Monday, January 10, 2011

GROUP FIVE: Amazon: Meranda S.; Emily B.; Britany S.; Stephanie R.; Brittany P.; Ben T.; Justin N.; Ashley C.; Ken C.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1201-brazil_deforestation_2010.html

19 comments:

  1. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell to the lowest rate on record, putting Brazil well on track to meet its targets for reducing rainforest destruction. They are also passing a law to reduce greenhouse emissions. The bulk of the emissions reductions would come from deforestation. Even major corporations, like Wal-mart, are involved in saving the rain Forests. The plan to save the forests has become more difficult because of the change in the environment. This year saw the worst drought on record, which helped spur a large increase in wildfires and a spike in forest degradation in recent months. Climate modelers say drought in the southern Amazon is likely to worsen as sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic rise.
    The state is taking steps in passing bills and laws, but what are the people of Brazil doing to help in the effort to save the rain Forests?
    As Brazil grows, since the economy is getting better, do they plan on tearing down some of the forest to accommodate the growth of the change? http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20brazil.htm
    Brittany S 5701

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  2. My name is Ben and I am majoring in criminal justice. Answering the question, what are the people of Brazil doing to help in effort to save the rain forest? I would have to say that i don't think they are doing much to help because they are not receiving any help from the government because of the lack of better control. so if they have to enforce laws and surveillance the rain forest to keep people out i would think they are not getting help from the people of Brazil.
    http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1025-bndes_amazon.html

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  3. Hello, this is Ken C, I’m in Miss McCoy’s 10:35 class I’m trying to get in to the Nursing program. The question I have is. To have your cake or to eat your cake, what shall it be? The article on the Rain Forest in Brazil was a nice except for one glaring problem. What is the mark at which they will start this 80% reduction? Is it from their highest levels in 1995 or the second highest in 2005? If either of these then they don’t have to do much. But if it’s from the latest numbers in 2010 then it will take considerably more effort. I know they have problems with the ranchers and farmers needing more land. If you look at the linkhttp://news.mongabay.com/2010/1107-mato_grosso.html, it talks of legislation on loosening the protection on the Rain Forest. So I ask you what shall it be Cake or No Cake?

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  4. Hey group 5. I’m Justin N. MW 2:50 class. After reading the article I came to the conclusion that Brazil as a country is trying to do what they can, to help reduce the damage that is being done to the rainforest. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated, “We are fulfilling the commitment we have made in Brazil. We will fulfill it because it’s our obligation to do so.” Apparently they are because he announced that Brazil's 80 percent deforestation reduction target for the Amazon would be met by 2016, four years ahead of schedule. As Brittany S stated, they are getting more support also from large companies such as wal-mart and local farmers, by having signed a zero deforestation pacts with suppliers. So to me it seems like everyone is starting to realize how much we are hurting the rainforest and ready for a change. http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1201-brazil_deforestation_2010.html
    Justin N

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  5. Hi Group Five! I'm Brittany P. and I'm a freshman in Ms. McCoy's Monday and Wednesday Eng. 101 class. Upon researching Brazil and the Amazon, I found information on a terrible drought. It is the worst drought the river area has suffered since the 1960’s. Due to lack of rainfall, water has evaporated and the riverbed is cracking in the heat of the rainforest. Boats were left stranded and many problems have been blamed on the low river levels. Scientists have warned that climate change combined with widespread deforestation could push the Amazon rainforest ecosystem past a tipping point, where it would change from rainforest to savannah. A particularly severe hurricane season is also likely to have contributed to the drought: hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean draw moisture out of the Amazon when they form. Extremely low water levels have isolated communities dependent on river transport. Brazil announced on Friday that an emergency package of $13.5 million for water purification, tents, and food will be dropped by air to the people.
    http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1024-hance_amazon_drought.html

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  6. Great job on this post by everyone involved! The massive amount of rainforests and natural resources in Brazil has spawned many different arguments; just as Ken said, can they have their "cake" and eat it too? A headline on today's CNN.com homepage suggested that our ozone layer has gotten to a 40% depletion level (http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/04/05/arctic.ozone.report/),which is bad news. Rainforests are often described as the "lungs of the earth" and 20% of the *world's* oxygen is produced in rainforests - we have to make sure they survive or, at the very least, keep the damage minimal. You all asked a lot of great questions here, so I'll point you to more sources...
    For interesting facts about the rainforests in Brazil:
    http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
    For more information on Brazil's work to preserve the rainforest:
    http://rainforest-alliance.org/adopt/projects/brazil

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  7. I totally agree with Ken on where they plan to start, lowest or highest for the reduction. They are sort of in a 'catch 22' because they need the land to farm and for expansion of their growing economy, but the rain forest's existence is essential to the worlds ozone. As Erin states in her post, a headline on today's CNN.com homepage suggested that our ozone layer has gotten to a 40% depletion level. www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/04/05/arctic.ozone.report. The ozone layer is the "shield that protects life on Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet rays,". Ultraviolet rays "have been linked to skin cancer, cataracts and damage to the human immune system. Some crops and forms of marine life can also suffer adverse effects," the U.N. agency said. My thoughts are that they have a long road ahead of them in getting this situation under control. Thanks everyone for the feedback! Brittany S.

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  8. I agree with Justin that Brazil is trying to do what they can. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is aware of the situation and is doing his best to reduce the amount of deforestation. I agree that people are starting to realize how much we need the rainforest and are wanting to stop cutting it down. Brittany also says that even large corporations like Wal-Mart are becoming involved in the efforts to save the rainforest. Brittany also states that due to the climate change, it may get harder to protect the rainforest, even if we do stop cutting down the trees, we still have to worry about drought and wildfires, which cause forest degradation. The climate modelers are predicting the drought to get worse as the Atlantic sea temperatures rise. I think that it is a long road ahead to stop the deforestation, but making people aware is a start.
    -Ashley C.

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  9. My name is Meranda S I am majoring in nursing. The question I want to answer is what Ben asked. What are the people in Brazil doing to help in effort to save the rainforest? He makes since saying that if the government has to set up real-time monitoring and increased law enforcement to keep the people out then they must not care too much about helping. Most of the problem I believe is the political movement that is being pushed by farmers and ranchers. Right now the forest code requires landowners to maintain 80 percent of forest cover on their land. Well the more forest on their land means the less amount of farmland they can have, meaning less money for them to make. So if they relax some of the environmental protections they may not have as much of a problem with deforestation, but then again at the same time they would lose forest from each landowner wanting to expand. So it’s possibly a lose-lose situation
    Meranda S

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  11. My name is Ben and reading the article I seen where big corporations have decided to help but i think that all the help they are getting should have been their from the start. But its only when it becomes a problem with big companies not making money then they want to help. so i think if it was taken care of from the start by the big companies that abuse the rain forest to make money. it wouldn't be in the condition it is in

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  13. I agree with Justin that Brazil is doing as best as they can by decreasing deforestation as much as possible. It is really awesome that they are meeting a goal for rainforest deforestation reduction four years earlier than they had originally planned.
    Ms. McCoy stated that “Rainforests are often described as the ‘lungs of the earth’ and 20% of the *world's* oxygen is produced in rainforests - we have to make sure they survive…” and I would have to fully agree with this statement. We must keep working harder to protect rainforests as much as we can every step of the way to continue with this seemingly endless battle. We should NOT be destroying such beautiful places that are absolutely necessary for our world’s future.
    http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
    When you hear facts such as: “One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.” It’s devastating.
    -Brittany P.

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  14. My comment is for Ken. When you ask if its cake or no cake, I’m starting to think that Brazil wants both. Which unfortunately can’t be the answer, because then nothing would get done. You bring up a very good point. Also after reading the article you posted (http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1107-mato_grosso.html), it just backs up my answer to your question even more, cake or no cake? Brazil is totally contradicting themselves 100%. I don’t understand how they can say one day say that they are going to have harder punishments for those who are destroying the forest, and then the next day have a 19-1 vote wanting to change the bill and reduce the areas set aside for conservation, and not conserving the rainforest could totally have a hard effect on its ecosystem. Which Brittany P was talking about in her post, how the forest is going through a rough drought right now and its partially due to the climate change and a very wide spread of deforestation. So if Brazil is to want to keep eating their cake then as Brittany states their beautiful rainforest will become a savannah. If that is to happen then what will Brazil do? There will be no land left to plant soy bean or raise cattle and let’s not for all the nations wildlife that would be extinct because of the one place they could survive has now been destroyed.
    Justin N

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  15. I agree with Brittany that they do have a long road ahead of them to get the situation under control. That’s why Rain Forest Alliance is trying to help the rainforest in the Amazon, and they are making it available for anyone to make donations to try and do their part and help. Forest are very essential for life on Earth they provide oxygen, shelter, food, and clean water. Rain Forest Alliance works with large corporations to ensure that illegal logging is prevented and that logging is conducted responsibly so the ecosystem is protected. All you have to do to help is choose a certified product (a forest-based product) join their community and make a donation. (http://rainforest-alliance.org/work/forestry) So with Rain forest Alliance on their side maybe the target can be reached by 2016 like Justin said.
    Meranda S.

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  16. This is Ken again, Thanks for the comments on my post. It was the very first time I wrote a Blog. I’ve read all the other posts’ as of 5:40pm. They are all very insightful. Brittany P brings up a good point on the drought, how that it is very devastating to the rainforest. But it is not something the people can control. However as Meranda S states that landowners have to keep 80% of their land as forest how are they able to make a profit? If we look at the web site http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20brazil.htm, it talks about how the farmers only use the land for two to three years. Then they move on to another section of forest they have to cut down to use as farmland. It states the reason for this is the land gets bad for farming. If they would use better land management with the latest farming technology, they could stay with the land that is already cleared. So with some effort on behalf of the people and better investment from the government Brazil should be able to bring its’ deforestation by the little people to almost a halt. In the words of Marie Antoinette “let them eat cake”, German chocolate for me thanks.
    Ken C.

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  17. After reading this article, I believe that Brazil is making small steps and trying to reduce the deforestation. Last year was the lowest deforestation rate, and by 2016 they plan to reduce the amount of deforestation by 80%. Brazil also pledged to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it emits every year. The climate has not been easy on the rainforest. Last year was the worst drought on record, and climate modelers say the drought in the southern amazon will only get worse, while the western and northern amazon will see more rain. There may be a long road ahead of them, but its a start.
    http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1201-brazil_deforestation_2010.html
    -Ashley C.

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  18. Hello. My name is Emily Basham. I am in Ms. McCoy’s MW 9:10 class. I am majoring in Elementary Special Education. After reading the article on Brazil, I strongly feel that the country is doing everything in their power that they can to help fix this problem and reduce damage. It was stated in the article that 6,450 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared in the Amazon in the 12 months ending on July 31, 2010. I think it’s great that they plan to reduce the amount of deforestation by 80% four years earlier than they had planned. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated “We are fulfilling the commitment we have made in Brazil. We will fulfill it because it is our obligation to do so.” I think with that kind of determination, the country can do anything.
    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html

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  19. I agree with Justin N. that Brazil as a country is trying to do what they can to help reduce damage. They are being supported by various people to help solve this problem. I also agree with his statement “So to me, it seems like everyone is starting to realize how much we are hurting the rainforest.” I think now that the problem has escalated, people of Brazil are becoming more concerned and starting to find ways to fix it. I also agree with Meranda S. that most of the problem is being pushed by farmers and ranchers. The farmers are worried that the forest is going to take over their land and that will result in less money for them. I agree with her statement “It is probably a lose-lose situation.” No matter what happens, someone is going to be mad about the decision and the outcome.
    - Emily Basham

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