Amazon Rainforest
Case Study
Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and
analyse key themes in water and carbon cycles and their
relationship to environmental change and human
activity.
, THE AMAZON RAINFOREST – FACTS
• The largest tropical rainforest on Earth
• Sits within the amazon river basin, covers some 40% of the
south American continent
• It is home to 1000 species of bird and 60,000 species of
plants
• It is home to 20 million people, who use the wood, cut
down trees for farms and for cattle
• It covers 2.1 million square miles of land
• Deforestation has been present since the 1980s where
parts of the forest was being cut down and burnt each
year. In 2005 they had lost 17% of the rainforest
• It has a hot, very wet climate and the vegetation is very
dense
Case Study
Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and
analyse key themes in water and carbon cycles and their
relationship to environmental change and human
activity.
, THE AMAZON RAINFOREST – FACTS
• The largest tropical rainforest on Earth
• Sits within the amazon river basin, covers some 40% of the
south American continent
• It is home to 1000 species of bird and 60,000 species of
plants
• It is home to 20 million people, who use the wood, cut
down trees for farms and for cattle
• It covers 2.1 million square miles of land
• Deforestation has been present since the 1980s where
parts of the forest was being cut down and burnt each
year. In 2005 they had lost 17% of the rainforest
• It has a hot, very wet climate and the vegetation is very
dense
