brazil

7 Amazon Rainforest Countries Sign Pact to Come Together in Response to Wildfires

7 Amazon Rainforest Countries Sign Pact to Come Together in Response to Wildfires

Seven Amazon countries signed a pact Friday to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest in response to the record-breaking number of wildfires that have blazed through the Amazon rainforest this summer, Reuters reported. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Suriname agreed to create a network to coordinate their responses to disasters like this summer’s […]

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    Leonardo DiCaprio Pledges $5M to Fight Amazon Fires

    Leonardo DiCaprio Pledges $5M to Fight Amazon Fires

    Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental charity has pledged $5 million towards fighting the wildfires currently burning in the Amazon rainforest, The Guardian reported Monday. “The lungs of the Earth are in flames. The Brazilian Amazon — home to 1 million Indigenous people and 3 million species — has been burning for more than two weeks straight,” DiCaprio […]

    Brazilian Military Planes Douse Flames as Amazon Fires Reach Bolivia

    Brazilian Military Planes Douse Flames as Amazon Fires Reach Bolivia

    Heavy smoke blanketed the city of Porto Velho in the northwestern state of Rondonia as military planes struggled to douse the fires raging in the Amazon that have raised an international outcry. A video posted by Brazil’s Ministry of Defense showed a C-130 Hercules plane, one of two sent to the region, dumping water out […]

    ‘This is a Sick Statement’: Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Under Pressure for Anti-Environmental Policies, Blames NGOs for Record Amazon Fires

    ‘This is a Sick Statement’: Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Under Pressure for Anti-Environmental Policies, Blames NGOs for Record Amazon Fires

    Brazil‘s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro is giving President Trump a run for his money in the alternative facts department. Responding to international outrage following the news that there are record numbers of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro tried to shift the blame away from his pro-business administration and onto an unlikely culprit: non-governmental […]

    Record Number of Fires Burning in Amazon Rainforest

    Record Number of Fires Burning in Amazon Rainforest

    There are a record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil‘s space agency has said. Their smoke is visible from space and shrouded the city of São Paulo in darkness for about an hour Monday afternoon, CBS news reported. “It was as if the day had turned into night,” São Paulo resident Gianvitor […]

    3 Activists Killed Per Week in 2018, New Report Shows

    3 Activists Killed Per Week in 2018, New Report Shows

    Taking a stand for environmental justice and protecting natural resources is a dangerous pursuit. A new report from the UK-based NGO Global Witness showed that 164 environmentalists worldwide were killed for their activism in 2018. That averages to just over three murders per week. And that’s an underestimation. Global Witness said the true number was […]

    Gold Miners Murder Indigenous Leader, Force Villagers in Brazil’s Amazon to Flee

    Gold Miners Murder Indigenous Leader, Force Villagers in Brazil’s Amazon to Flee

    Gold miners invaded indigenous territory in Brazil‘s Amazon, killing one leader and prompting villagers to flee for safety, The New York Times reported Saturday. The violence confirms fears that right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro‘s promises to open protected lands to mining and other extractive industries will have devastating consequences for indigenous communities. “The president is responsible […]