I get a feeling of utter helplessness.

i feel sad reading this. similar statistics can be found regarding the vanishing rainforests in south america.

but...what can be done, really?

im pretty sure that it probably wasn't covered by the press at the time, but didn't americans (and many other industrialized powers), do the same thing to their land?

i mean, manhattan used to have trees and animals and such, long ago, aye?

the reason information like this is kind of depressing to me, is that nothing can be done about it, and the trend will continue.

95% of americas old growth forests have been cut and are gone forever. (contrary to popular opinion, you cannot replace old growth forest by replanting trees).

50% of Canada's old growth forest are gone....

Actually in every nation on the planet we are cutting and cutting via corrupt institutions like GATT, NAFTA, WMF, and so on... and once they are gone that is it.

All so we can make paper products, which is 2/3rds of the lumber use in the world.

The ME used to be covered in forest, but the fist civilizations cut them and now it is a desert.

Andrew

__________________
Ethanol is a fabulous solution to our energy dilemma because it will provide more fuel for us to drive around and look for food.

-- Unknown

The question is: Are the benefits which we gained thanks to deforestation greatet than the losses?

People of doday are sensible for the losses, but not for the benefits. But it`s easy to imagine the poor standard of living, if mankind didn`t change the nature. Or who wants to live in caves and with a life expectancy of 30 years?

This is why the CO2 problem in our atmosphere is getting worse so fast. Without the rainforests, without old growth, without trees, CO2 cannot change into O2 through photosynthesis.

Will humans really be so stupid as to kill our planet this way? It's all happening pretty darn fast.

The great majority of logging is used for paper products, with lumber and plywood being mainly a byproduct of deforestation. Meanwhile we recycle maybe 25-30 % of the paper products we currently consume. It is obvious that deforestation is not really a benefit to anyone.

And who are you talking about anyway? The indigenous peoples whose forests are being cut are opposed to it, it does not make their lives better at all, in fact it destroys a way of life far superior and sustainable to our own.

The only thing this level of deforestation does is give you a thicker saturday newspaper. Its generally all a waste.

Andrew

__________________
Ethanol is a fabulous solution to our energy dilemma because it will provide more fuel for us to drive around and look for food.

-- Unknown

You guys are all 'glass half empty' type of people, aren't you?

Instead of forests disappearing, I like to think of it as beautiful fields appearing.

..Or will we just be so stupid as to spout whatever simplistic ideas are fed to us without thinking them through?

Forestry, properly done, actually Reduces atmostpheric CO2. Think about it, which uses more carbon (and thus CO2) in the long term, a full grown tree, or a small tree that is trying to Become a full grown tree?

Now, whether they're practicing responsible forestry in Indonesia remains to be seen (and I admit I doubt it), and what's done with the resulting wood products also comes into play, but not everything falls into the simplistic, black-and-white, left-world view.

__________________
Today's forecast: Government corruption.

Tomorrow's forecast: 100% chance of more 'politics as usual'

Maybe it's finally time to vote Libertarian

Maybe we will just be so stupid as to forget the simple science we learned in grade school and grow up to insult people on the internet because we don't want to admit we are killing the earth for greed.

First off, nobody has ever achieved replantation beyond third cycle. So in the end if we cut down all old growth forests, and just rely on plantations, we will be left with desert, and a massive release of co2 stored in soils. Secondly, you have to account for all the CO2 emissions accumulated by the logging, production, and consumption process itself. Building roads, (which cause forest fires over and above what is natural), shipping, and then manufacturing. All of that produces CO2 emissions. The end result is that deforestation destroys the natural carbon cycle, releases more CO2 in to the atmosphere, and absorbs far less c02 from the atmopsphere and warmth from the sun.


Nobody has ever practiced responsible industrial forestry, there is no such thing.


Andrew

__________________
Ethanol is a fabulous solution to our energy dilemma because it will provide more fuel for us to drive around and look for food.

-- Unknown