The Amazon Flashcards

Question

Biomass volume

Answer 1

Range 400 to 700 tonnes per hectare

Answer 2

- Above ground - large trees store 180 tonnes of carbon per hectare - below ground - further 40 tonnes - deforestation exhausts carbon biomass store - forest trees contain far more carbon than cropland or pasture

Answer 3

- Average 90 - 200 tonnes per hectare - 4 - 9 kg carbon per m squared in top 50 cm soil (humus layer) - 1 kg per m squared pasture land - reduced 4 to 9 times carbon stored in soil

Answer 4

Major global reservoir of stored carbon - absorb 2.4 billion tonnes per year - rainforest sequestered 100 billion tonnes of carbon

Answer 5

Carbon exchange / flux - rapid - Warm, humid conditions = fast decomposition - Releases 1.7 billion tonnes carbon through decomposition annually

Answer 6

- Deforestation - 1970 to 2013 averaged 17 500 km squared per year - Since 1970 almost 1/5 primary forest destroyed / degrated - Since 2009 annual rates lower than average, increased recent years

Answer 7

Deforestation most significant human impact within rainforest - 2014 Madeira River record flood 20m above normal - 60 people died - 68 000 families evacuated

Answer 8

- reduces water storage in trees, (eroded) soils and (rapid run-off) permeable rocks - fewer trees = less et = less precipitation - raised flood risk from total run-off and increased run-off speed

Answer 9

- most deforestation is for agriculture - run-off increased by factor of 27 - half all rain falling directly on grassland goes directly into rivers - short-term extreme rainfall events could lead to flash flooding - increased river discharge - long-term less water in system so reduced river discharge

Answer 10

- soil depleated of carbon - exposed to strong sunlight - support fewer decomposer organisms - reduce flow of carbon from soil to atmosphere

Answer 11

- Brazil committed to restoring 120 000 km squared rainforest by 2030

Answer 12

- 2000 - 2007 Amazon deforestation at peak, annual rate around 20 000 square km per year - increased by 43% 2015 to 2020 - despite government pledges to reverse

Answer 13

International

Answer 14

- Either side of equator - Within tropics

Answer 15

- 300 million trees - 5.5 million square km largest continuous expanse of rainforest in world

Answer 16

80 - 120 giga tonnes of carbon (billion tonnes) - stored within Rainforest

Answer 17

- Amazon river discharge equivalent to 15% of all fresh water discharged into oceans daily - unusual that most of rainfall doesn't reach ground (dense tree canopy and warm temperatures) - quickly intercepted and re-evaporated back into atmosphere - only 30% of water falling reaches ocean. Remainder caught in closed cycle. - high levels evaporation and transpiration

Answer 18

- climate change amount of carbon dioxide increasing - s-term lead to increased productivity - carbon dioxide acts as fertiliser to spur on growth, absorb carbon - l-term cause trees have growth spurt, grow quickly and die earlier - reduce capacity of rainforest to absorb CO2 - concern future rainforest could be carbon source rather than sink

Answer 19

- Fossil fuel emissions exceed carbon sequestered / absorbed by rainforest

Answer 20

- 20 to 30% higher humidity than pasture land - 5 to 20% more rainfall than farmland

Answer 21

- Less trees so less transpiration - Fewer particles released back into atmosphere / condensation nuclei (needed by clouds to form / condense around) - Not form clouds large enough for precipitation - small cumulous vs. cumulonimbus clouds drive rainforest rainfall - reduction in rainfall - future could cause decline by up to 20% - 15% less water held in soil, soil washed into rivers

Answer 22

- Areas downwind of deforested areas have half the rainfall on average

Answer 23

- By 2050 2 to 3 degrees increase (on average) in Amazon - Knock on effects: - rates of evaporation - droughts - tree death - further reduced ability to absorb cargon

Answer 24

- 4 degree rise could kill 85% - exists in narrow, specific range of temp. Exceed and trees can't cope. - 3 degree rise could kill around 75% Amazon - 2 degree rise could kill 20 - 40%

Answer 25

- 1960's to early 2000s not much change in CO2 emissions from land use change - From early 2000s, sharp decline in carbon emissions from deforestation - Deforestation 2000 to 2012 sharp decline overall decline 75%

Answer 26

- Deforestation bans on products from deforested areas - Improved governance - stronger legislation and more prosecutions - enforcement of existing laws, prosecute people within soya bean or beef industry - can't deforest or profit from activities taking place on deforested land - e.g. crack down on saw mills processing timber from deforested areas - e.g. slaughter houses processing cattle raised on illegally deforested land - Consumer pressure - campaigns within Brazil put pressure on supply chain

Answer 27

- 2008 started zero deforestation campaign - proposed Amazon Fund - money available to help reduce deforestation rates - campaigns targetted whole supply chain farmers / processors / wholesalers / banks funding - not focus on individual but actions of businesses critical in supply chain

Answer 28

Ban / comittment by: - exporters - soy bean processors - slaughter houses - supermarkets Different people within supply chain only buy non-deforestation soy and beef. - Remove market for produce of deforested areas SUCCESSFUL - only 0.25% of land with soybean crops had been planted in deforested areas since moratorium began.

Answer 29

- Indiginous areas reserved for native occupants - Other reserved areas e.g. national park / special protected area - Establishing and maintaining these has been very effective in reducing deforestation. - Just over half forest in Brazilian Amazon protected in some way

Answer 30

- Indigenous people still have the right to use the forest land for sustainable development - Way of life depends on living off forest - Most groups chosen to keep almost all of their protected land as forest - Rates of emissions from these areas = a tenth of neighbouring areas - Areas very effective bring down rates deforestation and emissions

Answer 31

Red initiative - Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation - UN initiative aim to tackle deforestation across the globe - Norway put forward 1 billion dollars to Amazon fund (zero deforestation) - pledged could use money for results-based financing (pay for performance) - no money unless Brazil proved had reduced rates of deforestation - incentive for Brazil, assurance that Norway will get something for its money To date 670 million dollars paid by Norway to Brazil. Not carbon offsetting scheme. - Equivalent to 100 dollars every year for every Norwegian citizen. - US similar initiatives about 1 dollar per citizen

Answer 32

- establish protected areas - fund organisations responsible track and monitor deforestation - monitor people responsible deforestation

Answer 33

Political - New president Bolsonaro - Believe Amazon there to be used - on side of cattle ranchers, farmers wanting to convert forest to agricultural land Summer 2019 deforestation rates increased dramatically - 3 x higher previous 4 years to 7 or 8 000 km - Still far below deforestation peak, around 2004 (20 - 25 000km lost annually) - if peak had continued, extra 3.2 billion tonnes CO2 put into atmosphere. - equivalent to years emissions from entire EU Recent step backward but Brazil still world leader in tackling climate change by reduce deforestation

Answer 34

- Most water is cycled in forest (only 30% reach sea) - Human activity (mainly driven by deforestation for agriculture) leads to: - reduced rainfall - loss of carbon sinks (trees and soil) - increased temperatures, in turn trigger droughts in Amazon - Brazil successful in reducing deforestation rates - Reduced by 75% - Result from political pressure, prosecutions, protected areas, support from other countries e.g. Norway - More recent political changes start to undo recent positive changes.

The Amazon Flashcards

(58 cards)