#FROM THE PLANET AMAZONIA

[fenrislorsrai]

Smithsonian’s National Zoo Presents “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” by Smithsonian's National Zoo Via Flickr: Photo Credit: Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea On exhibit for the first time in the Washington, D.C. region, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo presents “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” from May 27 through Sept. 5. Made completely of plastic debris collected from beaches, the colorful and dramatic sculptures of marine animals represent the more than 315 billion pounds of plastic in oceans today and underscore the need for wildlife conservation. Admission to the Zoo and this exhibit is free. Made possible with the support of Friends of the National Zoo, visitors are invited to get up close to view the sculptures, which range from a 12-foot-long shark and 16-foot-long parrot fish to an 8-foot-wide octopus and a 20-foot-long coral reef. Seventeen sculptures of marine life will be installed along the Zoo’s Olmsted Walk, in the Visitor’s Center and at the Amazonia exhibit. Visitors can see marine animals affected by waste—including sea lions, brown pelicans and corals—on view at the Zoo’s American Trail and Amazonia Science Gallery, respectively. “We’re excited to bring conservation science and art together to connect our visitors to the impact of trash on ocean health,” said Dennis Kelly, Zoo director. “The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is committed to saving marine species and is a pioneer in coral-reef research and conservation. While intricate and captivating, these sculptures are a powerful reminder of our personal role and responsibility in preserving global biodiversity on land and in the sea.” The ocean produces more than 50 percent of the world’s oxygen, and coral reefs nurture more than a quarter of all marine life. Using procedures similar to those used in human sperm banks, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientist Mary Hagedorn and her team are global leaders in conserving coral reefs and the ecosystems that they build. Increased greenhouse gases are warming and acidifying oceans across the planet, causing a widespread coral-reef crisis. By pioneering coral cryo-conservation and collecting and storing coral sperm from threatened reefs to produce new colonies in the lab for captive-bred and wild-colony conservation, SCBI is building a potential lifeline for species under threat from climate change, pollution and overfishing. Scientists at the Smithsonian are helping ensure a future for coral reefs and the species that count on them for survival as ocean environments change. “The National Zoo—America’s zoo—has given us a global platform to present our art to educate a world audience about how plastic pollution is posing a dangerous and perhaps catastrophic threat to the world’s oceans and sea life,” said Angela Haseltine Pozzi, lead artist and Washed Ashore executive director. Under the leadership of Pozzi, Washed Ashore Project volunteers clean beaches and process the debris into art supplies. To date, thousands of volunteers have processed an estimated 18 tons of garbage collected from more than 300 miles of coastline to create 68 sculptures. As lead artist, Pozzi orchestrates the construction of these towering, striking sculptures of marine life. Each sculpture was created using hundreds of individual pieces, from flip-flops and bottle caps to nylon rope, Styrofoam and lighters. Based in Bandon, Ore., the Washed Ashore Project is a non-profit dedicated to educating and creating awareness about marine debris and plastic pollution through art. “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” is a traveling exhibit that has been featured at different locations throughout the country. Related Programs Washed Ashore’s “Turtle Ocean” / On view beginning June 8 Sant Ocean Hall / Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History In addition to the 17 sculptures on view at the National Zoo, visitors can see “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea’s” “Turtle Ocean” in the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Ocean Hall. Created by Washed Ashore director Angela Haseltine Pozzi, “Turtle Ocean” depicts an entangled Hawksbill turtle swimming in an environment of water-bottle sea jellies and beached flip-flop anemones along with marine-debris seaweed and coral made of old buoys, crates and buckets. Hawksbill sea turtles face many threats, including mistakenly ingesting marine trash for food. All six species of sea turtles found in U.S. waters are threatened or endangered. The Sant Ocean Hall is the Museum’s largest exhibit, providing visitors with a unique introduction to the majesty of the ocean. The hall’s combination of 674 marine specimens and models, high-definition video and the newest technology allows visitors to explore the ocean’s past, present and future. For World Oceans Day programming at the Sant Ocean Hall, visit the Museum’s website. For more ocean information, visit ocean.si.edu. World Oceans Day Celebration June 11; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; National Zoo It is not just marine animals who depend upon the ocean for survival. Visitors can celebrate World Oceans Day at the Zoo with educational activities, animal demonstrations and crafts. # # #

[mattcaliber]

Guthag GoldFangs OC

Species: Ork

Gender: Female (?)

Age: Doesn't know

Faction: Golden Kilts

Location: planet Amazonia 63-XX

Bio: I'm saying this for the record. Everything I'm doing is of my own free will. As a member of the Imperium's Xenology department, I have to record everything about this strange take in the Ork's physiology. The Inquisition itself has granted me FULL control of the situation. Despite their hesitance in doing so.

My research began approximately half a year ago according to this planet's time scale. Reports of an "odd" company of Orks that were strangely friendly to the Imperium's citizens started popping up. Some fighting was had, but that is to be expected from Orks. What wasn't expected was that the Orks in question were female. Or at least have female qualities.

Their boss, Guthag GoldFangs, was in charge of the company. And after some negotiation, i.e. offer of high quality amasec, she told how they came to be. Or at least as much as I could understand from her. One of the local Rogue Traders had to help me with some translation.

In any case, it started as a rogue Imperium scientist experiment. The experiment was to somehow make Orks less aggressive to the Imperium as a whole. And if possible, make them allies against the growing threat of the forces of Chaos and tyrranids. The solution while strange, seems to have worked. For the most part anyway. Turning the Orks into females.

The Orks while having no specific gender to speak of, do have male-like qualities. And as such are rather aggressive to say the least. By altering them to lean towards their opposite, i.e. female side, the Imperium scientist theorized that this would result in them being less likely to "krump some gits" as the Orks would put it. With long lost technology far beyond my comprehension, the experiment was a success. And thus, the Golden Kilts were born.

To avoid any confusion, the Golden Kilts are still very Ork like. They love the same things as their "male" counterparts do. Fighting, eating, drinking, building mechs, and so on. However, if offered something of value such as "dakka", "teef", and "shinnies", they more opened to talks. In a sense, the Golden Kilts are akin to mercenaries. And as such, even have contracts for those who can afford them.

Something to note: the contracts have a "krumping" clause that to put it simply, break the contract and they krump ya. Simple, but straight to the point. Somewhat refreshing in my line of work.

If I were to point to one of the major clans, they are most like, it would be the Bad Moons. Especially with their ability to regenerate "teef" at a higher rate than others. However, they do have their own uniqueness to them.

For starters, they are much faster and agile than most Orks. This is especially true for their fighting style. Able to melee attack with such speed and precision, it would even make the most skilled surgeon blush with envy. Their shots are no less deadly, even hitting at such distances that the Imperium Assassinorum take notes. To the point that they have skilled bowmen able to hit a target miles away. Witnessed firsthand when one of them knocked the drink out of my hand one evening. A sign of flirting as Gulthag put it.

That leads me to another point about the Golden Kilts. Their female physiology has led them to able to produce not only the usual way that Orks reproduce, but also how other species reproduce. The old-fashioned way as my Rogue Trader colleague would put it. This has resulted in hybridization between the Orks and Imperium citizens.

One might categorize the offspring as mutants, but in truth they are more akin to subhumans. Such as ogryns, felinids, and so on. A request to categorize them as "orkin" has been submitted and approved. I for one, welcome these new members into the Holy Emperor's glorious Imperium.

Thus, I end my report for now on the Golden Kilts Orks and will continue to observe them for the Imperium Xenology department. Will continue report after visiting Gulthag's tent for something she calls "snu-snu time". No idea what that is but should make an excellent addition to my research.

End report.

[richo1915]

The Point of View gun was designed and created by the supercomputer Deep Thought before it had calculated of the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

It was a commission from the Intergalactic Consortium of Angry Housewives, who were tired of ending every argument with their husbands with the phrase "You just don't get it, do you?"

Prior to this, the Consortium had inadvertently sparked off the Great Gender War on planet Amazonia and the gun was seen as a more peaceful means to accomplish its aims.

The Consortium requested that the gun would only work on men, as they realised that the consequences could be disastrous if a man were to get ahold of it and "persuade the female population to put their feet up and forget the housework."

However, this wasn't necessary, as it was said that the gun had little effect on women, as their empathy levels were on average too high for the gun's circuitry to modify.

[satoshi-mochida]

TAITO Milestones 2 launches August 31 worldwide

Gematsu Source

TAITO arcade games collection TAITO Milestones 2 will launch for Switch on August 31 worldwide, day and date with its Japanese release, publisher ININ Games announced.

Here is an overview of the collection, via ININ Games:

About

Relive the spirit of these action-packed classics, and reignite the flame of TAITO’s nostalgic gems in this thrilling new compilation.

The second instalment of TAITO Milestones will include celebrated games like The NewZealand Story, Darius II (three Screen Arcade Version), Metal Black, Kiki KaiKai, and many more!

Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or exploring the classics for the first time, you can’t miss out on this one-of-a-kind compilation.

Get ready for a blast to the past—see the complete list of games included in TAITO Milestones 2!

Included Games

Ben Bero Beh (1984) – A fire broke out! Play as Dami-chan to extinguish the flawmes while dodging various obstacles to rescue Nao-chan! This title is jam-packed with wacky and unique characters that appear in later games– will you be able to recognize them all?

Darius II (3 Screen Arcade Version) (1989) – The mysterious, intelligent creatures, Belser, that once attacked the planet Darius have begun an attack on the solar system, and the Silver Hawk pilots must go to the rescue. Travel through the stars, across planets, and beyond in this beloved action-arcade shooter! This is the very first port of the special, 3 Screen Arcade Edition of Darius II!

Dinorex (1992) – Set in a world ruled by the Amazons, where humans and dinosaurs coexisted, this fighting game tells the story of the dino-tamers; young men who pit their tamed dinosaurs against each other in order to win the title of Dinorex, and the hand of the much sought-after Queen of Amazonia!

Gun Frontier (1990) – Set on the planet Gloria, this vertically-scrolling shooter follows the pilots of the aircraft, Desperado, as they confront the space pirates, Wild Lizard. Don’t miss out on the legendary soundtrack and the challenging, gun-themed bosses!

Kiki Kaikai (1986) – In Kiki KaiKai, precursor of the universally beloved Pocky & Rocky, you’ll play as Shinto shrine maiden Sayo-chan and fight against Yokai across the Japanese countryside to save the kidnapped seven gods of fortune!

The Legend of Kage (1985) – Taking place in Japan at the end of the Edo period, you play as the Iga Ninja Kage in his battle against Yukigusa Yoshiro and his demonic army to rescue the captured Princess Kiri. Backed with an energetic and unforgettable soundtrack, journey through forests, castle walls, and mansions in this action-adventure to save the day!

Liquid Kids (Mizubaku Adventure) (1990) – Flying in on a giant pelican, play as the young hero Hippopo’ and fight to protect the peaceful Hippo country, Woody Lake, from the evil of Fire Satan. Complete with colorful graphics, adorable characters, and loads of action, this platformer promises an enjoyable time.

Metal Black (1991) – Earth is on the verge of collapse due to invading alien forces, and this side-scrolling shooter sees you piloting the Black Fly fighter ship to take the battle to your enemies! Compete for the Newalone energy source with the invaders and defeat them with powerful laser weapons.

The NewZealand Story (1988) – Embark on an adventure to save Tiki’s lover Phee-phee, and his friends who have been kidnapped by the leopard seal. Strategize using the various balloons and weapons to complete the colorful mazes by defeating enemies and using balloons to float!

Solitary Fighter (1991) – In the early 1950s, fighters from all over the United States competed against each other for prizes, money, and the honor of being the “strongest.” Can the young fighter Bud take the No. 1 spot against all odds? In this updated version of “Violence Fight” choose from 6 playable characters instead of the original 4 and enjoy new features and gimmicks.

Watch a new trailer below.

Pre-Order Trailer

[argentinehunting]

Opportunity Of Peacock Bass Fishing In Amazon

For those who love fishing as a sport, peacock bass hunting in the Amazon is a perfect option if you are looking for something that will send shivers down your spine. To say that any other region can compare it is an understatement; actually it remains one of the most exciting places to fish around the globe where rain forest and freshwater come together while the peacock bass enjoys being there. It brings people from different parts of the planet because it is colorful and attractive with an ability to resist capture whenever caught. The following is an all-encompassing guide on how you can get started with avenging your rivals by going for peacock bass fishing in Amazonia.

Why do you need to go for peacock bass Amazon fishing?

The image of Amazon peacock bass fishing is not only about catching the fish but also the feeling of being in a very special and untouched environment. This adventure in angling finds the ideal setting in the web of rivers and flooded forests that make up the Amazon Basin. The peacock bass, native to this part of the world, gained their reputation through their bright, shining scales and spirited fights while hooked. A mix of breathtaking visuals and heart-stopping performances, peacock bass fishing is a memory maker. The peacock bass Amazon fishing is a once in a lifetime opportunity that you cannot miss.

Best locations for peacock bass fishing

Selecting the finest area to fish for peacock bass in the Amazon is of utmost importance. In Brazil, on the Amazon river and its tributaries, such as the Rio Negro and Madeira River, one can fish these beautiful fish species. These areas are known for their profuse fish presence, as well as the prospect of landing trophy-sized peacock bass. A guide would be strongly recommended since he or she can maneuver through complicated river networks, increasing your likelihood of succeeding.

Essential equipments and techniques for success

To really get the most from your peacock bass fishing Amazon experience, you need to be armed with proper working equipment and techniques. Here are a few important details to consider:

Fishing rod and reel: You will want to use a medium-heavy to heavy-action rod with a strong spinning or baitcasting reel. The peacock bass can be ultra-aggressive at times when striking a lure or bait, making it one of the most physically powerful freshwater fish in the world.

Churn baits and lures: Peacock bass is very much an aggressive predator, so with that in mind, they easily rise to most lures. Topwater lures like poppers and buzz baits really work well, especially during early morning or late afternoon. Spinnerbaits and jigs are also good for provoking strikes.

Line strength: You want a line that will be strong enough, at least a 20 to 30-pound test, to withstand rugged conditions and the strong fighting nature of the fish. It is one of the most important points.

Fishing techniques: Casting near structural elements such as fallen trees or submerged rocks, then working the lure back erratically with variable retrieves can induce predatory instincts in the peacock bass. Hold on tight for fast and very aggressive takes.

Appropriate time to go for peacock bass fishing

Success in fishing can be greatly influenced by time. According to research, the best time to fish for peacock bass in the Amazon is dry, which lasts from July to December. During this period, water levels are low, hence making fish more concentrated in one place, and as there are several types of foods they eat during this period will probably make them move towards those places where the water is deep and cool. This is usually followed by colder weather, which brings about cool temperatures suitable for angling but may not be necessary. On the other hand, peacock bass can be secured anytime throughout the year; hence, determining it may depend upon one’s own schedule and tastes.

Respect towards the ecological system

Even though catching peacock bass in the Amazon is an amazing trip, it is very important to fish responsibly for the sake of this sensitive ecosystem. Abide by the rules of the land, respect the amount captured, and if possible release back what you have caught. In doing so, you would ensure that those who come after will also be able to experience what it feels like to catch a peacock bass here.

Wrapping Up

To wrap this up, if you are looking for an adventure in both beauty and challenge, then peacock bass fishing is the place to be. This is one experience that will remain etched forever in your mind through which appreciation for the environment alongside preparation can help to make it happen. Fishermen should grab their rods, make reservations and off they go on an unforgettable angling expedition deep within the Amazon rainforest.

[studioneiro]

Yes to Yasuní by Anaya Oneiro Via Flickr: Join us by saying #YesToLife #YesToYasuni and share with your friends and family - ����This is not a drill 🚨! On August 20th, Ecuadorians have the power to push out Big Oil from one of the world’s most biodiverse places, the Yasuni forests in the Amazon. Don’t let this be another win for corporate greed and destruction. Showing solidarity with Indigenous activists in #Ecuador is solidarity with the planet! Share this post with your friends and family! We must all say #YestoYasuní! #SiAlYasuní Learn more: bit.ly/yes-yasuni Video @alianzaCeiboAmazonia @AmazonFrontlines @conaie.org @comunicacionconfeniae.redacangau @YASunidos. Directed by Martin Kingman with the collaboration of Colectivo de Jóvenes en Defensa de la Amazonia Here are three ways you can celebrate and take action on #IndigenousPeoplesDay 🌱 You Vote, They Donate: amazonwatch.org/credo Sign these petitions: amazonwatch.org/take-action 🌿Join the #YestoYasuni social storm: bit.ly/YasuniStorm

[kisu-doodles]

big women with big hair is my ninja way, so have some more carwash doodles featuring some tol extra thicc womz!!!

[youmaysurviveus]

Y'all. This is a fucking global emergency.

Some quick facts:

The Amazon rainforest is responsible for 20% of the world's oxygen. (**edit below)

It's home to numerous species of wildlife.

It is referred to as the lungs of the Earth.

And it's been burning for weeks, and no one is talking about it.

What is happening right now is an emergency that should be concerning all of us. The air we breath is at stake. This isn't exaggerating. Our lungs are destroyed as we speak and we are only just finding out.

This is our future. Are you upset about Spiderman? Same. Were you sad over Notre Dame? Same. But this is so much more important.

SPEAK UP. GET THIS KNOWN. Even if you can't do anything else, at least raise awareness to put some pressure out there on those who can do something. OUR HOME IS AT STAKE. The skies in São Paulo turned black. We are losing our most valued rainforest. WE CANNOT JUST SIT BACK.

**Edit: Many of you pointed out how the 20% oxygen phrase can be misleading (and many thanks, don't want to misinform). So, to clarify, it means that the rainforest provides us with an amount of oxygen that is then used by living organisms to survive. It is not a surplus, however; its carbon footprint is neutral because all this oxygen is used up. However, it remains essential, because, without it, we are left with less oxygen to sustain the organisms living now, which means some organisms will die. Also, without the forest, we will have fewer sources that absorb carbon dioxide, so greenhouse effects will be more pronounced. Many thanks for pointing this out.

If you want to help, I have reblogged a list of links with ways to help. Will keep it on the top of my dash for the next days.

[poemscave]

For Amazonia...

[arsenatupin]

Born from a writing prompt last year on Reddit

After boarding my ship for the new exploration program, I took the letter that my previous commander slipped me when he learned I was gonna take my first command and have some human crew with me. It seemed strange, but boarding was done, we were on the way and outside routine reports, I had nothing else to do.

„Dear Sterpiin,

Congratulations on passing the command examination and lending your first exploration vessel. I learned you were assigned to sector 235B and you had some human crew on board. Read carefully my letter as its content means survival of your crew and success of your mission.

You see, the humans had this custom when they were still exploiting minerals on their home planet. They were bringing a yellow flying pet with them underground and if it died, it means danger and the humans were running away from that place.

Now what I’m trying to say is this: if you land on a planet, all your instruments say the atmosphere is breathable and you don’t detect any dangerous wildlife, turn to your nearest human crew member and ask them what they think of this new planet you just landed. This human is your flying pet. If it tells you, that it ressembles any part of their home planet, you put a gag-order on the ship and don’t let anyone set a single step outside.

I was on one of the first explorations with humans in year 2,523 A.S. We landed on a planet full with dense vegetation and some insectoid form of life. The human said it reminded him of a place called Amazonia on his planet. After 3 cerelan hours, we had two crew members dead after being bitten by a 8-legged horror not bigger than a plate, and some small 6-legged entities invaded the ship by thousands. Those were the worst, they dilapidated our provisions, cut cables and melt several of our Xeraus friends with some acid in their buttocks. We lost 10% of the crew before running away, 25% more due to deficiency of survival systems in the following weeks and the rest barely made it home due to food rationing. When we asked the human about it, he said that they had the same kind of bio-hazard on their planet and as they used to see those all the time, he didn’t think there would have been any issue.

Remember it well, what humans consider home is a lethal environnement for most of us and our allies. They don’t mean to downplay the dangers, they just don’t see them, they are numb and quite immune themselves.

Your human crew is your flying pet for minerals adapted to space travel. If they say that the planet you landed reminds them of any place on their planet, DON’T EXPLORE!

Wishing you safe travel out there!

PS: be careful of any pet native from their home planet that they bring onboard. Some are obedient to them, but others just ignore all instructions and knock things all over the place

Sincerely yours,

Commander Fhiljan”

I put down the letter and thought pensively... I should ask a human for the name of this yellow flying pet, that could be useful.

———————————————

First time writing a prompt, advice welcomed (written on mobile sorry for formatting)

[fatehbaz]

In 2015, at the height of the arrival of 500,000 displaced people into Europe, a men’s clothing shop in Izmir, Turkey, began selling orange life jackets alongside its regular men’s wear. Izmir serves as a hub for refugees and migrants, as well as a boomtown for local business. A photograph of the shop is both striking and chilling in showing how nonchalantly the shop-window stages a false equivalence between the models on the right wearing orange life jackets and the identical models on the left wearing black business jackets. As if displaced people from the global south, desperately dressed for survival, can, with the exchange of cash like the man tucking his wallet in his pocket, pass through the open door of the unregulated free market, risk-and-security economy, be rescued from calamity, and instantly dressed for success. The shop window stages the false promise of the neoliberal, masculine, equal-opportunity market, a contemporary version of the imperial rescue narrative, choreographing global-south to global-north upliftment: “the free market that will raise all lifeboats” ethos. But the black hole of the rubber tube in the window and an orange chaos of piled up life jackets just visible at the back of the store create visual disturbances that point to a spectral violence. 

Ghosts point to places where concealed, denied or unresolved violence has taken place.

The administration of forgetting -- the calculated, administered, and often brutal amnesias by which a state or political entity tries to erase the secrets of its violence -- nonetheless leaves telltale traces as a kind of counter-evidence. Violence seldom erases what it effaces; it leaves shadows of what it tries to encrypt. [...]

The New York T!mes article that accompanies the photograph is, like neoliberalism itself, awash with obsessively watery words. Migrants are flooding. A human tide is rushing. Money is pooling. Cash is pouring. Outflows and overflows. “It’s a perfect storm,” says Demetrious Papademetriou, President of the Migration Policy Institute Europe. The watery words obscure the migrant calamity (as well as the profits garnered by [...] the overlords of austerity) as a tidal result of natural causes.

Nature becomes the alibi and accomplice of the inequities of austerity; the Great Divide separating the tiny sliver of the global mega-rich from the billions of the catastrophically poor is figured as a fiat of nature. [...]

What the article obscures is that the majority of refugees arriving in Turkey were from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria [...] that both caused, and converged with, the accelerating catastrophes of climate breakdown and mass displacements. [...]

But displacement is not merely the violent removal of people and other species from place. Displacement is also the removal of place -- the loss of place in place -- manifest in damaged ecologies like melting ice caps, felled trees and forest infernos in Amazonia, trees torched for palm oil plantations in Indonesia, bleached coral reefs, fraying wetlands, toxic rivers, and the rising oceans of this blue planet we are slowly undoing. Seeing displacement as both removal from place and removal of place invites us to consider forced mobility as the spectral double of forced immobility. Millions of the global poor and dispossessed are either forcibly on the move or incarcerated in migrant camps, border detention centers, ghost prisons, and island prisons (like Nauru, off Australia); webbed into the invisible surveillance systems of carceral modernity that now spreads its filaments around the world.

-------

 Anne McClintock. “Monster: A Fugue in Fire and Ice.” e-flux. June 2020.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s New President Vows to Save Amazon Forests

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says he’ll stop illegal destruction of rain forests allowed under former president Jair Bolsonaro. Will Brazilians support him?

Environmentalists are calling Brazil’s presidential election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, a big win for the Amazon rain forest. The ecosystem suffered record high levels of deforestation after the nation’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro took office nearly four years ago.

Brazil contains more than half of Amazonia, a region whose fate is crucial to slowing climate change. During Bolsonaro���s tenure, loggers, cattle ranchers and soy farmers cut down or burned more than two billion trees in the Brazilian Amazon, many of them illegally, according to the Brazilian environmental research groups Imazon and MapBiomas. Scientists worry that the rain forest may be approaching a tipping point beyond which much of the region would change to dry savanna. Fewer trees have also meant less rain and higher temperatures for the Amazon region, enhancing drought.

Bolsonaro rolled back legal protections for the forest and its Indigenous inhabitants, and he opened the region to dam building and agribusiness expansion. By contrast, President-Elect Lula, who served two terms as president from 2003 through 2010, said during his campaign that preserving the rain forest will be one of his top priorities. “Brazil is ready to retake its leadership in the fight against the climate crisis,” he told supporters in a victory speech in São Paulo. “Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon.”

How much can the new president accomplish after he enters office in January? Scientific American spoke with Paulo de Bessa Antunes, an environmental law professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a former federal prosecutor in Brazil. He fought the Bolsonaro administration in the courtroom and has prosecuted many environmental cases.

Bolsonaro years but said that Brazil has excellent environmental regulations and plenty of highly motivated people in its agencies who are ready to help Lula achieve his goals. Based on his faith in the law, Bessa Antunes seems genuinely optimistic about Lula’s chances for protecting Amazon forests.

Continue reading.

[thebusylilbee]

When the world's leading conservation congress kicks off Friday in the French port city of Marseille it will aim to deliver one key message: protecting wildlife must not be seen as a noble gesture but an absolute necessity -- for people and the planet. Loss of biodiversity, climate change, pollution, diseases spreading from the wild have become existential threats that cannot be "understood or addressed in isolation," the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said ahead of the meeting in a vision statement endorsed by its 1,400 members. [...]

Mass extinction

The creatures with which we share the planet are at high risk too --- from us. As the human population climbs toward nine billion by mid-century, many creatures are being crowded, eaten, snared, poisoned, poached, hawked and hunted out of existence.

Current extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times greater than the normal 'background' rate. (pic by Eric Conroy)

Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN's Red List Unit, said that if species' destruction continues on its current trajectory, "we'll be facing a major crisis soon". [...] In each of the previous mass die-offs over the last half-billion years, at least three-quarters of all species were wiped out.

The IUCN has assessed nearly 135,000 species over the last half-century for its Red List of Threatened Species, the gold standard for measuring how close animal and plant life are to vanishing forever. Nearly 28 percent are currently at risk of extinction, with habitat loss, overexploitation and illegal trade driving the loss. Big cats, for example, have lost more than 90 percent of their historic range and population, with only 20,000 lions, 7,000 cheetahs, 4,000 tigers and a few dozen Amur leopards left in the wild. [...] Invasive species are also taking a toll, especially in island ecosystems where unique species of birds have already fallen prey to rodents, snakes and disease-bearing mosquitos that hitched rides from explorers, cargo ships or passenger planes. An update of the Red List on September 4 is likely to show a deepening crisis.

Our right to exist

For the first time in the IUCN's seven-decade history, indigenous peoples will share their deep knowledge on how best to heal the natural world as voting members. (pic by Carl de Souza)

One proposal calls for a global pact to protect 80 percent of Amazonia by 2025. "We are demanding from the world our right to exist as peoples, to live with dignity in our territories," said Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, lead coordinator for COICA, which represents indigenous groups in nine Amazon-basin nations.

Recent research has warned that unbridled deforestation and climate change are pushing the Amazon towards a disastrous "regime change" which would see tropical forests give way to savannah-like landscapes. Rates of tree loss drop sharply in the forests where native peoples live, especially if they hold some degree of title -- legal or customary -- over land.

"Indigenous peoples have long stewarded and protected the world's forests, a crucial bulwark against climate change," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

An ocean of plastic pollution

Other motions offer a lifeline to ailing oceans, including one calling for an end to plastic pollution by 2030. Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals, from otters to whales.

Current global extinction risk in different species groups, according to the IUCN (pic by Erin Conroy)

And then there's the question of money, and the fact that so little of it has been earmarked for nature. Current global spending of about $80 billion a year needs to be increased 10-fold, said Sebastien Moncorps, director of France's IUCN committee. "That's about one percent of global GDP, but when you realise that half of all economic activity depends on nature being healthy, that's a good return on investment."

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

As industrial agriculture, mining and logging have barreled across the Amazon rainforest in recent decades, fires and deforestation have dramatically reduced the habitat of tens of thousands of plant and animal species, damaging not just the rainforest’s ability to act as a climate stabilizer but its role as the world’s greatest reservoir of biodiversity.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, a large collaboration of researchers from the United States and China found that up to 85 percent of species listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature have lost habitat because of fires and deforestation since 2001. Overall, fires have damaged the habitat of as many as two-thirds of the species in the Amazon basin.

“The Amazon ecosystem is not adapted to fires, but deforestation and fires have been and are still continuously impacting the Amazonia biodiversity,” said Xiao Feng, a geographer with Florida State University and one of the paper’s lead authors. “Literature suggests a tipping point that when the Amazon loses a certain portion of the forest, the whole ecosystem will transition to another type. If this happens, it will be a tragedy for the Amazon, and for the global ecosystem given the important role the Amazon plays.”

The Amazon is home to 10 percent of the planet’s known species.

[thatlassinquarantine]

Could you explain how nebula Morgana sibylla diana Aurora powers will work and how did ogars troll elves and others like them come to be and could you explain how faragonda and grizelda powers will work

Sure, here they are:

Nebula - the general of Tir Nan Og. She has control over air and clouds. With a wave of her hands winds rise, her look makes mist cover towns and woods and by her word hurricanes come to life. And try to make sure she doesn’t steal air directly from your lungs. 

Morgana - the queen of Earth Fae. Her powers are linked to light. She uses a combination of manifesting harsh light, scorching her enemies and outright shooting lasers out of her hands. She also has an Irish sword at her disposal, strong enough to cut through metal.

Sibylla - due to being capable of looking into one’s mind, and her position as the Nymph of Justice, makes her one of the most influential Fae living on Earth. Making illusions and influencing people, whether positively or negatively, is her prefered way to use magic. 

Diana - living in the Amazonia, Diana is essentially part of Earth’s biggest rainforest. Rising monsters of plant matter, commanding them like an army. Not only that, but the animals which live there obey her as well.

Aurora - her tower standing deep below the ice of the North Pole, fuelling her with cold magic. Her powers allow her to summon Ghirs, ghost of dead Fae, which inhabit the sculptures of ice, allowing them to fight by her side even after their passing. Also she could freeze the entire planet if she would desire to do so.

Author’s note: I am making the Major Fairies Nymphs and that is how I will refer to them, They’ll probably be part of the same Wing, though I have no details yet.

Ogres and Trolls are not so distantly related species, something along the lines Neanderthals and ‘Modern’ humans. From what is known they have evolved from creatures similar to a cross between a pig and an ape. 

Elves are actually pretty mysterious when it comes to their origin. They had been here alongside Dryads before the Merfolk and everyone else can note. Overall they have not changed much since they firstly began recording their history.

Leprechauns have monkey esc features. It is speculated that they might have evolved from some sort of ape like being. 

Trogs aren’t native inhabitants of Vathrú. Due to their physiology not corresponding to any other known being on the planet it is suspected they are of alien origin.

Merfolk are humans, but evolved from a different branch originating in northern Africa roughly 2 million years before the arrival of the rest of the humans.

Dryads are sentient species of plants, evolved over time. They are probably even older than the Elves.

Jahrasy are marsupials, evolved from creatures akin to today’s opossum.

Yani are intelligent species of evolved apes, sharing common ancestry with Chimps.

Why do the last two exist? Because they can and I find the idea of opossum in a pink dress with wings is hilarious.

Faragonda - while not having wings, the headmistress of Alfea is no one to be messed with. Figuring out someone's thoughts on a whim, influencing people’s minds and knowing about all the things going within and outside of the walls of her school with ease. She can also block out people’s powers, given enough time.

Griselda - an absolute professional at creating magical shields of the highest caliber. Not only that but she can shatter them as well and use the remains of them as projectiles. That or manifesting an actual shield and beating her enemies with it over their heads.

Welp, I hope you enjoy this and don’t fear to ask some more.