State of Amazonas, Brazil, 2018

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, though, is the scale on which this takes place. A large tree can suck water from as much as 60 meters below the ground and produce as many as 1,000 liters of water per day. And since this is repeated by between 400 and 600 billion trees, it is easy to see how the Amazon forest generates an important proportion of the water that it later receives. In fact, even the water that reaches the mainland through evaporation of sea-water is itself quickly recycled by the jungle in a process known technically as "evapotranspiration." But if the "flying rivers" are vital to the economic welfare of tens of millions of people, mainly in Brazil, they also impact weather patterns across the globe and are themselves vulnerable to the effects of deforestation and global warming.

Amazonia #2025

From

Amazonia

Description

Sotheby’s is pleased to present, Sebastião Salgado: Amazônia, the debut NFT collection from one of the world’s most celebrated living photographers. Masterfully crafted over the course of five months, Amazônia is composed of a collection of 5,000 unique photographs and Tree of Life, an original short video film with original audio as a 1/1. The collection spans more than a decade of Salgado’s visits through the Amazon. Among the 5,000 photographs there are 10 categories coupled with numerous traits representing the location, region, and villages Sebastião Salgado immortalized through these journeys.

Amazônia is both a love letter to and a call to action to support the extraordinary beauty of the region's rainforest, rivers, mountains, and people. Primary sale and secondary royalties' proceeds are to benefit Institut Terra, a non-profit organization cofounded in 1998 by Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado.

Artist

Sebastião Salgado

Artist royalty

Blockchain

Ethereum

Token standard

ERC-721

Contract address

0xf1...80fc

Token

2025