AMAZON RAINFOREST - IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION

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Soil erosion - Local impact
-Thin topsoil (especially on bare slopes) (exposed from deforestation) is removed by heavy rainfall.-Losing 55 million tonnes of top soil every yr due to soil erosion caused by soy farming. - No topsoil=no growth.-Leads to silting up of river courses
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Soil fertility - Local impact
- Soil quickly loses what fertility it had when covered by trees. - Grazing and plantations do little or nothing to keep soil fertile. - Decline in soil fertility leadd to pastures and plantations being abandoned - more rainforest is cleared.
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River pollution - Local impact
- Gold mining not only causes deforestation, but the mercury used to separate gold from ground is allowed to enter rivers. - Fish poisoned, as well as people living in nearby towns. - Rivers also polluted by soil erosion.
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Decline of indigenous tribes - Local impact
- Indigenous tribes have traditional way of life,closely geared to resources of natural forest.-Now only around 240 tribes left (over 330 in 1900).-Theyre forced out of rainforest by:road construction,logging,mines,ranches,plantations and reservoirs.
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Local Brazilian rubber tappers - Local impact
- Local Brazilian rubber tappers extract natural rubber from trees. - Have lost their livelihoods as trees have been cut down.
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Conflicts - Local impact
- Open conflict caused by disputes between indigenous people and loggers and other developers of the rainforest. - Disputes arise because people have conflicting views about rainforest, e.g., between conservationists and developers.
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Creates jobs - Local impact
- Mining industry creates jobs for loads of people - e.g. Buenaventura mining company in Peru emplys over 3100 people.
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Loss of biodiversity - Local impact
- Could lose between 30% and 40% of their main species by 2030. - 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost everyday (50,000 species lost a year). - Amazon holds 20% of species on earth.
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Economic development - National impact
-Brought wealth to countries that were very poor.-Farming makes lots of money for countries in rainforest-e.g.2008: Brazil made $6.9 billion from trading cattle.-World's 2nd biggest exporter of soy beans.-Logging contributes loads to Brazil's economy
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Contribution to climate change - Local and global impact
-Disrupts water cycle due to felling causing increase in evapotranspiration. - Amazon stores around 100 billion tonnes of carbon - deforestation will release some of this as CO2, which causes global warming.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Soil fertility - Local impact

Back

- Soil quickly loses what fertility it had when covered by trees. - Grazing and plantations do little or nothing to keep soil fertile. - Decline in soil fertility leadd to pastures and plantations being abandoned - more rainforest is cleared.

Card 3

Front

River pollution - Local impact

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Decline of indigenous tribes - Local impact

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Local Brazilian rubber tappers - Local impact

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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