Global Warming....what Can You Do? By Ellen Gaver, Fri Dec 9th Today I made a decision. There are so many issues confronting ustoday, from political issues, to health issues, to economicissues, to environmental issues….it’s easy to become overwhelmedand do Read more...
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What Is The Rain Forest? Francesca Black
Copyright 2006 Francesca Black
One and one-half acres of rain forest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Rain forests are being destroyed because the value of rain forest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by shortsighted governments, multinational logging companies, and land owners. Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rain forest deforestation.
There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rain forest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.
In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rain forest species. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, rain forest peoples are also disappearing. Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rain forests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rain forest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rain forest species.
The Amazon Rain forest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rain forest Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.
At least 3000 fruits are found in the rain forests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rain forest use over 2,000 fruits from the rain forest Rain forest plants are rich in secondary metabolites and in particular alkaloids. Biochemists believe alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks. Many alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal value and benefit.
We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rain forests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rain forests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Most rain forests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then are followed by farming and ranching operations, even by world giants like Mitsubishi Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Texaco and UNOCAL.
Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rain forest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists. Vincristine, extracted from the rain forest plant, periwinkle, is one of the world's most powerful anticancer drugs. It has dramatically increased the survival rate for acute childhood leukemia since its discovery. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rain forest Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rain forest
One and one-half acres of rain forest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting it's many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rain forest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or for timber.
Promoting the use of these sustainable and renewable sources could stop the destruction of the rainforests. By creating a new source of income harvesting the medicinal plants, fruits nuts, oil and other sustainable resources, the rainforests is be more valuable alive than cut and burned. Sufficient demand of sustainable and ecologically harvested rain forest products is necessary for preservation efforts to succeed. Purchasing sustainable rain forest products can effect positive change by creating a market for these products while supporting the native people's economy and provides the economic solution and alternative to cutting the forest just for the value of its timber.
Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rain forest deforestation. If managed properly, the rain forest can provide the world's need for these natural resources on a perpetual basis.
Francesca Black works in marketing at Organic Items www.organic-items.com and Pilates Shop www.pilates-shop.net leading portals for organic products and natural excercise.
CNN global warming misinformation makes its way to <em>The Radio Factor</em> On <em>The Radio Factor</em>, guest host Douglas Urbanski cited a December 18 segment from CNN's <em>Lou Dobbs Tonight</em> to support the assertion, which has been widely discredited, that "man-made climate change" is "one of the biggest lies of our time" and in doing so echoed several of the debunked claims and suggestions about global warming included in that CNN segment. "Winter storm" causes Dobbs to ask: "What's that global warming deal?" Lou Dobbs said during the introduction of his CNN show: "And tonight, unusual winter storms are dumping snow in unusual places across Western states, and a huge snowstorm is headed toward the Northeast. This is global warming?" During his segment on the issue, Dobbs hosted Heartland Institute senior fellow and science director Jay Lehr without disclosing that Heartland receives funding from the energy industry and without challenging Lehr's assertions that "[t]he last 10 years have been quite cool" and that "the sun" -- rather than humans -- is responsible for recent climate change. Levin cited "global cooling" study to dismiss efforts to "control carbon dioxide" emissions, ignoring warning by study's co-author not to do so On his radio show, Mark Levin cited a recent study predicting that an ice age will occur in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years as purported evidence that humans should not "try and control carbon dioxide" emissions that contribute to global climate change. But Levin did not mention that the study's co-author reportedly warned against using the study to argue that "we should stop fighting warming" and stated: "There's no excuse for saying 'we've got to keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.' " Milwaukee radio host smeared "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]" who talk about global warming On his Milwaukee radio talk show, Mark Belling referred to schoolteachers who talk to their students about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]." Hannity compared carbon offsets to "cheat[ing] on your wife," ignored Murdoch's efforts to make News Corp. carbon neutral On <em>Hannity & Colmes</em>, Sean Hannity criticized the purchase of credits to offset one's "carbon footprint," asserting, "Those offsets -- that is the biggest hoax in the world. ... You know what it's like? You go cheat on your wife, and then say, 'Honey, but don't worry. I bought an offset.' Good luck." Hannity has yet to address the pledge by News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch "to be carbon neutral, across all our businesses" -- which includes Fox News -- "by 2010." Discussing TCPR claims, O'Reilly said he'd "like to hear [Gore's] side of things," but ignored Gore's response to TCPR Bill O'Reilly asserted: "The Tennessee Center for Policy Research [TCPR] says the former vice president [Al Gore] is still using a massive amount of energy at his Tennessee mansion -- more than 20 times the national average." O'Reilly later stated: "So it looks like Gore is a pinhead, but we would like to hear his side of things. And he has an open invitation to appear on the <em>Factor</em>." But at no point did O'Reilly mention that Gore has reportedly given "his side of things" in response to a June 17 TCPR press release on the subject of Gore's purported energy use. Hume claimed Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent," ignored Gore's response that it's all "green power" On <em>Special Report</em>, citing purported findings by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Brit Hume claimed that Al Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent" since environmentally friendly renovations were completed on his home. Hume offered no response from Gore. Responding to the charge, a Gore spokeswoman stated that "[w]hen [the Gores] do use power, it's green power." According to the Tennessee Valley Authority, green power "create[s] less waste and pollution" than standard electricity. <em>Wash. Times</em>' Pruden falsely claimed that "the earth has been measurably cooling for the last decade" In a <em>Washington Times</em> column, Wesley Pruden falsely claimed that "the earth has been measurably cooling for the last decade, despite everything [former Vice President] Al [Gore] and his followers have done about it." In fact, the United Kingdom's Met (Meteorological) Office lists as a "fact" that "[t]emperatures are continuing to rise" and states that "temperature change over the latest decade (1998-2007) alone shows a continued warming of 0.1° C per decade." MSNBC hosted Breaux and Lott to defend oil and gas companies -- but failed to note they're lobbyists for them On <em>MSNBC Live</em>, Andrea Mitchell discussed energy policy with former Sens. John Breaux and Trent Lott but failed to disclose that both are lobbyists for major oil and gas companies. While Mitchell said that Lott and Breaux "formed a firm" together, she did not note that their firm conducts lobbying or that its clients include oil and gas companies Chevron, Shell, and Plains Exploration & Production Co. Beck revived falsehood that Bill Clinton said, "We've got to slow down our economy" to fight global warming On his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck falsely claimed that former President Bill Clinton said, "We've got to slow down our economy" in order to combat global warming, and aired a portion of a speech Clinton made in January. However, as Clinton's full remarks make clear, he did not suggest "slow[ing] down our economy" to fight global warming. Jonah Goldberg misrepresented Gore's comments about Hurricane Katrina In his <em>Los Angeles Times</em> column, Jonah Goldberg asserted that in an NPR interview, Al Gore "chuckled" at the idea that Hurricane Katrina "was God's wrath for New Orleans' sexual depravity," then "went on to blame Katrina on man's energy sinfulness." In fact, Gore stated during the interview that "any individual storm can't be linked singularly to global warming." Goldberg also claimed that the numbers of polar bears "have quadrupled in the last 50 years"; in fact, data to support estimates of the polar bear population 50 years ago are reportedly nonexistent, recent growth in the polar bear population is believed to be linked to hunting bans, and the Department of Interior found that "the polar bear is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future." Previewing McCain's environment speech, Reuters did not mention his voting record or include criticisms of his positions Reuters reported that Sen. John McCain would pledge "to take the lead in combating global climate change if elected president in a speech that set him apart from the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush." However, in reporting on McCain's environmental positions that his campaign believes will "win support from independents and centrist Democrats," Reuters did not mention his voting record and did not include any criticism of McCain's positions. By contrast, <em>The Washington Post</em> noted that "McCain's lifetime League of Conservation Voters score is 24 percent, compared with 86 for Obama and 86 for Clinton." Fox's Baier misrepresented Gore's comments about Myanmar cyclone Fox News' Bret Baier claimed that in an interview on NPR, "Former Vice President Al Gore says global warming is to blame for the cyclone in Myanmar." In fact, while Gore did discuss the cyclone in the context of global warming, he also stated -- just moments earlier -- that "any individual storm can't be linked singularly to global warming." Fox's E.D. Hill falsely claimed that "U.N. meteorologists" say "the planet may actually cool off for the 10th year in a row" On<em> America's Pulse</em>, host E.D. Hill falsely claimed, in a teaser for an upcoming segment, that "the U.N. says the planet may actually cool off for the 10th year in a row." Hill later asserted: "U.N. meteorologists now saying that we could have, for the 10th year in a row, a colder year, temperatures ... decreasing, not warming, getting colder." In fact, global mean temperatures, as measured in two widely used data sets, have not decreased in each of the past 10 years; further, according to those data sets' producers, the data continue to show a long-term warming trend. <em>NY Times</em> understated Inhofe's views on global warming In an article discussing potentially competitive 2008 Senate elections, <em>The New York Times</em> understated Sen. James Infohe's views on global warming, reporting that Inhofe "has said that its effects are exaggerated." In fact, Inhofe has repeatedly referred to global warming as the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people" and reportedly compared Al Gore's global warming documentary to Adolf Hitler's <em>Mein Kampf</em>.
Additional Resources Global Warming And People Of Faith By Rev Michael Bresciani Is Al Gore the political left’s equivalent of Chicken Little or should we all snap to attention and take him more seriously? Is global warming a concern that the church should undertake as its own Read more...
Additional Resources Climate Science And Global Warming By Jose Valdez Rising sea levels are occurring as part of the climate changes we face on the Planet’s latest cycle. This will become problematic as 50% of the human populations live by the sea. Many large Read more...
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