the.com/wetland
nature's kidney, soaking up floods and filth while everyone calls it a swamp
means A low-lying area of land that is saturated with water permanently or seasonally, supporting plants and wildlife adapted to wet conditions — marshes, bogs, swamps, and fens.
from A transparent compound of "wet" and "land," both rooted in Old English (wǣt and land). The word itself is a relatively modern joining, rising into common use as ecologists and conservationists in the 20th century needed a single neutral term to cover everything once dismissed as swamp, marsh, or bog — places long drained and feared before their value was understood.
- carbon vault
- peatlands store twice the carbon of all forests
- flood brakes
- one acre absorbs over a million gallons
- vanishing fast
- world lost 35% of wetlands since 1970
- life dense
- 40% of species live or breed here
- water filter
- plants strip pollutants before reaching rivers
everglades — 1.5 million acres of marshland in southern florida, home to alligators and endangered panthers
pantanal — world's largest tropical wetland spanning brazil, bolivia, and paraguay at 42,000 square miles
okavango delta — inland delta in botswana covering 6,000 square miles, creating an oasis in the kalahari desert
danube delta — second largest river delta in europe at 1,660 square miles, spanning romania and ukraine