Clipmarks | JICWyllie's 'forests' clips

Brazil: Deforestation rises sharply as farmers push into Amazon

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:51:54 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Concerns over the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest resurfaced at the weekend after it emerged that deforestation jumped by 64% over the last 12 months, according to official government data.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research this week said that around 3,145 square miles - an area half the size of Wales - were razed between August 2007 and August 2008.

With commodity prices hitting recent highs and loggers and soy farmers pushing ever further into the Amazon jungle, satellite images captured by a real-time monitoring system, known in Brazil as Deter, showed that deforestation was once again on the rise after three years on the wane.

Brazil's push to expand its economy and develop the Amazon region is posing increasing threats to Brazil's natural resources. They accuse the government of retreating from its promises to defend the Amazon rainforest, which has been decimated since the 1970s by a mixture of logging, cattle ranching and soy farming.

Tags: environment, forests, i-deforestation, i-increase

The oxygen crisis

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:53:06 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Compared to prehistoric times, the level of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere has declined by over a third and in polluted cities the decline may be more than 50%. This change in the makeup of the air we breathe has potentially serious implications for our health. Indeed, it could ultimately threaten the survival of human life on earth, according to Roddy Newman, who is drafting a new book, The Oxygen Crisis.

the planet's forest cover was at least twice what it is today, which means that forests are now emitting only half the amount of oxygen.

Desertification and deforestation are rapidly accelerating this long-term loss of oxygen sources.

The story at sea is much the same. Nasa reports that in the north Pacific ocean oxygen-producing phytoplankton concentrations are 30% lower today, compared to the 1980s. This is a huge drop in just three decades.

This oxygen starvation is reducing regional fish stocks and diminishing the food supplies of populations that are dependent on fishing.

Tags: environment, oxygen, i-climate change, i-decrease

Future threats to the Amazon rainforest

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:36:12 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: news.mongabay.com

The reasons for land-clearing in the Amazon are compelling: cheap land and booming demand for commodities driven by a surging China and growing interest in biofuels. These factors have helped Brazil become an agricultural superpower — the world's largest exporter of beef, cotton, coffee, orange juice, soybeans, and sugar, among other products — in less than a generation. Amazon landowners have seen their land values double every 4-5 years in areas that just a decade ago were pristine rainforests. The market is driving deforestation and will continue to drive deforestation into the future, although two new developments could accelerate the process: oil palm and next-generation biofuels based on cellulosic ethanol technology.

Giant clearings created by cattle pasture and soy farms suck moisture from surrounding forest fragments, while winds blow down trees, thinning the canopy

As vegetation goes up in smoke, the forest's own rain-generating capacity is reduced

Tags: environment, forests, i-risks, i-increase, i-forecast

Air Pollution Is Causing Widespread And Serious Impacts To Ecosystems

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:30:28 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

If you are living in the eastern United States, the environment around you is being harmed by air pollution. From Adirondack forests and Shenandoah streams to Appalachian wetlands and the Chesapeake Bay, a new report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and The Nature Conservancy has found that air pollution is degrading every major ecosystem type in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States.

"Deposited pollutants have tangible human impacts. Mercury contamination results in fish that are unsafe to eat. Acidification kills fish and strips nutrients from soils. Excess nitrogen pollutes estuaries, to the detriment of coastal fisheries. And ground-level ozone reduces plant growth, a threat to forestry and agriculture."

The authors urge U.S. policymakers to establish air quality standards that are based on critical loads. This is defined as the maximum level of deposited pollution that ecosystems can tolerate before harmful effects occur.

Tags: environment, air, i-pollution, i-risks, i-consequences, i-degradation

Paying To Save Tropical Forests Could Be A Way To Reduce Global Carbon Emissions

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:20:25 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

Columbus OH (SPX) Jul 29, 2008
Wealthy nations willing to collectively spend about $1 billion annually could prevent the emission of roughly half a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year for the next 25 years,

It would take about that much money to put an end to a tenth of the tropical deforestation in the world, one of the top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, researchers estimate.

If adopted, this type of program could have potential to reduce global carbon emissions by between 2 and 10 percent.

Tropical deforestation, the cutting and burning of trees to convert land to grow crops and raise livestock, accounts for about a fifth of all human-caused carbon emissions in the world.

Carbon at $2 per ton could translate into rental values of $20 to $35 per hectare per year, and carbon prices of $10 per ton would trigger land rental values of $85 to $252 per hectare annually.

"These payment levels could generate substantial financial flows to landowners who reduce deforestation,"

Tags: environment, forests, i-climate change, i-policy, i-emissions, i-decrease

The Great Biofuels Con

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:42:29 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: It is a crime against humanity and a crime against nature. Cutting down forests for monocrops of any kind is ecocide.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Most alarming of all to the global warming lobby, however, was a succession of studies showing that, far from helping to cut global CO2 emissions, biofuel production can often give off much more CO2 than it saves – not least by disturbing huge quantities of carbon dioxide locked in the soil which, according to the University of Minnesota, could release "17 to 420 times more CO2" than is saved by the fuels themselves.

A Cornell University study shows that biofuel production from farm crops such as corn takes 29 per cent more energy than is yielded by the fuel itself (although second-generation biofuel crops, such as hemp, are much more efficient).

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

"If you don't have targets you don't make progress," says a Commission spokesman, adamant that the 10 per cent biofuels target cannot be altered.

With the powerful US farmers' lobby, backed by President Bush, equally insistent that nothing can be done to change a policy

it seems this "crime against humanity" is set to continue.

Tags: energy, renewables, biofuels, i-policy, i-failure, i-consequences

It Isn't Morning in America Anymore -- It's Dusk on Planet Earth - Part 2

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:45:50 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: By 2010, the tar sands will be emitting as much CO2 as all the cars in Canada, while actively destroying the precious forest, which is turned into methane as the vegetation rots.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

(A beetle, encouraged by warmer temperatures, has already managed to kill 10 times more trees than in any previous infestation across the northern reaches of Canada this year. This means far more carbon heading for the atmosphere and apparently dooms Canada's efforts to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, already in doubt because of its decision to start producing oil for the U.S. from Alberta's tar sands.)

Tags: energy, oil, tar sands, i-consequences, environment, forests, trees, i-disease, i-increase, i-record

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Accelerating Rapidly

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:57:20 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.earth-policy.org

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels stood at a record 8.38 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in 2006, 20 percent above the level in 2000. Emissions grew 3.1 percent a year between 2000 and 2006, more than twice the rate of growth during the 1990s. Carbon dioxide emissions have been growing steadily for 200 years, since fossil fuel burning began on a large scale at the start of the Industrial Revolution. But the growth in emissions is now accelerating despite unambiguous evidence that carbon dioxide is warming the planet and disrupting ecosystems around the globe.

With CO2 emissions currently exceeding the worst-case scenario, we can expect that temperature and sea level rise will likely do the same.

(See data.)

2 gigatons of carbon are released every year as forests are logged for timber or burned

there is more CO2 in the atmosphere now than at any point in the last 650,000 years.

Tags: environment, i-cliimate change, i-emissions, i-risks, i-accelleration

Amazon's rescue reversed

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:47:35 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

After decades of steady obliteration, the tide appeared to have turned against the illegal deforestation that has disfigured the world's largest tropical rainforest. Brazil's president, Lula da Silva, went on the radio in August to trumpet the breakthrough. His environment minister, Marina Silva, hailed "a great achievement for Brazilian society".

Yesterday, however, the good news came to a halt when ministers admitted that after three years on the wane deforestation had once again risen sharply.

Government satellite images show that at least 1,280 sq miles (3,235 sq kilometers) of rainforest were lost between August and December last year, mainly because of soy planting and cattle ranching. Environment ministry officials believe the true figure could be as high as 2,700 sq miles (7,000 sq kilometers).

"Never before have we detected such a high deforestation rate at this time of year," said Gilberto Câmara, the head of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe)

Tags: environment, forests, i-deforestation, i-increase

Rich Nations' Environmental Footprints Tread Heavily On Poor Countries

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:20:03 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

mangroves, when cut down, exact a surprisingly large cost borne primarily by the poor- and middle-income countries.

The primary cost is loss of storm protection, which some say was a major factor in the huge loss of life from 2005's tsunami in Southeast Asia.

Deforestation,

can exacerbate flooding and soil erosion, affect the water cycle and offshore fisheries and lead to the loss of recreation and of non-timber products such as latex and food sources.

The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations and costs them more than their combined foreign debt, according to a first-ever global accounting of the dollar costs of countries' ecological footprints.

The study,

assessed the impacts of agricultural intensification and expansion, deforestation, overfishing, loss of mangrove swamps and forests, ozone depletion and climate change during a 40-year period, from 1961 to 2000.

the largest environmental impact by far is from climate change,

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-destuction, i-consequences, i-responsibility

Trees And Grass May Be Able To Produce Ethanol Without Poisoning The Oceans

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:08:08 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.energy-daily.com

Within five to seven years fast growing trees and grasses might become economically viable alternatives to corn as a source of renewable fuel ethanol, reducing the need for pollutants that now cause a massive "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Trees are cheaper to raise than corn, have a competitive yield and they don't need as much of the fertilizers that are causing all of the problems in the Gulf.

"These trees also offer the U.S. a realistic option for producing enough renewable energy to make a meaningful dent in fossil fuel imports."

"For one thing, there are some trees like poplar and aspen, where you could get a harvest every five or six years but you would only have to plant once every 30 to 40 years because they grow back from the roots. That is a significant cost savings, if only for the fuel used for planting and harvesting every year.

The biggest bottleneck is developing a cost-effective process to convert wood pulp into sugars.

Tags: energy, biofuels, environment, forests, i-opportunity

World Bank Pledges to Save Trees, Then Helps Cut Down Amazon

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:04:44 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

The World Bank has emerged as one of the key backers behind an explosion of cattle ranching in the Amazon, which new research has identified as the greatest threat to the survival of the rainforest.

There are now more than 74 million cattle reared in the Amazon basin, the world's most important eco-system, where they outnumber people by a ratio of more than three to one. Fuelled by massive illegal ranches, the South American giant has become the world's leading beef exporter, rearing more cattle than all 25 EU members put together.

The new report, "The Cattle Realm", comes after a year in which deforestation was acknowledged as the second leading cause of carbon emissions worldwide and was included in the plan for a new global treaty to fight climate change.

The new report estimates that the internationally funded expansion of Brazil's beef industry was responsible for up to 12 billion tons of CO2 emissions over the past decade - an amount comparable to two years of emissions from the US.

Tags: environment, forests, i-deforestation, i-climate change, i-increase

China to plant 2.5 billion trees: report

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:12:41 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Silvaculture is not regeneration, so the eco-system -- animals, plants, microbes -- never come back.

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

China will plant 2.5 billion trees this year, 10 percent more than last year, as part of reforestation efforts as the country battles increasing environmental problems,

The tree-planting drive is part of a campaign to boost green coverage from the current 18.2 percent of China's land area to 20 percent by 2010

Despite China's reforestation drive, the rapidly industrialising nation has come under criticism from abroad for its role in depleting the world's forest resources

Deforestation is linked to the extinction of plants and animals, social conflict, climate change and natural disasters such as flooding and landslides.

Tags: environment, i-forests, i-polcy, i-silvaculture, i-increase

Europe May Ban Imports of Some Biofuel Crops

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:45:10 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

If approved by European governments, the law would prohibit the importation of fuels derived from crops grown on certain kinds of land — including forests, wetlands or grasslands — into the 27-nation bloc.

The draft law would also require that biofuels used in Europe deliver “a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings.” That level is still under discussion.

Already, the draining and deforesting of peatlands in Southeast Asia — mainly to make way for palm plantations — accounts for up to 8 percent of global annual carbon dioxide emissions,

In Indonesia, he said, more than 18 million hectares of forest, or 44 million acres, have already been cleared for palm oil developments.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

farmers growing corn for ethanol could also be affected, because the European rules contain provisions on preserving grasslands,

Tags: energy, biofuels. i-policy, i-change, i-demand, i-decrease

Wood is more precious than gold

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:43:59 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: You can get income, plus a growing capital asset.

Clip Source: www.energybulletin.net

The price of gold is going crazy as investors look for a shelter from a dipsy-doodling stock market.

You can’t eat gold like you can the bounty of trees in fruits, nuts, maple syrup, and various edible mushrooms and herbal treasures of the woodland. You can’t warm yourself with gold. You can’t bask in the shade of gold. You can’t make fence posts out of gold. A gold house would be mighty expensive.

You can’t make a windbreak out of gold. You can’t make furniture, violins, guitars, wall paneling, picture frames, gun stocks, tomato stakes, flooring, barns, chicken coops, and hog houses out of gold.

Gold does not provide habitat for millions of wild animals and zillions of insects necessary for a sustainable environment. And in fact, you can make methane out of wood much more efficiently than ethanol out of corn. All gold can do is go up and down in price and invariably it turns out to be a poor investment, as many panic buyers learn the hard way.

Tags: environment, forests, i-opportunities, economics, i-investment, i-value, i-increase