The Amazon Rainforest by: Karen Marshall The Amazon Rainforest by: Karen Marshall.
The amazon rainforest
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Transcript of The amazon rainforest
Background: A moist broadleaf forest (in the Amazon Basin of South America) Total area of Amazon Basin : 7 million square km² ( the forest itself occupies 5.5 million km²) located within 9 nations: Brazil (with 60% of the
rainforest), Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.
Andes Mountains• Longest mountain chain
(4,200 miles) in the world and one of the highest
• Runs along the west coast of South America
• Some of these mountains are still active volcanoes
• People live in these mountains raising sheep, llamas and alpacas
Atacama Desert• Known as the driest
place on earth
• There are some places that rain as never been recorded
• Located along the coast of South America in Chile
• Is considered “moon-like” because it is so barren looking
Blue Poison Dart FrogFound in the understory layer
Extremely poisonous skin
Eat insects (insectivore)
Amphibian
Bright colors warn predators that it is poison
Its’ poison is used by South American Indians on the tips of their hunting arrows
PiranhaFound in the Amazon River
Fresh water fish Found in lakes and
streams Carnivore (meat eater) Teeth will be replaced
if broken Predators include
caimans, turtles, snakes, birds and people
Electric EelFound on the forest floor
Fish Generates
electricity- will shock its’ prey
Grows to eight feet long
Surfaces to gulp air Electric shock will
get stronger as this fish gets older
Deforestation in the Amazon:
Deforestation : forested areas converse to non-forested
areas. The main sources of deforestation in the
Amazon are human settlement and development of the land
Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km² twice the size of Portugal
with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle.
Today
The land is being cleared for cattle ranches, mining operations, logging, and subsistence agriculture. Some forests are being burned to make
charcoal to power industrial plants. Native peoples of the Amazon rainforest have used
different plants for centuries as cures and potions for their health and survival.
According to Brazilian National Institute of Space Research(INPE), the original Amazon rainforest biome in Brazil of 4,100,000 km² was reduced to 3,403,000 km² by 2005
Sales
Remaining ForestDeforest
Total Remaining0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
4,500,000
1970-2005
1970-2005
Consequences of deforestation in the Amazon
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=9770 AMAZON DEFORESTATION CAUSES HURRICANE
The Caribbean could be vulnerable to increased hurricane activity if deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is not stopped
Working with religious leaders, scientists and politicians, Lelei LeLaulu, the president of Counterpart International, spoke on the effects that deforestation of the Amazon could have in the Caribbean, and the gulf states of America and Mexico.
He said: “The scientists are telling us forest deforestation of the Amazon leads to a failure if forest transpiration, the forest pumps, leaving heat in the southern north Atlantic which in turn gives birth to more extreme hurricanes in the Caribbean.”
Currently, more than one fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed and, according to a Brazilian congressional committee, the Amazon is vanishing at a rate of 52,000 square kilometres per year(20,000 miles per year). With these figures, the rainforest would be completely destroyed by the year 2050.
LeLaulu said: “ We are now able to explain why the sea temperature of the southern north Atlantic has been rising, giving birth to more extreme hurricanes which ravage the Caribbean and north America.”