Amazon Rainforest: Fascination, threats and conflicts · Amazon Rainforest: Fascination, threats and conflicts ... 3 Threats to the Amazon rainforest What is becoming of the Amazonian

Study: Integrated Climate System ScienceCourse: Climate and SocietyCourse leader: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran

Amazon Rainforest: Fascination, threats and conflicts

Diana Süsser Date: 11/1/2011http://www.hkroeger.de/uploads/pics/amazonas_01.jpg

1 Introduction

2 Fascination of the Amazon rainforest

2.1 Location and size

2.2 Need for its protection

3 Threats to the Amazon

3.1 Pressures on the rainforest

3.2 Human pressures on the rainforest

3.3 Climate pressure on the rainforest

4 Human- and climate-induced conflicts

5 Conclusion and outlook

6 Discussion

7 References

Structure

1. Introduction

! 80 percent of all primeval forests are destroyed !

- about 18 % of the Amazon forest are destroyed- about further 18 % are strong degraded

2.1 Location and size

Amazon rainforest- size: ~ 7 million km²- largest contiguous tropical rainforest on earth- stretches over 9 south-american countries- about 60 % located in Brazil

Central and South America compose 40% of global tropical forest land cover


Figure 1: South American rainforests. http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio217/jmz28/rainforest%20overview.html


Biodiversity

- most bio-diverse region in the world- around one third of all on earth living plants and animals are living here- some counts: about 30,000 vascular plants, with 5,000-10,000 tree species alone, more than 400 mammal species, about 3,000 fish species- many species are undetected until today

→ Silman (2007) emphasizes that 'such productivity and biodiversity of tropical forests is largely sustained by optimum temperatures, light, rainfall year round, and efficient nutrient cycling'

http://www.maya-culture.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/tukan3-klein.jpg



Home for indigenous- about 200,000 indigenous, in 170 various groups- some of the groups have the status of unapproachable- threatened by deforestation through illegal lumbering and cattle farmer

- one of the largest freshwater reservoir on earth- provides about 20% of the world-wide freshwater- hydrological cycle affects the climate over wide parts Southamericas

Sweetwater vapour of the Amazon river

'Before 1500 A.D., there were about 6 million indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon. By the 1900s, there were less than 250,000' (The Nature Conservancy)



Significance for the world climate

- 80 to 120 billion tones carbon are constrained in plants and soil- equal to the ~ 400 times of average greenhouse gas emissions in Germany - Brazil is the fourth largest climate contaminator → 75% of the emissions come from deforestation


3.1 Pressures on the rainforest

3 Threats to the Amazon rainforest

3.2 Human pressure on the forest: Exploitation of forest resources→ biomass (timber, biofuel), soil (agriculture)

3.3. Climate pressure on the forest (indirect antropogenic as well)

Overview of exploitation

Deforest. of forest for

soja growingDeforest. of forests for cattle fields

Vulnerability to c. c.

Climate change

security riskon:

- Amazon- CO2 storage

- food and freshwater


3.2 Human pressure on the rainforestOverview of exploitation




What is becoming of the Amazonian forest?

Figure 2: Threats to the Amazon forest. UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009).

Since 1990:

- deforestation dynamic hasdeveloped independently of public investment!

- development by financial power of sawmill owners, cattle and soya farmers

3.2 Human pressure on the rainforestOverview of exploitation




Figure 3: Deforestation causes in the Brazilian Amazon. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0801-amazon.html

major threatens come from:- illegal traded timber- unsustainable expansion of soya fields and cattle ranching

others:- illegal mining and hunting- urbanisation, dams, fires- production of bioethanol from sugar cane in the south and southeast of the country - Amazon region is also being considered for the production of fuel from biomass


Clearing of forest for

soja growingClearing of forests for cattle fields

- Brazil is the world’ssecond-largest soya producer (52 million t in 2006)→ accounting for23 per cent of the global total

- since 2006: soya Moratorium → no trade of soya from new cleared forest

Figure 4: Soya production in the Amazon. http://photos.mongabay.com/09/soy_brazilian_amazon_1990-2005_400.jpg

Leo Freitas / Greenpeace


3.2 Human pressure on the rainforest

- 70-80% of all cleared areas are cattle fields- Brazil has the largest cattle herd in the world (200 million heads in 2003)- 40% of all brazilian cattles living in the Amazon, about 70 million animals




Figure 5: Total cattle herd numbers in Brazil. UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009).

→ increase in total herd number is related to the

increase total deforestation



regional:- cheap production costs- (most illegal) and cheap land acquisition- cattle producers offer a good infrastructure → selective deforestation and construction of abattoirs- unhuman labour conditions → often sclaves

Why is the cattle breeding so attractive?

global:- increase meat consumption- increasing meat price

→ increasing export of meat and leather




Hope: cattle Moratorium signed by four companies (JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Marfrig und Minerva)



* Henry (2010) underlines that 'the impact of climate change in South America is strongly negative'

According to the IPCC (2007)...

- “... recent warming is strongly affecting terrestrial biological systems“ - especially vulnerable to changes due to global warming are among others tropical forests → vegetation shift → migration → changes in fundamental ecological processes and biodiversity,

however, significant variations between species in response to climate change


Climate change

security riskon:





Climate Change security risk for the Amazon rainforest - potential alteration of hydrological cycle as a result of reduction in evapotranspiration

- increase of drought due to significant warming of oceans → 'savannization' → extinction of a significant number of species (Mortality)

Simulations relating to biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest show that by 2095 climate change induced habitat modification could be so extensive as to threaten the survival of 43 per cent of rainforest plant species (Miles et al., 2004).


Climate change

security riskon:



„In the middle of the Amazon Basin, people have no water to drink.“ (Greenpeace)


Figure 6:Causal loop diagram. Fearnside (1995)


Climate Change security risk for the Amazon rainforest- possible increased cloudiness in northeast corner (increased evaporation due to temperature rises over oceans) → decrease productivity- possible decreased cloudiness in the west because of reductions inevapotranspiration due to deforestation

- rise in temperature by 2100 of 2.6–3.7 °C against a 1990 baseline (IPCC 2007, A1B scenario)- uncertainties about future preciptitation


Climate change

security riskon:




Figure 7: Causal loop diagram. Fearnside (1995)


Climate change secutrity risk on carbon storage

- today: tropical forests contribute a carbon sink of 1-3 gigaton (1 billion metric tons) per year

- future predictions: from 2050 onwards the Amazon region will be able to absorb less and less carbon from the atmosphere; this is because higher air temperatures combined with increasing dryness will reduce carbon fixing by the rainforest

→ reduction of carbon storage in the Amazon region→ terrestrial biosphere becomes a global source of carbon in future


Climate change

security riskon:





Climate Change security risk on food and freshwater- decrease of inland water levels and less water availablity from the Andes- serious consequences for agriculture: rising temperatures, increasing droughts and soil degradation - warming of as little as 1–2 °C has a negative impact on grain production, however, soya yields are forecast to rise- disappear of many natural fish species habitats due to overfishing, increasing dryness and rising temperatures; migration is interrupted by drying up of river channels a.s.o.Figure 8: Part of the conflict

constellations after WBGU (2007)


Climate change

security riskon:






Conflicts over land:soil degradationLoss of biodiversity

Figure 8: World map of environmental conflicts (1980–2005): Causes and intensity. UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009).


Figure 9: Loss of human livesdue to conflict over land1997-2007, Brazil. UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009).

- in 2006 1,317 families were expelled from theirland , with more than twice the number of families experiencing thesame fate in 2007- in 2007 19 people were assassinated overland rights issues.

Key word: DEFORESTATION

'Resource use is already an issue with majorpotential for conflict in the region' (WBGU, 2007).

Indigenous groups

industrylised farmers

→ livelihood→ nature reservation

→ agriculture→ timber

government

landowners

Economic growth


Soya and Cattle Moratorium – agreements



Indigenous groups





government

landowners

Economic growth


Various land using interests and negative influence on the forest- expansion of large cattle andsoya farms → noticeable increase in violent conflict; expulsions of small farmers in the Amazon region; majority of large landowners have no title to the land (CPT, 2007).




Indigenous groups




government

landowners

Economic growth



Economy growth depends on agriculture – not longer right!- economic growth → protecting forests can accompany economic improvement, as the economy expanded during the same period in which deforestation slowed (August 2009 and July 2010)




Indigenous groups




government

landowners

Economic growth



Government: Lack of will and power for self-assertion - illegal forest clearance is usually carried out without regard to statutory requirements, but the majority of these offences go unpunished due to bad monitoring of protection and lack of punishments


Indigenous groupsIndustrylised farmers

government

Key word: CLIMATE CHANGEglobal green house gas emitters

nature of the forest

landowners

3.3 Climate pressure on the rainforest and conflicts


→ → conflicts over conflicts over land and resources land and resources may increase as may increase as farmland is further farmland is further expanded and as a expanded and as a result of the effects result of the effects of climate change of climate change (WBGU, 2007)(WBGU, 2007)

5 Conclusionand outlook

According to the WBGU 2007:

'The collapse of the Amazon

rainforest, which cannot

be ruled out, would radically

alter South America’s

natural environment, with

incalculable economic and

social consequences.'

1) Part of the global percentage change in maximum dry periods under scenario A1B in a simulation by the Max Planck Institute (MPI, 2007)2) Part of the conflict causes after UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009).3) Part of WBGU (2007), based on Schellnhuber et al. (2005)

Climate Change

1)

2)

3)

- between August 2009 and July 2010 deforestation has dropped by 14% - record low rate of deforestation→ Creation of the Soya and Cattle Moratorium

sustainable use of resources/

stop deforestation

Exploita

tion of

Resource

s /

deforestatio

n

6 DiscussionCentral questions: What can we do to protect the Amazon rainforest? How we can minimze the conflicts there?

Thank you for your attention!

Questions?Questions?

Questions?

http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/articles/images/2005_mea_frog.jpg

Botta, A and Foley, A (2002) ‘Effects of climate variability and disturbances on the Amazonian terrestrial ecosystems dynamics’. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 16(1070): doi: 10.1029/2000GB001338.

Cleveland CC & Townsend AR (2006) Nutrient additions to a tropical rainforest drive substantial soil carbon dioxide losses to the atmosphere. PNAS 103: 10316-10321.

Fearnside PM (1999) Biodiversity as an environmental service in Brazil’s Amazonian forests: risks, value and conservation. Environ Conserv 26: 305-321.

Friedlingstein, P, Cox, P, Betts, R, Bopp, L, von Bloh, W, Brovkin, V, Cadule, P, Doney, S, Eby, M, Fung, I, Bala, G, John, J, Jones, C, Joos, F, Kato, T, Kawamiya, M, Knorr, W,Lindsay, K, Matthews, H D, Raddatz, T, Rayner, P, Reick, C, Roeckner, E, Schnitzler, K G, Schnur, R, Strassmann, K, Weaver, A J, Yoshikawa, C and Zeng, N (2006) ‘Climate-carbon cycle feedback analysis: Results From the (CMIP)-M-4 model intercomparison’. Journal of Climate 19: 3337–53.

Greenpeace International (2010) http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/climate/as-we-strive-for-zero-deforestation-rates-in-/blog/29246

7 References

Haylock MR, Peterson T, Abreu de Sousa JR, Alves LM, Ambrizzi T, Baez J, Barbosa de Brito JI, Barros VR, Berlato MA, Bidegain M, et al. (2006) Trends in total and extreme South American rainfall 1960-2000. J Climate 19: 1490 – 1512.

Henry, R. (2010) Plant Resources for food, fuel and conservation. Earthscan (UK and USA).

IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística) (2007) Daten aus der elektronischen Datenbank des brasilianischen Bundesamts für Statistik. IBGE website, http://www.ibge.gov.br (viewed 16. March 2007.

IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007. Synthesis Report. Valencia.

Lewis SL (2006) Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Phil Trans R Soc B. 361: 195-210.

Malhi, Y. & Phillips, O. L. (2005) Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide. - In: Bush,M. B. & Flenley, J. R. (eds.): Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change: 317;(Springer) Berlin, Heidelberg and New York; 396 pp.

Morton, D C, DeFries, R S, Shimabukuro, Y E, Anderson, L O, Arai, E, del Bon Espirito-Santo, F, Freitas, R and Morisette, J (2006) Cropland expansion changes deforestation dynamics in the Southern Brazilian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103: 14637–41.

Marengo JA (2004) Interdecadal variability and trends of rainfall across the Amazon basin. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 78: 79-96.

Miles, L, Grainger, A and Phillips, O L (2004) The impact of global climate change on tropical forest biodiversity in Amazonia. Global Ecology and Biogeography 13: 553–65.

Nature Conservancy – Rainforests, http://www.nature.org/rainforests/explore/threats.html, Access on 6/12/2010

Nepstad, D C, Verissimo, A, Alencar, A, Nobre, C, Lima, E, Lefebvre, P, Schlesinger, P, Potterk, C, Moutinho, P, Mendoza, E, Cochrane, M and Brooksk, V (1999) Largescale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire. Nature 398: 505–8.

Oldeman, L R, Hakkeling, R T A and Sombroek, W G (1991) World Map of the Status of Human-Induced Soil Degradation – An Explanatory Note. Global Assessment of Soil Degradation GLASOD. International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC), Wageningen.

Phillips OL, Lewis SL, Baker TR, & Malhi Y (2007) The response of South American tropical forests to contemporary atmospheric change. In: Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change. Eds: MB Bush & JR Flenley. New York: Springer-Praxis Publishing Ltd, 317-332.

Rodenbeck C, Houweling S, Gloor M, & Heimann M (2003) CO 2 flux history 1982-2001 inferred from atmospheric data using a global inversion of atmospheric transport. Atmosph Chem Phys 3: 1914-1964.

Silman MR (2007) Plant species diversity in Amazonian forests. In: Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change. Eds: MB Bush & JR Flenley. New York: Springer-Praxis Publishing Ltd, 269-294.

UNEP, FAO, UNFF (2009) Vial Forest Grapic

Tropical rainforest conservation, http://www.mongabay.com/, Access on 7/12/2010

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Amazon Rainforest: Fascination, threats and conflicts · Amazon Rainforest: Fascination, threats and conflicts ... 3 Threats to the Amazon rainforest What is becoming of the Amazonian