Amazon Rainforest Case Study

Question 1

Outline the Amazon Rainforest

Answer 1

• The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering about 6.7 million square km in South America
• It is a biodiversity hotspot, home to over 10% of the world’s known species
• Home to more than 400 billion trees from around 16000 species

Question 2

Outline the Amazon’s role in the carbon cycle

Answer 2

• The Amazon absorbs one quarter of all the CO2 absorbed by all the land on Earth
• Also produces around 20% of the world’s oxygen through photosynthesis
• The Amazon is estimated to store more than 150 GtC

-> Acts as the lungs of the Earth

Question 3

Outline the Amazon’s role in the Water Cycle

Answer 3

• Amazon River 2nd longest in the world
• Hot and humid, average temperature of 25-28 degrees Celsius, recieves average of 2-3 metres of rainfall per year

Question 4

What is the impact of human activity on deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 4

Logging for agriculture (eg. Soy farming) and infrastructure developments mean that between 2000 and 2020, the Amazon lost around 17% of its forest cover

Since 1960, 15% of the Amazon has been cleared for agricultural purposes alone

Question 5

How much did deforestation reduce evapotranspiration by in Mato Grosso (Brazil) ?

Answer 5

Deforestation reduced evapotranspiration by around 1km^3 per year from 2000-2010

Question 6

Name a positive feedback loop caused by deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 6

Deforestation and wildfires feedback loop

Question 7

How much did forest degradation due to wildfires increase in the Amazon in 2024 compared to the 2019-2023 average?

Answer 7

Wildfires in 2024 caused 400% more forest degradation compared to the 2019-2023 average

Question 8

What are the impacts of deforestation on the Amazon?

Answer 8

• Increased likelihood of flash floods due to reduced interception
• Increased soil erosion and weathering due reduced interception
• Increase in soil and silt washed into rivers, resulting in changes in waterways and transport
• Sea level rise will substantially impact lowland areas such as the Amazon River delta

Question 9

Describe the soy moratorium in the Amazon

Answer 9

• An environmental agreement implemented in 2006 to prevent deforestation for soybean cultivation in the Brazilian Amazon
• Before the moratorium, 30% of soy plantations came from deforested land, after implementation,this dropped to 1.2%

Question 10

Describe reforestation in the Amazon

Answer 10

• The Amazonia Live initiative (launched in 2017) aimed to restore 73 million trees across 30,000 hectares by 2023 but only reached 20% of its target
• Brazil has a Paris Agreement target to reforest 12 million hectares of land by 2030 -> currently not on track and this is only 25% of the total land lost between 2001 and 2020
• Also, trees usually take 20-30 years to mature so will not have immediate impact

Question 11

Describe monitoring and enforcement in the Amazon

Answer 11

• Satellite monitoring systems such as Brazil’s DETER can detect illegal activities and help reduce deforestation
• Between 2007 and 2011, the implementation of DETER coupled with increased law enforcement contributed to a 60% reduction in deforestation rates

Question 12

Describe indigenous people’s role in combatting deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 12

• Indigenous communities (eg. Ashaninka People) have proven to be effective stewards of the Amazon Rainforest
• Deforestation in Indigenous territories is up to 83% lower than in unprotected areas
• Ashaninka People collaborating with Rainforest Foundation USA to combine agriculture with forest regeneration -> eg. planting nut trees on degraded land
• However, it is difficult to scale up and the effectiveness of Indigenous stewardship depends on the recognition and enforcement of land rights

Question 13

When could the Amazon become a net carbon source by?

Answer 13

The next 15 years

Question 14

What was the impact of deforestation on the water cycle in Alter do Chao (Brazil)?

Answer 14

Deforestation led to peak discharge in the Tapajos River increasing by 15-20%

Question 15

When were river levels in the Amazon at their lowest and why?

Answer 15

Lowest levels in over a century during October 2024 due to extensive deforestation leading to a fall in precipitation

Question 16

What is the impact of agriculture on the water cycle in the Amazon?

Answer 16

• Around 20% of the Amazon is used for agriculture
• Cattle ranching leads to compaction of soil which reduces the pore spaces in the soil, meaning there is less infiltration and through flow, also no interception
• A study in the South Western Amazon found that infiltration rates were over 80% lower in pasture catchments compared to forest
• Study also found that surface runoff was 4x higher, peak discharge was 2x higher in pasture areas
• However, sustainable practices starting to be put in place such as rotational grazing

Question 17

How much has wildlife declined in the Amazon?

Answer 17

Declined by 95% between 1970 and 2020 in Latin America, most of Latin American wildlife found in Amazon

Question 18

What is the impact of climate change on indigenous people?

Answer 18

• The Ashaninka People in the Peruvian Amazon have experienced food scarcity, with rainfall variability leading to crop failure for up to 50% of households in some years

Question 19

How much of the Amazon is protected and how?

Answer 19

Now around 50% through National Parks and Indigenous Territories, in 1980s less than 10%

Question 20

How much of deforestation is cattle ranching responsible for?

Answer 20

Around 80%