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mongabay.com news - May 2008Pictures of uncontacted Indian tribe in the Amazon -- 05/30/2008A helicopter fly-over of a remote part of the Brazilian Amazon captured photos of what is believed to be one of the world's last uncontacted tribes, reports a group that works to protect indigenous peoples. Images released by London-based Survival International show an angry response from members of the tribe — warriors in red war paint took aim at the chopper with bows and arrows. The photos, taken by José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior of FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department, were released to bring attention to encroachment on indigenous lands near the border with Peru. Brazil says illegal loggers from Peru are threatening tribes deep in the Amazon rainforest. Honolulu, Los Angeles have the smallest carbon footprint among U.S. cities -- 05/30/2008 Honolulu, Los Angeles and metropolitan Portland have the smallest carbon footprint among American cities, while Cincinnati-Middletown area, Indianapolis, and Kentucky's Lexington-Fayette have the worst, according to a new report that analyzes carbon emissions from transportation and residential energy use by city dwellers. Photos of arrow-wielding uncontacted tribe in the Amazon rainforest -- 05/30/2008 A fly-over of a remote part of the Amazon rainforest spotted members of what is believed to be one of the world's last uncontacted tribes. The Amazonians reacted aggressively to the fly-over, with bow and arrows aimed at the plane, according to Survival International, a group that works to protect indigenous peoples. Greenpeace ship attacked by Turkish tuna fishermen during protest -- 05/30/2008 Members of a Turkish tuna fishing boat attacked the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise while the ship was engaged in a protest against overfishing. The incident occurred Friday in the Cypriot Channel and was reported to the Turkish Iskenderun Gulf Port Authorities. Bush Administration: global warming is real and a threat to the U.S. economy -- 05/28/2008 The Bush Administration today released a court-ordered assessment on climate. The report — titled "Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States" — says human-driven climate change will damage ecosystems and pose challenges to key sectors of the U.S. economy including agriculture and energy. Future cities will be more like ecosystems that enrich society and the environment -- 05/28/2008 As The World Science Festival continues in New York this week, specialists in vastly diverse fields across scientific disciplines are coming together to talk about ideas, problems and solutions. From Astronomy to Bioacoustics, the dialogues about challenges and opportunities are rich and inspiring. At the front of this year's festival rests the issue of sustainability and how scientists, specialists and society will address the imminent environmental and economic trials we are sure to face in a rapidly changing and uncertain world. Environmental damage costs $4.8 trillion annually -- 05/28/2008 Environmental damage and biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems costs 2.1 to 4.8 trillion dollars per year, according to a report released Thursday at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Bonn, Germany. Carbon dioxide levels at highest level in 800,000 years -- 05/28/2008 Greenhouse gases are at the highest levels in the past 800,000 years according to a study published in the journal Nature. Brazil's Amazon conservation efforts worth $100 billion -- 05/29/2008 A plan to protect large expanses of the Amazon rainforest could reduce carbon emissions by 1.1 billion tons by 2050, according to a study presented in Bonn, Germany at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. China's plastic bag ban goes into effect June 1 -- 05/29/2008 Few Chinese businesses appear to be prepared for the June 1st ban on the manufacture and free distribution of thin plastic bags, reports Scientific American. Congo pygmies use GPS to map eco-certified timber concession -- 05/29/2008 Loggers have teamed with indigenous Pygmies to establish the largest ever eco-certified logging scheme. Wildlife conservationist in Tanzania awarded prestigious prize -- 05/29/2008 A wildlife conservationist working in Tanzania has been awarded the prestigious 2008 Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation Biology. Brazil to establish huge Amazon preservation fund -- 05/29/2008 Brazil's state-run development bank announced it will establish a fund to collect international donations for Amazon preservation initiatives, reports Reuters. 40 arrested in illegal timber raid in the Brazilian Amazon -- 05/29/2008 Brazilian federal police arrested at least 40 members of an illegal logging operation in an Amazon Indian reserve in the state of Mato Grosso, reports Reuters. Roads are a major killer of amphibians, reveals study -- 05/29/2008 Frogs, toads, and salamanders worldwide are dying from mysterious causes, with possible culprits ranging from habitat loss to fungal diseases. Now, researchers at Purdue University believe they may have identified a significant and surprising contributor to global amphibian declines: traffic. In a recent study, the scientists looked at road kill along several stretches of road in northwestern Indiana and found that 93 percent of the dead animals were amphibians. Forest carbon credits could guide development in Congo -- 05/28/2008 An initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by offering carbon credits to countries that reduce deforestation may be one of the best mechanisms for promoting sustainable development in Central Africa says a remote sensing expert from the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC). Dr. Nadine Laporte, an associate scientist with WHRC who uses remote sensing to analyze land use change in Africa, says that REDD could protect forests, safeguard biodiversity, and improve rural livelihoods in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Central African nations. Climate change will cause significant disruptions to U.S. agriculture says Fed study -- 05/28/2008 Human-induced climate change will cause significant disruptions to water supplies, agriculture, and forestry in the United States in coming decades, says a federal report released Tuesday. High-tech collars to reveal the secretive behaviors of mountain lions -- 05/28/2008 A handful of mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California soon will wear high-tech collars as part of a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The collars will reveal not only how these animals range within their sprawling territories, but also how they hunt. The scientists aim to figure out ways to minimize conflicts between humans and mountain lions — also known as pumas and cougars. Biofuels expansion in Africa may impact rainforests, wetlands -- 05/28/2008 Biofuel feedstock expansion in Africa will likely come at the expense of ecologically-sensitive lands, reports a new analysis presented by Wetlands International at the Convention of Biological Diversity in Bonn. From "kampung boy" to conservation force in the rainforest of Borneo -- 05/27/2008 Waidi Sinun oversees three extraordinarily diverse conservation areas in the Malaysian rainforest, a career shaped by a love for the environment stemming from childhood memories, as well as the foundation that fostered his education. 50 years after the blast: Recovery in Bikini Atoll's coral reef -- 05/27/2008 Fifty years after atomic bombs rocked Bikini Atoll and pulverized its coral reef, the lagoon again boasts a flourishing coral community. Scientists diving in the two-kilometer-wide Bravo Crater, created in 1954 by a blast 1,000 times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, found a thriving habitat with treelike corals 30 centimeters (one foot) thick. The study shows that coral reefs can recover from profound damageÑwhen humans leave them alone. 50 species per day discovered in 2006 -- 05/27/2008 16,969 species were discovered in 2006 according to a report compiled by Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the International Plant Names Index, and Thompson Scientific. Next gen biofuels could decimate rainforests -- 05/27/2008 Next generation biofuels could decimate tropical forests says a leading ecologist from the University of Minnesota. Rat killing spree may save endangered wildlife on remote Pacific islands -- 05/26/2008 A team of scientists is on its way to remote the Phoenix Islands Protected Area to eradicate rats that are threatening populations of indigenous seabirds, reports Conservation International, an environmental group. Cocaine use is destroying the Amazon rainforest, says new campaign -- 05/26/2008 A new campaign has linked cocaine consumption in Europe and the United States to destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Colombia. 2008 hurricane forecast: storm activity will be above normal -- 05/22/2008 The U.S. government's weather agency predicts an above average Atlantic hurricane season this year. Ocean acidification worse than expected, threatens sea life -- 05/22/2008 Increasing ocean acidification along the continental shelf of North America will likely have negative impacts on marine ecosystems, including the corrosion of calcium carbonate exoskeletons in many organisms, warn researchers writing in the journal Science. Why is there soot on the snowpack? -- 05/22/2008 This fall, suitcase-sized air samplers will sprout throughout the Sierra Nevada. The air monitoring stations will be installed by researchers at the University of California, Davis, as part of a contract approved by the California Energy Commission (CEC) during its May 7 meeting. The researchers hope to learn whether the pollutants affecting the state's climate are coming from local sources or from transPacific sources like Asia, said Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) manager Guido Franco. The sensitive new devices will measure the amount of air pollution in the area and identify the makeup of the particles, Franco told the commission. Chemical detective work will then reveal their sources. Marauding kangaroos may drive extinction of earless dragons in Australia -- 05/21/2008 A plague of kangaroos overgrazing sensitive grasslands near Australia's capital city Canberra is jeopardizing habitat critical for the survival of endangered species including the golden sun moth (Synemon plana) and the grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla), one of the world's rarest lizards, according to German and Australian. Culling the kangaroos may be the only option for saving some of these grassland species from extinction. Humpback whale population is recovering -- 05/21/2008 The number of humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean has increased substantially since international and federal protections were put into place in the 1960s and 70s, according to a new study involving more than 400 whale researchers throughout the Pacific region. Global warming harming plant-eating animals in the Arctic -- 05/21/2008 Climate change is making it more difficult for plant-eating animals in highly seasonal environments like as the Arctic to locate food, according to a new study published in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. U.S. carbon dioxide emissions reach record high in 2007 -- 05/21/2008 U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.6 percent in 2007 to a new record reported the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA). Energy firm to mine oil sands in the Republic of Congo -- 05/21/2008 Eni SpA, one of Italy's largest energy companies, has signed an agreement to exploit oil sands in the Republic of Congo, reports The Wall Street Journal. Geriatric turtle sex only hope for world's rarest reptile -- 05/21/2008 With only four individuals of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle left on Earth—one in the wild and three in captivity—conservationists have launched a desperate attempt to save the species from extinction. Venezuela bans gold-mining in forest reserve, will not issue new open-pit permits -- 05/21/2008 Venezuela banned gold mining in its Imataca Forest Reserve and said it will not issue new permits for open-pit mines anywhere in the country, according to Reuters. Will consumers pay 10% premium for sustainable palm oil? -- 05/21/2008 The first shipments of certified eco-friendly palm oil will arrive in Germany during the second half of 2008 according to the head of OVID, a German edible oil industry group. Group files for ESA protection of 681 species in 12 states -- 05/21/2008 On March 19th WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit to place 681 species under the Endangered Species Act. Dr. Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife program director for the environmental group, says These 681 species represent species in only 12 states, include no subspecies, and are only the "most imperiled" of the United State's threatened species. Rosmarino estimates that in total there are 6,000-9,000 endangered species in the United States today. Mongabay.com recently caught up with Dr. Rosmarino regarding this landmark lawsuit and the reasoning for it. Defaunation, like deforestation, threatens global biodiversity -- 05/20/2008 Loss of wildlife is a subtle but growing threat to tropical forests, says a leading plant ecologist from Stanford University. Speaking in an interview with mongabay.com, Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo says that the disappearance of wildlife due to overexploitation, fragmentation, and habitat degradation is causing ecological changes in some of the world's most biodiverse tropical forests. He ranks defaunation — as he terms the ongoing biological impoverishment of forests — as one of the world's most significant global changes, on par with environmental changes like global warming, deforestation, and shifts in the nitrogen cycle. Dying of cancer, Tasmanian devils to be listed as endangered -- 05/20/2008 A deadly form of contagious face cancer has forced the Tasmanian devil on to the endangered species list. Greenpeace says carbon fund will save forests and climate -- 05/20/2008 In a report unveiled today at the UN conference on biodiversity in Bonn, Greenpeace announced support for a plan to save tropical forests through a fund for carbon and other ecosystem services. Naming rights for newly discovered 'walking frog' to be auctioned for conservation -- 05/20/2008 The Amphibian Ark, an initiative to save disappearing amphibians from extinction, will auction of the naming rights of a newly discovered 'walking frog' in Ecuador to raise money for local conservation efforts. Half of oil palm expansion in Malaysia, Indonesia occurs at expense of forests -- 05/20/2008 More than half of the oil palm expansion between 1990 and 2005 Malaysia and Indonesia occurred at expense of forests, reports a new analysis published in the journal Conservation Letters. Analyzing data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove of Princeton University found that 55-59 percent of oil palm expansion in Malaysia and at least 56 percent of that in Indonesia occurred at the expense of forests. Given that oil palm plantations are biologically impoverished relative to primary and secondary forests, the researchers recommend restricting future expansion to pre-existing cropland and degraded habitats. Frog chooses whether to lay eggs on land or in water -- 05/19/2008 Researchers in Panama have discovered a frog that can choose whether it lays its eggs on land or in water. It is the first time such "reproductive flexibility" has been found in a vertebrate. Carbon market could fund rainforest conservation, fight climate change -- 05/19/2008 A mechanism to fund forest conservation through the carbon market could significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, help preserve biodiversity, and improve rural livelihoods, says a policy expert with the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) in Massachusetts. In an interview with mongabay.com, WHRC Policy Advisor and Research Associate Tracy Johns says that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), a proposed policy mechanism for combating climate change by safeguarding forests and the carbon they store, offers great potential for protecting tropical rainforests. Global warming will produce fewer hurricanes -- 05/18/2008 Global warming will produce fewer Atlantic hurricanes, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Geoscience by a U.S. government meteorologist. Invasive Species: Toad-ally out of control -- 05/18/2008 Throughout warm, wet climates around the world lurks a camouflaged combatant seldom known beyond those who experience first hand its awesome destructive powers. It is an ingeniously crafted destroyer equipped with a host of specially developed chemical toxins, a lightening fast attack, and the ability to easily navigate across both water and land. This devious tool is not a creation of human engineering or military research and development but a product of a much more ancient and refined process: evolution. And until human intervention it was neither ecologically harmful nor an invasive pest but a well-integrated part of ecosystems throughout South and Central America. Meet Bufo marinus — the cane toad: exemplary proof of how human short-sightedness and misuse of biological control agents often leads to the catastrophic mismanagement of our natural world in the form of a large, squat, hungry toad. U.S. government bans oil development in Alaskan Arctic area -- 05/16/2008 A large swathe of Alaska will be off-limits to oil development under a decision today by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Conservationists welcomed the move. Photos of the 'Rarest of the Rare' species -- 05/16/2008 In honor of Endangered Species Day, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released a list of twelve critically endangered species, which it considers the 'rarest of the rare'. The list spreads widely throughout the animal kingdom, including insects, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Global wildlife declines 30% in 30 years -- 05/16/2008 Nearly one third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to a study released by the Zoological Society of London, WWF and the Global Footprint Network. Global ban on biofuels would lead to immediate decline in food prices -- 05/16/2008 A global moratorium on biofuels produced from food crops would result in a significant decline in the price of corn, sugar, cassava and wheat by 2010, reports the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Tropical deforestation is 'one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves' -- 05/15/2008 Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week in Vietnam, keystone speaker Dr. Norman Myers stated: "I'm going to give you my bottom-line message right now, up front, this is a super crisis that we are facing, it's an appalling crisis, it's one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves 10,000 years ago. I'm referring of course to elimination of tropical forests and of their millions of species." Prince Charles calls for rainforest protection to fight climate change -- 05/15/2008 Ending the destruction of tropical rainforests is the simplest step to helping address climate change, said Prince Charles in an interview with the BBC. Nitrogen pollution harming ecosystems and contributing to global warming -- 05/15/2008 Nitrogen pollution of the world's oceans is harming marine ecosystems and contributing to global warming, report two reviews published in the journal Science. Insect diversity in the tropics greater than previously believed -- 05/15/2008 The tropics are more biodiverse than previously believed, report researchers writing in the journal Science. Brazil will forge its own path for developing the Amazon -- 05/15/2008 The Brazilian government will use cheap loans, payments, and other benefits to encourage Amazon farmers to reduce their impact on the Amazon rainforest, under a plan unveiled last week NASA study links changes in Earth's systems to global warming -- 05/14/2008 Human-induced climate change has impacted a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost, lakes, and oceans, reports a new study led by scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS). Papua signs REDD carbon deal to generate income from rainforest protection -- 05/14/2008 The government of the Indonesian province of Papua has entered into an agreement with an Australian financial firm to establish a forestry-based carbon finance project on the island of New Guinea. Al Gore's investment firm bets that rainforest conservation will be profitable -- 05/14/2008 Al Gore's investment firm has signaled an interest in the emerging market for ecosystem services by taking an equity position in an innovative Australian financial company. New research shows wild sloths sleep less than captive sloths -- 05/14/2008 Wild sloths are considerably more active than their counterparts in captivity, reports the first electrophysiological study of sleep in a wild animal. Brazil's environmental minister resigns after losing Amazon fight -- 05/14/2008 Marina Silva, Brazil's environmental minister, resigned Tuesday after losing several key battles in her fight to rein in destruction of the Amazon rainforest. U.S. lists the polar bear as threatened, but decision won't affect emissions rules -- 05/14/2008 The U.S. Interior Department has decided to list the polar bear as a threatened species due to declining sea ice cover in the Arctic, according to the The Associated Press. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has scheduled a news conference Wednesday to announce the action. U.S. climate policy could help save rainforests -- 05/14/2008 U.S. policy measures to fight global warming could help protect disappearing rainforests, says the founding partner of an "avoided deforestation" policy group. In an interview with mongabay.com, Jeff Horowitz of the Berkeley-based Avoided Deforestation Partners argues that U.S. policy initiatives could serve as a catalyst for the emergence and growth of a carbon credits market for forest conservation. REDD or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation is a proposed policy mechanism that would compensate tropical countries for safeguarding their forests. Because deforestation accounts for around a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, efforts to reduce deforestation can help fight climate change. Forest protection also offers ancillary benefits like the preservation of ecosystem services, biodiversity, and a homeland for indigenous people. Will earthquake slow dam-building spree in China? -- 05/14/2008 Monday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan province left more than 15,000 dead, 26,000 missing, and 64,000 injured, according to state media. The quake also "seriously damaged" two hydroelectric stations in Maoxian county, leading authorities to warn that the dams could burst. More than 2,000 troops were sent to work on the Zipingku Dam, a dam said to be in "great danger" of collapse upriver from Dujiangyan, the city at the quake's epicenter. Convicted nun-killer freed in the Brazilian Amazon -- 05/14/2008 Charges against a Brazilian rancher convicted of arranging the 2005 murder of a 73-year-old American nun in the Amazon rainforest have been dismissed. After acquittal, fear of open season on activists in the Amazon rainforest -- 05/14/2008 Bishop Flavio Giovenale was crushed by the acquittal last week of a rancher accused of ordering the killing of a crusading American nun — and not just because he admired Dorothy Stang. Giovenale, who spends much of his time battling child prostitution, police corruption and drug abuse, fears the verdict means it's open season again on activists in the Amazon jungle state of Para. 46% of Brazil's energy comes from renewable sources -- 05/13/2008 Preliminary data from Brazil's energy ministry shows that bioenergy derived from sugar cane surpassed hydroelectric power as Brazil's secondary largest source of energy in 2007, reports Biopact. China to push for overseas acquisition of farmland to improve food security -- 05/13/2008 Worries over food security may drive China to seek agricultural lands abroad, according to a report from the Financial Times. Under a proposal by the Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese companies will be encouraged to acquire farmland overseas. The initiative would make foreign land acquisition by Chinese agricultural firms a central government policy. Massive deforestation of mangroves may have worsened scale of disaster in Burma -- 05/13/2008 Weeks after the devastating cyclone Nagris struck Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta on May 2nd, scientists and the media are debating the role in the scale of the disaster played by the region's deforestation of mangroves. According to recent studies, mangrove forests act as a buffer against the effect's of tropical storms like Nagris, though scientists don't yet fully understand the relationship between storm mitigation and mangroves. 2 billion trees planted in 18 months -- 05/13/2008 A campaign to plant one billion trees has planted more than 2 billion trees in just 18 months and now aims for seven billion, according to the UN Environment Programme, one of the backers of the initiative. Indonesian palm oil firms pledge to stop clearing rainforests -- 05/13/2008 Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia pledged to stop clearing forests for new plantations reports The Jakarta Post. The move is a response to growing criticism that oil palm expansion is destroying biologically-rich rainforests and contributing to global warming. Eight individuals of one of the world's rarest cats caught on film -- 05/09/2008 Recent photographs have brought hope to conservationists regarding the world's rarest large cat, the Amur leopard. They were taken in the Primorisky Region of Russia by a camera trap. Environmental news buried at New York Times and Wall Street Journal -- 05/09/2008 The Project for Excellence in Journalism has released a study examining the front pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal from December 13th through March 13th 2008. The report found that both the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times essentially buried environmental stories, as environmental news for both papers made up only 1 percent of the total front page. Book Review: State of the Wild -- 05/09/2008 State of the Wild is a textbook sized collection of essays and conservation information from the Wildlife Conservation Society. The book deals with myriad issues surrounding wildlife and ecosystem conservation, essentially exploring the current 'state of the wild' through various lenses. Americans least environmental, according to a new survey -- 05/09/2008 A survey, entitled Greendex, by National Geographic and GlobeScan has found that out of fourteen developed and developing nations, American lifestyles are the least environmentally sustainable. The Canadians and French rounded out the bottom three. On the opposite side, Brazil and India tie as the most "green" of the nations surveyed. The survey found a clear distinction between developing and developed nations' consumption of resources and energy with developing nations more sustainable than developed nations and more concerned about the environment in general. No longer a fan of Earth Day -- 05/01/2008 After April 22nd of this year, I am no longer a fan of Earth Day. It has become a strange pseudo-holiday that allows individuals, governments, corporations, and the media to focus a miniscule spotlight on our environmental crises, and then breathe a sigh of relief over the following days and weeks as they to go back to their old ineffectual ways. It is a day to stem the guilt of the sorry state of our natural—and 'civilized'—world. It is not a day where environmental education actually reaches the masses, or when people wake to the need—not the luxury—to change our ways. It is the opposite: a chance to feel good about our time's greatest crisis. Global warming to worsen ocean dead zones, hurt fisheries -- 05/01/2008 Warming oceans will worsen oxygen-deficient or hypoxic dead zones, affecting ecosystems and fisheries, warn researchers writing in the journal Science. Unilever calls for ban on rainforest destruction for palm oil -- 05/01/2008 Unilever, the world's largest consumer good company, will start using palm oil from certified sustainable sources this year and aims to have all its palm oil certified by 2015, according to a speech delivered today by CEO Patrick Cescau. High palm oil prices kill the biodiesel market for Asia -- 05/01/2008 High palm oil prices have forced investors to shelve plans for biodiesel refineries, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sustainability conference reveals a rift in the Malaysian Palm Oil Council -- 05/01/2008 Last month's sustainability conference sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) revealed a rift between some planters and the industry marketing organization. News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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