The Amazon Rainforest

• The AR contains around 300 billion trees, and 15,000 species of them. These trees store 1/5 of the world's terrestrial carbon and cover 5.5 million km^2 over 9 countries.
• The AR stores between 80-100 billion tonnes of carbon. Combined, tropical rainforests around the world form carbon sinks of over 1-3 gigatonnes of carbon a year.
• Due to increased carbon emissions and therefore sequestration, there has been an increase in the above-ground biomass of 0.3-0.5% a year. This helps offset carbon dioxide emissions through negative feedback loops.
• Studies of the AR in 2015 found it is losing its capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

  In 1990 it absorbed 2 billion tonnes, but in 2015 that number had halved. Latin American emissions have overtaken the continent's carbon dioxide uptake for the first time.
• In the future it is predicted that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide will lead to a growth spurt in trees and plants. Due to the growth stimulation the trees will live faster and die younger, however a surge in death rates will release more carbon.
• The discharge of water from the AR accounts for 15% of all freshwater which enters the oceans every day.
• The Amazon River's tributary Rio Negro is the second largest river (by water flow) in the world.
• The AR experiences an average 2000mm of annual rainfall, however this number can rise to 6000mm in North-Western areas.
• Up to half of all rainfall is intercepted by the rainforest canopy, and through evaporation 48% of rainfall returns to the atmosphere. Only 30% of rainfall reaches the sea.
• The Amazon Rainforest is a global carbon sink and stores between 80 and 120 billion tonnes of carbon. However, in 2015, it was proven to be losing its capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere; in 1990, it absorbed 2 billion tonnes, but in 2015 this number had halved. Now, Latin American emissions have overtaken the region’s total carbon uptake for the first time.
• The statistics defining deforestation in the Amazon give reason to believe that the forest is close to being destroyed; this is not the case, as around 74% of it is still intact enough to continue to act as a carbon sink. The forest still absorbs vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and stores it, therefore still partly sustainable, reducing the permanence of the impacts of human activity. 
• Not all agriculture in Brazil is harmful; the increasing popularity of the ‘shifting cultivation’ mode of farming allows fallowed land to revert to its natural vegetation whilst farmers move elsewhere. This is a sustainable process used on a small scale, such as by subsistence farmers and indigenous tribes, and therefore creates a balance of emissions caused by deforestation. If the Brazilian government were to provide large-scale agribusinesses with an incentive to undertake this method of farming in a mechanised way, it may bring equilibrium to Latin American carbon emissions and uptake.
• Human activity in Latin America directly impacts the welfare of the Amazon Rainforest and the normal functioning of its associated carbon cycle, as the simple fact that emissions are far higher than uptake proves the Amazon cannot compete with the devastating carbon footprint of humans. If rates of deforestation, intensive agriculture, and extreme weather continue, the longterm effects of human presence will inevitably push the rainforest past its limit. Recovery is presently possible but requires massive collaboration from both local/global governments, NGOs, the private industry sector, etc.
• At present, the rainforest acts as a carbon sink and absorbs around 35% of the world’s annual CO2 emissions and produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen.
• The AR contains the greatest biodiversity on earth, providing a habitat for more than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals, and insects.
• Research has also found that the trees in the rainforests which do remain have been growing bigger, taking up more carbon. Over recent decades tropical forests worldwide have absorbed one-fifth of global fossil fuel emissions.
• 300 billion


  trees
• 15,000

  species of trees
• 1/5

  of the world's carbon is stored
• 1-3Gt

  of carbon stored by rainforests around the world
• 2nd largest

  beef producer globally (Brazil)
• 2nd largest

  river by water flow (Rio Negro - tributary of the Amazon River)
• ~10 million

  species of animals, plants and insects in the Amazon
• 1990

  absorbed 2 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere
• 2015

  studies found the Amazon is losing its capacity to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere
• 65-75%

  of habitat conversion is due to cattle ranching
• 340 million tonnes

  of carbon released into the atmosphere a year by cattle ranching practices
• 3-4%

  of global emissions equivalent released by cattle ranching
• £50 billion

  plan for Avanca Brazil
• 10,000km

  of highways, hydroelectric dams, power lines, oil fields, etc built as part of Avanca Brazil
• 40%

  the extent of damage predicted to be caused to the Amazon by Avanca Brazil and PAC
• January 2000

  Avanca Brazil
• 2500Gt

  the amount of carbon global soil stores
• 74%

  of the Amazon rainforest is still intact enough to continue to act as a carbon sink
• 5mm/annum

  sea level rise along the delta of the Amazon
• 40%

  of plant species will become unviable by 2080 due to sea level rise
• 2-3°C by 2050

  increase in temperatures that will lead to increased evapotranspiration and a more vigorous hydrological cycle
• 7th largest global

  Exporter of tropical timber and plywood
• 80%

  of timber produced in the Brazilian Amazon is illegal
• 5,300km

  Trans-Amazonian Highway