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 …
World Sailing's chief says his efforts to get the Olympic sailing venue shifted from Rio's polluted Guanabara Bay to the cleaner and safer Buzios, a coastal resort some 160 km (100 miles) away, resulted in his being voted off the body. Peter Sowrey, who left in December, told the Associated …
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it suspects a link between the mosquito-borne Zika virus and a rare birth defect involving abnormally small heads, but so far the evidence is circumstantial. The recent outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in South America serves as a stark reminder of the health …
Tropical dams are often falsely portrayed as 'clean' emissions-free energy sources. The letter by de Faria et al (2015 Environ. Res. Lett. 10 124019) adds to evidence questioning this myth. Calculations are made for 18 dams that are planned or under construction in Brazilian Amazonia and show that emissions from …
The growing presence of Zika virus in Brazil has captured international attention in the past week, as one report after another has come in of its apparent link to birth defects in the babies of infected mothers. The news has sparked travel advisories, new guidelines for the care of pregnant …
Reduced meat consumption might not lower greenhouse gas emissions from a major beef producing region, research shows. The finding may seem incongruous, as intensive agriculture is responsible for such a large proportion of global emissions. According to research by University researchers, Scotland’s Rural College and Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, reducing …
New figures from Brazil show a further rise in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads to mothers infected with the Zika virus. There have been 3,893 cases of microcephaly since October, when the authorities first noticed a surge, up from 3,500 in last week's report. Zika is …
Recent debate about agricultural greenhouse gas emissions mitigation highlights trade-offs inherent in the way we produce and consume food, with increasing scrutiny on emissions-intensive livestock products. Although most research has focused on mitigation through improved productivity, systemic interactions resulting from reduced beef production at the regional level are still unexplored. …
Miners Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd have presented plans for recovery of the Rio Doce river after a dam burst at their iron ore venture unleashed toxic mud in November, Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said on Monday. Teixeira said the government had estimated 20 billion reais ($5 billion) …
The Brazilian government announced it will direct funds to a biomedical research center to help develop a vaccine against a virus linked to brain damage in babies. Health Minister Marcelo Castro said Friday that the goal is for the Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute to develop "in record time" a vaccine …
In May, 2015, locally acquired cases of Zika virus—an arbovirus found in Africa and Asia-Pacific and transmitted via Aedes mosquitoes—were confirmed in Brazil. The presence of Aedes mosquitoes across Latin America, coupled with suitable climatic conditions, have triggered a Zika virus epidemic in Brazil, currently estimated at 440 000–1 300 …
Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major risk factor for global disease. Assessment of the impacts of air pollution on population health and the evaluation of trends relative to other major risk factors requires regularly updated, accurate, spatially resolved exposure estimates. We combined satellite-based estimates, chemical transport model (CTM) …
Mineral residue from the rupture of two tailings dams in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in November has contaminated an area of 168 square kilometers of the Atlantic Ocean, a government agency said on Thursday. According to data from the Espirito Santo State Environmental Institute (IEMA), mud and sludge …
Rio de Janeiro launched an operation to wipe out dengue fever-carrying mosquitoes Wednesday, after an explosion of cases of the potentially deadly tropical disease hit the 2016 Olympics host city. Municipal workers deployed across the city to clean up mosquito breeding grounds and encourage residents to do the same. In …
The storms hitting southern Brazil over the past few weeks have caused 17 towns in Rio Grande do Sul state to declare a state of emergency, local authorities said Tuesday. According to the local Civil Defense services, a total of 1,564 families had to flee their homes due to floods …
RIO DE JANEIRO – The number of Brazilian babies born with abnormally small heads – a condition known as microcephaly – as a result of prenatal infection with the Zika virus rose 7 percent last week, the Health Ministry said. The number of babies born with microcephaly this year in …
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil made important progress against poverty and chronic inequality during the decade 2004-2014, but could have done even more before the onset of the current economic crisis, according to a study released Wednesday. “The intensity of changes could have been greater, particularly in the area of …
Brazil has joined Mexico and the Philippines in granting approval for use of the world’s first vaccine for dengue fever, French drug maker Sanofi Pasteur announced Monday. Brazil’s Anvisa regulatory agency authorized the use of the Dengvaxia vaccine for people between the ages of 9 and 45 living in areas …
More than 100,000 people have had to evacuate from their homes in the bordering areas of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina due to severe flooding in the wake of heavy summer rains brought on by El Niño, authorities said on Saturday. In the worse affected country, Paraguay, around 90,000 people …
Brazilian government holds the mining giants responsible for one of the nation’s worst ever environmental disasters, and is demanding $5bn A judge has frozen the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for widespread damage caused by …
The Brazilian government and responsible mining companies must do more to ensure access to safe drinking water after a dam burst at a mine in early November and polluted a major river, a United Nations official said on Tuesday. "The Government must strengthen its monitoring of both raw and treated …
