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Weather and Environment Impacts in Brazil Essay

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Weather and Environment Impacts in Brazil

Manaus is a remote town located in a rainforest, so obviously there is a large influence by the weather on the environment around Manaus. Yearly it receives about 84 inches of rainfallinches of rainfall leading to the first environmental impact of the weather: flooding. Manaus is located near the junction of two major rivers, the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes, which combine slightly to the east of Manaus to from the Amazon river. The land is relatively flat, and therefore serves as a flood basin for the rivers. The average yearly fall of the river may be around 33 feet (1). The flooding is a risk to humans in that it may threaten the city and homes, but there is also important ecological …show more content…

The flooding in Amazonia may possibly increase in the coming decades if climate change predictions play out as forecasted. There is an expectation that severe weather events will become more common and more intense, something of particular concern to an area which is classified as rainforest (Lamb, Somerville, IPCC). Erosion may increase and more land areas used by humans may become inundated. There is the concern that the historical fixes such as the dam may overflow due to the increased detritus and rainfall combinations.

A second area that was just mentioned was erosion. Soil is strongly affected by the weather and environment in the Amazon. Because the area receives so much rain it has a history of farming. The problem becomes that any nutrients provided by the rain are usually absorbed immediately by the trees where they remain tied up. Cutting the trees down to allow nutrient build-up in the soil has its own issues. Studies have found that removal of forest affects cloud cover (Durieux Et al. 2003). Convection currents may change resulting in seasons becoming more pronounced. The study noted that this was not theoretical – the changes were already underway in deforested areas (Durieux

Et al. 2003). Forest are necessary to combat erosion, and with these more pronounced (and potentially more intense) weather events there is a chance that flood rates, erosion and other factors will be much more intense (Bruijnzeel, 2004).

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