HISTORY: The birth of the Amazon rainforest

          In the Paleozoic era, millions of years ago, all the land was part the Pangaea, a single continent.¹ Towards the end of the Paleozoic, the Amazon River basin was incorporated into the continent.¹  A great transformation took place in the Cenozoic period, which transformed the land.¹ South America and Africa divided and that created the Atlantic Ocean.¹ After geological processes that resulted in the appearance of the Andes, the flow of the Amazon River basin changed from flowing towards the western direction to an eastern flow.¹ The climate became warmer and more wet. These changes are responsible for today’s Amazon Rainforest.¹

          About 11,200 years ago, humans started living in the Amazon Rainforest.² Their main source of food hunted game. The plentiful resources and food allowed for millions of people to thrive in the Amazon river basin throughout history. As a result, vibrant, sophisticated societies and cultures were fostered.  The cultural practices spread throughout the region until the era of colonization. The  The impact of colonization in the Amazon rainforest was low. However, in the second half of the 20^th century, impacts were more profound because governments were creating huge settlements there.¹ Primarily in Brazil, the government created roads, cities and facilitating further migration from across the Atlantic.¹ This highlights the origin of the problems for the Amazon rainforest. From a history of millions of years, the problem escalated just in the last 50 years. Sadly in the last half century, 15% of the Amazon rainforest was destroyed.¹

Natural pictures of the Amazon rainforest BEFORE human impacts:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/01/historic-move-rainforests

http://travel.mongabay.com/peru/images/peru_aerial_1658.html

AFTER human impacts:

http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/images/brazil_0322.html

http://travel.mongabay.com/colombia/images/colombia_0066.html

1) "Amazon Rainforest History." Amazon Rainforest History. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/amazon-history.html>.

2)   "Cradle Of The Myriad Species Of Life- The Amazon Rainforest." Jungle Magazine RSS. N.p., 17 May 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://junglemagazine.com/cradle-of-the-myriad-species-of-life-the-amazon-rainforest/>.