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

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Wind Driven Ocean Circulation

Before this activity I didn't know very much about the movement of oceanic currents and winds on the Earth's surface. In this activity we used two note cards to demonstrate how the earth's rotation affects currents moving on the earth's surface. This activity talks about the Coriolis Effect. The Coriolis Effect is when air is heated and cooled unevenly on land and on the surface of the ocean creating wind. The wind creates friction when moving over the surface of the ocean causing the ocean upper layer to move. The water that is then deflected as it moves across the Earth's surface except for on the equator. This is what we call the Coriolis Effect. In this activity we also learned about Trade Winds and Westerlies. The Trade winds come from the SouthEast in the Southern Hemisphere and the NorthEast in the Northern Hemisphere. Then the Westerlies blow from the SouthWest in the Northern Hemisphere and the NorthWest in the Southern Hemisphere. All this causes water in the ocean to be bushed long distances. We also learned about Gyre circulation and how in the Northern Hemisphere the gyre rotates clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere the gyre rotates counterclockwise. This is related to Deforestation. This is because the number of trees in an area affects wind patterns. If there are few trees in an area there is less wind resistance. This causes winds to travel farther and unimpeded. If there are more trees in an area there is more wind resistance which slows down the wind so that when it reaches the ocean it is not as strong. Another factor is that the number of trees in an area also affects the amount of moisture in the air which also can affect the temperature in that area or climate. This is important because the mix of hot and cold air is what creates the wind and if there is not enough of both the winds will not be strong enough to reach the ocean with any strength.

Related Links
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/coriolis.html
http://www.ukdivers.net/meteorology/coriolis.htm
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