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(NaturalNews) An analysis of the world's forests -- published inthe Tuesday edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences -- has shown that an increasing number of countries arereversing the trend toward deforestation. "From the new data, it seems possible that we could reverse aglobal trend that many people thought was irreversible," said oneof the lead authors, Pekka Kauppi of the University of Helsinki. The scientists analyzed information from national databases and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiziation and calculated that the forests had expanded in 22 of the 50 most forested countries during thepast 15 years. They added that many of the remaining 28 were alsoclose to switching from deforestation to reforestation in the next few decades. Brazil and Indonesiastill had serious problems with deforestation, and the cutting inthese countries means that the global trend is still leaning towarddeforestation overall. The report attributed the reversal trend partly to social changesresulting from countries developing and becoming wealthier, ruralfamilies moving to cities, for example. As fewer people live in thecountry, fewer trees are used for things like heat and buildings,the report said. In countries such as China, India and Turkey, alot of credit for the change was given to strong public policiessuch as tree-planting campaigns, promotion of efficient agriculture practices, and restrictions on clear cutting. "On a global level, deforestation will be reversed if we maintainthis trend, which has involved a lot of different factors: a shiftto highly productive agriculture in some places, as well as peoplelike you and me reading newspapers on the Internet, so that forestis not destroyed," said Jesse Ausubel, an environmental researcher at Rockefeller University in New York. The research team was comprised of scientists in Europe, the United States and Asia, and reported that thereversal of deforestation was good news in the face of growingconcern about global warming, as forests tend to act as pollutionsinks and partially alleviate man-made carbon dioxide emissions. The report also suggested that a combination of new policies andsome luck could reverse other worsening environmental issues, since20 years ago reversing deforestation was considered impossible. "This is the first time we have documented that many countries haveturned the corner; that gradually forests are coming back," Ausubelsaid, adding that, before the study, he had personally expected tolive in a "skinhead" Earth by the year 2050. Peter Holmgren, chief of Forest Resources Development at the UnitedNations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, said it was hardto be confident about the report. He noted that there was a lack ofdata on forests in many part of the world and governments, whichhave a generally poor track record when it comes to measuringforests, had provided much of the data in the study. "There are trends that these guys have observed that seem true butit's difficult to state for certain," Holmgren said. "Is there aglobal paradigm change? We really don't know yet." Holmgren added that countries around the world should startsystematic forest inventories. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Magnetic Promotional Items , Magnetic Nail Art Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Picture Fridge Magnet today!
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