Brazil

Drought in the Amazon: are deforestation and climate change to blame?

Posted by admin — 26 October 2005 at 8:00am - Comments

Forest fires fires account for more than 75% of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions

Deforestation

The Amazon rainforest plays a very important role in the production of water vapor across the region. Around half of the area's rainfall comes from moisture evaporating from the forest (before it penetrates into the soil) and plant transpiration. The fewer trees there are, the less water is returned to the atmosphere.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, climate change, drought, forest fires, forests

Is the Amazon running dry?

Posted by admin — 24 October 2005 at 8:00am - Comments

Canoes stranded on the Lago do Cristo Reis during one of the worst droughts ever recorded in the Amazon region

Home to the greatest variety of life on Earth, the Amazon is both the largest rainforest and the largest river basin in the world, covering over 6,000 square kilometres. In a normal year the region receives over two metres (seven feet) of rainfall. Yet since January 2005 this fabled 'land of waters' has been affected by an increasingly catastrophic drought, estimated to be the worst for 40 years.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, climate change, drought, forests

Amazon soya king receives Golden Chainsaw award

Posted by admin — 20 June 2005 at 8:00am - Comments

Brazilian TV presenters about to award the 'Golden Chainsaw' to soya king Blairo Maggi

 

Thanks to the over 30,000 international web supporters who voted in our web poll, Blairo Maggi, the world's biggest soya farmer and governor of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, was awarded the 'Golden Chainsaw Award' by Greenpeace last week.

A clear winner with over 37 per cent of the vote, Maggi came ahead of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, recently criticized for failing to stem the level of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Article tagged as: agriculture, amazon, blairo maggi, brazil, forests, golden chainsaw, soya
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