amazon rainforest

Scientists Form Panel in Attempt to Save the Amazon

Scientists Form Panel in Attempt to Save the Amazon

By Shanna Hanbury With the Amazon rainforest predicted to be at, or very close to, its disastrous rainforest-to-savanna tipping point, deforestation escalating at a frightening pace, and governments often worsening the problem, the need for action to secure the future of the rainforest has never been more urgent. Now, a group of 150 leading scientific […]

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    Data Find Rainforests Lost 14,000 Square Miles in 2019

    Data Find Rainforests Lost 14,000 Square Miles in 2019

    Satellite data collated for the World Resources Institute (WRI) showed primal rainforest was lost across 38,000 square kilometers (14,500 square miles) globally — ruining habitats and releasing carbon once locked in wood into the atmosphere. The count by the University of Maryland means that 2019 was the third most devastating year for primary forests — […]

    Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Increases for 13th Consecutive Month

    Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Increases for 13th Consecutive Month

    by Rhett A. Butler Despite the global economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon appears to be continuing largely unabated with forest clearing over the past 12 months reaching the highest level since monthly data started being released publicly in 2007, according to official data released Friday by the country’s […]

    Amazon Ecosystem Could Collapse in Less Than 50 Years, Study Finds

    Amazon Ecosystem Could Collapse in Less Than 50 Years, Study Finds

    Bigger ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest and the Caribbean coral reefs could be in danger of collapsing more rapidly than was previously assumed, a study has found. The findings, published Tuesday, also indicated that larger ecosystems may disintegrate at a faster rate than smaller ones. “The messages here are stark. We need to prepare for […]

    BlackRock Faces Criticism for Role in Climate Crisis, Amazon Deforestation

    BlackRock Faces Criticism for Role in Climate Crisis, Amazon Deforestation

    A month and a half ago, BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, made waves for choosing to divest from some coal investments, setting up funds that avoided fossil fuels, and saying it would only support corporate board members who factored the climate crisis into its decisions. While the initial announcement was met with some criticism […]

    Indigenous People May Be the Amazon’s Last Hope

    Indigenous People May Be the Amazon’s Last Hope

    Brazil’s divisive President Jair Bolsonaro has taken another step in his bold plans to develop the Amazon rainforest. A bill he is sponsoring, now before Congress, would allow transportation infrastructure to be built on indigenous territory. Such lands cover 386,000 square miles of the Brazilian Amazon — one-fifth of the jungle. Here, Native people are […]

    The Pope Makes Plea to Save the Amazon — Will the World Listen?

    The Pope Makes Plea to Save the Amazon — Will the World Listen?

    by Justin Catanoso Pope Francis, in an effort to reignite his influence as a global environmental leader, released an impassioned document Feb. 12 entitled Dear Amazon — a response to the historic Vatican meeting last autumn regarding the fate of the Amazon biome and its indigenous people. In a 94-page “exhortation,” Francis argued for the […]