A series of recently published data is shining a new light on patterns of deforestation in the Amazon, revealing where crops, cattle ranching and mining are encroaching on the rainforest.…
Gold was central to the colonization of the Mato Grosso state area. The state’s current capital city, Cuiabá, was founded by bandeirantes, settlers in Portuguese Brazil from São Paulo, who…
Under severe drought for decades, Brazil’s Cerrado is experiencing an ongoing water crisis. Its aquifers are losing water faster than they can replenish, rivers are running thin and those living…
In Middle Madeira, fishing became more costly and demanding, with fishers needing to spend more days and travel farther to spots to maintain decent productivity, which led many riverines to illegal activities.
Researchers say copal resin, also known as rosin or jutaicica, could be part of the communities' sustainable economy again, especially by adding value to Amazon timber products.
For decades, scientists have been warning that the world is heading toward catastrophic scenarios due to climate change. But Ailton Krenak refuses to think about an apocalypse. On the contrary,…
Scientists have uncovered a surprising find from the Amazon Basin: three new species of plants closely related to Theobroma cacao, the tree that gives us chocolate. This finding, made by…
AMAZONAS, Brazil: Two researchers wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to resist mosquitos, and high boots to block snake bites, gaze at a shattered tree. It lies on the ground garlanded…
It’s hard to imagine the history that lies behind the cacao trees grown on agroforestry farms in the Amazon today. For a long time, people believed that cacao’s origins lay…
Gold mining has been a feature of the Andean Amazon since pre-Colombian times and, along with silver, it was the cornerstone of the economy in the colonial and republican periods.…
The Amazon’s most fertile, productive forests, which are critical for supplying Brazil’s agricultural region with rainfall, are also the most vulnerable to drought, according to recent research that has mapped…
The construction is part of a series of projects to upgrade infrastructure in Belém ahead of the COP30 climate summit next year, alongside dredging Guajará Bay to make space for ocean liners to address the shortage of hotel rooms in the city.
The ongoing expansion of Brazil’s industrial farms has created a robust market for the mineral feedstocks used for the manufacture of chemical fertilisers. Historically, demand was met largely by imports,…
According to a report from Brazilian think tank the Escolhas Institute, up to 73% of all mercury used in Brazil's gold mines is of unknown origin; the country’s environmental agency states practically all mines in Brazil use illegal mercury.
This is the second in a two-part report about the reintroduction of the Spix's macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, and the uncertain future of its return. Read…
When José Rodrigues do Santos first saw the enormous canyons in Gilbués, in Brazil’s Piauí state, he didn’t imagine that he would spend the rest of his life there. He…
Researchers have found that water quality in Brazil’s Negro River, the second-largest tributary of the Amazon, remains largely excellent, the result of a sparse human presence and strong conservation measures.
This is the first in a two-part report about the reintroduction of the Spix's macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, and the uncertain future of its return. Read…
The mineral resources that characterize the High Andes of Peru are conspicuously absent north of the Huancabamba Gap, the altitudinal low point in the Andes linked to the deflection zone…
Would another Trump presidency be “game over” for the Amazon forest and global climate? At least there is still a question mark at the end of that sentence! Global warming…
In the Brazilian Amazon, low river levels and insufficient rain might lead to 2024’s dry season being worse than 2023’s historic drought.
There are a multitude of mineral ores used to produce industrial metals, which can be organized into four major groups with similar geological histories. Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) are…
“Surprises” is a term introduced to the literature in climate science by Stephen Schneider (1945-2010) to represent unexpected climatic events, usually reflecting processes that are not yet included in climate…
The bill went into effect as the use of pesticides banned long ago in the European Union exploded in the Brazilian Amazon.
A larger portion of the Amazonian region might be under protection or potentially conserved than official records indicate, according to a new study published in the journal One Earth. A…
As criminal groups combine forces with miners in Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory, officials have found it more difficult to control the spread of crime and violence that have killed hundreds…
As a child, Mário Soares ventured into a mangrove in the Guaratiba neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro for the first time. Throughout his life's journey, this place remained with him.…
Major raids to seize cattle in protected areas and to fight illegal mining on Indigenous territories are suspended during the strike.
The mineral resources of the Pan Amazon are not randomly distributed across the region but are located on landscapes with specific geological histories. There are three conspicuous macro regions: A.…
The sky around the Brazilian city of Corumbá turned a blistering orange in late June as wildfires raged in the surrounding Pantanal. Intense fires have been burning early in this…
This year, both the Pantanal and the Amazon have recorded alarming rates of burning, with the wetland breaking recent records that caused an international uproar.
Seen from the air, the BR-163 highway cutting through the city that proudly calls itself the National Agribusiness Capital reflects an abrupt socioeconomic divide — as if it were a…