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The thing is: If it's happening to them, it's happening to us.
The rainforests are the "lungs" of the planet. If they die, so do we.
Sounds poetic. But reality? No.
Coincidentally, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Amazon basin had a sophisticated agricultural society, with cities, roads, and organized society. But after the virulent diseases took their toll, later explorers found nothing but a rain forest, scattered tribes, and thus discounted reports of a robust civilization.
The Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana, the 16th Century explorer who was the first European to transverse the Amazon River, reported densely populated regions running hundreds of kilometers along the river, suggesting population levels exceeding even those of today. These populations left no lasting monuments, possibly because they used local wood as their construction material, which would have rotted in the humid climate (stone was unavailable). While it is possible Orellana may have exaggerated the level of development among the Amazonians, their semi-nomadic descendants have the odd distinction among tribal indigenous societies of a hereditary, yet landless, aristocracy, a historical anomaly for a society without a sedentary, agrarian culture. This suggests they once were more settled and agrarian but became nomadic after the demographic collapse of the 16th and 17th century, due to European-introduced diseases, while still maintaining certain traditions.
Scientists scoffed at the initial reports, because the Amazonian soil IS not suitable for agriculture. So such tales of high population, agriculture and urbanization were discounted. Except that terra preta was a man-made soil that DID support extensive agriculture in the Amazonian basin - which meant that the rain forest was NOT all pervasive.
This illustrates the point that frantic over reaction, without all the data, can lead one to the wrong conclusion.
Garcia seems to see rainforest as a waste of good resources, saying of the Amazon's trees: "There are millions of hectares of timber there lying idle."
By no means did the guy mean to clear out the forest with bull dozers and tub grinders. He meant harvest whats BENEATH the forest.
I have been in the oil field for a while now and it very easy to see the deception that is used. People who are ignorant to the proper drilling practices of today think that drilling is bad. Period. It isn't tho. It's quite safe. VERY different from years ago.
Also to assume that there are guys from KBR, Halliburton, and BP with huge tankers spraying "toxic chemical" everywhere is crazy, but that is what this misguided piece leads people to believe.
Drilling is safe, clean, and useful. Sorry guys.
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