FOR AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Rates of Forest Clearing
A Web search of environmental organizations yielded a range of estimates of the amount of forest clearing that is occurring
worldwide
Estimate 1: 1 acre per second
Estimate 2: 80,000 acres per day
Estimate 3: 32,000 ha per day
Convert the first two estimates into hectares per year and compare them.
There are 2.47 acres per hectare (see "Do the Math: Converting Between Hectares and Acres"). Therefore, 1 acre = 0.40
ha
Estimate 1: 1.0 acre/second x 0.40 ha lacre
=0.40 ha/second 0.40 ha /second x 60 seconds/minute x 60 minutes/hour * 24 hours/day * 365 days/year
= 12,614,400 ha cleared per year
Estimate 2: 80,000 acres/day * 0.40 ha/acre = 32,000 ha cleared per day
Your Turn Notice that Estimate 2, when converted to hectares, is identical to Estimate 3. Now convert the estimate of
32,000 ha/day into the amount cleared per year. How much ger is Estimate 1 than Estimate 2? Why might environmental
organizations, or anyone else, choose to present similar information in different ways?