22.11.2010 - Interpretation of dali48
Yes, John C. I agree that many things are adding up to a giant, dangerous headache for us. I also agree that the majority of people do not feel the need to change! - Like lemings we will merrily run along following the pack until the sudden free-fall off the cliff ends our illusions! ...
But on a happier note, some people are taking this more seriously and are converting their homes & travel to methods more beneficial to reducing their dependence upon the petro-narcotic and other wasteful ways of generating electrical power ...
Just recently a Texas oilman announced that he is helping get us off oil by building a wind-powered electrical generating plant that can power around 60,000 homes. Under the title of: Billionaire Oilman backs Wind Power, CNN reported the story at the following web site: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/19/pickens.qa/index.
Nate Rider says: We definitely need a cleaner source of energy and to stop removing so many trees. While I realize we do need the wood, we don't need ... (by Chef Jeff on HP)
Interpretation of dali48
The Amazon Rainforest, also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broad-leaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), of which five and a half million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres) are covered by the rain-forest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rain-forest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations contain "Amazonas" in their names. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rain-forests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rain-forest in the world! ...
Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rain-forest in the Americas, the Amazonian rain-forests have unparalleled biodiversity. One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon Rainforest. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world! ...
The biodiversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometer (247 acres) may contain more than a thousand types of trees and thousands of species of other higher plants. According to a 2001 study, a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rain-forest supports more than 1,100 tree species! ...
The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rain-forest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during the dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then undergo abscission in the cloudy wet season. These changes provide a balance of carbon between photosynthesis and respiration! ...
Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 square kilometers (160,000 to 227,000 sq mi), with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. Seventy percent of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, is used for livestock pasture. In addition, Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans after the United States. The needs of soy farmers have been used to validate many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. The first two highways successfully opened up the rain forest and led to increased settlement and deforestation. The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 (22,392 km2 or 8,646 sq mi per year) was 18% higher than in the previous five years (19,018 km2 or 7,343 sq mi per year). Deforestation has declined significantly in the Brazilian Amazon since 2004 ...
Environmentalists are concerned about loss of biodiversity that will result from destruction of the forest, and also about the release of the carbon contained within the vegetation, which could accelerate global warming! ...
As indigenous territories continue to be destroyed by deforestation and ecocide, such as in the Peruvian Amazon indigenous peoples' rain-forest communities continue to disappear, while others, like the Urarina continue to struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their forested territories. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-human primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as has ethno-biology and community-based conservation efforts ...
A 2009 study found that a 4 °C rise in global temperatures by 2100 would kill 85% of the Amazon rainforest while a temperature rise of 3 °C would kill some 75% of the Amazon! ...
Using handheld GPS devices and programs like Google Earth, members of the Trio Tribe, who live in the rainforests of southern Suriname, map out their ancestral lands to help strengthen their territorial claims. Currently, most tribes in the Amazon do not have clearly defined boundaries, making it easier for commercial ventures to target their territories! ...
It concludes that the forest is on the brink of being turned into savanna or desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate! ...
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forest fires! ... (Wikipedia)
Agriculture accounts for 70-80% of tropical deforestation – the permanent conversion of forested land to another land use. It accounts for a smaller percentage when degradation – the temporary loss of forest prior to regrowth – is included.
95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. Brazil and Indonesia alone account for almost half.
Norway is the first country in the world to commit to no longer using any products that contribute to deforestation.28.01.2020
Despite the catastrophic environmental impacts of deforestation, many Brazilians who work in the agriculture sector, especially cattle and soybean farmers, don't want government oversight or regulation of the rain-forest, because it cuts into their bottom line.12.02.2024
This precious ecosystem is under increasing threat from huge-scale farming and ranching, infrastructure and urban development, unsustainable logging, mining and climate change. Just three quick facts to give you an idea of what's at stake here: 1) The Amazon has more species of primate than anywhere else on Earth.08.10.2024