Deforestation in Guatemala websites i came across

I couldnt fine very good facts about deforestation in general so i specified it in guatemala. that way we can get more facts

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/2000/Guatemala.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/deforestation-guatemala

http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/132/Guatemala.html

http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/peten.htm

http://soil.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/69/6/2020.pdf

http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file.php?id=430

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/205.html

http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/acm/download/pub/grassroot/Peten%20guatemala_eng%20All.pdf

http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/ac631e/AC631E04.htm

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

Initial Write Up

As I began my research on plants I wanted to plant spinach, unfortunately it only does well in cold weather. So I narrowed my choices to Watermelon, Sweet Corn, and Rosa Californica. My goals for Watermelons and Sweet corn might be a big ambiguous therefore I chose the Rosa Californica.

Like most girls and women, I am a fan of Roses. I never gave it any thought that roses grown in san diego aren't in there natural state. The Rosa Californica is interesting because it is one of the only 2 roses native to California. Along with being very pretty and pink, these flowers provide great hips for tea. Tea isn't the only thing you can consume from this plant, you can eat a fruit that grows from it, I am un-aware of the name but it is edible. This flower likes moisture, but like a lot of native San Diego plants it can adapt to a drought easily. This plant protects itself with its thick prickly thorns, which people can use outside of there houses to keep stray dogs and cats out of there yards.

The cool thing about this wild rose is "...(it) will grow in a wide range of soil types and will do quite well in heavy soils that are hard on some other native plants." Therefore all though The soil at our garden isnt the "best" soil, it is still suitable for the roses.

This flower is also a great provider for the Garden as a whole. It provides a home for the pollinators in the garden community as birds make there nest in them which i believe could be a symbiotic relationship. The bird lives there as the plant protects it with the thorns and the birds spread the pollen , and butterflies spread the pollen.

You dont have to worry about catching any nasty infections or rash's from this flower it is virtually disease free and pest . Another cute fact is they bloom in the summer. I can just imagine the summer sky reflecting from these beautiful flowers full of life.

Of all the interesting facts I found about this particular flower, this quote struck me the most, "Rosa californica thrives on neglect. Do not fertilize this rose. My experience has been that it blooms as the soil is drying out. Blooming/fruiting under stress is not uncommon for many plants. Try withholding the irrigation." I read a lot of reviews about people complaining how there roses never bloom, and I am really worried about planting them for that reason. But that quote makes sense to me because the rosa californica is a WILD rose, which in my eyes means that's like trying to take care of a wild tiger, it just does better on its own. This seems like a very easy plant to take care of and a refreshing way of looking at things with nature.

1."Master fertilizing; plants will flourish | The San Diego Union-Tribune." SignOnSanDiego.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010.

2.

"Rosa californica California wild rose." Plant California native plants in your Garden! Visit our native plant nursery for friendly landscaping help for butterfly and bird alike. . N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .
3.

"Tree of Life Nursery California Native Plants - California Wild Rose - Rosa Californica." Tree of Life Nursery California Native Plants - Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

annoted food bibliography

Ashley Matthews

P. ½

Jan 22 2010

BELLUCK, PAM. "American Obesity Rates Have Hit Plateau, C.D.C. Data Suggest - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/14obese.html?scp=1&sq=food%20issue&st=cse>.

"Health > Image > ." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/14/health/14obese-graphic.html>.

In this article it focused on the obesity issue. I thought the facts from the obesity data would back up my information about how available healthy food is for minorities. In the article it states that African American Adults have the highest obesity rates, and Hispanic women and children are basically just as high. Isn’t this ironic how the Hispanic and African American Children are the ones living in the ghettos of America not able to get healthy food for cheap even though sometimes there the ones planting and harvesting them.

They also bring up the topic of changing laws to promote healthy living, they want “penalties and incentives to promote healthier foods and exercise.” Which I think would work out great. I think that is valid because I am not overweight, so why should I exercise and eat healthy if I’m not fat yet? I need an incentive to help the environment which could be beneficial for the economy who knows the outcome.

MARTIN, ANDREW. "News Analysis - Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/worldbusiness/15food.html?_r=1>.

In the article above they are talking about the dilemma with poor countries being against bio-fuels because it would raise the price of food. Although switching to bio-fuels may cost more, it could create more jobs for people around the world. And even if we weren’t to switch to biofuels, if everybody had a hybrid or electric car, it could help the environment. The thing about poor countries is they are distributing whatever they can grow, to other countries for money. I believe the world can feed the hungry and resolve the environment crisis all at once. If each country simply provided for itself the food sources would be plentiful. Some countries are located in horrible conditions for growing plants, but there are always other resources within a living space for food. Humans have been able to adapt for millions of years. Everybody would be ok.

West, Larry. "Eat Local - How Does Eating Locally Grown Food Help the Environment?." Environmental Issues - News and Information about the Environment. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/locally_grown.htm>.

"Social Marketing Institute - Success Stories - Florida "truth" Campaign." social marketing institute: advancing the science and practice of social marketing. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. <http://www.social-marketing.org/success/cs-floridatruth.html>.

The thing I enjoy the most about this article was all of the pro’s of going to local places for food. These can help with my information on incentives. The article mentions how it can help the economy, prevent global warming, and it tastes better. But I want there to be commercials like the cigarettes and the Truth Commercials. If the truth campaign was effective I wonder how effective one for eating habits can be and what dramatic changes this can have on America.