Isn the Amazon endangered?
– Yes, seriously so. The Amazon covers a huge expanse of territory, as large as the continental U.S.. Many of the countries that encompass the Amazon have rapidly growing populations of urban poor that are expanding into the jungle seeking economic survival. Local governments, in a misguided search for economic benefits, are also eager to subsidize ranchers, loggers and farmers to help expand their operations into the jungle. Miners are polluting and disturbing the pure waters. Road builders and developers are burning the edges of the forests. All these factors are slowly taking their toll and will unquestionably continue to alter the Amazons pristine state. Luckily, the Amazon itself is an extremely harsh environment that floods for several months and then dries up with little or no rain. This environment makes expansion and settlement difficult and almost always economically unproductive. It has taken decades for any understanding of this counterproductive reality to be accepted. Ult
