Palm Oil: How I found out about this crises

According to dictionary.com the word "crises" means the following:

cri·sis

ˈkrīsis/

noun

noun: crisis; plural noun: crises

1. 1.

   a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.

   "the current economic crisis"

   synonyms:

   emergency, disaster, catastrophe, calamity; More predicament, plight, mess, trouble, dire straits, difficulty, extremity "the current economic crisis"

   • a time when a difficult or important decision must be made.

     "a crisis point of history"

     synonyms:

     critical point, turning point, crossroads, watershed, head, moment of truth, zero hour, point of no return, Rubicon, doomsday; More informalcrunch; climacteric "the situation had reached a crisis"

   • the turning point of a disease when an important change takes place, indicating either recovery or death.

 

I realize that this term could be considered 'heavy language' but the matter of the fact is, if we don't change our habits (specifically that in regards to consumption) danger-or worse-death is in sight not only for us but for the future as well. You're probably right now wondering what this whole "death is upon us" speal has to do with palm oil. Let's just say that it all started out one day (like always) procrastinating on the beloved sight known as Facebook. Ian Somerhalder latest Facebook status had popped up on my wall saying to watch a documentary. Call it peer pressure, but when a man that is this attractive, animal-loving and educated man tells me to watch a documentary (indirectly) on the internet I do without a second guess.

 

I mean really-who wouldn't?

I'm diverting from the main issue at hand though. The documentary that Ian had shared as a link is called Years of Living Dangerously by Showtime. Their mission statement (taken from their website www.yearsoflivingdangerously.com) is the following:

YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY is a groundbreaking SHOWTIME® documentary event series exploring the human impacts of climate change on Americans and others around the world.  The series combines the blockbuster storytelling styles of Hollywood’s top movie makers, including James Cameron and Jerry Weintraub, with the investigative skills of 60 Minutes veterans Joel Bach and David Gelber and a team of leading national news journalists and scientists.
Each YEARS correspondent – including top Hollywood stars recognized for their commitment to spotlighting and acting on the biggest issues of our time – delves into a different impact of climate change.  From the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy in the tri-state area to political upheaval caused by droughts in the Middle East to the dangerous level of carbon emissions resulting from deforestation, the series takes the viewer on a journey to understand the current and intensifying effects of climate change through vivid stories of heartbreak, hope and heroism.

I highly recommend you watching this documentary because it focuses on both local (in my case the US-who is its primary audience) as well as global issues. You could say (for all of you Global Studies students out there) that it shows firsthand how Global Conservation has become "glocalized". The first episode, which I will share below focuses on two environmental issues: the drought in Texas and the production of Palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia. Until I had watched this documentary, I had no idea that the production of a red little fruit could cause so much damage. What baffled me also was that I was unknowingly consume EVERY DAY this product that is causing such as disruption to our planet.

Throughout this "blog series" I will be explaining and illustrating what Palm Oil is, its distribution and its effects and impact on the environment and wildlife. My focus throughout the series will be to specifically look at the forms of Western Pressure with Palm Oil.

 

As promised here is the link to the first episode: