Oh, and then there was the time a whole island was wiped clean of its trees. That island is known as Easter Island, located in the Pacific Ocean. There are large statues located on the island and it is believed that the trees were depleted during the building of them by the ancient Eastern Islanders. For now it is settled that that is the cause for this Tragedy of the Commons, the depletion of potentially renewable resources to which people have free access (Tragedy of the Commons - Wikipedia). On Easter Island, the entire forest is gone and all of the shrubs and trees are extinct, along with the animals it was home to. We have to realize that there are other beings in the world that deforestation affects, not just people.
About Me
- Sam Marsden
- My name is Sam. I know you wanna be a planateer...
Just a Little Scenario...
Picture this: You decide to live in the woods, because you are so sick and tired of the city life. Sick of the noise, the people, the pollution, the smells, the crime, the traffic, bricks, blocks and miles of cement, and you want out. Out into the wilderness you go, where you think you can survive like a useful human being…not to destructive to the environment right? You believe you can live in harmony with nature, and live off of the land. So you first you need to build a house. “Oh, I will only use a few trees, and I’ll make sure that it’s strong enough to last forever to avoid taking more trees.” So, you build your cute little cabin. Then you have to make chairs, “oh right …chairs.” Don’t forget about the table, and bed “I need a place to eat and sleep!” Then the other various furniture you think you need, that has been imprinted on your city-life mind, “How lovely would a futon look in the master bedroom…a porch swing would be great….in the gazebo! Oh I must build a fabulous bridge to go over that creek in the back yard!” Everything is being made from wood and your property is getting bigger….and spacious…hmm, but you don’t notice. You just realize how good you have become at making things from wood and forget that they are from TREES. The little notion of you selling these wonderful creations to the public sprouts in your head and you’ve suddenly got money on the brain and want to make, make, and make some! So you tell all to come out and see, forgetting that you’re tired of them. Your imagination grows, and you want to make yourself big! Out of nowhere you’ve sprung up a whole factory for building your marvelous furnishings that are absolutely darling, with the little log cabin now a mere entrance into the factory. By now, you have depleted the very reason you moved into the woodlands, kind of like the trees it was home to first. So what do you think is the moral of the story? Control your imagination? No, let’s try to stop deforestation: the everlasting destruction of native forests and woodlands (Collins). We wipe them out for many other reasons besides room. There’s the mining and the lumber and the paper and much, much more. Even medicines! Basically, trees produce a lot of things that we need including a small, minuscule little thing called oxygen. Well, humans breathe oxygen, so, when we put these things together, we pretty much have a good grasp on the importance of Earth’s trees. We have to make it known, so we can tell the signs symptoms before its terminal to everyone, including the trees.
What Are We Gonna Do With Us?
Then there are the places in the world where the world has just been so stupid in reasons for taking down trees. For these stupid reasons, the actuality that deforestation has other serious effects on larger scales comes light, on top of another reality that it’s not only harming the environment but us too. We came up with the idea of using chemicals to eradicate entire forests, a chemical called Agent Orange. Basically, Agent Orange is Herbicidal Warfare. This herbicide was used by the US Military during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. They released toxic chemicals, dioxins that have created numerous health problems for those exposed to it. Included are cancer and genetic disorders. Why was it used? Well, the enemy Vietcong used the forests and trees to hide themselves as well as their weapons. It was the US's bright idea to wipe out all of the vegetation to expose them. About 20 million gallons were used. So, as an end result, more of Earth's valuable resources were gutted, and many people, and their children, were harmed and continue to suffer from the effects (United States Department of Veteran Affairs). They include chronic health problems such as Hodgkin disease, reproductive problems like spina bifida and miscarriages, soft-tissue sarcoma, liver damage, neurotoxicity, many birth defects and skin defects (Booker A117). It's pretty severe.
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