Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Many of these forests may be too damaged to fully recover," warns one of the researchers, Lisa Curran of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, United States. "They are so degraded that the ecological processes of regeneration will be so slow as to be essentially nonexistent." Indonesia contains 10 per cent of the world's tropical rainforest, and it is disappearing even faster than the Brazilian Amazon. Scientists are now calling for action both in Indonesia and abroad to save Borneo's forests, which they say are critical in maintaining the island's biodiversity and sustaining rural livelihoods.

Author: barry a bieda How does the cutting of the rainforest affect Earth? Response #: 1 of 1 Author: mortis Well, we have been cutting rainforests for thousands of years with no permanent damage to the earth at all. Forest people who cut small patches for growing gardens do not hurt the forest because the small plots recover their original growth very quickly: think of the pictures of Mayan ruins in Mexico that are completely covered by forest - these used to be open, active cities! So on a small scale, slash and burn agriculture has no effect whatever on the rain-forest- it is a sustainable use of the forest. However, on a large commercial scale, where bulldozers and flame-throwers are use to convert huge tracts of land into pasture for cattle, the ability of the forest to recover is seriously impaired, destroying the forest for a very long time, if not forever. This kind of unsustainable destructive use affects the earth by taking a large portion of the biosphere out of production - which interrupts the carbon and oxygen cycles, affects local water and soil quality, and causes a decline in the global gene pool by making many species extinct.

Eat less beef and pork. Fish and poultry have a much lower impact on the environment, while other protein sources including nuts and organic soy are even less damaging to the planet. Think about packaging before you buy products. Individually-wrapped candy generates a lot of trash, while fruits and vegetables are healthier and mean less waste. Turn off lights when you don't need them. When light bulbs burn out replace them with energy-efficient bulbs Do not waste water. Recycle. Encourage your parents to drive fuel-efficient cars and not to overheat their house. Don't let your animals go into the environment when you don't want them any more. Before buying a pet be sure that you are ready to take care of it. Having a pet is a responsibility. Things you can do to help save rainforests: Don't buy products made from wildlife skins Don't buy exotic pets that have been collected from the wild. You can ask pet stores whether animals are "wild-caught" or "captive bred." "Captive bred" animals are more friendly for the environment Buy recycled paper. Don't buy wood products from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, or Africa unless you know they come from eco-friendly suppliers. A good way to know if wood is rainforest-safe is if it has a "certification label." An example of a certification label is "FSC-certified" which means the wood comes from sustainably managed forests. Learn more about rainforests and the plants and animals that live in them. Tell your friends and parents why rainforests are important.

Ecotourism is: "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following ecotourism principles: Minimize impact. Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect. Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts. Provide direct financial benefits for conservation. Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people.  Raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate.

Cattle ranching Many rainforests in Central and South America have been burnt down to make way for cattle farming, which supplies cheap beef to North America, China and Russia. It is estimated that for each pound of beef produced, 200 square feet of rainforest is destroyed. In the past 20 years Costa Rica has lost the majority of its forests to beef cattle ranching. This is known as slash and burn farming and is believed to account for 50% of rainforest destruction. However, the land cannot be used for long: the soil is of poor quality and, without the forest, quickly becomes very dry. The grass often dies after only a few years and the land becomes a crusty desert. The cattle farmers then have to move on and destroy more rainforest to create new cattle pastures. Indigenous Indians also use "slash and burn" farming techniques, but on a small scale. For centuries they have used a sustainable system where, when they finish using one small patch of land, they move away to a different area and allow the forest to regenerate. Since the area cleared is small, the soil does not dry out and therefore the forest clearance is localized and temporary rather than extensive and permanent.

he first bomb was exploded in a test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. See also Manhattan Project. Two more bombs had been built, and the possibility arose of using them to convince the Japanese to surrender. President Harry S. Truman decided to allow the bombs to be dropped. For maximum psychological impact, they were used in quick succession, one over Hiroshima on August 6, the other over Nagasaki on August 9. These cities had not previously been bombed, and thus the bombs’ damage could be accurately assessed. U.S. estimates put the number killed or missing as a result of the bomb in Hiroshima at 60,000 to 70,000 and in Nagasaki at 40,000.

Although the human cost of the war was tremendous, casualty figures cannot always be obtained and often vary widely. Most experts estimate the military and civilian losses of Allied forces at 44 million and those of the Axis at 11 million. The total number of civilian losses includes the 5.6 million to 5.9 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Of all the nations that participated in World War II, the human cost of the war fell heaviest on the USSR, for which the official total, military and civilian, is given as more than 20 million killed. The United States, which had no significant civilian losses, sustained more than 400,000 deaths.