26 Oct 2024        14:11:50 pm

Geography

Amazon River

Tags : Amazon River

Topic: Rivers

Why  in the news

• The Amazon river is grappling with a severe environmental crisis as its levels continue to fall due to last year\'s record drought and insufficient rainfall this season.
• The Brazilian Geological Service (SGB) has issued warnings that all rivers in the Amazon basin are expected to drop below their historical levels, posing significant challenges for navigation and local communities.

Source: India Today 

About Amazon River:

• It is the world\'s largest river by water volume and width.
• It is the second-longest river in the world after the Nile.
• Course:
  • Its journey begins high in the Andes Mountains.
  • The river then makes its way east through thousands of miles of rainforests and lowlands until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean on the northeastern coast of Brazil.
• During the dry season, its width can be 4 km to 5 km in places and in the wet season, this can increase to 50 km.
• Drainage:
  • It has the largest drainage area of any river system.
  • Its watershed spans the countries of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
  • Roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream and by far the largest portion of its basin are within Brazil.
• Water Discharge:
  • It releases high amounts of freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean at 300,000 m3 per second.
  • It accounts for one-fifth of the total volume of freshwater entering the oceans globally.
• It has more than 1,100 tributaries, including the Rio Negro, Madeira and Xingu Rivers.
• Amazon Rainforest:
  • These represent about half of the Earth’s remaining rainforest.
  • These are referred to as the \"lungs of the Earth\" due to their role in regulating the planet\'s oxygen and carbon cycles.

0 Comments