deforestation

Sustainability and Humans Rights Issues for Tokyo 2020 Olympics Construction

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An open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic authorities criticizes the Olympics for knowingly exploiting tropical forests and potentially fueling human rights abuses in the construction and implementation of the games. The groups are calling for full transparency and an end to the use of rainforest wood to construct the Tokyo Olympic facilities, including the new National Olympic Stadium.

Deforestation By “Subsistence” Farmers In Congo Driven By Money-Making Not Self-Sufficiency, Only Very Small Portion Of Population Responsible For Most Deforestation, Research Finds

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Despite some common presumptions on the matter, it seems that most deforestation occurring in the Congo Basin is the result of only a small share of locals, and those that are taking part aren’t doing so for self-sufficiency but rather to “increase their quality of life,” according to a new study from the University of

Documentary On Deforestation In Cambodia: “I Am Chut Wutty”

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In Cambodia, murder is a fitting description for the illegal logging and deforestation which has taken place in the Prey Lang forest, one of this country’s most significant unprotected landscapes. Not just murder of a forest and it remarkably rich biodiversity it provides, but murder of those trying to protect it. As reported by the

Sixth Mass Extinction Has Arrived, Confirms Stanford

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Declaring that the sixth mass extinction has arrived, Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich confirms that species are disappearing off the face of Earth faster now than at any time since the mass extinction of dinosaurs. Calling for “fast action to conserve threatened species, populations and habitat before the window of opportunity closes,” Ehrlich and his team

World Forest Problems Include Deadly Fragmentation

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  When environmentalists, farmers, and loggers speak about forests, the discussion usually revolves around the issue of deforestation, which is one of the largest contributors to climate change. As James Ayre pointed out in a recent PlanetSave article, forest cover estimates are currently a subject of hot debate because a new satellite imaging study contradicts the

Happy World Animal Day? WWF Extinction Report

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Today’s World Animal Day, celebrated across the globe since a 1931 convention of ecologists in Florence, Italy, conceived of it as a way to highlight the plight of endangered species. They chose October 4 because it’s the Catholic Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. Since then, people have used the

The Film That Environmental Organizations Don’t Want You To See

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According to the filmmakers behind this recent release, this is the film that environmental organizations don’t want you to see, in part because it reveals the truth behind the world’s most destructive industry. That industry is not what you would expect, and in a world of limited resources, it’s surprisingly not nearly as popular of

Who's The Savage? (photoon)

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Who’s the savage in this forest? The indigene, or the “forest industry”? Thanks for posting this great photoon from The Pieces Fit on your Facebook page, Moms Clean Air Force!

Wicked Fires of Climate Change Inflame The West (photo-essay)

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There are the good wildfires, and there are the bad. Unfortunately, the latter often overwhelm the beneficial ones. We’ll go on with stories from San Diego in a minute—it’s a long story of an actually short time—but here’s a word about the bright side first. Whoopi Goldberg had a thought that’s worth repeating: When you

A Special Solar Drone For Social Media

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Drones are no longer known as mere weapons of war. At least, that’s how Google, Facebook, and other online giants like Amazon appear to be thinking. Google has just acquired Titan Aerospace, a promising solar-powered drone maker, as part of its plans to globalize wireless internet. Titan’s website provides news that the company is working

Alps Study: Climate Change May Worsen Landslides

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March 22, 2014, killer landslide near Seattle (photo: Kings County Sheriff’s Office). Last Saturday’s horrific mudslide 55 miles northeast of Seattle may unfortunately herald the shape of landmass movements to come, if climate change has its way with us. A new study in the European Alps elaborates. In a draft article for Elsevier’s Science of

UN Nails Forest Risks, Strategy In Warsaw With REDD+

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At the late November meeting of UN climate delegates in Warsaw, negotiators from Canada–once a strong supporter of fast-start financing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries–and Australia, now led by a rashly conservative government, sat on their hands. Reeling from the costs of mitigation at Fukushima and a stopgap return to fossil fuels,

New Porcupine Species Discovered In Brazil

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You might not think of a porcupine living in the Brazilian rainforest, but a new-to-science species has been recently documented there. Even more surprising: they live in trees. While the discovery is exciting, it is also very sad, because these tree-dwelling porcupines are under threats due to loss of their natural habitat. They live in

Need 2 Earths by 2030 If We Don't Change, Study Finds

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  The world is living far beyond its resources according to a new report by the conservation group WWF. So much so that at current levels of consumption the earth would need to be 50 percent larger, and by projected levels of consumption in 2030, two times the size it is now. Biodiversity has declined

Tropical Vegetation Stores More Carbon

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A new study shows that tropical vegetation contains 21 percent more carbon dioxide than previous similar studies had suggested.The study produced maps of carbon storage of forest, shrub lands, and savannas in the tropics of Africa, Asia and South America. Published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the study was conducted by scientists from Woods

Land Use Activity Dramatically Affecting Amazon Basin

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Human land use of the Amazon basin has begun to change the regional water and energy cycles, says a new report, which also notes that continued interaction between deforestation, fire, and climate change have the potential to drastically alter carbon storage, rainfall patterns, and river discharge on an even larger basin-wide scale. All of these

How to Market Deforestation

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Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), the same company Greenpeace influenced Mattel to stop working with, has been destroying Indonesian rainforests to make Paseo-brand tissue products. These tissues are in many major supermarket chains and as Greenpeace points out, “Paseo products have no recycled content — they’re made of 100% virgin tree fiber. Worse, those trees

Deforestation Continues in Brazil

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A new report from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil has announced a total of 225 kilometres squared were destroyed during the month of July. The measurements were taken by DETER, the Alert System for Support and Control Deforestation which is able to analyse a region from space to determine whether any

Over 600 New Species Found in Madagascar During Past Decade

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As far as biodiversity ‘hot spots’ go, it’s hard to beat Madagascar, a medium sized island off the southeast coast of Africa. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), from 1999 to 2010 some 615 new species have been discovered on the subtropical island. That list of new species is comprised of 42 invertebrates, 61 reptiles, 69 amphibians, 17 fish, 385 plants, and 41 mammals. Biologists believe that the island nation’s quite ancient, geologic isolation from the mainland of Africa and the more recent separation from the Indian section of the crustal plate (about 80 mya) set the stage for its uniquely evolved biodiversity.

Outrage Grows Over New Brazilian Rain Forest Law

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A controversial piece of “forest reform” legislation was passed by the Brazilian senate this past Tuesday that would ostensibly give amnesty to landowners and give more autonomy to Brazilian states over setting their own conservation standards. Environmental groups largely view this as a major mistake and a give-away to ranchers and farmers.

Cerrado, Truly Precious Ecosystem, Under Threat {Take Action}

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Ever heard of the Cerrado? I can’t get on you if haven’t, since I hadn’t until a week or two ago myself. But this truly precious ecosystem is home to approximately 5% of the world’s species, and (the not good news) it has been cut in half in the last 40 years (an area greater in size than the UK, Germany, Italy and Portugal combined).

Tree Planting World Record Set in Philippines

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Over 64,000 trees were planted in 15 minutes last Thursday, setting a world record for the largest number of trees being simultaneously planted (who counted the trees, I’m not sure, but the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that everything was correct and the counting was accurate). The planting occurred in the province of Camrines

Global Warming, Environmental, and Animal News

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Here are some top global warming and environmental stories from the last day or so: Global Warming Politics Anti-Koch Rally (or Rallies) A great video on the Koch Brother Billionaire Bash protests and Uncloak Koch Rally from the other 98%: More on Schmitt We covered a couple pieces going into depth on astronaut Harrison Schmitt’s

Manmade Climate Change is Thousands of Years Old

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Manmade climate change is not only a thing of the last hundred years, according to new research from scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). The Roman Conquest, expansion of civilization in China, the Black Death, and the discovery of America, amongst other historical landmarks, have all had large impacts on the climate.

War and Plague Not as Bad for Climate as Deforestation

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You wouldn’t necessarily look to Genghis Kahn as being an environmentalist, but the facts are clear, he did a lot for increasing the storage of carbon dioxide as he and his Mongol hordes decided to head out and see what was on the other side of the wall. A new study published in the online

New Airborne Methods to Measure Deforestation and Forests

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Global Ecology’s Greg Asner has developed a new method to map and measure changes in vegetation, degradation and deforestation, and the amount of carbon stored and emitted in tropical forests. Watch the video below for a brilliant walk through of the project and the challenges being faced by those hoping to preserve tropical forests the

Full Global Warming Solution: How to Stabilize World Climate

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Yes, first of all, by stabilize we don’t mean keep it exactly the same — that is impossible. We mean not pumping it so full of CO2 that we see unprecedented warming and ‘natural’ disasters and perhaps even an unlivable climate at some point. Anyway, this post is a share of an in-depth post by

What Happened in Cancun? 10 Summaries

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I know, Cancun was another roller coaster ride in international climate change negotiation and policy and you’ve probably had a tough time getting a clear picture of what went on there and what the final results are. I’ve been delaying writing a summary piece on the important climate conference for that reason. In the meantime,

Tropical Forests Dying by 2100

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A new study suggests that by 2100 only 18% to 45% of the plants and animals that make up tropical forests will still be there. The study, led by Greg Asner at the Carnegie Institutions Department of Global Ecology, combined new deforestation and selective logging data with climate change projections to consider their combined effects

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