Deforestation and Climate Change

Source:

"Deforestation causes global warming ." FAO: FAO Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Key Facts I got From it:
With all of the CO2 that is emitted, I wondered "Shouldn't the trees be taking it in?" but after reading more on Deforestation the fact of the matter is, 25-30 percent of our green house gas emissions is because of deforestation. Not only are the trees cut down another loss to a CO2 sink, but in the process of them being cut down they release 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 because they are made up of 50% carbon.

Nifty Quotes:

• "80 percent of which is due to increased farmland to feed growing populations."

• "When they are felled or burned, the C02 they store escapes back into the air. According to FAO figures, some 13 million ha of forests worldwide are lost every year, almost entirely in the tropics."

Source:

"NASA - Top Story - NASA DATA SHOWS DEFORESTATION AFFECTS CLIMATE IN THE AMAZON - June 09, 2004." NASA - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Key Facts I got from it:
Nasa has a way of tracking the correlation between deforestation and climate. Although this peer reviewed source didn't provide much, it is still a huge help because a company as credible as NASA can see a trend with deforestation and climate change.


Nifty Quotes:

• "In deforested areas, the land heats up faster and reaches a higher temperature, leading to localized upward motions that enhance the formation of clouds and ultimately produce more rainfall,"
• "Researchers found during the Amazon dry season last August, there was a distinct pattern of higher rainfall and warmer temperatures over deforested regions."

Source:

"Confirmed: Deforestation Plays Critical Climate Change Role." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Key facts I got from it: In this article It discussed the future projections more so than what is happening now. It shocked me that even if we kept tropical deforestation going on, it would decrease CO2 emissions by 50 %. Thus helping making our world a better place.

Nifty Quotes:

• “This will release an estimated 87 to 130 billion tonnes of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion. So maintaining forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.”

• "“If by 2050 we slow deforestation by 50 per cent from current levels, with the aim of stopping deforestation when we have 50 per cent of the world’s tropical forests remaining, this would save the emission of 50 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. This 50/50/50 option would avoid the release of the equivalent of six years of global fossil fuel emissions.”"

Nate the great

Although the movie we watched was a bit confusing and "sciencey" the main point I got from it was about the many choices we have for energy, what we are doing now, and what progress we are making.

Nate explained how accessible fossil fuels were to our society and how affordable they are. But the problem sets in the future, and the effects we will see in it. I like how he left the conclusion of his demonstration to the viewers. And he gave both sides of the issue perspective.

He discussed a lot of the renewable resources, but I didn't like how he only talked about them for a little and he didn't hit on enough Pros with them. His explanation on the solar paint was pretty new for me, I never thought science could evolve to that.

After the movie I wanted to know what he thought we could do about the prices of going green. He listed the price differences with energy but he never said what he suggested we could do about it

Correlations between Food and Climate Change

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any easy translated links for the subject. It is my goal to do further research to provide an easy access fact resource by this weekend. I can't decode my findings that i have found so far.

Food part 2

Watch CBS News Videos Online
Beginning with the research about Food and why Organic Food is good for us, I wanted to look into how food is being promoted right now and what we can do to better our communities eating habits. Something i found shocking was a new restaurant opened in Chandler Arizona. They promote eating un-healthy. They don't even serve lettuce at the least with there burgers, The heart attack grill is an exaggeration of what is promoted everyday to our food habits. with commercials from carls junior with girls rolling around in soapy water selling a messy burger, to burger king and Mcdonalds competing with each other. You never see a girl rolling around in a fresh field of organic strawberries, or a man dripping with sweat working hard in a garden to serve his family a fresh meal. Talking about organic food can be helpful, but getting to the core issue is where the good story is at. So i did a little more digging...

How does it effect Climate Change?

Over the past 250 years, deforestation, combustion
of fossil fuels, and production of agricultural commodities
such as rice and livestock have caused atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse
gases to rise significantly. “

Financial Crisis
One of the major reasons people don't eat organically is because it cost more. I google'd "Why people dont eat organic" and the very first website to pop up was "17 tips for buying organic food on the cheap" But why are websites even here helping us eat healthy cheaper? Why is it so hard to find? My hypothesis is that it cost's to ship them around, as well as more manual labor because there arent pesticides helping the growth, people actually have to work more to make perfect growing conditions for the plants.

The opposing side
Running into this article made me think about some valid points. Yes, eating organically helps you and the environment but does it really? The article discusses the process in which an organic apple from california, is shipped to New York, and how much fuel was burned in that process? Causing more CO2 emissions, and contributing to the war based on oil. How can we make the process cheaper, and more "green" at the same time? People in some states are having a hard time getting locally grown Organics, this means we must spread the idea of making Gardens around the Nation. This was just a small thought.

Why go Organic?
I think if we inform people on why organic is the way to go, it might help with the cause. What are the effects in-organic food can have on you?

• When you buy organic food you don't consume pesticides and the farm workers aren't exposed to it as well . Pesticides have been known to cause diarrhea to harming enzymes in your nervous system.
• "A recent study of 600 people found that those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than those who were not"
• organic foods contain, on average, 25 percent higher concentration of 11 nutrients than their conventional counterparts.
• organic vegetables have a higher concentration of natural antioxidants called flavonoids