Amazon River of South America is well know for its volume of water with a total river flow greater than the next eight largest rivers combined.
For the last century the length of the Amazon and the Nile Rivers have been in a tight battle for title of world's longest river.
It is the second longest river after the River Nile. It is 6437 km long.
Amazing Facts:
There are over 2000 different types of fish found in the Amazon River.
-Examples are the Piranhas. Piranhas actually can only grow to 60 centimeter long. Many animals come to the river to drink. It is also the place for many rare animals to live in.
There are also rare animals like Anacondas which is the longest snake in the world.
-Arapaima, also known locally as Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas is the largest, exclusively fresh water fish in the world. They have been found to reach a length of 15 ft/4m and can weigh up to 440lbs/200kg.
-The Amazon water lily has giant leaves. It is the biggest plants in the world. They can measure up to 1.5 metres across. They float on the surface of the water.
Others:
The Amazon is responsible for about 20% of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide.
Offshore of the mouth of the Amazon, potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower five hundred kilometres out to sea.
The Amazon River is not only the greatest in the world; it is home to many other "Extremes" of the natural world.
Uses:
-Animals drink water from the river.
- The river is actually a source for the animals. For the animals, the Amazon River is a good spot for drinking.
-Human activities such as fishing and kayaking. People actually go to the river for fishing as there are a variety of fishes in the river and they go for kayaking as the river is long enough for them to kayak
-Guides actually use motorboats to show people about the Amazon River. Motorboats are good transportation as it is fast and there is a suitable amount of seats for the tourists. It is also a safe and cool environment.
Problems:
-The main problem, which has affected the river is that, many rare animals in the Amazon are in danger. Many people had actually killed these rare animals for their needs.
-People actually throw waste materials and oil inside the River Amazon. Now, the river is very polluted.
-The river will flood when it is during the wet season. The Amazon basin will rise which causes flood.
-People actually built dams. By doing so, many animals will die and it will also use up many space of the river. Those dams are built for irrigation, flood control, water supply and improvement of navigation. But the main thing is that they built it to produce hydroelectricity. Farmers will have a hard time farming as most of the water will be used up and it will pull the natural fertilizers and farmers have to buy their own fertilizers which cost a lot and their crops will not be as healthy as past times. Dams are actually the main problem of many other rivers. If the dam breaks, the city will flood and that will lead to many other problems.
Sources: -www.wikipidea.com. -www.yahoo.sg. -www.google.sg.
-http://sg.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=amazon+river&fcss=on&fr=yfp-t-101&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8
Done by: Ridha, Haziq, Melinda, Khairul and Yeap Yi.