The vital ecosystem could also flip between rainforest and Savanna-like vegetation if drought deepens, the research finds. The Amazon rainforest is approaching a tipping point which would have devastating consequences for the world’s climate system, new research shows. Up to 47 per cent of ‘the planet’s lungs’ could be threatened by rising temperatures, droughts, deforestation...
Last month, a portion of the Negro River in the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil, shrank to a depth of just 12.7 metres — its lowest level in 120 years, when measurements began. In Lake Tefé, about 500 kilometres west, more than 150 river dolphins were found dead, not because of low water levels, but...
One of the world’s largest rivers and a major tributary of the Amazon, the yawning Rio Negro is a pillar of the rainforest ecosystem that is crucial to the stability of the global climate. But vast sections of the waterway are currently dry.For weeks, an unprecedented drought has pummelled the region, reducing water levels in...
The choices and actions taken this decade will impact us all – and future generations to come. We know the solutions, and this includes dismantling the fossil fuel economy, properly governing the extraction of “transition minerals,” and preventing money flowing to businesses carrying out deforestation and other biodiversity-wrecking business activities. And we know some of...
As northern Cameroon heats up, elephants are migrating in search of food and water and increasingly finding themselves in face-to-face to humans. On 24 May, a flutter of excitement spread through the sun-scorched city of Maroua in northern Cameroon. Earlier in the day, four elephants had become separated from their herd as they migrated from...
Coffee is causing deforestation at an ‘alarming rate’ – could a beanless brew be the solution? A Seattle-based startup backed by some of the investors behind Beyond Meat is launching the world’s first beanless coffee this week. Its inventors hope to slash the environmental impact of the popular drink. The caffeinated brew uses superfoods and plant-based waste...
‘World’s money is flowing in the wrong direction’: Funding of fossil fuels eclipses climate finance. Funding for polluting industries far outstrips support for climate change mitigation, a new report shows. Top banks are funding two of the world’s most polluting industries far more aggressively than governments are funding solutions, a new report reveals. Banks including...
A recent study published in the journal Nature found that gold and mineral mining in and near rivers across the tropics is degrading waterways in 49 countries. The paper explains that river mining often involves intensive excavation, which results in deforestation and increased erosion. Much of the excavated material is released to rivers, disrupting aquatic life in ecosystems nearby and...
In early 2023, the Guardian published an article suggesting that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets are worthless. These credits are essentially a promise to protect forests and can be bought as a way to “offset” emissions elsewhere. Verra, the largest certifier of these offset credits, said the claims were “absolutely incorrect” but the story still...
An area of tropical forest the size of Switzerland was lost last year as tree losses surged, according to new research. It means that a political pledge to end deforestation made at COP26 by world leaders is well off track. Some 11 football pitches of forest were lost every minute in 2022, with Brazil dominating the...