Amazon deforestation warming local Brazilian climate
The loss of forest cover in the Amazon is having a significant impact on the local climate in Brazil – and making forests more susceptible to burning, according to a new study. The 2019...
Tagged: deforestation
Amazon fires fueled by Bolsonaro
The Brazilian Amazon is experiencing its worst forest fires in over a decade. President Bolsonaro is to blame for his loosening of forest protection and encouragement of slash and burn practices, clearing land for...
Majority of wild coffee species at risk of extinction
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK have found that 60 per cent of wild coffee species – including the popular Arabica – are at risk of extinction. Current conservation measures...
World Bank pledges $200 billion for climate action
The World Bank Group is doubling its five-year investments in climate action to around 200 billion dollars. It aims to fights the causes of climate change and adapt to the consequences affecting the world’s...
#NotInMyTank fights palm oil in biodiesel
Environmental NGOs across Europe have launched a new initiative urging the European Commission to phase out palm oil in biodiesel by 1 February 2019. Sixty-nine per cent of Europeans are in favour of this....
Orangutan populations decrease despite government claims
Orangutan populations are still declining rapidly, despite claims by the Indonesian Government that things are looking up for the red apes. These are the findings of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv),...
New report unveils extent of human impact on the planet
Human activity is having a devastating impact on the world’s wildlife, forests, oceans, rivers and climate, according to WWF’s latest Living Planet Report. The findings show that the way we eat, fuel and finance...
Vegetarian diet beats local for lower climate footprint
Meat and dairy products are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from the EU diet, with the type of product we eat more important to solving climate change than eating locally. Production...
Over ninety per cent of people unaware of environmental impact of food
91 per cent of people fail to recognize that how we eat, produce and waste food is the single biggest threat to our planet, warns WWF in new research. The food system consumes natural...
Cigarettes damage the environment, not just health
The six trillion cigarettes produced every year gobble up finite resources, impacting the environment through climate change, water use and toxicity, a new study has warned. A single smoker depletes 1.4 million litres of...
Energy-efficient stoves protect mountain gorilla habitat
Deforestation is threatening the population of Virunga mountain gorillas in Rwanda with extinction. New, energy-efficient stoves, which reduce firewood consumption, can help protect their habitat. Of the 1,000 mountain gorillas worldwide, some 600 live...
Palm oil production has higher carbon cost than previously thought
Palm oil is commonly used in our society but it has a major impact on the environment. According to a new study, the carbon cost when one hectare of forest is cleared to make...
Rainforest regeneration spurs species comeback
Rainforest devastation is leading to the extinction of numerous tropical species. However, the regeneration of secondary forests urges species to make a comeback, promising new research has found. The loss of rainforests is fueling...
Legalizing marijuana is hurting the environment
A number of American states have legalized marijuana in some form or another. But while marijuana farmers can celebrate, the environment is taking a hit as cannabis cultivation replaces forests and leads to habitat...
Deforestation linked to palm oil production is making Indonesia warmer
In the past decades, large areas of forest in Sumatra, Indonesia have been replaced by cash crops like oil palm and rubber plantations. New research, published in the European Geosciences Union journal Biogeosciences, shows...
A second life for recovered wood
Most waste wood today is either used for heating or chipped to produce particle boards. The aim of the EU-funded CaReWood (Cascading Recovered Wood) project is to reuse this secondary raw material several times...
Consumption is killing our planet
One-third of the planet’s land is now severely degraded due to a doubling in the consumption of natural resources over the past 30 years, warns a new UN report. Some 15 billion trees and...
Local conservation approaches show best results
Conservation initiatives led by local and indigenous groups to protecting the Amazon rainforest can be more effective than government schemes, according to new research. The ‘Keep it local’ approach to protecting the Amazon rainforest...
Cash for carbon could ease deforestation
Paying people to conserve their trees could be a highly cost-effective way to reduce deforestation and lower carbon emissions, a new study has revealed. The study compared people who own forest in 60 villages...
Amazon rainforest triggers its own rainy season
The southern Amazon rainforest triggers its own rainy season, a new study has revealed. The phenomenon is a result of water vapour from plant leaves – and it helps explain why deforestation is linked...
