Environment | WPN World People News

France said Friday that it would block efforts to reach a major trade deal between the European Union and Brazil in an escalation of tensions over fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.

Over the past days, forest fires have been ravaging the Brazilian Amazon region. The number of fire outbreaks recorded in the Amazon in 2019 is one of the largest in recent years. Between January and August 20, the number of fires has increased 145% compared to the same period in 2018.

A team of Greenpeace scientists has discovered extreme concentrations of microplastic pollution in the North Atlantic Ocean during an expedition to the Sargasso Sea, a critical nursery for baby turtles and other wildlife.

The Japanese Government and its public finance agencies JBIC, JICA, NEXI are exporting pollution to other countries by funding coal-fired power plants abroad, that emit far more toxic air pollutants than would be allowed in Japan.

On August 19, Oscar winner actor Javier Bardem was in Times Square to demand a “GLOBAL OCEAN TREATY NOW” as an electronic billboard displayed threatened marine life.

Power plants and industries burning coal and oil are responsible for two-thirds of the anthropogenic sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission hotspots tracked by NASA satellites, according to a Greenpeace India analysis. Oil refineries and metals smelters are the other major sources worldwide.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has accused nongovernmental organizations of setting forest fires a day after the government monitoring agency said the country has seen a record number of fires this year.

In reaction to the fires burning in the Brazilian Amazon, Kerry Cesareo, senior vice president, forests at World Wildlife Fund said.

In response to the CITES committee decision to reject all listing proposals to change protections for African elephants, WWF issued a statement from Paul De Ornellas, Senior Policy Advisor.

Doctors and scientists filed a brief on Aug. 15 in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is illegally excluding top experts from participating on its scientific committees, compromising the committees’ ability to ensure sound scientific decision making at the agency and putting public health and the environment at risk.