More than 100 people are dead and 136 people have been reported missing in Brazil after unprecedented rainfall devastated the state of Rio Grande do Sul with flooding. The Brazilian government is warning residents that more rain is expected. Rescue efforts were suspended on Wednesday in the face of continuing precipitation and winds exceeding 50 miles (80 Kilometers) per hour. USA Today has more on the disaster.
The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem. Fishermen off the coast of Para found the boat adrift April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. Brazilian officials later said...
The storms also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a small hydro-electric power plant. Flooding from heavy rains battering Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul has killed 39 people, according to local authorities, with the death toll expected to rise as dozens remain unaccounted-for....
Ornithicheirus mesembrinus (previously Tropeognathus), was a very large pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. The body in this reconstruction is based mostly on the related Coloborhynchus.
The Congo and Amazon rainforests absorb a lot of carbon. But
"This study shows that while research on CDR [carbon dioxide removal] and its impacts has risen dramatically in recent years, the vast majority has so far focused on Europe and Asia, or on the global picture.
“The underrepresentation of #Africa and #SouthAmerica in the scientific literature is critical since these regions are considered essential for CDR deployment."
Three Places Changing Quickly to Fight Climate Change
Paris is becoming a city of bikes. Across China, people are snapping up $5,000 electric cars. On Earth Day, a look at a few bright spots for emission reductions
Seems like the IMF hasn’t so much outlived usefulness as been a cancer all along. Cancer in cancer out; the fundamental flaw are the economic models
Bill Mitchell from a few days ago
“So the reason the IMF underestimated the inflationary potential of the pandemic and now overstates the inflation threat is because the underlying mainstream macroeconomic model that they use is defective.”
If you’re from a country that’s suffered the effects of IMF austerity, like Greece, you’ve suffered the effects of mainstream economics.
Austerity scolds do so from a 100% harmful/wrong theory of economics. To tolerate them is to court economic ruin. If hyper capitalist Singapore ripped out neoliberal (the rabid mainstream) policies of privatization and deregulation as ruinous crap when they imploded, so should you.
Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study. The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in...
Brazil Supreme Court strikes down military intervention thesis in symbolic vote for democracy.
AP reports the court "unanimously voted Monday that the armed forces have no constitutional power to intervene in disputes between government branches."
Ferdinand Magellan encountered what he claimed was a race of giants during his voyage around South America. Legends of these "Patagonian Giants" made their way back to Europe and were even referenced on early maps of the New World, such as this one from 1562. #MythologyMonday
A surprise fossil found in the Amazon rainforest connects to both ancient saltwater dolphins and contemporary freshwater kin. The largest river dolphin fossil has been found — thousands of miles from its nearest living relative, reports an international group of paleontologists in Science Advances....
Brazil and France announced on Tuesday the launch of an investment program in the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon rainforest involving 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in private and public funds over the next four years, according to a joint statement.The announced was made during French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day visit...
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is running for another six-year term in this summer’s election. Since January, the government has arrested more than 30 people who have allegedly targeted Maduro and his inner circle in several conspiracies. However, AP reports, few details about the arrests have been released. https://flip.it/AyNXHK #News#WorldNews#SouthAmerica#Venezuela#Maduro
Oral history of #RapaNui (Easter Island 🗿) suggests at least one voyage to #SouthAmerica from the island during early years of its settlement - now analyses of #Obsidian blades with food traces seem to confirm this:
The Andean city of La Oroya, situated in a high-altitude valley at 3,750 meters (12,300 feet), is home to a heavy metal smelter that has poisoned residents and the environment for almost a century. In 2006, La Oroya residents sued the Peruvian government at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for allowing the company...
Over the past decade or so, researchers have found genetic evidence for contact between people in eastern Polynesia and those in coastal Peru and Colombia. Now archeologists studying the oldest settlement on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) have found physical evidence that islanders traveled to South America at least once and returned with food crops not known in Polynesia.
Brazilian authorities bury deceased migrants who drifted in African boat to the Amazon (apnews.com)
The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem. Fishermen off the coast of Para found the boat adrift April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. Brazilian officials later said...
Flooding in Brazil kills 39 people with 68 still missing and 24,000 displaced (www.abc.net.au)
The storms also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a small hydro-electric power plant. Flooding from heavy rains battering Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul has killed 39 people, according to local authorities, with the death toll expected to rise as dozens remain unaccounted-for....
Africa and South America a 'blindspot' in carbon removal research, study reveals (www.imperial.ac.uk)
A review of research on carbon dioxide removal reveals a lack of evidence on its costs, impacts and benefits in Africa and South America....
In largest ever study, Indigenous and local communities report the impacts of climate change (news.mongabay.com)
Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study. The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in...
Argentina bombshell as Milei submits request to join NATO (www.express.co.uk)
President Milei has formally put in an application to join the global military alliance.
The Suprise Discovery Of The World's Largest Prehistoric Dolphin Reveals Unlikely Link (www.discovermagazine.com)
A surprise fossil found in the Amazon rainforest connects to both ancient saltwater dolphins and contemporary freshwater kin. The largest river dolphin fossil has been found — thousands of miles from its nearest living relative, reports an international group of paleontologists in Science Advances....
Brazil, France launch $1.1 billion program to protect Amazon rainforest (japantoday.com)
Brazil and France announced on Tuesday the launch of an investment program in the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon rainforest involving 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in private and public funds over the next four years, according to a joint statement.The announced was made during French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day visit...
Rights court condemns Peru over one of world's most polluted towns (www.rfi.fr)
The Andean city of La Oroya, situated in a high-altitude valley at 3,750 meters (12,300 feet), is home to a heavy metal smelter that has poisoned residents and the environment for almost a century. In 2006, La Oroya residents sued the Peruvian government at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for allowing the company...