Future of the 328 forest conservation units in Brazilian Amazon to be determined by Federal Supreme Court – “Brazil is currently experiencing an unprecedented offensive against the conservation units”

[Translation by Google.]16 August 2017 (Imazon) – The future of the 328 Federal Conservation Units (UCs), in addition to hundreds of states, throughout Brazil can be decided this week by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). This Wednesday (16 August 2017), two Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality (ADIs) – 4717 and 3646 – that deal with the […]

Fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 trillion per year

By John Abraham 7 August 2017 (The Guardian) – Fossil fuels have two major problems that paint a dim picture for their future energy dominance. These problems are inter-related but still should be discussed separately. First, they cause climate change. We know that, we’ve known it for decades, and we know that continued use of […]

Yemen’s “man-made catastrophe” is ravaging country, senior UN officials tell Security Council

18 August 2017 (UN) – Warning about escalating suffering in Yemen’s man-made catastrophe, senior United Nations officials today addressed the Security Council, calling on the international community to push for a political solution to the more than two-year-old conflict. “Death looms for Yemenis by air, land and sea,” Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen, […]

China is driving a boom in Brazil mining, but at what cost? “This voracious mining is not just very predatory for the ecosystem, it is economically predatory to the nation. In the long run, it is disastrous.”

By Milton Leal 31 July 2017 (Diálogo Chino) – In the middle of northern Brazil’s Amazon jungle, digging equipment rasps at the bottom of a giant iron ore mine. Here in the municipality of Canaã dos Carajás in the Serra dos Carajás in Brazil’s Pará state, some 1,600 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, Chinese […]

Asia’s enigmatic clouded leopard threatened by palm oil plantations

By Sean Mowbray 17 August 2017 (Mongabay) – Tigers and orangutans are the well-known faces of the palm oil crisis. But the enigmatic clouded leopard is equally threatened and almost unknown in comparison. Conservationists are looking at ways to make palm oil plantations work for it, rather than against it. “We know very little about […]

Believing that the future will be favorable may prevent action – “People biasedly believe that others will change in ways that align with their current preferences, views, and beliefs”

3 August 2017 (APS) – People tend to believe that others will come around to their point of view over time, according to findings from a series of studies published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings show that this “belief in a favorable future” holds across various contexts […]

Asset management company Schroders forecasts global warming of more than 4°C by the year 2100

17 July 2017 (Schroders) – Global temperatures are on course to rise by up to 4°C, twice as far as safe levels, according to a Climate Progress Dashboard developed by the Schroders Sustainability team.The unique dashboard tracks the progress governments and industries are making towards meeting the 2°C temperature rise commitment global leaders made in […]

Trump eliminates plastic water bottle ban in National Parks, removes White House bikeshare station

By Lorraine Chow 17 August 2017 (EcoWatch) – President Trump has made sweeping efforts to scrap Obama-era environmental protections, but the current administration’s latest moves are oddly specific.The National Park Service (NPS) announced Wednesday that it has rescinded the 2011 “Water Bottle Ban” that allowed parks to prohibit the sale of disposable plastic water bottles. […]

Leading elephant conservationist shot dead in Tanzania – “Wayne can be credited as the driving force behind ending the unscrupulous slaughter of Tanzania’s elephants”

By Sophie Tremblay 17 August 2017 (The Guardian) – The head of an animal conservation NGO who had received numerous death threats has been shot and killed by an unknown gunman in Tanzania. Wayne Lotter, 51, was shot on Wednesday evening in the Masaki district of the city of Dar es Salaam. The wildlife conservationist […]

Trump signs order to end Obama-era flood risk building standards

By Pam Wright 15 August 2017 (The Weather Channel) – President Donald Trump revoked an Obama-era executive order that required strict building standards for all federal building projects to reduce the risk from increased sea level rise flooding. Trump signed the executive order Tuesday to end the Obama standards in order to “streamline the current […]

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