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I stepped off the platform at the gleaming new Maxcanú train station, eager to see the magnificent Maya archaeological site of Uxmal. All I needed was a taxi to take me there, a trip of about 30 miles away. And I was the third person in two weeks to get off at Maxcanú expecting to reach Uxmal, he said. I was midway through a five-day trip to explore the brand-new Maya Train and several of its destinations in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. Designed to run 965 miles (1,554 kilometers) around a loop of 34 stations when completed, the train will whisk passengers in cool comfort through colonial cities, archaeological sites, splashy resorts and tropical forests.
Persons: Maxcanú, van Locations: Yucatán, Mexico
There’s a struggle for law and order in many of the world’s tropical forests, and nature is losing. Last week, I wrote about the major progress Colombia made in 2023, slashing deforestation rates by 49 percent in a single year. But this week, we learned the trend reversed significantly in the first quarter of this year. Mostly because a single armed group controls much of Colombia’s rainforests. had largely banned deforestation and in recent months it seems to have allowed it again.
Persons: There’s, Susana Muhamad, Organizations: Colombia’s, Environment, Estado Mayor Central, United Locations: Colombia, United Nations
Why Palm Oil Is Still a Big Problem
  + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Manuela Andreoni | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
Palm oil — the ubiquitous ingredient for all things spreadable, from toothpaste to ice cream — is now the commodity consumed by Americans that contributes most to the loss of tropical forests. Researchers looked at import data and deforestation rates and found that palm oil bought by Americans may have caused 103,000 acres of deforestation, mostly in Indonesia. I want to focus on palm oil today because we’ve known about this problem for a long time. Palm oil is environmentally destructive, grown on vast plantations after rainforests have been flattened and burned. And after years of hard-won progress, the deforestation associated with palm oil production in Indonesia is ticking up again.
Organizations: Global Witness Locations: Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, That’s, New York City
CNN —Archaeologists working deep in the Amazon rainforest have discovered an extensive network of cities dating back 2,500 years. The team also discovered monumental complexes with much larger platforms, which, they said, probably had a civic or ceremonial function. Even the most isolated complexes were linked by pathways and an extensive network of larger, straight roads with curbs. In the empty buffer zones between complexes, the team found features of land cultivation, such as drainage fields and terraces. These were linked to a network of footpaths, according to the study.
Persons: Stéphen Rostain, , ” Rostain, Rostain, Carlos Morales, Aguilar, Morales Organizations: CNN, Research, France’s National Center for Scientific Research, University of Texas Locations: Upano, Ecuador, France, Germany, Puerto Rico, Amazonia, Panama, Guatemala, Belize, Brazil, Mexico, Austin,
Finally Souza, an innkeeper and community leader in Bela Vista do Jaraqui, said he rallied two dozen neighbors to drill a 60-meter well in the heart of the world's largest freshwater basin. With rivers forming the backbone of transportation across the Amazon region, the drought has disrupted access to food and medicine in dozens of cities. The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, is regarded by scientists as a bulwark against climate change because its dense vegetation absorbs carbon and emits oxygen. The five researchers predicting a 2026 recovery said the effects of the drought could endure even longer if El Nino is prolonged. That would release huge amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change and wiping out a wealth of plant and animal species found only in the Amazon.
Persons: Bruno Kelly, Raimundo Leite de Souza, Souza, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Michael Coe, we're, El Nino, Coe, El, Philip Fearnside, Henrique Barbosa, Eduardo Taveira, Taveira, Paulo Brando, Brando, Barbosa, Brad Haynes, Jake Spring, Ana Mano, Andre Romani, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Rio, cobras, United, Reuters, Research Center, National Institute of, Research, University of Maryland, Honda, LG, Positivo, GIANTS, Yale University, Sao Paulo, Thomson Locations: Tefe, Amazonas, Brazil, Rights MANAUS, caimans, Bela Vista, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Colombia, United Nations, U.S, South America, South, Pacific, North America, El Nino, University, Baltimore, Western Europe, Brazil's Amazonas, Manaus, Itacoatiara, Madeira Rivers, Sao Paulo, Sao
Brazil proposes global forest conservation fund at COP28
  + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Smoke from a fire rises into the air as trees burn amongst vegetation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Benassatto/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDUBAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Brazil on Friday unveiled a proposal at the COP28 climate summit to set up a global fund to finance forest conservation that it hopes can raise $250 billion from sovereign wealth funds and other investors, including the oil industry. The plan unveiled by Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad calls for the creation of an innovative global instrument to remunerate the maintenance and restoration of tropical forests. Brazil is asking other countries to contribute to the final design of the fund. The funds would be deposited at a global organization, which could raise further resources by issuing low-risk bonds.
Persons: Leonardo Benassatto, Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, Fernando Haddad, Andre Correa, Lago, deforest, Lisandra Paraguassu, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Brazilian Environment Minister, Finance, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Humaita, Amazonas, Brazil, Dubai
Scientists captured images of an elusive echidna named after David Attenborough for the first time in over 60 years. Attenborough's long-beaked echidna was last recorded in 1961. Attenborough's long-beaked echidna was last recorded in 1961, according to a news release from the University of Oxford. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe echidna — also known as Sir David's long-beaked echidna or the Cyclops long-beaked echidna — inhabits New Guinea and lives in the Cyclops Mountains in Indonesia. Part of the reason may be because the tropical forests surrounding the Cyclops Mountains are under threat from logging and mining, per the Times.
Persons: David Attenborough, , Sir David Attenborough, James Kempton, Sir David's, Kempton, hadn't, Iain Kobak Organizations: Service, University of Oxford, New York Times, Expedition, IUCN, Times Locations: British, New Guinea, Indonesia
In a series of graphics, we take a look at some of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet. Global wildlife populations plummeted by 69% on average between 1970 and 2018, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022. Swipe to see more Forest loss Note: These figures do not include regrowth or regeneration of forest. But many are facing threats from pesticides and crop monocultures, as well as the destruction of their habitats. Swipe to see more Bird populations Source: BirdlifeDespite the scale of the challenges, there are countless groups and individuals committed to protecting our planet.
Persons: it’s Organizations: CNN, Resources Institute, Global, UN, University of Sheffield, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, British Trust for Ornithology, Birdlife Locations: California, Hawaii, India
Mike Korchinsky gave up a lucrative career in management consulting after an “epiphany in the African bush,” turning to wildlife conservation and ultimately helping create one of the most popular tools for cutting carbon emissions. Now, the 62-year-old from the California Bay Area is fighting to keep that business—and his own revenue stream—alive amid a crisis of confidence that is shaking the industry he helped start.
Persons: Mike Korchinsky, Locations: California
The countries recognised the importance of cooperation and agreed to develop ways to protect the forests in a seven-point plan. Deforestation increased 4% worldwide in 2022, according to an October report showing countries went further off track from pledges made at the 2021 U.N. climate talks to halt and reverse loss and degradation by 2030. Over the three days of the summit in Brazzaville, experts and policymakers from countries with tropical forests discussed shared priorities ahead of the U.N. COP28 climate talks next month. They examined different funding mechanisms to help developing countries preserve their important ecosystems. Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian and Edward McAllisterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Ueslei Marcelino, We've, we've, Arlette Soudan, Alessandra Prentice, Anait Miridzhanian, Edward McAllister Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Wildlife Fund, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, BRAZZAVILLE, Congo Republic, Congo, Southeast Asia, Republic of Congo, Brazzaville
CNN —Scientists have decoded an ancient aroma by identifying the ingredients used in Egyptian mummification balms — and resurrected the scent. The exact recipes used in the mummification have long been debated because ancient Egyptian texts don’t name precise ingredients. The new findings suggest that the relatively complex balms used in Senetnay’s preservation may have been the beginning of a trend of more elaborate ones used later on. Dammar resin, an ingredient used in embalming, appears next to a bottle of the recreated ancient scent. “The scent of eternal life” will be part of an ancient Egyptian exhibit at the Danish museum that opens in October.
Persons: , Barbara Huber, ” Huber, Pharaoh Amenhotep II, Pharaoh Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Senetnay, Christian Tepper, Howard Carter, Carter, Pharaoh, Nicole Boivin, Carole Calvez, dammar, it’s, ” Boivin, Dammar, Sofia Collette Ehrich, Huber, Barbara Huber “, Organizations: CNN —, Moesgaard Museum, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Max Planck Institute, Geoanthropology Locations: Denmark, Egypt’s Valley, Germany, , Hannover, India, Southeast Asia, Europe, Saqqara
Trees stop making food for themselves when they get too hot, a new study shows. AdvertisementAdvertisementFor a new Nature study, scientists across the country found that photosynthesis begins to fail in tropical trees at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.7 degrees Celsius). NNehring/ Getty ImagesScientists already knew extreme heat makes leaves unable to photosynthesize, said Goldsmith, a co-author of the study. But "this study is really the first study to establish how close tropical forest canopies may be to these limits," he said. If all the trees in the tropical rainforests died off, that would release an estimated 228.7 petagrams of carbon into the atmosphere, according to a 2012 study.
Persons: It's, Gregory Goldsmith, Goldsmith, ScienceAlert, Justin Sullivan, Christopher Doughty, Doughty, Ignacio Palacios, it's Organizations: Service, Chapman University, Getty, Northern Arizona University Locations: , Brazil , Puerto Rico, Panama, Australia, San Francisco
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar surface near the moon's south pole on Wednesday. The historic occasion marked the country as a global space power and only the fourth nation to achieve a lunar landing. Chandrayaan-3 has already returned several images and rolled out its Pragyan rover on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, Russia’s Luna 25 lander crashed into the moon, causing experts to question the country’s future lunar ambitions. ConsequencesEmperor penguins rely on sea ice to hatch and raise their chicks, but global warming is diminishing their habitat.
Persons: CNN —, Ray, Russia’s, Bonnie Prince Charlie, , , Barbora Veselá, Apptronik, Sergio Pitamitz, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, SpaceX, International, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Ray Imaging, ISRO India, University of Dundee, Solar Orbiter, , CNN Space, Science Locations: United States, Russia, Japan, Denmark, United Kingdom, Austin , Texas, Tennessee, Monterey , California
CNN —Some leaves in tropical forests from South America to South East Asia are getting so hot they may no longer be able to photosynthesize, with big potential consequences for the world’s forests, according to a new study. They found that average forest canopy temperatures peaked at 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) but some exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). This level of warming is not expected under current climate policies, which are estimated to bring 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels. While these figures may seem small, the risk is significant given how critical tropical trees are for life, the climate system and the planet. But, he added, there are more immediate concerns for tropical forests, including deforestation, wildfires and droughts.
Persons: photosynthesize, Christopher Doughty, ” Doughty, Martin Zwick, , Kevin Collins, Christopher Still, there’s, it’s, , Chloe Brimicombe, ” Joshua Fisher Organizations: CNN, Northern Arizona University, Getty, Open University, Science Media, Oregon State University, University of Graz, Chapman University Locations: South America, South East Asia, Nature, Australia, Brazil, ecoinformatics, Mobuku, Uganda, , Austria
Some posts on social media in the wake of the fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, however, suggested that the fact some trees had remained standing showed proof that the fires were somehow engineered or steered to intentionally burn homes and vehicles, leaving trees unscathed. Reuters photographs and satellite imagery of the Lahaina Banyan Court area produced by Maxar Technologies shows buildings, vehicles and trees damaged following the fires (shorturl.at/bpsTX), (here). Other trees were more heavily damaged, but remained standing, Reuters pictures show (here), (here). Regardless, the fact that some trees could remain standing or were less damaged than cars or buildings during a fire is not abnormal. Trees sometimes survive severe damage during fires due to factors including their water content and the ways a fire spreads.
Persons: Albert Simeoni, , Erica Fischer, Fischer, Christopher Baird, ” Baird, Katie Kamelamela, James Urban, Niamh Nic Daeid, Nic Daeid, Read Organizations: Reuters, Facebook, Maxar Technologies, Fire Protection Engineering Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Department of Wood Science, Engineering, Oregon State University, , JB, University of Hawaii, West Texas, M University, Conservatory, Akaka Foundation, Tropical Forests, HOW, Fire Protection, Leverhulme Research, Forensic Science, University of Dundee Locations: Maui, Instagram, Lahaina Banyan, Oregon, Colorado, Manoa, Hawaii
In a statement written from the perspective of a sun bear named “Angela,” officials from Hangzhou zoo said people “didn’t understand” the species. In 2013, a city zoo in the central Henan province angered visitors by trying to pass off a Tibetan Mastiff dog as a lion. Visitors at another Chinese zoo, in Sichuan province, were shocked to discover a golden retriever sitting in a cage labeled as an African lion enclosure. World’s smallest bears under threatNative to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, sun bears are the world’s smallest bear species. Sun bears are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Persons: “ Angela, I’m Angela Organizations: CNN, Wildlife Fund, Sun Bear Conservation Center, International Union for Conservation of Nature Locations: China, Hangzhou, Weibo, Henan, Sichuan, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sabah
But recent data shows strong growth in demand for green skills exacerbating an already tight market where demand outstrips supply. The online professional network defines green skills as those that make economic activities more environmentally sustainable, such as carbon accounting, hydrogen engineering and battery manufacturing. It considers green jobs to be ones which include climate action objectives such as removing pollution and preserving natural resources. Likewise, more than 114,000 U.S. clean energy jobs were created in 2022, according to last week’s annual employment report from the U.S. Department of Energy. As of 2023, nearly 11% of U.S. transport workers, such as employees of carmakers, have green skills, according to LinkedIn.
Persons: , Sue Duke, Kenneth Gillingham, ” Gillingham, Tim Gruber, Gillingham, Sara Smiley Smith, Steven Cohen, Cohen, Todd Anderson, Rochelle Toplensky, Dieter Holger Organizations: U.S, LinkedIn, Wall Street, U.S . Department of Energy, Political Economy Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst, American Clean Power Association, Sustainable Business, Yale School of, Workers, Nobles, Environment, Yale, Columbia, Science, Sustainability Management, The Wall, dieter.holger Locations: U.S, Reading, Minn, Woodbine , Georgia
CNN —The destruction of the world’s rainforests ramped up last year, despite global pledges to end deforestation by 2030, according to a new report. The country’s rate of forest loss rose 15% from 2021 to 2022. Bolivia saw a record-high level of primary forest loss last year, with a 32% increase compared to 2021. It came in third behind only Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for area of primary forest loss, the report found. Despite the global increase in deforestation, there has been a sharp reduction in forest loss in Indonesia and loss levels in Malaysia have remained low, according to the report.
Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Gustavo Moreno, Jair Bolsonaro’s, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Boris Johnson, Jane Barlow, Rod Taylor, Organizations: CNN, World Resources, Watch, University of Maryland, Democratic, UN, WRI’s Locations: Switzerland, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of, Congo, Glasgow, Indonesia, Malaysia
Tree Loss Increases in Crucial Tropical Forests
  + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Manuela Andreoni | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +1 min
More than a year after countries pledged to end deforestation by 2030, the world is continuing to lose its tropical forests at a fast pace, according to a report issued on Tuesday. It is the first assessment to cover a full year since November 2021, when 145 countries pledged at a global climate summit in Glasgow to halt forest loss by the end of this decade. “We had hoped by now to see a signal in the data that we were turning the corner on forest loss,” Francis Seymour, a senior fellow at the institute’s forest program, said. “We don’t see that signal yet, and in fact we’re headed in the wrong direction.”The report, done in collaboration with the University of Maryland, documented tree loss in the tropics from deforestation, fires and other causes. Last year’s destruction resulted in 2.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions, a significant amount that is roughly equivalent to the annual fossil fuel emissions of India, a country of 1.4 billion.
Persons: , ” Francis Seymour, we’re Organizations: World Resources Institute, University of Maryland Locations: Glasgow, India
This activity seals and traps hidden underground ecosystems and their carbon-capturing capabilities. A recent estimate published by Nature found that more than 70% of the Earth’s known soil biodiversity hotspots are unprotected by current conservation schemes. The first step is to incorporate underground ecosystems into global conservation and climate schemes. We should also begin systematically mapping and monitoring underground biodiversity hotspots across the Earth. Researchers are starting to record, analyse and use soundscapes to identify underground biodiversity hotspots.
Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
  + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +17 min
In many places, poverty, powerful interests and a lack of law enforcement make habitat loss especially hard to address. Because animals there often have smaller ranges to begin with, habitat loss hits them especially hard. “That's the ultimate challenge of forest conservation globally.”Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Est. habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCARThis is the 2001 habitat of the white-headed lemur, a primate that eats fruit and flowers. Of the many targets being negotiated, the one that has gotten the most attention seeks to address habitat loss head on.
"Vulture bees" feed their larvae rotting meat instead of relying on pollen like other bees. Scientists hung raw chicken in Costa Rica and watched vulture bees fill their leg pouches and stomachs with it. Sure enough, the researchers discovered that vulture bees' guts may be more like actual vultures or hyenas than their pollen-gathering relatives. The vulture bees had lots of acid-producing bacteria like lactobacillus, probably creating a far more acidic gut than their pollen-eating cousins. They want to study what happens in the pods where the vulture bees store meat before feeding it to their larvae.
Over the years, he kept noticing something strange: a fuzzy white fungus growing on top of the zombie ant fungus. João Araújo“We realized that there were two different lineages of fungi, novel lineages of fungi, infecting one species of zombie ant fungus in Florida,” said Araújo, the study’s lead author. Checks and balancesThe fungi attacking the zombie ant fungus don’t, in turn, zombify their host, but they do feed on its tissues and appear to cause it harm. One of the new fungi, Niveomyces coronatus, causes the white coating on the zombie ant fungus. João AraújoThese new genera are the first parasites officially described as infecting the zombie ant fungus, but the researchers suspect there could be others out there.
Progress since has been patchy, with only a few countries instituting more aggressive policies on deforestation and financing. Among the new sources of financing, Germany said it would double its financing for forests to 2 billion euros ($1.97 billion) through 2025. PRIVATE CASH PILES UPPrivate companies announced $3.6 billion in extra money. Other initiatives towards meeting the 2030 forest pledge also announced incremental progress at the opening of COP27. In September, the initiative announced standards that companies should follow to trace commodities and disclose links to deforestation.
Nov 1 (Reuters) - A year ago at the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, countries, banks and business leaders announced a slew of climate plans and pledges. METHANE PLEDGETo date, 119 countries and blocs including the United States and the European Union have joined the COP26 pledge to slash methane emissions 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. And China could also give an update on its plan to begin monitoring methane emissions - a promise made under the U.S.-China agreement announced in Glasgow. The group now counts more than 550 members, including most of the world's leading banks, insurers and asset managers, with collective assets of more than $150 trillion. read more And last week, climate activists criticized GFANZ for dropping a requirement that its members sign onto a U.N. emissions reduction campaign.
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