By Taran Volckhausen 7 February 2019 (Mongabay) – Colombia’s environmentalists have declared an ecological disaster after the country’s second most important river, the Cauca, was reduced to less than 10 percent of normal flow after the country’s largest hydroelectric dam project Hidroituango took emergency measures earlier this week.Medellin energy company EPM took emergency measures to […]
By Jonathan Amos 31 January 2019 (BBC News) – Colonisation of the Americas at the end of the 15th Century killed so many people, it disturbed Earth’s climate. That’s the conclusion of scientists from University College London, UK. The team says the disruption that followed European settlement led to a huge swathe of abandoned agricultural […]
By Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade24 January 2019 SÃO PAULO (SciDev.Net) – Brazil’s new government, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, has quickly taken steps to loosen environmental law enforcement. Now a review paper shows that the deforestation that could result may have terrible consequences for the Amazon rainforest, including dramatic biodiversity loss, intensified dry seasons, droughts, […]
By Simone Preissler Iglesias, Mario Sergio Lima, and Bruce Douglas8 January 2019 (Bloomberg News) – Brazil owes nothing in the fight against global climate change and should be paid for its work so far, according to the country’s new environment minister. For Ricardo Salles, the Paris Accord in itself is neither good nor bad, but […]
By Stefania Costa 2 January 2019 (Imazon) – Deforestation continues to increase, according to data from the Deforestation Bulletin (SAD) November 2018 published today by Imazon. The state of Pará contributed with 63% of deforestation alerts registered in November 2018. The areas that suffered the most destruction are mainly in the northeast of the state, […]
By Anthony Boadle2 January 2019 BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro set to work quickly on Wednesday, with his administration issuing decrees affecting the economy, agriculture and society, while forging closer political ties with the United States. Bolsonaro, a former army captain and seven-term congressman, won elections in October and was sworn in […]
By Karl Vick 10 December 2018 (TIME) – The stout man with the gray goatee and the gentle demeanor dared to disagree with his country’s government. He told the world the truth about its brutality toward those who would speak out. And he was murdered for it.Every detail of Jamal Khashoggi’s killing made it a […]
By Stephanie Nebehay; editing by John Stonestreet 8 November 2018 GENEVA (Reuters) – Three million Venezuelans have fled economic and political crisis in their homeland, most since 2015, the United Nations said on Thursday. The exodus, driven by violence, hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicines, amounts to around one in 12 of the population. […]
1 November 2018 (UQ News) – The world’s last wilderness areas are rapidly disappearing, with explicit international conservation targets critically needed, according to University of Queensland-led research.The international team recently mapped intact ocean ecosystems, complementing a 2016 project charting remaining terrestrial wilderness.Professor James Watson, from UQ’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the two […]
By Stefania Costa 29 October 2018(Imazon) – In September 2018, SAD detected 444 square kilometers of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, an increase of 84% compared to September 2017, when deforestation totaled 241 square kilometers. In September 2018, deforestation occurred in Amazonas (24%), Mato Grosso (23%), Rondônia (20%), Pará (19%), Acre (11%), Roraima ).Degraded forests […]