W&C CASE STUDY - The Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

how does high levels of atmospheric CO2 affect tropical rainforests?

Answer 1

• trees live faster and die younger
• 75% of gg emissions in Brazil are due to deforestation

Question 2

how much carbon does the Amazon rainforest store per year?

Answer 2

1-3 gigatonnes per year

Question 3

what is happening to the carbon storage in the Amazon rainforest?

Answer 3

losing its capacity to store atmospheric CO2

Question 3

Water cycle within the Amazon rainforest:

Answer 3

• 50% of evapotranspiration from the rainforest falls back down as rain

Question 4

Environmental changes and human activity impacting the Amazon rainforest:

Answer 4

• temperature are expected to rise 2-3 degrees celcius by 2050
• 3.6 billion hectares of forest was lost per year between 2000 and 2010
• 17% of the rainforest has been deforested in the last decade§