If the deforestation in one day causes the release of more CO2 than 8 million people flying, why aren't we..?

Question

Every 24 hours, rainforest is cut down at such rate that the amount of CO2 released is more than what 8 million people would produce flying from London to New York.

So why, instead of banging on about 'carbon footprints' and 4x4's are envioronmentalists not putting their full weight behind campaigns to conserve and protect the 'lungs of the world'?

Considering that we all need the rainforest to survive, why aren't rich nations buying it up and stopping the logging? The people in these countries need to be better off leaving the forest as it is.

The figures have come from the Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of leading rainforest scientists.

What I'm saying is richer nations already recognise the value of uncultivated land, paying £135 per hectare subsidies for 'envioronmental services' for farmers to leave their land unused.

But there is not agreement on placing a value on the vastly more valuable land in developing countries. More than 50% of the life on Earth is in tropical forests, which cover less than 7% of it's surface.

While there's money to be made from food and energy and no income to e derived from the standing forest, it's obivious the forest will take the hit. The only way to slow their destruction is to put a price on the carbon these valuable forests contain.

www.globalcanopy,org

Answer 1

Well many of these forests are protected. however, the governments in the countries where the forests are located are not regulating these laws...there are groups such as Parks in Peril that are making sure that these protected areas are protected. In addition, companies such as 3m and staples are only using suppliers that sustain the forest areas where they get their products....Also education about this subject is minimal...more people need to learn about what is happening so they can speak out and come together....Finally, deforestation is not only causing C02 emmisions it is also causing wildlife to become extinct and threatened because they have special niches only located within these forests.

Answer 2

Who are we in the developed world to dictate what another country can do with their resources? Just because we have already cut down all of our forests and used our resources.

I am all for saving the rainforest, having studied this topic in relation to climate change I know how important it is to conserve such a resource for the regulation of CO2 levels in the earths atmosphere. What I am saying is that there are many campaigns to save the rainforest, but that isn't enough. The kyoto protocol was put in place to cut carbon emissions into the atmosphere (however some countries refuse to sign because they feel their economy will be harmed - yes that would be america), Agenda 21 aims to ensure sustainable development by reducing amount of waste into landfill (landfill is a great contributor of CH4 another greenhouse gas). It is important to conserve the rainforest, but also important to reduce our OWN effect. Remember that fossil fuels are finite - they ain't guna last forever so reducing the rate at which we use them is also important.

Answer 3

Not sure about your figures, but guess its the pricipal that counts not the actual numbers.

A few things:
1 GW needs to be reduced, the only sensible way to do that is to reduce green house gas emmissions. This means switching to ever greater use of renewable energy and being less wasteful in the way we use energy.

2 The current high levels of greenhouse gasses are a direct result of the currently industrialised nations activities over the last couple hundred years. They should fess up and accept some responsibility for their past and current actions.

In a way they have achieved their current developed status in part by polluting the whole planet. Now they expect everyone else to bail them out. That is not ethical.

3 The developed countries have destroyed huge tracts of their forests. Basically left just tiny reminants compared to what was there.

Rain forests are now found mostly in undeveloped countries. If the developed world wants to keep these in tact it should pay for that. It would be totally out of order to expect the less developed world to remain locked in poverty because their own resources are tied up because the developed world has stuffed up the planet.

So by all means put programmes in place to raise funds to protect the rain forest. But expect to pay not just for the potential timber output, but also the loss of productivity from farmland that won't be available, in perpetuity. So not just a one off payment but an annual one. Pay Brazil etc to not cut the forest and to not produce agricultural products. If they can get more by leaving the forest in tact, they will be happy to leave it so. But it won't be cheap. Not should it be.

Answer 4

This is double standards. Most of the companies chopping down the rain forest are owned indirectly by giant USA parents, and most of the wood recovered makes its way back to the USA and Europe. The Governments are not really interested, hence the recent agreement between the USA and the European Union/Common Market to increase the number of flights between Europe and the United States. Let it also be said, much to British Airways disgust, as they tried to make an issue of their being able to buy several American airlines, this is not allowed by USA law and was ignored by the negotiators.

Answer 5

Rich nations 'buying up' the rain forest to protect it isn't a practical solution. The poor nations they bought it from would become less poor, giving them the means to raise bigger families and to buy trucks, motorcycles, and air conditioners, from the rich countries, who then need more resources and raw materials to meet the demand, and in doing so the rich countries become richer and they also consume more, and the people in the poor countries need more land for their increasing populations.

Its a bit like the smoker, addicted to tobacco, who can feel his lungs being destroyed, but doesn't want to face up to the truth. So he says to his friends "I've been smoking all my life, and it hasn't killed me yet".

The only way the World is going to save it's life is by facing up to reality and reducing consumption.

Answer 6

I totally agree with you and I wish we had more people that think like you!!!

Answer 7

i totally agree with you


its because humans are selfish

Answer 8

that is soo true