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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Suffocating Earth

Accelerating Amazon Deforestation

After more than six years of steady decline, the deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon, which serves as vital lungs for the planet, more than doubled in just six months this year, according to the nonprofit research institute Imazon. Observers blame the increase in part on Brazil’s weakened Forest Code, established to protect the rainforest by limiting how much land can be cleared and developed. Senior researcher Paulo Barreto explains, “Imazon uses satellite images to evaluate the deforestation monthly.”

In May 2012, the Brazilian Congress changed the Legal Reserve rule that requires landowners to keep 80 percent of their property forested by eliminating mandatory fines as long as the land is reforested. But enforcement is difficult and the land is often used for growing cash crops such as soybeans or raising cattle.

New guidelines also allow clear-cutting closer to riverbanks, and environmentalists are alarmed about threats to biodiversity. Additionally, 60 new dams are on the government’s agenda.

Source: Living on Earth (loe.org)

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Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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