Everyday trees are cut down. Why? Stupid companies want them for their lumber as millions of animals and plants pay the price. It's just bullshit, you know?
Matt Smith Admin Age: 33 Gender: Female Posts: 31134
December 1st, 2006 at 03:47pm
I'll bet your house is full of wood.
Think about that.
Well, regardless of where the wood goes, or who uses it, deforestation is still a problem. For the amount of Tree's we take, there is never enough reforestation to replinish the enviorment. This causes several Negative effects.
The hydrologic cycle of the enviorment gets all out of whack, which can lead to alot of problems. Rainforests have a unique climate that allows them to contain all the rain they recieve, and the trees are important to that. They help the precipitation to reach aquifers and underground water sources, without trees, the amount of precipitation in the air is changed, and isn;t absorbed the same way as if trees were there, which can result in standing water.With the large amout of rain recieved in rain forests, this can lead to flash flooding. If the climate is not so moist, it still leads to standing water, and creates desolote, wasted land that animals can't live on. It can be converted to farm land, but that still gives the animals no where to go. The farming can lead to the soil losing its nutrients, so te farmers quit using the field for awhile. it isn't uncommon for farmers to rotate fields in other parts of the world, to allow them to regain nutrients, but that doesn't work in moister climates. This inconvience leads some farmers to using the "Slash and Burn" method of farming, which is very destructive to the enviorment.All the water flowing across the land causes land erosion, making it completely wasted. Deforestation can lead to landslides as well.
Another Obvious effect is the Green House Effect. Some say this isn't a problem now, and the Earth just goes through phases of Hot and Colder temperatures. Regardless of your opinion on the Green House effect, its a proven scientific fact that Trees remove carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis. Too much Carbon Dioxide in the enviorment is bad, and can lead to a very warm planet, look at Venus. Now, if you don't think The Green House effect is an issue now, thats fine, but if we continue on as we do, you can't expect things to remain unaltered forever.
Me being the sappy animal lover I am, dislike the loss of enviorment of animals above all else, when it's preventable. I do believe that people come before animals, but when at all possible, animals should be treated fairly, and in this case, they can be. Rainforests at one point in time covered 15% of the world's surface, and its now down to about 7%. Nigeria has the highest deforestation rate in the world, and in the last 5-8 years they have lost over half their rainforests. The Amazon Rainforest seems to get alot of attention, and Im not saying its less important than any other rainforest, but focusing on one section of Brazil doesn't help the crisis in the rest of the world, this is a global issue and it needs to be handeled as such.
There are oganizations attempting to try and help with the issue, but before we can repair the damage we've done, we have to stop doing the damage. FSC is a non-profit association that issues certificates for well-managed forests. That means the companies who recieve their lable put back what they take from the enviorment. The issue being is that many companies who rely on wood couldnt care less about the enviorment, and if the forest their wood comes from was managed ecologically, but some do, its a small step.
Illegal Logging is one of the biggest issues, which means the forests were accessed in such a manner that violated Government regulations and laws. These laws are weakly enforced, which is why this is an issue. Even legal logging can harm the enviorment, depending on the country it was done in. In Brazil, more than 80% of the logging done their violates the laws that are in place. I see no point in even setting laws if they are not going to be enforced. Making the laws is only half the solution, enforcing them is what will end the problem.
it is bad that they cut down so many trees and that there should be a limit of how many you can cut down, but you use wood products everyday. just letting you know.
it is bad that they cut down so many trees and that there should be a limit of how many you can cut down, but you use wood products everyday. just letting you know.
Setting a limit doesn't solve anything, you have to replinish what you take.
The Doctor Falling In Love With The Board Age: 34 Gender: Female Posts: 8786
December 4th, 2006 at 02:16pm
Hmm...I think that we should start planting and using more and more fast growing materials.
Like bamboo, 'Ameri-Willow' and poplar trees and stop using the damn hardwood rainforest trees.
Toxic Narcotic King For A Couple Of Days Age: 103 Gender: Female Posts: 3750
December 4th, 2006 at 07:58pm
umm...well, macy and jcpennys can stop sending out useless pieces of paper to almost every home in america every fuckin day
that'll sure save a couple of trees
i think paper should be recycled to make more paper, coz at the rate people and humans are using paper and wood, we'll have no tress left. mcdonalds cut down a huge area of trees just to graze cattle for their hamburgers etc.
Even taking less doesn't replinish what we've already taken guys..
The Doctor Falling In Love With The Board Age: 34 Gender: Female Posts: 8786
January 20th, 2007 at 11:08am
It is a Catch 22, I think.
Mind you, we could plant some more trees in Anartica when it all melts.
Mycophobia Basket Case Age: 30 Gender: Female Posts: 15581
January 20th, 2007 at 10:34pm
they should have them on farms, like plant trees cut them down and then grow them agian in the same place. That way it wont be killing nearly as much land
Anji Basket Case Age: 35 Gender: Female Posts: 15914
January 21st, 2007 at 11:37am
Not cutting down trees is stupid, you can't just stop that. Trees are a renewable resouce technically. Renewable like how geo-thermal is renewable, so not entirely, but it'll last our life time.
Most people think that logging companies are the evil bastards that cut down rainforests, but this is infact untrue. Farming has caused the largest amount of deforestation. Think about it, logging companies have nothing to benefit from the total oblieration of rainforests. This is why rainforest depletion only happens in places which are heavly farmed. Rainforests in Canada, Eastern Europe, Amazonia, and Southern Asia are mainly the ones being cut down, and it's all mainly farmers, self emplyoed farmers, who cut them down. Rainforests in Russia and stuff are largely untouched except for paper merchants who usually try their best to replenish their resource.
Also, logging companies are selective cutters. They cut only hard wood trees like mahogany which are most valuable. Farmers usually cut down trees using slash and burn which, you probably know is just random strips of forest cleared. So, it's not that you should completely reject all exports of furniture, but more farming products, ecpecially from Amazonia, because that's the only rainforest anyone thinks about nowadays. Asia's already to late to save and Canada's too cold to worry about.
Anji Basket Case Age: 35 Gender: Female Posts: 15914
January 21st, 2007 at 11:38am
Joan Greenwood:
It is a Catch 22, I think.
Mind you, we could plant some more trees in Anartica when it all melts.
Even though Antarctica is solid ice so when it melts, it infact won't be there at all.
Anji Basket Case Age: 35 Gender: Female Posts: 15914
January 21st, 2007 at 11:40am
Joan Greenwood:
Hmm...I think that we should start planting and using more and more fast growing materials.
Like bamboo, 'Ameri-Willow' and poplar trees and stop using the damn hardwood rainforest trees.
Replanting trees still won't save the lost habitats of animals. What we need, and everyone knows this yet dreads discussion this, is the government's support to replenish forests. Not just frickin' rainforests all anybody cares about.
Mind you, we could plant some more trees in Anartica when it all melts.
Even though Antarctica is solid ice so when it melts, it infact won't be there at all.
thats the arctic.
Antarctica has land underneath the ice *will stop being a boffin now *
anyhoo, there are a lot of 'tree farms' where the trees are replanted when they are cut down. these actually benefit the environment as they become important habitats for woodland species.
however, trees like mahogany (the main wood cut down in the Amazon Rainforest) take hundreds of years to get really big, so its not 'economical' to farm them. mahogany is a beautiful wood yeah, but it looks so much nicer out in the forest where it belongs. Besides, when they drag out the mahogany trees, they destroy loads of others, because the trees are so big and are all connected by vines and creepers.
Anji Basket Case Age: 35 Gender: Female Posts: 15914
January 29th, 2007 at 06:06am
anti-christ of suburbia:
Anji:
Joan Greenwood:
It is a Catch 22, I think.
Mind you, we could plant some more trees in Anartica when it all melts.
Even though Antarctica is solid ice so when it melts, it infact won't be there at all.
thats the arctic.
Antarctica has land underneath the ice *will stop being a boffin now *
anyhoo, there are a lot of 'tree farms' where the trees are replanted when they are cut down. these actually benefit the environment as they become important habitats for woodland species.
however, trees like mahogany (the main wood cut down in the Amazon Rainforest) take hundreds of years to get really big, so its not 'economical' to farm them. mahogany is a beautiful wood yeah, but it looks so much nicer out in the forest where it belongs. Besides, when they drag out the mahogany trees, they destroy loads of others, because the trees are so big and are all connected by vines and creepers.
Fine...
(Can't find a suitable smilie.)
Anyhoo, 'new forests', what foresters call these 'tree farms' are only helpful if the trees are mostly old, grown up trees, otherwise organisms cannot function on these forests which are insufficient to be part of an ecosystem as big and complicated as that of in the rainforest. This is a big issue concerning 'tree farms' since most consist of trees which are only ten years old or so and these species are unable to move in since the plants are not able to supply everything the ecosystem needs.
Asia's already to late to save and Canada's too cold to worry about.
*