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, June 5, 2008

Final Exam Question # 1: The Spheres of the Earth and it's Ecosystem



      In our world there are four different spheres. Theses four spheres are called the Biosphere, the Hydrosphere, the Geo-sphere, and the Atmosphere. All of these spheres interact together to create our Earth. The Biosphere is "the collection of all Earth’s life forms, distributed in major life zones known as bio-mes: tundra, arboreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, temperate grassland, desert, savannah, tropical rainforest, chaparral, freshwater, and marine."(1) Then there is the Hydrosphere which "contains all of the solid, liquid and gaseous water on Earth, extending from the depths of the sea to the upper reaches of the troposphere where water is found."(1) The Geo-sphere "consists of the core, mantle and crust of the Earth."(1) Finally the Atmosphere "contains all of the Earth’s air and is divided into troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and ionosphere."(1) The Biosphere and Hydrosphere rest on the Geo-sphere and are able to interact and exist because of our healthy Atmosphere.
      An example of interaction would be a volcanic event. Volcanoes are an event originated in the Geo-sphere. First a volcano erupts releasing particles into the atmosphere. These particles help to form water droplets in the Hydrosphere and Atmosphere. Then it rains stimulating plant growth in the Biosphere. Those plants feed animals which after death decompose enriching the soil of the Geo-sphere, the plants also release O2 contributing to the Atmosphere. The plant's production of  O2 is important because"The atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen."(2)"The interactions of Earth's other spheres - lithosphere/geo-sphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and/or cryo-sphere and pedo-sphere - create the conditions that can support life."(2) All these spheres work together in harmony to create our world. They work together in a never ending cycle of life death and rebirth.
      Humans have had a large impact on our earth. Day in and day out we are giving and taking away from our world. We rely on it to continue our existence. "We use the living world as a resource for food supply, an energy source, a source for recreation, a major source of medicines, natural resources, and for industrial products."(3) Every day we are impacting our earth. Our power plants and cars are putting harmful gases into our air. These gases which go into our air cause a greenhouse effect in our atmosphere which raises the temperature of our earth. This rise in temperature results in a climate change which affects the plants in our biosphere. When the plants are affected so are the animals that feed on those plants. This in turn affects the death rate of our animals which affects our geo-sphere. Here on earth everything is connected and it is man's duty to be conscious of this and act accordingly. Too often man shows no concern for their environment until it has reached disastrous proportions. Wallace Stegner once said ""We are the most dangerous species of life on the planet, and every other species, even the earth itself, has cause to fear our power to exterminate. But we are also the only species which, when it chooses to do so, will go to great effort to save what it might destroy.""(4)
      It is important that this knowledge exists. That we take such things into careful consideration. Most people don't realize how connected our earth is. Each part of our world affects in some massive or minuscule way. One tries to express to people the depth of their effect on our world but they just don't seem to really grasp it. We try to think about what is right or just or what is for our own Common Good. Are we really truly trying though? Some may say that pollution is a trivial matter. Why should we concern ourselves with an effect we will not live to see? It is because we are the higher power here that we cannot ignore it. That we look beyond the selfish desires of the present, to our future. A brighter, cleaner, and greener future for everyone.


Bibliography:
1.http://www.csun.edu/science/books/sourcebook/chapters/8-organizing/files/earth-systems-interactions.html
Earth Systems Interactions, copyright 2007, Norman Herr, Ph.D.
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_science, Earth Science, June 2008
3.http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/jkousen/Biology/impact.html,
HUMAN IMPACT ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, October 2000, Mr. Kousen
4.http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-349/impact.txt, U.S. Geological Survey Open - File Report 02 - 349, 2002
5. http://photobucket.com/images/pollution/? All pictures from photobucket.
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