Amazon Rainforest Flashcards
What percentage of South American’s landmass is the rainforest?
40%
How much of the rainforest has been lost in the last 50 years?
17%
What is the majority of the deforestation done for?
70% for commercial farming, for palm oil etc
How much carbon is released due to land clearance?
30-60% of the carbon stored is released when land is cleared
How much of it’s own precipitation does it produce?
1/3
How much carbon was absorbed in the 1990s compared to 2015?
1990s= 2 billion tonnes
2015=1 billion tonnes
What happens in the water cycle within the rainforest?
The dense canopy means that interception rates are high and flow rates to rivers and streams are low
Warm temperatures mean high evapotranspiration so more rainfall
2300mm of rain per year, some places reaching 6000mm
70% held within the closed loop, 30% reaching the sea
Discharges 175000 cumecs of water into the ocean per day
What happens in the carbon cycle within the rainforest?
The vegetation are large stores of carbon
Increase of CO2 meant that the rainforest had to be more productive, increasing the amount of biomass
Trees grow quick but die young due to increased amount of carbon dioxide (stunting their growth)
What are effects of climate change?
If the temperatures increase by 4 degrees, then 85% of the forest dies - the dead biomass would then release massive amounts of CO2 through decomposition
Increases temperatures=less rainfall=drought
Drought increases the chances of wildfires, which would emit more GHG
What are effects of deforestation in the water cycle?
No canopy to intercept=more surface run off=more chance of flooding
Reduces evapotranspiration rates so less cloud formation therefore less rain, causing droughts
Cleared areas warm up faster, meaning air rises causing low pressures- this then draws in warm moist air causing wetter and windier conditions
What are effects of deforestation on the carbon cycle?
No roots to hold the soil together meaning that rain washes away nutrient rich soil, adding more carbon into the hydrosphere
Less trees means less CO2 being taken in by the vegetation, causing the enhanced greenhouse effect
500 tonnes per hectare of carbon is stored in the rainforest (500x more than farmland)
‘slash and burn’ techniques used to clear the land, meaning even more carbon released into the atmosphere
What are some attempts to limit human impacts?
Protection- National parks and reserves put them under protection
- Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation
Reforestation in places away from the rainforest
Central Amazon Conservation Complex,2003, protects biodiversity (49000 km2) so locals can use the forest in a sustainable way
What are the links between the cycles?
If temperatures continue to rise, the hydrospheric stores will be less able to hold CO2, meaning a further release into the atmosphere
As cryospheric stores are shrinking, they are releasing methane and CO2 that has been trapped, causing higher amounts of GHG
Less interception means more run off, leading to more in hydrospheric stores
What human activities are damaging the rainforest?
Logging- for furniture and pulp for paper
Hydroelectric power- the Balbina HEP plant flooded 2300km2 of the rainforest
Commercial farming- 70% of all deforestation done for the extraction of things like palm oil
Mining- for gold etc
Infrastructure- the addition of the highway meant deforestation but also an opening for more development=more deforestation
Settlements- built for rainforest workers
