Urgent
The following is a rough draft for another project...
The planet is dying, and deforestation is one of the causes. Trees capture carbon dioxide from the air, and when trees are cut and destroyed, this carbon is released, aggravating global warming. The loss of a forest also increases the loss of water resources, and reduces biodiversity.
Forests and jungles are being cut down mainly for lumber, wood fuel, agricultural use and cattle grazing purposes. Expanding populations, debt obligations, market forces, and bad leadership are driving the disaster.
Afghanistan has lost most of its forest cover in the last two decades
Philippines has lost 90% of its original forest cover
Haiti only has 1% left- making it a giant Caribbean desert.
Madagascar has lost about 98% of its original jungle
(Israel is the only country in the world to end the 20th century with more trees than the area had at the begining of it).
What to do?
Make the IMF and World bank forgive certain debts that the most afflicted countries possess. Make it globally illegal for any couple to have more than three children. Expand the number of preserved parks and land, and enforce protection through the use of corporate security forces such as the now defunct 'Executive Outcomes.' Mass introduce new farming methods such as hydroponics, permaculture, and biodynamic. Re-introduce the electric car. Outlaw all biofuels- the clearing of large tracts of land in Brazil to make sugar cane just for biofuel is a glaring example of bad policy. Mass produce Hemp and kenaf, and plant more tree farms. Leaders should encourage us to consume less overall. A neo-Kyoto Accord conference should be to held. Vote green or ecologically minded-always. Waste water can be treated and used again, but most of it is sent out to sea, where it becomes lost. If we could overcome our collective "yuck" factor, filtered sewage water can be routed back to our underground aquifers.
We might be able to turn seawater into the prime energy carrier for our needs- if we can cheaply crack the covalent bond between oxygen and hydrogen, we could just use hydrogen for most of our energy needs. Australian scientist Janusz Nowotny claims to be able to do iit using a catalyst of titanium oxide. Aluminum has also been touted as a catalyst...
You run the seawater over a plate made up of the catalyst, then zap the water with an electrical shock (produced by a solar Stirling engine, the best bet). The hydrogen breaks free from the oxygen and you can then use it for power generation. Up to now, it has always taken more energy to crack the bond than you could ever get from using the hydrogen. But the claim is that now the energy expended is less than what you get back- far less.
The loss of the rainforest's- an event soon to happen- will alter weather patterns worldwide, poison the air, and maybe melt the icecaps.
The planet is dying, and deforestation is one of the causes. Trees capture carbon dioxide from the air, and when trees are cut and destroyed, this carbon is released, aggravating global warming. The loss of a forest also increases the loss of water resources, and reduces biodiversity.
Forests and jungles are being cut down mainly for lumber, wood fuel, agricultural use and cattle grazing purposes. Expanding populations, debt obligations, market forces, and bad leadership are driving the disaster.
Afghanistan has lost most of its forest cover in the last two decades
Philippines has lost 90% of its original forest cover
Haiti only has 1% left- making it a giant Caribbean desert.
Madagascar has lost about 98% of its original jungle
(Israel is the only country in the world to end the 20th century with more trees than the area had at the begining of it).
What to do?
Make the IMF and World bank forgive certain debts that the most afflicted countries possess. Make it globally illegal for any couple to have more than three children. Expand the number of preserved parks and land, and enforce protection through the use of corporate security forces such as the now defunct 'Executive Outcomes.' Mass introduce new farming methods such as hydroponics, permaculture, and biodynamic. Re-introduce the electric car. Outlaw all biofuels- the clearing of large tracts of land in Brazil to make sugar cane just for biofuel is a glaring example of bad policy. Mass produce Hemp and kenaf, and plant more tree farms. Leaders should encourage us to consume less overall. A neo-Kyoto Accord conference should be to held. Vote green or ecologically minded-always. Waste water can be treated and used again, but most of it is sent out to sea, where it becomes lost. If we could overcome our collective "yuck" factor, filtered sewage water can be routed back to our underground aquifers.
We might be able to turn seawater into the prime energy carrier for our needs- if we can cheaply crack the covalent bond between oxygen and hydrogen, we could just use hydrogen for most of our energy needs. Australian scientist Janusz Nowotny claims to be able to do iit using a catalyst of titanium oxide. Aluminum has also been touted as a catalyst...
You run the seawater over a plate made up of the catalyst, then zap the water with an electrical shock (produced by a solar Stirling engine, the best bet). The hydrogen breaks free from the oxygen and you can then use it for power generation. Up to now, it has always taken more energy to crack the bond than you could ever get from using the hydrogen. But the claim is that now the energy expended is less than what you get back- far less.
The loss of the rainforest's- an event soon to happen- will alter weather patterns worldwide, poison the air, and maybe melt the icecaps.
posted by Zero at 2:16 PM
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