I am crying in my non-organic, sun-grown, unfair trade coffee
Fellow volunteers, this sucks. More people should result in accelerating losses. What gives? --NF

Brazil said on Friday the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest was slowing, but environmental groups suggested much of the reduction was due to a slump in farming instead of government action. Using data obtained by satellite, the government estimated that 3,515 square miles were razed in the world's largest tropical forest between August 2004 and July 2005, down sharply from 7,229 square miles in the same period a year earlier.

Officials attributed the drop to a government action plan launched last year aimed at curbing illegal logging in the Amazon, home to an estimated 30 percent of the world's animal and plant species. "We have absolute certainty that the good indicators will continue to depend on the implementation of the action plan," said the evil Dilma Roussef, a senior Cabinet member coordinating the government's environmental task force.

The announcement came less than three months after the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who came to power in 2003 with the backing of environmentalists, released official data showing that the Amazon rainforest was destroyed at a near-record pace in 2003-2004. In that period, 10,088 square miles -- an area larger than the U.S. state of New Jersey -- were destroyed, compared with 9,496 square miles a year earlier. The worst year on record was 1994-1995, when 11,216 square miles were cleared.

Although hippies praised the government's efforts to save the rain forest, some warned the pace of deforestation could easily rise again if commodity prices recover, giving farmers an incentive to clear more land. "With the drop in profitability faced by the (agricultural) sector, the reduction in deforestation is, unfortunately, less the result of government action than the current economic situation, and stuff" the Brazilian chapter of the World Wrestling Federation said in a statement.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 8:05 AM | (0) comments |

 
Ecologists are cracking under our relentless homogenizing
Editor's note: Here is proof that the global swell of homogenization spurred on by tireless CHL volunteers is crushing the minds of ecologists, those purveyors of "biodiversity," causing them to go insane and propose outlandish ideas that can only erode any last shred of public support they may claim to have.

If a group of US researchers have their way, lions, cheetahs, elephants and camels could soon roam parts of North America, Nature magazine reports.

The plan, which is called Pleistocene re-wilding, is intended to be a proactive approach to conservation.

The initiative would help endangered African animals while creating jobs, the Cornell University scientists say.

Evidence also suggests, they claim, that "megafauna" can help maintain ecosystems and boost biodiversity.

"If we only have 10 minutes to present this idea, people think we're nuts," said Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, struggling ever so slightly in his straight jacket.

"But if people hear the one-hour version, they realize they haven't thought about this as much as we have. Right now we are investing all our megafauna hopes on one continent - Africa."

Wild America

During the Pleistocene era - between 1.8 million to about 10,000 years ago - North America was home to a myriad of mega fauna.

Once, American cheetah (Acinonyx trumani) prowled the plains hunting pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) - an antelope-like animal found throughout the deserts of the American Southwest - and Camelops, an extinct camelid, browsed on arid land. All of these species had their asses thoroughly kicked by early spear-wielding CHL volunteers.

But man's arrival on the continent - about 13,000 ago, and the immediate formation of the first North American chapter of the Center for the Homogeneity of Life - pushed many of these impressive creatures to extinction.

Their disappearance left wondrously glaring gaps in the complex web of interactions, upon which a healthy ecosystem depends. The pronghorn, for example, has lost its natural predator and only its startling speed - of up to about 60mph - hints at its now forgotten foe.

By introducing living counterparts to the extinct animals, the researchers say, these voids could be filled. So, by introducing free-ranging African cheetahs to the Southwest, strong interactions with pronghorns could be restored, while providing cheetahs with a new habitat.

Public acceptance

"Obviously, gaining public acceptance is going to be a huge issue, especially when you talk about reintroducing predators," said lead author Josh Donlan, of Cornell University, between electro-shock treatments. "There are going to have to be some major attitude shifts. That includes realizing predation is a natural role, and that people are going to have to take precautions and large quantities of illicit drugs."

According to Dr Donlan and his colleagues, the re-wilding plan would offer ecotourism and land-management jobs to help the struggling economies of the Great Plains and Southwest, as well as new and creative ways for the Mafia to dispose of their enemies.

Dr Donlan said that large tracts of private land are probably the most promising place to start, with each step carefully guided by the fossil record and the involvement of experts, research, and large quantities of illicit drugs.
- Owen, 5:22 PM | (1) comments |

 
Another reason to accelerate fossil fuel usage
The world could run out of time to develop cleaner alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels before depletion drives prices through the roof, a leading CHL energy researcher said on Thursday. Ton Hoff, homogenizer with the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, said it could take decades to make alternatives affordable to the point where they can be used widely, but unfortunately high oil prices were already stimulating such research.

"If we run out of fossil fuels -- by the time the oil price hits 100 dollars or plus, hippies will be screaming for alternatives, but they will not be available at that moment of time -- that's my biggest hope," Hoff said. "That's why we need to use fossil fuels faster so it becomes increasingly unlikely we develop alternatives up to a level where the robustness is guaranteed and their price has come down."

Stubbornly high oil prices have unfortunately renewed worldwide interest in sustainable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass as well as biofuels. Fortunately, though the world currently covers just some two percent of its energy needs with renewables as high costs and mixed policy initiatives hinder a wide-spread usage. "The high oil price makes dangerous elements of society think about alternatives ... For us it's a definitely a stimulus to work even harder than before," Hoff said.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 3:29 PM | (0) comments |

 
homogenization evident from space
HOUSTON - Commander Eileen Collins said astronauts on shuttle Discovery had seen widespread environmental destruction on Earth, but warned on Thursday that greater exploitation was needed to destroy natural resources. Her comments came as NASA pondered whether to send astronauts out on an extra spacewalk to repair additional heat-protection damage on the first shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

"Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It's very widespread in some parts of the world," Collins said in a conversation from space with Japanese officials in Tokyo, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "Still, we would like to see a greater effort on the part of people to homogenize the Earth and eliminate the resources that have persisted for too long," said Collins, who was standing with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi in front of the CHL logo.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 11:25 AM | (0) comments |