Hispanic/Black Studies Response Paper - Essay Example

The Amazon rainforest vegetation generates approximately 20% of the Oxygen used in planet earth (Ziporah 23). This paper will look at Brazil with the focus being on the environment; this will investigate Amazon forest, rubber trees, and rubber tappers. 16% of the entire river water found in the world passes through the Amazon forest delta. Approximately 28 billion gallons of water drain into the Atlantic Ocean in a minute. Moreover, its watershed houses the world’s largest level of biodiversity.

The forest receives approximately 9 feet of rain in a year. Nonetheless, half of this rain water is absorbed by the air through the plant life of trees. The melt snow in the Peruvian Andes contributes a large percentage of the Amazon forest river water. In the duration of June and October, the water level rises by between 30 and 45 feet. This makes several areas of the forest are covered with water. Several years ago, the Amazon forest river moved into the Pacific Ocean (Malhi and Philips 42).

The Andes Mountains gradually increased its level and blocked the river flow when the South American cover moved into a different tectonic cover. This contributed to the formation of fresh water lakes because the river systems lessened. Also, this led to a drastic change of the Amazon forest basin. Moreover, The Amazon forest acts as the drainage point for the Amazon River and its numerous branches. A half of the northern part of the South American region acts as drainage for almost 1,100 tributaries due to its shallow dish shape.

In the event of rainfall, rain water drains into the river basin and the Amazon rainforest, and then finally into the Amazon River (Morley 35). Some of the animals that use this as their habitat include fresh water river dolphins, river otters, piranha, electric eels, and manatees. The Amazon tropical rainforest covers over half of Brazil. The Amazon tropical rainforest covering is