Brazil- area experiencing a deficit within the hydrological cycle

Question 1

what caused this deficit of water

Answer 1

changes in the hydrological system
what is meant to happen: moist air moves westerly from south Atlanta to amazon and when the flow of air reaches the andes mountains it is forced to turn southwards which maintains the flow around the basin
however in 2014-2015: series of high pressure systems diverted the rain-bearing winds further north away from the Amazon so prevented them from diverting to the Andes. Heavy rainfall then occured in Bolivia and Paraguay while dry air remained over brazil

Question 2

what is making rainforests less resilient?

Answer 2

the positive feedback loop of deforestation and less rainfall is reducing the ability of the rainforest to regenerate and recycle much of their rainfall making them fragile

Question 3

what threats will deforestation and drought have for rainforests

Answer 3

• amazon capacity to absorb carbon will reduce
• regional water cycles will change and soil temps will increase
• wildfires will increase due to levels of carbon in the atmosphere
• the world will lose a major carbon sink and contributer to moisture
• younger trees die which reduces canopy cover which in turn reduces humidity, water vapour and therefor rain.
• exposed sunlight, dying vegetation and surface tree litter create a potential tinder box that can easily catch fire