Case Study: The Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

Where is the Amazon located?

Answer 1

North West Brazil

Question 2

What is the area of the Amazon?

Answer 2

6.7 million km²

Question 3

What is the average rainfall per year in the Amazon?

Answer 3

3000mm

Question 4

What percentage of precipitation is intercepted by trees in the Amazon?

Answer 4

75%

Question 5

What percentage of precipitation evaporates in the Amazon?

Answer 5

25%

Question 6

Of the 75% that does not evaporate, what happens to half and the other half?

Answer 6

Half is used by plants and half infiltrates into the soil

Question 7

What effects does deforestation have on the water cycle in the Amazon?

Answer 7

• Reduces interception, increasing surface runoff
• Evapotranspiration also decreases

Question 8

What percent of the world’s oxygen is released by rainforests?

Answer 8

28%

Question 9

What role does the Amazon rainforest play in the carbon cycle?

Answer 9

Rainforests act as carbon sinks, absorbing atmospheric CO₂ through photosynthesis

Question 10

How much has the Amazon shrunk by per year since 2000 due to deforestation?

Answer 10

0.3%

Question 11

By how much has the Amazon’s capacity to absorb carbon decreased by since the 1990s?

Answer 11

1 billion tonnes.
Absorbed 2 billion in 1990, and only 1 billion in 2015
South America is therefore no longer a carbon sink

Question 12

How much of the original Amazon rainforest has been lost to deforestation?

Answer 12

20% - 30%