亚马逊河鸟瞰图，巴西 Aerial view of the Amazon River in Brazil (© Curioso.Photography/Shutterstock)

亚马逊河鸟瞰图，巴西 Aerial view of the Amazon River in Brazil (© Curioso.Photography/Shutterstock)

匆匆而逝的河流 The rivers run through us

World Rivers Day

On World Rivers Day, we honor what may be thought of as the queen of them all—the Amazon, which flows more than 4,000 miles mostly through the South American countries of Peru and Brazil. The Amazon discharges a whopping 58 million gallons of fresh water into the ocean every second, enough to fill 83 Olympic-sized swimming pools, far more water than any other river in the world. It accounts for 20% of all fresh water that flows into the world's seas and oceans. It's also the vital heart of the largest and most diverse rain forest in the world—the Amazon Rain Forest is home to a third of the world's animal species and its trees and plants pull billions of tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, making it one of the Earth's best defenses against climate change.

Mark Angelo, a river conservationist from British Columbia, launched World Rivers Day in 2005 to recognize the importance of rivers to the survival of humanity and millions of species all over the world. Rivers are our best source of fresh water, they can be an important energy source, they're the foundations of complex ecosystems, and provide crucial sources of irrigation for our crops, among other contributions to our way of life. Besides, who doesn't love a float down a lazy river?

世界河流日

在世界河流日，我们向可能被认为是所有河流中的女王的亚马逊河致敬，该河流经4000多英里，主要流经南美国家秘鲁和巴西。亚马逊河每秒向海洋排放5800万加仑的淡水，足以填满83个奥运会规模的游泳池，远远超过世界上任何其他河流。它占流入世界海洋的所有淡水的20%。亚马逊雨林是世界上最大、种类最多的雨林的重要心脏，是世界三分之一动物物种的家园，其树木和植物每年从大气中吸收数十亿吨的吸热二氧化碳，使其成为地球抵御气候变化的最佳防御措施之一。

来自不列颠哥伦比亚省的河流保护主义者马克·安吉洛（Mark Angelo）于2005年发起了世界河流日活动，以认识到河流对全世界人类和数百万物种生存的重要性。河流是我们最好的淡水来源，它们可以是重要的能源，是复杂生态系统的基础，为我们的作物提供重要的灌溉资源，以及对我们生活方式的其他贡献。此外，谁不喜欢沿着懒惰的河流漂流？