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What are the different perspectives on deforestation and what influences…
What are the different perspectives on deforestation and what influences them?
intro
environmentalists
deforestation adds to climate change
CO2 emissions have increased 31% since 1750
CO2 concentration has not been exceeded in for 420,000 years, likely not during the past 20 million years. Current rate of increase is unprecedented during at least the part 20,000 years
almost 25% of anthropocentric emissions of CO2 are caused by deforestation
There is no denying that deforestation has direct effects on climate change
by 2100, CO2 amounts are projected to reach a 90 to 250% increase since 1750
trees store carbon, when harvested, carbon is released
the keeling curve: shows patterns of CO2 in the atmosphere
according to the graph, the natural 'breathing' of the Earth is the same, but the 'inhales' are getting shorter and shorter
climate change leads to more severe weatherevents
examples (only including research from 2010):
a heat wave in the summer of 2003 killed 35000
In December of 2004, a tsunami killed over 300,000
Hurricane Katrina was seven times more destructive than any other natural storm before it
Southern California wildfires of October 2007 forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, the largest evacuation in history at the time
deforestation leads to habitat loss
animals driven to extinction due to deforestation and over harvesting include the Sumatran rhino and white abalone
80 % of known terrestrial animal and plant species can be found in forests
1 square kilometer may be home to over 1,000 species
humans forfeit benefits from nature
various studies show positive effects on human mentality caused by nature
post-surgical patients also recover much quicker and need fewer painkillers when there is a window in the room
people recovering from surgery are much less stressful with plants in the room
120 people were shown stressful movie and then shown either natural or urban settings. People experiencing natural settings recovered faster
this conclusion has been mirrored in similar experiments
one Swedish study, including records from over fifteen years of research, shows that clinically anxious psychiatric patients responded positively to wall pictures of nature, but negatively to most other decorations (specifically modern art)
inmates in prisons have had same effects with window views
pet owning has also proven to have health benefits
skeptics of environmentalists
Bjorn Lomborg investigation
Not all environmental research is accurate
examples:
food demand
food costs have lowered to less than a sixth of what they were in the 60s
food production has increased, and shows no signs of dropping
average amount of food per person in less developed countries has increased by 38%
although global pop. has doubled, %of peoplewho are malnourished due to poverty has decreased globally from 35 to 18%
air quality
concentrations of sulphur dioxide are down 80%in the us since 1962
carbon monoxide levels down 75%since 1970
nitrogen oxides down 38% since 1975
ground level ozone is down 30% since 1977
deforestation
UN food & agriculture survey found that global forests have been reduced by only 44% since 1961
WWF claims we've lost 2/3 of our forests, in realist, we still have 80%
86% of rainforest in Brazil remains uncut,rate of clearing is falling
best evidence indicates that 0.7% of species might be lost in the next 50 years if nothing is done
environmental programs may just want money to fund their programs, so they may overstate their case
"since we tend to treat environmental organizations with much less skepticism, this might cause a grave bias in our understanding of the world" - Bjorn Lomborg
economists
globalization benefits the economy, which is most important in the here and now
economy needs to continue to grow
for better standard of living for everyone
borders still block flow of trade
globalization must continue
in order for economy to continue growing, some deforestation is necessary
We still need to chop enough trees to continue globalization, but the Earth will still have plenty of resources left
examples
In the US, exports made up 4.9%of GDP in 1965, 10.8% in 2000
exports rose from 12% to 22% of the world GDP from 1965 to 2000
several national economies have nearly tripled from 1991 to 2000
ex.: US: $2.3 trillion to $6.2 trillion
foreign owned assets in US economy have quadrupled in the same time
locals
creating deforestation
usually because they just need money to support themselves
they cut down trees without a license to sell them
clear land for farming
Get a job for a logging company, sometimes not knowing that the work they are doing is illegal
watching deforestation
fear that fires will reach them
especially for villages in the forest
there is nobody to help them if there is a fire
smoke from fires make them ill
people there have fewer resources
many indigenous people rely on food from the forests