In a world of higher electricity demand growth, clean electricity is stepping up to the challenge. Spearheaded by exponential solar expansion, clean power is set to grow faster than demand, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil generation. 2024 both clarified and consolidated the shape of the global …
At least 185 environmental activists were killed last year, the highest annual death toll on record and close to a 60% increase on the previous year, according to a UK-based watchdog. Global Witness documented lethal attacks across 16 countries. Brazil was worst hit with 50 deaths, many of them killings …
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Three environmental activists were killed per week last year, murdered defending land rights and the environment from mining, dam projects and logging, a campaign group said on Monday. In 16 countries surveyed in a report by Global Witness, 185 activists were killed, making 2015 the …
A team led by an Indian-origin air pollution expert has found an emerging risk to the environment from wood burning stoves in pizza restaurants and charcoal in steakhouses. A recent study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, has shown emissions in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. This work was …
LONDON – Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. said it has developed a reagent that can drastically shorten the time to detect Zika virus infections, which are spreading mainly in Brazil. The reagent needs only 10 to 15 minutes to determine whether suspected carriers are infected, while the current method requires special …
Brazil's Environment Ministry fined mining company Samarco 142 million reais (28.98 million pounds) for damages to three protected areas resulting from a tailings dam burst in November, the ministry said on Friday. The ministry said in a statement the three areas on the coast of Espirito Santo state were contaminated …
Brazil's Amazon region is under threat because of the construction of 40 major dams in the Tapajós river basin, a report by Greenpeace says. The report suggests that unrestrained economic exploitation could destroy the area. Supported by the government and global engineering companies, the construction of five large dams, along …
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is a "very low risk" of Zika virus spreading globally as a result of holding the Olympics in Brazil. There is no need to move the Olympics from Rio de Janeiro, or to postpone or cancel them, WHO experts said. The WHO reaffirmed …
Construction of 40 dams in the Tapajós river basin would severely affect indigenous people and is not justifiable economically, says new report Construction of 40 major dams in the Brazilian Amazon would destroy the heart of the world’s largest rainforest, severely affect indigenous people and is not economically justifiable, says …
Bioenergy produced from crops does not threaten food supplies, researchers funded by the U.S. government, World Bank and others said in a report on Tuesday, dealing a potential blow to critics of the country's biofuels program. There is no clear relationship between biofuels and higher prices that threaten access to …
An indigenous community in southwestern Brazil faces imminent eviction from its traditional territories, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, in a case exemplifying ongoing land conflicts in South America's largest country. A small number of families from the Guarani Kaiowa Apika'y indigenous group received a judicial order late last week to …
Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA said on Monday that a 20 billion reais ($5.7 billion) civil lawsuit seeking environmental and property damages for last year's deadly Samarco mine disaster has been dismissed. The mine is operated by Samarco Mineração SA, a joint venture between Vale and the world's largest …
Hydropower reservoirs are artificial water systems and comprise a small proportion of the Earth’s continental territory. However, they play an important role in the aquatic biogeochemistry and may affect the environment negatively. Since the 90s, as a result of research on organic matter decay in manmade flooded areas, some reports …
Brazil's federal police accused on Thursday mining company Samarco, a joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Billiton, of wilful misconduct in relation to a deadly dam burst last November, saying the company had ignored clear signs the dam was at risk of collapsing. Police said Samarco had skimmed on …
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - The number of microcephaly cases in newborns in Brazil, which are linked to the Zika virus, rose from 1,489 to 1,551 or a 4.1 percent increase in the past seven days, according to weekly report released today by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Health authorities …
New hepatitis C virus (HCV) medicines have markedly improved treatment efficacy and regimen tolerability. However, their high prices have limited access, prompting wide debate about fair and affordable prices. This study systematically compared the price and affordability of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir/sofosbuvir across 30 countries to assess affordability to health systems …
Around 10 million species are still waiting to be discovered around the world - at least that's what scientists believe. Every year, on the birthday of 18th century Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who is considered as the father of modern taxonomy, the International Institute for Species Exploration releases its list …
El Nino, the warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean, is a completely natural phenomenon which is known to affect the weather in many parts of the world. The current conditions gradually emerged at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. At its peak in December …
Researchers studying babies with a Zika virus-related birth defect say they have found previously unreported eye problems possibly linked to the virus that could result in severe visual impairment. In three Brazilian infants with microcephaly, the researchers observed retinal lesions, hemorrhaging and abnormal blood vessel development not noted before in …
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects, yet the magnitude of risk remains uncertain. Investigators studying the 2013–2014 Zika outbreak in French Polynesia estimated that the risk of microcephaly due to ZIKV infection in the first trimester of pregnancy was 0.95% (95% confidence interval, 0.34 …
After years of delay, Brazil has approved the creation of a sprawling reserve that would protect a highly vulnerable tribe of isolated nomads along one of the most volatile frontier regions in the Amazon rain forest. Tribal rights activists are hailing the decision, which will set in motion the labor-intensive …
