The largest river on Earth is actually in the sky - Iseult Gillespie

Explore the Amazon rainforest’s flying rivers, and dig into why these invisible waterways are essential to life on Earth.

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The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, exists between two rivers — but not in the way you might think. At ground level, the Amazon River and its tributaries weave their path. But above the canopy, bigger waterways are on the move. These flying rivers are almost invisible, but are essential to life on Earth. Iseult Gillespie explores how this crucial system keeps the rainforest alive.

Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya, Otter Studios.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Iryna Panasiuk, Aaron Torres, Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez and Brian A. Dunn.

[dircepacheco]

This needs to be taught at schools and shown on the media, in general. People need to understand the importance of the forests for our very survival.

[Splicer-lbxb]

"Oh, what a whimsical and fascinating beauty"
"Ofcoarse we're killing it"

[TomSmith-viyw]

This quote hits hard "The Earth does not expect you to save her, she expects you to respect her"
Forever etched in my heart, mind, and soul
Thanks a lot, Ted-Ed
Keep up the amazing work👌👌👌

[kainingyao]

A flying river?! That sounds like a fantastical and magical environmental feature in a fantasy world. Very inspiring.

[rajK_]

The animation is phenomenal... felt like I was reading/watching a graphic novel

[aryandixit]

It is interesting how indigenous people have done a better job of conservation. Some people say that they have no accomplishments but I would count this in itself as an accomplishment. They have shown more far-sightedness when it comes to the future and our liveability in the environment than most others who prioritized short term financial greed.

[clima]

Seeing the title, I immediately thought of Skypiea. It follows then, that I am surprised to find out that the nation who fought for the protection of these flying rivers and the rainforests, is also called Wampis.

[thefriesofLockeLamora]

I saw a quote recently, I'm paraphrasing. "why would you assume giving land back to Indigenous people means displacing others?" Many have become so poisoned by the idea of land ownership Vis a Vis colonisation as opposed to land stewardship by Indigenous people

[puipuipui]

I got goosebumps! I’m so glad there are indigenous ppl fighting to save their homeland’s nature❤❤❤.

[zaaviya-e-Ghalib]

Absolutely love how this video seamlessly weaves together stunning art, well-researched content, captivating narration, and a truly enchanting soundtrack.❤️

[alaskawashington]

loved this combination of an ecology and culture lesson! the description of the sky rivers themselves did make me think though, what differentiates this process from that of clouds?

[kirbymarchbarcena]

I hope this video helped a lot to open the eyes of everyone about various indigenous peoples around the world who are victims of modernizations and industrializations of companies and their own government.

[shubhampandey]

Wow, this video is mind-blowing! I had no idea about the concept of flying rivers in the Amazon rainforest. It's fascinating to learn about these invisible waterways and how essential they are to sustaining life on Earth.

[bharani]

It's so fascinating to learn about flying rivers. As an Indian, it reminds me of a native cultural term, "Aakasa Ganga', which literally means 'sky river'.

[amirgurung]

Love and respect to all indigenous people of the world.

[TsakaniK]

I yearn for the day when humans will put conservation over money.

[MarkBoiMC]

I love how they included the capybara :)

[lucianoosorio]

“If I jumped in the river, I would probably drown. No matter how struggle and strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.” Hank Williams Sr

[ahmermirza]

This is why I absolutely adore Ted-Ed for bringing out gem pieces like this one, so people with little knowledge would learn more and understand better about this place we call home 🌍💖🙏

[OneaeBlack]

This proves that keeping our trees around is essential to getting water around and to life on this planet. Destroy the trees we truly destroy ourselves.