Those Rain Forests May Not Be As Pristine As Once Thought

Below are links to two different articles about our rain forests and discussion on whether or not we are actually losing as much forested land as we are led to believe. The two articles, not related, also reveal that our “untouched by human hands” jungles and rain forest were once inhabited by humans.

These readings are not for everyone, as some just couldn’t handle a new thought that might run a bit contrary to the popular talking points of the environmentalists and global warming fear mongers.

Also be warned that these two articles don’t come from suspected conservative sites. One comes from the N.Y. Times and the other from the University of Chicago.

If you don’t have time to read them both now, make sure to bookmark this page and/or save the links. You might be surprised at what you read.

From the N.Y. Times

The new forests, the scientists argue, could blunt the effects of rain forest destruction by absorbing carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping gas linked to global warming, one crucial role that rain forests play. They could also, to a lesser extent, provide habitat for endangered species.

The idea has stirred outrage among environmentalists who believe that vigorous efforts to protect native rain forest should remain a top priority. But the notion has gained currency in mainstream organizations like the Smithsonian Institution and the United Nations, which in 2005 concluded that new forests were “increasing dramatically” and “undervalued” for their environmental benefits.

From the University of Chicago

Many experts believe it’s time to take a closer look, and not just in El Salvador. Despite assumptions that globalization is destroying forests, these researchers argue that in many parts of the world globalization and the policies that go along with it are in fact helping to create them. Migration from rural areas to cities or other countries, new markets for forest commodities, and even war are helping in some places to bring trees back. In other places the demand for diverse and far-flung products like rubber, tea, and açaí fruit, for example, is transforming existing forests and the lives that depend on them, often in unexpected ways. Perhaps most surprisingly, archaeologists and ecologists have discovered growing evidence that many forests once considered pristine, including much of the Amazon, have long been marked by human activity.

Resurgent forests, changing forests, forests bearing the marks of ancient inhabitants: findings like these have made researchers reexamine how human activity has shaped forests in the past and is shaping them today.

Tom Remington

Related Articles

• If You Don’t Like The Game, Change The Rules (0)
• Obama’s EPA Wants To Control Your Life Even More (0)
• Countering Nature’s Self-Regulating Hypothesis (0)
• Three Steps the IPCC Must Take (1)
• Statement of David A. Ridenour on Congressional Junket to Copenhagen (1)
• Alert! New Catastrophy! CO2 Will Dissolve Ocean Turtles And Reefs (0)
• Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide And Interglacial Warmth (0)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!