South America

Amazon fires are melting Andes glaciers

2 Dec 19 - Black carbon from Amazon rainforest fires is settling on Andes glaciers and making them melt faster, according to new research.

Bolsosnaro accuses DiCaprio: You're burning the Amazon

2 Dec 19 - Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro has accused actor Leonardo DiCaprio of bankrolling the deliberate incineration of the Amazon rainforest.

Amazon deforestation soars to 11-year high

20 Nov 19 - Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest this year rose to its highest in over a decade.

Casualties mount in Bolivia's battle for white gold

20 Nov 19 - The overthrow of Bolivian president Evo Morales shows how the politics of environmentalism and social justice intersect in a silvery-white metal.

Argentina changes waste rule and opens doors to plastics

4 Nov 19 - Argentina has changed its definition of waste in a move that could allow it to import millions of tonnes of plastic waste discarded in the US.

Catholic church denounces Amazon policies

1 Nov 19 - The Catholic church in the Amazon has denounced attacks on the environment and the life of indigenous people — setting out on a collision course with Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro.

JUNGLE BUNGLE: Brazil pushes Amazon to 2021 tipping point

25 Oct 19 - The destructive policies of Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro could push the Amazon rainforest to an irreversible tipping point within two years.

Sorry about that, says Ecuador, and reinstates Big Oil subsidies

18 Oct 19 - Calm has returned to the streets of Quito after Ecuador’s government agreed to reinstate fuel subsidies following 11 days of nationwide, violent protests.

Pope v president as Amazon burns

8 Oct 19 - Two of the most powerful forces in Brazil, the president and the pope, are pulling in opposite directions on an issue critical to climate change.

'CHAOS, CHAOS, CHAOS': A trip through Bolsonaro's inferno

11 Sep 19 - From afar, it resembles a tornado: an immense grey column shooting thousands of feet upwards from the forest canopy into the Amazonian skies.

Central America climate change driving people out

10 Sep 19 - Droughts and damaging storms are impacting smallholder farmers in Central America and driving higher levels of migration from the region.

BOLIVIA BURNING: It’s not just Brazil's forests that are ablaze

29 Aug 19 - While the world watches the Brazilian Amazon burn, across the border in Bolivia it’s also ablaze.

Without our help, the world's forests would not be burning

26 Aug 19 - Fuel is everywhere in rainforests, but it seems unimaginable that such humid ecosystems could ever catch fire. And without human intervention, they don’t.

Outcry goes global as Amazon forests burn

23 Aug 19 - The environment minister of Brazil, where wildfires have been sweeping the Amazon rainforest, was booed at a climate event yesterday as celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande...

Germany pulls millions in Amazon funding

13 Aug 19 - Germany will suspend $39 million in funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon forest.

We might be expecting too much of the Amazon

7 Aug 19 - The Amazon might not be sequestering as much carbon dioxide as we think, scientists say.

Rampant deforestation driven by greed for meat

5 Jul 19 - Brazil’s huge beef sector continues to threaten health of world’s largest rainforest.

Brazil leader guts environmental agencies

12 Jun 19 - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appears intent on decriminalizing Amazon deforestation, ending most fines, straitjacketing law enforcement, and gutting environmental agencies with mass firings.

Coal-dependent Chile vows to come clean by 2040

7 Jun 19 - Chile, host of the next UN climate talks, has unveiled its plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, which will require one of the fastest coal shutdowns anywhere.