Geography 101 13 July 2013 The Deforestation of the Amazon The deforestation of the Amazon is going to have catastrophic consequences. The legal and illegal results of chopping down trees in this great wetland, has dire consequences that our generation may not suffer but future generations will. “The Amazon is a vast region that spans across eight rapidly developing countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France. The landscape contains: one in ten known species on Earth; 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, half of the planet's remaining tropical forests; 4,100 miles of winding rivers, 2.6 million square miles in the Amazon basin, about 40 percent of South America” (“Amazon”). So you ask, why does it matter if we chop down a few trees?
The tropical rain forest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth. 6-7 months of dry season. in tropical dry forest about 150-200 cm annually. The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground. The tropical rainforest is found between 10 ° N and 10 ° S latitude at elevations below 3,000 feet.
The downside to the central highlands though are multiple thunderstorms that cause incredible damage due to lighting strikes. The capital, Antananarivo, receives almost all its average annual 1.4 meters of rainfall between the months of November and April. The dry season is nice and sunny but can be cooler in the morning time. Frost is common at the highest elevations in Madagascar and provides some of the clearest blue skies to view in the world. The west coast is much drier than the central highlands and east coast due to the winds losing humidity by the time they reach this side of island.
Deforestation In Thailand Proposal Large areas of the world’s forest are being destroyed as you read this sentence. Volcanoes are erupting, floods are flooding and fires are burning; but with these occurrences the forest will emerge again to become what it once was. Unfortunately this is not the major reason that the forest are being depleted, Deforestation, the permanent loss of forestland, caused by humans is the main cause. With natural disasters the land is left to replenish itself but with deforestation the land becomes un-sustainable to forest life. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) “estimates that the annual rate of deforestation is about 1.3 million square km per decade, with the main deforestation occurring in the tropics where a wide variety of forest exist”.
Rainforest in reality have shallow and relatively infertile soil. The reasons behind this soil having these qualities is because heavy rainfall causes important nutrients needed for a fertile environment to be washes away and/or dissolved into the lower layer of the soil (leaching) thus leaving the forest floor infertile. Once leaching has occurred and removed these nutrients, trees become unable to access fertile soil and remain healthy. Many rainforest trees have developed adaptations which allow them to reach down into the lower levels of soil and receive these nutrients. Such adaptation is known as a “Buttress Roots”.
Tropical Rainforests are located very close to the equator. Because of this, they don’t have seasons and receive between 406 and 1016 centimetres of rain every year. The weather is constantly warm, humid and rainy. There are four different layers in the rainforest. The forest floor – the ground, contains tree stumps, bases and fallen trees, the understorey – made up of small trees, vines and epiphytes, the canopy – a thick level made up of treetops that blocks sun from the levels below and the emergent – made up of trees that grow above the canopy layer.
ABSTRACT Coral reefs ecosystems have drastically changed over the past 40 years. The main reasons for the decline of coral reefs is due to weather and temperature changes, too much pollution, boats, and overfishing. As a result, coral reefs are considered an endangered species. Over 50% of the people in the Florida Keys rely on the coral reefs in one way or another. Many don’t realize that they provide humans with a source of income and more importantly, life for a wide diversity of marine animals.
Mass Extinction Part A: Mass extinction can typically be thought of as the extinction of an entire species/ rapid disappearance of a species due to environmental or human causes. Traditionally mass extinctions have been seen ass some type of catastrophe for the worlds biota. Definition however must include: • Event must be rapid • Over 50% of all life on earth became extinct • Life forms that become extinct must belonged to a different phyla, on land and in the sea. There have to date been five mass extinctions, the oldest occurred during the lower Cambrian Period some 542-488 [pic]million years ago. The Cambrian Period is the first period of the paleozia period.
In 1992, the WWF commenced work in the Danube region, with its main concern being the protection and conservation of the Danube River. They expanded the operation in 1994 and once again in 2000, to include the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive. In 2000, the fund secured agreements with the heads of state of Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, to restore 2,236 km2 of floodplain to form a 9,000 km2 “Lower Danube Green Corridor.” This corridor has reduced the effects of floods by approximately 40%, restored biodiversity, improved water quality, and has since enhanced the living conditions of local communities
Having human trials for the vaccine would take too long for any defects (An example would be Thalidomide, which caused birth defects in the 1960s because of incomplete animal testing by today’s standards. US regulations have expanded on what conditions a drug must be tested under due to the incident [Gauvra, 2011]) to show and not having trials is not an option when it comes to the flu. Should the vaccine be unavailable, a significant portion of the population would fall ill every year, and the number of deaths from just the flu would skyrocket. As well, there would be a sharp decline in the quality of life for humans. Many companies use animal trials to test out the safety of new drugs, pesticides, medication, food additives, packing materials, and anything else with chemical ingredients.