"Ethanol: Brazil’s Sugar-Based Biofuel Built On Labor Abuse"
"Pedro was just seven when he started work on a sugarcane farm with his father after refusing to go to school - little knowing what this small act of rebellion would cost him."
"Pedro was just seven when he started work on a sugarcane farm with his father after refusing to go to school - little knowing what this small act of rebellion would cost him."
"Scientists have found something strange has been happening among sensitive bird species in the Brazilian Amazon in recent years. Not only were the birds declining in number, but their bodies were also shrinking in size."
"Their lawsuit demands protection for the Marañón River from Lot1AB, an oilfield carved into the Amazon Rainforest with nearly 2,000 contaminated sites."
"For more than a century, a wide, low seawall has protected the country of Guyana from the depravations of the Atlantic Ocean."
Conserving crop diversity is a key to maintaining global food security, especially in the face of climate change. To understand those efforts, Portland, Ore.-based freelancer Virginia Gewin traveled to South America, supported by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists, to find out how Peruvian chefs and Amazon dwellers hope to save the rainforest by sharing native and wild foods.
After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.
"Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 9.5% in 2020 largely due to increased deforestation in the Amazon during the second year of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, said a report published on Thursday by climate change experts."
"There have been 53 oil spills in Venezuela this year through September, most of them concentrated on the Caribbean coast where massive government oil refineries operate with little environmental oversight."
A growing body of research shows the links between global warming and extreme weather. And that knowledge can help communities prepare, and assign responsibility for damages. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn lays out the science of climate attribution — for heat waves, flooding, wildfires and, ironically, crop-killing freezes — and discusses its implications for future climate change policy.
"The Paraná River, one of the main commercial waterways in South America, has reached its lowest level in nearly 80 years due to a prolonged drought in Brazil that scientists attribute to climate change. At peril is a vast ecosystem that includes potable water for 40 million people, the livelihood of fishing communities and farmers, and the navigability of a major grain export hub."
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