![\"http:\/\/photos.mongabay.com\/10\/0426_gfcl_percent.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/photos.mongabay.com\/10\/0426_gfcl_percent.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
US & Canada Lose Higher Percentage of Forests Than Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n All I can say is wow! Mongabay<\/a> is highlighting a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a> which reveals that between 2000 and 2005 over one million square kilometers of forest were chopped down worldwide, with both the United States and Canada losing a greater percentage of forest than the poster children of tree destruction, Brazil and Indonesia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Brazil Has Highest Area Loss, But Average Percentage<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There is a little bit of stats parsing going on here: Looking at the seven nations which have more than one million square kilometers of forest still remaining–that’s Brazil, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Russia, and the United States–Brazil still led the pack in terms of area cleared, with about 33,000 square kilometers of both rainforest and tropical dry forest cleared per year, for a total of 165,000 square kilometers lost. That represents 3.6% of it’s total forest cover at the start of the period examined.<\/p>\n However, though Canada and the United States lost less forest cover by area (160,000 and 120,000 square kilometers, respectively), in percentage terms Canada lost 5.2% of it’s total and the US lost 6% of total forest cover.<\/p>\n Keep in mind, the global average for the time period was 3.5%.<\/p>\n The main drivers of forest loss in the US during this time period were fire and better infestation in Alaska and the western states, “large-scale logging in the southeast, along the western coast, and in the Midwest.”<\/p>\n US Southeast Among Highest Rates of Global Deforestation<\/strong> The often publicized phenomenon of forest conversion within the humid tropics is observed in our results, but significant [gross forest cover loss] is evident in all biomes. For example, rates of GFCL in regions such as the southeast United States are among the highest globally.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Read more, about the distribution of forest loss by ecosystem: Mongabay<\/a><\/p>\n Here’s the original paper: Quantification of global gross forest cover loss<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n See also “Is human-caused climate change killing the great forests of the American West?<\/a>”<\/p>\n Business Groups Say Climate Impasse Undermines Clean Energy<\/a><\/p>\n The Capitol Hill politics bogging down a climate bill in the Senate are also hobbling investments in low-carbon energy and prompting calls from some business groups for action.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n President Barack Obama is scheduled to travel Tuesday to a Siemens Corp. wind turbine facility in Fort Madison, Iowa, Tuesday as part of the White House effort to tout the economic, environmental and national security benefits of clean energy investments. The company expanded the plant, adding more than 600 jobs with capital from the stimulus package and tax credits.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Siemens, a unit of the German parent company Siemens AG, is representative of thousands of companies looking to capitalize on a carbon-constrained economy. It is building a range of products that would be attractive if there was a cost for emitting carbon. Besides efficient motors and generators, they are also developing technology to capture emissions from coal plants, have a retro-fitting business that installs energy-efficient equipment in buildings, and plan to expand their solar power unit in the U.S.<\/p>\n Nearly every sector of the energy industry is in some way affected by Congressional deliberations on climate and energy policy, whether it is makers of wind turbines and solar plants, utilities planning nuclear power projects or companies that make natural-gas generators and clean-coal technology. While some want to see a carbon market that will create demand for their products, others say they want to get clarity on how the new emission rules will affect their plans.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\n
\n
\nThe report concludes,<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photos.mongabay.com\/10\/0426-gfcl_country568.jpg\")
<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n