Theme: Deforestation

 

(DESCRIPTION) 

Text, Viewspace. Coming up - See the Impact of Deforestation From Above. A countdown clock counts down when the show will continue. The clocks starts at 15 seconds and ticks down to 0 seconds. Then the screen turns black. 

 

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[COSMIC MUSIC] 

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[GENTLE MUSIC]

 

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The earth rotates in space. Red line across center. Text, equator. Around the middle of our planet, along the equator, wraps a band of lush green forests brimming with extraordinary biodiversity.

 

Images, a monkey, a flower, a bird, a canopy of trees. Text, though these tropical forests cover only about seven percent of Earth's land, they are home to roughly half of all the species living on our planet.

 

But humans are cutting down large sections of these forests to make way for other uses. Image, a largely cleared forest on a hill.

 

Images, a parrot, a monkey, an orange frog, a tube like plant. Text, many species are disappearing, some forever.

 

Text, we also lose vibrant cultures as indigenous peoples who have lived in the forests for centuries are displaced and integrated into other cultures. Image, large huts line the perimeter of a circular clearing.

 

As this happens, we lose the kind of genetic diversity that could hold the secrets to curing cancer or other diseases. Image, a scientists looks at a sample using a microscope.

 

Text, the vitality of our planet and its inhabitants is deeply intertwined with the health of the world's forests. A lush green river.

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Geometric pattern of red, blue and black. Text, The patchwork pattern of this landscape was created by loggers and ranchers in the rainforest of Bolivia.

 

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[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

 

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Blue shows cleared lands, likely for cattle grazing or soybean production.

 

Vegetation, both natural and cultivated, appears in red.

 

The pinwheel or starburst patterns are designed agricultural settlements, each with wedge-shaped fields fanning out from a small, centralized community.

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[UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC]

 

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A blue hexagon appears in the middle of a gray background split into two halves by a line. A banner is outlined in light blue for the title, Myth vs Reality. An illustration with sea serpents surrounding a ship is above Myth. A satellite view of the Earth is above reality. A dark, rotating planet floats in the background at the bottom. The Myth side is highlighted. Text, Deforestation is only a problem in the Amazon.

 

The reality side is highlighted. Text, While deforestation rates are high in the Amazon, all major tropical forests are shrinking.

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[UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC]

 

(DESCRIPTION)

A blue hexagon appears in the middle of a gray background split into two halves by a line. A banner is outlined in light blue for the title, Myth vs Reality. An illustration with sea serpents surrounding a ship is above Myth. A satellite view of the Earth is above reality. A dark, rotating planet floats in the background at the bottom. The Myth side is highlighted. Text, Logging is the primary cause of deforestation.

 

The reality side is highlighted. Text, Logging does contribute to deforestation in many countries. However, the leading cause of deforestation in the world today is agriculture, converting forest land into cropland and pasture.

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[GENTLE MUSIC]

 

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A large expanse of green trees. A red dot over Virginia on a world map. Text, Mountaintop Mining, West Virginia. World of Change, 1984-2015. To access coal below the densely forested slopes of Southern West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, mining companies engineer large surface mines.

 

Hobet 21 Surface Mine. This series of natural-color images, based on data from a NASA satellite, documents the growth of one surface line in Boone County, West Virginia, as it moves from ridge to ridge.

 

1984. The natural landscape of the area is dark green forested mountains, creased by streams and hollows.

 

The active mining areas appear off-white, while areas being reclaimed with vegetation appear light green.

 

Active mining shifts to the left from 1986, 1988, 1991.

 

It shifts up in 1992 and again in 1995 and 1996.

 

It then expands down and to the left in 1998, 2000.

 

Active mining increases in 2002. The initial area continues to change shape and expand in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

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[SOFT MUSIC]

 

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Stars shine behind Earth. Text, at-a-Glance, Logging Activity in Washington State

 

Mount Rainier. Text, Crops have long been grown and harvested in the forests near Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington.

 

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[GENTLE MUSIC]

 

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These crops are not the kind that end up as food on our plates, but the wood that becomes houses, furniture, paper, and other products made from trees.

 

1984. This satellite image shows one region of the forest in 1984.

 

Deep greens show dense, mature forest.

 

Red-brown patches show places that have been cleared of trees.

 

Light green shows where grasses or young trees have started to grow back.

 

1984 and 2010. Comparing this image to another taken in 2010 reveals a patchwork pattern of change over 26 years.

 

Recently Cleared in 1984, Regrowth in 2010. Text, Some areas that were logged in 1984 had grown back by 2010

 

Meanwhile, some new areas have been cleared.

 

A few areas contained mature, dense forest in both 1984 and 2010.

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[GENTLE MUSIC]

 

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An aerial view of land and blue water underneath a sky of white. An island to the bottom left is labeled Sumtra. An island to the top right is labeled Borneo.

 

Text, Smoke blankets the skies over the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in this satellite image.

 

Fires there are often started by farmers clearing the land for oil palm or pulpwood plantations.

 

Red dots appear on the satellite image where smoke rises.

 

Text, Studies have shown that the smoke particles from such fires can suppress cloud formation, ultimately causing the land to become hotter and drier than it was before.