ZAGE GUY UNLIMITED

Back in the 1990s there was a show that sparked just about every corner of my creative and crazy mind. I was addicted to this show like I was addicted to Pokemon. Popular Mechanic for Kids was a show that started back in 1997. This show was not as geeky as it sounds, it was pretty cool. Like Mythbusters, except they didn't bust any myths or blow things up each episode. This is the show that launched Elisha Cuthbert's career as a host next to Jay Baruchel, both of them now very successful in the tv show and movie circuit. Even though they only worked together for about one year then Jay got replaced by some other dude, that first year was a year I remember in episodes of this show. Many of the science concepts I know today are because of these two, once teens.   

Elisha Cuthbert  in The Girl Next Door

Jay Baruchel from The Sorcerer's Apprentice

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"


We may not be there, but someone else might be there. Can we just simply ignore this or accept the fact that someone else might be in this position? This then turns from a philosophic stand to an ethical one. Just because it isn't happening to us, it doesn't mean it's not happening. 


In Environmental Science there is an amazing section of study called Ecological Services, in which Forestry is one of those services. It's kind of a weird way to phrase it, "service." These forests service us in more ways than we can think of, yet everyday we don't think about the little things that we wouldn't have if it weren't for these forests of the world. And year by year, there's less of these forests; Why are there so many less? The answer lies is my last post : Population. The movie Avatar may have been terrific on the big screen but sadly this is the reality of this planet at the moment, it just takes interest in wanting to find out. Do we find out about the terrible lands being wiped out or do we keep purchasing our favorite items?

Forests and air

• Over 40 percent of the world's oxygen is produced from the rainforests. 
• Forests contribute to the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity
  in the air.

Forests and water

• A tree releases 8-10 times more moisture into the atmosphere than the
  equivalent area of the ocean.
• Forests protect watersheds which supply fresh water to rivers.
• Loss of forests could affect rainfall patterns globally, especially in food
  growing regions in Latin America, the American mid-West and Central Asia. 
• Deforestation leads to soil erosion and rivers being silted, which reduces
  access to clean wate

Forests and biodiversity

• Forests are home to over 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. 
• In the Amazon basin alone, more than 1,300 species of forest plants are
  used for medicinal or cultural purposes.
• 12% of the world’s forests are designated for the conservation of biological
  diversity (FRA 2010).
• Deforestation of closed tropical rainforests could account for the loss of as
  many as 100 species a day.

Forests build resilience to natural disasters 

• Nearly 330 million hectares of forest are designated for soil and water
  conservation, avalanche control, sand dune stabilization, desertification
  control or coastal protection. (FRA 2010)
• Mangrove forests act as a barrier against tsunamis, cyclones and
  hurricanes.
• ‘Green Wall for the Sahara’ The European Union and African Union are
  implementing a project to build a ‘green wall’ of trees across the Sahara
  to push back desertification and to secure agriculture and livelihoods in
  the sahelo-saharan zone.

Forests and land

• Forests cover 31% of global land area
• Forests and tree cover combat land degradation and desertification by stabilizing soils, reducing water and wind erosion and maintaining nutrient cycling in soils.

Forests are a key part of the climate change solution

• The carbon in forests exceeds the amount of carbon currently in the atmosphere.  FRA 2010 estimates that the world’s forests store 289 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon in their biomass alone.
• 17.4% of global greenhouse gas emission resulted from deforestation and forest degradation.
• Forests offer the quickest, most cost-effective and largest means of curbing global emissions. It would save the world approximately $3.7 trillion between 2010 and 2200 if we halve greenhouse gas emissions (The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006).
   

Healthy forests, healthy people

• Tropical forests provide a vast array of medicinal plants used in healing and healthcare, worth an estimated $108 billion a year.  
• More than a quarter of modern medicines originate from tropical forest plants.
• Forests curb infectious diseases. Undisturbed tropical forests can have a moderating effect on insect- and animal-borne disease:
  
  • 40% of the world’s population lives in malaria infested regions. Heavily deforested areas can see a 300 fold increase in the risk of malaria infection compared to areas of intact forest.
  • 72% of emerging infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans come from wildlife as opposed to domesticated animals. Deforested areas increase contact between wildlife and humans and affect pathogen transmission.

Forests are our livelihoods/wealth

• 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods and daily subsistence needs.
• The global gross value-added in the forestry sector is US$ 468 billion.
• The global trade in primary wood products is US$ 235 billion.
• Tropical forests provide pollination services to agriculture valued at US$12 billion per year. 
• Given that more than 1 billion hectares of degraded areas throughout the world are suitable for forest landscape restoration, community-based forest management could be woven into other existing rural economic activities.

For many who don't know the complete areas of study in Environmental Science, here's a small peak to what Population really is all about: DEATH AND BIRTH! MUAHAHAH! But really, these concepts practically define most of the other areas of Environmental Science. You see, the higher the population in a country to more resources it will need, the more resources needed the more exploration committed within the land, of course, this is just a small example. This affects the economy, social environment, biological environment, chemical and physical environment and so on.

Our world population has dangerously reached 6,918,360,000 (the last hundreds place was left blank with zeros because it is constantly increasing. Mid 20th century the industrial revolution brought a global boom to birth rates and decrease of death rates due to modern medicine.

World Population at extreme exponential growth

The points on the y-axis on the graph show the expectation of population numbers by certain future years. You notice that by 2025, only 14 years away, our global numbers will reach 8 billion people. This is dangerous enough to start all sorts of diplomatic, social, and environmental problems. In Environmental Science one is not only taught to care for the Environment but ultimately to further humans' survivor as a mission. There are two views when it comes to global population: Western view and Deep Ecology view. Western views include the "frontier" set of mind for humanity to grow stronger and better no matter what, while Deep Ecology involves a balance between humans and the planet's ecological resources. This diagram shows the basic concept:



>>Breathing Earth<<
 This website here will demonstrate just exactly how many people are being born (Birth rate) as opposed to how many people die (Death rate).

On Following Posts I will explain further concepts of Environmental Science, like Energy and Global Consumption.

Posted some new photos on my Flickr page. =D

Back in high school I took to reading about here Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg, who created a theory of several moral stages in which a human individual is supposed to evolve through. I remember reading this and instantly wanted to talk to my former English teacher about it, Mr. Lutz. He told me that this was a hidden but obvious concept in the way society works and many follow lesser stages due to closeted mindsets. You see, this man Kohlberg, like any other followed his path through university focusing on psychology then taking interest on Piaget's stages of morality which he adapted to test and develop from then. While many rely on the age and intelligence of the individual, it is safe to see the correlation between these stages and many social groups. 

So, from going to a pointless class where my professor just reads a boring power-point to having to search online for the most talented professors in the country. I recently just discovered a website that contains entire lectures from professors from all over the country's most reputable schools, and there's a reason why those schools are as good as they say, it's because of these educators. They are all very talented and really do transmit the power of what they're teaching. Here's the link to the website called Academic Earth: http://academicearth.org/ contains lectures from Biology to Physics to even Computer Science. I have a test on Genetics, Cell Communication and Multicellularity tomorrow and so far I am depending on these videos to get me through along with my awesome book (Thank you David >_<).

They have lectures for all these subjects; I hope it comes useful to many.

Subjects