Tag: the amazon rainforest

New species are more likely to evolve in areas where few already exist

It has long been thought that new species are most likely to evolve in biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon rainforest, but a genetic analysis of birds suggests that extreme environments where few species exist help drive evolution Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2262570-new-species-are-more-likely-to-evolve-in-areas-where-few-already-exist/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Amazon River from space

Video tour – via satellite – of the Amazon River meandering through the Amazon rainforest in South America. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/amazon-river-satellite-image…

Fifth of Brazilian beef exports to EU linked to illegal deforestation

Around 20 per cent of the beef and soya the Euopean Union imports from Brazil has been linked to illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2249083-fifth-of-brazilian-beef-exports-to-eu-linked-to-illegal-deforestation/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Amazon fires quickening glacier melting in Andes

The burning rainforest releases black carbon into the atmosphere, which, according to a growing number of scientific studies, directly contributes to the melting of glaciers. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/amazon-fires-glaciers-andes-melt-even-faster…

Alphabet’s Loon Balloons Will Provide Internet To Remote Parts of the Amazon Next Year

Yesterday, Alphabet’s Loon announced that it has signed a new commercial agreement with Internet Para Todos Peru to provide mobile internet connectivity to parts of the Amazon rainforest in Peru starting in 2020. The Verge reports: Loon will use its high-altitude internet balloons to provide mobile internet from Telefonica to the selected areas. Telefonica is a part owner of Internet Para…

Forecast Suggests Rainforest Could Stop Producing Enough Rain To Sustain Itself By 2021

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Soaring deforestation coupled with the destructive policies of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, could push the Amazon rainforest dangerously to an irreversible “tipping point” within two years, a prominent economist has said. After this point the rainforest would stop producing enough rain to sustain itself and start slowly degrading into a drier…

2019’s Arctic sea ice minimum 2nd-lowest on record

Arctic sea ice likely reached its smallest extent for 2019 on September 18. At 1.6 million square miles (4.15 million square km), that minimum is now in a 3-way tie for 2nd-smallest in the satellite record. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/2019-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-2nd-lowest-video…

Amazon fires viewed from ISS

Amazon rainforest fires … the view from space. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/amazon-fires-viewed-from-iss…

Why the Amazon is burning: 4 reasons

Nearly 40,000 fires are incinerating Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Apocalyptic as this sounds, science suggests it’s not too late to save the Amazon. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/amazon-rainforest-fires-burning-4-reasons-why…