Tropical Rainforests Deforestation

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  • Created by: anna015
  • Created on: 24-09-17 16:25

Tropical Rainforests Deforestation

Causes

  • Logging- trees are a valuable source of wood
  • Massive migration to the rainforest causes trees to be cut to make way for settlements
  • Communication links are very important for developing countries. Roads and railways are built to connect a country together e.g. Trans-Amazonian highway which links north Brazil to south Brazil
  • Mining- there are lots of valuable natural resources within the rainforest. The Carajas project is one of the largest mining projects, but 100km squared of rainforest was destroyed to obtain iron ore
  • Cattle ranching and plantations take up large areas of rainforest
  • Building dams to generate hydro-electric power floods large areas of rainforest e.g.the hydroelectric power project in the Amazon caused 2000km squared of rainforest to be destroyed

Effects

  • With no trees to hold the soil together, heavy rain washes away the soil (soil erosion). This can lead to landslides and flooding
  • Without a tree canopy to intercept rainfall and tree roots to absorb it, more water reaches the soil. This reduces soil feritlity
  • Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the burning of trees releases this back into the atmosphere. This increases the greenhouse effect
  • Logging, farming and mining all create jobs
  • Money is made from selling timber, mining and commercial farming
  • The livelihoods of some local people are destroyed because there is a loss of plants and animals that they rely on to make a living

Overall summary

Deforestation has many causes which can have both a positive and negative impact.

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