Factoid:
About 17,000 square miles of the Amazon forest were lost to cutting and burning in 1998 -- an area larger than Switzerland. In all, about 217,000 square miles, roughly 16 percent, of the Amazon forest has been lost.
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Cambodia Fights Illegal Logging as Forests Shrink
Cambodia's tropical forests are being devastated by a mostly illegal logging trade, abetted by corrupt politicians and military officers.
Start Date: 3/25/99
Cambodia's tropical forests are shrinking by an estimated 173,000 acres per year, falling victim to a mostly illegal logging trade run by renegade military personnel, according to an Associated Press report dated March 23, 1999. If the trend continues, "every commercially valuable tree in Cambodia will be cut down within five years," the AP said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recently announced that he was ordering raids on illicit logging operations. Foreign observers say raids are now being conducted by crack military units and logging equipment is being confiscated at an unprecedented rate.
But some observers doubt the government's intentions are sincere. Nearly all the revenue from illegal lumber shipments -- which are still flowing into neighboring Laos and Vietnam -- goes into the pockets of military commanders and corrupt politicians. It is thought that some raids have been staged for the benefit of would-be aid donors whose funds are contingent on ending the corrupt lumber trade.
 Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security.
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NASA: Greenland's Glaciers Are Shrinking
A new study suggests that rapid thinning and excess run-off from Greenland's southeastern glaciers may be partly caused by climate changes.
Amphibian Deaths: Environment's 'Canary in a Coal Mine'
Amphibians are dying all over the world, taking many species to extinction. So far, no one really knows why.
Experts Say Global Warming More Than Predicted
A new study released by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change foresees greater global warming than previously predicted, along with greater extremes of weather and faster sea level rise.
New Iceberg Is Bigger Than Delaware
The biggest iceberg seen since 1987 broke away from Antarctica in October, 1998, but most of the Antarctic ice sheet seems stable, scientists said.
Global Warming Seen as Cause of Antarctic Melting
New research shows that two large Antarctic ice shelves lost a combined total of nearly 1,100 square miles of ice in 1998, apparently due to global warming.
Red Cross Sees Increasing Likelihood of Natural Disasters
In a June 1999 report, the International Red Cross warned of a coming era of 'super-disasters' with more 'environmental refugees,' higher insurance losses and declining ability of relief efforts to meet the challenge.
Much Deforestation Driven By Population, Poverty
Marginalized by the spread of commercial farming and ranching enterprises, subsistance farmers are forced to destroy large amounts of tropical forest for new farmland.
Amazon Destruction More Rapid Than Expected
Destruction of the Amazon rainforest is occurring two to three times more rapidly than previously estimated. Conservatively, 16 percent of the original forest is already gone.
New Theory Says Oil Reserves Bigger Than Expected -- And E.T. Might Live Underground
Cornell University Professor Thomas Gold says oil is purely geological, not biological, in origin; and life probably started underground, so look there for ET.
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