rainforests
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Drought threatens Amazon, speeds global warming: study
PARIS — Drought is killing off trees in Brazil’s fragile Amazon rain forest and depleting the region’s carbon reservoirs — an ecological double-whammy with devastating implications, according to a study published Thursday. The Amazon’s lush vegetation in a typical year absorbs nearly two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, one of the chief culprits causing climate […]
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Biosphere still being fed to our cars, threatening rainforests
The battle between science and the profit margin is heating up. In case you missed it, the American Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Chicago a few Saturdays ago (Al Gore was one of the speakers). This is the same group that publishes the journal Science. Following is an excerpt from a blog post by Erik Stokstad titled Fill 'Er Up With Rainforest [$ub. req'd.]:
Update [2009-2-23 14:46:46 by biodiversivist]: Erik Stokstad just informed me that you don't need a subscription to read the blog. -
Biofuels may speed up, not slow global warming: study
CHICAGO — The use of crop-based biofuels could speed up rather than slow down global warming by fueling the destruction of rainforests, scientists warned Saturday. Once heralded as the answer to oil, biofuels have become increasingly controversial because of their impact on food prices and the amount of energy it takes to produce them. They […]
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Experts plead to save tropical forests in peril
U.S. experts Monday pleaded for boosted efforts to protect tropical forests, which are key to ensuring biodiversity and fighting climate change but are increasingly threatened by deforestation. “I am gravely concerned about what is happening with tropical forests,” William Laurance, a researcher with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama told AFP. “There is a […]
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Giant mob protests Brazil crackdown on illegal logging
A mob of some 3,000 people trashed a government office in Paragominas, Brazil, on Monday to protest the government’s crackdown on illegal logging. Environment Minister Carlos Minc says the riot will not deter anti-logging efforts. sources:
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Umbra on rainforest-protection gifts
Dear Umbra, This year for Christmas, I want to buy hectares of rainforest for some of my in-laws instead of the usual gift items that may end up in someone’s closet and forgotten, if not regifted. How do organizations that protect rainforests in this way operate, and how do I know a high percentage of […]
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North-South deal has states cooperating on rainforest protection
The major announcement at the first day of the Governors’ Global Climate Summit was that the states of California, Illinois and Wisconsin, along with six states in Brazil and Indonesia, have agreed create a joint program for protecting and restoring tropical forests in the interest of curbing climate change. The “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) commits […]
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Colombian vice prez chides cocaine users for rainforest destruction
Cocaine users get no love from Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon, who speechified to police officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday: “Colombia has lost more than [5 million acres] of rainforest in the last 15 years to plant coca. If you snort a gram of cocaine you are destroying [43 square feet] of […]
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No cash yet offered to save Ecuador rainforest as deadline looms
In June 2007, Ecuador offered to avoid oil development in a tract of biodiverse rainforest if other nations and green groups were able to pony up $350 million a year for a decade. Reaction to the pay-to-protect idea was positive, but a twice-bumped-back deadline is coming up in Dec. 2008, and still no funding is […]