1
Q
Rate of clearance (SPR)
A
- started clearing the rainforest in 1960s
- 1.1 billion hectors cleared
2
Q
Why is it being cleared?
A
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
3
Q
Effects of clearance
A
- 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
