The Tallest Tower in South America Is in the Middle of the Amazon Forest

Deep in Brazil's Amazon jungle, more than a hundred miles from the nearest city, stands South America's tallest structure, the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO). Reaching 325 meters (or 1,066 feet) into the sky above the trees, the ATTO is taller than the Chrysler Building or the Eiffel Tower.

Built in a collaboration between Germany's Max Planck Institute and Brazil's National Institute for Amazon Research, the tower will be equipped with high-tech instruments and an observatory to monitor relationships between the jungle and the atmosphere beginning in July. According to the institutes, ATTO will gather data on heat, water, carbon gas, winds, cloud formation and weather patterns.

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