Global use of solar and wind energy continued to grow significantly in 2012. Solar power consumption increased by 58 percent, to 93 terrawatt-hours (TWh).1 Use of wind power increased in 2012 by 18.1 percent, to 521.3 TWh.2
Although hydropower remains the world’s leading renewable energy, solar and wind continue to dominate investment in new renewable capacity. They are quickly becoming the highest-profile renewable energies. And since most renewable energy policies worldwide focus on one or both of these resources, it is important to consider them together.
Global solar and wind energy capacities continued to grow even though new investments in these energy sources declined during 2012. Global investment in solar energy in 2012 was $140.4 billion, an 11 percent decline from 2011, and wind investment was down 10.1 percent, to $80.3 billion.3 (See Figure 1.) But due to lower costs for both technologies, total installed capacities grew sharply.4 (See Figure 2.)
Brazil's new Thalidomide babies
24 de julho de 2013 10h37
By Angus Crawford
BBC Newsnight
A new scientific study seen exclusively by the BBC indicates that the drug Thalidomide is still causing birth defects in Brazil today. It's been given to people suffering from leprosy to ease some of their symptoms, and some women have taken it unaware of the risks they run when pregnant.
Thalidomide was first marketed in the late 1950s as a sedative. It was given to pregnant women to help them overcome morning sickness - but it damaged babies in the womb, restricting the growth of arms and legs.
About 10,000 Thalidomide babies were born worldwide until the drug was withdrawn in the early 1960s. In most countries the Thalidomide children became Thalidomide adults, now in their 50s, and there were no more Thalidomide babies.
But in Brazil the drug was re-licensed in 1965 as a treatment for skin lesions, one of the complications of leprosy.
Alan's family asked that he not be identified
Leprosy is more prevalent in Brazil than in any other country except India. More than 30,000 new cases are diagnosed each year - and millions of Thalidomide pills are distributed.
Researchers now say 100 Brazilian children have injuries exactly like those caused by Thalidomide.
"A tragedy is occurring in Brazil... it is a syndrome which is completely avoidable," says Dr Lavinia Schuler-Faccini, a professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.
But campaigners, doctors and leprosy sufferers say the drug is vital. They believe the benefits outweigh the risks.
Schuler-Faccini and other researchers from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre looked at the birth records of 17.5 million babies born between 2005 and 2010.
"We looked at all children with limb defects and those with the characteristic defects of Thalidomide," Schuler-Faccini says.
"We compared the distribution of Thalidomide tablets… with the number of limb defects and there was a direct correlation.
"The bigger the amount of pills in each state the higher the number of limb defects."
In the same 2005-2010 period, 5.8 million Thalidomide pills were distributed across Brazil.
"We had about 100 cases in these six years similar to Thalidomide syndrome," says another of the research team, Dr Fernanda Vianna.
"We couldn't evaluate each case, we cannot say that all are cases of Thalidomide syndrome, but this type of defect is very rare."
Poor health education and widespread sharing of medicines may be to blame, she says.
[...]
An 18-year-old woman who was attacked by a shark at a beach in the northeasternBrazilian city of Recife died from the serious injuries she received, authorities said Tuesday.
Bruna Silva Gobbi died in the hospital where she had been admitted in serious condition, although before her death doctors had amputated her left leg, which was almost torn off by the shark.
“She arrived at the hospital in very serious condition, with very serious and extensive injuries and it was very difficult to stop the loss of blood,” surgeon Maria Claudia Albuquerque, the head of the medical team that tried to save Gobbi’s life, said.
The attack occurred at Boa Viagem beach, in central Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state, which is the Brazilian coastal region with the greatest presence of sharks.
According to official statistics, 59 shark attacks have been registered at Pernambuco beaches since 1992 and 23 of them occurred at Boa Viagem.
In those 59 incidents, 24 people lost their lives, including Gobbi, who lived in Sao Paulo and was in Recife for several days of vacation.
Photos of Boa Viagem beach, in Recife:
Watch the video, if you do not mind to look at strong scenes:
The beautiful Brazilian beaches plagued by shark attacks
27 September 2012
Brazil's northeast coast boasts warm waters and beautiful beaches. But the coastal waters off Recife are home to many aggressive sharks, and in the last 20 years a spate of attacks has made this one of the most dangerous places in the world to swim. Rob Sawers reports.
In the last week of August, the body of Tiago Jose de Oliveira da Silva, 18, was found in the sea just south of Recife, in north-eastern Brazil. An autopsy ruled he had been killed by sharks.
His death was the 56th shark attack in Recife in 20 years. What is so shocking about Recife's attacks is that so many of them are fatal - 21 of the 56, a death rate of about 37%. This is much higher than the worldwide shark attack fatality rate, which is currently about 16%, according to Florida State Museum of Natural History .
According to Dr Rosangela Lessa of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), and president of the state's team trying to reduce shark attacks, the blame lies with recent environmental disturbances in the region. It is also because there are lots of beachgoers - and lots of aggressive sharks - sharing the water.
Scientists believe most of these attacks are committed by two species - bull sharks and tiger sharks - but forensic evidence has only been able to confirm the species responsible in eight of these attacks.
Bull sharks are considered the be one of the most dangerous shark species, with many proven attacks against man.
There are almost two million people in Recife and surrounding areas, and there are many beaches conveniently located in and around the city. But, some 700 metres off the coast lies a deep trench running parallel to the beaches near the city.
Sharks use this trench as a migratory route and emerge from it to hunt in the shallows.
Warning swimmers of the danger of shark attacks, these signs dot the beach at Boa Viagem
It is Recife's Port Suape, though, that many see as the biggest cause of the recent attacks. Located 20km (12 miles) south of Boa Viagem Beach, where most of the attacks have occurred, the port has been the cause of much disturbance for marine life along the coast and the nearby estuaries.
Construction began in the late 1970s, but it was not until 1992 that it began to attract significant shipping traffic. Before 1992, Recife had no more shark attacks than any other beach in Brazil, but the change was immediate and dramatic.
To build the port, estuaries were dredged and long docks built, protruding out into the ocean. This is especially a problem for bull sharks, who generally stay close to land and are able to tolerate fresh water (they are regularly encountered in rivers such as the Amazon).
Much of their lifecycle is dependent on coastal estuaries and the building of Suape is thought to have disrupted breeding and hunting habits.
Polluted water
For the migratory tiger shark, the port presents a different problem. Tiger sharks often travel long distances and often follow in the wake of ships, attracted by the rubbish thrown overboard.
Port Suape's increasing ship traffic may be attracting these sharks into coastal waters, according to Dr Francisco Marcante Santana, a professor at UFRPE and president of a Recife-based Brazilian Society for Elasmobranchology Research, or SBEEL. "Sharks are actually drawn towards polluted water. They are expert hunters but they're not above scavenging through the sewage for a meal."
Only 35% of Recife's sewage is treated, and that rate drops as low as 6% in some of the city's surrounding municipalities, according to the Instituto Trata Brasil, a water and sewage monitoring group. The rest flows directly into the rivers and estuaries around the city.
The Suape Port Industrial Complex denies it is at fault. Spokeswoman Danielle Lima says the environmental impact studies that implicate the port only use circumstantial evidence. "Not one study definitively proves the link between the port and the shark attacks," she says.
Charles Heitor Barroso Pires lost both hands to a bull shark while surfing
Lifeguards on Boa Viagem receive extra training to respond to shark attacks and are equipped with a device called the SharkShield. It emits an electric pulse through the water to shock the sharks' highly sensitive electrical receptors, which they use to find prey. Lifeguard Cabo Aquino, 38, says: "If a shark really wants to attack, this won't stop him. But if he's nearby and considering attacking, he won't want to come any closer."
Boa Viagem is so dangerous that lifeguards no longer train on the beach itself. "We used to swim 40m out into the water. Now we swim laps in a pool."
Lifeguard Edmir Nicacio Lopes Junior was just steps away when a woman was attacked. "I was walking down the beach and saw her wading in about one metre (three feet) of water. In our training, we are told that at that depth people are not at risk. So I kept walking."
Seconds later, a bull shark attacked the woman, biting off her right buttock and half of her left buttock. Fortunately, the attack happened directly opposite a hospital so she was treated immediately and survived.
The next day, another person was attacked on the same beach. They also survived.
After a 1999 attack on surfer Charles Heitor Barroso Pires, the city banned surfing. The 23-year-old surfer's hands were bitten off by a bull shark on Boa Viagem. "I am lucky to be alive. If it had been a tiger shark, I would not be here to tell the story today." Mr Pires is still an avid surfer, but says he will never again enter the water on Boa Viagem.
In 2004, the state of Pernambuco formed the Committee for Monitoring Sharks Incidents (Cemit), bringing together lifeguards, university researchers, and environmental NGOs to educate the public about shark attacks and threats to endangered shark species.
Artificial reef
Cemit conducts a catch-and-release program to remove the sharks from beaches. So far it has caught 81 sharks, tagged them with tracking devices, and released them far out to sea. Its GPS data on the sharks tagged shows that after being caught, all tiger sharks have migrated to other regions.
Tiger sharks are blamed for many attacks on humans - and ply coastal waters off Recife
To get the sharks further out to sea, Cemit sank three boats on the far side of the ocean trench to create an artificial reef in 2006. This was to attract fish to congregate around the boats so sharks coming out of the trench to hunt would move away from the beach.
Cemit divers have found that the artificial reef is attracting fish and sharks. But local fisherman Birata Josue Rodrigues, 59, still only ever sees sharks closer to shore, on the coastal side of the ocean trench.
Mr Rodriguez and his son Carlos Wilson, 19, push their brightly painted jangadeiro fishing boat off Boa Viagem at dawn every morning through these shark-infested waters, but say they do not fear the sharks.
"Sharks only like surfers and tourists," they laugh. Small-scale fishing like theirs and industrial-scale shrimping are also thought to be attracting sharks into Recife's waters because of the waste thrown overboard.
Many hoped Recife's shark problem would simply go away. But last month's death showed that it will not be that easy. Dr Lessa says: "Now nobody thinks this problem is going to just end... the root causes remain."
The Brazilian government is now considering building another large port just north of Recife, near the town of Goiana. Whether the waters become even more dangerous to swim in remains to be seen.
The video above shows a summarized evaluation of human kind worries for feeding 2 billion more people by 2050 considering the available lands, our feeding habits and production technology.
The map below shows, in green the regions that produce food consumed more directly by humans; in orange the regions that produce the same amount of food for humans and animal feed; and in red the lands that are primarily used to produce animal feed. (Both photos, source: University of Minnesota/Institute on the Environment/Global Landscapes Initiative).
Not all arable land is used for food production for humans. Much of the arable land is used to produce animal feed.
Green: people. Red: animals.
In another blog, in Portuguese, there are comments on "eating more cereals than meat" (healthier and more sustainable). Access:
US jets 'bombed' Great Barrier Reef
21 de julho de 2013 0h56
US jets 'bombed' Great Barrier Reef
21 de julho de 2013 0h56
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral structure rich in marine life
US fighter jets dropped inert bombs on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's coast during a training exercise that went wrong, it has emerged.
The two planes jettisoned four bombs in more than 50m (165 ft) of water, away from coral, to minimise damage to the World Heritage Site, the US navy said.
The jets had intended to drop at a bombing range on a nearby island, but Tuesday's mission was aborted.
The AV-8B Harriers were low on fuel and could not land loaded, the navy added.
The emergency happened during the training exercise Talisman Saber, involving US and Australian military personnel.
The two jets had been instructed to target the bombing range on Townshend Island.
However, the mission was aborted when hazards were reported in the area.
The planes then dropped the bombs in the marine park off the coast of Queensland. None of the devices exploded.
Each bomb weighed 500lb (226kg), according to the US TV network NBC.
[Reproduced from http://www.intechopen.com/books/biomass-now-cultivation-and-utilization/towards-the-production-of-second-generation-ethanol-from-sugarcane-bagasse-in-brazil] Brazil and the United States produce ethanol mainly from sugarcane and starch from corn and other grains, respectively, but neither resource are sufficient to make a major impact on world petroleum usage. The so-called first generation (1G) biofuel industry appears unsustainable in view of the potential stress that their production places on food commodities. On the other hand, second generation (2G) biofuels produced from cheaper and abundant plant biomass residues, has been viewed as one plausible solution to this problem. Cellulose and hemicellulose fractions from lignocellulosic residues make up more than two-thirds of the typical biomass composition and their conversion into ethanol (or other chemicals) by an economical, environmental and feasible fermentation process would be possible due to the increasing power of modern biotechnology and (bio)-process engineering. [Reproduced from Globo Rural On-line] Study the production of cellulosic ethanol from start to finish is the goal of the research project led by Embrapa Agroenergy. The proposal is to develop a sustainable integrated process of production of biofuel from sugarcane and elephant grass. According to the researcher, Cristina Machado, the idea is to make this project the basis for a platform of research on cellulosic ethanol (2nd generation - 2G) at Embrapa. "Although we know how to produce cellulosic ethanol, it is still necessary to reduce production costs so that the product reaches the market, increasing the supply of biofuels in the country. In addition, the time spent in all stages of the production process is much higher than that of ethanol obtained from sugar cane juice sugar "said. The video below, from "CTC - Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira" (Sugarcane Technology Center) shows research being carried out in Brazil, on sugarcane plantation and ethanol production: http://www.ctcanavieira.com.br/video.html
Senator Kátia Abreu (President of "Confederação Nacional da Agricultura e Pecuária")
The circus was mounted. Invited press numbers decorated on the tip of the tongue, representation tested. This Wednesday (10), at the headquarters of the "CNA" (National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil), the distinguished President, Senator Katia Abreu (PSD-TO), presented to the audience their newest study.
The research points out that, if kept the average rates of establishment of "UCs" (Conservation Units) and TIs (Indigenous Lands) of "eras FHC and Lula" from 2011 to 2018 would be placed under State protection more 48.81 million hectares, which supposedly would correspond to a loss of R$ 204.6 billion (U$85 billions) in gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in eight years.
What does not take into account is that this process is not cumulative. The Rousseff Government, for example, created only three UCs, totaling just over 44 thousand hectares, the lowest number in about 20 years. A similar situation occurs in relation to the expansion of agrarian reform and the approval of indigenous lands, which have their processes stopped since the start of the current management.
In addition, there is sustainable use conservation units, which allow the production and forest management. But it seems that Kátia is unaware of this productive sector - one of the tiny agriculturalists and family farming. The CNA's study also does not take in account that creation of these units over the years helped to halt the illegal deforestation in their respective regions.
The problem in Brazil today, therefore, is not the areas intended for the production volume - 330 million hectares, according to the study itself – or protected by law – 231 million hectares, but the areas of abandoned land so inconsequential by extensive livestock or planting soybeans. What you see, then, is that in Brazil there is no lack of area, but awareness of the responsible use of the Earth. OBSERVATION of the AUTHOR of THIS BLOG: it's amazing the greed of some "ruralists"!!! They do not want to take the trouble to take note of the experience of colleagues who have deployed processes that recover degraded lands and practised sustainable development. I suggest the senator Kátia just take a look at previous posts in www.ecologiaemfoco.blogspot.com (in Portuguese): 08/06/2013: Integration Crop-Livestock-Forest and 26/05/2013: Amazon: you do not need to move into the forest - Statement of a Cattleman.
More protected areas deforested in the Amazon have poor management and are in the area of influence of large infrastructure projects
Released last Saturday, "IMAZON - Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia" study analyzes the ten protected areas of the Amazon with more alerts of deforestation between August 2012 and March 2013.
What they have in common: squatters and lack of management plan (with the exception of two), in addition to the absence or failure of supervision in some of them. This makes them vulnerable to threats that face, because all of them are in the area of infrastructure improvement or expansion, which attracts immigrants and makes deforestation more attractive economically.
"In those regions it is expected that deforestation is zero or close to it, because its destination is environmental conservation and the livelihoods of traditional and indigenous populations," explains Elis Aguilar, co-author of the study. "Failure or lack of supervision and management are the main factors for the control of deforestation not on protected areas", he adds.
The numbers show this trend: the areas analysed, which passed by a more intense surveillance between 2009 and 2011 – with largest area choked and had fines to offenders - had 68% reduction in deforestation between 2009 and 2012; while the protected areas which were little or not audited, showed an increase of 149% in deforestation during the same period.
[...]
"The Government creates mechanisms to speed up the works, such as the "PAC - Plano de Aceleração do Crescimento" (Growth Acceleration Plan) but not accelerate the impacts mitigation plans", criticizes Paulo Barreto, one of the authors of the work.
Among the recommendations for these cases are the removal of the occupants, the immediate reinforcement in punishment of environmental crimes in the protected areas and the preparation of territorial and environmental management plans of most indigenous lands cleared.
Despite the absence of conclusive demonstration of the National Indian Foundation (Funai), the Belo Sun project, largest open-pit gold mining plant in Brazil, already have "Licença Prévia" ("Prior Licence"). ["Licença Prévia": refers to the preliminary phase of the activity plan, containing basic requirements to be met with respect to the location, installation, and operation, subject to applicable state or federal plans of land use]
Leonardo Amorim, ISA's lawyer ["ISA=Instituto Socioambiental"] says about the project: "The indigenous question is especially important, because the impacts on the Indians were completely ignored in the original EIA (Environmental Imapact Assessment), which makes incomplete data about the negative impacts presented in previous hearings."
The Belo Sun Company Mineração Ltda. is a Brazilian subsidiary of Beautiful Canadian Sun Mining Corp. Forbes Manhattan Group Inc. The company has authorization from the National Department of Mineral production ("DNPM") to mining research in the area of the Volta Grande do Xingu and waiting for the issuance of environmental permit - Prior Licence ("Licença Prévia") by "Sema" ("Secretaria do Meio Ambiente") for deployment of the largest mining and processing project of gold in the country.
The Mining Company submitted their studies with the intention of installing the project approximately 10 km away from the main dam Belo Monte and to 9.5 km of the indigenous land ("TI" = "Terra Indígena") Paquiçamba. In 11 years of operation, the project of the Belo Sun must extract 37.80 million tons of ore.
Legends on the map:
Altamira: it was until recently, the largest municipality in the world (approximately 160 thousand square km), with more than 100 thousand inhabitants, situated in the state of Pará.
"Área de influência direta da UHE" = Direct area of influence of HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER STATION
"Barragem principal da UHE" = Main dam hydro-electric power station
The UN’s Mercury Treaty Favors Corporate Wealth Over Children’s Health
Gary Null and Richard Gale
Progressive Radio Network, January 30, 2013
After almost four years of demanding negotiations, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) announced that 140 nations reached agreement to begin ratifying the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The Convention will be an international binding treaty to reduce and eventually eliminate mercury compounds altogether from polluting industries, such as gold mining and fossil fuel plants, and many common household products.
Overall the treaty is an admirable triumph. In many developing countries, mercury pollution is destroying the environment and causing rampant human illness. However fervent applause should be withheld. One powerful alliance that portends to champion itself as the protector human health—the vaccine industrial complex—is resolved to assure that mercurial exposure continue through aggressive vaccination programs. To the delight all those corralled in the amphitheater of vaccine magic and wonder—the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the US CDC and FDA, the World Health Organization (WHO)—the treaty will exempt thimerosal (ethylmercury) containing vaccines (TCVs). So while sources of mercury pollution will lessen dramatically, hundreds of millions of child-bearing women, newborns and small children will be increasingly poisoned by TCVs.
The absurdity of this scenario should be evident. On the one hand, the international community agrees that mercury is highly toxic and levels must be phased out from mining operations, coal powered plants, cement production, thermometers and light bulbs and other every day products. On the other hand, a powerful group of individuals, health organizations and government agencies, lobbying on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, has won a victory because they believe it would be too costly for drug companies and international health agencies if mercury were banned from vaccines. In their upside down world, the cost benefits of thimerosal weigh heavier in the corporate scales than the health threats from mercurial toxicity.
Thimerosal has been proven scientifically to be a human carcinogen, a mutagen (abnormally affects DNA), a teratogen (induces abnormal prenatal development), a reproductive toxin, and an immune system disruptor. It is associated with abnormal neurological development and brain injury. If this were not so, Eli Lily, the leading manufacturer of thimerosal, would not be required to print on thimerosal‘s Material Safety Data Sheet: “Exposure to mercury in utero and in children may cause mild to severe mental retardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment.”
The whole text on this problem can be read by accessing:
http://prn.fm/2013/01/30/gary-null-the-uns-mercury-treaty-favors-corporate-wealth-over-childrens-health/#axzz2QqEbhHs7 There it is an interview with Dr Jose Dorea who is a full professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Brasilia in Brazil, one of Latin America’s largest educational institutes for medical training and research. He is an expert on the metabolism of neurotoxic metals, specifically aluminum, lead and mercury, during pregnancy, lactation and throughout childhood. He has also been an international voice in the fight to remove thimerosal from vaccines in developing countries.
With this title www.amazon.org.br emphasize the increase of deforestation in the Amazon in May 2013.
The partnership with the "rural bench" [Congressmen who defended the new Brazilian Forest Code, known nationally as "ruralists"] starts to pass a bitter invoice to the Government Dilma: deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, which took so long to start to be controlled, shows so evident signs of increase that even the Government cannot manage to hide!!! In press conference this morning [5th July], the "Ibama" announced a trend of deforestation not reported before, in Brazil. According to the "Deter" (real-time deforestation detection) in May of 2013 the Amazon lost 46.5 thousand hectares (= 465 square kilometers) of forest. NB - 1 hectare = 10,000 square meters = 2,471 acres. "The numbers are of concern, but sadly predictable," says Kenzo Jucá, Greenpeace's Amazon campaign. "The Government Dilma has been conniving with deforestation. Ceded to the "ruralists" and, in the name of an old and predatory model, advances on protected areas and indigenous territories. Now the bill has come". It should be noted that, in today's Conference, only the "Ibama" was present, while in the previous deforestation decrease or when there was slight increase, a circus with Ministers of State was mounted – today even Izabella Teixeira, Minister of the Environment, was not present. But, apparently, instead of zero deforestation in the Amazon, and show to the world at least one positive action of her Government, Dilma prefers to deliver the future of the forest and the Brazilians to those who have the chainsaw in place of hands. In August 2012 to May 2013, the country lost 233.8 thousand hectares (= 2,338 square kilometers) of forest – an increase of 35 percent compared with the same period last year. The pressure does not spare neither conservation units ("UCs") nor indigenous lands ("TIs-Terras indígenas"), which are the current target of "ruralists". In May, the "Deter" reported 54 thousand hectares (= 540 square kilometers) of denuded forests in Ucs and 8.9 thousand hectares (= 89 square kilometers) in Tis. The deforestation champion States in May were Mato Grosso, with 27.7 thousand hectares = 277 square kilometers), followed by Pará (13.4 thousand hectares = 134 square kilometers), Amazonas (3.3 thousand hectares = 33 square kilometers), Tocantins (900 hectares) (770), Rondônia and Maranhão (440 hectares). Ibama applied R$ 1.7 billion [U$653,846,153] in fines for the period August to May of this year and placed embargo on 236 thousand hectares (= 2,360 square kilometers) of areas with illegal deforestation.
"Mutum-do-nordeste" or "Mutum-de-Alagoas" (Alagoas curassow), Pauxi mitu
The story of the occupation of Northeastern Atlantic forest, especially in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas, begins in its colonization in the 16th century and extends to the present day.
The practice of deforestation to make way for plantations of sugar cane is old in the region, being the contemporary of the hunting of big wild animals.
From the Decade of 70, a new cycle of deforestation - until then - stagnant arises, this time more intense and fast, encouraged by the advent of the "Proálcool" program [ethanol program]: board forest fragments and the adjacent plateau were decimated, eliminating huge portions of the forest over the heads of the Brazilian Forest Code and without any intervention of government agencies responsible for the protection of natural resources.
Many species were affected, among them, the Alagoas curassow (Pauxi mitu). Appreciated as part of the hunt, was wiped out along with the forest where it lived. Today is extinct in the wild.
Today, the chance to avoid the definitive extinction is through captive breeding and reintroduction in the wild, in protected areas. In this sense, the species is also the focus of a National Action Plan for Conservation, led by ICMBio ("Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade").
The sad history of the Alagoas curassow is one of the first cases of extinction of a species in Brazil because of human intervention and reflection of lack of commitment that the environmental agencies and society in general, had with the last remnants of the forest in the States of Alagoas and Pernambuco, where there are less than 2 % of native vegetation cover.
Haitians in Rondônia attracted by Evangelical churches, is a new reality for those poor immigrants.
A temple of the Assembly of God in Porto Velho, at least one hundred faithful sing in chorus, listen to sermons and pray together
Attracted by jobs in the Madeira river hydroelectric dams, from 2011 at least 3 thousand immigrants from the Caribbean country moved to the capital of Rondonia, according to the local government. And in the State with the highest percentage of evangelicals in the country (33.8% against the Brazilian average 22.2%), some churches catch a dispute over their "souls".
The "Assembleia de Deus" (Assembly of God) was the first in the city to erect a temple only for the group. Most of the faithful began to frequent it after moving to Porto Velho, seduced by cults in creole, the language spoken in Haiti.
Who conducts the ceremonies is the Haitian Pierrelus Pierre. Before moving to Brazil, he was pastor of the Assembly of God in the Dominican Republic. "I came to Brazil to work, but when I got here the story has changed," he tells BBC Brazil.
A few weeks after moving to Porto Velho, Pierre met the leader of the Assembly of God in the city, the pastor Joel Holden. The pastor invited him to take the preaching to their compatriots in the Church that was erected for the group.
At the same time, says the Brazilian pastor Evanildo Silva, there is a job to make them abandon the traditions of Voodoo, worship brought to Haiti by enslaved Africans. "They arrive with an African culture of candomblé, but in the Church are indoctrinated to abandon such practices.
An Assistant, fellow Brazilian, is tasked to collect the tithe. The pastor says, however, that Haitians "are struggling to make it there". "We are trying to adapt them to this our culture, contribution, not least because the Church needs to pay light, telephone, air conditioning.
Agreement signed in 2008 has not been ratified by Brazilian Congress. Use of mercury is concerned.
The lack of political agreement between Brazil and France is extending environmental impacts on the border between the two countries.
A year ago, two French militaries were shot dead by a gang involved in illegal gold mining. This was reported by a denouncing letter signed by European parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations, published last week in the newspaper Le Monde and French news agencies.
In April of that year, about 100 Brazilian miners were arrested in French Guiana. In 2010, some 1,500 foreigners in an irregular situation had been arrested.
The gold rush gained momentum with high ore prices on the international market after the financial crisis of 2008 and increased demand for jewelry in emerging countries such as India.
On 24 June, a Brazilian boatman was killed by a police officer, in the territory of French Guyana. He would be transporting clandestine products to a gold mine.
In addition to the violence, a lot of mercury flows from illegal gold mining. Extremely toxic substance to health, it is used to separate the gold from other materials, but ends up spreading in the environment, in the flesh of fish and other links of food chains.
To produce one kilogram of gold, the illegal miners come to use one kilogram of mercury. The WWF estimates that 30 tonnes of mercury are disposed in Guayana natural environment each year, including within protected areas and indigenous lands.
French Guiana [from Wikipedia] officially just Guiana, French: Guyane, is an overseas region of France on the north Atlantic coast of South America. It borders Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Its 83,534 km2(32,253 sq mi) area has a very low population density of less than 3 inhabitants per km2, with half of its 239,450 people in 2012[1] living in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital.
This is the main conclusion of a study by the National Center for research and conservation of carnivorous mammals (Cenap), the Chico Mendes Institute for biodiversity conservation (ICMBio).
Previous records already pointed out the existence of 180 animals in the area. Today, there are in the Park no more than 18.
"Genetic analysis that we made in 2010 in the population indicates that she is suffering and, if you do not have effective and quick actions, the probability of extinction is 80 years, according to mathematical models," explains Ronaldo Morato, coordinator of the Center (Cenap). "Today, there is no record in the Park of peccaries, the preferred prey of the Jaguar. Then, the risk of extinction of the Jaguar is also great", says Morato. The head of the Park, Jorge Pegoraro, says that "there are 40 men of the environmental police of Paraná, working in the area, even so, it is still only a few people. Personal lacking resources and lack structure, as truck and several posts in the municipalities, to curb crimes".
"Queixada", white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari)
Iguaçu National Park is a Brazilian conservation unit which houses the largest remnant of Atlantic forest of southern Brazil and protects a rich biodiversity.
There are many roads and small farms in the region, in the far west of Paraná, 17 km from Foz do Iguaçu's city centre and only 5 km from Foz do Iguaçu International Airport. The Park suffers from the hunting, fishing and illegal exploitation of Palm.
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