Palm Oil Crisis

For centuries, society has been battling these natural disasters with considerable effort, only to come up with charred land and numerous homeless citizens. The one most significant gain, however, that comes with these fires is the vigorous regrowth that occurs years after the devastation. With a freshly cleared area, decaying sediment acting as fertilizer, and a significantly lower chance for fires, new life is easily reintroduced from the waste. The question then becomes whether it is ethical for human intervention with what is completely natural and healthy for the surrounding environment. The idea of allowing uncontrolled burns comes with great potential for animal and plant habitats, however it leaves many citizens in the wake of danger. Finding the balance between these two ideas, excessive interference and absolute surrender of control, is an important endeavor to way

Upon the arrival of European settlers in Australia, the Indigenous people were prosecuted and criminalized. One of the many things taken away from the Aboriginal Australians was their practice of fire-stick farming. This was due to a number of reasons that the Europeans saw as justifiable. The main issue that the Europeans had with the cultural and environmental practice was the dangers of purposely creating fires. They feared that the practice would endanger the lives of citizens and livestock, whilst also threatening to destroy infrastructure, farms, houses and towns. After the criminalization of the act of fire-stick farming, the practice largely died out. This increased the extremely violent, devastating wild bushfires. However, after years of studying the culture and practices, the Europeans realized the reason and benefits of fire-stick farming. This awakening began around the 1970’s, and has now had major effects on todays Australian society. More Australians are realizing the benefits of the practice everyday, and this has brought the attention of large corporations and companies, specifically Conco-Phillips. Due to this the practice has now been making a comeback. Locals in Western Arnhem land have struck a deal with the large corporation that concerns fire-stick farming. Research has revealed that the controlled burns release less than half of the carbon emissions produced by the wild bushfires. Now the West Arhnem land natives had made a deal with Conco-Phillips that earns the fuel driven company much sought after carbon credits that allow them to produce more carbon emissions. In conclusion, I believe that this is a testament to how things can completely turn around, and how sometimes the traditional method is the right one. A true underdog story, fire-stick farming has gone from helping out many a people and animal whilst keeping the environment healthy, to being banned and

Thomas describes scenes of “orange flames” lighting the sky and families and friends watching the fires with “soft drinks” and “camera’s”. . At the same time, Didion describes the sky as “a yellow cast, the kind of light sometimes called ‘earthquake weather’ For Thomas, the fires are more than just the burning of “chaparral” and medical problems, there are memories that are irreplaceable that only the people who experience the fires can attest to. In the news, most people will hear about everything that has been burned down along with the side effects, such as sinus infections, etc. that are caused by the fire. However, people living outside of California don’t know the experiences and memories, such as families sitting together or young couples kissing that means so much to the native Californians. In Thomas’s “Brush Fire” , she shows that people who do not experience the winds and fires don’t understand that is it more than just burning something; it is a time for people in the community to come together. Science establishes both authors’ arguments and perspectives, however, Thomas uses it to show the vital role it plays in nature, specifically for the plants germination in seed pods. Furthermore, she explains how humans, without respect for nature, get in the way of these fires. It wouldn’t be a problem for many, if land developers took into account the chaparral zones, which is the direct path

The extraordinary wildfires that burned in 2015 worried many British Columbians. That year, 304,460 hectares of land was burned by wildfires in the province (Lori Daniels, personal communication, Oct. 30, 2015). Compared to the 10 year average of 115,000 hectares per year (Lori Daniels, personal communication, Oct. 30, 2015), this is a staggeringly large number. With almost three times the area of forest burned in 2015, one might ask why this increase occurred. The wildfire regime in British Columbia (BC) can be traced back to a time when Indigenous people occupied and managed their relationship with the land without the influence of colonialism and the modern day government of Canada. When the government did start interfering, much of the land previously burned by First Nations was no longer permitted to burn. The landscape was changed because of this fire exclusion practice, and as a result, the province of BC is seeing many negative changes in the landscape, including an increase in the severity of wildfires. The purpose of this paper is to prove that wildfire has shaped the landscape of BC through Indigenous burnings, and as a result of wildfire exclusion in the 20th century, there is an increase in wildfire severity and frequency today.

On May 3rd, Fort McMurray residents were forced to flee their homes for what people are calling the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history. Tens of thousands of people packed up their families and cars with the bare essentials, driving away while watching their homes and businesses burn. A large number of individuals over social media have expressed their vitriolic comments towards the oil sands, and have attributed much of the spread of the wildfire to climate change. A sober realization is that scientists have been warning the public for decades that a changing climate would be a contributing factor in an increase in global wildfire risks. Climate change is one of the most important environmental issue that modern civilization

However, forest and land fires are problems that arise in forest fire control rules in particular for opening of agriculture and plantation area. Whenever be traced again, in

It can be produced in a responsible manner that respects the environment and the communities where it is grown. Governments have made it illegal to clear new forests. There are new planting methods on older plantations that can double the amount of palm oil produced.In addition, governments are using degraded lands found suitable to grow palm trees. These areas are the size of Ohio! Seven African countries have shown their commitment by pledging to shift to sustainable palm oil production which will protect 70 percent of Africa’s tropical forests. Using environmentally friendly production we can continue to see increased demand and use of palm

The first article by Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove discusses the appearance of palm oil in society and the growing predominance it has had in world over time. They provide a detailed summary of where palm oil is predominately produced, and what this production has done to the environment over the last few decades. The platform in which the article was written is with a focus on how the non-governmental organizations are benefiting from the production, as well as how the production has caused irreparable damage.The second article written by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) uses numerous detailed examples, data

Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).

On Oct 28, 2015, Reporter Justin Worland, a New York-based writer for TIME covering energy and the environment, he shares about how Indonesia's fires are impacting the world. In his writing, Worland states:"the climate pattern brings torrential rain to some parts of the U.S. but causes drought in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia" (Wonderland, How Indonesia's Fires Are Choking the World). In another word, this means fire occurrence will cause unmitigated suffering like drought, air pollution and possible illness to the entire population. The downside of crisis is unbearable, and nobody wants to live in fear, illness, and chaos.

Palm Oil is quickly becoming world’s most popular vegetable oil. Palm Oil needs warm, rich soil to grow. The ideal place for them is in the Rainforests of countries like: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The Oil Palm trees can't grow in the rainforest because they are only small trees, which means that they can't get enough light in the shadows of other trees. The Oil Palms grown best in hot and humid countries, that are along the equator. By 2004 there were 26 countries that was apart of the Palm Oil Production. In 2014 out of the 26 countries the ones in south Asia were the ones who were producing the most Palm Oil. Palm oil is grown on large scale plantations.

On Monday, November 28th, many people in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee were forced to evacuate, as a horrible wildfire exploded. The wildfires have been caused due to the terrible drought in the Southeastern United States due to the lack of rain. This lack of rain has been very tragic for our ecosystem, because it has caused these fires. In the Southeast, it has been the driest conditions in the past decade, and the ground has been so hard. These fires are spreading very rapidly and it affects our society in a terrible way. Although firefighters are making progress, the fires keep spreading due to the low humidity and winds. They release carbon dioxide into the air and destroy homes and habitats.

Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that

The Rights and Obligations of Stakeholders Including Individuals and Organizations That Have Potentially Causing Forest and Land Fire in Indonesia

Many including Rothkopf, Grunwalf, and Ruiz-Marrero claim that biofuel is not the solution but rather will become a problem. They claim that if biofuel was produced in large quantity then agriculture would convert from food to fuel. According to the World Bank, over seventy five percent of the rises in food prices is directly caused by biofuel. Indonesia is the leading producer of palm oil, a major biofuel. In order to increase productivity, the people destroyed thousands of trees to plant palm tree. The destruction led to an increase in carbon production. Indonesia moved from the 21st most carbon producer to the third. Another major producer of biofuel is Brazil. If Brazilian farmers were to deforest the Amazon rainforest, it could cause a fifty percent increase in global warming. Through the world, deforestation accounts for over twenty percent of carbon emission. A gallon of biofuel requires the same amount of grain as a person would eat in a year. The switch from food to fuel would cause a worldwide food shortage and an increase in world hunger.