How Octopuses Are Able to Taste by Touching

Giesen et al.Molecular Basis of Chemotactile Sensation in Octopus. Cell, October 2020.

Octopuses have often captured human interest with the ability to use their eight suction-cup covered tentacles for touch and taste. Scientists have wondered for decades how their appendages work but very few have studied what happens on a molecular level. In a new report, researchers got a glimpse into how the nervous system in an octopus’ tentacles manage these functions. They identified a novel family of sensors in the first layer of cells inside the suction cups that have adapted to react and detect molecules that do not dissolve well in water. The chemotactile receptors on these sensory cells use those molecules to help the animal figure out what it is touching and whether or not that object is prey. This allows an octopus to distinguish between a rock versus a tasty crab. The underlying mechanism is that there are two types of sensory cells in the suckers that line their tentacles: mechanosensory cells for touch and chemosensory cells for taste.  Both taste- and touch-oriented cells are critical for helping octopuses to decide when to hunt and when to retreat. It is well known that particles on land easily travel through the air before they might be sniffed by a bear or a wolf’s nostrils. However, the process of smelling or tasting is much less clear in cephalopods that live in the ocean. Some chemicals can travel far from their underwater source and thus make it possible for some creatures to catch a smell of their prey from afar. But for chemicals that don’t move through the ocean easily, a touch-taste strategy can be useful for marine animals, including octopuses. While people tend to perceive five basic tastes – sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami (meaty) – octopuses experience the world of taste differently. Instead, scientists found the most success by stimulating octopuses to respond to what are called terpenoid molecules, a secretion that is often released by marine invertebrates that functions as a defense or warning signal. They smell these molecules and can, in a way, smell fear in their prey.

Natural Forest Regrowth May Be the Best Method to Combat Climate Change

Cook-Patton et al. Mapping carbon accumulation potential from global natural forest regrowth. Nature, September 2020.

Reforestation has been considered the leading strategy in the fight to mitigate the effects of climate change with previous studies highlighting the role it can play in capturing and storing atmospheric carbon. There are many ways to incorporate trees into our landscapes, however one of the cheapest and easiest options is to allow forests to regrow on their own if conditions can permit them to. Now, a new study has mapped the potential carbon accumulation in naturally regrown forests over the next 30 years. Researchers from 18 countries brought together more than 13,000 georeferenced measurements of carbon accumulation to generate a wall-to-wall, one-kilometer-resolution map spanning 43 countries that highlights areas with the greatest carbon returns if trees were allowed to reforest naturally. The team demonstrated that natural forest regrowth can capture up to 23 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions from the atmosphere every year. This is on top of the carbon sequestration already provided by existing forests, which absorb around 30 percent of annual CO² emissions. The biggest advantage of natural restoration of forests is that it often requires nothing more than human inaction. Nature is constantly at work doing its duty to restore forests often unseen on the edges of fields, on abandoned pastures, and wherever forests lie degraded or former forest land is abandoned. Moreover, natural forest regrowth may promote the re-establishment of local tree species that are best equipped to survive in a given location and support the many organisms that eat them or dwell amongst their branches and roots.

However, natural regrowth may not always be the answer. For example, at sites that are highly degraded, or seed sources are far away, actively planting trees can help to start or speed recovery while helping to establish the right species mix for current and future conditions. While planting trees can sometimes be necessary it should usually be the last option since it is one of the most expensive and often least successful methods of combating climate change. It is estimated that humanity should collectively plant about a trillion trees over the next three decades to effectively fight climate change, which averages out to about a thousand new trees planted in the ground every second and assumes that every tree survives and grows in a healthy manner. Once the cost of nurseries, soil preparation, seeding, and thinning are accounted for, it would easily cost hundreds of billions of dollars. If natural forest growth is cheaper and better then why not work to protect the existing trees and let forests to grow on their own?

Li et al. Innate connectivity patterns drive the development of the visual word form area. Scientific Reports, October 2020

A new study suggests that humans are born with a part of the brain that is prewired to be receptive to seeing words and letters. Researchers analyzed brain fMRI scans of 40 newborns and found that the “visual word form area” (VWFA) was already connected to the language network of the brain, which is akin to the scans of 40 adults. These findings are quite surprising considering some researchers had hypothesized that the pre-reading VWFA starts out like any other part of the visual cortex that are sensitive to seeing faces, scenes, or other objects and only becomes selective to words and letters as children learn to read or at least as they learn language. However, a new study shows that even at birth, the VWFA is more functionally connected to the language network of the brain than it is to other areas. It is likely that experience with spoken and written language will strengthen connections with specific aspects of the language circuit and further differentiate this region’s function from its neighbors as a person gains literacy. The main goal of this study is to learn how the brain becomes a “reading brain” and to help understand the differences in reading behavior, which could become useful in the study of dyslexia and other developmental disorders.

There is an extraordinary forest in the south-western part of Australia that often fascinates its visitors. Contrary to what we know and might assume, it is a forest consisting of not trees but sharp stone columns. The legendary Pinnacle Desert is home to these marvelous towers of stone, each with a look more fascinating than the other. An extensive stretch of this desert is located in Nambung National Park, 245 kilometers from the Perth city center.

Breaking through the routine in our mental realm, these ghostly limestone columns in an eerie silence attract many photographers from around the world. This is, in fact, a unique landscape that invokes contemplation despite having scarce vegetation and trees but being rich in conspicuously shorn columns. With its diversity, this panorama stimulates minds, urges thinking, and attracts inquisitive eyes to close observation, and virtually whispers to the hearts: “Read me!”

Besides the centuries-old enigmatic beauty of this geography, the jagged columns rising from the giant sea of yellow quartz sand evoke the view of the moon’s surface. Spanning over 4 square kilometers in the desert, one can observe a wide assortment of rock pillars, varying from huge rocks as high as 5 meters to some that are only the size of a pen. The density of these rocks differs significantly and can reach up to 2 meters in width. While the distance between lined-up structures ranges between 0.5 to 5 meters in dense spots, a general inspection also shows the distance between them varying from a few centimeters to 20 meters.

While they are generally in a conical shape and have a mushroom-like appearance with a rounded cylindrical structure that resembles hollow pipes or tombstones, some of these tall rocks are finger-shaped and look a lot like termite skyscrapers. There are even some that look like auricles. Apart from these, the rocks in multiple compound, cave-shaped, and pipeline-like structures formed of merged concentric columns are conspicuous on site.

Each of these columns, which have endured for thousands of years, are named according to their appearance. In addition to names such as “Elephant Foot,” “Garden Wall,” “Camel,” “Kangaroo,” “Molar Tooth,” and “Red Chief,” there are also group names such as “Ghost Silhouettes” because they resemble ghosts who are having a meeting. Although they show similar features, the fact that each column is of different size, shape, and feature illustrates that each was created as a specific letter bearing a message for us, or as a separate book to be read and appreciated.
This breathtaking landscape in the Pinnacles Desert appears best at dawn or twilight. The columns grow even more terrifying when they cast eccentric shadows on the undulating sand dunes. Although the desert is intertwined with wildlife, most of the animals in the area are nocturnal. At night, it is also likely to encounter gray kangaroos, reptiles, emus, and several bird species which droop like kites around those unusual rock formations.

From Sea Creatures to Stone Columns

Researchers state that the raw material of the pointed columns originated from soft-bodied sea creatures such as sea snails. They believe that the pulverized shell remains of these creatures, which lived in warm waters 700 to 120 thousand years ago, are the source of the limestone silt within the rock formations. It is also stated that the sand carried by winds and waves to the shore accumulated in layers over time and helped form the dunes.

According to research, plant root nets and humus deposits in the region sustained the permanence of the dunes during the formation of the columns. While the acid rains in winters caused the corrosion of the materials in the soil, the dissolved material turned into cement after extreme soil desiccation in summers. Limestone deposits were then created with the fusion of particles. Plant roots pushing the cracks in the hard layer and water penetration into the site over time eroded the limestones to the extent of forging more durable sediments. The rock columns reached their final form as a result of rains, wind erosion, and abrasion by plant roots over the centuries.

Chemical and Structural Analyses

Stone columns, believed to date back to 25-30 thousand years, were first discovered in 1956 by Harry Turner, a historian from Perth. In time, chemical and structural analyses were carried out on many samples from these marvelous rock structures and were revealed to have been formed from Pleistocene Tamala Limestone that contained cyclical arrays of paleosol, calcarenite, and calcrete.

The analyses showed that the material in some columns are primary calcarenites and consist of component layers such as layered dune, calcrete, and paleosol. The strong resistance of the materials is a likely outcome of a robust cementation process that was triggered partially by roots subjected to chemical and mechanical processes. The rhizoliths revealed in the chemical analyses of the material indicate the presence of plant roots in the past.

Other rocks found on the site have secondary cemented pipe or tube filling as material. The polygenetic origin of these vertical tubes are solutions that are likely to have originated from concentrated water flow triggered by root activities. Two types of structures were identified in some towers of stone.

Several researchers believe that numerous complex processes are valid explanations for how these rock formations formed instead of just the theories presented to this date. The researchers also state the need for conducting advanced research to shed more light on these processes.

While not as dense as in the desert, the sharp columns can also be observed in several other locations that do not meet the mentioned climatic and geographical conditions. Likewise, even with root activity, the presence of solution pipes, corrosion, and wind erosion in the surrounding areas, there are locations where no stone columns exist. In more detailed future research, more exclusive secrets of these columns may perhaps be discovered.

These obelisk-like rock formations offer us an extensive feast for exploring the essence of phenomena. Bearing exclusive features and extraordinary equipment under their hard and lifeless appearances, these rocks are an exquisite exhibition of fine arts offered to our contemplation.

References

• Matej Lipar: Pinnacle Syngenetic Karst in Nambung National Park, Western Australia, ACTA CARSOLOGICA 38/1, POSTOJNA 2009, pp. 41-50.
• Matej Lipar, John A. Webb, The Formation of the Pinnacle Karst in Pleistocene Aeolian Calcarenites(Tamala Limestone) In Southwestern Australia, Earth Science Reviews, Volume 140, January 2015, Pages 182-202.
• http://www.discoveraustralia.com.au/western_australia/pinnacles_desert.html 24.11.19

In the northern hemisphere, where annual average rainfall is around 100 kg per square meter in cold and dry regions, boreal forests, with needle-leaf trees, dominate. The southern hemisphere is dominated by savanna; bushes and meadows occupy millions of hectares.. In these regions, natural fires can be the most important factor of ecosystem changes. When looking at the results of these fires, it sometimes seems they were preprogrammed as to when, where, and how they spread.

Examples of fire dependent ecosystems

The cone of the Jack Pine species (Pinus banksiana), which is widely distributed throughout North American forests, requires absolute forest fire in order to release its seeds. The cone of this species can remain on the trees without releasing seeds for years because of climate and the resin layer covering it. Seeds preserved in the cones wait for the next fire; the cone’s scales open with the heat generated during such a fire. The seeds then start their journey towards a piece of soil that they can grow into. Here the role of fire is very important, not only for the dispersal of seeds but also in preparation of germination. The high humidity and low temperatures in the forests of these regions delays the decomposition of fallen leaves. This layer of dead material over the mineral soil is another hindrance for seeds to meet the soil. When scales of the cones open with the help of forest fire, this thick layer of dead leaves is also removed, having burned down to create fertile new soil.

Another example of fire benefiting plants is the chaparral vegetation of the North American forest. This type of plant cover is composed of short, perennial wooden plants and annual non-woody plants. During the hot, dry weather of summer, this vegetative cover becomes particularly vulnerable to fire. A dark black cover composed of unburned parts, frames, and ashes of the plants is left behind. This sight, which is saddening at first, actually hides various beauties in it, and these beauties only emerge after a series of events.

Golden eardrops (Dicentra chrysantha), which is a member of the perennial Chaparral family, is deeply affected by fire. The seed of this plant requires a fire event in the germination season and should be exposed to smoke for at least 10 minutes.

The positive effects of forest fires can also be seen in the healthy survival of an ecosystem. Due to its thick bark, the widely distributed Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), of North America, is minimally affected by the low, medium level cover fires that happen every five to twenty years. The weak and unhealthy individuals in this dense forest get burned as a result of natural forest fires, leaving healthy, thick barked trees. This way, possible epidemics of harmful forest organisms, via these unhealthy trees, is prevented. In the meantime, due to periodic fires, dead cover, or fallen and dead trees are removed, thus preventing bigger fires.

In the eastern Mediterranean, brutia pine, yellow pine, black pine, aleppo pine, and stone pine can are widely distributed. Among these, brutia pine is spread across a wide area, especially in most fire sensitive regions. It is created with a thicker bark around the trunk compared to other pines. This species can be minimally impacted from low and medium level cover fires. On the other hand, seeds in the cones of brutia pine are thrown far away by the heat of the fire, reaching fertile germinating grounds, thus helping to spread the forest.

References

• Fuller, M. 1991. Forest Fires: An Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior, Management, Firefighting, and Prevention, SD421.F84, Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY, pp. 238.
• Keeley, J. E. 2007. “Chaparral and Fire,” Fremontia, Volume 35:4, pp. 16-21.
• Bond, W. J., Wilgen, B.W. 1996. Fire and Plants, SE18HN, UK, Chapman & Hall, UK, pp. 259.

Why do people have to struggle with illnesses and many other hardships during their lives?

How can the All-Merciful God allow harm to be inflicted upon people and other living beings?

We are living in an amazing world undergoing constant changes. There are transformations, restorations, and renewal taking place all around us. Seasons follow one another to bring rejuvenation, the life cycles of animals and plants, water and planetary cycles take us from one condition to another. Land masses move in certain directions to join or form new lands or mountains. Change and renewal are an inescapable reality for all living things. The world is in a constant flux of states which leaves us amazed and mesmerized about it, just as much as do the changes in our social and personal lives too. Societies develop, nations transform, and individuals go through peaks and troughs There are times when we lose our job, times when we become a parent for the first time and times when a loved one passes away. There is no monotone or smooth chain of events following each other. There are always ups and downs in everything that has been pinpointed on a timeline, while some of these events may seem unpleasant to us. There are disasters, calamities and plagues occurring simultaneously alongside apparently pleasant events and miracles in the world. Deaths, separations, or calamities in peoples’ lives evoke sympathy and pity on people.

What is the role of these calamities and disasters that take place in this beautiful world? Why do people have to struggle with illness and many other problems in their lives? How do we reconcile all this change happening in the world with calamities and disasters? How can God Almighty allow harm to be inflicted upon people and other living beings?

To be able to answer these questions we need to have a better understanding of what makes something good or evil. Almost everything good in this world comes with existence and almost all bad things in this world are associated with nonexistence. Goodness, perfection, and maturity require existence of many qualities, and the existence of these qualities require changes. A steady life with no change is not an ideal form of life or living. In such a life, even the greatest pleasures will transform into absolute emptiness. Keeping this in mind, it is as if existence requires calamities, for only with calamities and problems can good things can come into existence. Rejuvenation is the arrival of good events after the departure of nonexistence.

There are many examples from nature that point to revitalization that is induced by change. Take wildfires as an example. Although wildfires damage the habitat of many inhabitants of a forest, they have many benefits as well. Wildfires are great for biodiversity. After a fire, different habitats develop in forest openings. This creates a mosaic of new habitats that encourage new species to enter the area. Wildfires can also improve the health of a forest by removing trees weakened by insects or diseases.1

Storms may sound like another destructive natural event to us but when examined closely, we realize that they are very essential to our planet’s well-being. Up to 25% of the available rainfall is provided by tropical storms. They play a crucial role in maintaining the heat balance of the earth, which is essential to the well-being of all living things. Hurricanes act like the air conditioners of the earth. It moves the cold air masses to places where rain is needed.2 After all, all these events have a purpose that work for a reason.

Human life as a natural and most intelligent participant of this world displays a similar pattern. We suffer pain, endure sorrows, and experience many unpleasant events in our lives. However, most of the time, the true nature of these events are understood only after they are over. The after-shock of events makes us realize things we did not notice before or even during the event. Sickness helps us understand our weaknesses and forces us to develop strategies rather than depending on sheer power. Only with calamities can humans refine their capabilities and talents and attain high virtues. People will recognize that they developed their understanding of their environment after times of difficulties, rather than times of comfort. To put it differently, as William Frederick Halsy, Jr. says: “There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” It is only with challenges that people are compelled to develop new solutions. If we want to advance, we have to change, voluntarily or involuntarily.

These examples are just a few of the countless events happening all around us. In fact, all sciences are the study of these amazing changes. The essential point in all these events is that true evil is the state of no change. It is only with change that we can observe the good outcomes. True evil is in idleness, stagnancy, and inactivity.

There is the well-known saying “every cloud has a silver lining,” that there is a purpose in every event. Nothing is meaningless but since people are short-sighted, they make quick decisions and reach conclusions utilizing poor judgment. Many of the developments in the world require time and consciousness to understand. We need to have a wider and more prudent look into the events. Every event is wonderful in its own way; it is almost impossible to find something meaningless in this world.

Notes

1. For more see, “Yellowstone’s Rebirth by Fire: Rising from the Ashes of the 1988 Wildfires” by Karen Wildung Reinhart, and “Fire Effects on Ecosystems” by Leonard F. DeBano, Daniel G. Neary and Peter F. Folliott.
2. “The Benefits of Hurricanes,” Time Magazine September 24, 1973.

That morning, however, was unusual for one of the ants, Sayhon. He was intrigued by the noises coming from all directions. He had recorded and investigated the noise generated by bugs when carrying chips of wood, the sound a fly makes when landing on a dry leaf, the clamor of the creeks as they hit the rocks, and so on. But regardless of the cacophony of the sounds, Sayhon was always able to filter out a background noise that showed up consistently. It was as if something or someone was omnipresent in every occurrence, making itself heard. After realizing this, the poor ant found himself in seclusion to concentrate on this subtle message. After a while, not able to figure out the source of this constant noise, nor able to come up with an explanation about its meaning, Sayhon spiraled down into an endless depression. In hard times like these, he always took refuge in the warm friendship of Nurson.

Nurson also conducted his own research, modeling the dynamic geometry of the forest. By formulating the variations in the locations of the fruits on the ground or those on the branch, he benefited the worker ants in establishing the optimum routes for collection. Even more challenging was Nurson’s interest in predicting the time and place of the birth of a new fruit. It was so demanding, this prediction effort, that it shook his antennas wildly. During his research, Nurson had come to the conclusion that, existing or newborn, all the fruits were moving apart from each other. This effect was more evident in the observation of a fruit at large distances.

One day when it was raining, Sayhon was observing how the raindrops splashed on the water, how they created a blasting sound. At the same spot Nurson was studying the expansion of the waves in the puddles made by raindrops. After some gloomy moments, Sayhon wanted to open a conversation.

“Hey dude! Do you hear any noise generated by those waves?”

“YES!” replied Nurson hysterically.

Sayhon was not expecting this kind of a “YES” to his question. Rather, it sounded like an answer to something else. This, in fact, was the case, because Nurson had had an epiphany with Sayhon’s question: “The noise you are detecting everywhere is due to the expansion of the forest.”

Sayhon was startled by the answer he had received for his teasing. Nevertheless, he was eager to continue this conversation: “Hey! Easy now, easy.”

“Look! The noise you are detecting everywhere points to an entity or occurrence that is omnipresent. To date, we don’t know an entity everywhere, but we do know an occurrence that is everywhere: the moving apart phenomenon. So, the only thing that can create this noise you are so curious about is the expansion of the forest. Every fruit, every branch-tip in this forest is moving apart from each other, while leaving behind a signature in the form of sound. Now everything makes sense.”

Enlightenment suddenly seized them both with a shiver throughout their bodies. When they came back to their senses, they couldn’t help but smile; it didn’t take long before Sayhon and Nurson started squealing in joy.

Soon, the entire ant colony was in a tumult about the discovery of the expansion of the forest, but with some subsequent thoughts. For example, an ant suggested that the omnipresent noise must be propagating through some unseen but all-pervading substance; but the experiments to verify this suggestion failed. Another thought was about the size of the forest. Some claimed that it was not possible to know the size of the forest, while others said it was finite, since otherwise it would result in an infinitely intertwined forest. A third item in this list of hot discussions was the age of the forest. According to the expansion theory, if the forest is expanding now, and if you rewind this process long enough, you end up with a single tree, and eventually a single seed, out of which this endless forest has formed. They called this unimaginable start the “big germination.” Based on the big germination theory, some ants suggested billions of years of age for the forest; but some others claimed an age on the order of thousands based on interpretation of their ancient texts.

In the fresh vibrations of these findings, the discussions of the ants about the start of the forest eventually became a discussion of their own existence. What was the origin of life in the forest? How had the living beings come to their current states, each with an optimum design for the survival of their own species and for the well-being of the entire habitat? Were they merely fallen off a tree as a result of a coincidence?

As the founders of the big germination theory, Sayhon and Nurson were invited to speak in huge assemblies where thousands of curious ants were gathered. They had given several interviews, and participated in many events on the subject of the origin of life. The two friends had differing points of views on this matter, but their discussion was as respectful as it was rational.

Sayhon held the view that the living beings had come to existence through a chain of events that are not yet readily known to the ants, but can be discovered with advancements in science. As his initial hypothesis, he proposed a common ancestor to all kinds of animals in the forest, like the start of the forest from a single seed. He supported his theory of a common ancestor with the observations of common traits among different organisms. But eventually, he admitted that his hypothesis is only tentative, and needed further scrutiny. He was open to change his views with new findings and observations, and never suggested that his hypothesis be used as the criterion to judge the veracity of new perspectives.

Nurson, on the other side, claimed that the origin of life in the forest was by the hand of the Creator, just like He was the one who had created the forest in the scenario of the big germination. In the same context, he thought that the scientific studies must be aimed at learning how the Creator was making different kinds of animals in the forest. Nurson said that his view did not essentially differ from Sayhon’s views in terms of scientific foundations or implications, but he positioned himself against unscientific interpretations of scientific findings. For example, he requested that, as he admitted his belief in the Creator is an unscientific presumption, Sayhon must admit his claims about a common ancestor is unscientific, since there was no absolute proof to it. Nurson also expressed his resentment about the ants who inferred the absence of the Creator in the scientific texts as a rejection of Him, since such inference was clearly irrational as well. Overall, Nurson neither tried to alienate Sayhon nor curse his views, he merely requested that both parties characterize their views properly, which was wholeheartedly approved by Sayhon.

In return to the request of Nurson, Sayhon invited him to admit that they don’t have a complete understanding of how creation occurs, and that interpretation of implicit information in the ancient texts cannot be binding. Nurson humbly agreed.

Despite the friendly opposition between Sayhon and Nurson, the ant colony was severely divided into two groups: some siding with Sayhon and others agreeing with Nurson. Each group projected their own view as the ultimate truth, unlike the two friends’ admittance of the unscientific parts in their views. Although Sayhon and Nurson both admitted the tentative and immature level of science in the matter, the public preferred to embrace them as complete and unchangeable. Thus, these two groups socially expelled each other, and showed intellectual hostility. Rejecting the other’s views in their entirety, they mutually evolved into antagonists.

Strange enough, as the tension between these groups increased, the climate in the forest started to change dramatically. Rain became more abundant, yet the weather also warmed up incredibly. They had yet to discover the significance of these drastic changes, but this threat to the entire colony acted as a uniting agent among the ants, and mitigated the divisions on the origin of life.

In one of those hot days, the ants noticed large cracks forming in their nests, which eventually evolved into large channels, through which a violent stream came and flooded the forest. Many of the ants were saved by embarking on the leaves. Now everything was underwater, and would be until it soaked completely into the soil, which was unlikely to occur in their lifetimes. Facing extinction, the big germination and the subsequent expansion of the forest felt like meaningless topics in their hopeless state. Yet, the origin of life was of the highest attention. Even the most bigoted ants who denied the Creator wanted to believe in a higher Hand that could penetrate the doom they were facing and deliver them to salvation.

The flood did not return the ants back home but carried them to another one. By the time they arrived at this new forest, the flood had faded to a nice stream, and the ants could safely disembark from their leaves. But with nothing in their possession, everything had to be reconstructed: a home, a safe environment, and most importantly, the hope for restoration.

Sayhon and Nurson were among these survivors. Seeing that their home forest actually had an end had shocked them. In light of this fact, they had to reconsider all their thoughts from scratch. This was not to be done publicly, because the colony was struggling for survival. Amidst this new land of uncertainties, everyone was in need of a certainty to cling to, and the suppositions of Sayhon and Nurson were the last thing they looked for.

As the colony’s efforts for reconstruction and the internal quests of these two ants continued, they came across the most unexpected thing: another ant colony just like them. It was as shocking to the native ants as it was to themselves. And as their relationship deepened, it was a subtle, mind-altering experience for all of them to see that they both had religious texts telling the same brief story about the origin of life.

“You know, I wasn’t always like this,” began the butterfly. “I used to creep on the ground instead of flying in the air. I used to have gloomy colors and obnoxiously long hair instead of these lovely colors and elegant wings.”

It was really hard for me to believe that the butterfly had ever been in the situation she was describing. I am sure the other fellows in our group were also surprised to hear this, but none of us wanted to interrupt the flow of her beautiful words.

“My situation back then troubled me, indeed. Why was I doomed to get smashed under the feet of others? Why was beauty innate to other creatures while ugliness was my fate? Dissatisfied with my situation, I wanted to change, dreamed to wake up into a new day, desired to breathe a fresh life. My creeping ugly body did not match my spirit within.”

At this point, I couldn’t hold my breath anymore, and asked: “So, what did you do about it? Was it then that you turned into this beautiful state?” The butterfly reacted most unexpectedly to my question. She neither smiled nor gave a humble answer. Without even changing the expression on her face, as if she hadn’t heard me, she continued: “I couldn’t do anything about it.” Then she stopped. You know how long intermissions like this can feel. After a few seconds the butterfly took the word again seriously, as if she had a duty to tell her story, rather than an urge to praise herself.

“In that desperation, I decided to bring all this to an end. I slowly climbed a high tree. From that height, the scene looked very different. I was able to observe things just like the birds. I had found a security that I could never find on the ground. A perfect day to initiate my change. If I wanted to be revived anew, I needed to die first.”

We weren’t expecting to hear such sentences from this unique guest in our forest. Why was she telling us all this anyway? We were all young trees looking forward to our bright futures. The gloom in her words veiled her beauty, and eclipsed our interest in listening to her. But observing the change in our facial expressions, the butterfly continued:

“And slowly, I started tying the rope that I carefully made myself, and rendered myself to the hands of the wind. And just like I had predicted, things started changing very quickly as I descended towards the ground. I realized something that I had never thought before: I belonged to someone who did not want me to perish like this. It was as if time suddenly stopped, and I had a chance to communicate with my Owner. I was ashamed of what I had done, and asked for a second chance, which was given to me. Then I came to find myself hanging from the tree.”

I was thinking that the butterfly was going to conclude with “hanging from the tree in this vibrant beauty.” Astonishingly, there was more to the story of how she gained this beauty. My interest started to build up again, and I observed the same curiosity on my friends’ faces.

“In my anguish and shame, I started covering my body. I wove a small tent around myself. As such, I was alone in my darkness, away from the insults, from the harassments, and from myself. During my retreat, I tried to re-evaluate things and thought about positive ways to change. After a while, I decided to rid myself of my cocoon and do something. But there was one hurdle: I was hanging down in the middle of the air, covered with a genuinely woven house. I had to undo the excellent job I had done, but it wasn’t easy to tear my silken prison apart.

“As small pieces of the house were torn and as I was able to glimpse the daylight, I tried even harder to free myself. When the hole I made was large enough, I squeezed myself through. It was then that I saw my new self, reflected in the puddle below me and gave the most heartfelt praise to my Owner.”

Thus concluded the butterfly’s story of change. She even gave us admonitions about positive ways of making changes in our lives and in ourselves. She also talked about how potent our bodies are in facilitating the process of change.

All this was wholeheartedly embraced in our forest by the young trees, including me at the time. Why? Because we were in the same place where we were born; so we wanted to do something about it. We were all inspired by the butterfly’s story and decided to mobilize ourselves. Even the peaceful nights that used to be filled with the rhythmic voices of crickets were now filled with the whispers of our discussions on how to enact this fundamental change.

No wonder the old trees found this activity among the young outrageous and inappropriate. They thought that we were trying to achieve something against our nature. The time spent on these efforts was regarded as a waste. The old trees first tried to warn us against our “hallucinations,” but it turned out to be a fruitless effort. Then the old trees threatened to block our sunlight by covering us from above. This, too, became a wasted effort when the old trees realized they were engaging in sanctions that would kill their young ones instead of changing their minds. In the mean time, our ideas caught the attention of the newer generations. Upon hearing the whole story regarding the butterfly and our efforts to change, they too joined us in that desire to mobilize. So eventually the old trees decided to wait and see what would happen. After all, we were simply trying to imitate the butterfly.

Ever since that spring when the butterfly shared her story, we all covered ourselves with as many leaves as possible, similar to the cocoon of the butterfly. We were hoping that when the winter winds blew those leaves away, our mobilized selves would come out, just like the flight of the butterfly. We persistently covered ourselves this way year after year, but neither our roots became feet, nor did our branches transform to wings. Eventually, we realized that we were only getting older and that we were wasting our time. No one was out there anymore to advise us, either, because the butterfly had died that same spring, and the older trees shunned us because of our stubborn foolishness.

Once young trees, now experienced and mature, we decided to talk about the failed plan that was supposed to lead us to change. This time, instead of reciting the misleading story of the butterfly, we were going to talk about why this had happened to us and how we should advise our young. We started by analyzing the cautions of the old trees. Although we were not fully able to understand the wisdom behind the words of the elders, we could feel that they carried some implicit good in them.

As our voices undulated in the air, one of the migrating birds heard this talk and made a swift landing near our place of discussion. She quickly started to talk: “You know, we also had a problem among our young, but it was in the opposite direction. They wanted to quit traveling and stay in one place. We even lost some of them last winter when they decided not to migrate.” The unexpected interruption by the bird evoked other questions in our branchy minds. Why was this problem always occurring with the young? And why did they fancy a nature opposite to their own?

We couldn’t come to a conclusion. But one day, a short time after the discussion with the bird, we witnessed a mobile tree and a stationary bird. The tree was being carried behind a huge animal that was making a horrible, obnoxious noise. This was an animal we had never seen. To our surprise, the two Men who were riding the animal had captured a bird and somehow made her into a stationary bird that could constantly stand on the walls surrounding their home. Neither the mobile tree nor the stationary bird induced joy in the forest.

The mobilization of the trees and the stationing of the birds continued until one day when there were hardly any trees and birds left. Something was terribly wrong because none of this brought any good to our forest. The few remaining trees wanted to stay where they were born, and the few remaining birds wanted to fly.

On a once breezy and warm, but now unusually hot spring day, a butterfly appeared in the place where our forest used to be. She carried a poetry book she had composed. As the butterfly voiced her yearning for the glorious trees in the land and the soaring birds in the skies, tears of regret filled our eyes. And her verses of nostalgia ended with a prayer:

Oh the Unchanging One despite the transients,
Oh the Eternal One in the face of all mortals,
Oh the Creator of all animals that are now only in the tales,
Resurrect nature, we implore with our silence.

Seth Mette has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University. He has a special interest in psychological fiction.

Greenhouse Gases and the Greenhouse Effect

A greenhouse is a place that is usually covered with glass or plastic walls where early season vegetables and house-plants are cultivated. Rays from the Sun can easily penetrate a greenhouse, but once they hit the ground they are transformed into thermo-energy, with the wavelength of the beams shortening and their energy diminishing. As a result, these beams with a shorter wavelength cannot leave the greenhouse due to the glass or plastic walls. Therefore the warming of the greenhouse increases as more and more rays enter. We call this process the greenhouse effect.

Similarly, some gases in the strata of the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases since these gases cause the same greenhouse effect for the Earth. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide, ozone, chlorofluorocarbon, and water vapor. These gases have been created with a property that does not prevent (or prevents to a very small extent) the light energy that comes from the Sun from reaching the Earth and that prevents the infrared heat energy waves that are formed after this energy reaches the Earth from radiating to the higher layers of the atmosphere. Both the Earth and the layers of the atmosphere close to the Earth are heated by these gases. If there were not any of these gases surrounding the Earth it is estimated that the Earth would be 33° C colder. Although there is a delicate balance and measure among the gases in the atmosphere that allows the maintenance of the Earth’s temperature at a sensible level, human beings are carrying out practices that can ruin this balance. We, as human beings, are responsible for the global warming that is perceived as a danger today.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide is half the reason for the total greenhouse effect. This gas is formed as a result of the use of fossil fuels, the respiration of humans, animals, and plants, and the disintegration of organic substances. Industrial development has caused a rapid increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is known that 85% of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere comes from fossil fuels, with 15-20% stemming from the respiration of living beings and the other ecological continuous cycles.

In the last 150 years, a total of 389 Gt of carbon dioxide has been emitted into the atmosphere. 265 Gt of this carbon dioxide comes from the consumption of fossil fuels and the production of cement. 124 Gt comes from changes in land use. 214 Gt of this total has been reabsorbed by land and sea ecosystems and the oceans. This means that there is a surplus of 175 Gt of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The Importance of the Forests

Forests play an essential role in lowering the diffusions of greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere and in forming “carbon absorption” by occluding greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Thus, except for sedimentary rocks, 67% of the carbon kept on the land is stored in the forest ecosystem. 75% of the carbon kept by vegetation is stored in the forests. In addition, as long as some long-lived wooden products (wooden houses, furniture, etc.) decay or are burnt they remain as carbon storages.

As we all know, during photosynthesis the carbon dioxide that is taken from the atmosphere is separated into carbon and oxygen molecules. Then the carbon is stored in the roots, trunks, branches, and leaves of plants, being used in order to form carbon hydrates. Therefore carbon dioxide, the most essential greenhouse gas, becomes balanced. We can compare this to a huge factory that works very quietly and causes no waste. It is such an efficient factory that it transforms harmful substances into useful ones. We cannot say that we human beings appreciate this factory or protect its resources. Although today forests cover 3.7 billion hectares, comprising 30% of all land, between the years 1990–2000 on average 9.4 million hectares of forest were annually removed. That means that during this period the forest regions of the world diminished by 2%. As a result of such negative occurrences, because the carbon balance of vegetation, soil and organic substances had been destroyed, the forests, one of the means of God’s mercy upon us, have become sources of carbon dioxide and a tragedy due to our exploitation.

Ligneous living masses increase each year, while falling leaves add to the carbon storage. As a result, forest ecosystems contain carbon. After the growth of trees, most of the carbon dioxide they occlude each year goes toward developing the biomass of the tree. This means that in the first 30-40 years a high rate of carbon storage occurs. As the forest ecosystem develops, the organic substance of the soil and the total respiration in the ecosystem (occlusion of carbon dioxide) increase. When the ecosystem has fully developed, it no longer has the characteristics of “carbon absorption” anymore. In this case, the amount of carbon taken from the atmosphere is equal to the carbon emitted back by the biomasses of the trees and is kept in the soil. The time it takes for a tree to fully develop depends on the type of tree and the climate zones. However most of the carbon storage occurs in the first 60-100 years. It has been determined by research that a well-developed 100 year-old beech tree absorbs 40,000,000 m_ of air with its leaves for photosynthesis and binds 1,200 m_ of carbon dioxide in the air as 6 tons of carbon.

As well as being a community of trees, forests are environmental systems and living communities, with soil that was created over a thousand years, with millions of plants, animals, and microorganisms, and their reciprocal relationships. It is very difficult for this system to be restored once destroyed by human beings. Forests provide an essential service in a consistent and balanced carbon flow between the biosphere and the atmosphere with respiration that is dependent on photosynthesis and the activities of life in the soil and the plants. Forests are the lungs of the Earth.

In the light of these facts, the duty of human beings is to protect the vegetation and to reforest the treeless lands, to decrease human pressure on existing forests and to improve forests that have been damaged. Oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide were created as continuous cycles for the continuation of the life. When these treasures have been damaged as a result of the greed of human beings, the costs are too high for us to reverse the trend. Billions of people are victimized; yet they are nor directly responsible for such acts. These delicate balances can be revived if we lead a simple and modest life, where we consume less and we produce less. Those who ought to understand this first must promise to be more respectful to God and to change themselves. Even if we fulfill our responsibilities, we can do nothing today but hope that those whose destructive powers are great may desire such a spiritual revolution.

References

• Cepel, N., Ekolojik Sorunlar ve Cozumleri, Tubitak Populer Bilim Kitaplar›, Ankara: 2003.
• Roulet, N.T., Freedman, B., What Trees Can Do to Reduce Atmosferic CO2, Tree Canada Foundation, Ontario: 2003.
• Report by the Commission of Climate Change Experts, DPT (Turkey’s Official Planning Organization), Ankara: 2001.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2001, Global Forest Resources Assesment 2000, ISSN 0258-6150, FAO Forestry Paper:140.

Even though today’s viewers consider Frankenstein too pedestrian, viewers in 1931 found it so frightening and disgusting that Whale was criticized quite harshly. Earlier fantastic horror films that served as early examples of this genre, such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, were adaptations of literature and did not have much cinematographic merit.

In the 1930s, with the appearance of sound pictures, the movie industry could no longer remain indifferent to horror movies-especially the big success of Dracula, directed by Todd Browning and starring Bela Lugosi.

Up until World War II, many horror movies were released one after the other. As the war intensified, the genre’s theme shifted to psychological distress, and gradually toward European themes.

Violence and Blood

In England, near the end of 1950s, traditional horror films continued to be produced: Dracula, Revenge of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. However, the genre’s content changed somewhat. As color movies emerged, such movies as Paranoiac, Nightmare, Evil of Frankenstein, and Hysteria contained more violence, blood, massacres, and impalings, rather than fantastic themes. As viewer interest increased, the genre was accepted by the world’s leading cinema industries, including those in Asia, and horror films were shown around the world. In Italy, movies like the very successful The Mask of Satan acquired cult status.

Hollywood Begins To Rule

The American movie industry of the 1970s, the heart and soul of the global movie industry, gave considerable room to this genre, especially in the case of small-budget productions. However, the fantastic heroes of classical horror movies were replaced almost completely by exaggerated and “real” horror. Movie screens turned into pools of blood and depicted shoving needles into people’s eyes, cannibalism, dismembering bodies with chainsaws, and devil possession. Many movies had to be toned down before their release, among them Tobe Hooper’s The Exorcist (1973); David Cronenberg’s They Came From Within, The Parasite Murders, and Shivers (1975); John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978); and Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1983).

Additionally, movies like Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) blended science fiction and horror or comedy and horror. More importantly, they were big hits with moviegoers.

In contemporary horror movies, which produce sequels proportional to the interest stirred, we observe harsh criticism of society and the system, as well as a blending of comedy and horror or an accentuation of metaphysics. In recent years, movies produced by Wes Craven and John Carpenter, whose names are now forever linked with this genre, were warmly welcomed by moviegoers.

Giovanni Scognamillo: “Horror” lost its credibility

In recent years, the horror genre has suffered several traumas. The main problems are its diminishing credibility and marketability concerns. Giovanni Scagnamillo, the famous Italian director, says: “We can assure horror movies a type of popular cinema. Despite this, many famous directors show interest in this genre. Undoubtedly, there are really bad horror productions of this type. We can even say that most of them are substandard, second class.

“However, there also are many unpromising movies in other genres. In my opinion, we should talk about the cinematographic value of the movies. As a pro of the horror genre, I am in favor of fantastic horror. It can cover more topics and different dimensions. You can do anything as long as you use your imagination. Other horror types have to confirm to specific restrictions. In horror movies, credibility is rather hard to find, because Hollywood is producing movies for a relatively young audience, regardless of budget. Grown-ups do not go to movies very often. Hence to attract young people, producers accentuate effects and go for the shock effect.” (Asik, 2)

A movie released on July 30, 1999, has overcome these problems via the newest form of media: the Internet. It also signals a new era in horror movie genre.

The Blair Witch Project

Two young men and a women go into the forests of Maryland to shoot a documentary. They end up filming The Blair Witch Legend, which has somehow survived until today. They interview area residents, talk to historians, and produce a documentary film by synthesizing the gathered data. Mysteriously, nothing is heard of them for a year. Then the following year, deep in the forest in which they were lost, their footage is found. In the scenes shot with one color and one black-and-white camera, their research and horrifying nights spent in the forest are recorded. This is a very brief summary of the movie. If you think you have a fine topic, a fascinating novel, and enough material to produce an impressive horror movie, all you have to do is create a proper fiction. This is what Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, two university pals, did. Their movie, The Blair Witch Project, has already made $150 million in box office sales just in the United States. Another astounding aspect is that it cost only about $30,000 to make. After El Mariachi, which carried Robert Rodriguez to Hollywood in 1993 and cost only $7,000, The Blair Witch Project is another exemplar of a low-budget film becoming a box office success.

A Fake Documentary

The planning stage of The Blair Witch Project is as interesting as its theme. In 1992, two University of Central Florida (Orlando) students decide to shoot a documentary movie in a television-series style. They call their production a documentary, although most of it is made up. First, they devise The Blair Witch Legend and backdate it to 1785. The plot features a woman who, accused of witchcraft and sorcery, is left in the middle of a forest to die. To support their story, they fabricate historians, police, and townspeople, as well as some footage of the witch’s house, which was allegedly found later in the forest. When they relate their idea to a professor in the Theatrical Arts department, they are told it is “the most ridiculous and nonsensical project I’ve ever heard of,” and are shown the door. Ignoring this comment, in 1994 they send three young people to a desolate forest in Maryland with Hi-8 cameras. As the scenario necessitates, while they are going around the woods and shooting, more activity is brought to the movie by means of special messages received every morning in boxes. During the nights, the directors scare the actors by making strange noises. In six tiring days, they shoot 20 hours of raw film. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez start working to make the material usable. They release the first version of the movie, which is 2.5 hours long, at the end of 1997.

The New Market: Virtual Environment

The film is now complete, yet there still is a problem: skyrocketing distribution and advertising costs. Besides, a box-office failure is not totally unlikely. To solve this problem, they come up with a brilliant idea: spreading the legend over the Internet. In 1998 the producers, who build a related Web-site, do something different from similar sites: They spread the legend to the masses instead of advertising the movie. After a television spot broadcast by the Independent Movie Channel, a fan circle begins to emerge. The number of interested people continues to increase, until it numbers in the millions. The famous Web-site, to which mostly young people are attracted, spreads among the public, who await the movie’s release with great curiosity.

Negative Criticisms

At the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, the movie receives harsh, mocking, sarcastic, and derisive criticism, especially from movie critics. After the festival, producers decide to budget $15 million for marketing and distribution. At this introductory stage, they put brochures about the movie inside books, make special programs for television channels, and arrange campaigns at school campuses. These efforts bear fruit, and the film enjoys great success in theaters. The Blair Witch Project, which was mocked at Sundance Film Festival and regarded as a nonsensical movie, is now accepted as a herald of a new era in the horror genre. Perhaps the reason for its success can best be explained by what Scognamillo talks about: its realism and documentary style, which gave it a great deal of credibility.

References

• Asik, Fatih. “Horror Genre.” Zaman, North American edition (27 September 1999).
• http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1800019506&cf=info
• http://www.blairwitch.com/2
• http://www.film.com/reviews/features/99blairwitch/

For that reason, the region constitutes a vast, natural pharmacopoeia. Plant and animal tissues obtained from the rain forest are used in the production of chemicals of known medicinal potency. (The ingredients for the best known drugs are extracted from the tropical plants.) So far less than one percent of the Amazon’s plant species have been studied for their possible curative properties (McGee, 1990, pp.516-17).

In contrast to the wealth of its flora and fauna, the soil of the Amazon is poor, so poor that, when large areas are cleared up, the regeneration process may take as long as 300, in some places even 1000 years (Giamo, 1988, p.539). But, the forest is rich in various natural resources: deposits of manganese, aluminium, copper, tin, nickel, iron, gold and natural gas have been found. Annual production of these minerals is worth about 1.5 billion dollars (McGee, 1990, p.515).

The region as a whole is vital to the maintenance of the world ecological order; it is an important factor in world weather patterns; nearly half of the world’s oxygen atmosphere is released from its vegetation; and approximately two-thirds of the world’s fresh water is stored in the Amazon basin.

DEFORESTATION OF THE AMAZON

Today, one of the most serious problems facing the international community is the uncontrolled destruction of this unique environment. Deforestation of the Amazon region is being done by all nine states sharing the region, though Brazil, 59% of whose territory is located in the Amazon basin, is the most active. Over the last three decades, the scale of destruction has become intolerable. There are no precise figures; the estimate is a loss of 13.000 sq. km. of forest annually. The total destruction of the Brazilian Amazon so far amounts to 415.000 sq. km., an area about the size of Iraq (Cerrill, 1992, p.44). Pessimists expect the Brazilian rainforest to have been largely destroyed by the first decades of the next century, despite a fall in the rate of destruction (ibid).

In a global perspective, the destruction of the earth’s lungs (for that is what the rainforests are) raises two problems. First, the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. In 1988 an estimated 12,000 sq. miles of Brazilian forest, an area larger than Belgium, was set alight to clear land for agricultural use. Excessive CO2 emission from such fires is among the main causes of the so-called greenhouse effect: Amazon deforestation contributes nearly five percent of the total CO2 emissions worldwide; the region as a whole stores in its flora 0.75 billion tons of carbon (Linden, 1989, p.46). The increase in the temperature of the earth’s surface will bring about climatic chaos, threatening the future of the global ecosystem including mankind. Second, deforestation goes hand in hand with the destruction of fauna and flora. It is estimated that every day one species becomes extinct (Goldenberg and Durham, 1990, p.26). If the Amazon rainforests vanish, more than a million species, a significant portion of the earth’s biological diversity and genetic heritage, will become extinct (Linden, 1989, p.45). The scale of the danger can be simply illustrated: 900 species of fig provide essential nutrition for spider monkeys, peccaries (a variety of pig) and toucans, for over three months of every year; the figs themselves depend on pollination by wasps–if the wasps go, all species higher up on the food chain go also: the monkeys and jaguars would disappear.

The well-being of the generations to come is dependent upon the preservation of biological diversity. Failure means that our children will be deprived of the opportunity to discover or modify pharmaceutical compounds from the genetic diversity that is now available but would then not be. And that lack would be felt also in the agricultural sector where genes taken from wild species are used to interbreed with domesticated varieties to enrich and strengthen them. For example, the California barley crop, with an estimated annual value of $160 million, was rendered immune to the lethal yellow dwarf virus by a gene from a barley plant found in Ethiopia (Dobson, 1992, p.282). That is why even Westerners agree that ‘Brazil is very important to the international community because of its biological diversity’ (Cerrill, 1992, p.46).

The Brazilians are accused of constructing highways, colonizing the region through large-scale migration, ranching, mining and lumbering. In fact, all the Latin American countries who share it also share in the destruction of the rainforest. In some of these countries, the forest is cleared to grow coca for cocaine production. Many endangered plants and animal species are caught for export to the West’s pet shops. The local governments are unable or reluctant to enforce international agreements to protect the fauna and flora threatened with extinction.

The principal excuse for the ongoing destruction is widespread poverty, even hunger, in the countries concerned. One Brazilian president said ‘we cannot discuss the environment issue without taking into account the situation of poverty and misery in which three-quarters of humanity lives’ (Cerrill, 1992, p.46). We should ask ourselves why such poverty arises in a region which Allah has endowed with so much natural wealth and beauty.

ISLAMIC APPROACH TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRAGEDY

We should seek the reason for the tragedy of the Amazon region in the brutality of the international economic order, based on the crudest laissez-faire economic attitudes and a usurious financial system. Without doubt, it is the foreign debts of Brazil and other Latin American countries that are the immediate reason for the deforestation policy. Brazil is now staggering under a foreign debt of $120 billion.

As Umar Vadillo rightly says: ‘the problems of the usurious economy are becoming day by day more apparent and more pressing since they are connected to the very survival of man and the ecological equilibrium of the planet. Today no one has any doubts that the reasons for starvation in the world and the serious deforestation of the tropical forests lie primarily in the debts of those countries’ (Vadillo, 1991).

The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have financed enormous highway and hydroelectric plants and other construction projects with the specific aim of exploiting the revenues from the destruction of the Amazon (Goldenberg and Durham, 1990, p.31). The policies of such institutions are meant to divert the natural resources of developing countries from serving the needs of their populations to financing usurious loans taken out for projects that benefit only particular groups (Mc Clearly, 1991, p.707). The loans do not help the mass of the people to develop sustainable economic projects. Instead, they oblige them to set aside their best lands to grow crops for exports (where prices are beyond their control) in order to earn the foreign currency to service the national debt. It is a vicious circle systematically used by the world’s financiers to grind down the poor so that they continue to be forced to invest, through Western banks, in the affluence of the West: for every one dollar invested by the Western countries in the Third World (whether as aid or as loans) ten dollars are repaid in interest.

The cost of this debt slavery is horrific. In Brazil, for example, three-quarters of the population are living in the cities, more than half of them without adequate water supplies or sewage systems (Cerrill, 1992, p.47). Even some Westerners are coming to accept that the developed world cannot continue its exploitation of underdeveloped countries with the cruel intensity of the past half century–such an attitude is unsustainable, as well as being morally repulsive (Mc Clearly, 1991, p.707).

As long as the Western banks press the Brazilian governments to repay loans and interests, the Brazilian people will be forced to exploit the rainforest to barely survive as debt-slaves: but this has repercussions on the global climate and eco-system we all share. One cannot help agree with a Brazilian Congressman who said: ‘The green area of Amazonia should be totally devastated … because the forest represents the paralyzation of the country’s development’ [quoted from O Globo (Oct. 19, 1977) in Giamo, 1988, p.537]. Recently, Western banks have come to understand the consequences of their policies and the danger they put themselves in: one official tries to clear himself of blame in this way: ‘Deforestation may be with our money, but it is very much against our philosophy’ (Timberlake, 1987, p.23). It is beginning to dawn on the decision-makers that the agony imposed on the South by the North will lead to a catastrophe that will certainly engulf the North too. This confession arises from the understanding, in the aftermath of the catastrophic events of the 1980s, that due to the delicate ecological balance of the global environment, the South and the North share the same destiny. One’s loss will certainly be the other’s.

The Qur’an categorically prohibits usury; for example, in al-Baqarah: O you who believe! Have fear of Allah and give up what is still due from usury. If you do not, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger (2.278). Also, the Qur’an reiterates many times the interdependence of the creation, its fundamental interconnectedness and unity. As a single example of this, consider the following verse from al-An’am: No creature is there crawling on the earth, no bird flying with its wings, but they are nations like yourselves (6.38).

The respect for other creatures required by this verse (Hamid, 1989, p.159) is well-illustrated in the report that the Prophet, upon him be peace, following his own reasoning, once ordered dogs to be killed, but then changed his position to harmonize with the verse. He explained: ‘If the dogs were not nations in themselves I would command them to be killed’ (Sahin, 1992, p.7). The care and compassion of this attitude, its patient refusal to exercise the power human beings do have, is surely an example of a sensitivity to the hidden purposes of Allah’s creation, its as-yet unrealized potential, that we find echoed in the pleas, now growing desperate in their urgency, that we respect and save ‘the bio-diversity’ of our planet.

Certainly, the All-Merciful and All-Powerful created this universe with a harmony and balance among its many, different elements: And the firmament He raised up high and, He set up the balance in order that ye may not transgress (due) balance (7.9).

It is an aspect of human civilization, gravely neglected in the West, that human beings should learn to hear that harmony, to feel that balance, and to seek to live in tune with the Creator’s purpose rather than in arrogant disregard of it. Man’s dominion is conditional on his being a steward of nature, not a ruthless, self-indulgent tyrant. To prefer the role of tyrant to that of steward is in reality, to prefer our self-destruction biological as well as moral. 

REFERENCES

• CERRILL, M. (1992) ‘Brazil’s two faces’, Time (June 8), pp.44. ft.
• DICKENSON. J. ‘ Too many trees: not enough wood? A review of recent Literature on Brezilian Aniazonia’ Journal of Latin American Studies, 18, pp.409-23.
• DOBSON, T. (1992) ‘Loss of biodiversily: an international environmental perspective’ North Carolina J int’l & Commercial Reg, 17. pp.277-309.
• ECOLOGIST, THE (1989) ‘Amazon Special Issue’,19(6).
• GIAMO, M.S. (1988) ‘Deforestation in Brazil: domestic political imperative-global ecological disaster’ Envilonmental Law 18, pp 537-70.
• GOLDEMBERG, J. & DURHAM. E. (1990)‘Amazonia and national sovereignty’ Journal of international Environmental Affairs, 2(1) pp.22-39.
• HAMID, A. (1989) ‘Islam: the Natural Way’, MELS PubI, Lcndon.
• LINDEN, E. (1989) ‘Playing with fire: destruction of the Amazon is one of the great tragedies of hislory’, Time (September 18) pp 44.50. (Based on research for US National Academy of sciences, 1982.)
• MC CLEARLY, R. M. (1991) ‘The inlernational community’s claim to rights in Brazilian Amazonia’ Political Studies, 39, pp.691-707.
• MC GEE, H. W. (1990) ‘The deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon: law, politics and international cooperation’, inter-American Law Review 21(3), pp.513-50.
• SAHIN.M. F. (1992) ‘Ãnsanligin iftihar tablosu’, Akademi No.73., Zaman. TIBERLAKE. L. (1987) ‘From Washington to Panama: buying destruction’ in Only One Earth:Living for Nature, Sterling Publ. Co. Inc., New York.
• VADILLO, U. (1991) The End of Economics, Madina Press, Granada.