Friendly Gnome's Blog: Amazon rainforest

Showing posts with label Amazon rainforest. Show all posts

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mama gnome's Reached Her Limit and so has Earth

Mama gnome's just about reached her limit..And so has Earth...

Here's a scary scenario.

Doomsday.

Mama gnome tries to stay positive. Think positive and it'll work out.

But according to this UN Report...all these positive brain waves aren't going to cut it anymore.

Planet Earth has just about reached her limit.

We are at the precipice about to tip over.

But please don't take my word for it.

Here is what Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity said:
"This report is saying that we are reaching the tipping point where the irreversible damage to the planet is going to be done unless we act urgently."

He "argued that extinction rates for some animal or plant species were at a historic high, up to 1,000 times those seen before, even affecting crops and livestock."

The UN Report identified 3 major tipping points:

Please watch the official video of Global Biodiversity Outlook 3

video by: chmcbd

Mama gnome restates these 3 Earth tipping points:

deforestation of the Amazon rainforest
dying out of freshwater lakes and other inland water bodies because of pollution
collapse of coral reef ecosystems because of overfishing, ocean pollution and acidification

Mama gnome likes to think positive.

Nice thoughts are good for birthdays but it won't stop ocean acidification, slashing and burning of rainforests, overfishing and humans' obsessive consumerism to the point of just blatant disregard for everything else.

Mama gnome just wants to say stop. Please stop. Before it's too late.

What can humans do to pull us back from the edge of the cliff?

1. Reduce consumption of meat. Billions of people eating meat is the main cause of the Amazon's destruction. They burn the forests to clear it to raise cattle, to plant soy and grain to feed the cattle. Stop this vicious cycle.

2. Watch your money. Save. What a deal right? How? Stop driving so much, stop using so much electricity, stop using so much gas, stop buying so much take out food and disposable plates, styrofoam, paper. By being frugal and saving money, you're helping save the planet.

3. Reduce consumption of fish. Man. Better yet, stop eating sushi. Fish gets no break. They're not even counted as animals I don't think. Have we forgotten where life comes from? From water. If we kill all the fish and our oceans die out, it's bye-bye land animals as well. Please help stop the vicious overfishing of our oceans.

4. Start a vegetable/fruit garden. This is a win-win situation. If you have limited space, use pots/containers. For families with children, it's great incentive to get the kids involved in the process from the beginning, they can see the "fruits" of their labor and might even eat their fruits and veggies.

Mama gnome urges You...yes you sitting there, reading this... to do something.

Even just one thing, one little thing I mentioned in the list to save the planet.

Can you imagine the power of that times 6 billion plus humans?

Please go green.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

How'd you like your steak? With a side of tree frogs or tapirs?

I know what you're thinking.

What does your steak have to do with tree frogs and tapirs?

Has Mama gnome lost it? I wish I had, then it would be easier for me to forget this horrible mess we're in. I don't even know where to start. But I'll try my best.

Mama gnome loves trees. Loves forests even more. And as far as rainforests, let me tell you about one who is very special.

She is Amazonia.

The largest rain forest in the world is the Amazon rainforest. Her range touches nine countries, with 60% of it in Brazil, 13% in Peru and smaller portions run in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

The Amazon rainforest is the most biodiverse rainforest on Earth.
She is home to thousands and thousands of plants, millions of insect species, thousands of species of fish and birds, hundreds of species of mammals and reptiles.

The Amazon rainforest is where you'll find tapirs, leaf-cutter ants, anacondas, jaguars, emperor tamarins, pygmy marmosets, two-toed sloths, harpy eagles, pink dolphins, tree frogs and countless more wonderful animals.

Not only is the Amazon home to all these animals, she is also home for more than 350 ethnic and indigenous groups of people. Their land for thousands of years.

How much do you think this biodiversity and ancestral land is worth?

How about priceless dollars, pesos, euros, francs, gold... She is priceless.

And yet people are burning, flooding and destroying the Amazon.

http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/20945/image08082006_md.jpg

This picture from NASA shows square brown areas where the rainforest has been cleared in the Mato Grosso state of Brazil.

According to this report, almost 3 million acres of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil was deforested from August 2007 to July 2008.

"Today, rapid deforestation threatens the Amazon. At current rates, 55 percent of its rain forests could be gone by 2030—a looming disaster not only for the region’s plants and animals, but for the world."

That's more than half of the Amazon rainforest gone in 21 years.

Twenty one is not some abstract number in the distant future.

That's our lifetime, our children's lifetime, our grandchildren's lifetime.

Who or what is destroying the Amazon?

Basically, this is where your steak or chicken comes in.

With more and more people in the world, more and more people are eating meat.

Therefore, people who are only capable of short-term planning and consider the rainforests not as profitable, employ slash and burn methods to clear the forests to make way for cattle and soy farming.

And Mama gnome has to consider that there are probably desperate people as well who have no other economic means but to do this.

Why soy?
To feed the cattle and chicken in factory farms where meat is processed and mass marketed to the world.

If you are now slumped down in front of the computer, depressed and frustrated with this dilemma, Mama gnome says,

"Dust yourself off. Pick yourself up and let's get to work."

Please, please consider changing your diet.

Now, don't panic.

The spectrum is wide.

On one end is becoming vegetarian and vegan.

The other end is not changing at all. Just go about your business as usual.

I propose somewhere in the middle to start. How about really looking at where you buy your meats and produce?

I know times are hard and fast foods are the cheapest.

But really consider purchasing local produce, meats that are grass fed and not from factory farms.

And even the act of limiting how often you eat meat would make a world of a difference not just for the Amazon, but for your health as well.

How about considering growing your own produce?

I'm sure where you live gets more rain than where Mama gnome lives. Ehemm, lots of Joshua trees here. Not that that's bad. But the gnomes (especially you know who), do their best to save water, our lawns are the attractive color of beige.

Visit here http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/amazon/index.html
to read up about the World Wildlife Federation and what it is doing in conjunction with the Brazilian government to save the Amazon.

Also visit here to read up more about the deforestation of the Amazon.

http://amazonconservation.org/

http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html

http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/

Participate in tree planting.

Purchase electronic cards from Arbor Day Foundation where they plant a tree for every person you give an electronic card to.

And watch this:

video from http://saveouramazonrainforest.blogspot.com/

Side note: Mama gnome thought she had to give up soy milk, veggie burger and tofu as well, but..."the soy that is used in veggie burgers, tofu, and soy milk in the United States is almost exclusively grown domestically, not in the Amazon."

Darn... I mean, good, good, very good.

Yes, it's almost 3 months since I've taken on my greatest challenge and I haven't fallen off the wagon, so to speak.

But for a moment Mama gnome did consider surviving only on air but that's a precious commodity too.

How about lint? Nobody misses lint. Pweh, pweh. Nah, won't work.

So Mama gnome has to ask this unpleasant question,
"Before you eat that hamburger, what side dishes are you eating with it?"

Go green.

(c) 2009 Jenaelha Friendly Gnome's Blog

Friday, July 31, 2009

First Scroll: Treasures Found In A Trashcan Full of Sinatras

There are bands and there are bands and there's the

TRASHCAN SINATRAS

Once upon a time in a magical land, where the Scottish Crossbill sings and the ancient Fortingall tree grows, a band of humans came together and became the Trashcan Sinatras.

Mama gnome has listened to them for years, long before the tube of yous and the book of faces and the twitterings of electronic birds.

The Trashcan Sinatras woke up Mama gnome from an afternoon stupor when she heard Funny.

And Mama gnome said, "What? What wondrous music is this doth stir this gnome's soul?"

And she was hooked.

Their first album, named after Mama gnome's own heart, was called "CAKE."

And the world listened to Obscurity Knocks and Only Tongue can Tell.

And like all heroes, they too were tested. John Douglas, guitarist, described the 'indoor years' that started in 1997.

Yet they remained stalwart humans and amidst their struggles they continued to create poetic, out of this world music with songs such as How Can I Apply , Snow , A Coda and thankfully countless more. Mama gnome will have to fill out scroll after scroll for all of them.

Whenever Mama gnome felt depressed because of earthwarming and diminishing rain forests of the Amazon, she would listen to Weightlifting and her spirits will rise.

All the Dark Horses evokes images of the magnificent animals running free on the Andalusian plains.

In the earth years of nine and two thousand, the Trashcan Sinatras, brought forth their sixth album called IN THE MUSIC which features one of Mama gnome's favorites, Apples and Oranges.

The new album also contains the song, People, which stirs quiet wishing from Mama gnome for a song called, Gnomes.

But Mama gnome wished for more. Her quest: to find the elusive Trashcan Sinatras.

And so Mama gnome accompanied by loyal Daddy gnome traveled and passed through the desert.

They admired Rock formations evocative of a certain planet (cough) Vulcan!

They traversed the highway of cement where the gnome car passed through the carpool lane, and other cars parked on the other side of the freeway. You see or rather smell greenhouse gases hard at work.

They passed this.

And Mama gnome thought, "What manner of woman is this Beverly to have hills named after her?"

Mama gnome later realized she did not see any hills whilst they drove through the Hills of Beverly. At least not the geographical kind. Pardon the smart alecky Mama gnome.

They stopped at this junction, where they were taking pictures of humans for free if they crossed whilst the light was red.
Daddy gnome didn't want free pictures that day.
He said, "You can have as many free pictures you want, Mama gnome, when you're the one driving the gnome car." Poor sport.

Until finally, the gnomes forced to park their car ten blocks away, returned to this path.

The Fates smiled down at Mama gnome for she saw one of the humans from Trashcan Sinatras.

So Mama gnome armed only with the fire in her heart approached him...

And in the manner of hanging from a cliff, Mama gnome will post the second scroll to narrate her adventures.

Please visit Mama gnome's blog soon to find out what happens when she enters the abode of The Troubadour.

Is this a plot set by the giants to trap Mama gnome?

Will she succeed in her quest for the Trashcan Sinatras? And what does Daddy gnome have to say about that?

In the interest of full disclosure and staying green, Mama gnome is not in the habit of driving frequently, she hardly ever has to. She counts herself very lucky.

She has only been to two concerts in the last seven years and this is that second concert. The first one was Coldplay. And it'll probably be years before she goes to another one.

In the meantime please, help all the Dark Horses and lift the weight off your spirit and REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE...
Go Greeen!

(c) Trashcan Sinatras for all the beautiful works I've mentioned.

Please visit their website at http://www.trashcansinatras.com/

(c)2009 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome for blogpost