State of Amazonas, Brazil, 2019
One of the most extraordinary - and perhaps least known - features of the Amazon rainforest is a phenomenon variously known as "flying rivers" or "aerial rivers." It may seem like a contradiction to talk of a "river" that cannot be seen, yet these "flying rivers" carry more water than the Amazon River itself and affect a larger area of South America and beyond. Scientists have estimated that, while 17 billion tons of water enter the Atlantic from the Amazon River each day, over a similar period 20 billion tons of water rise into the atmosphere from the jungle, earning it the nickname of the "Green Ocean", and then leave the Amazon region. What is remarkable, ...