Word: flora
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Wilson added that the survey would reveal new commercial uses for many endangered forms of vegatation. He said that although rain forests are often destroyed for commercial reasons, preserving flora can be economically advantageous...
...This is the first time in 150 million years that flora is being destroyed to such an extent," Wilson said. "Even with present technology if you know what you are doing, you can get more money by using undisturbed forest than by cutting the forest down for lumber," he said...
...countries care about the survival of tropical species never seen outside a rain forest? Yes, they should. Variety is the spice of life, goes the saying. Biologists would go further and argue that variety is the very stuff of life. Life needs diversity because of the interdependencies that link flora and fauna, and because variation within species allows them to adapt to environmental challenges. But even as the world's human population explodes, other life is ebbing from the planet. Humanity is making a risky wager -- that it does not need the great variety of earth's species to survive...
Shoumatoff's fourth trip took him to Madagascar, a spot that had intrigued him since childhood. Geologically torn from the mainland some 160 million years ago, the island once teemed with unique flora and fauna. Now, the author finds, forests are being leveled to grow crops, the soil is eroding, species are being crowded or poached out of existence. Shoumatoff does not underline his conclusion, but it is evident throughout the book: once an incubator of life, Africa today offers a panorama of possible deaths...
...drowned after a rain-swollen river jumped its banks and overturned four buses Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico. But highly accurate tracking and early warnings prevented more widespread loss of life. The storm ranked well below the toll of recent killer hurricanes like David (1,100 deaths in 1979) and Flora (7,200 deaths...