|
|
Read the article found here. Most of what we learn can be very depressing throughout the year, this article should restore some of your faith and hope in humanity. How can more countries follow the footsteps of Costa Rica? What did Costa Rica do to allow it this opportunity? Feel free to add any additional comments.
44 Comments
J@ke V@il
1/9/2015 02:06:48 am
I knew that deforestation was bad, but I was shocked to find out that humans have cut down or damaged at least three-quarters of the world’s forests. I also thought that it was interesting to say that this is a contributing factor to co2 build up, not surprising, but I just never thought of that. I'm also proud of us, for urging the slowing down of deforestation even though it may be difficult to do so. It is also encouraging to hear that “We are at a potentially historic moment where the world is starting to wake up to this issue, and to apply real solutions.” Hopefully, these plans are turned into actions, and as corny as it may seem, we could literally save the world.
Corinne Caminske
1/9/2015 02:15:05 am
I agree! By replanting all the trees that were chopped down the carbon cycle can be restored to normal. Plus learning about Indonesia, and the deforestation happening there is truly devastating. However, hopefully the success in Costa Rica will be motivation to replant and not chop down.
Corinne Caminske
1/9/2015 02:11:34 am
Hearing a success story like Costa Rica really makes me smile! :) With all the deforestation in the world, hearing about the possiblity of erasing that is outstandingly amazing. I never thought about just replanting all the trees big business chops down; the answer was simpler than I thought. Evidence shows that replanting trees in Costa Rica is already helping to decrease that areas carbon foot print. Just think about what would happen if we did the same thing in Central Park, NYC could easily reduce it's carbon foot print (slightly but still it's progress!). I'm ashamed that American funding went into chopping down the beautiful forests in the Amazon, but soon they could follow Costa Rica!
Alyssa Lofaro
1/10/2015 05:25:55 am
I think you make a great point Corinne! I never relized that the way to fix deforestion would be a simply as replanting the cut down trees.
Alyssa Lofaro
1/10/2015 05:24:30 am
Its great to see how one country is turning something that many people associate with damaging the envirornment and turning it into something good. By replanting the trees the big businesses have cut down all over the world, just like Costa Rica has done, we could easily cut our carbon footprint greatly just by doing something so simple. I also think its horrible that the United States helped with the funding to cut down those trees. Maybe in the furtue (sooner rather then later) the U.S governments will relize what Costa Rica is doing is a great thing and helping our envirornment tremendously. If the U.S could replace even half or a quarter of the trees that have been cut down throughout our country, we could make a huge impact.
Emma Philbin
1/11/2015 10:37:50 am
I completely agree! Its horrifying to know that we are indirectly funding deforestation in areas like Costa Rica. By following Costa Rica's example and how successful they were, we can too help our environment tremendously!
Isha Khawaja
1/15/2015 02:54:36 pm
I was just as shocked when I read that we indirectly funded deforestation due to McDonald's need of soybeans. It reminds me that as Americans, we need to be conscious consumers because selective shopping can have immense positive effects. Forests play a huge role in limiting the damage humans are doing to the planet, the trees alone consume 20-25% of the CO2 emissions we put into the atmosphere. And through our ignorance or selfishness or whatever is blinding people to the horrible reality of our deforestation problem, we are only releasing more CO2, destroying habitats, killing species, etc. It is about time that plans are being made by some leaders for forest regrowth. There was only so much letters, statistics and information we can throw at the government leaders, and it brings me great joy that finally there is forest regrowth on such a great scale that might actually put a sizable fraction of human-released CO2 out of the air and lock it into long-term storage. It makes me optimistic and hopeful seeing places like Brazil having environmental groups and their government slash their deforestation rate by 83%, and Costa Rica decrease the areas carbon footprint. Although many deforestation hot spots like Indonesia have yet to follow, it is great and comforting to know that actions are being taken to save our planet from our mistakes. Now we just need to get the whole globe to do this!
Emma Philbin
1/11/2015 10:36:03 am
^^^ That was Emma Philbin, didn't write my last name, sorry!
Julie Marro
1/12/2015 10:27:38 am
I agree with all of your points! We really are being ignorant about deforestation, and need to open our eyes to what's happening. Costa Rica and Brazil's stories are definitely inspiring, and give me hope as well that more and more countries will follow suit.
Nicholas Cowan
1/13/2015 01:16:04 pm
This article is truly great to read and learn about but it brings up a very important question in my mind: why didn't we hear about something like this sooner? Why don't newspapers publish stories like this more often? Such stories give people hope that their contributions are making a difference and the more environmentally conscious we get, the better our world as a whole becomes. It is great to inform people of the issues but even more, we need to show them the solutions.
Julie Marro
1/12/2015 10:25:14 am
Costa Rica's success story is really inspiring and should be an eye opener to other countries. It's crazy to think that planting trees is so groundbreaking, but it really is. The importance of trees and forest conservation in general needs to be appreciated around the world for progress to occur. Hopefully more countries like Indonesia will make strides to drastically reduce deforestation, and countries like the US give sufficient aid to help these countries improve their environments. It will take a collective shift in global mindset towards an understanding of the natural world around us and a willingness to prioritize its health over our profits.
Sarah Walsh
1/13/2015 12:34:58 am
I completely agree Julie, especially the part about planting trees being incredibly groundbreaking, despite how obvious it seems. It's like the quote in the article, "All you have to do is look out the window, the answer is right there. "
Gianna
1/13/2015 12:50:39 am
I agree! It's so relieving to finally see an easy solution work out and do wonders for a place like Costs Rica. I hope this sets a precedent
Sarah Walsh
1/13/2015 12:48:37 am
I think this is a great first step- Costa Rica has made very impressive progress and other countries, particularly those with climates fit to sustain the growth of biodiversity-rich tropical rainforests, should work to emulate their progress. I think it's very refreshing to hear optimistic news about the state of our climate. Plus, it's such an overwhelmingly simplistic idea at its core- using trees to absorb carbon! I think it is important, however to remember that this is a bandaid, and not a permanent fix. We should work on implementing this as well as additional policies.
Jake Vail
1/15/2015 05:37:01 am
What a great point! It is definitely important to realize that using trees is a band aid as you put it. We definately need to figure out new ways to fix this. And yes it's cliche, but another way we can aid in fixing this is reducing car usage, carpooling, alternative ways of energy, eat.
Gianna
1/13/2015 12:54:14 am
Two resolutions seem apparent after reading this article. One is that everyone will follow in Costa ricas footsteps and and plant millions of treesandsave the world. And the other is that we will let this simple resolution pass us by unactedupon and our world will continue to be degraded. I truly hope that we take action and plant seeds, put large restrictions on cutting down trees for business, and take our hands off the forests, literally.
Tara litvin
1/13/2015 02:11:46 am
You make a good point. If the world follows Costa Ricas footsteps, we can preserve the worlds biodiversity. Everyone should take action to replant trees and forests, and prevent further deforestation.
Brian Sputh
1/15/2015 01:51:01 am
I agree with you Gi. Other countries need to do what Costa Rica is doing and follow in their footsteps. All countries have to do is try to plant new trees and put restrictions on the amount of trees that can be used for commercial business. Hopefully those things can help in making other countries like Costa Rica.
Ryan Rattazzi
1/16/2015 12:20:26 am
I believe that the better of the two will happen and that the success Costa Rica had in planting trees will inspire other countries to do the same, and the enviornment can be rebuilt and sustained for the future.
Tara litvin
1/13/2015 02:08:15 am
It's nice to finally have a success story in the midst of learning about disasters. Irs pretty crazy to think that just by replanting forests, an ecosystem can be saved. If every country did this, we could reverse so many of our negative impacts we've made over the course of life.
Nicholas Cowan
1/13/2015 01:11:05 pm
Today, our world faces a battle between two very influential forces: ecology and economy, and we still are trying to find where to draw the line. The truth is, the more we focus on the environment and reducing deforestation, the worse off these already poor countries' economies are, but if we focus too much on their economy, we will slowly watch our environment go to shambles. This article was very optimistic in the sense that the tides are turning in the favor of ecology, but we need to realize that there is a lot more to be done and at any second, the tides could do a 180 flip. As forests recover in Brazil and Costa Rica, there is always the fear that a new profitable crop will emerge that residents find more in their benefit to produce than save the trees. Thus, all our hard work could be lost very very quickly. Yet I still remain optimistic, as we all must. This first step can lead to more steps to sustainability and coexistence between humans and nature, thus bringing diversity back to the forest and peace back to the Earth.
Brian Sputh
1/15/2015 01:48:09 am
The success story of Costa Rica awesome. It's amazing to see that a country like Costa Rica can chop down so many trees, and forests but a new blanket of trees grew back after such a wave of conservation. Other countries around the world should follow what Costa Rica is doing. So many countries chop down tree, but then they don't do anything to grow them back. With what Costa Rica is doing hopefully other countries will follow in its footsteps, otherwise more deforestation will continue to occur and countries and their governments will do little about it.
Joseph Mullen
1/15/2015 02:17:55 am
I agree with you Brian. We have to hope that success stories like Costa Rica and Brazil will inspire conservatory efforts in other countries. This could start a dominos effect with countries worldwide introducing new policies to protect the forests.
Lucas Brennan
1/16/2015 01:12:48 am
You make a great point Brian that we can't only think of this as an isolated effort in Costa Rica but we can have hope in the fact that other countries will be inspired to do the smart thing.
Joseph Mullen
1/15/2015 02:03:31 am
After so many tragic cases and articles that we have seen this year, this was wonderfully refreshing. Cases like Costa Rica and Brazil show us that there is a chance to end and eventually reverse the destruction to our planets forests. Of course, it still seems like an insurmountable task. Every day we lose acre after acre of precious forest around the world. More policies, laws, and programs need to be put in place worldwide if we hope to help end the destruction of our forests.
Ryan ODonnell
1/16/2015 01:28:38 am
I agree with you that we have to start making laws and programs to help stop the destruction of our forests. Hopefully more can follow in the footsteps of Costa Rica.
Eileen Keenan
1/15/2015 02:04:58 am
Learning about Costa Ricas success is inspiring. Even in Brazil where millions of acres of forest were saved, and the carbon dioxide kept out of the air far exceeded anything any other country had ever done to slow global warming. It's nice to know that we can still do things to help change the world for the better. If other countries took the steps and plant more trees like Costa Rica or Brazil did we would be in a better situation.
Kaitlyn Gibbons
1/15/2015 11:37:47 pm
I agree Eileen, it is nice to see positive changes in our environment. I hope other countries take the same steps.
Isha Khawaja
1/15/2015 03:15:11 pm
It's great to see that Brazil, Costa Rica and other nations are having successful environmental stories. It's also amazing to see that one of the best way to cut down carbon emissions is to just simply preserve the forests. There is fear that there won't be enough food supply if we drastically stop deforestation for agricultural land, however humans need to connect back to their roots. Humans should learn how to coexist with the planet and to engage in sustainable farming. For example, shade grown coffee is grown in the Amazon without having to deforest and deplete the land. Costa Rica is a prime example of a nation that is attempting to coexist with the planet and will hopefully be inspiring to many other countries.
William Fridrich
1/19/2015 01:06:18 pm
That is a great example of how people can, and already are working to preserve the environment. Not only does the shade-grown coffee program aim to conserve, it aims to help produce more environmentally friendly (and people friendly) products. Finding a healthy and sustainable balance is the key to both conservation and a strong, productive market for food and other products.
Rebekah Fitzpatrick
1/21/2015 08:42:23 am
Thank you for your input as to how farming parctices need to be updated. I think that in order for this strategy of limiting our land for farming to work, our farmers need to be educated about innovative farming techniques. This will require a revolution in the farming industry and a lot of creativity from agricultural scientists. I fear that some of these practices (for example, aquaculture) may be too expensive for impoverished farmers around the world to adopt. That is why this must be a global effort which enlists, not only conservationists and various governments, but regular people like you and me and to chip in and assist those that are fighting for this imperative movement.
Kaitlyn Gibbons
1/15/2015 11:35:51 pm
After reading about a successful environmental story I feel inspired. This year we have read and learned so much about deforestation and destruction. This story was truly refreshing. I hope that the rest of the world will be able to follow in Costa Rica's footsteps. This story was inspiring enough that I thank people will be able to motivate themselves to restore the forests.
Ryan Rattazzi
1/16/2015 12:24:38 am
Seeing Costa Rica successfully plant trees for the betterment of the environment makes me think that the rest of the world will follow din their footsteps and create a better, more sustainable environment for the future.
Lucas B
1/16/2015 01:09:32 am
After reading and seeing so many failures in the past due to deforestation and the consequences of our actions on the environment, it was very nice to read about a comeback made by Costa Rica. This is also quite inspiring to see that what we are doing in the world isn't all bad but there is hope. This hope is only present if we start acting and if we start educating the populace on what we are doing wrong so we can turn it around and start ameliorating the environment instead of destroying it.
Ryan ODonnell
1/16/2015 01:26:34 am
It is great to see countries righting their wrongs and rebuilding their forests. Costa Rica shows us that we can rebuild our environment. Hopefully other countries can learn from this and see the improvements that have come from this. If we keep on educating on the effects of daminging our environment , I think we can start making a difference.
Anthony Pacia
1/19/2015 07:09:25 am
I agree that through better education we can reduce destructive activities like deforestation and reduce the negative impact that we have on the planet and the environment.
Mariel Lucian
4/1/2015 12:50:30 pm
I agree that it great to see people taking responsibility for damaging the Earth and actions to help remedy the problems. I also think that the first step is education; the success story in Costa Rico proved that there is hope for saving our future.
Anthony Pacia
1/19/2015 07:06:59 am
The success Costa Rica has had in reversing deforestation are encouraging and could help other countries cut back on deforestation. There are still obstacles that need to be resolved to prevent future deforestation like growing markets for food worldwide from countries that are becoming developed but by solving these issues we can prevent the future loss of forests by taking away the economic incentives that cause deforestation.
William Fridrich
1/19/2015 01:03:42 pm
It is extremely uplifting to know that there are people who aim to return the #1 storage facility for carbon dioxide back to the earth: our trees. When they are cut down, (or in some cases, burned down) large amounts of carbon dioxide are release into the air that they have stored throughout the entirety of their lives. The restoration of these once, cattle-grazing pastures is amazing to see. Hopefully some plans for construction can be pushed aside in other parts of the world to pave the way for the growth of new forests. If there is any single strongest and realistic solution to putting a halt to the environmental crisis (aside from completely cutting out the use of fossil fuels), this is it.
Rebekah Fitzpatrick
1/21/2015 08:29:38 am
I am relieved to learn that a solution to reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere is so simple: plant more trees!! It amazes me how easy it is for humanity to help itself out and save the world from calamity, yet the vast majority of us do not put out enough effort to make this conservation happen. I was a bit concerned however, when the article reached the piont that farming practices in poorer countries need to "produce food much more efficiently on less land". Will this raise other issues of over-farming on the same tired soil or producing more genetically modified foods?? There seems to be a complicated and delicate balance that we should always be striving for.
Evan D'Agostino
4/1/2015 03:03:17 pm
I totally see your point. I think that a balance can be struck if they go about this farming conservatively.
Mariel Lucian
4/1/2015 12:47:32 pm
More countries (like the U.S) should follow in Costa Rico's footsteps to help save the world. Deforestation is an example of habitat loss which is the number reason why so many animals are going extinct. The simple solution of replanting trees is very obvious- it just takes time and effort! I believe that a law should be created that would force every tree that's cut down to be replaced with a baby. If we have an even playing field and the entire "deforestation industry" is forced to pay back what they cut down in a new tree than it's not too much of a sacrifice.
Evan D'Agostino
4/1/2015 03:12:15 pm
It's great to see that Costa Rica is taking action to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Costa Rica is an example to the world showing how simple and reletively easy it is to solve a major problem. The fact that reducing the amount CO2 in our atmosphere is as simple as planting more trees is so cool. Every country should follow in their footsteps so that we can work to create a better planet for our generation and future generations. Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed
