The Amazon🌴

Question 1

What area does the Amazon cover?

Answer 1

7,000,000 km2
(7 million square kilometres)

Question 2

Which countries does the Amazon cover?

Answer 2

Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia etc

Question 3

How many different species are there in the Amazon?

Answer 3

10 million

Question 4

What can deforestation increase?

Answer 4

Rainfall downwind of the area

Question 5

What happens to water intercepted by the canopy?

Answer 5

It drips to the ground from leaves or flows down via stem flow

Question 6

What percentage of freshwater entering the oceans each day comes from the Amazon river?

Answer 6

15%

Question 7

How can land use change affect the water cycle?

Answer 7

Cutting down trees for farming means water can fall straight to the ground, causing soil erosion and runoff

Question 8

What does a decrease in evaporation lead to?

Answer 8

Local warming and droughts

Question 9

Why does up to half of the rainfall never make it to the ground?

Answer 9

Interception and re-evaporation by trees

Question 10

What do rainforests act as?

Answer 10

carbon sinks

Question 11

How much of the worlds Co2 does the Amazon absorb?

Answer 11

35%

Question 12

Why does deforestation reduce rainfall in the area?

Answer 12

Because the water cycle is disrupted as evapotranspiration does not occur and less water is stored in plants, and more in the soil

Question 13

What are the main drivers of change to the Amazon’s water cycle?

Answer 13

Deforestation, land use changes, climate change

Question 14

What is the average rainfall per year?

Answer 14

3000mm

Question 15

How much of the world’s oxygen does the Amazon produce?

Answer 15

20%

Question 16

Why is water less likely to evaporate from soils?

Answer 16

Because it forms a thin layer on a leaf so can evaporate quickly with less energy, but when it reaches the soil it soaks in

Question 17

How does deforestation by burning affect the carbon cycle?

Answer 17

No respiration by trees, no photosynthesis, no new biomass, less decay

Question 18

What human factors can affect the carbon cycle stores and transfers?

Answer 18

Industry and burning of fossil fuels
Burning of forest

Question 19

How do warmer oceans affect carbon stores?

Answer 19

Warmer oceans cannot hold as much Co2 so absorb less carbon

Question 20

How can extreme events of climate change alter vegetation?

Answer 20

Heatwaves, drought, storms
can lead to vegetation deaths and fires

Question 21

Why do forest fires increase with climate change?

Answer 21

As dry seasons lengthen and become more intense, trees have more time to dry out and forest fires become more common

Question 22

How do plants store carbon?

Answer 22

As sugars, in the form of starch in their leaves

Question 23

What are examples of national parks?

Answer 23

Turnucumaque National Park
Para Rainforest Reserve

Question 24

How will the Amazon have changed by 2050

Answer 24

Forest dieback due to vegetation succession and fire is predicted to result in the Amazon region becoming a net source of Co2

Question 25

What does the Latin American Technical Co-Operation Network in Watershed Management follow?

Answer 25

3 of the UN Development goals

Question 26

What do the Latin American Technical Co-Operation Network in Watershed Management do?

Answer 26

Aims to promote the adoption of the concept of watershed as the planning and management unit most appropriate for rational use of natural resources

Question 27

What is an important achievement for the Tarapoto process?

Answer 27

The development of regional criteria and indicators for the sustainability of the rainforest, recognising that each countries management has an impact on the region’s forest resources

Question 28

What is the aim of the Tarapoto Process?

Answer 28

Recognising the Amazon Co-operation Treaty as the most effective instrument for discussion and agreement on policies for the region

Question 29

What has been done in the Amazon to mitigate climate change?

Answer 29

National Parks and forest reserves have been created

Question 30

What initiative is in place to reduce deforestation?

Answer 30

Land owners are paid not to cut down their trees and clear property rights are established to reduce land grabbing and illegal logging

Question 31

What is the objective of the Amazon Co-operation Treaty organisation?

Answer 31

To promote harmonious development in the region and the well-being of their populations, and to strengthen the sovereignty of countries over the Amazon territories

Question 32

What do national parks and rainforest reserves protect the forest from?

Answer 32

Deforestation and illegal loggers and farmers

Question 33

How much of the world’s rainforests does the Amazon make up?

Answer 33

more than 50%

Question 34

What agreements are in place to mitigate climate change?

Answer 34

Latin American Technical Co-Operation Network in Watershed Management
The Tarapoto Process
Amazon Co-Operation Treaty Organisation(ACTO)

Question 35

What is currently being implemented with ACTO?

Answer 35

more than 20 initiatives, projects and programs in areas such as environment, indigenous affairs etc

Question 36

What physical factors can affect carbon cycle stores and transfers?

Answer 36

Trees and plants, temperature changes, type and number of animals in an area

Question 37

What is the Amazon often used for?

Answer 37

Biofuel production