Amazon rainforest

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In Rainforest, Biden Pledges to Protect the Amazon

Brazil despairs of seeing US help with climate change once Trump becomes president

(Newser) - On the first trip of a sitting American president to the Amazon, President Biden promised new financial help to protect the rainforest on Sunday—an eleventh-hour effort to fight climate change before he turns the presidency over to Donald Trump. The Amazon rainforest is critical in regulating Earth's climate...

Deforestation Plummets Nearly a Third in Brazil's Amazon

It was the lowest level of destruction in the rainforest in 9 years

(Newser) - Forest loss in Brazil's Amazon dropped by 30.6% compared to the previous year, officials said Wednesday, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. In a 12-month span, the Amazon rainforest lost 2,428 square miles, roughly the size of the US state of Delaware, per the AP...

In Amazon's Deforestation, a Potent New Threat Emerges

Authorities say chemicals are being used more because the practice is harder to detect

(Newser) - Authorities in Brazil trying to protect the Amazon from illegal deforestation have long relied on satellite images to alert them to areas that have been clear-cut or burned in a matter of days. Now, however, loggers are increasingly using a potent new tool that is much harder to detect, reports...

Message to US Firm Was Made From Destroyed Rainforest

Giant mural in Sao Paolo urged Cargill to 'stop the destruction'

(Newser) - Environmental activists in Brazil want US farming giant Cargill to keep its promise to act against deforestation—and they have used destroyed rainforest to send a message almost 100 feet tall. A mural on the side of an 11-story building in Sao Paolo was made from ash and charcoal from...

After Warnings, Isolated Tribe Goes on the Attack

Following clash with Mashco Piro in Peruvian Amazon, 2 loggers are dead, 2 are missing

(Newser) - After an isolated Amazonian tribe attacked loggers who got too close to their Peruvian territory this summer, Indigenous rights group FENAMAD warned that, without government intervention, more violent clashes could come. Now, two loggers have been shot dead with arrows, another has been injured, and two others have disappeared from...

'Uncontacted' Indigenous Group Just Made Contact

Mashco Piro tribe reportedly attacked loggers in Peruvian Amazon who were getting too close

(Newser) - An "uncontacted" Indigenous group in the Peruvian Amazon apparently spooked by local loggers getting too close to their area went on the attack last month, injuring at least one logger and possibly killing two others, according to an NGO there. Per the Guardian , the Mashco Piro tribe reportedly carried...

'Lost Valley of Cities' Found in Amazon

'Imagine that you discovered another civilization like the Maya'

(Newser) - After many years of research, French archaeologist Stéphen Rostain can deliver a very satisfying "I told you so" to people who told him there was no point in searching for ancient civilizations in the Amazon rainforest. Rostain and fellow researchers say they have discovered a "lost valley...

Ecuadorians on Oil Drilling Near Uncontacted Tribes: Nope

As presidential election heads to a runoff

(Newser) - In a historic decision, Ecuadorians voted on Sunday against the oil drilling of a protected area in the Amazon that's home to two uncontacted tribes and serves as a biodiversity hotspot. With over 90% of the ballots counted by early Monday, around six in 10 Ecuadorians rejected the oil...

Colombia Credits Military Tech, Indigenous Potions With Rescue

President bestows 86 medals on Amazon searchers who found children

(Newser) - Colombia's president handed out 86 medals Monday to soldiers, Indigenous volunteers, and government officials who helped in the rescue of four children who spent 40 days on their own in the jungle after a plane crash. President Gustvao Petro described the search that captivated world attention as an example...

Dog Led Rescuers to Missing Kids. Now They Search for Him

If Wilson is still alive in Amazon, Colombian soldiers hope to lure him with female dogs, food

(Newser) - With his powerful snout and his pointy ears, Wilson became a national hero in Colombia when he helped the military find four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash and were lost in the Amazon jungle for 40 days. Paw prints from the military-trained search dog led trackers to the...

40 Days After Crash, a Stunning Find: 'The Jungle Saved Them'

4 Indigenous children, one a baby, survived in the Amazon on their own after plane went down

(Newser) - Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then wandered on their own in the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers. The announcement of their rescue on Friday brought a happy ending to a saga that had captivated many Colombians,...

Brazil Warned About Gangs Rising in Amazon

Former police official says organized crime could control the region

(Newser) - The Brazilian Amazon is in danger of becoming a lawless region plagued by fighting among armed groups and controlled by organized crime, a former senior federal police chief has warned his country. Alexandre Saraiva, who served in the Amazon for a decade, said drug-trafficking groups are on the advance, seizing...

Man Rescued After 31 Days Lost in Amazon

He says he drank his own urine, ate bugs to survive

(Newser) - A Bolivian man on a hunting trip in the Amazon rainforest got separated from his group on Jan. 25, and his family reported him missing. Jhonatan Acosta, 30, was found safe on Feb. 25, and he says he survived by eating worms and insects and drinking his own urine, the...

Brazil Cops: We've Got Our Guy in Murders of Activist, Journo

Rubens Villar Coelho is in custody, but local activists suspect others in Amazon killings

(Newser) - Three men were already in custody for murdering Indigenous activist Bruno Pereira and UK journalist Dom Phillips last June in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. Now, per the New York Times , cops say they have the mastermind behind the killings: fishing trafficker Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, or Rubens Villar Coelho,...

The Amazon Researcher 'Refused to Believe Her Data'

It showed the rainforest was actually emitting carbon, not capturing it

(Newser) - If you're wondering what scientists are thinking about the state of the Amazon these days, look no further than Alex Cuadros' lengthy piece for the New York Times . Reporting from the Amazon, Cuadros meets with some of the leading scientists on the ground—or in the air—there to...

Report Details 'Enormous, Virtually Irreversible' Loss in Amazon

Region has lost 10% of its native vegetation since 1985, an area the size of Texas, per Raisg

(Newser) - The Amazon region has lost 10% of its native vegetation, mostly tropical rainforest, in almost four decades, an area roughly the size of Texas, a new report says. From 1985 to 2021, the deforested area surged from 190,000 square miles to 482,000 square miles, unprecedented destruction in the...

Now, Brazil Will Lead on Climate Fight: Former Official

Past environmental minister tells conference new administration will protect rainforest

(Newser) - Marina Silva, a former environmental minister and potential candidate for the job again, on Saturday brought a message to the UN climate summit: Brazil is back when it comes to protecting the Amazon rainforest, the largest in the world and crucial to limiting global warming. The election of leftist President-elect...

There May Be Another Big Winner in Brazil

Environmentalists see da Silva's victory as huge for the Amazon rainforest

(Newser) - Supporters of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva are still celebrating his win over Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Supporters of the Amazon rainforest are doing the same. New Scientist points out that environmentalist Erika Berengeur of the University of Oxford was in tears as she spoke about the ouster of Bolsonaro...

This Illegal Road Is a Threat to the Amazon

If completed, it will turn a large area of remaining forest into an island

(Newser) - An illegal dirt road ripping through protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon is now just a few miles shy of connecting two of the worst areas of deforestation in the region, according to satellite images and accounts from people familiar with the area. If the road is completed it will...

Brazil Identifies Remains as Those of British Journalist

Suspect admitted shooting two men who disappeared, police say

(Newser) - Update: Brazilian authorities confirmed Friday that remains found in the Amazon were those of British journalist Dom Phillips. A search for Phillips, 57, and Bruno Pereira, 41, a Brazilian indigenous expert, had been conducted for more than a week. A suspect who admitted shooting the men led investigators to the...

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