Rainforests

They speak Baka, Ganzi, and Gundi.

[Note: the term "Pygmy" is no longer considered an acceptable word]

Since there are more trees within the perimeter of the United States NOW than there were when the Spanish arrived, it's difficult to get too excited about some trees being cut down.

In times past, a single forest fire could burn for hundreds of miles, blackening the skies in another continent. Tree huggers don't want ANY trees burned or cut for timber.

While any cutting or burning of timber products is considered "deforestation", modern forest management practices acknowledge the need to harvest wood and to renew forests through the planting of new growth.

Many of the modern forest management purists would rather see forests destroyed by lightening caused fires and allow trees to grow to dangerously high densities rather than allow mature trees to be used for lumber products.

While there is a net regrowth of trees in North America, deforestation is incontrovertibly a problem in much of the remainder of the world, particularly the Tropics. Deforestation, and to a lesser extent forest degradation, are easily monitored with high and medium resolution visible satellite imagery such as Landsat and MODIS.

It's difficult to recommend any action by individuals because of the nature of the problem: Much of the deforestation occurs due to national and international policies and institutions that are in place. Amazon deforestation has historically occurred as the Brazilian government has encouraged citizens to move into its hinterland and settle. Ranchers have followed them and cleared the remainder of the land for cattle raising. In Indonesia, for example, a lot of tropical rainforest has recently occurred to make room for palm oil plantations. Due to the rapidly increasing international demand for this type of oil, profits from palm oil production are considerably higher than land owners could make from international incentives to leave the forest alone.

So as a consumer, the decisions that you make can affect the pattern of deforestation and the sustainability of forest harvest. We can harvest plenty of wood sustainably, but you can start by knowing where the products you buy come from, and at what cost to the environment. But characterizing those who advocate better management of these natural resources as "tree huggers" who don't want ANY trees harvested is a strawman that precludes any meaningful discussion, and intentionally ignoring the situation outside the United States obfuscates the true nature of this issue.

BTW, "tree huggers" is an accurate description, since the movement to protect trees owed it's success to people who physically "hugged" the trees to prevent contractors from cutting them down. They even called themselves, "Tree huggers".

The Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois is 1,451 ft. It has been the tallest building in North America since 1974.

The tallest building in North America is the Sears Tower in Chicago. The CN Tower is taller but, that is known as a "free standing structure".

Australian outback animals, birds and reptiles include:

• kangaroo
• emu
• goanna
• bilby
• inland taipan
• mulga parrot
• budgerigar
• dunnart
• death adder

There are numerous rainforests in Australia, and they are not all named, and it is hard to separate them where many are grouped together in the same geographical region. Many areas along the eastern seaboard have significant rainforests, as do parts of northern Australia, the northwest and even Tasmania. Queensland is particularly well known for its rainforests, north around Cairns and inland, and extending right down through areas of Brisbane and the Gold Coast hinterland. Some of the better known rainforests are listed below, but these form just a small selection of the total.

• Daintree National Park - North Queensland (where the rainforest meets the reef)
• Russell Falls - Mt Field National Park, Tasmania
• Tara Bulga National Park - Strzelecki Ranges, Victoria
• Florence Falls - Lichfield national Park, Northern Territory