WorksheetsImpact of Farming on The Amazon Rainforest Match Up
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 10mins
Read each statement below and determine what the main message of the statement is. Match which category the statement fits into and select the answer.
The tropical rainforests of the Amazon face the threat of deforestation. Deforestation is the cutting down of trees and forests to allow a different land use.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Farmers slash-and-burn large parcels of rainforest every year to create grazing and crop lands.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Around 15% of the Amazon rainforest has been replaced and around 80% of the deforested areas have been covered by farming pastures (approximately 900 000 km2).
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
The trees and plants of the Amazon Basin absorb carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis. If there are fewer trees and plants, due to deforestation, from farming, then less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. In this way deforestation contributes to global warming and therefore climate change.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Deforestation is responsible for more global carbon emissions than all the planes, trains, buses and cars in the world put together!
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Farming is responsible for the loss of tropical rainforests as many farmers are clearing land to grow cash crops, such as soya beans.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
. New research suggests the changes to the Amazon rainforest caused by human activity may mean the Amazon now emits (releases) more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Soy production in Brazil is contributing to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest through forest clearing for new soy farms.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Modified global climate: The forests’ ability to absorb the pollutant carbon dioxide (CO2) is reduced. At the same time, there is an increased presence of CO2 released from the burning trees.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Since the 1960s, around 15% of the Amazon Rainforest has been removed through agricultural (farming) practices.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
80% of deforested areas in Brazil are used for cattle ranching and are the greatest source of carbon emissions in Brazil. Not only that but the cattle naturally produce large quantities of methane, another “greenhouse gas” approximately 26 times more effective than CO2.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Farmers, clear areas of rainforest and then burn it, hence the name slash and burn.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Deforestation can lead to warmer temperatures which disrupt the Amazon's hydrological cycle (water cycle), leading to even more droughts, wildfires, and lengthier dry seasons.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Farmers may resort to using more and more fertilizers and pesticides in the soil, which bring with them their own problems such as the pollution of rivers.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Tropical rainforests absorb about 20% of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide emissions. The destruction of the rainforest could affect the world's climate.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Agricultural practices tend to cause significant soil erosion and river siltation (water pollution), as well as aquatic contamination with agrochemicals.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Since 1990 the area of land planted with soybeans in Amazonian states has expanded at the rate of 14.1 percent per year and now covers more than eight million hectares.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Large areas are cleared for pastoral farming (when animals are reared, e.g., cows for their meat). As the global demand for meat has increased many cattle farms have opened in the Amazon Basin for beef farming.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
A study published in July 2021 found that in recent decades the eastern portion of the Amazon for the first time emitted (released) more carbon dioxide than it absorbed, flipping it from a carbon sink to a carbon source.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
Extensive cattle ranching accounts for 80% of current deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Farming – What do humans do? What types of farming?
Data (numbers, statistics etc.) that prove the negative impact of farming.
The negative impact = How farming changes, the environment.
