An aerial view shows drought conditions in the Amazon rainforest on Feb. 20, 2015 in Brazil. Lena Trindade / Brazil Photos / LightRocket / Getty Images
By Jennifer Ann Thomas
For the first time, researchers have developed a model capable of anticipating drought periods in the Amazon up to 18 months in advance. The study was conducted by scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), in Germany, as part of the Tipping Points in the Earth System (TiPES) project, led by physicist Catrin Ciemer and published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
<p>The model was developed based on surface temperature analysis of the Atlantic Ocean. The relation between the humidity of the oceans and the rainfall regime in the Amazon is part of the intrinsic functioning of the biomes. Any variation in temperature, as a result of global warming, is enough to trigger a series of consequences.</p><p>According to physicist and study co-author Niklas Boers, the early-warning system developed by the group is based on a very simple mechanism: "We discovered that every two years the surface temperatures in the north and south tropical Atlantic develop a dipole, a phenomenon that occurs when temperatures increase in one region and decrease in another."</p><p>The drought forecast alert is issued when this pattern begins to develop. "The dipole modifies the direction of the trade winds, which take moisture from the Atlantic Ocean to South America. This change of direction is responsible for causing droughts mainly in the center-south of the Amazon," Boers said. From the model they developed, the researchers were able to trace back six of the seven main drought events that have occurred in the Amazon since the 1980s.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDU5MDk1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTEyOTM5MX0.6RM-Ryoiz3vfY9Dx2ocN14yrDAN91nn3Yk0okz-s0YI/img.jpg?width=980" id="ca886" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e04a515f2eb64460d1cc274c685bbc02" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Average monthly sea surface temperature (in degrees Celsius, red scale) and average continental rainfall in South America (in millimeters/month, blue scale) from 1981 to 2016. Sea surface temperatures and precipitation are generally higher around the equator. On the left, the area where El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) occurs; dotted lines indicate the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in January and July, responsible for transporting heat and humidity from the oceans around the tropics.
<p>Carlos Nobre, a renowned Brazilian climate scientist who was not involved in the study, said global warming is making the northern cycle of warmer waters stronger and more present. In the future, he said, we should expect the southern Amazon to become less humid. "The mega droughts of 2005, 2010 and the ongoing one are directly associated with the increase in temperatures in the north tropical Atlantic Ocean," Nobre said.</p><p>"However, unlike in previous years, the current mega drought began in May and June, not interfering in the rains during the summer season. It is too early to say that the warmer waters will continue throughout the months and if they will cause a continued drought until the next rainy season."</p><p>In a context of global warming, there is a close connection between rising ocean temperatures and environmental balance, and the repercussions are felt deep into the forest: what happens on the high seas can impact life in the Amazon.</p><p>Janaína Bumbeer, an oceanographer and science and conservation analyst with the Boticário Group Foundation for Nature Protection, said it's not enough to only understand a single aspect of ecology — it's necessary to understand phenomena in a systemic way. "The relation between the ocean temperature, the climate and the winds is very delicate," said Bumbeer, who was not involved in the new study. "Any increase of 1° Celsius [1.8° Fahrenheit] affects the rainfall regime on the continent." The greater the frequency of anomalies in the seas, she said, the more recurrent the extreme climatic events.</p>
<p>Faced with the effects of climate change, there is a risk that the Northern Hemisphere will heat up faster than the South, which would stimulate the occurrence of the Atlantic dipole and lead to a more intense frequency of droughts in the Amazon.</p><p>Even with the possibility of predicting a drought period in the region, there is little to be done to actually mitigate the direct impacts on the forest. People who live in the Amazon, especially rural farmers, traditional communities, Indigenous people, and those who depend on river transportation to get around (water levels can become so low that navigability becomes impossible) will be the ones who will benefit from the information, the researchers say. "Indirectly, [with the drought forecast alert] it is possible to have a positive influence on the Amazon ecosystem. The more in advance farmers and traditional communities can plan, the less traumatic the interference of the climate will be," Boers said.</p><p>With drought comes another concern: an increase in fires, directly associated with illegal deforestation. According to data from Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE), in September of this year, 31,017 hot spots were recorded, the second-worst September in a decade and a 60% increase from the same month last year. Because the Amazon is a humid tropical forest, fire is not part of the biome's natural dynamics, as it is in the temperate forests of the U.S. West Coast. In the Amazon, fires are usually associated with human actions. And in periods of drought, hotspots have the right conditions to grow in extent and to cause greater impacts on the ecosystem.</p><p>"There are innumerous evidence on the possibility of the forest becoming a savanna through the effects of human action," Boers said. "The biome is already very close to the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/the-tipping-point-is-here-it-is-now-top-amazon-scientists-warn/" target="_blank">tipping point</a>."</p><p>Such a large-scale effect would lead to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, which would further accelerate global warming. The study's underlying message is that all natural phenomena are interconnected. And it demonstrates that as humanity persists on the current economic model of consumption, the effects on the planet will only get worse, to the point of endangering the world's largest tropical forest and its rich biodiversity.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/atlantic-trends-can-predict-amazon-drought-18-months-away-study-finds/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Chef Regina Tchelly with her food creations on her veranda, with Copacabana Beach in the background. Favela Organica
By Agostino Pestroni
Take a dozen banana peels, wash them gently with a brush under running water, then chop them into small pieces. Next, blend the peels with five spoons of cacao and a cup of ice water. Once the lumps have been removed, place the mixture in a hot, buttered pan and stir it for five minutes. Let it cool down to thicken, and then roll the resulting dough into small spheres. Lastly, dip the balls into sesame or peanut powder, and you'll have a brigadeiro, an iconic Brazilian dessert.
But this is not the standard version of the sweet: It's a unique variant created by Regina Tchelly, a 39-year-old Brazilian chef and resident of Rio de Janeiro's Babilônia slum.
<p>"I always wanted to be a chef, but not a normal one," Tchelly says.</p><p>In 2001, Tchelly moved from a small town in northeastern Brazil to the favelas, or slums, of Rio looking for a better future for her and her daughter. She initially worked as a housemaid, a common profession for women coming into the city from poorer areas. But the longer she shopped at the local markets, the more she grew disappointed by the amount of food being thrown out each day.</p><p>Back in her hometown, she had learned to use all parts of the fruits and vegetables she prepared, and she couldn't make peace with the wastefulness of the city. She knew that the thrown-away peels, seeds, and rinds held precious nutritional value. Tchelly has since worked to give a second life to food that would otherwise go to waste. She shows that repurposing food waste is not only a solution to the problem of access to healthy food, but also one remedy to help address a broken social system.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY1Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDk1NDEyOX0.qveLhDsh6gjy_SJ7fnx5BLkZfc30Z7exMWqoIo-Cjk0/img.jpg?width=980" id="c4769" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5a97044d6e71ca284e01ed75cc5cd2c6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Regina Tchelly giving a talk about the impact of food on health in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. Favela Organica
<h2>Democratizing Real Food</h2><p>The difficulty of making ends meet in rural areas of Brazil is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil/Ongoing-domestic-migration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one of the reasons for migration within the country</a>. Small farmers leave their homes to crowd into the favelas of the megalopolis, where they can no longer afford the quality of food they used to produce on their land.</p><p>About <a href="https://catcomm.org/favela-facts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1.5 million</a> people live in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, known as the Cidade maravilhosa, or city of wonder. Electricity, running water, and sanitation systems are often lacking in those informal settlements long neglected by the government, and life is tough for those who live in them. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-biosocial-science/article/family-food-insecurity-and-nutritional-risk-in-adolescents-from-a-lowincome-area-of-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/2557E62F6E770DC4144FF5D00B0E0E58" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Food insecurity</a> is one of the most significant divides between the favelas and wealthy areas of Rio: In the slums, many rely on government-subsidized schools, food banks, or junk food to feed their children.</p><p>It's a matter of affordability rather than supply, though. Food abounds in Brazil. A 2014 <a href="http://www.fao.org/in-action/fapda/publications/country-fact-sheets/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> by the Food and Agriculture Organization listed Brazil as the world's third-largest exporter of agricultural products. Yet <a href="https://www.scielosp.org/article/csc/2020.v25n9/3421-3430/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">5 million people</a> still suffer from <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/malnutrition-in-all-its-forms-and-social-inequalities-in-brazil/89E445C46FF53653A6604163C1EB86E4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">malnutrition</a>.</p><p>"My idea was to democratize real food, so to allow everybody to be able to access it," Tchelly says.</p><p>In 2011, Tchelly gave her first course on how to cook with food scraps to six other housekeepers in her slum, which led her to create a social enterprise called <a href="https://favelaorganica.com.br/pt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Favela Organica</a>. Her goal was to teach others how to repurpose food waste produced by Rio's markets, and to learn how to grow produce on their balconies and in their yards. Tchelly's project relies on the idea of an integrated food cycle: growing food, utilizing it all, and creating compost with what's left to fertilize a garden.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDkwNDc2OH0.nqQKFWhgBdPxnsCUgXAIOWygueR6ZW5f9t29VcKfpEs/img.jpg?width=980" id="ae904" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed69af837c7eff99599eedc2fe1062d0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A class on how to use juicing residue for skin care. Favela Organica
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDAxMjUxMX0.hDqR9kLfVZbYJhYjBBSpoRghlrza7KOu5pooCxhUu30/img.jpg?width=980" id="9ea30" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db8f96e70aaa7a76d283017d95ede675" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Favela Organica's work focuses on the cycle of life and uses yoga and meditation as part of its classes. Favela Organica
<p>While Tchelly initially aimed at tackling food waste, her project soon turned into something more powerful. With the pandemic and the resulting food insecurity <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/10/covid-brazil-deaths-inequality/?arc404=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spreading widely within the crowded favelas</a>, what Regina Tchelly ultimately provides is a way for people to gain dignity by making their own nutritious food. She's part of the <a href="https://www.terramadre.info/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Terra Madre</a> network, a global movement of food producers, chefs, and academics who believe that through a holistic approach to food, communities affected by systemic social disparities can regain power over what they eat, which is the first step towards self-determination.</p>
<h2>Innovating for Food Justice</h2><p>The balcony of Favela Organica overlooks the famous Copacabana Beach. A small vegetable garden adds to the produce coming from local farmers who donate to Tchelly what they cannot sell. Tchelly's workplace is a forest of hanging pans and pots, with a cooking station for two people and a larger space where she gave free classes to 60 people at a time — until the pandemic hit. Now she offers her courses online.</p><p>Tchelly supports the free lessons for residents of the favela. She covers her costs with the income earned from her high-end catering services and the money she receives from giving talks around the world, or winning prizes such as the Prêmio Aliança Empreendedora from the Brazilian Entrepreneurial Alliance. Over the years, Tchelly has built up enough recognition for her work that, in 2016, she was invited to San Paolo to give a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXqc29uVIbo" target="_blank">TEDx Talk</a>. Since she began offering courses, Tchelly has taught some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=208&v=yPDD8O14tsg&feature=emb_logo" target="_blank">30,000 people</a>, mostly women, around Brazil how to regain power over the food they eat.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODI4MzIwMX0.FGXkyUNNxqoMBTA8CcWomxhqx3aLYSIbHTDKeEh2q7E/img.jpg?width=980" id="4e685" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="896170dbff69522b1caa12ad72427d8d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
'Tabuli de broccoli,' a salad created by Tchelly made with broccoli stems. Favela Organica
<p>The only requirement to attend Tchelly's classes is that attendees must develop a new recipe to bring to market from the widely available food scraps of Rio de Janeiro. Last year, Ivonides Silva, 54, joined one of the classes.</p><p>"When you go to the market, you spend 10 reais ($2) and use seeds, fruit, and everything else," Silva says. By cooking this way, nothing goes to waste, and Silva has been saving money on groceries.</p><p>As her final project, Silva transformed pumpkin rinds and seeds — parts of the fruit that are usually thrown away — into flour, which she then used to bake a cake. Her classmates liked it, so she began selling more cakes to neighbors and at the salon where she works as a hairdresser. She now sells about five cakes each month, which adds 240 reais ($42) to her income. If it wasn't for the pandemic, Silva says, she could sell many more.</p><p>"Tchelly gives us the tools to have the autonomy to create a small business to make some money," Silva says. In the slums of Rio de Janeiro, where people make on average <a href="https://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=57787" target="_blank">734 reais ($130) a month</a>, the supplementary income from the sale of cakes is a welcome help.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDM2NTczM30.0b-tLtGZxXrqhidrPRCWZD4rvClRUIn-gDqvey2SUxY/img.jpg?width=980" id="b13db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="029612a5727369b5f6780e3826b79108" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Tchelly at a food bank in Curitiba, Brazil, teaching how to make pumpkin risotto. Favela Organica
<p>Maria Beatriz Martins Costa, CEO of <a href="http://www.greenrio.com.br/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Rio</a>, a network that advocates for fairer and better food, is fond of Tchelly's work, but told me that to have a greater impact, projects like Tchelly's need more public support. According to a <a href="https://www.iisd.org/publications/food-security-brazilian-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> by the International Institute of Sustainable Development, limited access to food is not the result of lack of food availability, but of its unaffordability for many Brazilians. The Brazilian government has worked toward reducing social inequality in the past two decades with programs like the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i3023e/i3023e00.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zero Hunger Program</a>, which aims to give all Brazilians enough good and nutritious food through a series of multi-sectoral public policies. Thanks to this program, the country was removed from the FAO's world hunger map in 2014.</p><p>But malnutrition problems remain, and the pandemic is accentuating them.</p><p>Growing one's own food can help, which is why Tchelly and many other activists around the world also teach students how to grow urban gardens.</p><p>"This kind of agriculture is important because it gives you support," says Costa, who sees urban gardens as another expression of family farming. She believes family farmers play an essential role in future food scenarios and are critical in diminishing food and social disparities. About 77% of Brazil's farmers are family farmers (as opposed to agribusinesses), but they receive only <a href="http://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/283339/" target="_blank">36% of the total industry revenues</a>. According to Costa, the difference in income between small and large farms is partly because of a lack of logistics to distribute products and infrastructures to scale up.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjI2NDEzOH0.mtp-uqWB0Vj9uqFNWawcQj464YUDcWPWEtc5KwqN250/img.jpg?width=980" id="8c9cd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="69745d31653ac880802003baaf1a895f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Tchelly teaching a class at a food bank in Curitiba, Brazil, on how to use all parts of the produce. Favela Organica
<p>"Public policies are fundamental," Costa says. Over the past 20 years, Brazil has constructed a robust food security policy that includes Safra, a credit program for family farmers, and a program that pushed schools to buy food from local small farms. But in 2019, the current government, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, eliminated the Consea, Conselho Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional — a body that allowed Brazilian civil society to have a say in the formulation of food policies — a <a href="https://www.slowfood.com/lets-defend-brazils-food-security/" target="_blank">move that many fear</a> is the first step toward deconstructing the country's food security policy.</p><p>Still, Costa believes that Brazil, with all its flaws, is working toward issuing policies that promote family farmers. For example, the country's current secretary for Family Agriculture and Cooperation, Fernando Schwanke, has created the first bioeconomy plan for biodiversity and family farming. Such policies, combined with entrepreneurial efforts like Tchelly's, could brighten Brazil's food future.</p><p>"Regina Tchelly was a pioneer and game-changer and deserves all credit as being a forerunner fighting for a change in the food system," Costa says. Tchelly, with her daily fieldwork, represents a larger, and often unseen, global movement that focuses on the roots of nutrition inequalities. Together, they are working to provide access to fairer, cleaner, and better food for all.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/10/09/food-waste-brazil-communities/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Aerial view of a burning area of Amazon rainforest in Para state on August 16, 2020. Carl de Souza / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
A month after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declared a 120-day ban on setting fires in the Amazon rainforest and three months after he deployed military troops to combat deforestation, Greenpeace on Tuesday called out the far-right leader for his ineffective strategies and attacks on environmental protections.
<p><span style="background-color: initial;"><br/></span></p>
<p>"Bolsonaro's administration has continued to systematically dismantle environmental protection and has undermined the work of environmental law enforcement agencies," Cristiane Mazzetti, an Amazon campaigner for Greenpeace Brazil, said in a statement. "Bolsonaro's supposed fire ban has already been undermined by Bolsonaro himself. Sending troops to the Amazon is just a PR stunt and a waste of resources."</p><p>The Brazilian president, who took office in January 2019, has long been criticized within and beyond his country's borders for targeting the environment and Indigenous people, and for his <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/07/brazilian-experts-warn-open-letter-president-bolsonaro-genocide-underway-against" target="_blank">attempts</a> to open up the Amazon to more economic development. Fires in the Amazon are often set to illegally clear land for farming, ranching, and mining.</p><p>Satellite data <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-amazon-rainforest-fires-surge-in-july/a-54405259" target="_blank">released</a> in early August by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) suggest Bolsonaro's military deployment and fire ban aren't working. The agency reported that fire activity in the Amazon throughout July jumped 28% compared with the same month last year. INPE documented 6,803 fires in the rainforest last month, compared to 5,318 in 2019.</p><p>"And it's still early—August is generally considered to be the start of the fire season, which typically hits during drier months," German broadcaster <em>Deutsche Welle</em> <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-rainforest-fire-deforestation-mining-slash-and-burn-brazil/a-54486689" target="_blank">reported</a> Tuesday. "More than 10,000 fires were recorded in the first 10 days of this month, up 17% from the same period last year, according to INPE."</p>
<div id="f8880" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1a36878f52d706c8d4d095685f0f8c56"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1294393701247131653" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This is what the fires in the Amazon look like right now. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro continues to look the other way and… https://t.co/u5FCDpO6BJ</div> — Greenpeace (@Greenpeace)<a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeace/statuses/1294393701247131653">1597442481.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Greenpeace's Romulo Batista said in response to the INPE data in early August that "more than 1,000 fires in a single day is a 15-year record and shows the government's strategy of media-spectacle operations is not working on the ground."</p><p>Brazil is home to about 60% of the Amazon, which spans nine nations in South America. All of those countries, but especially Brazil, face pressure from world leaders to protect the biodiverse rainforest because it traps a massive amount of carbon dioxide, helping the international community battle human-caused global heating.</p><p>"INPE data indicate that Brazil has failed to comply with its climate change law, whose goal for 2020 was to limit deforestation in the Amazon to a maximum of 3,925 [square kilometers]," Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Brazilian advocacy group Climate Observatory, <a href="http://www.observatoriodoclima.eco.br/en/alta-desmatamento-nao-e-inepcia-e-projeto/" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement earlier this month.</p>
<p>"This also diverts us from the Paris agreement route, which will create a series of trade difficulties for Brazil in the critical period of economic recovery expected for the post-pandemic period," Astrini added. "Crime took over the Amazon, encouraged by the Bolsonaro administration itself."</p><p>Brenda Brito, associate researcher at the Brazilian nonprofit Imazon, warned that "it will be difficult to contain deforestation if the government continues with its intention to change land legislation and legalize deforested and illegally invaded areas. Land grabbing is a vector of deforestation, which is encouraged with the expectation of amnesty and legalization.</p><p>Bolsonaro disputed the fire data from his own government in an August 11 speech to South American leaders, saying that "tropical rainforest doesn't catch fire. So this story that the Amazon is burning is a lie, and we have to fight it with real numbers."</p>
<div id="9212b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5fbf9e87c891f84170b3c907f03f5972"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1293755405827440641" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Man-made fires in the Amazon were caught on video by @Reuters as they were lit, the same day Brazilian President Ja… https://t.co/tFIMFMXKr0</div> — Reuters (@Reuters)<a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/statuses/1293755405827440641">1597290300.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>DW</em> reported on the Brazilian president's comments Tuesday:</p><blockquote>Bolsonaro challenged the leaders to fly over the rainforest from Boa Vista to Manaus, a distance of some 750 kilometers (460 miles), and see for themselves. "They won't find any spot of fire, nor a quarter of a hectare deforested," he said.<br><br>While these forests may still appear untouched when viewed from above, the green landscape seen from a plane or satellite can be deceptive. A typical wildfire burning through the understory—the vegetation growing beneath the forest's main canopy—of a virgin rainforest can wipe out small shrubs, plants and between 40 to 50% of all trees.<br><br>"A considerable part of the Amazon forest has been consecutively degraded, and it's invisible to our eyes," said Ane Alencar, director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), a Brazilian non-governmental organization. "In fact, the quality of these forests has been degraded due to these forest fires."<br></blockquote>
<p>Although not all the damage is visible from the sky, many of the fires are. In addition to its Tuesday statement condemning Bolsonaro's tactics, Greenpeace <a href="https://media.greenpeace.org/collection/27MZIFJ8OKD2P" target="_blank">released</a> photos of fires from a flyover of Amazonas and Rondônia states on August 16.</p><p>"Brazil has shown, in the past, that it is possible, with proper policies and enforcement, such as the demarcation of Indigenous peoples' lands, to decrease deforestation and fires substantially," said Mazzetti. "It is a matter of political will."</p><p>"Instead of combating criminal behavior and protecting Indigenous forest guardians already hit hard by Covid-19," she added, "this government continues to reduce environmental protection and ally itself with those who want to destroy the forest."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/18/fires-surge-brazilian-amazon-bolsonaro-strategy-battle-deforestation-blasted-pr?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p><span></span><a href="https://commons.commondreams.org/t/as-fires-surge-in-brazilian-amazon-bolsonaro-strategy-to-battle-deforestation-blasted-as-pr-stunt/81334" target="_blank"></a>From Your Site Articles
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While these forests may still appear untouched when viewed from above, the green landscape seen from a plane or satellite can be deceptive. Melanie Jüngling / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Martin Kuebler
2020 is shaping up to be another destructive year for the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Deforestation — a grim precursor to the fires used to clear the land for development — has increased significantly, according to observers. And many experts fear the region could see a repeat of the destructive wildfires of last August and September.
<p>Satellite data released by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) on August 1 showed <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-amazon-rainforest-fires-surge-in-july/a-54405259" target="_blank">more than 6,800 fires across the Amazon region in July</a>, an increase of 28% compared with last year. And it's still early — August is generally considered to be the start of the fire season, which typically hits during drier months. More than 10,000 fires were recorded in the first 10 days of this month, up 17% from the same period last year, according to INPE.</p><p>Last year's deforestation toll on the world's biggest rainforest — 60% of which is in Brazil — was an estimated 10,000 square kilometers (3,800 square miles), roughly the size of Lebanon. That's the highest level since 2008, according to INPE. With increased deforestation comes a greater risk of wildfires, since many of the those that ravaged the rainforest last year spread from land being cleared for illegal mining, agriculture and cattle ranching.</p>
Degradation Below the Canopy
<p>President Jair Bolsonaro — who has repeatedly called for more of the Amazon region to be cleared for economic development — disputed the recent fire data in a speech to other South American leaders on August 11.</p><p>"Tropical rainforest doesn't catch fire. So this story that the Amazon is burning is a lie, and we have to fight it with real numbers," he told the meeting of the Leticia Pact, a group launched last year to protect the rainforest.</p><p>Bolsonaro challenged the leaders to fly over the rainforest from Boa Vista to Manaus, a distance of some 750 kilometers (460 miles), and see for themselves. "They won't find any spot of fire, nor a quarter of a hectare deforested," he said.</p><p>While these forests may still appear untouched when viewed from above, the green landscape seen from a plane or satellite can be deceptive. A typical wildfire burning through the understory — the vegetation growing beneath the forest's main canopy — of a virgin rainforest can wipe out small shrubs, plants and between 40 to 50% of all trees. </p><p>"A considerable part of the Amazon forest has been consecutively degraded, and it's invisible to our eyes," said Ane Alencar, director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), a Brazilian non-governmental organization. "In fact, the quality of these forests has been degraded due to these forest fires."</p><p>When much of the undergrowth and smaller trees are eliminated, it makes it difficult to maintain the moist understory microclimate that helps protect rainforests from fires. These microclimates are already suffering, with the average temperature in the Amazon basin having risen by at least 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1980, according to climate data from USAID. The dry season has become longer and severe droughts are now more frequent, with three reported since 2005.</p><p>The damage doesn't end with the initial blaze, either. Larger trees, which may be harmed in a fire but survive thanks to the moist environment, could finally succumb to the trauma years later. "Initially, it's the small trees which die because they are most vulnerable to the heat stress, but over time it's actually the larger trees which die and fall over, taking with them many other trees," said Jos Barlow, a British conservation science professor who has worked in Brazil since 1998.</p><p>"This opens up additional gaps in the canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the understory and further dry it out."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MzkwNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODcyNzc3OH0.A-Aa8nQnv4eguq7jkKfZ9pCI6_Q_MLluFOojU8o3ohA/img.png?width=980" id="2d2e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a578debcf9bfe42f4201f076ca68bf17" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>The recovery of mycorrhizal networks — underground systems of soil fungi that help trees to exchange nutrients and water — after a wildfire is still unclear and a subject of research, though it's known that the uppermost layer of very fine roots also suffers in the initial blaze. Some studies, <a href="https://fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10.4996/fireecology.130237746" target="_blank">including a 2017 article in <em>Fire Ecology</em></a>, have suggested that the "resiliency of soil fungi likely contributes to the overall rapid ecosystem recovery following fire." For forest ecosystems, however, rapid can still mean several decades, <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/3/eaau3114.full" target="_blank">according to a 2019 report in the journal Science Advances</a> — at the earliest. </p>
Wildfires Increasing in Recent Years
<p>Another danger, said Barlow, is that more and more fires are reigniting areas already damaged by fire, particularly along the edges of the rainforest near new roads, clear-cut fields and pastures, both legal and illegal. This could permanently change the landscape.</p><p>"If you have recurrent fires of two or three burns, then you move into an alternative ecosystem where you have almost no large [trees] at all, dominated by scrubby species and bamboo and grasses," said Barlow.</p><p>Paulo Massoca, a Brazilian researcher and doctoral candidate at Indiana University Bloomington studying rainforest regrowth, said recurrent fires act as a sort of "filter," gradually eliminating plants that are not adapted to frequent fires and selecting the most resistant species, leaving "a fraction of the whole pool of plants in the region."</p><p>"After repeated burnings, soils get impoverished, plants grow slower, and vines/lianas and other non-woody plants, in addition to trees, settle in the area," he told DW, adding that this wide-ranging change in the ecosystem "slows and hinders the capacity of secondary forests damaged by repeated fire events to grow back and accumulate carbon."</p><p>It doesn't help that the Amazon soil, already poor, loses even more valuable nutrients after a fire. In a rainforest, the nutrients provided by dead organic matter are quickly reabsorbed by living plant life, leaving little on the ground. </p><p>"Burnings both kill the plants that sustain the topsoil and eliminate the topsoil that supports the plants," said Massoca. "Fires immediately release the nutrients and carbon stored in the topsoil, which are either washed out after the first rain or released to the atmosphere." </p><p>Those suspended soot particles in the vast clouds of smoke then billow up over healthy forests, potentially affecting cloud formation and rainfall patterns, according to Divino Vicente Silverio, a biologist at the Amazon Rural Federal University in Belem, northern Brazil. </p><p><span></span>In an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02537-0" target="_blank">August 2019 interview with <em>Nature</em> magazine</a>, he said this atmospheric aerosol burden could lead to changes in how forests cycle water, creating drier conditions and disrupting weather patterns in the Amazon and even farther afield. </p>'There Are No Natural Fires in the Amazon'
<p>Nearly all the fires in the Amazon can be linked to human activity. Trees cleared to make way for economic development are cut down and left to dry and then set alight — a technique known as slash and burn. Additional fires are set to eliminate weeds from existing pastures and clear out old agricultural areas. And, as happened in 2019, those fires can spread to surrounding forests.</p><p>"There are no natural fires in the Amazon," said Alencar of IPAM. "Even if it's very, very dry, we need to have somebody using the match."</p><p>Faced with criticism over the government response to the 2019 fires, President Bolsonaro has banned agricultural burning in the Amazon forest and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazils-next-fire-disaster-in-the-pantanal-wetlands/a-51199164" target="_blank">Pantanal wetlands</a> until November, the end of the dry season, and deployed troops to prevent illegal deforestation.</p><p>In his speech at the meeting of the Leticia Pact last week he said the government efforts had been effective, pointing out that forest clearances had dropped in July by more than 25% when compared with July 2019, the first decline in 15 months.</p><p>"We are making big, enormous efforts to fight fires and deforestation, but even so, we are criticized," he said. </p><p>Experts, however, have accused Bolsonaro of cherry-picking the data. INPE says deforestation increased by 25% year-on-year in the first half of the year, and that at least 3,000 square kilometers (1,200 square miles) had been cut down by June. Alencar said if the current rate continues, 2020 would be Brazil's worst year for deforestation in more than a decade.</p><p>In states with historically high deforestation rates — Mato Grosso, Para and Rondonia — the number of fires detected so far in 2020 is already higher than in the same period in 2019. Alencar said the increase so early in the season shows that the government response has been ineffective — and she believes it's already too late. </p><p>"For this fire season, it seems that we lost the battle against deforestation," she told DW. "We had two days, July 30 and August 1 … with more than 1,000 hot pixels, which are a measurement of fire activity in the region. And those were very high for that period." </p><p>Added to that are NASA observations that show a potentially active Atlantic hurricane season, like 2005 and 2010, which contributed to major drought in the southwestern Amazon as storms sucked moisture from the forest.</p><p><span></span>"They are predicting that it's likely to have the same pattern happening this year, which is going to be catastrophic if it's true," said Alencar. </p>From Your Site Articles
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Aerial picture showing fires burning in Brazil's Amazon rainforest on August 23, 2019. Carl de Souza / AFP / Getty Images
The number of forest fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest increased 28% in July in comparison to last year, the country's National Institute for Space Research reported Saturday.
<p>Brazil holds around 60% of the Amazon basin region and environmentalists say this area is vital to containing the impact of climate change.</p><p>The state agency recorded 6,803 fires in the Amazon last month, compared to 5,318 in the same month of 2019.</p><p>Environmentalists were alarmed by the figure, particularly because August traditionally marks the beginning of the fire season in the region. Many now fear that a repeat of the large surge in fires that devastated the area last August could occur this year again.</p>
<p>"More than 1,000 fires in a single day is a 15-year record and shows the government's strategy of media-spectacle operations is not working on the ground," Greenpeace spokesman Romulo Batista said in a statement.</p><p>The fires have been largely set to clear land illegally for farming, ranching and mining. Activists accuse Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of encouraging the deforestation, as he has been in favor of opening up the rainforest to agriculture and industry.</p><p>The first six months of 2020 were already the worst on record for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, with 3,069 square kilometers (1,185 square miles) cleared, according to INPE data, an area larger than the nation of Luxembourg.</p>
Government Measures Not Enough
<p>On July 16, the Brazilian government banned burning in the Pantanal wetlands and the Amazon forest for four months.</p><p>President Bolsonaro also issued an order in May for the military to coordinate environmental actions in the Amazon.</p><p>But experts say the fire numbers indicate the government's response has not been effective. The deforestation index also remained high this year until July, compared to the last couple of years, according to Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the Advanced Studies Institute in the State University of Sao Paulo.</p><p>"We can conclude, with data until the end of July, that the effectiveness of government actions to reduce fires and deforestation is low," he said.</p><p>Experts also say that this year's dry season will be even more prone to fires than last year. U.S. space agency NASA warned last month that warmer ocean surface temperatures in the North Atlantic have creating the conditions for a more extreme drought in the Amazon.</p><p>"Human-set fires used for agriculture and land clearing more prone to growing out of control and spreading," NASA warned. "Conditions are ripe."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-amazon-rainforest-fires-surge-in-july/a-54405259?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646869688#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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Brazilian Amazon Has Lost Millions of Wild Animals to Criminal Networks, Report Finds
30 July
Animals
Freeland Brasil works to conserve biodiversity by combating wildlife trafficking. Freeland Brasil
By Sharon Guynup
The Brazilian Amazon is hemorrhaging illegally traded wildlife according to a new report released Monday. Each year, thousands of silver-voiced saffron finches and other songbirds, along with rare macaws and parrots, are captured, trafficked and sold as pets. Some are auctioned as future contestants in songbird contests. Others are exported around the globe.
<p>Fish bound for ornamental home aquariums also pour out of the Amazon, including the tiny, iridescent blue and red cardinal tetra. Arapaima fish — also known as <em>pirarucù</em>, one of the world's largest freshwater fish — are caught illegally, "laundered" amidst captive-bred specimens and shipped to the U.S. in large numbers.</p><p>Other fish are headed for the dinner table, as are freshwater turtles and their eggs, while tapir, peccary and other mammals are sold in Brazil as bushmeat. Jaguar teeth, heads and skins are shipped to China.</p><p>Millions of animals are being illegally captured and traded live and in parts in a thriving Brazilian black market, according to the report, produced by TRAFFIC, a UK-based nonprofit that studies the trade. "The pervasive and uncontrolled capture of wild animals and plants for the illegal trade is having grave consequences for Brazilian <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a>, the national economy, the rule of law and good governance," it says.</p>
<h3>Lack of Data Hides Trafficking</h3><p>Deep-dive research by biodiversity consultant Sandra Charity — who wrote the 140-page study with Juliana Ferreira, executive director of the nonprofit <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> group <a href="https://en.freeland.org.br/sobre-nos" target="_blank">Freeland Brasil</a> —focused on Amazon rainforest species and closely investigated the domestic bird trade.</p><p>Importantly, the researchers found that an ever-increasing segment of the illegal trade launders poached animals via a sprawling, legal captive breeding industry — a network that specializes in birds, which have a huge domestic market in Brazil.</p><p>The authors also discovered that few government agencies have kept records or reported solid data that quantify the true scope of the problem. In many cases, records did not even identify the species or number of animals seized by authorities, while data coming from the Amazon was "notoriously scarce."</p><p>"Significant seizures are made on a daily basis by Amazon state law enforcement, and we did not have access to their data," Ferreria said, adding, "from what we saw, [the illegal trade] is even bigger than we imagined."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMzgyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzE0OTM1OH0.eh2c71ohiWz1ISwkaJNeOEV4eCZFNV4OkRHqx4N9MXU/img.jpg?width=980" id="efb37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2be4dcc7509e3f05df53742af3cec824" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Trends remain difficult to track, however, since seizure data alone represents a mere fraction of animals illegally pulled from the wild. But it is clear from existing data that there is an uptick in smuggling of some species, including jaguars: seizures increased by 200% from 2012 to 2018.</p><p>The lack of comprehensive data, the report notes, tends to play down the importance, as well as concealing the severity, of Brazilian trafficking — undermining enforcement efforts, legal attention and the funding needed to fight it.</p><p>But the study warns that the illegal trade is having serious consequences not only for the animals seized, but for entire species, ecosystems and people, not just in the Amazon but around the globe. The current COVID-19 epidemic, for example, caused by a coronavirus that jumped from wildlife to humans, has reminded the world that trafficking in wild animals is not merely a conservation issue, says Ferreira. It's both a public health issue and a biosafety issue.</p><p>An overarching national strategy is needed now to deal effectively with the problem, said the research team.</p>
<h3>Impact on the Amazon</h3><p>Today's vigorous, deadly commerce has helped speed the demise of 1,173 species that are either facing extinction or have already vanished in Brazil. Often the largest, strongest, most beautiful animals are lost, impacting the entire population. For example, the trade targets male birds with their showy plumage, while the few survivors of a species remaining in the wild can become inbred, weakening the gene pool and genetic resilience.</p><p>The scope of the plunder has also sparked concern over broader, cascading ecosystem impacts, says Ferreira, who explained that regularly taking animals from wild populations creates a domino effect, dismantling the biological and physical systems that sustain all life on Earth.</p><p>For example, without birds that act as pollinators and seed-dispersers, trees and plants that many creatures rely on for food disappear. Tropical forests also act as huge carbon vaults, mitigating climate change and extreme weather; they offer buffers from flooding and provide drinking water for millions of people. Losing millions of animals every year to trafficking could lead not only to empty forests, but eventually cause whole ecosystems to crash.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyMzgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NjY4NzQ1NH0.Gp0WdwqrYcx1FqrpXzx9ZsceQXGml8HybgSadaF617Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="43662" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba860e575989538043788aea786470e4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<h3>Trafficking as Global Organized Crime</h3><p>The wildlife trade is also gaining increasing attention because of its lawless perpetrators: transnational criminal trafficking networks span the globe, make huge profits and cultivating massive corruption. Their illicit supply chain extends from the Amazon to almost every continent.</p><p><a href="https://www.thegef.org/" target="_blank">The Global Environment Facility (GEF)</a> describes the illegal wildlife trade as "one of the most lucrative illegal businesses in the world." It's ranked as the world's fourth largest source of criminal earnings, generating up to <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/three-ways-united-nations-environment-programme-works-address-illegal-trade" target="_blank">U.S. $23 billion</a> annually. With so much money changing hands under the table, the trade has even become a global national security issue.</p><p>But even though environmental authorities may seize illegally traded animals and apprehend some smugglers, the study notes that law enforcement is not targeting the kingpins who mastermind the trade or its supply chains. As a result, this shadowy underworld industry thrives as it breeds widespread corruption, bribery, fraud, forgery, money laundering and smuggling.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, "Existing legislation does not consider wildlife trafficking a 'serious crime,'" and there are numerous loopholes and inconsistencies in laws, the report says. Since the illicit trade is such a lucrative business, mild penalties offer little deterrent. A six- to 12-month "detention" is common, which is just restriction of freedom — not jail time — or is negotiated down to a stint at community service.</p><p>In addition, the report documented extensive evidence of widespread fraud by both private and commercial breeders in Brazil who forged permits, mislabeled species declarations, and tampered with government-issued identification rings to sell illegally-acquired songbirds alongside those they legally breed. This particular market is largely domestic, feeding an entrenched Brazilian culture that keeps songbirds as pets. IBAMA, Brazil's environmental agency, estimated that in 2015 alone, some three million passerine birds were fraudulently listed with the government — 75% of all that were registered.</p>
<h3>Curbing Amazon Trafficking</h3><p>While the goal of the new report was not to make a comprehensive assessment of the international trade, the authors found that foreign buyers are driving much of it. "It seems that some Asian countries are sourcing more species in Brazil, such as sea cucumber, sea horses, ornamental fish, jaguars and shark fin," Ferreira said, adding that the U.S. is a top consumer of ornamental fish and leather made from pirarucu skin. Birds, amphibians and reptiles typically sell to European collectors, and the Middle East is a market for Amazon raptors.</p><p>Digital commerce — the internet, social media and messaging groups — have become key "sales offices" for wild animals and the products made from them. The "merchandise" itself is moved in every way imaginable: via cars, buses, boats, planes and overnight courier services. Human "mules" have been arrested with birds or eggs taped to their bodies or concealed in clothing. A porous, 8,000-mile border between Brazil and eight Amazon neighbors creates an easy flow. The Peruvian and Colombian borders in the Northwestern Amazon form a "particularly relevant hub" for trafficking, the report noted.</p>
<p>Combatting the trade requires that it be recognized and treated as a serious crime. More complete data is also needed that will allow for strategic planning and strengthened law enforcement, says lead author Sandra Charity. Stronger national laws that target professional traffickers would also allow for the implementation of the UN Convention on Organized Crime, she said.</p><p>Without a market, there is no commerce, so educating consumers is key, concludes Ferreira.</p><p>"Ultimately, it is a matter of choosing why we are buying that animal, or wildlife product, and if it is worth it …. Cultures are dynamic and need to evolve. We need to start to change the way we view wildlife as commodities," she said, and "we also need to understand that loving an animal does equal imprisoning them."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/brazilian-amazon-drained-of-millions-of-wild-animals-by-criminal-networks-report/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro meets Ronaldo Caiado, governor of the state of Goiás on June 5, 2020. Palácio do Planalto / CC BY 2.0
Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has presided over the world's second worst coronavirus outbreak after the U.S., said Tuesday that he had tested positive for the virus.
<p>The news comes after Bolsonaro has repeatedly dismissed the risk posed by the virus both to himself and others and argued against social distancing measures as a threat to the economy.</p><p>"In my particular case, because of my history as an athlete, in case I were contaminated by the virus I wouldn't need to worry. I wouldn't feel anything or it would be, at most, similar to a little flu, or a little cold," he said during a national television address March 24, as <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ap-explains-bolsonaro-downplayed-virus-fears-months-71663418" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p>
<p>His approach has earned him protests at home and worldwide criticism for allowing the virus to spread in his country, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-coronavirus.html?auth=login-googl" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. He fired one health minister in April over disagreements about how to respond to the pandemic and forced a second to quit less than a month later. The current health minister is an active-duty general with no medical experience. Brazil has now reported more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 65,000 deaths, falling second only to the U.S. in both categories.</p><p>Bolsonaro took a test for the virus Monday after falling ill with fatigue, muscle pain and a fever. His illness occurred two days after he attended a Fourth of July lunch at the home of Brazil's U.S. Ambassador Todd Chapman, where Bolsonaro and other attendees were pictured sitting side by side without masks. The ambassador and his wife have since tested negative for the virus but are remaining in quarantine.</p>
<div id="30022" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9e5f6f78f46c6841b83cc759e8840506"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1279475037574176768" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Na Embaixada dos EUA, celebrando o 4 de julho, dia da independência americana. https://t.co/CqtgUNxiSL</div> — Ernesto Araújo (@Ernesto Araújo)<a href="https://twitter.com/ernestofaraujo/statuses/1279475037574176768">1593885595.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>So far, Bolsonaro's diagnosis has not changed his tone. As he announced his test results, he continued to focus on the importance of reopening Brazil's economy.</p><p>"You can't just talk about the consequences of the virus that you have to worry about. Life goes on. Brazil needs to produce. You need to get the economy in gear,″ he said, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>He was also widely criticized on social media for taking off his mask while speaking to reporters about his diagnosis, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/brazilian-president-takes-off-mask-after-announcing-he-tested-positive-for-covid-19-6495517/" target="_blank">The Indian Express reported</a>.</p>
<div id="4ed4f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="512bc5e4d7e023188c02f9b493b51c16"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280543922331123713" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for coronavirus, just exposed every journalist to the virus, in case you were wo… https://t.co/cuTpNEwiMd</div> — Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen)<a href="https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/statuses/1280543922331123713">1594140437.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/07/888137097/brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-tests-positive-for-coronavirus" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>, who has also been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/us-coronavirus-death-toll-2646357716.html" target="_self">criticized</a> for dismissing the severity of the pandemic. Like Trump, Bolsonaro has touted the benefits of hydroxychloroquine for treating the coronavirus, an anti-malaria drug that the Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-malaria-drugs-2646183392.html" target="_self">has warned</a> against taking for COVID-19.</p><p>But Bolsonaro said his medical team was treating him with the drug on Tuesday and that he was feeling "very well," according to The New York Times.</p><p>Politicians and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts said that Bolsonaro's diagnosis was unlikely to change Brazil's approach to the virus unless he grew seriously ill. The country is currently in the process of reopening.</p>
<p>"My concern is that he will use this to say, 'See, I'm fine, if you catch this you will survive,'" Rio de Janeiro community activist Day Medeiros told The New York Times. "Everything that happens to him has real repercussions in how people behave here. This is really serious."</p><p>But one analyst thought the diagnosis would ultimately harm Bolsoarno's political career.</p><p>"Despite publicly shrugging off his positive test for Covid-19, it marks the beginning of the end of his administration," Robert Muggah, director of Rio-based think tank the Igarape Institute, told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/coronavirus-bolsonaros-diagnosis-marks-beginning-of-the-end-for-his-administration.html" target="_blank">CNBC in an email</a>. "It is yet another visible expression of his recklessness and ineptitude."</p>
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The vast scale of native vegetation clearance for industrial soy cultivation in Brazil is apparent in this aerial image of the Cerrado. Jim Wickens Ecostorm / Mighty Earth (2017)
By Chris Arsenault
A first ever study has provided detailed estimates of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire soy producing agribusiness sector in Brazil. The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, found that countries and companies in the European Union and China importing soy from Brazil have driven deforestation there, causing a marked increase in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when the soy came from certain regions.
<p>While <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">deforestation in the Amazon rainforest</a> has garnered global attention, a new wave of precipitous native vegetation loss is being seen in the Cerrado, Brazil's savanna biome, and is a major cause of concern to climate change researchers. Brazil's Cerrado grasslands are being <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/we-are-invisible-brazilian-cerrado-quilombos-fight-for-land-and-lives/" target="_blank">cleared of forest</a> at an alarming rate to expand soy plantations — along with ranches — to meet global demand.</p><p>In fact, soy exported from newly cleared lands in some savanna municipalities caused the release of as much as 200 times more greenhouse gas emissions than soy coming from other parts of Brazil, according to the new study, which was conducted by researchers from Germany, together with partners from Spain, Belgium and Sweden.</p><p>The extreme regional disparities in emissions from different parts of the country came as a surprise to the researchers, and could offer a detailed map to policymakers as to where to focus carbon emission reduction efforts to achieve the greatest benefit.</p><p>"One of the big takeaways: there is no average supply chain for soy exports from Brazil. We need to take into account these [major] regional differences," in deforestation, transportation infrastructure, and resulting emissions, said Dr. Neus Escobar, the study's lead author and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjUwMTAzNH0.E_nAhS8BixQgvO9eGTajXD7gjMaL7vLSF7kgIOVHGuo/img.jpg?width=980" id="7361c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="52611a957c75326960085ff694269c68" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A soy plantation in the Brazilian Cerrado. Alicia Prager / Mongabay.
<p>The new Brazil-wide soy dataset also offers insights into how countries and companies contribute to carbon emissions via deforestation occurring in Brazil. The information could help nations and the soy commodities industry reduce deforestation, and thereby emissions, by fine tuning their supply chains, purchasing decisions and climate change mitigation plans.</p><p>"This gives crucial information to stakeholders to improve environmental performance," Escobar added in an interview with Mongabay. Companies importing Cerrado soy now have been alerted that deforestation there is producing high greenhouse gas emissions, so they can work actively with soy producers to avoid <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/for-brazilian-agribusiness-leaving-the-amazon-forested-is-a-problem/" target="_blank">clearing new land for Cerrado plantations</a>, she said.</p><p>Total greenhouse gas emissions from Brazilian soy exports were estimated at 223 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. China was the largest importer of Brazilian soy during the study period which ran from 2010 to 2015, and responsible for 51% of associated carbon dioxide emissions, while the European Union was responsible for 30%.</p><p>But per unit of soy, Europe's carbon footprint from Brazilian imports is larger than China's, the study said. European Union imports were also more likely to cause new deforestation (causing more recent carbon releases), compared to imports from China.</p><p>"This [finding] is surprising because China is a much bigger [soy] importer," Javier Godar, a study co-author and senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute said in an interview with Mongabay. "In the end, Europe is importing a bit more carbon dioxide emissions associated [with] deforestation embedded in soy [production] than China."</p><p>That's because much of the soy consumed in EU countries like Spain and Germany comes from the northern Cerrado where current rates of deforestation are especially high now, Godar explained. China, on the other hand, imports most of its Brazilian soy from the southern Cerrado, which has already converted a lot of its native vegetation to croplands.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDEwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDk0NDM1M30.xffL1okBH8bwIt-H-vOrnCaEPsbqWZdnhoFRZgoC0GI/img.jpg?width=980" id="7bb22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1b4fade01f01d0e0f1b56075634b6201" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A tractor works to turn deforested land into a soy field in São Desidério, Bahia state, Brazil in 2017. Jim Wickens Ecostorm / Mighty Earth
“Underground Forest”
<p>Lucia von Reusner, campaign director at Mighty Earth, a U.S.-based environmental NGO, said the study is crucial for highlighting deforestation risks in Brazil's Cerrado. "It's one of the world's most biodiverse savannas and a huge concern for people who care about some of the world's most beautiful and threatened species." Also, "Deforestation is one of the biggest drivers of climate change."</p><p>The region has been dubbed an "underground forest" due to the complex root systems of shrubs and small trees, which retain soil and sequester tremendous sums of carbon, she added in an interview with Mongabay. "When the soy industry moves in, all of that is ripped up and burned. All the carbon stored in the roots, trees and soils is burned and released into the atmosphere."</p><p>The Cerrado, dubbed "Brazil's last agricultural frontier" has some of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America, von Reusner said, with only 50% of its native vegetation remaining. The greatest CO2 emissions occurring in the Cerrado during the 2010-15 study period arose in the so-called MATOPIBA region, comprising the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia. Though the study offered no current deforestation or carbon emission data, MATOPIBA continues to be an agribusiness powerhouse today, a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/communities-in-brazilian-cerrado-besieged-by-global-demand-for-soy/" target="_blank">center of soy production and deforestation</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA4OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDU4MzQwM30._JX9XVHy8kPS1rOAdfCBL3QglbmmtFGcTUeqpgSAqv0/img.jpg?width=980" id="6f992" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0732fb50ab8b612e78f7b69910fc958e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This map shows total carbon dioxide emissions embedded in Brazilian soy imports for different regions between 2010 and 2015. The European Union imported 67.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions embodied in Brazilian soy, while China imported 118.1 million tons of emissions. Escobar, N. et al.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjQyMDc1Mn0.u_bpSeGKCITV5sOvN7YAkYmP-eL4nHohZ9BldXa5A4U/img.jpg?width=980" id="0239e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a1549c121c4ab75600e1c9f70e939ce0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This graph shows total carbon dioxide emissions embodied by Brazil soy imports in major soy importing countries from 2010 to 2015. Escobar, N. et al.
Examining Total Emissions From Soy
<p>The study is the first to provide an estimate of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire soy sector in Brazil with such a high level of detail. To come to their conclusions, researchers analyzed data from 90,000 different soy supply chains between 2010 and 2015.</p><p>Soy is the most internationally traded agricultural commodity on earth, so analyzing data and strategies to reduce its impact on climate change is crucial for policymakers who want to preserve forests while simultaneously reducing emissions.</p><p>"This study does a good job in noting where along the supply chain we can pinpoint to reduce emissions," said University of California, Santa Barbara, land systems scientist Robert Heilmayr. He researches deforestation in Brazil and was not involved in the recent study.</p><p>The depth of the paper's data helps underscore how the Cerrado is "a new frontier in deforestation," he added, and establishes the importance of including the savanna in any plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, as compared to other soy producing regions of Brazil.</p><p>In the Amazon rainforest, a moratorium on clearing new lands for soy was launched in 2006, which <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/01/brazils-soy-moratorium-dramatically-reduced-amazon-deforestation/" target="_blank">greatly reduced</a> the conversion of rainforests to make way for new soy plantations. The moratorium continues to work, though <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">Amazon deforestation is increasing</a> due to intense cattle ranching and mining pressures. One study found that the slowing of soy growth in Amazonia, merely <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/saving-the-amazon-has-come-at-the-cost-of-cerrado-deforestation-study/" target="_blank">shifted and intensified</a> soy production in the Cerrado.</p><p>Extending the Amazon Soy Moratorium into the Cerrado, via the so-called <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/cerrado-manifesto-could-curb-deforestation-but-needs-support-experts/" target="_blank">Cerrado Manifesto</a> or <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/14-straight-months-of-rising-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/" target="_blank">other initiatives</a> — something transnational commodities companies have strongly resisted — could help reduce deforestation related to soy there, Heilmayr and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/more-companies-sign-on-to-cerrado-manifesto/" target="_blank">others contend</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNDA5NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTcxMTA4N30.5PEar6sGahRvQ-vumiP3U0hUOhue29M99R13__oLrDU/img.jpg?width=980" id="bf665" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a08b7a1bdbff1ed8d3cf020037c02921" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Data was gathered from 90,000 soy supply chains and shows how the amount of greenhouse gases released from soy production, processing and export varies between Brazilian municipalities, and from year to year. This map indicates carbon dioxide emissions from soy exports from around Brazil between 2010-15. Escobar, N. et al.
Complicated Supply Chains
<p>Deforestation isn't the only cause of soy-related emissions, Escobar explained. Transportation of soy from remote rural production areas to the South American coast especially by truck is another significant driver of carbon emissions.</p><p>In some inland communities in Brazil's center-west region, where poor infrastructure means soy needs to be trucked over long distances, transportation accounts for about 60% of total carbon emissions, especially from export-oriented municipalities in Goiás and Mato Grosso states. This has in part justified vigorous efforts to construct less carbon intensive <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/grainrail-2nd-revolution-in-brazilian-agribusiness-and-amazon-threat/" target="_blank">rail lines</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/01/battle-for-the-amazon-tapajos-basin-threatened-by-massive-development/" target="_blank">industrial waterways</a> connecting Brazil's interior with its coastal ports — though environmentalists worry about the deforestation such infrastructure might bring with it.</p><p>The global trade in agricultural food products more than doubled between 2000 and 2015, from US$600 billion to over US$1,300 billion, according to data from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But most of the soy exported from Brazil isn't actually eaten by people, explained Reusner; it's primarily used for animal feed or biodiesel.</p><p>To produce enough food for a growing global population, she said transnational companies should incentivize producers to not clear forests for new plantations, but plant soy on land that's already been degraded. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/brazil-has-the-tools-to-end-amazon-deforestation-now-report/" target="_blank">Studies have shown</a> that Brazil has plenty of degraded land to meet global commodity demands, without causing any new deforestation.</p><p>"There is enough degraded land across Latin America to meet the needs of global markets to avoid compromising some of our last remaining ecosystems," she said.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Artists pay homage to the fatal victims of COVID-19 during the performance "Whoever left is someone's love" at Brasília's Catedral on June 15, 2020 in Brasília, Brazil. Andressa Anholete / Getty Images
Brazil officially surpassed 50,600 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, making the South American nation the second largest coronavirus hot spot after the U.S.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Recent figures put the total number of confirmed cases at more than 1,086,990 and 50,659 deaths. The recovery rate is just above 53 percent, according to <a href="https://www.coronatracker.com/country/brazil/" target="_blank">CoronaTracker</a>. Reuters <a href="https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN23S0UB" target="_blank">reports</a> that officials expect the actual numbers to be much higher because of a lack of nationwide testing – typically the country has recorded more than 1,000 deaths per day but registers less over the weekend.</p>
<p>On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) also announced the largest single-day increase of cases around the world, with more than 183,000 new cases of COVID-19 having been reported to the WHO in what Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as "easily the most in a single day so far." More than 9 million cases have been reported since the health agency <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen" target="_blank">declared</a> the severe respiratory disease a global pandemic in March.</p><p>"Some countries are continuing to see a rapid increase in cases and deaths. Some countries that have successfully suppressed transmission are now seeing an upswing in cases as they reopen their societies and economies," said Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Monday's <a href="https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---22-june-2020" target="_blank">press briefing</a>.</p>
<p>"All countries are facing a delicate balance, between protecting their people, while minimizing the social and economic damage. It's not a choice between lives and livelihoods. Countries can do both."</p><p>The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-latin-america-53132225" target="_blank">reports</a> that São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have seen the largest spikes at 12,500 and 8,800 deaths, respectively. More than 12,000 additional deaths have been reported in the northern states of Amazonas, Pará and Ceará.</p><p>A report <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/brazil-coronavirus-cases.html" target="_blank">conducted</a> by the New York Times largely faults government responses and measures for the increase in cases. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro previously dismissed dangers of COVID-19, calling the virus a "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">measly cold</a>" and has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/world/americas/virus-brazil-deaths.html" target="_blank">stalled</a> quarantine measures with unclear responses and a chaotic approach. Additionally, the Ministry of Health has not put forth a comprehensive plan and the nation has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/brazil-coronavirus-cases.html" target="_blank">unsuccessful</a> in importing coronavirus tests, ventilators and other potentially lifesaving equipment.</p>
<p>Brazil is second in cases only to the US, which has reported more than 2.2 million – a 32,411 increase in just one day. There have been over 119,000 deaths across the nation, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>. According to data compiled by <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University of Medicine</a>, over 9 million people have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 with more than 469,000 deaths across the globe. Experts caution that those numbers are likely to be much higher given a lack of worldwide testing, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-cases-daily-record-world-health-organization/" target="_blank">reports</a> CBS News.</p>
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Amazon river dolphins are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Sylvain CORDIER / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images
By Peter Yeung
A pair of pink Amazon river dolphins emerges for just a moment, arcing above the chocolate brown waters inside the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, a research facility at the tropical heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Powerful jets of water spray out of their blowholes as these freshwater mammals take in air before submerging.
<p>Moments later the duo reappear on the other side of the Japurá River, playfully dovetailing, and skirting the edge of the <em>várzea</em> rainforest — a seasonal floodplain where, in this part of Amazonia, river levels can rise and fall by up to 12 meters (39 feet) a year, at times opening up vast swathes of rainforest to these graceful swimmers.</p><p>"They are very special creatures," says Natanael dos Santos, a guide working at the Mamirauá Institute. "They are extremely intelligent and can display a complex set of behaviors, even like humans." These skilled, sharp-toothed hunters, often reaching more than eight feet in length, are well adapted to shifting river levels. During highwater periods they penetrate deep into the rainforest using echolocation to search murky pools amid submerged tree roots for prey including dozens of fish species, turtles and freshwater crabs.</p><p>The Amazon river dolphin (<em>Inia geoffrensis</em>) or boto, already <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10831/50358152" target="_blank">classified as "endangered"</a> since 2018 by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is now coming under even more serious threat across Brazil and Latin America. An estimated population in the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin" target="_blank">low tens of thousands</a> is thought to exist in the wild, though counting the animals accurately in the Amazon's murky streams is challenging. Like other river dolphins, the boto communicates with variable whistle tones.</p><p>Occupying the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, which cut across the northern half of the South American continent, these freshwater mammals were historically abundant, and are protected today by Brazilian law; it is illegal to kill them. But for years, poachers have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261359911_Insights_on_the_use_of_dolphins_boto_Inia_geoffrensis_and_tucuxi_Sotalia_fluviatilis_for_bait_in_the_piracatinga_Calophysus_macropterus_fishery_in_the_Western_Brazilian_Amazon" target="_blank">targeted the dolphins</a>, using their fatty blubber as bait to catch a carnivorous catfish called <em>piracatinga</em>, which is drawn to the scent of rotting flesh.</p>
<p>In January 2015, under the government of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, that chronic criminal behavior led to the introduction of a <a href="https://infoamazonia.org/pt/2015/03/amazon-fishermen-want-to-reduce-time-of-moratorium-on-piracatinga-fish/#!/story=post-12510&loc=-4.389559200000014,-64.55674760000001,7" target="_blank">five-year moratorium</a> on catching <em>piracatinga</em> in order to better protect the dolphins.</p><p>But that moratorium ended earlier this year and has yet to be renewed by the Jair Bolsonaro administration, which is undermining many other of Brazil's environmental laws. Experts warn that the failure to extend it could lead to the extinction of the largest freshwater dolphin in the world — a fate that befell <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/08/endangeredspecies.conservation" target="_blank">China's Yangtze river dolphin (</a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/08/endangeredspecies.conservation" target="_blank"><em>Lipotes vexillifer</em></a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/08/endangeredspecies.conservation" target="_blank"><em>)</em></a> in 2007, following years of overfishing, pollution and habitat degradation.</p><p>"I believe [the lack of a moratorium] could make them extinct," warns Dr. Vera da Silva, a researcher for INPA, the Amazon research institute, who has been studying Amazonia's dolphins for more than 30 years. "Not all the objectives of the moratorium were fulfilled, therefore the moratorium must be extended," she explained.</p><p>Research by da Silva, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-abstract/123/3/666/4888610" target="_blank">published in 2017</a>, found that a female dolphin's pregnancy typically lasts 13 months. After that, the mother feeds a calf underwater for two years. Due to that long gestation and nursing period, females only reproduce every three to five years.</p><p>"They are a very slow reproductive species," da Silva notes. "If the removal is higher [than the reproduction and rearing rate] the species does not have the capacity to replace itself."</p><p>Separate <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191304" target="_blank">findings</a> by da Silva published in 2018 revealed that the Amazon river dolphin population in Brazil is halving every decade.</p>
<p>Prosecutors in Amazonas state, where the Mamirauá Institute is based, originally asked for the moratorium which started in 2015, warning that as many as 2,500 dolphins were being killed illegally each year for bait.</p><p>Da Silva reports that in November 2019 she met with officials from the Secretariat of Production of the State of Amazonas (SEPROR), to discuss the extension of the moratorium in Amazonas. But nothing has happened since, and the peak fishing season is due to begin in July.</p><p>"There is a huge amount of ignorance," she warns. "We need better information on fishing practices. There aren't strong enough laws to make fishermen report what they catch."</p><p>Marcelo Oliveira, a conservation specialist at World Wildlife Fund Brazil (WWF), agrees with that analysis. "Fishing is a threat but we don't have enough data," he says. "If we don't know where the river dolphins are, we can't say how bad [the threat] is. But it's expensive to do expeditions to monitor population trends."</p><p>WWF has been innovating — utilizing drones to accomplish the difficult job of making improved population estimates, flying 2.5 kilometer strips of river to record footage. "It's much cheaper and more efficient," than doing boat observations, he says. The NGO is currently partnering with British universities to analyze the drone findings using artificial intelligence.</p><p><span></span>But even with better data recording practices and an improved data set, Oliveira says that the river dolphins are still at great risk from a broad range of threats. "Bycatch sees so many dolphins caught in fishing nets, gold mining in the region has led to mercury poisoning in the water, and the construction of hydroelectric dams has reduced their habitat and genetic pool," he explains.</p>
<p>Oliveira believes that for now the focus of dolphin conservation should be on improved community engagement across the Amazon basin, with strong outreach to fishermen, in a region whose burgeoning population has now topped 34 million.</p><p>"Extending the moratorium could be a way to protect the dolphins, alternative baits could be a way, but we need to have a balance between development and biodiversity conservation," he says. "It's not a fight between the two. If communities are involved in conservation, the dolphins will be safer."</p><p>Fernando Trujillo, scientific director of the <a href="https://omacha.org/" target="_blank">Fundacion Omacha</a>, a Colombia-based environmental NGO specializing in protecting river dolphins set up in 1993, says that conservation must also be addressed on an international level.</p><p>"The end of [Brazil's] moratorium will send out the message that fishing is okay — even in other countries across Latin America," he says. "We need to work together with all the countries in terms of policy, agreeing on the same criteria and same legislation, especially when it comes to monitoring the borders."</p><p>Trujillo, who is also co-chair of the International Whaling Commission's small cetaceans committee, is calling for the Brazil moratorium to be extended another five years. "For so many reasons, it's a species we need to conserve and save," he says. "Alive dolphins can produce more money than dead ones for local communities through ecotourism."</p>
<p>Indigenous beliefs hold that the river dolphin — which transforms from grey to pink as it ages — is a magical creature. Males and females are both said to have the ability to morph at will into either a handsome man, or beautiful woman respectively, in order to seduce villagers in the dark of night. But scientists see the mammals as top predators of the Amazon aquatic ecosystem — considering them the jaguars of the rivers.</p><p>A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply said it had not yet extended the moratorium because "it is necessary to evaluate its effects on the recovery of populations of porpoises and caimans in order to verify the effectiveness of this fisheries management measure." When asked by Mongabay to comment, the ministry did not provide a timeframe for this evaluation period.</p><p>There is another myth about the Amazon river dolphin. It is said that to kill one is bad luck. Not knowing what negative aquatic impacts might radiate from the extinction of this top predator, authorities may want to heed this legend as they try to decide whether or not to renew Brazil's moratorium.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/amazon-river-dolphin-risks-extinction-if-brazil-moratorium-not-renewed/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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As Amazonian Wildfire Season Approaches, We Must Protect the Vulnerable Forest
15 June
Insights + Opinion
NASA satellite image showing fires raging across the Amazon rainforest on Aug. 11, 2019. NASA
By Daniel Ross
The wildfires that tore across Australia were as devastating as they were overwhelming, scorching some 15 million hectares of land, killing 34 people and more than 1 billion animals. In terms of its apocalyptic imagery — sweeping infernos torching great swaths with unerring speed — Australia's wildfires were hauntingly reminiscent of the fires that roared through the Amazon rainforest over the past year. Indeed, more than 80,000 fires hit the region during 2019, according to the Brazilian government.
<p>Though many months have now passed since global media focused on the unfolding disaster in the Amazon — one of the world's most <a href="https://phys.org/news/2019-11-forests-amazon-important-carbon.html" target="_blank">important carbon sinks</a> — the problem has far from disappeared. Indeed, as the region gears up toward its next Amazon wildfire season, the causes underpinning the problem — like illegal logging, encroachment from agribusinesses and profit-driven government policies — remain very much at play.</p><p>And though uncertainty surrounds some of the short- and long-term impacts of increased commercial activity in the Brazilian Amazon, the consequences on a rapidly warming planet are stark indeed. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51464694" target="_blank">New research</a> suggests that some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforested</a> regions of the rainforest are exhaling more carbon dioxide than they're taking in.</p>
<p>What's more, experts and environmentalists are quick to point the finger of blame toward a principal factor: a government presided over by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose tenure has been characterized by aggressive deregulation and increased commercial exploitation of the Amazon's resources.</p><p>"The impact is obvious: We have much more deforestation," said Philip Fearnside, an ecologist at the National Institute for Research in Amazonia in Brazil, earlier this year. Even before Bolsonaro took office officially, Fearnside <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-brazils-new-president-poses-an-unprecedented-threat-to-the-amazon" target="_blank">sounded the alarm</a> about the Brazilian president's intentions in the Amazon. And with Bolsonaro well into the second year of his tenure, "he's made good on those promises," Fearnside added.</p><p>Indeed, in the year ending on July 30, 2019, more than <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/brazil-revises-deforestation-data-amazon-rainforest-loss-topped-10000-sq-km-in-2019/" target="_blank">10,000 square kilometers</a> of Brazilian Amazon rainforest were lost through deforestation — an amount last topped in 2008, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. The number of active fires in August 2019 was three times higher than in 2018 and the highest number since 2010. The broad ramifications of these trends are far from clear-cut.</p>
<p>According to Jos Barlow, a professor of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> science at Lancaster University, England, "<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14872" target="_blank">different fire types have very different behaviors</a>," with varying severities of impact. While "understory" forest fires have the smallest flame heights and burn slowly across the forest floor, for example, "they also have long-lasting impacts, killing around 50 percent of all trees, with mortality occurring for many years after the fire," Barlow wrote in an email.</p><p>And so, "How long will it take for forests to recover biomass and primary forest species composition?" Barlow asked. "Will they fully recover, or will they be locked into a lower biomass state?"</p><p>Then there's the potential impact on the climate. For the first six months of 2019, deforestation and fires in the Brazilian Amazon released as much as <a href="https://whrc.org/new-data-brazilian-amazon-fires-have-released-104-141-million-metric-tons-of-co2/" target="_blank">141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide</a>, according to research led by the Woods Hole Research Center. As César Terrer, a postdoctoral scholar in Earth system science at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, explains it, the destruction of the Amazon through logging and wildfires means "we're also limiting the potential of current plants to continue storing CO2."</p>
<p>Terrer led a <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/press/view/29425" target="_blank">study</a> using anticipated carbon dioxide levels for the end of the century and found that plant biomass should increase by 12 percent as a result — an increase that would help enable plants and trees to store more carbon dioxide. "A 12 percent increase is huge," Terrer said in a phone interview. "For the Amazon in particular, that's more than 15 billion tons of carbon," he added, explaining that this amount is equivalent to "all the carbon stored in all the trees in all the forests" in the United States. "They could store all that additional carbon for free, if we let them be."</p><p>The problem? That 12 percent increase is predicated upon current plant biomass levels remaining as they currently are. Instead, "we're increasing deforestation rates in the Amazon, which is hugely important for the climate," Terrer said. "I'm strongly concerned."</p>
<p>After the turn of the century, Brazil appeared to be wrestling the problem of a shrinking Amazon. Between 2004 and 2012, Brazil employed an action plan instituting a number of key provisions, including an expanded network of protected areas alongside market incentives and disincentives, like a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/194008291300600308" target="_blank">successful deforestation moratorium</a> agreed to by nearly all soybean processors and exporters in Brazil. Deforestation rates during that time <a href="https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/deforestation_calculations.html" target="_blank">plummeted</a>.</p><p>But 2012 marked a turning point. Since then, deforestation has been ticking upwards — 2016, for example, saw a <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/business-as-usual-a-resurgence-of-deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon" target="_blank">29 percent increase</a>.</p><p>The administration under Bolsonaro has used that fact to justify its policies in the Amazon, said Fearnside. "There were lots of things happening before Bolsonaro took office, but Bolsonaro has certainly increased that [deforestation] substantially," Fearnside said, pointing to the myriad ways his actions have played out.</p>
<p>The current Brazilian president has taken various measures to weaken the country's environment ministry — the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) — not least of all by tapping Ricardo Salles to lead it. Salles has called <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> an "innocuous" and "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/10/environmental-fines-are-ideological-says-brazil-minister-ricardo-salles" target="_blank">secondary</a>" issue, and has characterized the rate of illegal deforestation in the Amazon as near "<a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/07/ricardo-salles-afirma-que-amazonia-ja-tem-desmatamento-relativo-zero.shtml" target="_blank">zero</a>." The director of Brazil's Space Research Institute was fired when the agency's own calculations — which illustrated a <a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2019/08/amazon-deforestation-in-july-increased-278-over-same-period-in-2018.shtml" target="_blank">278 percent increase in deforestation</a> last July — disproved Salles's claims.</p><p>The environment ministry has also stepped back its regulatory oversight. Though <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/environmental-conservation/article/brazils-new-president-and-ruralists-threaten-amazonias-environment-traditional-peoples-and-the-global-climate/F5C1E42BF9F6E6BDDB957B87601FC4F7/core-reader" target="_blank">95 percent of the deforestation</a> that occurred in the first three months of Bolsonaro's tenure was illegal, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/environmental-conservation/article/brazils-new-president-and-ruralists-threaten-amazonias-environment-traditional-peoples-and-the-global-climate/F5C1E42BF9F6E6BDDB957B87601FC4F7" target="_blank">no offenders</a> were punished. Indeed, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/world/americas/brazil-deforestation-amazon-bolsonaro.html" target="_blank">New York Times analysis</a> found that IBAMA's enforcement actions fell by 20 percent during the first half of 2019, as compared with the year prior. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/war-for-survival-brazils-amazon-tribes-despair-as-land-raids-surge-under-bolsonaro" target="_blank">Increased land</a> raids have impacted Indigenous populations in particular.</p><p>"President Bolsonaro of Brazil is encouraging the farm owners near our lands to clear the forest," <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/02/amazon-destruction-earth-brazilian-kayapo-people" target="_blank">wrote</a> Raoni Metuktire, chief of the Indigenous Brazilian Kayapo people. "And he is not doing anything to prevent them from invading our territory."</p>
<p>Some of Bolsonaro's actions have been met with opprobrium among certain sectors of Brazil's corporate class. Blairo Maggi, a billionaire soybean producer and former agriculture minister, has warned of international condemnation of the government's excursions into the Amazon. "The farmers, associations and industry will have to redo what has been lost," he told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/world/americas/amazon-fires-bolsonaro-photos.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "We retreated 10 steps; we will have to work to get back to where we were."</p><p>Nevertheless, "there are large parts of the agribusiness that are on the other side," said Fearnside, pointing to the <a href="https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-43662020000100008&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en" target="_blank">thriving soybean industry</a> in Matopiba, a vast region spanning four Brazilian states. And where is this produce going? In 2017, <a href="https://www.globalcanopy.org/sites/default/files/documents/resources/Brief_DM_soy_final.pdf" target="_blank">92 percent</a> of the soybeans grown for the domestic market in Brazil were used to feed livestock to supply the world's demand for meat.</p><p>"The soy farmers there are all on the bandwagon of denying climate change, which is incredible given that climate change is likely to wipe out their soybean business there," Fearnside said.</p><p>With Bolsonaro only about one year and a half into his presidency, Fearnside is understandably concerned about his remaining tenure and describes the actions already undertaken as having opened up a Pandora's box. This includes the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/01/wildfire-pollution-worsens-air-quality.aspx" target="_blank">human health impacts</a> from wildfire-created air pollution on both nearby and <a href="https://www.enn.com/articles/61766-brazilian-wildfire-pollution-worsens-air-quality-in-distant-cities" target="_blank">distant</a> urban centers — even intensifying <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50573623" target="_blank">glacier melt in the Andes</a>.</p><p>Other experts agree with Fearnside. According to Jos Barlow earlier this year, all indications suggested that 2020 would be "even worse." That prophecy is proving true, with deforestation <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/brazil-revises-deforestation-data-amazon-rainforest-loss-topped-10000-sq-km-in-2019/" target="_blank">rates currently on pace</a> to surpass last year's.</p>
<p><em>An earlier version of this article first appeared on </em><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/as-amazonian-wildfire-season-approaches-we-must-protect-the-vulnerable-forest/" target="_blank"><em>Truthout</em></a><em> and was produced in partnership with </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A lone burnt tree stands on a deforested area in the surroundings of Porto Velho, Rondonia State, in the Amazon basin in west-central Brazil, on Aug. 24, 2019. CARL DE SOUZA / AFP / Getty Images
By Ajit Niranjan
Civil society groups and public prosecutors in Brazil are taking President Jair Bolsonaro's government to court for failing to protect the Amazon rainforest, adding pressure to an administration already under fire for mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>Lawsuits filed last week challenge the government on two fronts: reducing inspections of exported timber — while demoting the environment agency expert whose team advised against it — and freezing climate funds to preserve forests that other countries also rely on to offset their carbon emissions.</p><p><br/></p>
<p>They are among a series of legal challenges that have been launched in Brazil after a tumultuous year-and-a-half of Bolsonaro rule. His administration has overseen a rise in deforestation, attacked the rights of people indigenous to the Amazon and relaxed rules to prevent illegal <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-deforestation-eu-firms-linked-to-illegal-logging-in-brazil/a-48442226" target="_blank">logging</a>, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mass-deforestation-how-trade-fells-trees-in-brazil-and-indonesia/a-48280649" target="_blank">ranching</a> and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazils-amazon-rainforest-has-become-the-wild-west-for-illegal-gold-miners/a-52623368" target="_blank">mining</a>.</p><p>Bolsonaro is a climate change denier who considers the environment to be a kind of enemy, said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of Brazil-based think tank Climate Observatory, which provided the legal analysis behind the lawsuits. "It's very hard to believe Bolsonaro will change his behavior or mindset. What we really need to do is neutralize the attacks on the environment."</p>
<p>In recent weeks, the Brazilian government has been rebuked by foreign governments, investors and businesses for enabling deforestation — and by courts and protestors at home for <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/where-could-brazils-criminal-investigation-of-jair-bolsonaro-lead/a-53284984" target="_blank">political interference</a> and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>Brazil's supreme court ordered the government on Monday to resume publishing <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/supreme-court-rules-brazil-must-share-virus-data/a-53754069" target="_blank">coronavirus statistics</a> after it purged the health ministry website of COVID-19 case numbers and death tolls. The virus has killed more than 37,000 people in Brazil, which has the second-most coronavirus cases in the world behind only the U.S. "The manipulation of statistics is a maneuver of totalitarian regimes," said supreme court judge Gilmar Mendes. "The trick will not exempt responsibility for the eventual genocide."</p><p>Deforestation, meanwhile, had already last year hit its highest level since 2008. On Tuesday the country's space research agency INPE revised its estimates, saying it they were higher than previously thought. Using satellite data, the scientists calculated that year-on-year <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-reports-even-more-deforestation-after-revising-data/a-53767938" target="_blank">deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon</a> rose by 34 percent between August 2018 and July 2019, felling an area of forest about as big as Jamaica.</p><p>Georg Witschel, Germany's ambassador to Brazil, told <a href="https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2020/06/11/desmatamento-na-amazonia-faz-cada-vez-mais-dificil-acordo-ue-mercosul-diz-embaixador-alemao.ghtml" target="_blank">Brazilian news outlet G1</a> on Thursday that deforestation makes it "increasingly difficult" to ratify the free trade agreement between the EU and South American trade bloc Mercosur.</p>
Coronavirus and Deforestation
<p>Brazil's environmental and health crises are closely linked. The coronavirus pandemic had given fresh impetus to land grabbers razing swathes of forests as lockdowns have kept law enforcement officers at home.</p><p>Now, the fires that typically follow the felling of trees could further strain health systems.</p><p>Blazing wildfires, like the ones that devastated the Amazon last year, spout pollutants that lower air quality and work their way into people's lungs, exacerbating the same <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-air-pollution-might-raise-risk-of-fatality/a-52977422" target="_blank">breathing diseases</a> that leave people more vulnerable to the coronavirus. A joint peak in forest fires and COVID-19 cases could overwhelm hospitals without "incisive intervention by the State to curb illegal acts," according to a report published in May by INPE.</p><p>That could collapse health systems in several Amazonian states that are already operating at the limit, the authors wrote. "If the turning point of the epidemiological curve of COVID-19 does not occur immediately, in May 2020, there will certainly be an overlap of fires with the pandemic."</p><p>This could spell disaster for indigenous peoples and uncontacted tribes, said Sarah Shenker, a campaigner with Survival International. "In Brazil, there are more than 100 uncontacted tribes and they could be wiped out if invaders are not removed from their territory."</p><p>Even before the current coronavirus crisis, scientists warned that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-deforestation-can-lead-to-more-infectious-diseases/a-53282244" target="_blank">forest loss makes pandemics more likely</a> by increasing the chance that diseases jump from animals to humans. A study published in the journal PNAS in October found that deforestation of the Amazon significantly increases transmission of malaria, a different type of disease.</p>Preserving the Climate
<p>The Amazon rainforest — 60 percent of which lies in Brazil — is one of the world's great carbon sinks. Preserving its trees and plants is crucial to meeting international targets that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/co2-emissions-gap-un-report-warns-of-collective-failure-to-act/a-51407286" target="_blank">limit global warming</a> to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.</p><p>Lawsuits that take years to complete are not going to produce results fast enough, said Ricardo Galvao, a former director of INPE who was <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazils-research-chief-sacked-after-deforestation-row-with-bolsonaro/a-49874119" target="_blank">fired by Bolsonaro</a> in August.</p><p>To curb deforestation in the Amazon, said Galvao, the best tools are "positive actions that show [that] exploring the forest, rather than destroying it, gives economic returns." For instance, international organizations like the UN could certify products from sustainably managed forests and countries could lower import taxes on such "green-stamped" goods.</p><p>Brazil has a legal commitment to reduce deforestation in the Amazon to a rate equivalent to about 3,900 square kilometers per year from 2020 onwards. In 2012, measures to protect the Amazon had brought deforestation down to 4,600 square kilometers, close to the target, but by 2019, it had rebounded to 9,800 square kilometers. </p><p>The Brazilian government, which in May brought in the military to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-deploys-military-to-protect-amazon-rainforest/a-53398270" target="_blank">protect the forest</a>, has disputed its image as an environmental pariah. "We are the country that most preserves the environment in the world," said Bolsonaro on World Environment Day last week. "Unjustly, [we are] the most attacked."</p><p>Data from Brazil's Institute of Socioeconomic Studies show government spending on forest inspection dropped from R$17.4 million (US$3.5 million, €3.1 million) to R$5.3 million from the first five months of 2019 to the same period in 2020, while funding for activities under Brazil's national climate change plan were cut from R$436 million last year to R$247 million this year.</p><p>Ibama, the Brazilian environment agency, did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>Big tracts of the rainforest have no recorded owner, making it easier to illegally grab land, and a lack of law enforcement can even mean that farmers who comply with regulations struggle to compete with those who don't.</p><p>Working with sustainable farmers and fixing land ownership structures could help Brazil slow deforestation during the coronavirus pandemic and recession, said Monica De Los Rios, Brazil coordinator at the nonprofit Earth Innovation Institute. "This is the most critical moment in the history of the Amazon."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/to-stop-amazon-deforestation-brazilian-groups-take-bolsonaro-to-court/a-53785160" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646172097#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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