Case Study: The Amazon Rainforest Flashcards
location
South America-mainly located in Brazil (60%), Peru (13%) and Columbia (10%)
how big is the rainforest?
it covers 2.1 million square miles
Reasons for destruction: subsistence farming
25 million landless people in brazil were given 10km strips of land to farm on
Reasons for destruction: commercial farming
Greenpeace’s 2006 report (Eating Up The Amazon) revealed that KFC, McDonald’s and Sainsbury’s were among the chains involved in unsustainable soy farming to make cheap chicken feed.
Reasons for destruction: transport
roads transport framers’ produce and cover 12000km.
Largest road
The Trans-Amazonian Highway (4000km long)
Reasons for destruction: settlements
the number of settlements within the Amazon has gone from 2 million in 1960 to 30 million in 2000
Impacts of deforestation
- diversity of wildlife
- soil leaching and erosion
- climate change
How many species is the rainforest home to?
rainforest is home to 10% of all known species in the world
Number of bird species
205
number of plant species
40,000
number of insect species
2.5 million
Of the plants known to have anti-cancer properties, how many are found in the rainforest?
70%
If climate change were to increase the world’s temperature by just 3 degrees c…
…75% of the Amazon would be destroyed
if current trends continue…
…more than half of the Amazon could be lost or severely damaged by 2030
