Ent it about time we talked about the Amazon? An Introduction

Welcome to my blog - "Trouble in Paradise - Issues in the Amazon Rainforest". If you didn't get the title, google images of 'Ent', but know that I'm ashamed of you. My first post will be short. Just an introduction to me, my blog, and what I'll likely discuss. So, without further ado...

I'm Tom Crawley, an MSc Environmental Modelling student at UCL, having completed my undergraduate degree in BSc Geography at the University of Exeter. My interests within geography lie mostly in carbon cycling, biogeography, and vegetation dynamics, so now I'm blogging about them! The idea for this blog was partly inspired by Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly's 2015 book, End Game: Tipping Point for Planet Earth? (Figure 1), which discusses the environmental issues humans are facing on a global scale. The book addresses everything from the physical science of global warming and biodiversity loss, to the social consequences of unsustainable population growth. I highly recommend you pick up and read it, even though I've not quite finished it myself.

Figure 1: The book cover for Barnosky and Hadly's End Game: Tipping Point for Planet Earth? (Source: Harper Collins, 2015)

Considering my geographical interests, I decided to take a look at what the issues that Barnosky and Hadly discuss are doing to one of the world's largest ecosystems. And so, I'm dedicating this blog to all things Amazonian. Well, not all things - if you're here for warrior women or quick-click shopping then I'm afraid you're in the wrong place. Up until early January, I'll be bringing to you, dear reader(s), a whole host of issues affecting the Amazon Rainforest. I'll aim to cover key issues like deforestation, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycling. For the more technically-minded among you, I'll be going into the environmental science behind some of these issues as well as the expected consequences.

There'll be a mixture of critical reviews, news articles, and opinion pieces that I'll be discussing littered throughout this blog. I'm a newbie to blogging though, so bear with me while I work out the kinks, and get ready for a probably-not-very-exciting-but-still-kinda-cool-if-you're-into-it ride!

For now, here's a fun but ultimately terrifying gif (Figure 2) of what I'll be covering in the next post - Deforestation!

Figure 2: A gif showing deforestation of the Amazon between the years 2000 and 2008 (Source: Giphy, accessed 18/10/2017)