1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to you stuff you should know from house storks 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, uh, and the little dinosaur 4 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: friend of yours. Yeah, he's kind of become a fixture. 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: Where what's this? Yeah, it looks like a she what's 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: his her name? Oh? Dinah? That was sharp, Thank you. 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Not as sharp, however, unfortunately, as the 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: blade of the cattleman's chainsaw cutting down their traffical rainforests 9 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: like crazy or burning it. Yeah. Crazy, Well, that's what 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: they used to do, supposedly. I don't know if you 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 1: know this or not, but I read a couple of 12 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: books by a guy named Charles C. Mann. One other 13 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: calls fourteen, the other is called four and Um. In it, 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: he talks about how there's a lot of evidence that 15 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: the Amazon Basin was a completely human managed creation, that 16 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: it's not like some virgin tropical rainforest in its natural state, 17 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: that it was like creative planted it and managed it. 18 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: And um, I think he says, like, if that's the case, 19 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: then it's like the largest public works project ever undertaken 20 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: in the history community. But one of the pieces of 21 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: evidence is this like slash and char agriculture, where it's 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: like you set the forest on fire, um, but you 23 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: don't let it burn all the way down in the ash. 24 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: You like, you know, put it out and it leaves 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: these stumps of charcoal which actually make the ground more fertile, 26 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: which it turns out. It is a surprising factor if 27 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: you ask me, a surprising fact of the podcast that 28 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: the ground, the soil in this incredibly lust Amazon rainforce 29 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: or any rainforest, tropical rainforescet is really not very fertile 30 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: at all. Yeah, at least deep down. That's a good point, 31 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: and that is in this article. And I thought that 32 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: was pretty interesting too. I thought this article was jam 33 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: packed and stuff, and then it just takes a really 34 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: depressing turn at the end. Yeah, because everyone knows what's 35 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: going on with the rainforest. And we're gonna read a 36 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: plug later. But our old friend Joanne Um who nominated 37 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: us for an Emmy nomination. Of course, we learned quickly 38 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: that spoken word albums you don't have a shot. Well, no, 39 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: it's kind of a rip off because all the spoken 40 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: word Emmy's, I'm sorry, Grammy's to say Emmy, all the 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: spoken word. Grammys are people reading their autobiographies who know everybody. 42 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: It's just such a rip off. It really hard working 43 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: folks like you and I can't be nominated for a 44 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: Grammy because Tina fe read her book out loud inm 45 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: of a microphone and look, it's so funny, got like 46 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: a man's forearms. It's hilarious. I love Tina Fey. But anyway, 47 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: Joanne uh stand aloneus and I think I'm pronouncing that 48 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,239 Speaker 1: right works for the Amazon Institute and she's one who 49 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: kind of um got me thinking about this today, and 50 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: we're gonna plug her organization later. You can adopt a sloth. 51 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, that's great, pretty neat. So having said that, 52 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: thank you, Joanne. You don't make a problem with those 53 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: programs is you don't actually get to take the sloth 54 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: or the kid or whoever home with its adoption. I 55 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: think it's just like giving money to somebody, is pretty much. 56 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: But yeah, I think that's a good thing to plug. Chuckers, 57 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: chuck um. I want you to know something. The tropical 58 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: rainforests on Earth cover six to seven of the dry 59 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: land on the planet. Yeah, not counting the oceans, right, 60 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: but they may they are home to about out of 61 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: the species on the whole planet. Yeah, mind boggling. I'm 62 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: just gonna go ahead and say this whole podcast, you 63 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: will be blown away by the numbers, the sheer numbers 64 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: of diversity going on and sadly six percent now it 65 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,360 Speaker 1: used to. Yeah, it's going away at an alarming rate. 66 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: There's a statistic given at the end um of this 67 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: article that I've heard many times with some of these 68 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: like kind of hippie um ecology statistics, you have to 69 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: kind of go back and look, you know, um a 70 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: lot of them, like they're just so staggering and it's 71 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: very important stuff that some sensational ones kind of slipped 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: through the cracks and like it reported over and over 73 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: and over again. But the forty Like, okay, so there 74 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: there's a statistic that at the current rate of deforestation, 75 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: there will be no tropical rainforests left on Earth and 76 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: forty years. And I looked it up and um, apparently 77 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: that's fairly close to accurate. So at the rate that 78 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: it's being deforested today, which is about fifty thousand acres 79 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: a day's one point three acres a second or something 80 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: like that, one point five acres a second. Okay, every second. Yeah, 81 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: that is depressing. Yeah, so fifty tho acres a day. Um. So, 82 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: if you take the total acreage of rainforest left on 83 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: Earth and divide it by fifty acres lost a day, 84 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: If you do that constantly, twenty four hours a day, 85 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: every day in forty years, there's no rainforest left at 86 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: this right. You want to hear something else, scary, h 87 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: Five years ago there were ten million Indians living in 88 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: the Amazonian rainforest. Ten million today, less than two thousand. Yeah, 89 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: that's that's the Amazon alone, right, Yeah, Amazonian rainforest. Well, 90 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: the Amazon is by far the largest rainforest. It's the 91 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: Amazon makes up of the tropic rainforest left on Earth. 92 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: Of all the tropical rainforests, Yeah, but all all in, 93 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: I think there are more than eighty countries through Africa, Australia, Asia, 94 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: Central and South America that um and we're talking tropical. 95 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: We're not talking about you in Seattle and you and Oregon. 96 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: Those are rainforests. They're beautiful, they're not tropical rainforest. But 97 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: you try to find a sloth in there, you can't 98 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: do it. No slut, not that I know. I don't 99 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: think so. Uh So I guess let's talk about weather, 100 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: lots of rain and rainforest. Yeah, they don't call it 101 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: that for nothing. Now, did you convert these inches defeat 102 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: because it's startling when you do. No. Um, I'll give 103 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: you inches first, and if you have that conversion, that's great. 104 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: A hundred and sixty to four hundred inches of rain 105 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: per year, thirteen to thirty three ft of rain of 106 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: rain every year, and we can get rains in Georgia, right. Yeah, No, 107 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: it makes Georgia look like the Sahara Desert. Yeah, maybe 108 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: even the go Be Yeah. Uh. For those of you 109 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: living outside of the United States and what other country 110 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: was it? But he's the Imperial system Liberia. Um. That's 111 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: we're talking four d and six point four to one thousand, 112 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: sixteen centimeters centimes a lot of meters. Uh. There is 113 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: no dry season, yeah, like you have in some places, 114 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: like where you have like Monsousi monsoon season, try season. Uh. 115 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: It's wet all year round, spread out pretty evenly. Temperature 116 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: remains pretty constant, hot and muggy below sixty. That's because 117 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: tropical rainforests form a band around the equator between the 118 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: two Meridians the tropics. Things don't change a lot there, right, 119 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: because the what is it? The procession of the earth 120 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: doesn't create seasons like it does elsewhere in the northern 121 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: nor southern hemisphere. Sure, we get a little further away 122 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: from the sun gets a little cooler, right, So what 123 00:07:53,480 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: you have hot, wet and um green? Yes? And the 124 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: reason like monster green, monster green? Like? Uh, I guess 125 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: we should start at the top with a canopy. Um 126 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: I drew also, Chuck, if you need any help, I 127 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: drew a little diagram, did you it's a text to picture. 128 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: You need to put a little happy face on your sunshine. 129 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: I didn't even bring a pen. We can add that later. 130 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: But if you need this, this is here. Appreciate that. Uh, 131 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: the canopy. We're talking giant trees six fifty ft um tall, 132 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: forming the thick canopy such that only like one person 133 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: of light will eventually hit the floor of the jungle, 134 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 1: and then above that. Sometimes you're gonna have these and 135 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: I see you drew them the little what if they 136 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: called emergence. Emergence, These trees that are so uh stubborn 137 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: and intent on getting sunlight. They're like, you know what, 138 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: I'm gonna grow even higher than the canopy and steal 139 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: all that sunlight for myself. Crooked trees. Basically, there's a 140 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: lot of cooks that we're gonna get doing this. Yeah, 141 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: it's kind of okay. So one thing that I learned 142 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: from reading this is the tropical rainforest is a real 143 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: like dog eat dog um ecosum. Maybe we should just 144 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,319 Speaker 1: get rid of it all. I don't think. I mean, 145 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: it's brutal plants like sucking the life out of other plants. 146 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: That's just how it goes. That's what it's like in 147 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: the jungle. Josh, So you've got the canopy level, got 148 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: the canopies, and you said another fact of the podcast 149 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: to me, um, only one percent the sunlight that hits 150 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: that canopy makes it down to the forest floor. Yeah. 151 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: And another cool thing that was pointed out a little 152 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: later is that, um if if like one of these 153 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: trees dies and there's a hole in the canopy and 154 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,239 Speaker 1: little sunlight gets through, it's like everyone and everything goes berserker. 155 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: Plants and animals like sun. You gotta get to it. 156 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,959 Speaker 1: That's our life, and they like scramble towards these little sunspots. 157 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: It's like, um that rush song the trees. Yeah, that's 158 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: a good one. Uh, that wasn't They were like way 159 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: proggy early phase. They then I like prog rock because 160 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: I like Rush. Yeah. Well, apparently their new album is 161 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: pretty good. Everything they did was good. No, I mean 162 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: they had name one album of theirs that wasn't good. Well, 163 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: I mean anything since the late eighties to me, no, man, 164 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: I'm telling you still. Well, they're getting high marks where 165 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: their do. One for being like sort of a throwback 166 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 1: to their old sound. That's great. I actually don't like 167 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: their earliest stuff, like twelve, not that big one. All right, boy, 168 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: that's a dude conversation. You ever been to a Rush 169 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: show the five girls there, Yeah, it's true, and they're 170 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: looking around like, yeah, exactly, and the guys don't even 171 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: notice them because Getty leaves on stage and I'm wearing 172 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: a wizard's hat. Alright. So the forest floor, where it's 173 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: nice and dark and dank, um, you're gonna find what 174 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: you would probably expect, which is a lot of moss 175 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: and fungus. No grass. Now, you'd be hard pressed to 176 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: grow any grass on the forest floor of a tropical 177 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: rain because there's not much light, Like we're talking about 178 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: one percent of available light. Yeah, they're on the jungle floor. 179 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: Uh so, like you said, let's say a tree dies 180 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: there's an opening. It's kind of like, um, a rent 181 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: control apartment, right, everybody's scrambling for it. This this happens 182 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: probably more than you would think. And it's not even 183 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,839 Speaker 1: necessarily a tree dying. A tree could just fall over, 184 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 1: as we'll see later. Um. But uh, when when that's 185 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: not the case? In an area where their seedlings trying 186 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: to grow, most of them die because you have to 187 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: make it sixceed to a hundred feet to the top 188 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: of the canopy to start growing branches, and takes a 189 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: lot of light to generate or to undertake the process 190 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: of photos instance, to get that tall to ensure your 191 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: survival anyway, Um, and if you are one of those 192 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,199 Speaker 1: lucky one percent ceilings, oh wait, I just confuse two 193 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: different statistics. If you are one of those lucky ceilings 194 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: that happens to have an opening in the canopy and 195 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: makes it all the way up there and starts growing, 196 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: makes a nice life for yourself. Um, you are probably 197 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: going to be subject to basically what are parasitic plants. Yeah, 198 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: not carnivorous plants, even parasitic plants. Yeah. The epiphytes actually 199 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: grow onto giant trees that use that as their ladder 200 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: to get to the top. Well, they form the understory too, 201 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: so you have the canopy and then just under that 202 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: where there's still some light coming here but nothing like 203 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: above the canopy, you have those epiphytes, and those are 204 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,079 Speaker 1: like ferns and um and orchids, which are very beautiful 205 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: air plants. Yeah, because the roots turn in the ground 206 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: there on the side of the tree. Yeah, they're like 207 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: the succubus, and they can eventually kill this tree if 208 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: they get to the top and they're doing fine up 209 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: there and then their roots spread out and choke the 210 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: tree to death. Then that tree can actually decompose, but 211 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: the lattice framework is still there. So the uh, epiphyt 212 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: is just like great, thanks for the ride. Sorry, sorry 213 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: I killed you. Thanks for the ride, lady, exactly. Uh. Yeah, 214 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,679 Speaker 1: So an epiphyt can turn into a strangler. It's basically 215 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: an epiphyt that's gone bad. Well, like you said, it's 216 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: doggy dog. Everyone's trying to get up to the top. 217 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 1: I know. But if you're an epiphyt oral Leanna, which 218 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: is a h I think that's how you pronounce it, 219 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 1: which is basically a vine that can grow all the 220 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: way up and then starts to spread. It's like kudzoo um. 221 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: You're not doing anything really on your own. You're depending 222 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 1: on some other organism, whereas if you're a tree, you're 223 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: doing your own thing, but then you're dependent on the sun. Well, yeah, 224 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: I can hardly be faulted for that. Everyone's mooching off 225 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: of somebody, except I guess the sun, so the one 226 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: that's providing it for everybody. All right, So you were 227 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: talking about the infertile soil um. It rains so much 228 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: that the nutrients get washed away really easily, and they 229 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: didn't never get to like penetrate deep into the earth. 230 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: So uh, Jerry laughed at that and it wasn't unsettling 231 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: off putting. And so what happens is you get a 232 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: very thin layer of fertile soil. So what you get 233 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: there is very thin um, not very deep roots, and 234 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: in the end you get trees that fall down pretty easily. 235 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: Like in here in Atlanta when we go through a 236 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: heavy drought, you'll also often see like trees falling down 237 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: during windstorms because their roots never like got super low. Yeah, 238 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: this is exactly the same thing, exactly. Uh. But some 239 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: trees have adapted a way around this called buttresses, which 240 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: is basically like a trunk coming off of the trunk 241 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: and just going down to stabilize it. Yeah, if you did, 242 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: you look those up. I've seen this before. It's pretty cool. 243 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: I mean it's like a stand almost surrounding in the 244 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: base of the tree. It's kind of neat. That's a buttress. Yeah. Well, 245 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: a buttress of any kind is a support system. Um, 246 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: you're one of my buttresses. Appreciate that. Uh So I 247 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: think that is worth saying again. Like, the reason that 248 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: the tree roots are shallow is because nutrients are scarce. Um. 249 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons why is because it rains 250 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: so much. Right. Um. But even still, like these these 251 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: plants species and animal species as we'll see are um, 252 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: they've just adapted for life, and that's really high up. 253 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: Like everything everything that sustains life is basically up there 254 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: for the most part, um, and all of these these 255 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: plants and animals have made these awesome adaptations to live 256 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: high up in the air, um, in a place where 257 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: nutrients are really hard to come by and there's a 258 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: lot of competition for everything, a lot of competition. I 259 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: think it's fast like a buttress. It's like, oh, well, 260 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: I'll fall over if I don't grow another trunk, so 261 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: I'll grow another trunk well or the uh. The hippophytes 262 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: can get to the top and then leap from tree 263 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: to tree and further seal in the canopy, which is 264 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: kind of cool. Um, So we should talk about bacteria 265 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: for a minute. Plays an important part in any ecosystem, 266 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: but especially in the rainforest. Um. You know, trees breakdown 267 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: bacteria with food. Uh or I'm sorry, provide bacteria FOODA. 268 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: I agree with that. Trees breakdown bacteriaus food and then 269 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: the bacteria poop that out and feed the trees, right, 270 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: and they're just like it's a great little relationship symbiotic. 271 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: Everybody gets what they want. It's like those little birds 272 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: that pick bugs off of the back of what a hippo. 273 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: A hippo that does that? I don't know I've seen 274 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: that though, Or there's no there's one that there's a 275 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: bird that picks food out of like the mouth of 276 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: a hippo. It's really dangerous to be that bird. But 277 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: like the hippos are like, thank you, that's cute. Uh. 278 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: And here's another mind blowing stat If we want to 279 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,160 Speaker 1: talk about diversity. Let's say you live in uh, northwest Oregon, 280 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: and you're like, dude, we've got like a dozen tree 281 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: species here in this forest. It's like so diverse. Hit 282 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: the hacky sack again, let's get out of here. Three 283 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 1: hundred different distinct tree species in the in the in 284 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: the rainforest. Yeah, buts just trees. They're really really spread out. Yeah. 285 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: So like in an acre you might find just like 286 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: a few of that species. So there's a bunch of 287 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: different species packed into one acre. Yeah, I mean it's crazy. Um. 288 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:49,199 Speaker 1: Ten million animal species. Unfortunately, Uh, they're being destroyed at 289 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: the rate of fifty species per year. Experts say that 290 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: we're losing a hundred and thirty seven plant, animal, and 291 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: insects species every single day deforestation seven specs. Not just 292 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: like oh that bug died, it's like all of that 293 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: bug died today on Monday, and we guess what will 294 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,159 Speaker 1: happen tomorrow, All of another insect will die and thirty 295 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: seven of them. It's great. It's just like it's the 296 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: saddest thing ever. Um. And it's not just said too, 297 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: I mean we'll see in a second. Like what the 298 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: problem is when that happens. You know, biodiversity is important, 299 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: and if you're talking about the cradle of biodiversity, then 300 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: it becomes even more important because it's like the cool 301 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,239 Speaker 1: part of town and then the suburbs. As far as 302 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: Planet Earth goes and the excerpts, we can't even talk 303 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: about that all right, But out of these ten million, 304 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: of course, insects are going to be the most abundant. 305 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: And then out of all of those, ants are the 306 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: most abundant thing in the rainforest. So I found somewhere 307 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: that they make up of the biomass of the tropical 308 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: rainforest from what I understand, Like, that's like the entire biomass, 309 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 1: the trees and all that stuff. The ants make up that. Man, Yeah, 310 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: I bet they're not fun to deal with, yes, and 311 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: something like so half of that is fire ants. Wow, 312 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: can you imagine? Have you seen this incredible movie It's 313 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: called um Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's an Indiana 314 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: Jones movie. There's these fire ants and there's just crazy 315 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: what they can do to a man. It's such an abomination. Um, 316 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: did you see the South Park about that? It's great, 317 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: It was great. It was also probably the most disturbing 318 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: you've ever seen that what happened least to see it. 319 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: We can't say it. On the other no, I can't 320 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,640 Speaker 1: even I shouldn't even be endorsing that episode. UM. So 321 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: these insects also have a very symbiotic relationship with the 322 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: forest because they, along with birds, helped spread the seeds 323 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: around because there's not a a wind going on. Yeah, 324 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: so seeds aren't gonna propagate by flowing through the air 325 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: like they do elsewhere. So you got these little insects 326 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: eating them and then carrying them off tim twenty feet away, 327 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: or birds carrying them miles and miles away, pooping them out, 328 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: pooping them out, and then you're spreading seed, which is 329 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: probably another reason why each acre has like so many 330 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: different kinds of uh plant life going on, right, Yeah, yeah, 331 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: well I think that's definitely why. UM. The birds also, 332 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: especially like say hummingbirds, which there's an abundance in the 333 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: tropical rainforest. Um, they will get pollen all over themselves 334 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: as they go from like orchid to orchid, so that 335 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 1: helps propagate um orchids or epiphytes, which typically can't really 336 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: get from tree to tree, you know, so when you 337 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,919 Speaker 1: when you have an orchid that's evolved specifically for a hummingbird, 338 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,719 Speaker 1: it's going to attract those hummingbirds with your delicious nectar 339 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:59,959 Speaker 1: and help generate new orchids elsewhere. I associate humming were 340 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: with the sun for some reason. Yeah, probably because where 341 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: I live. Yeah, but it's hard to imagine them in 342 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,639 Speaker 1: like in the dark jungle. Well, I think in the understory, 343 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: which is where the epiphytes are. It's it's not that dark, 344 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: it's like where it's like you can't really see um 345 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: reptiles obviously, tons of reptiles and amphibians. If you if 346 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: you want to avoid snakes, then the Amazon rainforce is 347 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: probably not where you want to go. Um. But a 348 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: lot of these are being smuggled out. Evidently live animals 349 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: are the fourth largest smuggling commodity. Smuggling out these live 350 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: animals for resale. Is it for bush met just for pet? 351 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: No pet like black market pets. This is a documentary 352 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,479 Speaker 1: that I haven't seen it yet. Yeah, I was kind 353 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: of surprised. Behind drugs, diamonds and weapons. See that's such 354 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: a b s. They always say that, like it's always 355 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,239 Speaker 1: like those and then whatever you want to put behind it. 356 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: I've seen counterfeit materials for being smuggling for fourth year, 357 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: for like black Mark stuff. It's like whatever whatever you're 358 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: talking about four after those drugs, diamonds, weapons and knight. Uh. 359 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: You might be right, Josh, I think, but I'm going 360 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: with it. But you did talk about earlier about the 361 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: different types of adaptations for the animals, like um, little 362 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: webs of skin like on a flying squirrel and other 363 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: animals to allowut to like soar between trees. It's creepy, 364 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: pretty neat. Prehensile tails. I love a prehensible town, which 365 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: is just like an extra hand, especially for grasping hand. 366 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,119 Speaker 1: Basically is what it is, Not like a card playing hand, 367 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 1: more like a branch grabbing hand, like I'm gonna hang 368 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: on to this with and like carrying my body weight 369 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: with my tail so I can use both hands. Watch 370 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: me show off exactly. I'm a Howler monkey. Can you 371 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: do a Howler monkey impression? Can you know? I don't 372 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: know anyone who I bet that guy from Police Academy 373 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: kuld Oh, yeah, Michael, it's Michael. Do you remember it, 374 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: Michael winter Bottom? No, I don't know. He was good though. 375 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,679 Speaker 1: You know, we're gonna get some emails about it. Yeah, 376 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: it was Michael so and so. Lots of bats and 377 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: then thus lots of bats. Cat, dude, there is a 378 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 1: there's a park in Zambia, um called Konsaka Konsenka Kassanka 379 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: National Reserve, and it's home to the largest bat migration 380 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: in the world. Every October, ten million bats come to 381 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: roost and eat these mangoes that are ripening nearby. And um, 382 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: they cover everything and apparently when they when they take 383 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: off at dusk, they blot out the sky for like 384 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: twenty minutes in every direction. Sy, I'm sure they just 385 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: want the mangoes. Yeah, they don't care about you. But man, man, 386 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: I even like bats, and I'm creeped out by that. Austin, 387 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: Texas has nothing on those. Oh yeah they had that, 388 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: yeah the overpass moever. Yeah, um, guerrillas, great apes orangutangs, pigs, 389 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: big cats and batscat. By the way, another thing I 390 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: found in like that was a huge, huge industry bats. 391 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: But like back guano mining because they used it for 392 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: like fertilizer for so long that like people made like fortunes, 393 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: like oil fortunes off of these things, and it was 394 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: all like in in these tropical areas. They were like 395 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: quarries of that they were digging out back quano from Yeah. 396 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: And who were the big names there that got rich? Oh, 397 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: I don't remember. I would imagine they were mostly in Brazil. 398 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: It's not like the getties or the standards. I don't 399 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: think so the standard standard oil. I knew a standard 400 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 1: really sure, h Um. People like we talked about indigenous tribes, 401 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 1: uh like, are being basically shoved out at an alarming rate. 402 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: And these people it's really sad because they have like uh, 403 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: these medicine men who have a great deal of knowledge, 404 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: who are very old and if they're not in one 405 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: of the little hippie websites I went too said, if 406 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: you know, one of these medicine men dies, then it's 407 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: like burning down a library, like unless they passed on 408 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,360 Speaker 1: their knowledge, then it just dies with them, just like 409 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 1: some native languages do. It's really sad. And that's why 410 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 1: the movie Medicine Man was was said in the Amazon, 411 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: just because like people think, if there is a cure 412 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,880 Speaker 1: for cancer and aids, it lies in the jungles. So 413 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: that's one which I believe, by the way, well they 414 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: called rainforest the pharmacy of the world. Yeah, but I 415 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: just have a personal theory that there is no disease 416 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,880 Speaker 1: wherein there is not a cure here on earth. Yeah. 417 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: I think it's it's the biblical of you. No, it's 418 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: nothing to do with that, you don't think so now. 419 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: I just think it's the yin and yang of mother Nature, 420 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: like there cannot be one without the other. Does that 421 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: make sense. It's pretty interesting. I don't have anything to 422 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: back that up. It's just my personal thought. Well, let's 423 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: stick around, you know. And uh yeah, um, So apparently 424 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: a quarter of all the medicines we used today have 425 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: their origins from plants in the rainforest. That's a that's 426 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,880 Speaker 1: pretty significant backing for what you're saying. Well, yeah, which 427 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: always cracks me up when we get uh crap for 428 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: talking about like Eastern and Western medicine, people like you 429 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,120 Speaker 1: should just call it real medicine or not real medicine. 430 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,439 Speaker 1: I don't think a lot of these people realize how 431 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: much of their pharmaceuticals are based on plants that some 432 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: shaman discovered. You know, we have a lot of angry listeners, 433 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,719 Speaker 1: don't we sometimes, Um, but just one percent of the 434 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:58,120 Speaker 1: plants in the Amazon rainforest has been um analyzed by 435 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: Western Western hemists. I guess yeah, isn't it crazy? Yeah, 436 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 1: remember we did an ethnobotany episode that was pretty good. 437 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's right. Um. But even still even with 438 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: just that one percent um of our Western medicine from 439 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: that one percent of all of our medicines came from 440 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: that that one percent analysis. Yeah, A hundred and twenty 441 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: one prescription drugs are plant derived. That's amazing. Um. We 442 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,399 Speaker 1: get a lot of food. Apparently there's something like two 443 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: thousand um types of usable fruit three thousand, three thousand total. 444 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 1: Indigenous tribes throughout the rainforests use about two thousands estimated, 445 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 1: and then we in the West have used like two 446 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 1: hundred and that nuts. They were like literally eighteen hundred 447 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,960 Speaker 1: types of fruit that we just don't eat over here. 448 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 1: And you got to these farmers markets and you see 449 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: something like, wow, I've never seen this whatever it is, 450 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: like imagine eighteen hundred different things that you've never before, right, um. Yeah, 451 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: and that's like a farmer's marketing. I'm still like blown 452 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,919 Speaker 1: away by jackfruit, which one is that it's they're huge 453 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: and they have like spine, um, like Um, you know 454 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: what I mean? Into that stuff? Now, exotic fruits he 455 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: should go to like, um, he goes to the Bufford 456 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: Highway Farmers. Okay. Um, And speaking of good eating, the Amazon, well, 457 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: not the Amazon, I always want to see the Amazon, 458 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: but the tropical rainforests of the world are home to 459 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: one quarter of the bird population parrots to cans. Yeah, 460 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,000 Speaker 1: you can't eat it too, can you need fruit loops? 461 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: A lot of the things that we take for granted 462 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: over here came from the rainforests, like potatoes, rice, black pepper, 463 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: my favorite spice, cinnamon, cloves, avocado, pineapples, corn, chocolate, coffee, tomatoes, 464 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: like everything you love, almost potatoes the food we eat. 465 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: I don't think potatoes were from the rainforests. I think 466 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: they were from the mountains something. And why did I 467 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: say that in here? Then it is wrong, it's possible. Well, 468 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: roughly eight of the food we eat originally came from 469 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: tropical rainforest. So that's a pretty amazing statue. Um. Also, 470 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: yet we're just tearing them down willy nilly. Um. Yeah, 471 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: that's that's kind of a problem. So we're losing the pharmacy, 472 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: We're losing tons of um delicious fruit and delicious birds. Um, 473 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 1: losing people a lot of people ten million to two 474 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: thousands from pre Columbian Yeah, I mean it's been a while, 475 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: but still that's a drastic reduction. You also hear that 476 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: the we're losing the world's lungs, but apparently that's not 477 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: necessarily true. Yeah, they used to call it's funny it 478 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: goes they go by the lungs of the world. Is 479 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: the Amazon the pharmacy of the world. And then someone 480 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: else sitting here calls it the air conditioner over the world. 481 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: Why can't it just be the jungle. Well, I think 482 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: we're trying to drive at home to like fat lazy 483 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: Westerners who are like, I need that stuff right right, 484 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: I don't want to be hot. Yeah. They used to 485 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: think that the rainforest was super important for providing oxygen, 486 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: but um, apparently recent evidence shows that it doesn't have 487 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: that much of an effect on the oxygen supply, not 488 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: a net effect. Not a net it does it still 489 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: produces like of the world's oxygen, which was the stat 490 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: that was bandied about for a long time. But it 491 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: requires about that much to decompose everything on the floor. 492 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: But it is the air conditioner of the world. In 493 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: a way. So, well, the dark depths of the rainforest 494 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: are gonna absorb a lot of heat, and if you 495 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: mow these things down, there's gonna be a lot more 496 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: sun reflected back up in the atmosphere, which is going 497 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: to increase the overall temperature of the planet. So let's 498 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 1: talk about why why would anybody mow this down? If 499 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: these things are like the nature's pharmacy or the world's pharmacy, 500 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: the world's air condition or the world's along as the 501 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,959 Speaker 1: world's the world strip club. Yeah, everything right, So like, 502 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: why would anybody cut stuffed down? Uh? Shortsightedness of huge 503 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: corporations is my answer? Even more directly, like what are 504 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: they after though, clearing land for like lumber, paper products, uh, 505 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: making pastures for cows, which is not a very smart 506 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: way to go about things. No, it really isn't, Like, 507 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: let's cut down old growth rainforest for these cows so 508 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: they can have a you know, barren landscape. Well, that's 509 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: part of the problem, is um, because these soils are 510 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: so nutrient poor. Apparently when you clear cut the rainforest chuckers, 511 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: you have like usable land, arable land for a year 512 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: or two um. So part of it's because this nutrient 513 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,719 Speaker 1: turnover from all the rainfall, but also all of a sudden, 514 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: the soil that's used to almost no sunlight whatsoever is 515 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: suddenly subject to light and heat of immense proportions were 516 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: at the equator, and so it bay and cracks and 517 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: loses its nutrients even faster through runoff, so causes flooding. 518 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: It's really a terrible, terrible use of this land using 519 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: it for crops and livestock. Yeah, I've got a stat 520 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: for you to um. I mean, it doesn't pay off 521 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: either in the long run. Um. This one statistic is 522 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: that land converted to cattle operation yields the land owner 523 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: sixty dollars per acre. If they harvest it for timber, 524 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: it's gonna be worth four dollars per acre. But if 525 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: you uh use renewable and sustainable practices when you're harvesting 526 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: your land is gonna yield breaker in the long run. 527 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: So it's it's short sighted us. And it's not these 528 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: like it's not these indigenous people that like, we need crops, 529 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 1: so we're gonna cut down the rainforest. It's Mitsubishi and 530 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: uh who else, Texaco, Georgia, Pacific. Oh, what's the huge 531 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: like the huge corporations are going in the unical What 532 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: do you think, I said, un don't know what that is. 533 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: It's this clothing company out of Japan. Well they hate 534 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: the rain, right, they don't even have any steak in it. 535 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 1: They just go cut it down. Yeah, uh, we're laughing, 536 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: but that's really sad. Well. Also, um indigenous tribes who 537 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: are protected are frequently murdered by UM mercenaries who are 538 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: hired by these mega corporations that you know, want this 539 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: land and drive these people off of their protected land. Um. 540 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 1: I believe there was like a little girl who was 541 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: found dead, an indigenous tribe member who has found dead 542 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: like chain to a tree and like just killed by 543 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: loggers who wanted that land. It's really bad down there. 544 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: That was Brazil, I think. Well, plus the mudslides and 545 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: flooding and everything else that happens when you disrupt an 546 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:55,960 Speaker 1: ecosystem so drastically. Yeah, it's like the hunting whale sharks. 547 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: That's what I was reminded of when you were saying, 548 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: like the economic impa act of preserving it is way 549 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: better than just using it up right then? Yeah, short sightedness, 550 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: short sighted that's very sad uh. Yeah, the company is 551 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,799 Speaker 1: still like that. There's not a body that can say like, 552 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,239 Speaker 1: we gotta stop this now, Like there's tons of people 553 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:19,279 Speaker 1: like Joanna doing this great work, Don Henley Sting, these 554 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: people that have been on it for years, but it 555 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,919 Speaker 1: just keeps happening. Well, why don't you plug him? Are 556 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: we done? I don't have anything else any search bar. Well, no, 557 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: we should tell everybody about something very special and dear 558 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: to our hearts. New York said, that's right. We are 559 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: going to Comic Con and we will be doing a 560 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: live podcast on Friday, October twelve at Comic Con at 561 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: the Jabbitt Center. It's like our new thing. We did 562 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,359 Speaker 1: San Diego, now we're doing New York. That's right next 563 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,839 Speaker 1: up Albuquerque. So if you are going to Comic Con, 564 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: you should come back and see that. But after Comic Con, 565 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,520 Speaker 1: we have one of our famous that's famous to us, 566 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 1: All Star Tribua Nights. Um. Where is it gonna be 567 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: the cutting room? It is at the grand reopening of 568 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: the Cutting Room in the Flat Iron District, which is 569 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: what's the address? It is forty four East thirty second 570 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: Street in New York and uh, it's in the Flat iron, 571 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,320 Speaker 1: you said, And the doors open at seven thirty. Trivia 572 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,720 Speaker 1: goes down at eight thirty. And what's first come, first serve? Right, free, free, free, 573 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 1: first come, first serve. We will have a bar there 574 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:25,839 Speaker 1: that you can buy drinks. Yeah, you can buy us 575 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: drink that's right. We're gonna basically be having a really 576 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,319 Speaker 1: good time if you if you're not familiar with our 577 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,879 Speaker 1: trivia nights, like, just come out and check it out. 578 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: It'll be worth your while absolutely, and stay tuned for 579 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: info on Facebook and Twitter about the makeup of the 580 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 1: All Star team. We're filling that out as we speak. 581 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 1: But we will have some special guests that you will 582 00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:44,800 Speaker 1: want to meet. Yeah, and at the very least you 583 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,240 Speaker 1: can come take on me and chuck right yeah, yeah, okay, 584 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: it's just fun. So what is that? That's Friday, October twelfth, right, yep, 585 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: the panels that went. The panel is at at least six, okay, 586 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: and then we're gonna be at the cutting room starting 587 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 1: at eight thirty. Tribute Star said, eight thirty. Doors at 588 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: seven thirty, be there, be square. You're good at this, 589 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 1: thank you? So okay. If you want to learn more 590 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: about rainforest, type that word in r A I N 591 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 1: F O R E, S T S U into the 592 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: handy search bar how stuff works dot com and it 593 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:19,200 Speaker 1: will bring this up. And I said, handy searchbar, So 594 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 1: it's time for plugging the Amazon Institute. That's right. Um, 595 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,239 Speaker 1: things are, They're making some headway over there, but um. 596 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: She basically points out that the bounty that Amazon is 597 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: great provides h a lot of fish, fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, 598 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: pretty plenty of fresh clean water. I saw stat I 599 00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: can't remember it that we didn't mention. It's something about 600 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,880 Speaker 1: a percentage of the world's clean fresh water is in 601 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 1: the rainforests, like a lot. I can't remember how much 602 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,240 Speaker 1: it was. We've got the ice caps in milking well. However, 603 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 1: due to a lack of nutritional education, uh, they hunt 604 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 1: monkeys and sloths to eat there. I'm telling these animals 605 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,720 Speaker 1: do not provide any nutritional value, though there are bones 606 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: and attendons and tastes good either weird. They just fill 607 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,400 Speaker 1: space in a hungry stomach. So you can participate and 608 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,320 Speaker 1: the adopt a sloth program. Your money buys food and protection, 609 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,680 Speaker 1: basically two kilos each of beans, rice, coffee, sugar, and 610 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: flour soap, milk and eggs are given in exchange for 611 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: a sloth or a monkey that was scheduled to be 612 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:32,240 Speaker 1: skinned and grilled. That's how they put it. UM. So 613 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:37,040 Speaker 1: if you donate seventy five bucks, you can adopt a sloth, 614 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: You get a certificate of ownership with the name you've 615 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 1: chosen for your slow. Do you own that slow? And 616 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: you get a CD of rainforest sounds, and students can 617 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: actually adopt a slot for a class, and they have 618 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 1: curriculum that they provide teachers K through twelve UM. They 619 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,799 Speaker 1: provide teachers with an educator's packet of lesson plans. If 620 00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: you email with your class size and curricular structure, they 621 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: will give you like customized materially three classroom. So it's 622 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:05,839 Speaker 1: kind of cool. So you can read all about this 623 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: at Amazon Institute dot com and they're well worth supporting. 624 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 1: That's a good going, Chuck, Yeah, take going to Yeah, Yes, 625 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 1: thank you very much for everything for nominating us for 626 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:20,799 Speaker 1: an Emmy Grammy Grammy. What's wrong with us today? Well, 627 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 1: we're heading to TV. We're like Emmy's UM. If you 628 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:30,840 Speaker 1: have a really good UM nonprofit that's helping things people, 629 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,880 Speaker 1: lets you adopt something. We're always down for that, especially 630 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: if you're willing to nominate us for an award too. 631 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,800 Speaker 1: That definitely greases greases the wheels um. You can tweet 632 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,200 Speaker 1: to us at s y s K Podcast, You can 633 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: join us on Facebook dot com slash Stuff you Should Know, 634 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 1: or you can send us an email to Stuff Podcast 635 00:38:52,800 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: at Discovery dot com. For more on this and thousands 636 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:10,960 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how Stuff Works dot com. Mhm 637 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:11,319 Speaker 1: hm