Download Rainforest Powerpoint

Amazon Rainforest
Our rain forests around the world are being
destroyed at a rate of 36 football fields
deforested each minute.
Amazon Rainforest
Covers most of the Amazon Basin
Amazon River

It moves more fresh water into the
ocean then any other river
What is a rainforest?
 A complex ecosystem with many layers.
 Canopy
 Lower Story
 Forest Floor
The Amazon
 Tropical Wet Rainforest.
 Covers more than 2 million square
miles.
 Mostly located in Brazil.
 Many different species of trees, plants,
and animals.
Deforestation
 Deforestation ~ the clearance of forests by
logging and/or burning (also known as slash
and burn).
 The logs are sold and
the cleared land is turned
into farmland or a place
to graze cattle.
Deforestation: Slash and Burn
“Slash and Burn”
Why does deforestation
happen?
 Logging
 Agriculture
(subsistence farming)
 Cattle Ranching
 The soils are too poor to sustain
agriculture & grazing. Farmers are
forced to clear more land every couple of
years
Why does deforestation
happen?
 Poor People with Little education
They must make a living somehow
 Need money more than they think they
need to protect the rainforest
What does deforestation
look like?
 The lighter areas are
where the forest has
been cut down.
Satellite Image
Change Over Time
 What differences can
you see between
2000 and 2006?
 What can be the
result of this?
Biodiversity
 Wide range of
species
 Plants
 Animals
 Insects
 The region is home
to about 2.5 million
insect species alone
Deforestation results in
declines in biodiversity.
 80% of the world’s biodiversity is found
in tropical rainforests
 We lose137 plant, animal and insect
species every single day due to rainforest
deforestation
Deforestation contributes
to climate change
 Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to
build up in the atmosphere
 Trees and plants remove
carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere
Deforestation adds to
climate change
 Trees provide shade and shade
moderates temperatures. With shade, the
temperature may be 98 degrees during
the day and 60 degrees at night.
 Without the shade, temperatures would
be much colder during the night and
much hotter (around 130 degrees)
during the day.
Deforestation has social
effects
 Indigenous peoples lose their homeland
Profit or Protect?
 Developing (newly industrialized)
countries have to be careful how they
spend the little money they have
 Priorities are food, clothes, and houses
for their people
 Protecting the rainforest takes a distant
second
 How can we help them protect the
rainforest?
Sustainable Development
 Finding ways
to use the
resources of
the rainforest
without
destroying it
 Is it possible?
Land Use Conflict
 The groups we will look at all have a different
view on how to use or preserve the rainforests.
Does this editorial cartoon support using the rainforest to make
money (economic development) or does it encourage people to
protect (preservation) the rainforest?