Amazonia

Japanese: アマゾニア

The Amazon River Basin. Bounded by the Andes Mountains to the west, the Guiana Highlands to the north, and the Brazilian Plateau to the south, it covers an area of approximately 6.5 million ^km2 . There are over 200 large tributaries, including 17 tributaries over 2,000 km long, but most of the basin is a plateau, with a large basin formed in the middle reaches of the Amazon River. It is divided into three climates: a tropical rainforest climate with high temperatures and heavy rainfall throughout the year, a savanna climate with clear dry and rainy seasons, and a dry climate in the upper reaches (Andes Mountains). Much of the plateau is covered by tropical rainforests called selvas, which contain a large number of tree species and a large variety of birds and insects in the fauna. The Amazon's environmental problems have been a focus of attention, particularly due to development since the late 1960s. Some of the factors behind this include large-scale development in the Carajas Mountains (iron ore was discovered in 1967), the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway (5,419 km long, construction began in 1968, completed in 1974), small-scale gold mining, commercial logging of tropical trees, the increase in pastureland, and settlement. Environmental destruction has damaged biodiversity and threatened the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, while there are also concerns about global climate effects, such as the reduction in oxygen pressure in the atmosphere due to the large-scale destruction of tropical forests. The protests against dam construction by indigenous people in the Xingu River basin, a tributary of the Amazon, (a large rally was held in 1989) and the appeals of local residents at the Earth Summit (1992) caused a great stir. →Amazon Development Plan/Amazonas [State]

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

アマゾン川流域。西はアンデス山脈，北はギアナ高地，南はブラジル高原に囲まれ，面積約650万km²に及ぶ。長さ2000km以上の支流17を含め，大きな支流だけで200余を数えるが，流域の大部分は台地地形で，アマゾン川中流に大盆地が形成されている。年間を通じて高温多雨な熱帯雨林気候，乾季と雨季が明確なサバンナ気候，上流部（アンデス山地）の乾燥気候に３区分される。台地の多くはセルバと呼ばれる熱帯雨林に覆われ，その樹種は非常に多く，動物相では鳥類と昆虫類の種類が多い。とくに1960年代末からの開発によりアマゾン環境問題が焦点となっているが，その要因としては，カラジャス山地（1967年鉄鉱石発見）などの大規模開発，アマゾン横断ハイウェー建設（全長5419km。1968年着工，1974年全通），小規模な金鉱開発，熱帯樹木の商業伐採，牧草地の増加，入植などが挙げられる。環境破壊によって生物多様性が損なわれ，先住民の生活基盤がおびやかされるとともに，大規模熱帯林の破壊に伴って，大気中の酸素分圧が低下するなどの，地球規模の気候学的影響も懸念されている。支流シングー川流域の先住民によるダム建設反対運動（1989年に大集会）や〈地球サミット〉（1992年）における現地住民の訴えは大きな反響をよびおこした。→アマゾン開発計画／アマゾナス［州］

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