Question

Read the sentences below and answer the question that follows. Imagine that in certain areas throughout the world, rainforest environments are mysteriously dying out, along with the plant and animal species that inhabit them. As a famous geographer, you set out with your team of scientists to investigate. Apply geography's three questions to this situation. Which questions would you ask to help figure out why these rainforests are dying out?

Answer 1

Geography questions applied to dying rainforests include identifying their locations, understanding the causes of their decline, and the impacts on global biodiversity and ecosystem services. Tropical rainforests are critical for biodiversity and are primarily being destroyed by human activities.

Step-by-step explanation:

When investigating why rainforests are dying out, geography's three questions provide a framework for analysis. As a famous geographer, there are specific questions you might ask:

1. What is the location of the rainforests that are experiencing this die-out? Tropical rainforests can be found in the Amazon basin of South America, central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
2. Why are these rainforests dying out? Factors such as deforestation, unsustainable logging practices, slash-and-burn farming, agriculture expansion, cattle ranching, and plantation agriculture play a role in this process.
3. What effects does the loss of rainforests have on the planet? The rapid loss of these ecologically vital regions contributes to a decline in biodiversity, negatively impacts food production, clean water supplies, and the development of new medicines.

Understanding these key issues is crucial, as tropical rainforests are home to up to 50% of Earth's biodiversity and are essential for various ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and habitat for many species. Human activities are the primary cause of habitat destruction, leading to alarming rates of biodiversity loss, making geography's role in finding solutions imperative.

Answer 2

As a geographer, you’d first start by asking “what.” In this case, you’d ask, “What are rainforests like, and what’s happening to them?” Then, you’d ask “where.” You’d wonder, “Where are these rainforests dying out?” Finally, you’d ask “why there.” You might ask, “Why are rainforests dying out in certain places.