Deforestation

(2)Deforestation is the cutting down of trees and plants in an area so it may be clear for human use and so they might use the resources yielded by the forests.(3) 11 million acres are cut down each year to clear land for use in commercial industries as well as property industries. The main cause of deforestation is logging. (3)At one point it was estimated that 500,000 hectares were being cleared each week. By over drawing our resources and refusing to properly reforest we precipitate our losses more and more. Logging is not the only problem though. Over grazing by cattle owned by ranchers is also a fairly large problem. (3)In 1989 it was estimated that about 15,000 square kilometers were being used just for cattle grazing. Other lesser causes, though no less potent, are acid rain and the construction of dams. The loss of our forests greatly affects the world we live in. Each day more and more of our tropical rainforests are being cut down. Around half of all the earth's species come from the rainforest.(3) An estimated 50 to 100 species of both plant and animal life are being lost each day due to deforestation. (3)An estimated 750 million to 800 million hectares of rainforest have been lost from the original 1.5 to 1.6 billion hectares. (3)These forests that are being lost are important sources of not only wood and other commercial products but about 25% of the worlds medicine comes from them. An even greater loss might be that one of the 50 to 100 species of the plant variety that are being lost might have or had the cure for cancer and other such diseases. These of course are not the only things being affected. The amount of trees in an area determines the amount of water absorbed back into the water table as well as the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. If we continue at this rate the loss of forested areas may cause a severe change in climate. The soil around our rainforests is very important as well. For the most part all the nutrients in the soil are washed away by the heavy rains that occur regularly each day in the rainforest. These nutrients are replenished mainly by the dead matter that collects on the forest floor and decompose to put more nutrients back into the soil. Without this the soil in that area would become virtually useless for growing because it would become so lacking in nutrients the possibility for regrowth would become difficult. Deforestation is really going to affect people in the coming years. If we don't carefully regulate our resources it is going to become a problem of massive proportions. If this continues our resources will run out which means there won't be a rainforest anymore. With no rainforest valuable plants for medicine will be lost as well as many wonderful and essential species of wildlife. Soon we will also have to look for other sources of material for building things like houses. Our forests are a big part of our world and are important for our survival. With fewer trees the amount of oxygen in the air will decrease and the amount of carbon dioxide will increase. With fewer trees our climates will change and our resources will be lost. If we do not do something to stop the deforestation our planet we will be in even more dire straights than we alread are. Our forests are immeasurably important.

Bibliography
(1) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation
(3) http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm

Pictures
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g233/mogrhod/deforestation_asia_tacio704wS6.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj179/PhoenixWellsErikZurich/amazon_deforestation.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n20/rdintern/Brazil_Deforestation_YaleGlobal.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii117/kelly_rainforest/deforestation.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k254/flyheaded/deforestation.jpg

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Activity 4: The Earth's Atmosphere and The Greenhouse Effect

In this activity I discovered more about the Earth's atmosphere and the Greenhouse Effect. I learned that cloud coverage and the type of land in an area can affect the temperature and or climate of that area. For an example if there is a lot of dark soil in an area then that soil will absorb more light and heat from the sun than a lighter color of soil affecting the temperature of that area. If there is water in an area it will reflect the sunlight, refracting rays of light and consequently heat. Then there are the affects of cloud coverage. If there are a lot of clouds in an area they help to shield the Earth from the suns light. The water particles act as a mild filter and make the amount light and there fore heat that reaches the Earth lesser. This is why it is important to take care of our atmosphere. If we continue to pollute our air with chemicals it will interfere with the delicate balance of gases that maintain it putting our atmosphere in jeopardy and causing potentially dangerous changes in the climate of our planet. The danger being that the planet's temperature will continue to rise little by little causing the polar ice caps to melt creating floods. Temperature also greatly affects the health of our plant life. This creates a link to Deforestation or perhaps more simply put the loss of our forests. As more and more trees are cut down it also cuts down on the amount of oxygen being released into the atmosphere by those trees. Also if the trees are cut down leaving bare earth it affects the temperature in that area because all the energy that would have been absorbed by those trees for use in photosynthesis will instead by absorbed into the ground.

Related Links
http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
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