Deforestation: Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

Rate of clearance (SPR)

Answer 1

• started clearing the rainforest in 1960s
• 1.1 billion hectors cleared

Question 2

Why is it being cleared?

Answer 2

Farming
- forests are being cut down to make room for things such as bananas, palm oil, sugar cane, tea and coffee farming
- cattle farming - takes up 80% of deforested land, cattle farming for the production of beef is the biggest cause of deforestation

Logging
- huge trees cut down at larges quantities to be sold as timber, trees such as mahogany sold to make furniture
- more trees cut down to allow roads for their lorries
- happening in Mato Grosso and Pará in the Amazon

Mining
- large scale mining operations can result in mass forest clearing and construction of roads

Question 3

Effects of clearance

Answer 3

• CO2 that trees have been storing is released into atmosphere —> leading to global warming, then climate change
• disruption of circulation and storage of nutrients
• increased flooding levels
• surface erosion ( trees aren’t protecting ground)
• higher temperatures —> removing trees let’s more sunlight in, drying it out leading to fires
• loss of biodiversity —> species are losing habitat by agriculture expansion, logging, mining, cattle farming