Rainforests // Current TV

Africa Rising: Carbon credits save Sierra Leone's Gola Rainforest

Turning down mining offers, Sierra Leone has set aside the Gola Rainforest as a new... more

coolplanet
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2 months ago
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14 comments

Mother Orang-utan Protects Her Baby From Gang of Bounty Hunters

NineMSN At A Glance... . Orang-utan protects baby from gang AEST 11:40, Sat Jan... more

EthicalVegan
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24 minutes ago
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2 comments

VIDEO: Rainforest Alliance "Follow the Frog"

Help support a healthier planet. During Rainforest Alliance Week and beyond, take even... more

sonalbee
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5 months ago
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US Investors want a 72,000 hectare palm oil plantation in the middle of the rainforest

Conservation groups are on a last-minute run to stop one of the world's largest... more

Ahni
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7 months ago
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2 comments

Beijing's Massive National Hotel will House a 107,000 Square Foot Indoor Rainforest

Internationally acclaimed design studio Emergent is currently planning a massive 2.3... more

lordsbassman
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8 months ago
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1 comment

Article: Increased population growth rate in the Northern Region of Brazil endangers the Amazon rainforest

According to preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the growth rate of population of... more

frankpatton
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8 months ago
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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

simplynonna
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9 months ago
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NASA satellites detect extensive drought impact on Amazon forests

Researchers at Boston University, NASA and Federal University, Vicosa, Brazil, have published a new NASA-funded study that shows widespread reductions in the greenness of forests in the vast Amazon basin in South America were caused by the record-breaking drought of 2010.

"The greenness levels of Amazonian vegetation--a measure of its health--decreased dramatically over an area more than three and one-half times the size of Texas and did not recover to normal levels, even after the drought ended in late October 2010," said Liang Xu, the study's lead author from Boston University.

The drought sensitivity of Amazon rainforests is a subject of intense study. Scientists are concerned that because computer models predict that in a changing climate with warmer temperatures and altered rainfall patterns the ensuing moisture stress could cause some of the rainforests to be replaced by grasslands or woody savannas, releasing the carbon stored in the rotting wood into the atmosphere, which could accelerate global warming. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned similar droughts could be more frequent in the Amazon region in the future.

The comprehensive study was prepared by an international team of scientists using more than a decade's worth of satellite data from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).

Analysis of these data produced detailed maps of vegetation greenness declines from the 2010 drought. The study has been accepted for publication in "Geophysical Research Letters," a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

The authors first developed maps of drought-affected areas using thresholds of below-average rainfall as a guide. Next they identified affected vegetation using two different greenness indexes as surrogates for green leaf area and physiological functioning.

The maps show the 2010 drought reduced the greenness of approximately 965,000 square miles of vegetation in the Amazon--more than four times the area affected by the last severe drought in 2005.

"The MODIS vegetation greenness data suggest a more widespread, severe and long-lasting impact to Amazonian vegetation than what can be inferred based solely on rainfall data," said Arindam Samanta, a co-lead author from Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc. in Lexington, Mass.

The severity of the 2010 drought was also seen in records of water levels in rivers across the Amazon basin. Water levels started to fall in August 2010, reaching record low levels in late October. Water levels only began to rise with the arrival of rains later that winter.

"Last year was the driest year on record based on 109 years of Rio Negro water level data at the Manaus harbor. For comparison, the lowest level during the so-called once-in-a-century drought in 2005, was only eighth lowest," said Marcos Costa, coauthor from the Federal University in Vicosa, Brazil.

cont.Researchers at Boston University, NASA and Federal University, Vicosa, Brazil, have... more

JanforGore
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11 months ago
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Indigenous Ecuadoran woman humbles US oil giant

Finally! Some Justice in the world! "by Valeria Pacheco – Wed Feb 23,... more

CarlosIsDown
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12 months ago
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1 comment

Article: How synthetic biology will bring us cheaper plastics by ruining the poorest nations on Earth.

The Sins of Syn Bio. How synthetic biology will bring us cheaper plastics by ruining... more

frankpatton
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1 year ago
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Song Of Rain

Beats mixed with ambient sounds. Birds, thunder & rain.

nanonarcagent
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1 year ago
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Cargill rolling in cash, relying on child labor

"Business is booming for the behemoth agricultural commodities trader Cargill. This week, the company announced a tripling of profits in the second quarter of its fiscal year. In the three months prior to November 30, Cargill's net earnings were a whopping $1.49 billion compared to $489 million during the same period a year ago. So why is this company still sourcing products made by forced and child labor?

Cargill's success is due in part to its ability to profit from the high food prices that are gripping the world. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank have recently warned about the threat that continued rising prices at an all-time high pose for food security globally. From Haiti to Senegal to Bangladesh, food riots have broken out in reaction to price hikes on basic food items, echoing the protests that hit many countries throughout 2008. Recently, Algeria raised the prices of staples like flour, sugar and cooking oil by an average of 30 percent, leading to protests that left three people dead, hundreds injured and close to 1,000 people in jail.

High prices for food may be devastating for millions of people around the world, but clearly companies like Cargill have little to complain about as their corporate profits accumulate. While Cargill makes more money than ever, it is shocking that the company is somehow unable to mobilize its immense resources to stop the use of forced labor and abusive child labor by its palm oil supplier. As I wrote on Change.org last month, there are numerous cases of workers being trapped and forced to work under unsafe conditions on palm oil plantations supplying for Cargill in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Almost 200 Change.org readers have already called on Cargill to stop forced and child labor in its palm oil supply chain and they are not alone. Forty five companies have signed on to a pledge organized by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) that specifically calls on Cargill to take action to responsibly source its palm oil to avoid environmental and human rights violations. RAN's campaign activities even helped convince General Mills to become a leader among major corporations in committing to responsible and sustainable palm oil production.

While Cargill rakes in profits from products harvested using exploited labor, it is often able to avoid public scrutiny since it is a privately-held company with little name recognition among consumers.

cont."Business is booming for the behemoth agricultural commodities trader Cargill.... more

JanforGore
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1 year ago
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12 comments

African Rainforest Conservancy

Efforts to conserve Tanzania's Eastern Arc rainforest - one of the most... more

africanrainforest
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1 year ago
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Chevron Toxic Waste Pit in Ecuador: Designed to Pollute

Amazon Watch's Mitch Anderson shows us how toxic waste pits built by Texaco (now... more

treewolf39
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1 year ago
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25 comments

Internet Premiere of THE FIGHT FOR WATER

I would like to invite everyone on Current to watch the Internet premiere of the... more

PROJECTAMAZONIA
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1 year ago
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Peru Indigenous Leader Declares Innocence

A Peruvian indigenous leader accused of fueling protests against foreign investment in... more

The_Global_Report
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1 year ago
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Children's Books About Rainforest Deforestation Traced Back to Rainforest Deforestation |

An increasing number of children's books—including some detailing the... more

julesrs007
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1 year ago
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Treasure Trove Of New Species To Be Featured In National Geographic (Amazing Photos)

(CNN) -- Scientists have discovered a "treasure trove of new species"... more

Kurta
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1 year ago
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10 comments

Victory for Rainforests! Nestle Agrees to Activists' Demands!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20005101-36.html

Sometimes these things might actually work: An aggressive, meant-to-shock Facebook and YouTube campaign on behalf of environmental group Greenpeace has caused food conglomerate Nestle to modify its policies regarding the use of palm oil.

IN THE PHOTO: An activist wearing an orangutan mask protesting at Nestle’s Jakarta offices. Nestle dropped Sinar Mas as a supplier amid Greenpeace accusations that the palm oil producer was contributing to deforestation. (EPA Photo)

Nestle announced early on Monday that it has partnered with The Forest Trust, a non-profit group that helps businesses develop practices that harvest forests sustainably, to tackle the social and environmental impacts of its corporate supply chain by severing ties to companies that contribute to deforestation. The first issue addressed will be its use of palm oil--the harvesting of which has been connected to the loss of rainforests and the animal species that inhabit them, as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenpeace considers this a major victory: Two months ago, the environmental group targeted Nestle's use of palm oil with a purposely unsettling video that compared eating Kit-Kat bars to snacking on the bloodied appendages of orangutans. When Nestle lobbied to have the video removed from YouTube, Greenpeace turned its force up a notch and encouraged supporters to start posting comments in protest on Nestle's Facebook fan page and to change their profile photos to modified versions of the Nestle logo (i.e. "Killer" instead of Kit-Kat"). The whole thing turned into a particularly ugly social-media mess for Nestle when the manager of the Facebook fan page started getting argumentative and rude. The commenters grew even more vocal, even after the page manager apologized.

Nestle's Monday announcement makes no mention of the digital smackdown that pressured it into making this change, but Greenpeace has been quick to highlight the role of social media as well as more traditional forms of grassroots lobbying.

"With nearly 1.5 million views of our Kit Kat advert, over 200,000 emails sent, hundreds of phone calls and countless Facebook comments, you made it clear to Nestle that it had to address the problems with the palm oil and paper products it buys," read a Monday release from Greenpeace's U.K. division. "Greenpeace campaigners have met several times with Nestle executives to discuss the problems with sourcing of palm oil and paper products. It certainly seemed like things were moving forward in these discussions. But we didn't expect Nestle to come up with such a comprehensive 'zero deforestation' policy so quickly."

Nestle says it had already set a goal to make its palm oil products 100 percent sustainable by 2015. Right now, it's at 18 percent.

So is its partnership with The Forest Trust any more than just posturing? Greenpeace is optimistic. The Forest Trust is "an independent organization we've worked with before (and) will be closely monitoring Nestle's progress," the release from Greenpeace read.http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20005101-36.html Sometimes these things might... more

captainplanet71
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1 year ago
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28 comments

Nestlé Shareholder Meeting Crashed by Pissed Off Orangutans!

This week, Nestlé's massive shareholder meeting was interrupted by some... more

captainplanet71
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1 year ago
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11 comments

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