Wildfires Article, Forest Fires Information, Wildland Fires Facts -- National Geographic - test
Uncontrolled blazes fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of land—and consume everything in their paths—in mere minutes. On average, more than 100,000 wildfires, also called wildland fires or forest fires, clear 4 million to 5 million acres (1.6 million to 2 million hectares) of land in the U.S. every year. In recent years, wildfires have burned up to 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of land. A wildfire moves at speeds of up to 14 miles an hour (23 kilometers an hour), consuming everything—trees, brush, homes, even humans—in its path. There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn, which firefighters refer to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Although four out of five wildfires are started by people, nature is usually more than happy to help fan the flames. These violent infernos occur around the world and in most of the 50 states, but they are most common in the U.S.
Deforestation Intro - Revolution
Discover the threats, causes and impacts, and how you can help. The Lungs of Our Earth in Jeopardy Inspired from the movie Revolution and narrated by Rob Stewart, our Educational Video gives you more content on Deforestation. Trees are a vital organ of our planet and our survival. Deforestation, the loss of forests around the world, is occurring at an astounding rate of one football field per second. Forests are the lungs of the earth Tree evolution has changed little in the last 70 million years. The more trees we lose, the less oxygen we have to breathe. Learn more about our beautiful forests and the devastation deforestation is causing by reading on and sharing this information with everyone you know.
A Walk in the Woods
Univeristy of Illinois Extension Index Teacher's Guide Nature Notes Getting Ready Fun Place Resources Credits A Walk in the Woods Back
Rain Forest Facts and Information
Found in the tropical climate near the equator, rain forests make up six percent of the earth's land surface, but produce 40 percent of its oxygen. The rain forest is made up of four layers: emergent, upper canopy, understory, and forest floor. Emergent trees grow far apart and tall, their branches reaching above the canopy. Deforestation Recently, deforestation has reduced the amount of rain forest present around the globe. In Brazil, which houses about a third of the remaining tropical rain forests on Earth, more than 19 percent of the Amazonian rain forests were lost to deforestation since 1970, when only 2.4 percent of the rain forests there had been cleared. Biologists worry about the long-term consequences. Efforts to discourage deforestation, mainly through sustainable-logging initiatives, are underway on a very limited basis but have had a negligible impact so far. Why "Rain" Forests? The rain forest is nearly self-watering. Benefits of Rain Forest Plants
Sustainable development is the only way forward | Jonathan Glennie | Global development
Brazil's environment minister Izabella Teixeira at the launch of the Vision 2050 report ahead of the Rio +20 conference on sustainable development. Photograph: Reuters The term "sustainable development" emerged in the 1970s and 80s as awareness grew of the natural limits within which human development takes place. Despite near-universal recognition that it is a powerful unifying concept, bringing together social, economic and environmental factors, it has spent the 20 years since the first Rio Earth summit languishing in environment ministries. But it now appears possible, even probable, that sustainable development will emerge as the main framework for development practice in the coming decades, replacing or rebalancing the poverty eradication focus of recent years. What might such a transition to sustainable development mean for development co-operation? The most important change would be the involvement of rich countries as well as poor. But finance will still play an important role.
Goal 15 targets
UNDP support to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development There is an imperative today to foster sustainable development. A vision for what this encapsulates is laid out in the new sustainable development agenda that aims to end poverty, promote prosperity and people’s well-being while protecting the environment by 2030. As the UN’s Development arm, UNDP has a key role to play in supporting countries to make this vision a reality—putting societies on a sustainable development pathway, managing risk and enhancing resilience, and advancing prosperity and wellbeing. UNDP has worked with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) in developing a strategy for effective and coherent implementation support of the new sustainable development agenda under the acronym ‘MAPS’ (Mainstreaming, Acceleration, and Policy Support). Download >
What Powers the World? – Gocompare.com
How much of the world’s electricity is still reliant on coal, oil and gas? Flick the switches to see where the world would go dark without fossil fuels (FF), which countries rely the most on nuclear (N), and who is using entirely renewable power (R) to keep the lights on. Data on the share of fuel types used to produce electricity in each country was collated from International Energy Organisation. Regional estimates were used for countries where country-specific data wasn’t available. How much of the world’s electricity is still reliant on coal, oil and gas? UK is powered by: xx Fossil Fuels xx Nuclear xx Renewables
China is going green, but dirty trade is moving elsewhere
Getty Images / Johannes Eisele Blame modern globalisation if you want, but trade flows have been shifting constantly for hundreds of years, with manufacturers keen to find the best and cheapest place to make things, and we - as price-conscious consumers - keen to pay as little as possible. Right now, this means that China is less and less the world’s workbench. Instead, fossil fuel-powered manufacturing is moving from China and India to countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand – with potentially devastating consequences for global efforts to tackle climate change, according to a study published today in Nature Communications. China has been cleaning up its act: the rapid growth of CO2 emissions coming from its export industry has slowed or even reversed, writes the team from the University of East Anglia (UEA), together with collaborators in China and the US. Ward agrees, pointing to China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ for investing in strategically-important nations.
Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which deals with domestic affairs. Its approximate 16,000 employees work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as well as 240 posts (embassies and other offices) around the world, alongside locally employed staff and members of other government departments. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is also the Head of the Diplomatic Service. The Foreign Service, which originally provided civil servants to staff the Foreign Office, was once a separate service, but it amalgamated with the Diplomatic Service in 1918. See also[edit] Further reading[edit] About the Civil Service Sir Peter Ricketts References[edit]
