Posts tagged "Deforestation"

Amazon deforestation slows in Brazil

Deforestation in the Amazon forest fell to its lowest level on record, the Brazilian government said on Wednesday, marking what could be a watershed in the conservation of the world’s largest rain forest.

The figures coincide with a United Nations global climate conference in Mexico. There, Brazil wants to showcase it is one of the few major economies significantly slashing its greenhouse gas emissions, which for it come mostly from burning or rotting trees.

“We will honor the pledge we made and we don’t need any favors. We do it because it’s our obligation,” said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, adding that the developed world was failing to agree to ambitious cuts in greenhouse gases and was not transparent about financial aid to developing nations.

Deforestation takes center-stage at U.N. talks

Delegates at a global U.N. meeting to preserve natural resources were on Tuesday trying to agree on ways to deploy about $4 billion in cash to help developing nations save tropical forests.

The talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global deforestation fell from 16 million hectares (40 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 13 million hectares per year in the past decade, with the bulk of the losses in tropical countries.

About 12 percent of the world’s forests are designated primarily to conserve biological diversity, the FAO said in report earlier this month.

The Deforestation Dilemma

The tragic oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico is a huge warning call for all of us. We all have to cautiously contemplate the negative effect the actions of corporations and individuals are having on our world's ecological system. A lot has been written and will continue to be written about BP and the PR nightmare it created itself through the record oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. However you might not have been told that there is a different ongoing environmental controversy centered around the issue of deforestation and a company called Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). Small businesses and organizations in all places can learn an important lesson from the situation APP finds itself in. APP is a division in the mega business, Sinar Mas, and refers to itself as one of the earth's foremost pulp and paper companies.

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8 Basic Ways of Preventing Deforestation

There have been so many discussions on the effects of deforestation in our environment. These effects range from alarming to catastrophic. We have read newspaper headlines that show the wreckage that natural disasters have done. Flashfloods have not only damaged millions of properties all over the globe but it has also collected lives. Landslides have done the same. These two are the results of nature's balance that has been disturbed—they are the effects of deforestation.

Deforestation is the act of converting patches of forests to become areas of residence or industry. More and more businessmen are pushing through forests to obtain more land. Environment is sacrificed in exchange for profit. And this is a highly disturbing fact.

As an individual or as a part of the global community, you can do something to help prevent deforestation. Maybe you can't fight off illegal loggers with your bear hands but with some basic ways, you can make a difference—no matter how small. Here's a list:

1.If deforestation is a negative event, then a positive event should take place to counter its effects—reforestation. Plant trees and begin doing this in your yard. Trees give off oxygen that is essential for human existence and they, in turn, capture the carbon dioxide that humans and animals exhale. Trees also help in containing water in its roots. With this simple act, you are able to prevent soil erosion, which is the root cause of landslides!

2.Use recycled items such as books or pad paper, toilet paper, even shopping bags. If you can, do not waste any of these products so that no new raw material would be required to replace them.

3.If you are a farmer (or if you know someone who works as a farmer), try to rotate your crops. Instead of using a different portion of land each year, why not use the same portion with different crops? This practice also helps in maintaining the fertility of the soil. With the rotation of crops, not only is there a variety on the harvest each year, there is also the possibility of keeping that portion of land for as long as you can.

4.Cut down only the mature trees. Do not kill baby trees. And for every tree that is lost, plant another one as a replacement.

5.Join environmental awareness groups that would help you be an advocate of reforestation. In Washington, specifically in the Washington Middle School, there was a group of students that established a service-learning project. In their project, they asked a penny from each person. They explained that this money would help in buying acres of the rainforest in Amazon. Once this pushes through, no deforestation could take place in that purchased area.

6.There is a report that in Indonesia and Malaysia, more and more trees are cut down to produce palm oil. This massive destruction in the forests of both countries resulted into the loss of habitat for the native orangutans. With the loss of more trees, more animals become homeless. You can't help prevent this altogether but you can limit your consumption of products that contain palm oil such as breads, chocolates, and even some cosmetics such as shampoo, soap or toothpaste. As to your food consumption, you can begin a diet of roasted or boiled foods instead of frying them.

7.Instead of using firewood, use coals to heat up your fireplaces during the winter season. Remember that it takes only a few hours to consume the firewood but it would take years to grow a single tree. Think twice before purchasing firewood again.

8.Support the laws or programs that were made to protect the forests and to stop any form of deforestation. Programs such as the Tropical Forestry Action Plan have done a major difference on the way deforestation is looked at today. This program spearheaded the discussion of tropical deforestation.

It is imperative to know that there is no such thing as a small, insignificant act when it comes to defeating deforestation. No matter how small your deed maybe, the important thing there is ‘every act can make a difference'. Deforestation can be prevented and you can be an active force in achieving that.

For more information now go to: http://www.solutionstoearthdestruction.com/How-To-Prevent-Deforestation.html http://www.solutionstoearthdestruction.com/Benefit-Of-Deforestation.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathalie_Fiset
http://EzineArticles.com/?8-Basic-Ways-of-Preventing-Deforestation&id=508793

What the Other Side Is Saying About Global Warming

While the majority of celebrities and many scientists in the world view global warming as a disaster of epic proportions, not all agree. Some people, even scientists, have opposing viewpoints that are based on their own formal observations and the data from many sources. It is interesting to explore what these people have to say about global warming.

One of the most talked-about aspects of global warming is the rise in sea levels. If you are to believe most people who speak on global warming, you have to think that many habitable places on earth will soon be underwater. There is some evidence to refute this.

There is a professor of paleogeophysics and geodynamics at Stockholm University who presents interesting data. According to this professor, the sea levels are in the same range they have been in over the last three hundred years. There has not even been the slightest rise in sea levels in the last decade.

While a sea level rise of .1 to .9 meters is predicted by the year 2100, it is not seen by this group of people as a dangerous situation. After all, there was a .2 rise in the sea level during the past century and humans did not even seem to notice.

When the global warming pundits talk about the rises in sea level that result from three sheets of ice that melt per year, it is the opponents of the movement that put it into terms that make sense. If the ice continues to melt at that rate, it will take a thousand years to raise the sea level by 5 cm.

The people who preach on the dangers of global warming believe that Hurricane Katrina and others were intensified by global warming. Many experts on the other side of the fence claim that the extreme storms have not been unusual earth events. They also say that better reporting of severe weather occurrences contributes to the impression that global warming is having an impact.

While those dedicated to stopping global warming are worried about the recession of the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, others believe there are reasons besides global warming. These people say that you have to understand how glaciers interact with the climate around them. Knowing that the air has been drier, they say, leads you to the fact that the glacial recession is a natural occurrence.

Many people who fear global warming say that it will increase diseases like malaria by allowing disease-bearing mosquitoes into higher elevations. Others realize that there are other reasons for the additional cases of malaria and other such diseases.

These include the facts that 1) people from lowland areas are resistant to disease but carry it with them when they move to higher elevations, 2) deforestation leaves a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and 3) more pools and ditches will lead to more mosquitoes.

For many reasons, global warming is not a subject that everyone agrees on. People from all over the world have different opinions and they often do not wish to see another’s viewpoint. When the true facts about global warming are clear, people can begin to come together to address the problem.