Their discharge maintains a cover over the atmosphere to prevent penetration of the sun's harmful rays.
That's why I'm pleased about a new global monitoring system which promises the latest information on deforestation around the world on a daily to monthly basis. Google and over 40 business and campaigning groups back Global Forest Watch.
The technology, funded by grants from the UK, Norwegian and US governments uses information from hundreds of millions of satellite images as well as data from people on the ground.
Despite greater awareness around of the world of the impacts of deforestation, the scale of forest loss since 2000 has been significant. Data from Google and the University of Maryland shows world loss of 230 million hectares of trees between 2000 and 2012. Forest campaigners say this is the equivalent of 50 football fields of trees being cut down, every minute of every day over the past 12 years.
Those behind the new online tool believe it could not only allow campaigners to hold large corporations to account over the use of sustainable products, but could also promote greater trust between traditionally suspicious groups. As they say in CSI, the facts can't lie.
Trees are the world’s single largest source of breathable oxygen. The threat to trees means people are under threat.
That's why I'm pleased about a new global monitoring system which promises the latest information on deforestation around the world on a daily to monthly basis. Google and over 40 business and campaigning groups back Global Forest Watch.
The technology, funded by grants from the UK, Norwegian and US governments uses information from hundreds of millions of satellite images as well as data from people on the ground.
Despite greater awareness around of the world of the impacts of deforestation, the scale of forest loss since 2000 has been significant. Data from Google and the University of Maryland shows world loss of 230 million hectares of trees between 2000 and 2012. Forest campaigners say this is the equivalent of 50 football fields of trees being cut down, every minute of every day over the past 12 years.
Those behind the new online tool believe it could not only allow campaigners to hold large corporations to account over the use of sustainable products, but could also promote greater trust between traditionally suspicious groups. As they say in CSI, the facts can't lie.
Trees are the world’s single largest source of breathable oxygen. The threat to trees means people are under threat.
The world's largest tree, a giant sequoia has grown in California's Sequoia National Park for many thousands of years. The latest assessment makes the tree approx. 2,500 years old. The General Sherman tree measures 275 feet tall and 30 feet across at the base.
The United Nations Environment Program estimates the world has lost 80% of our original forests in the last decade. We know they give us oxygen and reduce global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide. Here are ten more great reasons to love trees:
1. Aspirin, derived from willow bark, is commonly used to relieve pain, fever and inflammation. Taken daily it can also protect against heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer's disease and even certain types of cancer. I take daily aspirin for an irregular heart beat.
2. The natural, calming environment created by trees can help improve mental health. I live at the top of the hill in the picture below. In the UK, trees mop up the fumes and dull the sound of traffic which blocks the road during the commuting hours.
The United Nations Environment Program estimates the world has lost 80% of our original forests in the last decade. We know they give us oxygen and reduce global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide. Here are ten more great reasons to love trees:
1. Aspirin, derived from willow bark, is commonly used to relieve pain, fever and inflammation. Taken daily it can also protect against heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer's disease and even certain types of cancer. I take daily aspirin for an irregular heart beat.
2. The natural, calming environment created by trees can help improve mental health. I live at the top of the hill in the picture below. In the UK, trees mop up the fumes and dull the sound of traffic which blocks the road during the commuting hours.
3. Trees' leaf litter on the woodland floor is a vital food source for wildlife. This includes bacteria, fungi, plants, birds and animals, each of which plays a vital role in the woodland's carbon and nitrogen cycle.
4. Trees in the right place protect buildings from weather.
5. Roots of trees capture and store excess water on water-soaked land.
6. Leaves improve air quality, clearing tons of particulate pollution each year.
7. They can send chemical cues to repel attackers - and to attract friendly insects that will eat the enemy species.
8. The oldest trees in the world can live to 4,600 years old, outliving hundreds of human generations.
9. A mature birch tree can produce up to 1 million seeds per year.
10. New tree crops from indigenous fruit and nut species restore soil fertility and biodiversity in degraded land – reversing poverty and malnutrition in third world countries.
4. Trees in the right place protect buildings from weather.
5. Roots of trees capture and store excess water on water-soaked land.
6. Leaves improve air quality, clearing tons of particulate pollution each year.
7. They can send chemical cues to repel attackers - and to attract friendly insects that will eat the enemy species.
8. The oldest trees in the world can live to 4,600 years old, outliving hundreds of human generations.
9. A mature birch tree can produce up to 1 million seeds per year.
10. New tree crops from indigenous fruit and nut species restore soil fertility and biodiversity in degraded land – reversing poverty and malnutrition in third world countries.
www.telegraph.co.uk Absorb the peace pictured in the ancient English forest. Some blame deforestation for global warming. Everyone agrees that the weather's gone crazy lately. Apparently, Antarctic weather patterns have dropped lower over the globe, bringing increased snow to America and floods to England.
A sea wall in a UK Cornish village has been further damaged as a result of recent storms.
In a recent announcement, a St Ives MP said another sizeable portion of the wall in Coverack, in the Lizard area, was damaged on Friday. The Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team said people should take care in this area. The village's main road, on top of the wall, had already been made impassable by an earlier collapse.
I don't live in Cornwall. However, all my novels are set in the area. Some of my forbears lived in Cornwall.
You'll see my books on the sidebar. Liliha lives in St Ives in the novels Still Rock Water and Tidal Surge. The futuristic co-written Higher Ground series feature characters who call St Ives: 'Saint Eyes'. That's where the holy ones live. I'm aghast about the prediction Edith and I made about the Great Flood which came to the Earth. It wasn't meant to happen now.
Protect the trees. Our combined action might prevent further damage. For the last twenty years I've included a prayer in my daily meditation. 'Let the trees take up the goodness of the soil to protect our planet'.
A sea wall in a UK Cornish village has been further damaged as a result of recent storms.
In a recent announcement, a St Ives MP said another sizeable portion of the wall in Coverack, in the Lizard area, was damaged on Friday. The Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team said people should take care in this area. The village's main road, on top of the wall, had already been made impassable by an earlier collapse.
I don't live in Cornwall. However, all my novels are set in the area. Some of my forbears lived in Cornwall.
You'll see my books on the sidebar. Liliha lives in St Ives in the novels Still Rock Water and Tidal Surge. The futuristic co-written Higher Ground series feature characters who call St Ives: 'Saint Eyes'. That's where the holy ones live. I'm aghast about the prediction Edith and I made about the Great Flood which came to the Earth. It wasn't meant to happen now.
Protect the trees. Our combined action might prevent further damage. For the last twenty years I've included a prayer in my daily meditation. 'Let the trees take up the goodness of the soil to protect our planet'.
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