Don't Believe
Everything You Read!

Ruining the Rain Forest

  Nellie Gonzalez Cutler

  Each year, an area the size of New Jersey disappears from the Amazon rain forest. The loss
  of trees is called deforestation (dee-for-uh-stay-shun). On September 30, Brazil announced
  that the rate of deforestation more than tripled in the last year.

  The Amazon covers 1.6 million square miles of Brazil, nearly 60% of the country. The
  Amazon River basin stretches across South America (see "A River Runs Through It").
  The rain forest supports at least 10% of the world's known species. This includes 40,000
  plant, 3,000 fish, and hundreds of reptile, amphibian, mammal and bird species.

  The World Heats Up

  The Amazon is the planet's largest absorber of carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas that can trap
  heat in the atmosphere. A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) study predicts that 55% of the
  Amazon could be gone by 2030. Without those trees, billions of tons of CO₂ would stay in
  the atmosphere. The carbon overload would speed up global warming.

  Brazilian researchers estimate that temperatures in the Amazon region will rise by two to
  three degrees by 2050. That, and the resulting lower rainfall, could turn 30% to 60% of
  the forest into savanna grassland with only scattered trees.
                                                  Which facts should you check?  Click here.

 Time For Kids October 31, 2008 Vol. #14 Iss. #8

 Forbidden Foods

  Elizabeth Winchester

  When Eliza Rader was 17 months old, she tasted peanut butter for the first time.
  Immediately afterward, she broke out in hives, her tongue swelled and she had trouble
  breathing. Her mother rushed her to a doctor. Later, tests confirmed that Eliza had a severe
  peanut allergy and was also allergic to sesame and to tree nuts, which include almonds,
  hazelnuts and walnuts.

  But, as Eliza has discovered, kids who have food allergies like hers are hardly alone anymore.
  About 3 million American kids suffer from food allergies, and the number seems to be
  growing quickly. A study by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis (an-uh-fih-lax-iss) Network
  (FAAN) found that peanut allergies in children doubled between 1997 and 2002. Kids
  commonly outgrow allergies to milk and eggs. But experts say that today it is taking longer
  for them to do so.

  Doctors, including Dr. Wesley Burks, head of the children's allergy group at Duke University
  Medical Center, in Durham, North Carolina, confirm that the increase in the number of kids
  with food allergies is nothing to sneeze at. "Within the last 20 years, there have been more
  young patients with food allergies," Burks told TFK.

  All About Allergies

  In the U.S., eight foods, milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish, cause
  90% of all food-allergic reactions (see "Top 5 Most Common Food Allergies" on page 3).
  Why do common favorites like ice cream, peanut butter and pizza cause some children to feel
  nauseous, itch, cough and even gasp for air? It is a mistake of the body's immune system. The
  immune system's role is to protect the body from infections and other invaders. During an
  allergic reaction, the immune system identifies a food as something dangerous and releases
  chemicals. These chemicals cause the symptoms of an allergic reaction.                                                                         Which facts should you check?  Click here.

 Time For Kids March 28, 2008 Vol. #13 Iss. #22

Remember:

Don't believe everything you read!