Deforestation: the Hidden Cause of Global Warming, from the Independent
Privacy in an Era of Powerful Surveillance Tools, from the AAAS
Hubble Finds Ring of Dark Matter, from Science Daily
Sustainable Economic Development for Island Nations, from WorldChanging
Irish Dolphins Could Have Their Own Brogue, from Seed
Just a note on the article from WorldChanging about sustainable economic development for island nations. I have lived on a small island off the coast of Venezuela and was astonished at the energy saving and environmental regulations instituted. They have been in place for decades. How come small island countries can enforce these types of regulations with limited financial resources and the US with all of its riches can’t?
Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming
Deforestation does not cause global warming.
If the wood from the cut trees is used in lumber or other permanent uses the carbon in the plants is stored and removed from the environment. And when new plants grow where the old trees were cut down they take carbon dioxide out of the environment as they make new trees. So cutting down trees in the long term is a net plus for the environment.
And science has shown the mature tropical rain forests is a net contributor to carbon dioxide in the air. The trees and plant matter are quickly turned around by the constant decay in the rain forest causing more carbon dioxide than the plants take out of the air.
I do not advocate cutting down all the worlds trees, but lets quit with the chicken little scare tactics, ok.
I would agree with Kenneth that the article does use scare tactics, but I would strongly disagree with several of his statements.
If the trees are being cut down for logging and preserved in wood form, Kenneth is right, they don’t release the carbon to the atmosphere. But much of the rainforest is not being replaced by other trees…. it’s being replanted by palm oil trees and other industry-driven crops which do little to absorb carbon. There’s also the factor of subsistence farmers who burn the forests to make room for crops - and all of that carbon goes into the air.
“Environment” refers to not only the atmosphere, but to the general health of our planet and all of the species in it. When you remove someone’s habitat, they inevitably suffer. The larger animals like chimpanzees disappear from the scene and small rodents move in, knocking the ecosystem out of balance.
What science are you referring to? This science shows tropical rainforests are in fact the most effective natural resource we have in fighting global warming… and that they cannot easily be replaced.
I thinks its really cool that the irish dolphins communicate through different sounds. They communicate much like human beings, particularly the gunshot sounds!
We did a radio show recently about varying dialects in blue whales: Experts study dialects in blue whale songs