OrganicAuthority.com - Organic Blog » Search Results » clearing http://www.organicauthority.com/blog Organic Authority - organic food, organic living, green living, organic thoughts. Fri, 24 May 2013 17:32:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 Acai Plantations Muscling Out Rainforests http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/acai-plantations-muscling-out-rainforests/ http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/acai-plantations-muscling-out-rainforests/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:10:11 +0000 Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=3534 acai1Acai berry is everywhere! Oprah’s fad diet was only the beginning. Flavored vodka and jelly beans are on their way too, but this increased demand comes with a price.

More acai berry means more acres of rainforest are being cleared for new plantations.

Rainforests are diverse ecosystems and home to a variety of botanicals. Chopping them can threaten the environment and even our health.

Tropical rainforests have 1,500 different types of plants and 750 species of trees, losing them could put at risk the 120 varieties of rainforest-derived prescription drugs, like antibiotics and antiseptics, sold worldwide.

Scientists fear the destruction of the rainforest, through land clearing, cattle ranching, farming and logging, could cause hundreds of rainforest-dwelling plants and animals to go extinct.

Now, to help repopulate the rainforest, researchers have developed a system of shootings seed carrying projectiles from the air. This could replace current replanting methods that waste up 70% of seeds.

Via Health and Men.

]]> http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/acai-plantations-muscling-out-rainforests/feed/ 1 Replant Rainforests, Shoot from the Air! http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/replant-rainforests-shoot-from-the-air/ http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/replant-rainforests-shoot-from-the-air/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:10:01 +0000 Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=2470 rainforest1Logging and land-clearing for agriculture is destroying the world’s rainforest. Forcing wildlife into smaller habitats and heightening concern over global warming. Rainforests absorb the world’s carbon dioxide.

So, the race is on to save the tropics. And a new technology developed in the U.K. promises to replant forests by raining down cone-shaped projectiles armed with seeds and seedlings.

Current air-planting techniques waste over 75% of seeds, getting eaten or are blown onto unsuitable ground.

But this new technology straps a mattress-sized launching pad to the bottom of a helicopter, allowing for up to 200 projectiles to be individually released by computer. The cones, made from biodegradable plastic and contain a seedling, soil and water-retaining compounds, borrow into the ground increasing the chances of a successful replant.

Each cone has three little legs that spring out in order to keep the seedling upright. Very cool!

Via NewScientist.

]]> http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/replant-rainforests-shoot-from-the-air/feed/ 0 Impact of Arctic Heat Wave Stuns Climate-Change Researchers http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/impact-of-arctic-heat-wave-stuns-climate-change-researchers/ http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/impact-of-arctic-heat-wave-stuns-climate-change-researchers/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:34:28 +0000 Barbara Feiner http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=593 Unprecedented warm temperatures in the High Arctic this past summer were so extreme that researchers have begun revising their forecasts.   “Everything has changed dramatically in the watershed we observed,” reports geography professor Scott Lamoureux, PhD, the leader of an International Polar Year project recently announced in Canada. “It’s something we’d envisioned for the future, but to see it happening now is quite remarkable.”   Dr. Lamoureux’s new four-year project on remote Melville Island in the northwest Arctic brings together scientists and educators from three Canadian universities and the territory of Nunavut. They are studying how the amount of water will vary as climate changes and how this affects the water quality and ecosystem sustainability of plants and animals that depend on it. This information will be key to improving models for predicting future climate change in the High Arctic, which is critical to the everyday living conditions of people living there, especially through the lakes and rivers where they obtain their drinking water.   From their camp on Melville Island last July, where they recorded air temperatures over 20ºC (in an area with July temperatures that average 5ºC), the team watched in amazement as water from melting permafrost a meter below ground lubricated the topsoil, causing it to slide down slopes, clearing everything in its path and thrusting up ridges at the valley bottom “that piled up like a rug,” says Dr. Lamoureux, an expert in hydroclimatic variability and landscape processes. “The landscape was being torn to pieces, literally before our eyes. A major river was dammed by a slide along a 200-meter length of the channel. River flow will be changed for years, if not decades to come.”   Comparing this summer’s observations against aerial photos dating back to the 1950s, and the team’s monitoring of the area for the last five years, the research leader calls the present conditions “unprecedented” in scope and activity. What’s most interesting, he says, is that their findings represent the impact of just one exceptional summer.   “A considerable amount of vegetation has been disturbed, and we observed a sharp rise in erosion and a change in sediment load in the river,” Dr. Lamoureux says. “With warmer conditions and greater thaw depth predicted, the cumulative effect of this happening year after year could create huge problems for both the aquatic and land populations. This kind of disturbance also has important consequences for existing and future infrastructure in the region, like roads, pipelines and air strips.”   If this were to occur in more inhabited parts of Canada, it would be “catastrophic” in terms of land use and resources, he continues. “It would be like taking an area the size of Kingston and having 15% of it disappear into Lake Ontario.”   The researchers are working with other groups to investigate the impact of climate change on water in the Arctic and the impact of global warming.   For more information about the International Polar Year, click here.   Note: OrganicAuthority.com publishes science news so organic consumers have access to the latest information on climate change and threats to our environment. You can view similar posts by visiting the Environment Section of our blog.]]> http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/the-environment/impact-of-arctic-heat-wave-stuns-climate-change-researchers/feed/ 0 Raw Food Detox Journal – Day 14 http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/raw-food-detox-journal-day-14/ http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/raw-food-detox-journal-day-14/#comments Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:48:29 +0000 tamlyn http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=550 water system used by certified technicians to cleanse the colon). First time since my twenties. Found out that there was not much there to clean out! The 70/30 raw food diet I’m consuming is like eating microscopic scrub brushes. That’s how Linda, the hydro-colon lady, explained it. She said I was pretty clean for a first time visit (going back next week). That impressed me (how the veggie diet has me cleaned out already). I had an image tonight while resting and thinking in bed. I looked down at my body, my beautiful body, and saw it underneath the layer of fat that is hiding it. It’s like I’ve been walking around with a spacesuit on. I’m wearing a fake body. That’s exactly it. My next thought was that I couldn’t wait to shed it. It’s coming off. Slower than I’d like; about six or seven pounds now after 2 weeks. But it’s leaving. I fasted to prepare for the colonic the first half of the day; no H2O even. Afterwards, I went to a restaurant for the first time since being on the diet. (Funny, I prefer eating at home now!) I had a nice simple salad and chilled, pureed avocado/cucumber soup. It was SO satisfying and tasty. I had no desire for any the bad stuff that was also on the menu. My nine-year-old, Zack was with me. At first he wanted one of the homemade desserts in their deli display. It was really busy and crowded, so I told him, “Let’s talk about it in a minute.” He ordered for himself. I was going to allow him to have one of their veggie sandwiches (I don’t think he has trouble digesting wheat like I do), but he wanted a salad with a side of blended pumpkin/shrimp soup. It had a lot of ginger in it. He liked it! He forgot about the dessert, so I didn’t bring it up again (I know, sneaky mom trick). Then he started feeling bad after only eating a little. His tummy felt funny, he said, as did “everything, mom!” Not sure what’s up with that. Worries me. I’m not sure if he is doing okay on this plan. That kid is so skinny, anyway. My energy was weird today. After we got home from the restaurant, I simply crashed. I got really cranky and had to take a nap, for like, 2 hours. Haven’t done that since my lungs were acting up a few months ago. Man, I used to feel like that everyday – sometimes as early as noon. Not just a little tired, but like, “Get outta the way, I’m going down!” That’s what mold in your lungs will do to ya. Christ, I hope that completely clears up. I think that is why I had to crash. It was a little hard to get a breath. That’s the only thing that makes me so suddenly exhausted. So after I get up, completely refreshed, I go and work like a fiend, getting rid of all the clutter in my office in mere hours! Einstein may not have said it, but V = E; veggies = energy. Had to move stuff out because I’m getting a new file cabinet. (It’s all part of the whole clean-up-your-life-inside-and-out thing I am doing.) Then I packed Zack up to go camping with his dad. Yea! A weekend for me. Going to get rid of all the stuff that blocks me (some of it literally) and makes it hard to find anything in my tiny little country home. I’m sending a Feng Shui message to my body: clearing my house will help clear my lungs. ]]> http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/raw-food-detox-journal-day-14/feed/ 5