Paper Review: Flood, Drought and Water Resources - Book Report/Review Example

Fresh water is gradually being depleted because it is a basic necessity of the human population, which is now quickly approaching 7 billion strong. Education is needed to converse our previous natural resources and reverse this trend in order to protect our same quality of life that we have today for future generations to come. The Problems Associated with Deforestation While we have heard about the problems associated with deforestation for years, the seriousness of the matter has never seemed to take hold.

With the recent desire amongst nations to expand biofuel production, this has come back to the center of discussion. Biofuel production does threaten the very food security that many communities globally depend upon. Farms are being reduced at alarming rates, as are other forested areas that animals depend on as well (Yan, et. al, 2011, p. 508). There is a certain biodiversity that our planet has depended on for thousands of years. With the recent explosion of population, the earth’s resources are being tapped as never before.

These authors have conducted a study that points out the harmful effects of deforestation and the effect that our dependence on biofuel generation is having on civilization. The point is made, for example, that if palm oil is grown on land that used to be a land forest, then you are destroying one part of the environment to save another. This is counterproductive. In some areas, however, commodities such as sugar and ethanol is being grown on land that is ripe and ready for agriculture, yet was vacant.

This type of responsible use of the earth’s resources, such as is occurring in parts of Brazil, is a good model moving forward (Yan, et. al, 2011). Deforestation is quite a complex concept. As such, it is difficult to truly understand the scope of the problem. Many would argue that deforestation is not an issue at all, since the earth is constantly regenerating itself. As such, more time and data is needed to truly understand the scope of the problem and how to solve it to allow the earth to have the necessary resources to sustain life for thousands of years to come.

One aspect about this issue that Yan (2011) points out is that there is a limited availability of global maps and images from which recent deforestation can be estimated (p. 510). Part of the problem is that this type of research is quite expensive as it involves infrared technology and many hours of flight time to determine areas that are affected. As mentioned previously, the earth a vast planet and it is difficult to truly determine how much of it we have already ravaged through our dependence on biofuel and other necessities or desires in life.

It is important, therefore, to continue to look for areas that need to be replanted, and search for other areas that are ripe already for biofuel production. In so doing, forests can be saved today, while still providing the fuel necessary for survival at this moment. Food and fuel insecurity is a serious issue today. When we feel that we are lacking certain items, we do begin to panic. It is important that we work now to discover ways to provide adequate food, fuel, and other environmental resources to sustain the population today, while at the same look towards the future and attempting to save the earth and all of its resources for future generations.

It is a delicate balancing act that, as of today, has no clear answer. It is also an issue,