of the rainforest has made Brazil one of the top greenhouse gas producers in the world.

Deforestation

From 1990 to 2003 the annual rate of deforestation had increased due to local, national and international factors. 70 percent of all the deforested land is used for raising livestock such as cattle. The remainder is primarily used for growing soybeans and sugarcane, making Brazil the second largest producer of soybeans in the world.

Another contributing factor to deforestation is the growing interest in biofuel. As the world’s fossil fuel resources are becoming more depleted, the demand for biofuel is increasing. The biofuel, ethanol is produced from sugarcane in Brazil and Brazil has the largest national ethanol fuel industries in the world.


References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Rainforest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol

Sakhalin: the Edge of the Earth

Location:
Sakhalin is an island located North of Japan in the North Pacific Ocean. It is a part of the Nation of Russia. The island and its surrounding sea is rich in oil and gas, and has become the new attraction for oil and gas companies. Two thirds of the geography of the island is considered mountainous and it has a population of nearly 700,000. Below is a map showing its location.

Sakhalin Location
Indigenous People:
The native inhabitants of the Island are made up of three major groups. These people are called the Nivkhs, the Ainu and the Oroks. It is believed that these native people first started inhabiting this island since the last Ice age, as far back as 14500 BC. The three groups traditionally lived in separate parts of the Island. The map below shows their dispersion.

Sakhalin Tribes map
Oil and Gas Exploration:
Since the collapse of the USSR the island has experienced a resources boom. In 1996 two consortia were signed to explore for oil and gas off the north east coast of the Sakhalin. These two projects are called Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II.

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