Archive for March, 2009
American Chestnut is Making a Comeback
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
The American chestnut was a magnificent tree which mainly resided on the east coast of America, dominating forests from Maine to Georgia. It grew to over 100ft and most had a diameter of up to 5ft. These trees were massive and incredibly popular.
They were strong, growing with a straight grain and were rot resistant. This meant they were perfect for making almost anything from railway sleepers to furniture. The American chestnut also provided an excellent food source for both humans and wildlife, producing a yearly crop of lovely brown chestnuts.
In the late 1800’s Americans introduced a new species of chestnut tree, the Asian chestnut. This was a big mistake as these trees carried a disease called Cryphonectria parasitica or chestnut blight, which would soon almost wipe out the good old American chestnut.
Unfortunately the American chestnut has been hit hard by blight in the past 100 years and is almost extinct. Blight spreads easily and very quickly, simply on the wind or by small animals. Also Oak trees, which are not affected by the disease, can act as carriers. The disease gets into the natural cracks in the American chestnut and spreads around the tree, the tree then dies from there up.
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), which was set up in 1983 is now working hard to bring the tree back. They are hoping to breed a blight resistant strain which will have the same attributes as the original American chestnut. The goal of the breeding program is to combine the blight resistance of the Asian chestnut with the desirable characteristics of the American chestnut.
Hopefully the cross pollination breeding program will work and American chestnut trees will once again dominate the East coast of America.
Tags: American chestnut, Asian chestnut, Blight, extinct, Forest
Posted in Environment, trees | No Comments »
Comic Relief 2009 - ‘positive change through the power of entertainment’
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Friday 13th March 2009, sees the return of Comic Relief to the BBC.
The money raised will help projects in both the UK and Africa.
There are many big projects underway the most publicised probably being the 5 day climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Africa. Nine celebrities accomplished the climb, Gary Barlow (Singer), Chris Moyles (Radio Presenter), Ronan Keating (Singer), Cheryl Cole (Singer), Kimberly Walsh (Singer), Fearne Cotton (Presenter), Ben Shepard (Presenter) , Denise van Outen (Presenter) and Alesha Dixon (Singer).
The mountain stands at 19,340ft above sea level, the gruelling climb was Take That’s Gary Barlow’s idea, it has been reported that he has been suffering with excruciating back pain and had to take complete rest for two weeks before setting off to Africa.
Gary has battled on and all of the celebrities made it to the Uhuru Peak on volcano kibo on Saturday. They took the Machame route which is slightly more difficult than the ‘easy’ route called Marangu.
Due to the mountain’s equatorial location as well as its high elevation, climbers can experience almost every climate type on earth during their climb to the top. It is also known to many for its year round snow-topped summit. The snow is slowly disappearing which scientists believe is due to global warming.
Radio one is encouraging listeners to text in and has raised thousands and it increases everyday. Details of how you can donate are on both the Radio One and Comic Relief websites. The money raised from the climb will be split with 40% going to the UK and 60% going to Africa.
In Africa they plan to use the money to fight malaria which kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds. Simple measures such as mosquito nets will save lives.
All 9 of the celebrity climbers reached the top, it is an amazing achievement for them on a personal level but it is also great for the charity. The celebrities arrived back to the UK today (10th March 09).
British Telecom is covering the cost of the climb. To help raise cash five of the celebrity climbers have taken over the speaking clock. When callers dial 123 they will be given an accurate time check by either Cheryl, Kimberley, Gary, Chris or Fearne. Each has re-branded the pips with their own comical versions – ranging from raspberries to piano chords or blowing kisses.
The climb which has raise over £1.5 million will be shown in an hour special on BBC 1 on Thursday 12th March 09 from 8pm.
Tags: Celebrities, Charity, Comic Relief, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mountain Climbing
Posted in Charity | No Comments »
Trees are Getting Bigger and Better
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
According to Greenpeace rainforest trees are getting bigger, which is excellent in the battle against climate change.
A group of scientists who are reporting on a 40 year study of African tropical forests have found that over the past few decades each hectare of intact African forest has trapped an extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon per year.
Dr Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, and the lead author of the paper says that “we are receiving a free subsidy from nature,” because “tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18 per cent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change”.
This study has been based on 3 major forests, the Amazon in South America, the Paradise Forests in south east Asia, and the forests of the Congo Basin in central Africa. Each one an essential part of the worlds eco system, slowly helping to remove some of the carbon monoxide we produce daily.
Dr Lee White, co-author on the study and Gabon’s chief climate change scientist, said: “To get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a tonne of carbon, should be valued at around £13 billion per year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests.”
Rainforests are amazing they actually suck the carbon monoxide from the air, expelling oxygen. These rainforest are slowly being destroyed basically for human pleasure.
Unfortunately, at the moment we are not valuing these ancient forests for what they provide. Worldwide, rainforests are still being cut down and degraded at a staggering rate. They urgently need protecting. Charities like Greenpeace are doing all they can to highlight this issue to people in position of power so that something will be done.
Funding and education are essential to the cause so that the people living in these forests can understand their importance and see value in keeping the forests how they are rather than cutting them down.
We all know the world is changing perhaps this study will finally highlight the importance of trees. Forests have been destroyed all over the world and each hectare which disappears takes away some of our protection from Co2 and climate change.
It is estimated that 13 million hectares of the worlds forests are destroyed each year, 6 million of these have been largely untouched and undisturbed by man.
The result of this major deforestation is a loss of habitat for wildlife and also a reduction or complete removal of the ecosystem services provided by these forests.
Its time to stop, look and listen… we can not afford to keep destroying the planet in this way, no matter how much economic value is in the land and trees themselves.
Tags: Climate Change, Forest, global warming, Greenpeace, rainforest, science, trees, wildlife
Posted in Environment, trees | No Comments »