Brazil // Current TV

Vanguard: Gang Wars in Rio - Monday 18th July, 10pm

Mariana van Zeller investigates Brazil's bold new offensive to transform Rio de... more

CurrentUK
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Agent Orange being used to clear Amazon rainforest

Agent Orange is one of the most devastating weapons of modern warfare, a chemical which killed or injured an estimated 400,000 people during the Vietnam War -- and now it's being used against the Amazon rainforest. According to officials, ranchers in Brazil have begun spraying the highly toxic herbicide over patches of forest as a covert method to illegally clear foliage, more difficult to detect that chainsaws and tractors. In recent weeks, an aerial survey detected some 440 acres of rainforest that had been sprayed with the compound -- poisoning thousands of trees and an untold number of animals, potentially for generations.

Officials from Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA were first tipped to the illegal clearing by satellite images of the forest in Amazonia; a helicopter flyover in the region later revealed thousands of trees left ash-colored and defoliated by toxic chemicals. IBAMA says that Agent Orange was likely dispersed by aircraft by a yet unidentified rancher to clear the land for pasture because it is more difficult to detect than traditional operations that require chainsaws and tractors.

Last week, in another part of the Amazon, an investigation conducted by the agency uncovered approximately four tons of the highly toxic herbal pesticides hidden in the forest awaiting dispension. If released, the chemicals could have potentially decimated some 7,500 acres of rainforest, killing all the wildlife that resides there and contaminating groundwater. In this case, the individual responsible was identified and now faces fines nearing $1.3 million.

According to a report from Folha de São Paulo, the last time such chemicals were recorded in use by deforesters was in 1999, but officials say dispensing the devastating herbicide may become more common as officials crack down on the most flagrant types of environmental crime.

"They [deforesters] have changed their strategy because, in a short time, more areas of forest can be destroyed with herbicides. Thus, they don't need to mobilize tree-cutting teams and can therefore bypass the supervision of IBAMA," says Jerfferson Lobato of IBAMA.

While Agent Orange was originally designed to clear forest coverage in combat situations, its use became a subject of controversy due to its impact on humans and wildlife. During the Vietnam War, the United States military dispersed 12 million gallons of herbicide, impacting the health of some 3 million, mostly peasant, Vietnamese citizens, and causing birth defects in around 500 thousand children. Additionally, the chemical's effect on the environment have been profound and lasting.

More at the linkAgent Orange is one of the most devastating weapons of modern warfare, a chemical... more

JanforGore
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New, Untouched Tribe Discovered in Amazon, With Amazing Video

Deep in the Amazon forest thousands of people still live in relative isolation from... more

wanderingmissy
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"Uncontacted" Amazon tribe found in Brazil

Government researchers in Brazil say they have found one of the world's last... more

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Amapô Summer 2012, Brazil

Amapô theme was about Aloha Spirit and the casual memories from trips. Carolina... more

erenas19s [removed]
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Monsanto goes to court to ban Brazil govt brochure on organics

The powerful biotechnology giant, which dominates Brazil's soya industry, has got... more

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Lino Villaventura Summer 2012, FFW Sao Paulo, Brazil

Lino Villaventura, master of textiles, brought goddesses to the runway straight from... more

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Reinaldo Lourenço Summer 2012, FFW Sao Paulo, Brazil

Reinaldo Lourenço's theme for his Summer 2012 Collection was called... more

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Samuel Cirnansck Summer 2012, FFW Sao Paulo, Brazil

Samuel Cirnansck called his latest collection "The World of Fetish". He used... more

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URGENT: for a GMO free Bolivia

A law is about to be approved in Bolivia that will mean the legalization of GM crops.... more

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12 months ago
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Brazil, after long battle approves Belo Monte Dam

I'm heartbroken. How much more devastation will be wrecked in pristine places for... more

JanforGore
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12 months ago
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Amazon defenders and environmentalists murdered

A prominent anti-logging activist was murdered along with his wife in Brazil on Tuesday, just hours before the country's Chamber of Deputies overwhelmingly voted to let farmers destroy more of the Amazon.

The 410-63 vote defangs the 75-year-old Código Florestal (Forest Code), which has long required that farmers who own a piece of the Amazon preserve 80% of the land they own and farm only on the remainder. The new bill exempts small-scale farmers from the Forest Code and opens environmentally sensitive patches of land – such as hilltops, slopes, and watersides – to cultivation. It also grants amnesty to small-scale farmers who violated the law before July, 2008.

The bill has not yet passed to the Senate, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has vowed to veto it if the amnesty provision remains, but that hasn’t stopped farmers from preemptively chopping and burning forested portions of their property, leading to a sixfold surge in deforestation, with the greatest increase coming in Mato Grosso.

Death of an Activist

Also on Tuesday, anti-logging activist José Claudio Ribeiro "Ze Claudio" da Silva was gunned down along with his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo da Silva, in rural Para inside the Praialta-Piranheira, a nature reserve where they had spent the last two decades as rubber-tappers.

Environmental Fallout

First passed in 1934 and strengthened intermittently thereafter, the Forest Code is considered one of the world’s most progressive forest policies. Supporters of the Forest Code say it has played a major role in the rapid deceleration of deforestation rates in the Amazon over the last decade.

Before surging this past year, deforestation rates had fallen dramatically in Brazil. From a ten-year high of 2.7 million hectares in 2004, the rate dropped to 0.70 million hectares by 2009.

In a letter in the July 16, 2010, issue of Science, six Brazilian scientists wrote that the new rules “will benefit sectors that depend on expanding frontiers by clear-cutting forests and savannas and will reduce mandatory restoration of native vegetation illegally cleared since 1965.”

The scientists warn that CO2 emissions “may increase substantially”, and as many as 100,000 species might be put at risk of extinction if the proposal becomes law. “Under the new Forest Act,” the scientists said, “Brazil risks suffering its worst environmental setback in half a century, with critical and irreversible consequences beyond its borders.”
cont.A prominent anti-logging activist was murdered along with his wife in Brazil on... more

JanforGore
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Slash and burn: Brazil shreds laws protecting its rainforests

Slash and burn: Brazil shreds laws protecting its rainforests - Nature, Environmen..... more

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A Perspective on Brazil's New Forest Code

A proposal to reform Brazil's forestry law, which could change how Brazil's... more

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Negro: Rio de Janeiro

Candid interviews on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first in the... more

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Drunk woman at the beach

As this video was filmed at Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro one can only assume that... more

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Barbara Elias, Brazilian It Girl & Pedro Lourenço’s Muse Lensed by Benjamin Kanarek for RG Magazine

http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/2011/05/02/barbara-elias-brazilian-it-girl-pedro-lou... more

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Pernille Moeller in VOGUE Brazil by Benjamin Kanarek, Mongolian Fashion Influences

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iij Top Ten Startup Weekend Videos

I had to work my way through an enormous number of clips to put this together, but I... more

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. Soccer / futbol Sergio Ramos DROPS Copa del Rey Trophy Ramos DEJA CAER la Copa del Rey

Click To Tweet This! http://clicktotweet.com/8IBzH David Spates shows and talks... more

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