In 1993 an experiment was conducted in the Amazonian Rainforest to test how dry soil would affect the ecosystem. The scientists built a 30 by 30 foot roof that would simulate a dying section of the rainforest by not allowing rain drops to fall from the leaves to the jungle floor . Previous experiments showed that moist soil would absorb methane, a potent greenhouse gas . The scientists hoped that in the face of extreme climate change, a dried out Rainforest would absorb more methane and would control the amount of methane, the key ozone destroying gas . Over 4 years of studying the opposite was found; the protected soil emitted up to 3 times more methane than the unprotected soil . Sulfur dioxide ejection into the atmosphere has a way of changing the …show more content…
The eruption killed 71,000 people on the island, but affected millions of people on the opposite side of the globe . The eruption spewed a stream of sulfur dioxide 21 miles high, which formed 200 million tons of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere . In the following months, bright colors could be seen in the sky, the northern hemisphere dropped the average temperature by one degree Fahrenheit, caused the sun to be so dim that it could be looked at directly, the dim light had depressing effects on the mental health of people across the world, it snowed in June in Maine and New York, it shortened the growing season in the United States from 130 days to 70 days, and some types of food harvests were decimated across the globe . The method for which the proposed sulfur pollution would be ejected into the stratosphere has not yet been officially chosen, having aircraft spray the sulfur or use modified fuel is the most popular option even though most commercial airlines to not make it to the stratosphere (jets would be used, costing four billion dollars a year) . Like the Amazonian Rainforest soil experiment, the change in precipitation could have drastic
Many flights in the area were canceled because the lava of the volcano spewed over three miles in the air!
Deforestation is the clearing of a forest and/or cutting down of trees for human benefits such as agriculture, wood exports, etc. Deforestation is the cause of numerous environmental impacts such as habitat loss, flooding and soil erosion. It can also cause climate change, by reducing the amount of rainfall and changing the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and increases the risk of forest . Tree growth is important for biodiversity because they absorb carbon dioxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas . However, since deforestation reduces natural carbon sinks, it disrupts the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase. This poses a serious threat since carbon dioxide traps the sun’s heat and radiated light inside the earth’s atmosphere. So, with the increase in carbon dioxide more heat is trapped and thus adding to the effects of global warming. Among the many places where deforestation takes place, Amazon seems to be one of the most affected ones. More than 20 percent of it is already gone, and much more of it is severely threatened due to deforestation . It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year .
The sulfur dioxide was regarded as the acknowledged toxic gas, and is also one of main factors for acid rain. Due to its severe toxicity, the major pollution incidents have even happened in human beings’ history. During 1st December and 15th December 1930, the toxic gases including the sulfur dioxide caused great loss for Meuse Valley in Belgium. The toxic gases led to thousands of people in the industrial zone of Meuse Valley were catched with respiratory diseases, and “nearly 63 people were dead within a week”. ( Benery B, HoetPH, Nemmar A. 2001) Additionally, many livestocks also could not survived and died of the toxic gases. In the incident, the mixture of SO2 and SO3 were the main dioxide smog. Similarly, during 26th October and 31st October in 1948, the Nonora smog in America was another sever toxic incident. (Lynne Page Snyder, 1994) The results proved that the sulfur dioxide was still the main toxic gas. Therefore, the sulfur dioxide has been proved to be the acknowledged toxic gas.
There are many rainforests in the world but one of the biggest one is the Amazon rainforest, which is located in the northern half of South America and lies in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The Amazon also lies in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The size of the Amazon resembles the size of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Since this rain forest lies next to the Equator, the climate is warm and humid. The average temperature is in between sixty-eight to ninety- three degrees. The Amazon has two seasons but each one is six months each. They are classified as the wet season and the dry season. The wet season occurs between December to May and the dry season occurs between June to November. The average rainfall is fifty to two hundred and sixty inches per year. The forest floor only gets up to two to five percent of sunlight since the canopy blocks the sunlight from getting to the forest floor. The Amazon rain forest got the nickname, the world’s pharmacy, because many medicines have been found in the tree bark, the tree’s leaves, and other parts of the trees.
Helens tallied up to be the most deadly and destructive eruption the United States had ever seen. “Approximately fifty-seven people were killed directly from the blast and 200 houses, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed; two people were killed indirectly in accidents that resulted from poor visibility, and two more suffered fatal heart attacks from shoveling ash (Wikipedia 3)”. Just when it seemed the nightmare was over a second eruption occurred the following day. A quarter of the lava was fresh, and included ash, pumice, and volcanic bombs, and the rest was older molten rock. “The removal of the north side of the mountain (13% of the cone 's volume) reduced Mount St. Helens ' height by about 1,280 feet (390 m) and left a crater 1 to 2 miles (2 to 3 km) wide and 2,100 feet (640 m) deep with its north end open in a huge breach (Wikipedia 3)”. The downwind of the eruption also destroyed many agricultural crops such as wheat, apples, potatoes, and alfalfa. Overall Mount St. Helens was a major blow that cost the US 1.1 billion dollars, and struck fear into the hearts of all of America on May 18th,
What would happen if one day the Amazon rainforest disappeared? The Amazon rainforest will disappear is not an assumption. It absolutely will be happen if people keep on deforesting the Amazon rainforest for many different demands. Huge amounts of area in Amazon were deforested because of agricultural pursuits. Also, the deforestation rate has increased in other ways, such as obtain more land for living and excessive uses of wood. Therefore, a large amount of trees were cut down and led to forest destruction. People have done these kinds of activities for many years and these deforestation activities have brought a lot of permanent and long term issues. Although the society has started to consider the problem of deforestation, it is not easy to solve the issues completely. The land desertification can be a huge area and it is almost cannot be able to control. In addition, it is not only threatening the people and animals in the Amazon, the world is also threatened by deforestation. Thus, deforestation is one of the biggest problems in the world that people have to consider because it costs three main long term effects: land desertification, species extinction and climate transformation.
The Amazon Rain Forest crosses several national boundaries in South America, although the majority of it is located in Brazil. It covers over 3,562,000 acres, making it the largest in the world. But globally, over 138,600 acres of rain forest are lost each year to deforestation, 50,000 of those in Brazil alone (Holdsforth), and the world's rain forests are quickly disappearing. Deforestation in the Amazon occurs primarily for three reasons: clear-cutting, fragmentation, and edge effects.
Of all of the issues that effect the planet Earth from a Global Change standpoint, one of the most visible and highly publicized is the issue of rainforest destruction. The loss of this emerald on the planet's crown will end life as we know it, if something is not done...
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.
I found that the ash can turn the sky black even in the middle of the day and the gasses could even reach the stratosphere. Also depending on the size of the eruption, then the ash can have a global effect if it ends up being caught in the trade winds, causing problems for people all across the world. Since my school does not have a specific earth science program and focuses more on the life sciences, meteorology was the closest I could get to continue studying
The natural resource of wood is being used at an unsustainable rate, with minimal effort to change societal views on the depletion of this valuable natural resource. Much of the wood we use today comes from old-growth tropical forests, and in many regions it is harvested illegally. Recently in England, it was revealed that the major department store, Marks&Spencers, made much of its garden furniture out of Nyato wood which was logged illegally from Indonesian rainforests. Looking at this problem from a micro-level orientation, we can clearly see how the actions of individuals in both Britain and Indonesia affect one another.
The Human Impact on Rainforests Human Impact on Rainforest is it a necessity? Rainforest are the beautiful gift of Mother Nature. It consists of the most magnificent species and plants in the world. 4.2% of the world’s animals live in the rainforest. This statistic it self shows how bad it would be to destroy such essential part of the worlds biodiversity.
life is essential to life on earth as it produces much of the oxygen that is
The Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest that we have today on our planet. It covers a wide range expanding almost entirely across from East to West of South America. It is most famous for its broad biodiversity and includes the famous Amazon River that is home to rare and diverse species. Today, the Amazon Rainforest is under threat of complete deforestation and has greatly lost more than half of its tropical rainforest due to cattle ranching, soy bean farming, sugar cane plantations, palm oil and biofuel agriculture. The indigenous people are doing their best to fight against the government to protect their land and conserve the rainforest but without capital finance, it is seeming to be an impossible project.
Forests have a vital role to play in the fight against global warming. Forests absorb and store carbon in their trees and soil. But if forests are cleared or disturbed, this carbon is released as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. “Up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation” (WWF Scotland, 2008).