By Stan Lehman 2 April 2015 SÃO PAULO (Associated Press) – Brazil’s biggest city has recorded its rainiest March since 2008, but the worst drought in more than 80 years has left reservoir levels critically low and water experts fear that strict water rationing may still loom for São Paulo as it enters the April-September […]
By Nigel Sizer, Rachael Petersen, James Anderson, Matt Hansen, Peter Potapov, and David Thau2 April 2015 (WRI) – New, high-resolution satellite-based maps released today by the University of Maryland and Google on Global Forest Watch, a partnership of over 60 organizations convened by the World Resources Institute, reveal a significant recent surge in tree cover […]
By Priscila Jordao and Silvio Cascione; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn26 March 2015 SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil will import electricity from Argentina and Uruguay this year, the government said in its official gazette on Thursday, the latest step to fend off energy rationing as reservoirs of local hydroelectric plants remain at very low levels. […]
By Lourdes Garcia-Navarro10 March 2015 (NPR) – Geologists say the problem with wildcatters is that new wells are contaminating São Paulo’s natural aquifer not to mention damaging the structure of many buildings. Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: In Brazil, prospectors are hoping to strike the mother load. And what they are drilling for isn’t your usual […]
ABSTRACT: Brazilian environmental law imposes more restrictions on land-use change by private landowners in riparian forests than in non-riparian forest areas, reflecting recognition of their importance for the conservation of biodiversity and key ecosystem services. A 22-year time series of classified Landsat images was used to evaluate deforestation and forest regeneration in riparian permanent preservation […]
9 March 2015 (The Economist) – February 2015 was the wettest month in the region around São Paulo since 1995, with rainfall 36% above the historical average [This isn’t evident from the graph. I think the author means “36% above the historical minimum.” –Des]. But the water emergency in South America’s biggest metropolis is not […]
By Tom Di Liberto6 March 2015 (NOAA) – It’s amazing to think, but in Brazil, a country that boasts both the Amazon Rain Forest and River, parts of the country are in danger of seeing their water supplies dry up after back-to-back rainy seasons failed to live up to their name. Southeastern Brazil—the country’s most […]
By Marussia Whately and Rebeca Lerer11 February 2015 São Paulo (The Guardian) – It should be the rainy season. Instead São Paulo state is experiencing a third consecutive year with soaring temperatures and rainfall patterns well below historic records. The main water reservoirs are operating at their lowest capacity. The Cantareira reservoir system, which serves […]
By Jenny Barchfield 12 March 2015 RIO DE JANEIRO (Associated Press) – During Rio de Janeiro’s long summers of sticky tropical heat, Viviane Vargas says she needs not one, not two, but three showers a day to feel clean. The saleswoman is not alone: Surveys say Brazilians are the world’s most frequent bathers, taking on […]
By Richard Schiffman9 March 2015 (Yale Environment 360) – Ecologist Philip Fearnside has lived and worked in the Brazilian Amazon for 30 years and is one of the foremost authorities on deforestation in the world’s largest tropical forest. A professor at the National Institute for Research in the Amazon, Fearnside has focused his work on […]
