Activists warn that the far-right government in Brazil is using the coronavirus pandemic as a smokescreen to undermine protections for the Amazon rainforest. With the world sheltered in place, the government assembled a “historic assault” on the Amazon and the indigenous tribes who live there, entities it is meant to protect, reported ABC news. The […]
Poor people in developing countries are far more likely to suffer from exposure to pesticides classified as having high hazard to human health or the environment, according to new data that Unearthed analyzed. The analysis shows that the world’s top five pesticide makers are making billions, accounting for more than 36 percent of their income, […]
By Jan Rocha President Jair Bolsonaro pressed forward with a “dream” initiative sending a bill to the Brazilian Congress on Wednesday that would open indigenous reserves in the Amazon and elsewhere to development, including commercial mining, oil and gas exploration, cattle ranching and agribusiness, new hydroelectric dam projects, and tourism — projects that have been […]
By Raphael Tsavkko Garcia Rarely has something so precious fallen into such unsafe hands. Since Jair Bolsonaro took the Brazilian presidency in 2019, the Amazon, which makes up 10 percent of our planet’s biodiversity and absorbs an estimated 5 percent of global carbon emissions, has been hit with a record number of fires and unprecedented […]
By Liberty Vittert This year, I was on the judging panel for the Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Decade. Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” competition, the international statistic is meant to capture the zeitgeist of this decade. The judging panel accepted nominations from the statistical community and the public […]
The longest UN climate meeting in history extended two extra days for a marathon bargaining session, but ended early Sunday morning with little accomplished. Policy makers mostly decided to punt strengthening their commitments to lower emissions and to a market for carbon emissions, until COP26 in Glasgow next December, the AP reported. Protestors denounced polluting […]
By Kate Martyr Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest last month jumped to the highest level since records began in 2015, according to government data. A total of 563 square kilometers (217.38 square miles) of the world’s largest rainforest was destroyed in November, 103% more than in the same month last year, according to Brazil’s space […]
Right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is angry that 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is speaking out for indigenous rights. On Sunday, Thunberg tweeted a response to the killing of two indigenous leaders in Northeast Brazil Saturday. “Indigenous people are literally being murdered for trying to protect the forest from illegal deforestation,” she wrote. “Over […]
Two indigenous leaders were killed in a drive-by shooting in Northeast Brazil Saturday, and two others were injured. The murdered men belonged to the Guajajara tribe, which is known for organizing guardians to defend their Amazon rainforest territory against illegal tree clearing, The Guardian pointed out. Violence against Brazil’s indigenous communities has increased during the […]