Archive for January 15th, 2016

Agricultural expansion in Africa could cause climate change: study

Xinhua: A newly released study by a Canadian scholar shows that rainfall and groundwater are crucial for crops in West Africa, yet agriculture may make droughts worse and lead to crop failure. Marc Parlange, a co-author of the study and a hydrology specialist and professor of civil engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, discovered that a Burkina Faso savannah received more rainfall than nearby land cleared for agriculture, posing serious questions about the sustainability...

Mining company executives indicted in Brazil over country’s largest environmental disaster

Mongabay: Yesterday, Brazil’s federal police in Minas Gerais charged Samarco CEO, Ricardo Vescovi De Aragao, for environmental crimes caused by the disruption of the Fundão tailings dam — Brazil’s largest environmental disaster. The Samarco and Vale mining companies were also indicted, as well as VogBR Recursos Hídricos e Geotécnica, responsible for signing the statement that declared the dam stable just last year. In a message to Mongabay, VogBR’s CEO, André Euzébio, cleared his company of any wrongdoing,...