Geography A-Level - Physical - The Amazon Rainforest
- Created by: Noah_S
- Created on: 26-10-21 18:15
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- The Amazon Rainforest
- Human Impacts
- Deforestation
- Deforested areas have no canopy to intercept rainfall, so increased likelihood of surface runoff
- Reduces the rate of evapotranspiration, meaning less water vapour reaches the atmosphere
- Reduces precipitation, which increases the chances of drought in the area
- Without roots, heavy rain washes away the carbon rich top layer of soil
- Transfers carbon to the hydrosphere
- Reduces leaf litter, so humus cant form, which means the soil cannot provide much growth and limits the carbon stored
- Removing trees will reduce the amount of carbon being abled to be stored from the atmosphere
- Deforestation has led to some parts of the Amazon becoming a carbon source instead of a carbon sink
- Climate Change
- Some parts of the Amazon has had temperatures increase and rainfall decrease
- The Amazon has had severe droughts in 2005, 2010 and 2015-16
- Wildlife in the Amazon are not adapted to dry weather, and might die
- Frequent or long periods of drought can lead to the extinction of some species
- Drought can lead to forest fires, which can destroy large areas and releases carbon into the atmosphere
- Scientists predict a 4*C rise in temperatures will kill 85% of the Amazon Rainforest
- Would release lots of stored carbon due to decomposed material, and will reduce photosynthesis
- Some parts of the Amazon has had temperatures increase and rainfall decrease
- Deforestation
- Human Mitigation
- Replanting
- New trees are planted to replace ones that are cut down
- A project in Peru replanted over 115 acres between 2016-2019
- Important to keep the same type of tree, so that the water and carbon cycles can return to their initial state
- New trees are planted to replace ones that are cut down
- Selective Logging
- Only some trees are cut down, most are left standing
- Less damaging to the forest, as the forest structure is kept
- Canopy is still there, meaning there is still interception to protect the Water and Carbon cycle
- Protection
- Environmental laws can protect rainforest
- Can ban the use of wood from unsustainable sources, and ban excessive logging
- You can control land usage to prevent extensive deforestation
- Brazilian Forest Code says that landowners have to keep 50-80% of their land as forest
- National parks can be set up to monitor activities
- Central Amazonian Conservation Complex was set up in 2003, protecting biodiversity in a 49000km^2 area
- Provides opportunities for ecotourism
- Environmental laws can protect rainforest
- Replanting
- Natural Processes
- Water Cycle
- A lot of evaporation from the Atlantic Ocean is blown towards the Amazon
- Leads to very high rainfall
- Warm temperatures lead to high evaporation in the rainforest, increasing precipitation
- A dense canopy from trees means that interception rates are high
- Means less water flows into rivers, and does it more slowly
- A lot of evaporation from the Atlantic Ocean is blown towards the Amazon
- Carbon Cycle
- Stores a lot of carbon in the vegetation, meaning that the Amazon is a carbon sink
- Increasing concentration of carbon has led to increase productivity due to increased photosynthesis
- Increased growth of biomass
- Water Cycle
- Human Impacts
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