geography paper 1 - the impact of deforestation in the amazon

climate change

• trees remove co2 from the atmosphere

  - the amazon stores around 140 billion tonnes of carbon - deforestation releases this

• up to 75% of Brazil’s co2 emissions come from deforestation

soil erosion

• may lead to landslides and flooding

• with less tree canopy to intercept rainfall and fewer tree roots to absorb it, more water reaches the soil

  - this reduces soil fertility as nutrients in the soil are washed away

• commercial and subsistence farmers are forced to find new areas to farm, leading to deforestation

economic

• farming has brought wealth

• the mining industry creates jobs for lots of people

• logging contributes a huge amount to Brazil’s economy but it can destroy resources that countries depend on

global rate of deforestation has changed

increased over the years