Today's lesson focused on forests and vegetation biomes. We examined:
- Different types of vegetation and their global locations
- The adaptations that many forms of vegetation have
- Some of the issues facing forests and vegetation today
Homework Assignment:
Review one (or more) of the following articles that focus on current issues facing today's forests.
Read over the article(s), and then comment on some of the key ideas. You can offer a brief summary of the article, describe some of the connections between the articles and the Geography 12 course, or simply offer some personal reflections on the issues at hand. Feel free also to debate or discuss the comments made by your classmates - just be sure to be respectful.
Re: Cold Snap Won't Stop Pine Beetle
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know -30C is not cold enough to freeze the pine beetles. Burrr...
So, those tough pine beetles have to be killed in the beginning or the end of season or else they'll have enough glycerol to protect them. -45C for 4 days straight... That's extreme.
Oh, yeah, 13.5 million hectares the size of 4 Vancouver Islands, that's unimaginable and absolutely horrifying. The immense size reminds me of the garbage island the size of Texas hanging around.
Eric Wan
I read the article "REALITY CHECK FOR DEFORESTATION"
ReplyDeleteIN the first paragraph, it talks about how everyone thinks that the rate of our deforestation right now will result in a devastation of extinction, which will rival the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Dr. Joseph Wright says otherwise.
He believes that the deforestation isn't as bad as everyone says it is.
DR. Wright says that the species of the forest will be able to survive on secondary forests, and trees will not die out completely. Secondary forests grow within 6 to 7 years, but have scrubby and sparse trees.
There will be future threats. Above all, tropical species such as the elephant, monkeys, apes are being overhunted by the trades people.
Also many toxic fungi have taken out a lot of amphibians.
Some say that Joseph Wright is too optimistic. I believe so too. The technology in modern times is contributing to the cut-down of trees. "Fast and Efficient" machinery can cut down trees and carry them away, clearing land in a matter of days.
But then again, I dont think anyone is stupid enough to cut down ALL of the trees and cause an extinction of forests. Maybe Joseph Wright is right.
-DANIEL PARK-
Our first two class comments - how exciting! Thanks boys for getting us going. Daniel and Eric have provided two great examples of summary/reflections that the rest of you can build on. It's interesting reading each of your individual perspectives on the issues, so keep the posts coming.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the cold snap won't stop the pine beatles. I'm surprise at how much those little insects and withstand. I guess the government is going to have to make sure that they do osomething about it early enough this year before they produce enough glycerol to survive the winter.
ReplyDeleteRe: Key role of forests "may be lost"
ReplyDelete1. People think that planting trees will save the world
2. They don't do anything to decrease the amount of carbon emissions they produce (because the trees can take care of it)
3. Meanwhile, the earth gets warmer and warmer because of further deforestation, Greenhouse effect etc etc...
4. An increase of 2.5 degrees triggers the trees to suddenly release CO2 into the air
5. More green house gasses , more greenhouse effect, temp increases
6. The earth is in a pretty bad state...
(more forests destroyed due to wildfires, droughts, pest invasion so they no longer have the capacity to filter the air effectively)
lesson learned: don't rely on trees to fix problems, start with change on the individual level.
- Polina
Key role of forests 'may be lost'
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I found it really interesting that forests could release so much carbon just by a small rise in temperature of 2.5 degrees Celsius. It's amazing how brittle our ecosystems really are. I also find it quite ironic as we are relying on the forests to absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and slow down global warming, but instead this climate change is actually causing forests to release huge quantities of carbon, therefore, accelerating the process of global warming rather than slowing it down. So right now our planet lies on a fragile balance; the forests absorbing more carbon than it is emitting, with the equilibrium set to tilt within the near future. This is a warning to us all to start reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while we still have a future to look forward to.
RE: COLD SNAP LIKELY WON'T SLOW PINE BEETLE PLAGUE IN BC
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising to see that temperatures of as low as -30C won't even be enough to kill the pine beetle. I didn't know that pine beetles produced glycerol during the winter months to avoid from freezing. Cool!
I wonder when the day of -45C for 4 days will come. I'm sure that on that day A LOT of people will be celebrating, even though some people could be dying in the interior of BC at that time.
And about the 13.5 million hectares, 4 times the size of Vancouver Island thing? That's just disgusting.
-CELINE :)
Pine beetles are the second most important natural disturbance agent after forest fires in B.C. Environmentalists are hoping to control the increasing number of pine beetles by relying on the cold temperature. However, it is soon discovered that the cold temperature will not have much effect on stopping the march of the beetles. They are becoming immune! The reason behind this is because the beetles can produce glycerol in the winter to protect themselves from shriveling up into useless corpses. It’s kind of like how cars uses antifreeze to prevent the engine from freezing.
ReplyDeleteIt is known that pine beetles are eating up the trees in an alarming rate due to the recent outbreak. The result is an unbalanced ecosystem, which may have a further negative impact on our already fragile environment. I do believe that if we take the measures to contain and eliminate the pesky beetles, we have to be careful not to overdo it and kill ALLL. Because even though the beetles are annoying, they are still part of our ecosystem. So if the pine beetles somehow become extinct, then our ecosystem will still be screwed.
-hedyy
Forest is really precious because of its biodiversity. Trees take up CO2 and release O2 for humans and animals, but deforestation is ruining everything. We cut trees for lumber, for money, for economic reasons, but do we think about the aftermath of that? NO, we never do. We are cutting down our own source of O2, we are destroying animals' habitats, and also causing species to become extinct. Not just deforestation, climate change is also a threat to the forest. We certainly have the power to stop or slow down the process, but are we willing to? And who will be willing to take up the first step? If you care about yourself, you should care about the environment and the world!
ReplyDeleteI read the "Key Role of Forests May be Lost"-BBC article and overall it was pretty interesting. One new fact that I found out was the damage caused my climate change can cause forests to release massive amounts of carbon into the atmospere. This could lead to increase in the warming of the atmosphere. I thought that forests could prevent carbon from escaping into the atmosphere, but it seems like its part of the issue aswell.
ReplyDeleteRe: Reality Check For Deforestation Debate.
ReplyDeleteEww, "Rampant overhunting and the commerical bushmeat trade????" How about we stop eating monkeys? Thats pretty disgusting, and I never really knew about it.See, more people have to understand there are many threats to the rainforests other than deforestation alone. Rainforests are so full of biodiversity, and we need to start protecting them from the accelerated clearing of habitat and slaughter of animals. Besides, oldgrowth forests are so pretty, why cut them down?!
The forest is known as the lung of the earth. Trees absorb CO2 and provide oxygen to human being and animals. With the increasing of deforestation and greenhouse gases, winter is getting warmer and warmer that pine beetles can destroy all the pine trees. It is really important as without these pine trees, there will be tons of CO2 in the atmosphere. The increase of CO2 will lead to melting of the ice cap in the artic and increase the sea level . The only solution to solve the problem of pine beetles is to reduce the emmision of CO2 and slow down the increase of the temperature.
ReplyDeleteHello! So I read the CBC's Cold Snap Won't Stop Pine Beetle. I'm not surprised that the pine beetles can endure the harsh cold conditions of -30 degrees. These little critters can adapt very easily. I don't know if BC can ever get close to the temperature of -45 degrees C.. at least not anytime soon. We have to take into account to climate change as well but it would take many many years for the conditions to drop this extremely low. Again, we can't underestimate the adaptations of the pine beetles. In the final paragraph, "The pine-beetle plague has decimated 13.5 million hectares of forest in B.C., an area about four times the size of Vancouver Island," is quite alarming. I think we should take action on this pine beetle plague. WE LOVE OUR TREES, don't we? :) - Monica Macanlalay
ReplyDeleteRe: Reality check for deforestation debate
ReplyDeleteBasically the article is a about the debate if deforestation is going be severe or not. People who think it'll be all OK believe that endangered species could live on secondary forests and farmers could move to cities where "economic opportunities are greater". However people need to research on what species could adapt/live in secondary forests and I don't think it'll be easy for farmers to just move out of the forest area and work in the city. The article also talks about how the U.S should approve the Kyoto Protocol or something similar to it to limit it's carbon emission.
I read "Cold snap likely won't slow pine beetle plague in B.C." and I was shocked that even a temperature of -30C is not enough to kill the beetles, and "it would take a least four days of -45 C temperatures to affect the beetles, which spend the winter under the bark of infested trees." I also didn't know that "The beetles produce a natural supply of glycerol during the winter to avoid freezing up, and by this time of year they are well protected from the cold." The beetles have built up their own defense method against the cold, which makes it even harder to get rid of them. If another solution isn't found shortly, the forests could be wiped out due to infestation, maybe more focus should be on this problem since it won't be too long until the forest is totally infested and begins to die out. "The pine-beetle plague has decimated 13.5 million hectares of forest in B.C., an area about four times the size of Vancouver Island." that is just extremely gross.
ReplyDeleteI read the article about the cold snap too but I think it won't stop the pine beatles. What I'm concerne is about that even the temperature of -30C is not enough to kill the beetles. Also that The pine-beetle plague has decimated 13.5 million hectares of forest in B.C., an area about four times the size of Vancouver Island. I don't think that is a really a good thing. One more thing that I want to tell something about is that B.C government should do something about this....
ReplyDelete