Layers of a rainforest

One of the most interesting things about a rainforest is its layers...it's got 4 layers in all.

You can see some devoted environmentalists spending days studying just 1 layer...
I know one guy Debajyoti Dutta Roy whose life-long ambition is to just make about a $1 million, and spend the rest of his life in the woods, making audio visuals and enjoying the scenery.
Check out his stuff at http://greenblueplanet.blogspot.com
Now, may I point, the layers are all dependent on each other.

Check out this excerpt from source rainforestconcern.org :

"The rainforest canopy is divided into four main layers: the emergent layer consists of the tallest trees (emergent trees) which can grow to heights of 70m. These trees act as a buffer, sheltering the lower trees from heavy rains. Beneath this layer is the main canopy of smaller trees which are intertwined with climbing vines and hold flowering plants, called epiphytes, on their branches. Below this is the understorey containing young saplings and shrubs. The final layer, the dark forest floor contains only a few plants as only 2% of the sunlight reaches this layer of the forest, making it difficult for plants to grow. "

Since the tall trees act as a buffer....the cutting down of these ultimately lead to the destruction of the entire rainforest.....causing the destruction of fauna dependent on the flora, too.

Saving tropical rainforests hold key to preserving biodiversity

This is because though the tropical rainforests cover only about 2% of the world’s land surface....they are home to more than 50% species of animals and plants.

Check out this iguana pic from wikimedia :



Serves an important role in the tropical rainforest ecosystem of the Central American rain forests.

Quite diff' rent from the marine iguanas....yet another example of Nature's wonderful phenomenon of adaptation.

The Rain Forests are being depleted at an alarming rate .........

If you check 'em.....half the problem of global warming can be checked.

Besides saving our poor iguana pondering over where to get its next breakfast !

Manmohan Singh's Strategy to Save Tigers

It seemed to me that the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was HONEST in wanting to save the tigers....which tiger experts like Billy Arjan Singh almost say has no chance of surviving within next 10 years.

That is, tigers IN THE WILD will become extinct in 10 years.
UNLESS WE TAKE DRASTIC STEPS.

So, Manmohan Singh set up a Tiger Task Force. But it did not yield results. Though a far past predecessor late Prime mInister Indira Gandhi is acclaimed worldwide for her EFFORTS TO SAVE THE TIGER THRU' PROJECT TIGER.

PROJECT TIGER DID WORK !

But then, after reaching a peak, tiger population has begun to dwindle.

Now reaching an alltime low of 1100 in India.

This report is from ndtv.com Let us also thank NDTV for their effort :

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the Chief Ministers of states with tiger reserves to take direct charge of the task of protecting tigers.

After a sustained NDTV campaign to save the tiger, the Prime Minister held an emergency meeting on Saturday and had a clear message for the Chief Ministers.

The Prime Minister will hold a Conference of Chief Ministers to put in place a coordinated response to the challenge of tiger conservation.

The government has also decided to sanction whatever amount it takes to save the tiger.

But there's a warning for the states. Any state that doesn't want to save the tiger, or denies the problem will not be given these funds."

Very Good strategy. But let us, poor bloggers like me, request him to INDIVIDUALLY also SPEND SOME TIME & EFFORT TO SAVE THE TIGER.

Let us draw some inspiration from Russia's efforts, which has helped the Siberian Tiger.

Hope we remember -

EXTINCTION OF THE TIGER MEANS VIRTUAL COLLAPSE OF THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM IN WHICH THE ANIMAL LIVED.

IT ALSO MEANS DISASTER FOR MANKIND.

Global Warming Trend

Take a look at the following chart. It clearly shows the trend.

As a chart/graph analyzer, I would put more emphasis on the 5 year-trend.....since it covers a greater sample size.


Image Source: globalwarmingart.com


Anyway, where are we heading, folks ?

Al Gore Warning .......Is it too late ?

Al Gore, who deservedly won the Nobel Peace Prize sharing it with Pachouri & colleagues, had been warning us for years about Global Warming.

If you scan through his bio, his work it's evident he had hit upon the truth long time back.

In his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he said "We still have the power to choose our fate, and the remaining question is only this: Have we the will to act vigorously and in time, or will we remain imprisoned by a dangerous illusion?"

The Earth has a fever, and it's rising.

But it might even be too late !

The permafrost theory even suggests that GLOBAL WARMING IS OCCURRING AT A RATE OF 25 TIMES THAN THOUGHT OF !

California Wildfires .......a corollary of Global Warming ?

The California Wildfires that caused widespread damage is but a corollary of the effects of Global Warming.

It just isn't a coincidence that the most damage was done in a year that saw the most devastating floods in Europe, India & UK. Not to mention the worst glacier meltdown in the Himalayas.

Look at the figures :

Half million people fled Southern California's wildfire.

The flames damaged more than 500,000 acres, and destroyed in excess of 2,000 homes

Why is the Santa Anas — the winds that fuelled the flames, returning again and again ?

GLOBAL WARMING CAUSING DEVASTATING FLOODS WORLDWIDE.....

Just look at the facts:

More people have been killed by the floods triggered by a side-effect of Global Warming than Hurricane Katrina…..Look at the FLOOD SCENARIO:

Worst floods to hit United Kingdom in 60 years .

Worst floods in Bangladesh & India in living memory according to the United Nations.

Worst floods in Europe in 30 years.

WE ALL KNOW IT’S TOO MUCH OF A COINCIDENCE…WE KNOW IT’S DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING….

?And why is this happening?

It's a culmination of many factors -

The melting of the glacial ice adding continuous water into the riverine system
+ the warming of air creating sudden low pressures leading to formation of hurricanes & cyclones.....

OBVIOUSLY IT'S GOING TO GET WORSE.....

Time for a GLOBAL DEBATE...

as Al Gore has suggested time & time again....

Environmental Crisis in India

India is called the “Land of the Tiger” …..the name was once synonymous with tropical jungles, snakes , elephants & tigers. But human greed is taking its toll.

This country had more than 10,000 tigers & a few hundred cheetahs in the beginning of the century.

But look at its sorry state of affairs :

It has now probably not even 3000 tigers in the wild.

The cheetah is long extinct from the Indian range.

The elephant is being persecuted & killed almost on a daily basis. Though the common people do worship Ganapatiji, the God of Wealth, almost reverently. Though Ganapatiji is, in fact half elephant !

The irony is tragicomic to such a colossal effect that it seems like God ‘s Own Greatest Joke.

The forests of India, once its pride….have been decimated to mere fragments. They are so fragmented that bigger mammals find it hard to establish their territory without going out of the core areas.

People have been allowed inside the reserve forests, and that has created a crisis in itself. This leads to rapid rate of deforestation.

The greatest crisis to its carnivores is posed by the organized poachers. China plays the greatest role in being the bazaar for tiger & other animals’ parts.

More on the Permafrost Theory accelerating Global Warming

Frightening things hitherto unthought of are beginning to surface with respect to Global Warming. Last posting I drew attention to the permafrost Theory. Here’s Quoting University of Florida News:

“Permafrost soil blanketing northeastern Siberia contains about 75 times more carbon than is released by burning fossil fuels each year. That means it could become a potent, likely unstoppable contributor to global climate change if it continues to thaw.

So conclude three scientists in a paper set to appear Friday in the journal Science.
“Unfortunately, it’s another large pool of carbon on the list that could move into the atmosphere with continued warming,” said co-author Ted Schuur, an assistant professor of ecology in the University of Florida botany department. “You start thawing the permafrost, microbes release carbon dioxide, that makes things warmer, more permafrost thaws and the process continues.”

The permafrost soil, which covers nearly 400,000 square miles of northeast Siberia and averages 82 feet in depth, contains about 500 billion metric tons of carbon, the scientists concluded. Cars, power plants and other fossil fuel consumers release at least 6 billion metric tons annually. If all the Siberian permafrost thawed, decomposed and released its carbon in the form of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, it could nearly double the 730 billion metric tons of carbon in the atmosphere presently — an outcome that would have huge warming impact.”

So the release rate of greenhouse gases is 75 times….add to that methane being 21 times effective than carbon dioxide. So you can imagine the acceleration rate of global warming.

IN REALITY…THIS ACCELERATED RATE HAS ALREADY STARTED…..WHICH IS WHY YOU ARE HAVING THESE SUPERHURRICANES, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS,, SEVERE RAIN & FLOODING…..

Such severe weather we are experiencing now CANNOT BE EXPLAINED BY THE NORMAL RATE OF GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming can even KILL 4-5 BILLION !

Why is global warming being speeded up ? A section of scientists are pointing to the ”hydrate hypothesis”……which can potentially kill 4-5 billion humans.

Hydrate hypothesis states that there is a feedback loop that has occurred historically in global warming scenarios.

Due to present global warming melting >> the permafrost melts >> this releases trapped methane >> the released methane drastically increases global warming.

Check this out – Western Siberia holds something like 500 billion tons of methane in its permafrost…even 1 billion ton can cause severe changes.

This is because effectiveness of methane is some 21 times that of Carbon dioxide.

This will so rpidly accelerate global warming that it will GO BEYOND OUR CONTROL…..

Expected casualties : 4-5 billion humans.

We must once again remember Al Gore’s warning –:

THERE CAN BE UNKNOWN SETS OF CHAIN REACTIONS WAITING FOR US…..

Global Warming Chain Reactions

Global Warming is going to be at a more accelerated rate than ever thought before. This is becasue of the following reasons :

Global Warming & Epidemics…a Correlation ?

The phenomenon of Global Warming is so complex that it is almost impossible to find any correlation between it & the recent spread of epidemics.

Let’s name a few – Bird Flu, Ebola Virus, and also…under-reported in the conventional media…the rise of the microbes.

Global warming has been linked to CLIMATOLOGICAL CHANGES, yeah….like El Nino & others…

But what about diseases? Why not, may I ask? After all, with Global warming, there has been a multiplication of VECTORS……THE HUMAN RACE HAS DECIMATED THE BENEFICIAL ORGANISMS, BE IT TIGERS, CHEETAHS OR POLAR BEARS, and INCREASED THE POPULATION OF DISEASE-SPREADING ORGANISMS LIKE MOSQUITOES, FLIES & SO ON.

IMHO, this might have led to a spread of Ebola Virus & more mutant microbes….some call them MACROBES… bacteria that are becoming so mutant & resistant that they will be impossible to fight off with antibiotics within 25 years.

As to Bird Flu, one still does not have a correlation. But, the virus definitely has shown to be proliferating where there is massive human density of population. Killing off innocent birds is a temporary solution….the real problem lies elsewhere.

Al Gore nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Hope he wins it. Reason:

1. He has pointed out to Global Warming at a critical juncture in time
   "An Inconvenient Truth" made Global Warming a household name.
2. He has pushed for the Kyoto Protocol like no other.
3. He personally helped to ferry victims of Hurricane Katrina
4. He has put forward practical solutions to global warming.
5. He has contributed vastly to the progress & funding of the Internet. Via Mosaic, THE GORE BILL etc.funding leading to the Net boom.
6. He is using the Net to spread ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS.
7. He travels the world frequently on fact-finding missions related to the environment
   
   
   There are many more reasons.....
   ??? and how many politicians you know who is doing what he is ???
   
   But then, hope he also runs for the Presidency ;-)
   
   
   
   
   
   

Global Warming Nearing Irreversible Change?

Many scientits are of the opinion that Global Warming may be nearing a point of no return.

Global Warming is not just about 1 factor. But innumerable factors interlinked with one another. It is very diffiult to understand the connectivity between the factors by our limited kniowledge.

Fossil fuel emissions & other factors due to humankind are the major contributors. Since it is difficult to point a threshold, it may be we have already crossed the point of no returm.

Al Gore, amongst others is spearheading a movement for the awareness of this issue.

...to be continued

Environmental Issues Need of the Hour

This blog is devoted purely towards environmental issues. I’d comment on general issues from time to time. And whenever some environmental current news comes up, I’d post it.

We humans are the only species that have systematically destroyed the majority of the green cover of this Blue Planet. We are responsible for the extinction of numerous species. And some key stone species like the tiger are nearing extinction.

In fact, such a rapid increase in “mass extinction” has never been witnessed in our planet.

Global “biodiversity hotspots” like tropical forests are dwindling at an alarming rate. One has to remember that 90% of species reside in these hotspots.

How can we even think of reversing “Global Warming” if we fail to address these issues from a broad perspective? Add to this the self-interests of nations failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

But not only are we content with destroying our forests, humans are systematically killing off its denizens.

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