AP Environmental Science

Answer: D - Slash and burn agriculture is the traditional method of farming in woodland areas that has been practiced for centuries but now poses an environmental problem in tropical rainforest regions.

Key Takeaway: Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning forests or woodlands to create fields for agriculture or pasture for livestock. Historically, the practice of slash and burn has been widely practiced throughout most of the world. In temperate regions, such as Europe and North America, the practice has been mostly abandoned over the past few centuries.

Today, the term is mainly associated with tropical rain forests, where levels of old growth forest have declined to dangerous levels, greatly reducing the population of native plant and wildlife, and also contributing to global warming. It is estimated that slash and burn techniques are used by between 200-500 million people worldwide.