Originally posted on Exposing the Big Game:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN Updated 11:42 AM ET, Fri August 23, 2019 (CNN)While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an “international crisis,” they are hardly an accident. The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country’s so-called “beef caucus.” While this may be business as usual for Brazil’s beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror. So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as “the planet’s lungs” for producing about 20% of the world’s oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat. It’s an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country’s finance minister called for the European Union to “urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports” over the Amazon fires. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) — a figure that could rise in the coming years. Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef — the highest volume in history — generating $6.57 billion in revenue, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies. The growth of Brazil’s beef industry has been driven in…

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Originally posted on The Extinction Chronicles:
By Passant Rabie 10 hours ago Science & Astronomy  The wildfires are also harmful to ecosystems and human health, and they’re becoming more frequent. https://www.space.com/nasa-investigates-arctic-wildfires-video.html Using a combination of field and laboratory work, as well as satellite and airborne observations, NASA is launching a study of the effects of Arctic wildfires in Alaska on the surrounding habitat and people’s health, as well as how the increased frequency of these events affects climate forecasting. Wildfires in the Arctic are usually started by lightning strikes and left to burn unless they get too close to infrastructure or people, according to a statement by NASA. However, as a result, the fires tend to spread out and consume large areas of vegetation. “Fires are a natural part of the ecosystem, but what we’re seeing is an accelerated fire cycle: we are getting more frequent and severe fires and larger burned areas,” Liz Hoy, a boreal fire researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in the statement. Related: How NASA Is Using Lasers to Study Climate Change (Video) These record-setting wildfires raged across the Northwest Territories of Canada in 2014. (Image credit: Peter Griffith/NASA) Hoy also works as part of NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), a field campaign that examines the resilience of Arctic and boreal ecosystems and societies in response to changes in the environment. Wildfires in the Arctic contribute to carbon emissions created by the burning of a thick, carbon-rich layer…

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Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog:
https://youtu.be/-p3HBDfa0KE This video is about great northern loons.

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Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog:
https://youtu.be/4kSpKTHK75k This April 2019 video from the Veluwe region in the Netherlands shows a black woodpecker couple at their nest and a tawny owl.

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