The tropical rainforests are located near the equator and experience high temperatures and heavy rainfall year-round. However, rainforests are being cut down at alarming rates for agriculture, settlements, ranching, logging, mining, dams, and roads. This widespread deforestation is harming the environment by causing soil erosion, accelerating global warming, and threatening countless species with extinction. Global warming occurs as fewer trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, trapping more heat in the atmosphere. Continued deforestation may worsen problems like melting glaciers and rising global temperatures.

1. FROM THIS …
TO THIS

2. Rainforests are usually located 5° either side of the
Equator.
Many of the
Tropical Rainforests
are in danger of
deforestation due
to the needs of us
humans.
This is what is happening to the
rainforests. This affects not only
the people living near and in the
rainforests, but also the whole
world.

3. • The temperature within the Once the soils nutrients has been
used up by for example farmers
rainforest is high throughout
then it is left in this condition.
the year, at an average of
27c.
• Also, there is daily
convectional rainfall, which
totals to over 2000mm per
year.
The red clay soils up to 30
metres deep because of
rapid weathering.
The soil is leached as the
nutrients are washed away
by the heavy rainfall.

4. The tropical
rainforest is
stratified into 5
different layers.
Emergent Layer: The
tallest trees are about 50
metres high, but can be
about 80 metres.
Canopy Layer: trees
more than 30
metres high, home
to most insects,
birds and animals.
Under story: Receives
only 2-15% of
sunlight and contains
young trees.

5. Rainforests are cut down
everyday for several different
reasons and they are:
The effects of these are harming the
•AGRICULTURE – farmland environment around the area and
needed for settlers globally. Firstly, it’s causing excess soil
•SETTLEMENT – land needed to erosion as there are less trees to
provide homes intercept the heavy rainfall. Secondly, as
•RANCHING – forest cleared to the rainforest contains 90% of all known
graze cattle species of plants and animals, it is
predicted that in the next 40 years
•LOGGING – timber exported,
100,000 species will become extinct.
to MEDC’s
•MINING – gold, iron ore and Globally, cutting down trees is causing
aluminium ore increased global warming.
•DAMS – hydro-electricity
power
•ROADS – 12,000km of new

6. Global Warming is the rise in the Earth’s average
temperature caused by an increase in the greenhouse
effect. The sun sends solar energy
which reaches the earth as
One of the main causes of
light. The Earth’s surface
global warming is deforestation.
absorbs solar energy and
This is due to the fact that
radiates heat, however
forests are being cut down
some of the heat is
therefore there are fewer trees
trapped in the Earth’s
converting carbon dioxide into
surface. This is called
oxygen.
Evidence that global warming warming.
global
exists is:
2. Glaciers are melting
3. Coral reefs are dying
4. Average global temperature has
increased by 0.6°c in the past
100 years

7. If things carry on
as they are then
the following
problems will
occur in the
future