Bamboo toilet paper has been touted as a more sustainable alternative to conventional toilet paper, which is linked to deforestation. But according to a new report, some brands of bamboo toilet paper available in the UK are actually made with woods like eucalyptus and acacia and contain very little bamboo. A report by Which?, a […]
On Friday, Indonesia said palm oil companies operating inside forested areas would be fined a total of $310 million, reported Reuters. Indonesia and Malaysia are responsible for most of the world’s palm oil production — 85 percent — a major driver of deforestation, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment said. Deforestation accounts for […]
The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. Spanning eight countries, it has been called the “lungs of the planet” for its vital service of converting enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into oxygen. Now, Brazilian lawmakers have approved a bill to allow conservation funds to be used to pave a highway — BR-319 […]
Brazil’s Congress has overturned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s veto that had struck down the heart of a bill — backed by the farm lobby — to limit Indigenous land claims, setting the stage for a likely Supreme Court battle. The case surrounded claims to Indigenous ancestral lands that the bill stipulated needed to […]
Quick Key Facts What Are ‘Tropical Forests’? Tropical forests are rich ecosystems located in tropical zones surrounding the equator. They have a dense upper canopy of broad-leafed trees and an astonishingly diverse array of animal and plant life. These forests pack an enormous amount of biodiversity into the six percent of the planet’s land surface […]
Brazil and Colombia have blown up 19 illegal gold mining operations in the Amazon rainforest. Colombia’s armed forces said the mines were producing about $1.5 million worth of the rare metal every month and polluting the rainforest’s rivers with mercury, reported the BBC and Reuters. The unlawful activity was producing 50.71 pounds of gold a […]
Every two to seven years, a climate phenomenon known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) occurs in the tropical Pacific Ocean. ENSO is associated with air pressure changes from east to west, reported Phys.org. El Niño events cause westerly trade winds blowing along the equator to become weaker, leading to wind speed and air pressure […]
Quick Key Facts What Is ‘Flooding’? Flooding occurs when water submerges land that is typically dry. That water can come from a variety of sources, such as rainfall, a storm surge or high tide, a river overflowing its banks, a dam bursting or snow or ice melting. Some types of flooding can be beneficial for […]
Two-thirds of the land-based biodiversity and 80 percent of the tropical forests in the world are located in three tropical forest basins: Congo, Amazon and Asia-Pacific. These rainforest ecosystems also provide the livelihoods for more than a billion people, a press release from WWF said. Last week, government officials and heads of state met for […]