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Name __________________________________ Date _____________ Class ______________________
Unit 3
Environmental Case Studies
Latin America
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education
South American Rainforests: Preserve, Harvest or Exploit?
The Amazon rain forest, which is located in eastern South America, is the world’s largest
rain forest. The largest swath of the rain forest ranges across Brazil, but the forest also
extends into Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French
Guiana. These countries control how the Amazon rain forest is developed. Brazil also has
the Atlantic Forest, ranging from coastal northeastern to southern Brazil. Like the Amazon
rain forest, it harbors many diverse animal and plant species.
The Amazon rain forest has an impact on the world’s weather, and its trees significantly
contribute to the amount of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. What happens to the Amazon
rain forest affects the global community. But many industries and governments look to
the rain forest as a source of economic profit and not a rain forest that helps balance the
planet’s environment.
South American countries have already destroyed approximately 20 percent of the
Amazon rain forest. The rain forest is a rich logging source because many globally prized
woods grow there. With lagging economies in South American countries, the jobs logging
creates and the profits it generates are difficult to ignore. Similarly, the mining industry
extracts minerals from the rain forests. Global pharmaceutical companies contribute to
deforestation as they harvest rare plants in the rain forest, from which extracts can be
developed and used to cure modern diseases.
Because most farmers plant a single crop in an area for a number of consecutive years,
the farmland is quickly depleted and more of the rain forest is cut for farmland. Efforts by
governments to institute diverse crop planting have not been completely effective.
Foreseeing environmental problems arising from deforestation, international organizations,
such as the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund, work with South American
governments and indigenous populations to preserve the rain forest. The UN Conference
on Sustainable Development meets each year in Brazil to advance sustainable practices in
the rain forest.
The people of South America and the global community have three choices regarding
the Amazon rain forest: (1) Scientists and environmentalists can be ignored and wholescale economic exploitation can occur, which would ensure deforestation. (2) An effective
sustainable program can be established that allows select economic development. (3) The
entire rain forest can be put into an international conservation program and all economic
development prevented. This is an ongoing debate and whatever choice is made will have
global consequences.
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Grade: Workbook
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Name __________________________________ Date _____________ Class ______________________
Unit 3
Environmental Case Studies
continued
Directions: Read the pro and con arguments below. Then answer the questions under
Examining the Issue. Use another sheet of paper for your answers if necessary.
“The Amazon rain forest is a critical
influence on South American climate and
one of the world’s most important carbon
banks. Covering almost as much land as
the contiguous United States, the Amazon
is home to 20 percent of the planet’s
animal and plant species and stores the
equivalent amount of carbon as a decade
of global fossil fuel emissions in its trees. It
plays a crucial role in the precipitation cycle
of South America and pumps oxygen into
the atmosphere, earning it the nickname,
the ‘Lungs of the World.’”
—U.S. Congressional Energy
Independence and Global Warming
Committee Web site
Chair: Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA)
CON
“Anglo American announces a Probable
Ore Reserve totalling 1.45 billion Run of
Mine (ROM) tonnes for the Serra do Sapo
area of the Minas-Rio project in Brazil,
equivalent to 685 Million tonnes of saleable
product at an average grade of 67.5% Fe
(iron) content. This sizeable conversion
from Mineral Resource to Ore Reserve
follows Anglo American’s December 2011
declaration of a Mineral Resource totalling
5.77 billion tonnes for the entire Minas-Rio
project, representing a more than four-fold
increase in resources since acquisition.
—Press Release, “Anglo American
announces a 1.45 billion tonne
Ore Reserve for Minas-Rio”
February 15, 2013.
Since the weather and the oxygen
generated by the Amazon rain forest
have a global impact, the future of the rain
forest is a concern to the U.S. government.
The Energy Independence and Global
Committee of the U.S. Congress works to
protect the rain forests from industrial
exploitation and deforestation. On its Web
site the Committee asserts the ecological
contribution the forests make to the planet.
Regardless of environmentalist’s and
scientist’s warnings that the South
American rain forests are an ecologically
essential area, global mining companies
continue to work mines in the rain forests
and reap the profits. Usually South
American countries enable mining
companies to exploit the rain forests. The
Anglo American company, a global mining
company headquartered in Great Britain,
has extensive mining activities in the
Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Recently they
announced their great success in
increasing the tonnage of ore they
extracted from the South American
rain forest.
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Vendor: Aptara
Grade: Workbook
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Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education
PRO
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Name __________________________________ Date _____________ Class ______________________
Unit 3
Environmental Case Studies
continued
Examining the Issue
Recalling Facts
1. Why are the South American rain forests important to the whole world?
2. What do nonprofit environmental groups do to help preserve the South American
rain forests?
Critical Thinking Skills
3. Making Judgments Do you think international corporations that are mining and
logging the South American rain forests are acting in the interests of the global
community? Explain your answer.
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education
4. Drawing Conclusions Why do you think the United Nations has not aggressively
sought to declare the South American rain forests international conservation areas?
Investigating Further
Work with a small group of students to prepare an argument on whether South American
rain forests should be preserved, harvested, or exploited. Choose a position and research to
learn more about the issue and your position. Then partner with an opposing group to
argue whether the rain forests should be preserved, harvested, or exploited.
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Program: HS_Geography
Component: U3_wsecs
Vendor: Aptara
Grade: Workbook
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