amazon rainforest

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    Amazon Sees Alarming Rise in Deforestation

    Amazon Sees Alarming Rise in Deforestation

    By Kate Martyr Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest last month jumped to the highest level since records began in 2015, according to government data. A total of 563 square kilometers (217.38 square miles) of the world’s largest rainforest was destroyed in November, 103% more than in the same month last year, according to Brazil’s space […]

    Brazil’s Bolsonaro Calls Greta Thunberg a ‘Brat’ for Speaking up for Indigenous Rights

    Brazil’s Bolsonaro Calls Greta Thunberg a ‘Brat’ for Speaking up for Indigenous Rights

    Right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is angry that 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is speaking out for indigenous rights. On Sunday, Thunberg tweeted a response to the killing of two indigenous leaders in Northeast Brazil Saturday. “Indigenous people are literally being murdered for trying to protect the forest from illegal deforestation,” she wrote. “Over […]

    2 Indigenous Leaders Killed in Brazilian Amazon

    2 Indigenous Leaders Killed in Brazilian Amazon

    Two indigenous leaders were killed in a drive-by shooting in Northeast Brazil Saturday, and two others were injured. The murdered men belonged to the Guajajara tribe, which is known for organizing guardians to defend their Amazon rainforest territory against illegal tree clearing, The Guardian pointed out. Violence against Brazil’s indigenous communities has increased during the […]

    This Holiday Season Your Best Gift Can Be a Donation to a Nonprofit

    This Holiday Season Your Best Gift Can Be a Donation to a Nonprofit

    If you care about the planet, you’re probably thinking that the holidays are not a great time of year for the environment. There’s more mail and package deliveries, homes and buildings are decorated with holiday lights, people travel more, and there’s so much shopping as people buy presents for friends and family. So what’s an […]

    Amazonian Tree With Human-Sized Leaves Finally Gets New Species Recognition

    Amazonian Tree With Human-Sized Leaves Finally Gets New Species Recognition

    By Shreya Dasgupta At the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) in Manaus, Brazil, a framed exhibit of a massive dried leaf has been a local attraction for decades. But the complete identity of the tree it belongs to remained unresolved — until now. Researchers have known that the tree is a species of Coccoloba, […]

    Bolsonaro Dismisses Amazon Deforestation as ‘Cultural’

    Bolsonaro Dismisses Amazon Deforestation as ‘Cultural’

    Despite confirmation this week that the deforestation rate in the Amazon rainforest is at its highest in more than a decade, far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to take the problem seriously. When confronted with findings from Brazil‘s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) that deforestation between August 2018 and July 2019 was at its […]

    Amazon Deforestation Rate Highest in 11 Years

    Amazon Deforestation Rate Highest in 11 Years

    The deforestation rate in Brazil‘s Amazon rainforest is at its highest in more than a decade, CNN reported Tuesday. The latest figures come from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Using satellite data, the agency concluded that the forest lost 9,762 square kilometers (approximately 3,769 square miles) in the year leading up to July […]

    Illegal Gold Mining Is Laying Waste to the Amazon

    Illegal Gold Mining Is Laying Waste to the Amazon

    By Marlene Cimons Last summer, scientist Maria Rodriguez traveled to the Peruvian region of Madre de Dios, once the home of lush rainforests, meandering rivers and thriving wildlife. But her destination was anything but picturesque. She’d come to study several sites ravaged by illegal gold mining that had left a legacy of destruction and mercury […]