Amazon Rainforest - Case Study

Question 1

What percentage of the South American continent does the Amazon Rainforest cover?

Answer 1

Almost 40%.

Question 2

How many countries is the Amazon Rainforest a part of?

Answer 2

8.

Question 3

What percentage of the Amazon’s precipitation is self sustained?

Answer 3

75%.

Question 4

How much of the Amazon Rainforest has been deforested?

Answer 4

Approximately 17%.

Question 5

What percentage of global terrestrial vegetation carbon stock is held in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 5

17%.

Question 6

Is the Amazon Rainforest a net carbon sink or a net carbon source?

Answer 6

A net carbon sink.

Question 7

How large is the Amazon rainforest?

Answer 7

6.7 million km²

Question 8

How much of the world’s biomass is stored in the Amazon?

Answer 8

1/5 aka 20%.

Question 9

How many trees are in the Amazon rainforest?

Answer 9

300 billion.

Question 10

How many different species are in the Amazon rainforest?

Answer 10

15,000.

Question 11

How many people live in the Amazon?

Answer 11

34 million.

Question 12

According to the UFZ, how much carbon was stored in the Amazon in 2019?

Answer 12

76 billion tons.

Question 13

Who measured the amount of carbon stored in the Amazon in 2019?

Answer 13

The Helmoltz Centre for Environmental Research.

Question 14

The Amazon rainforest forms a carbon sink of how much, annually?

Answer 14

1-3 GtC/year.

Question 15

According to the UFZ, how much carbon did the Amazon rainforest absorb in 2019?

Answer 15

600 million tonnes.

Question 16

What was the average yearly amount of carbon absorbed by the Amazon in the 1990s?

Answer 16

Two billion tonnes.

Question 17

Is the Amazon rainforest the largest rainforest in the world?

Answer 17

Yes.

Question 18

What is the average discharge from the Amazon rainforest to the Atlantic Ocean?

Answer 18

175,000 m³/s.

Question 19

What percentage of all fresh water entering the oceans each day comes from the Amazon?

Answer 19

15%.

Question 20

Which is the only river longer than the Amazon?

Answer 20

The River Nile.

Question 21

What is the average discharge of the Amazon River?

Answer 21

Around 210,000 m³/sec.

Question 22

How small can the Amazon River be in width in some areas during the dry season?

Answer 22

4km to 5km.

Question 23

How large can the Amazon River be in width in some areas during the wet season?

Answer 23

Up to 50km.

Question 24

How fast can current speeds reach in the height of the wet season in the Amazon River?

Answer 24

7km/hr.

Question 25

How many tributaries contribute to the Amazon River?

Answer 25

Approximately 1,100.

Question 26

At what elevation is the Amazon River's highest source? And where is it?

Answer 26

5,598m in the Peruvian Andes.

Question 27

What is the average annual rainfall in the Amazon Basin?

Answer 27

2,300 mm.

Question 28

What is significant about rainfall in the Amazon rainforest?

Answer 28

Up to half of it may never reach the forest floor as it is intercepted by the canopy or re-evaporated into the air.

Question 29

At what rate was the Brazilian Amazon rainforest deforested between 2000 and 2007?

Answer 29

19,368km².

Question 30

What percentage of Amazonian greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to deforestation and land use change?

Answer 30

75%.

Question 31

What percentage of Amazonian greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to loss of forest and burning?

Answer 31

59%.

Question 32

What are the effects of using slash and burn?

Answer 32

- Reduces the retention of humidity in the soils top layer down to a depth of one metre. - Increases albedo and temp. - Reduces porosity of soil, causing faster rainfall drainage, erosion and silting of rivers and lakes.

Question 33

What often happens with moisture that evaporates from deforested areas?

Answer 33

It creates shallow cumulous clouds which dont usually produce rain.

Question 34

How much more solar radiation do rainforests absorb than the pasture land which it is replaced by?

Answer 34

11% more.

Question 35

What is the average temperature of the rainforest compared to the pastures it is replaced with?

Answer 35

24.1°c in rainforests. 33°c in pastures.

Question 36

How much is the daily temperature variation in 20cm deep soils in the rainforest in comparison to pastures which it is replaced by?

Answer 36

2.8°c in rainforests. 8°c in pastures.

Question 37

How much is moisture content different in the upper one metre of rainforest soil to pasture soil which replaces it?

Answer 37

Moisture content is 15% less in pastures than in rainforests.

Question 38

How much more air humidity can rainforests produce than pastures which replace it?

Answer 38

20-30% more.

Question 39

How much more precipitation can rainforests produce than pastures which replace it?

Answer 39

5-20%.

Question 40

What has been the mean temperature increase in tropical rainforest regions since the 1970s?

Answer 40

0.26°c ± 0.05°c every ten years.

Question 41

According to the WWF, how much of the Amazon Rainforest has already been deforested?

Answer 41

20%.

Question 42

According to the WWF, by 2030, how much of the Amazon Rainforest will have been deforested?

Answer 42

27% if current rates are kept up.

Question 43

According to a 2009 study, what percentage of the Amazon Rainforest would die off in 100 years as a result of a 2°c temperature rise above pre-industrial levels?

Answer 43

20-40%

Question 44

What percentage of the Amazon Rainforest would die off in 100 years as a result of a 3°c temperature rise above pre-industrial levels?

Answer 44

75%.

Question 45

What percentage of carbon is lost to the atmosphere when forests are cleared and burned?

Answer 45

30-60%.

Question 46

What may changes in total precipitation, extreme rainfall events and seasonality lead to?

Answer 46

An overall reduction in river discharge. Lead to flash flooding. Destroy water supply which Amazonians rely on. Destroy freshwater ecosystems. Increase of sediment in rivers which can disrupt transport routes.

Question 47

What can warming water temperatures lead to in a river basin?

Answer 47

Kill-off of temperature-dependant species. Change in biodiversity of the river system by introducing new species and killing others. Reduce water-dissolved oxygen concentrations which could destroy eggs and larvae.

Question 48

What percentage of rainfall in a rainforest evaporates?

Answer 48

25%.

Question 49

How does the climate of the rainforest promote the input of carbon?

Answer 49

The warm and wet conditions make it perfect for photosynthesis to occur.

Question 50

How does the climate of the rainforest promote outputs of carbon?

Answer 50

The warm and wet conditions allow decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi, to thrive, in which they release carbon dioxide.

Question 51

What percentage of wood is carbon?

Answer 51

Around 50%.

Question 52

What four things are rainforests cleared for?

Answer 52

Agriculture. Mining. Infrastructure. Building materials.