The Living World-Case Study: Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

Answer 1

The Amazon rainforest area spans about 8,200,000km2 across 9 countries, making it the largest rainforest in the world. The tree coverage in 1970 was 4.1m km2. In 2018, it was 3.3m km2.

Question 2

Between 2001 and 2013, the causes of Amazonian deforestation were:

Answer 2

Pasture and cattle ranching = 63%
Fire = 9%
Small-scale, subsistence farmers = 12%
Commercial crop farming = 7%
Tree felling and logging = 6%
Other activities = 3%
-E.g. plantations, mining, road-building, and construction.

Question 3

Environmental impact of Amazonian deforestation

Answer 3

Photosynthesis by trees in the Amazon absorbs 5% of the world’s carbon emissions each year (2bn tons of CO2).
100 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in the wood of the trees in the Amazon.
If the Amazon were completely deforested, it would release the 100bn tonnes and also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by 2bn tons each year.
Trees anchor soil in the ground, bound to their roots. Deforestation damages the topsoil and once this has happened, the fertility of the ground is seriously damaged.

Question 4

Economic impact of Amazonian deforestation

Answer 4

Deforestation has fuelled the economic development of poor countries.
In 2018, Brazil exported $28bn worth of metals. The mining industry creates jobs, exports and helps increase Brazilian people’s standard of living.
Similarly, hydroelectric power plants and cattle farms help to create jobs.
In 2018, Brazil became the world’s largest exporter of beef.
Rio Tinto, an iron ore mining company employs 47,000 people globally and thousands of these are in Brazil.

Question 5

The rate of deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 5

In 2015, the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff claimed that the rate of deforestation had fallen by 83% and that actually Brazil was going to reforest the Amazon.
However, the policies under President Temer and President Bolsonaro has reversed Rousseff’s plan. In 2019, under Bolsonaro, the rate of deforestation was increasing again.