How could the modification of the Amazon Rainforest by humans influence climate change?
What will be the ideal response?
ANSWER: Answers may vary, but should address the following:
Studies show that about half the rainfall in the Amazon River Basin is returned to the atmosphere through evaporation and through transpiration from the leaves of trees. Consequently, clearing large areas of tropical rain forests in South America to create open areas for farms and cattle ranges will most likely cause a decrease in evaporative cooling. This decrease, in turn, could lead to a warming in that area of at least several degrees Celsius. In turn, the reflectivity of the deforested area will change. Similar changes in albedo result from the overgrazing and excessive cultivation of grasslands in semi-arid regions, causing an increase in desert conditions (a process known as desertification).
You might also like to view...
The condition when rising prices and wages feed on themselves and spiral out of control is called ________________.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
How is petroleum formed in the ocean? How is it found and extracted when it is deep in the ocean? What will be an ideal response?
Aircraft icing would be heaviest and most severe ____ freezing temperatures
A) in a cloud at warmer than B) in a cloud at just below C) in a cloud at well below D) outside a cloud at below
Speed divergence is
A) most common with anticyclones. B) straight-line acceleration of upper-level winds. C) the spreading out of upper-level winds. D) primarily a fair-weather phenomenon. E) primarily a surface-level phenomenon.