Between 2000 and 2012, the Earth lost forest cover the size of Mongolia.
49 replies, posted
[IMG]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2013/newsspec_6310/img/forests.jpg[/IMG]
[I]The map shows forest change from 2000-12. Green areas are forested; red suffered forest loss; blue showed forest gain; pink experienced both loss and gain.
[/I][QUOTE]A new high-resolution global map of forest loss and gain has been created with the help of Google Earth.
The interactive online tool is publicly available and zooms in to a remarkably high level of local detail - a resolution of 30m.
It charts the story of the world's tree canopies from 2000 to 2012, based on 650,000 satellite images by Landsat 7.
[B]In that time, the Earth lost a combined "forest" the size of Mongolia, enough trees to cover the UK six times.[/B][/QUOTE]
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24934790[/URL]
Jesus.
what's the black area?
That red to blue ratio is WAY off what it should be.
[editline]14th November 2013[/editline]
Hell, I can hardly see any blue on the map.
to show you how much that is
[t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Mongols-map.png[/t]
that's Mongolia and that's a lot
[QUOTE=soccerskyman;42868382]That red to blue ratio is WAY off what it should be.
[editline]14th November 2013[/editline]
Hell, I can hardly see any blue on the map.[/QUOTE]
It's a little better if you use this - [url]http://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest[/url] - to see a more close up view of the data results.
[QUOTE=Amish Steak;42868371]what's the black area?[/QUOTE]
Not forest...
[QUOTE=Amish Steak;42868371]what's the black area?[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/N7uTbfE.png[/IMG]
Christ, sorry for asking...
[QUOTE=Amish Steak;42868371]what's the black area?[/QUOTE]
The sea.
Can... can we stop? Please? I like forests...
Title has typo, supposed to be 2000 to 2012.
[QUOTE=The Pretender;42868475]Title has typo, supposed to be 2000 to 2012.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, my bad - didn't notice it until now and I can't change it.
It'd be nice if a moderator could help me out on this :smile:
[QUOTE]blue showed forest gain;[/QUOTE]
There ain't any :c
(not much, if that)
Can we ban the distribution of unsolicited phone books now?
It is simply unimaginable, if you have any consciousness of biology and the interconnectedness and complexity of the earth's various ecosystems, to imagine that humanity is NOT having a major effect on the world. It is utter nonsense to think that you can just cut down that much forest on the earth, and not have it cause noticeable, attributable consequences.
Humanity has to learn, one way or another I suppose.
[QUOTE=luverofJ!93;42869163]It is simply unimaginable, if you have any consciousness of biology and the interconnectedness and complexity of the earth's various ecosystems, to imagine that humanity is NOT having a major effect on the world. It is utter nonsense to think that you can just cut down that much forest on the earth, and not have it cause noticeable, attributable consequences.[/QUOTE]
You think resource companies give 2 shits? Because they don't. They care about profit and public relations (if they fuck up). That's it.
I could only imagine the effect on the world when the rest of the non western nations try catching up to western standards. That's gotta be pretty demanding on resources.
[QUOTE=Sega Saturn;42868680]Can we ban the distribution of unsolicited phone books now?[/QUOTE]
Paper wouldn't be a source of deforestation, if anything its a source of reforestation since tree farms are used for them.
Deforestation tends to happen to create open space, especially for farmland.
Well, we can comfort ourselves that it is the sea that absorbs most of the carbon dioxide
What the [B]fuck[/B] happened to my country's forests across the subarctic north?!
Mongolia is 19th country in world by land area btw
Wow Canada
Canada get your shit together.
I hate to point this out every time a thread like this appears, but we are all at fault. Almost every product we use contains something whose provenance involved deforestation of some form. Resource companies wouldn't give a shit about clearing the rainforest if there was no demand in the first place.
Honestly, I'm beginning to think that there is literally no other workable solution than for the world population to be cut in half now.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;42875235]I hate to point this out every time a thread like this appears, but we are all at fault. Almost every product we use contains something whose provenance involved deforestation of some form. Resource companies wouldn't give a shit about clearing the rainforest if there was no demand in the first place.
Honestly, I'm beginning to think that there is literally no other workable solution than for the world population to be cut in half now.[/QUOTE]
Some people are cutting forests, lets get rid of half the population of people. A bit extreme don't you think?
[QUOTE=itisjuly;42875293]Some people are cutting forests, lets get rid of half the population of people. A bit extreme don't you think?[/QUOTE]
I agree. Just Mongolia.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;42875293]Some people are cutting forests, lets get rid of half the population of people. A bit extreme don't you think?[/QUOTE]
I'm not saying I'm advocating it as a solution, but the mass destruction of human civilization and life that followed in the wake of Genghis Khan as he drove eastwards into Europe actually had a remarkable effect: The forests of Europe had the opportunity to recover after human life was essentially razed across great swaths of territory. Whole forests grew back.
[QUOTE=Symwck;42869302]I could only imagine the effect on the world when the rest of the non western nations try catching up to western standards. That's gotta be pretty demanding on resources.[/QUOTE]
It'd be impossible. If everyone wanted to live as most people in the west do we'd need several Earths worth of resources.
This is bad.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;42875293]Some people are cutting forests, lets get rid of half the population of people. A bit extreme don't you think?[/QUOTE]
At our current rate of consumption and with our current methods of production, it may indeed be the only way.
Our only hope is a drastic reformation of the way we produce and consume everything: food, energy, everyday items etc.
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