Water/Carbon Cycle - Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

What is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth?

Answer 1

The Amazon Rainforest

Question 2

How many square miles of land does the Amazon cover?

Answer 2

2.1 million

Question 3

How many people live within the Amazon?

Answer 3

20 million

Question 4

How much percentage of the Amazon has been lost?

Answer 4

20%

Question 5

How many tree species is the Amazon Rainforest home to?

Answer 5

16000

Question 6

How does the Amazon Rainforest act as a carbon sink?

Answer 6

The forests take in more carbon dioxide than they release into the atmosphere.

Question 7

In a normal year, how much carbon dioxide does the Amazon Rainforest absorb?

Answer 7

2 billion metric tons

Question 8

How much carbon dioxide do dead Amazonian trees release a year?

Answer 8

1.7 billion metric tons

Question 9

What does it mean if the Amazon Rainforest acts as a carbon sink?

Answer 9

It shows that the Amazon forests help reduce global warming by lowering the planet’s greenhouse gas levels.

Question 10

What is happening to the Amazon rainforests’ role in the global carbon cycle?

Answer 10

Deforestation via logging and forest fires (combustion), are decreasing carbon accumulation, making the Amazon forests potentially become a carbon source.

Question 11

What is the average discharge of water into the Atlantic Ocean by the Amazon per second?

Answer 11

175000 cubic metres

Question 12

What is the second largest river in the world in terms of water flow?

Answer 12

The Rio Negro (a tributary of the Amazon)

Question 13

What is the average rainfall across the whole Amazon basin?

Answer 13

2300 mm annually

Question 14

How much of Amazon rainfall is discharged into the Atlantic Ocean?

Answer 14

1/3

Question 15

What occurs to up to half of the rainfall in the Amazon?

Answer 15

Intercepted by the canopy and re-evaporated back into the atmosphere.

Question 16

Where does moisture created by the Amazon end up falling as far as?

Answer 16

Texas

Question 17

How is deforestation impacting the water cycle in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 17

Less moisture goes into the atmosphere due to decreased interception, so rainfall declines, sometimes leading to drought.

Question 18

What is the main driver of change in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 18

Deforestation

Question 19

What factors are resulting in increased deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 19

• Agriculture (pastoral and arable (palm oil))
• Logging
• Road building (allows for development of the Amazon: The Trans Amazonian Highway)
• Mineral extraction - gold
• Settlement/population growth (mining towns)
• Energy development (Hydroelectric dams disrupt the water cycle, trap huge amounts of sediment)

Question 20

How much of the Amazon rainforest is estimated to by deforestated by 2030?

Answer 20

27%

Question 21

How much forest losses occurred per year on average between 2001 and 2012?

Answer 21

1.4 million hectares

Question 22

What are the main impacts of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 22

• Atmospheric circulation affected because plantations don’t intercept as much as forests.
• Precipitation decreased because agriculture absorbs the water.
• Positive wildfire loop with wildfires
• Carbon sink becoming a carbon source, affecting climate change.

Question 23

What positive feedback loop may occur with wildfires in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 23

1. Deforestation increases use of fire
2. Increased atmospheric aerosol decreased droplet size, increases cloud height/lifetime, inhibiting rainfall.
3. Results in drought, making forests more prone to wildfires due to dry soils.

Question 24

What are the impacts of deforestation on Amazon soils?

Answer 24

Tree cover decreases, increasing sun exposure on soils, drying them out. When rainfall does occur, the carbon stored in the soil is washed away.

Question 25

What are the impacts of deforestation on Amazon rivers?

Answer 25

Less interception and evaporation makes flash floods more likely. Conversely, droughts are more common due to decreased rainfall.

Question 26

What strategies can be implemented to protect the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 26

- Ecotourism - Monitoring deforestation using satellite imagery to enforce law. - National Parks or Indigenous Reserves. - Selective logging and replanting - Education - Protective laws (e.g. Amazon Protection Pact to cooperate on reforestation projects)