The Amazon

Mark Plotkin's The Amazon explores the vital ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest, highlighting its biodiversity and the challenges it faces from deforestation and climate change.

In this addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, ecologist and conservationist Mark Plotkin provides a comprehensive overview of the Amazon, the largest and most vital rainforest and ecosystem on the planet. Covering an area roughly equivalent to the continental United States, the Amazon is a land of remarkable biodiversity. The Amazon River, for instance, discharges an astounding 57 million gallons of water every second. To put this into perspective, in just two hours, this volume could supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for an entire year. The sheer abundance of flora and fauna is staggering, with about one in four flowering plant species on Earth found within its bounds. A single river in the Amazon can host more fish species than all of Europe’s rivers combined.

Moreover, the Amazon is home to an array of unique wildlife, including the world's largest anteater, armadillo, freshwater turtle, and spider, along with the largest rodent, catfish, and alligator. With approximately 390 billion trees, the rainforest plays a crucial role in regulating the global climate by absorbing significant amounts of carbon dioxide. However, this balance is threatened by deforestation, which has been linked to severe droughts and changing rainfall patterns across various regions, including Brazil, Southeast Asia, and even the U.S.

Additionally, the Amazon is inhabited by millions of people, including around seventy tribes of isolated and uncontacted individuals. These marginalized groups rely entirely on the land and river for their survival, yet they often lack a voice in the decisions affecting their futures and the fate of their forests. In The Amazon, Mark J. Plotkin draws on his 40 years of experience studying this irreplaceable ecosystem, shedding light on its challenges and the importance of preserving it for future generations.