Trees of deathThis photo by Astronaut Alexander Gerst taken from the ISS captures trees growing in a

Trees of deathThis photo by Astronaut Alexander Gerst taken from the ISS captures trees growing in a part of the Amazon rainforest, but the type of tree is quite ironic. These are trees of deforestation. In this rainforest, deforestation tends to follow the roads. It begins with construction of a road, sometimes legal sometimes not, that basically serves as a trunk. From there, other roads are cut into the forest and farms are established along the roads. Those farms can be active for a few years, but the combination of nutrient-depleted soils and heavy rains that wash away soil force the farms to continually expand, cutting away at the forest around it.This is particularly worth highlighting now, since we just noted that 2015 is considered the International Year of Soils and soil quality permeates this entire issue (http://fb.me/1wPzsUhIz) Viewed from above, this clearing basically starts as a trunk that grows branches and leaves that grow outward on the branches with time, except that the trunk, branches, and leaves are areas of the forest that have been clear-cut.-JBBImage credit: Astro Alex, ESA/NASAhttps://flic.kr/p/pBs4KsRead more:http://1.usa.gov/1xdVF9g -- source link

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