Impact of Mining on the Amazon Rainforest Match Up

Read the statement below and determine what the main message of the statement is about and match it to 1 of the 3 categories below:

In 2019, deforestation caused by illegal miners in the Amazon rose 23% to a record 10,500 hectares.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

Often people involved in small scale gold mining use mercury to extract gold. 

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

In the Brazilian Amazon, mining caused 1.2 million hectares (12,000 square kilometers) of Amazon deforestation between 2005 and 2015 which represented around 9% of total Amazon Rainforest loss during that period.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

The Amazon Basin is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, tin, aluminium, manganese and gold. This has led to the development of mines which results in the clearance of tropical rainforest.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

As well as damaging people's health, mercury used in mining goes on to pollute river systems and is the second-worse source of mercury pollution in the world, after the burning of fossil fuels.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

In 2021, mining-related deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 62% compared to 2018.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

The spread of mining in the Amazon has had drastic social and environmental impacts. Invasions of indigenous lands by illegal miners have fuelled (increased) deforestation and displacement of local communities.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

Gold mining causes deforestation, which converts forests to polluted ponds and moves large amounts of sediment from river bottoms.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

To separate the gold, miners mix liquid mercury into the sediment, which forms a coating around the gold. After burning off the mercury, what’s left is solid gold.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.  

Recent studies have shown high levels of mercury contamination among indigenous peoples caused by gold mining.

• Mining – What do humans do? What is this process?

• Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of mining.

• The negative impact = How mining changes, the environment.