While doing my research on deforestation in Brazil and Russia, I have learned that excessive logging is a worldwide issue, and it should be approached from all problematic locations simultaneously – Brazil, Russia, Southern Asia, Africa. The challenging point for me was to find connections between distant sources and justify my initial assumption on deforestation. During another iteration, I changed the focus and stopped considering the Brazilian and Russian deforestation cases as local problems. I love geography and feel quite comfortable discussing it, but the fact of how the forests are deeply connected was a fascinating point. It is a common practice when some people tend to exaggerate issues to address particular political or economic goals. Unfortunately, this is not the same when speaking about our forests – it is a tremendous threat to the future’s world well being.

This type of research helps to understand that the sources should be checked and rechecked. It is convenient to be on the Internet and choose something from the first page of a search engine, but it turns out – you can stick with verifying information and even deny one or multiple sources. Besides, it may be harder to compare sources and make a conclusion with such unconnected data. Working with the CUNY online library or other stocks of global academia may seem tedious in the first place, but in the end, this is the shortest and most reliable way to collect information for decent research. The CUNY library portal is a great tool and I will be using it for future tasks.