Clipmarks | Rainforest Clips

" 'Lost towns' discovered in Amazon"

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:08:20 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7586860.stm

'Lost towns' discovered in Amazon

A remote area of the Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns, Science journal reports.

The Upper Xingu, in west Brazil, was once thought to be virgin forest, but in fact shows traces of extensive human activity.

Researchers found evidence of a grid-like pattern of settlements connected by road networks and arranged around large central plazas.

There are signs of farming, wetland management, and possibly fish farms.

The settlements are now almost completely overgrown by rainforest.

The ancient urban communities date back to before the first Europeans set foot in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon in the 15th Century.

wonderland

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:35:23 GMT

clipped by: abhiator
clipper's remarks: wonderland

Clip Source: www.lifeinthefastlane.ca

Take a journey to a magical and mysterious wonderland in a world filled with fantasy, splendor, and humor in an enchanted rainforest setting, where each turn of the path unfolds a captivating wonder of art at one of the world’s most unique settings filled with stunning garden sculptures.

Index Research: On The Road To Extinction

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:49:20 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: indexresearch.blogspot.com

A history lecturer recently said that if one doesn’t believe in ‘global warming’ one is put in the same category as those who do not believe in the Nazi holocaust. This research of summer 2008 articles is not only about global warming but also about species that have become extinct or are an endangered species.

1. Planet Earth: General; Air pollution; Biofuels; Coral Reefs; Dead Zones; Depleted Uranium Contamination; “Democracy,” Food (corn, rice, wheat, famine); Lakes (extinct: Greenland Lake: endangered Baikal); Nuclear Holocaust; Oil (Peak Oil, U.S. exploitation, The Car); Polar Ice; Rainforest; Water; Wetlands

2. Towards Extinction: General; Amphibians (frogs); Bees; Birds; Deer; Elephant; Fish (salmon, shark, sturgeon, tuna) Flora and Fauna (Lichen, Orchid); Mammals (deer, (elephant, lynx, kangaroo, mustang, polar bear, seal, tiger, whale, wolf, wolverine); Mammoth rhino), Primates (Great Ape, Homo Sapiens, Lemur, Monkey, Orangutan); Reptiles (lizard, turtle, tortoise.

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-consequences, i-extinction

Rainforest

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:33:23 GMT

clipped by: glenn07
clipper's remarks: Picturesque

Clip Source: www.marcadamus.com

Bunking with Scientists

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:01:59 GMT

clipped by: madame travels
clipper's remarks: PORTAL, ARIZ.
Southwestern Research Station of the American Museum of Natural History
Scientists at this field station in eastern Arizona study native Mexican birds and hummingbirds. The three cabins sleep up to 15 people each, and meals are served in the dining hall. "Everyone sits family-style, so guests can get to know the staff," says director Dawn Wilson. 520/558-2396, research.amnh.org, $75 with meals, open spring and fall.

CHURCHILL, MANITOBA
Churchill Northern Studies Centre
Up to six people can stay for free at the remote station if they volunteer to plant trees and collect data. Staff researchers give lectures on the region's subarctic climate and lead regular hikes to the habitats of arctic foxes, snowy owls, and polar bears. The facility also has a 300-species herbarium and an observation dome for viewing the aurora borealis in the winter. 204/675-2307, churchillscience.ca, open year-round.

Clip Source: www.budgettravel.com

There are hundreds of biological field stations around the globe, and a select few of them are now letting visitors rub elbows with staff researchers and spend the night inside the facilities—no advanced degree required.

ST. JOHN, U.S.V.I.
Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station

Day trips include mountain hikes and tours of nearby petroglyphs and former rum distilleries. islands.org/virgin/viers, open year-round, book six months in advance

VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C.
Clayoquot Field Station

There's plenty to study at this station in the Tofino Botanical Gardens, which has a collection of plants from southern Chile, as well as a bird sanctuary that attracts western sandpipers and great blue herons

250/725-1220, tbgf.org, from $32, open year-round

HEREDIA, COSTA RICA
Tirimbina Rainforest Center

The solar-powered station accommodates 45 guests, with meals served in an open-air dining room. 011-506/2761-0333, tirimbina.org, from $64, meals from $6, open year-round

Giant kangaroo 'hunted into extinction'

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:53:48 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: There is evidence they were around when humans arrived. Until then they had no need for a defense against an 'efficient' predator. They are likened to a giant sloth. their size would have made them likely to have a long breeding cycle? and they would not have needed to be quick until humans turned up.
Still...you had to be there.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Heather Catchpole

The first evidence the giant prehistoric kangaroos that roamed Tasmania were hunted into extinction by humans has been found in a cave in a rainforest-clad region in the north-west of the island state.

Weighty debate: An artist's impression of the Palorchestes azael, a marsupial similar to a ground sloth that weighed about 500 kilograms

A team of Australian and British researchers report in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that radiocarbon dating of fossil remains of seven megafauna species pushes the survival of the giant prehistoric animals on the Australian island state forward to 41,000 years ago.

megakanga

Humans are thought to have arrived in Tasmania 43,000 to 40,000 years ago, when the island became temporarily connected by a land bridge to mainland Australia.

it was previously thought Tasmania's megafauna

died out before human arrival.

they say their study shows giant kangaroos surviving up to 2000 years after the first humans arrived.

We must address deforestation - now!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:36:20 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: The danger signs are very evident - we pursue rainforest destruction at our peril.

Clip Source: plentymag.com

Orangutans and palm-based biofuel don't mix

Crouching low in a canoe, my sneakers and socks are quickly soaked with river water. A stocky, shirtless park ranger in blue jeans pulls the boat across the river by rope-pulley rigged between trees. When we reach the opposite shore, we climb out of the vessel and walk along the muddy riverbanks and up through the rainforest until we reach a feeding platform. There, park rangers bang loudly on a plastic bucket. They are calling the orangutans.

I have come to northern Sumatra, an island in the Indian Ocean covered with twisting dirt roads and steep green mountains, to report on the orangutans because there isn’t much time. Experts say the world’s 30,000 remaining orangutans will go extinct in 3 to 20 years. The last of the hairy apes live on the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where they spend most of their time in the trees, eating fruits and leaves.

“The future for the orangutans is in the hands of the humans now,” said

a park ranger

Tags: environment, conservation, nature

Brazil's Supreme Court warns of possible civil war

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:03:18 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(AP) Deep in the northernmost reaches of the Amazon jungle, a land conflict between rice farmers and a handful of Indian tribes has turned so violent that the country's Supreme Court warns it could escalate into civil war.

The court's decision could help determine the future of the Amazon, whose remaining jungles provide a critical cushion against global warming. It could also redefine Brazil's policy toward its Indians at a time of frequent confrontations, as the country spends billions of dollars opening roads, building dams and promoting agribusiness across the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness.

most of Brazil's Indians continue to live in the jungle and maintain their languages and traditions. These Indians have fought for decades to keep or regain their ancestral lands.

today about 11 percent of Brazilian territory and nearly 22 percent of the Amazon is in Indian hands.

Top military generals warn that too much land in Indian hands

threatens national security

Tags: brazil, amazon, rainforest

Brazil launches rainforest fund...

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:31:16 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has launched an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest and help combat climate change.

The fund will promote alternatives to forest-clearing for people living in the Amazon, and support conservation and sustainable development

Officials will seek donations abroad and aim to raise $21bn (£11bn) by 2021.

The environmental group Greenpeace said it was the first time Brazil had accepted a link between global warming and preserving the rainforest.

A look at the rainforest Brazil has launched a fund to protect

Largest continuous tropical forest

Shared by nine countries

65% Brazilian territory

Covers 6.6m sq km in total

Pop: 30m - 23.5m are in Brazil

Future threats to the Amazon rainforest

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:36:12 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: news.mongabay.com

The reasons for land-clearing in the Amazon are compelling: cheap land and booming demand for commodities driven by a surging China and growing interest in biofuels. These factors have helped Brazil become an agricultural superpower — the world's largest exporter of beef, cotton, coffee, orange juice, soybeans, and sugar, among other products — in less than a generation. Amazon landowners have seen their land values double every 4-5 years in areas that just a decade ago were pristine rainforests. The market is driving deforestation and will continue to drive deforestation into the future, although two new developments could accelerate the process: oil palm and next-generation biofuels based on cellulosic ethanol technology.

Giant clearings created by cattle pasture and soy farms suck moisture from surrounding forest fragments, while winds blow down trees, thinning the canopy

As vegetation goes up in smoke, the forest's own rain-generating capacity is reduced

Tags: environment, forests, i-risks, i-increase, i-forecast

Hidden Expedition: Amazon Game, Hidden Expedition: Amazon Free Download

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:53:33 GMT

clipped by: gflo932345
clipper's remarks: Hidden Expedition: Amazon Game, Hidden Expedition: Amazon Free Download, Buy Hidden Expedition: Amazon Full Version

Clip Source: www.funnygamesdownload.com

Hidden Expedition: Amazon Game Free Download
Discover the Amazon`s untamed jungle and ancient civilizations while searching for hidden objects in this Adventure sequel.

FREE Trial Version
Safe & Secure Downloads Quality Tested & Virus Free
Unlock the greatest secret of the Amazon
More scenes, puzzles and adventure
Intricately woven mini-games

Big Fish Games Studios takes you on an Adventure into the stunning world of the Amazon with the Hidden Expedition team in search of a missing professor. A tattered map referencing the legendary Beetle Temple is your only clue as you begin your adventure deep into the Amazon Rainforest. Explore cities, temples, and ruins while unlocking the secrets of an ancient yet advanced civilization. This adventure is the largest yet for the Hidden Expedition team, and the discovery of the Beetle Temple is just the beginning.

System Requirements:
OS:Windows XP/Vista
CPU:800 Mhz
RAM:512

~~$19.99~~ $11.99

Screen shots

Click images to enlarge.

Hidden Expedition: Amazon Game Free Download

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:52:07 GMT

clipped by: loo324677
clipper's remarks: Hidden Expedition: Amazon Game Free Download

Clip Source: hidden-expedition-amazon-game.dreamgames.asia

Hidden Expedition: Amazon

System Requirements:
OS:Windows XP/Vista
CPU:800 Mhz
RAM:512
Total size:153.8MB
Price: ~~$19.99~~ $11.99

Unlock the greatest secret of the Amazon

More scenes, puzzles and adventure

Intricately woven mini-games

Get the Strategy Guide

Get help at our Forums

Please share your walkthroughs, Solution, hints, tips, tricks, cheat codes and reviews of Hidden Expedition: Amazon to help others.

These people need our continued support

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:49:10 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: A great cause at a time when destruction is all too obvious. Bravo!!

Clip Source: pr-canada.net

The Rainforest Site Partners with Sumatran Orangutan Society to Plant Trees and Save Orangutans

The Rainforest Site announced today a new partnership with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to save vital orangutan habitat. Through The Rainforest Site’s Gifts That Give More™ program, visitors to the site can elect to donate $28 to SOS’s work in replacing coastal mangroves destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, replanting hardwood and fruit trees in degraded forest areas in Aceh province, and reforesting the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, the most important remaining habitat for the Sumatran orangutan.

Each $28 “Save Orangutan Habitat” Gift pays to plant 50 trees, all of which are native species in Indonesia. The preservation of this orangutan habitat is crucial for the survival of these apes. With a wild population of fewer than 7,000, the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.

Illegal geisha coffee discovered in Panamanian national park

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:37:15 GMT

clipped by: BirdBarista
clipper's remarks: I've been to this beautiful park, and certainly hope this encroachment is nipped in the bud.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Last month, Panama's Environmental Protection Agency discovered 40 acres of clandestine coffee trees nestled deep in the Volcan Baru National Park, sparking fears that more forest could be cleared as prices rise.

The nature preserve is ringed with coffee farms growing the country's "geisha" beans

Now, sky-high prices for geisha beans have lured some growers well inside the park's boundaries.

Established growers in the region have built up reputations for running environmentally and socially responsible farms.

The Esmeralda Estate, run by Daniel Peterson, has coffee that consistently wins the highest auction prices, while being certified by the conservation group Rainforest Alliance as environmentally friendly.

Peterson says high-altitude land is becoming scarcer in traditional centers of geisha production, but expansion does not have to affect the national park.

We are threatening our future

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:27:36 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Mankind seems to have a death wish - this is crazy stuff!

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

Half the Amazon Rainforest to be Lost by 2030

(NaturalNews) Due to the effects of global warming and deforestation, more than half of the Amazon rainforest may be destroyed or severely damaged by the year 2030, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The report, "Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire," concludes that 55 percent of the world's largest rainforest stands to be severely damaged from agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching in the next 22 years. Another 4 percent may be damaged by reduced rainfall caused by global warming. This is anticipated to destroy up to 80 percent of wildlife habitat in the region.

By 2100, the report adds, global warming may cause rainfall in the Amazon to drop by 20 percent and temperatures to increase by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This combination will increase the occurrence of forest fires, further accelerating the pace of deforestation.

"The Amazon is on a knife-edge,"