6 disappearing green canopy who should pay for the massive ... · part 6 disappearing green...

© Oxford University Press 2009 Quit

Part 6 Disappearing green canopy―Who should pay for the massive deforestation in rainforest regions?

6 Disappearing green

canopy―Who should

pay for the massive

deforestation in

rainforest regions?



6.1 What is happening

to tropical rainforests?



What are your

impressions about a

tropical rainforest?

Luxuriant growth

of plants?

Rainforest in Temburong, Brunei (Credit: Ng Kim Hung)



Rich diversity of

plant and animal

species?



Or the deforested

scenes of

rainforests?

Destroyed Amazon rainforest

No matter what impressions you have,

we need to know where we can find

tropical rainforests first.

(Credit: Reuters/OTHK)



Where are tropical rainforests?

Where can we find

tropical rainforests?

Tropical rainforests can be found between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Where can we find the

largest area of tropical

rainforests in the world?

The largest area of tropical rainforests in the world is in the Amazon Basin in South America.

Congo Basin South-east Asia

Amazon

Basin



What has happened to tropical rainforests?

The change in the Brazilian Amazon

rainforest cover (1990-2006)

The rainforests in the Brazilian Amazon has been losing at a rapid rate.

What has happened

to the tropical

rainforests in the

Brazilian Amazon?



How can we identify the phenomenon from

satellite images?

Satellite image of Brazilian Amazon in 1975

1975 1986


Deforestation

carried out along

roads, developing

‘fish-skeleton’

patterns

Undisturbed

forest

1992


(Credit: NASA)



How can we identify the phenomenon from

satellite images?

1992

(Credit: NASA)

What changes

had been

taken place in

the rainforest

cover?

The rainforest cover in the Brazilian Amazon had been

shrinking between 1975 and 1992.

Roads were built into the rainforest, where forests were

cleared along them.



How about the situation in other rainforests

in other parts of the world?

Changes in tropical rainforest cover throughout the world

Source: Washington DC: Global Forest Watch

Congo Basin:

relatively slower rate,

but still significant

South-east Asia:

most seriously

deforested

Amazon Basin:

deforested in an

alarming rate



Why do people

remove the

rainforests?

How should

rainforest resources

be managed and

conserved?

What can we do to

help protect and

sustain tropical

rainforests?

To be continued…

6 disappearing green canopy who should pay for the massive ... · part 6 disappearing green...

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