The basis of wind power is both simple and complex. For thousands of years, humans have harnessed the wind to grind their grain, sail their boats and pump water. The windmill was once a common site on farms and in the countryside all over the US and Europe. The windmill is national icon for the Netherlands, where it was used to pump water from farmland reclaimed from the sea. But starting with the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuel power plants and the electricity they produced replaced windmills and wind pumps.It wasn’t until the threat of global warming and a more eco-conscious public that wind power became more than an oddity pursued by backyard tinkerers and eccentric inventors. The way wind power works is simple. The blades catch the wind, which turns them and the hub they’re attached to. The hub turns a gearshaft which turns inside a generator thus producing electricity. How much electricity depends on both the size of the blades and the speed of the wind. The cost of operating wind power generators is slightly higher than or similar to conventional technologies, although it can be cheaper depending on the country.

Wind power while not totally benign, has advantages over the technologies in use now to produce electricity. Opponents of wind power often cite the toll it takes on birds and bats. But according to http://www.world-wire.com/news/0612040002.html even in Denmark, where over 10% of electricity production is generated by wind turbines, power lines kill many more birds. This issue is also being addressed by designers and has been all but eliminated in the new vertical axis and aeroturbine windmills. And wind power has much less of an effect on other wildlife and may even be beneficial.

When compared to coal and other fossil fuels, which make up 70% of US electricity generation, wind power emits no mercury, sulfur dioxide, acid rain, nitrogen oxide, or greenhouse gases. Rivers don’t have to be dammed for wind power and it produces no nuclear waste like nuclear power plants do. Wind power will never be depleted like fossil fuels and nuclear energy. It’s free for the taking, like solar power, although the equipment needed to convert wind to electric is still expensive. Industry experts expect that to change as wind power becomes more pervasive and accepted around the world.

Large installations of windmills, often called wind farms, generate enough electricity to power hundreds of houses. However they also generate the most controversy, because of noise, aesthetic impact and the threat to birds and bats. As mentioned earlier, designers are addressing these problems and new technologies are making wind power safer, quieter and less damaging to avian populations. Vertical axis turbines, pose almost no danger to birds, produce almost no noise or vibration and may be installed in urban areas. At http://www.plentymag.com Plenty Magazine reports that they are being tested in Chicago and other cities, where the preliminary reports are very favorable. There are even small home wind turbines which can be installed on roofs. These generate power for the household without linking to the power grid.

Experts believe that up to 20% of US electrical power generation could be accomplished with wind power. Canada, Australia and European countries have already implemented their own far reaching programs to replace a percentage of their conventional power plants with wind power. As the self-proclaimed windiest country in Europe, England is particularly well-suited to wind power and has been aggressively pursuing installations of wind farms for years. China has the first Mag-Lev wind power installation and has plans for future large-scale wind power generating facilities.

The several-hundred-billion dollar industry of power production through wind turbines is flourishing and promises to be even stronger in future. What with carbon offsetting and governments coming on board the global warming initiatives, wind power can only grow as the price per kw falls closer to and even lower than a kw produced by coal or gas.

Before terrorists were the eminent threat, before Al Gore started his global warming campaign and before the Y2K scare sent the world into a panic, there was the talk of deforestation. We’ve all seen the people who advocate its cause. We call them tree huggers, and sometimes worse. What most people don’t know is; trees are our life line. They produce the oxygen which we breathe. And without the sufficient amount of trees to produce this oxygen, we die. Trees also help control our climate and are the life-blood of developing countries economies. It’s hard work to get people aboard the stop-deforestation train. Most think that it’s only causing animals to lose their natural habitat, so they couldn’t care less.

Deforestation isn’t a problem that can be completely prevented. Some of the causes of this are not manmade. Acid rain and wildfire causes many forests to dwindle in size. Though, loggers and tree removal for urban developments are also quickly killing our forestlands. Slash-and-burn techniques are a major concern, also. This occurs when people cut down the trees and then burn them to make agriculture or pastures for their livestock.

Over the past decade, deforestation has had significant effects on the environment. The destruction or removal of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment which reduces biodiversity. The massive deforestation taking place in many countries is resulting in climate change and reshaping the geographic layout. Deforestation affects the amount of water in the groundwater and soil, which affects the amount of water in the Earth’s atmosphere. Valuable forest is being lost which fosters medicinal conservation and the recharge of aquifers. It can also cause genetic variations which effect crop resistance.

The dwindling forest lessens the landscape’s capacity to retain and transport precipitation. Instead of trapping the water and feeding it to a groundwater system, the water quickly runs off the surface at much higher speeds than it would underground. This quick transportation of water can lead to flash flooding or more localized floods. Deforestation also causes decreased evapotranspiration, which lessens atmospheric moisture and effects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area. Water is not recycled to downwind forests; instead, it is lost in the runoff and returns directly to the ocean.

Along with environmental and geographical impact, there is also economic impact from deforestation. The fast manor in which people in developing countries are tearing down their forests without reforestation is causing a loss in long-term income. Forests are being ripped apart for the heating and housing needs of almost three billion people. The short-term gain seems to outweigh the long-term effects. Deforestation without reforestation will eventually leave places like West Africa and Southeast Asia without a heat source, and their economy will be shattered. Basically, people are taking trees, but not putting any back.

Deforestation is a problem which affects a lot of countries around the world. American’s don’t seem to put much emphasis on it. But, eventually, it will be an overwhelming cause for concern for our entire planet. The people in West Africa and Southeast Asia are already starting to see the adverse effects. It won’t be long before the rest of the world needs to help correct this problem.