Rich, Dark Earth
NEED TO KNOW
Rich, Dark Earth
AMAZON RAINFOREST
If the fabled fountain of youth exists, modern society might be destroying it.
In the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, centenarians in indigenous tribes remain spry, hiking barefoot for miles through rough, dangerous terrain after years of active lifestyles and healthy eating.
Varî Vãti Marubo of the Marubo tribe, for example, could be 107 or 120 years old. When she was a little girl, she and her family would run from white explorers in the jungle. Now, her friends and neighbors pursue traditional modern careers and share their experiences on social media. The lifestyle that cultivated her longevity and that of other indigenous folks is disappearing.
“Since our birth, we’ve kept the traditions alive,” she told the New York Times. “But now I see everything changing. Many young people have forgotten the wisdom of our elders.”
Marubo represents the human side of what’s being lost every day in the rainforest.
The Brazilian government recently announced that deforestation in the Amazon in the 12 months through August occurred at around half the rate of the prior year, and marked the lowest rate since 2016.
The success in reducing deforestation stemmed from Brazilian officials using satellites and rigorous inspection programs that focused on areas where deforestation was most rampant, University of Toronto researchers wrote.
Authorities have also cracked down on those who clear land illegally, too. For example, a Brazilian court recently ordered a rancher to pay $50 million for destroying part of the jungle, the Guardian noted. The fee included penalties for emitting carbon into the air.
But loggers and others still cleared 1,700 square miles – the size of Rhode Island – in the year through August, the Associated Press reported. The disappearance of this massive carbon sink has major implications for the world when greenhouse gases are causing climate change, the Council on Foreign Relations explained.
Illegal gold mining is also taking its toll. Greenpeace recently revealed that 5,000 miners were operating in the rural Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, Reuters reported. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sought to end illegal mining and deforestation by deploying the military, but the territory to cover is enormous and the financial incentive to break the law is very high.
Climate change is also a problem. The Amazon saw more forest fires in August than at any other time since 2020, according to Voice of America. Ranchers often light the fires to clear land. But less rain and drier conditions cause them to spread out of control. Experts estimated that almost 40,000 fires occurred in August.
Meanwhile, these developments come as scientists say the Amazon may actually store more carbon than originally thought.
“Rich soil in the Amazon cultivated over centuries by Indigenous communities may store billions of tons of carbon,” New Scientist wrote. As a result, the “Nutrient-rich ‘dark earth’ soil may store an amount of carbon nearly equivalent to annual CO2 emissions in the US.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
No Degree of Separation
HONG KONG
Hong Kong and Chinese officials lashed out at the US House of Representatives on Wednesday after it passed a bill that could force the closure of Hong Kong’s three trade offices in the United States, amid allegations that the city no longer has sufficient autonomy from Beijing, Agence France-Presse reported.
On Tuesday, US lawmakers voted in favor of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification, which calls for a review of the autonomy of Hong Kong’s trade offices in New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
If the offices are found to not be operating with a “high degree of autonomy” from Beijing, they could lose their diplomatic privileges and be required to close within 180 days.
The trade offices play a key role in representing Hong Kong’s trade and economic interests. Although not full diplomatic missions, they enjoy certain privileges, such as immunity from legal action.
In recent years, the offices have also been involved in public relations efforts to counter negative perceptions of Hong Kong, particularly since the imposition of the 2020 national security law, which critics say has undermined the city’s freedoms, according to the South China Morning Post.
The Hong Kong government condemned the move, while China’s foreign ministry criticized the legislation for “deliberately tarnishing” Hong Kong’s overseas institutions and threatened to take “practical and effective measures” if the bill advances further.
The bill still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before becoming law.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Chinese officials accused the US of gross interference in internal affairs, while the bill comes amid growing concerns that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous from China to justify maintaining its separate trade representation.
Supporters of the legislation said the national security law, which effectively silenced dissent in the city, has eroded Hong Kong’s status.
The US remains one of Hong Kong’s largest trading partners, seeing a $271.5 billion trade surplus over the past decade.
The Legacy
MEXICO
Mexico’s upper house of parliament narrowly passed a controversial constitutional reform Wednesday that will see judges elected by citizens instead of being appointed on merit, a change that has sparked widespread protests and concerns about the country’s democracy and investment environment, the Washington Post reported.
The ruling Morena party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador secured the two-thirds majority needed to pass the amendment, with 86 lawmakers voting in favor and 41 against, following chaotic scenes in the upper chamber.
The plan, already passed by the lower house, is expected to be quickly ratified by state legislatures, where Morena holds a majority in 27 of 32 states.
The voting took place as protesters stormed the chamber, breaking glass doors and shouting “Traitors!” Lawmakers were forced to move to a nearby building under a heavy police presence.
López Obrador, whose party won a landslide victory in June, has long advocated overhauling the judiciary, emphasizing that electing judges will eliminate corruption and make the system more accountable to the public.
The changes will abolish the current system in which federal judges are appointed through professional merit, and instead transfer the choice to voters. If adopted, judicial elections could take place as soon as next year, potentially impacting the selection of about 7,000 federal and local judges.
But critics warned that the changes could lead to more corruption as it would allow special interest groups, including drug traffickers, to finance judicial campaigns. Others warned that it would compromise the independence of the courts, noting that some judges might issue rulings based on popular sentiment rather than the law.
Mexican Senator Verónica Rodríguez Hernández of the opposition National Action Party called the reform “one of the biggest steps backward in the history of Mexico.”
US Ambassador Ken Salazar also issued a rare rebuke, calling the judicial overhaul “a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy,” leading López Obrador to impose a “pause” in relations with the US embassy.
At the same time, business groups have expressed concern that the reform could erode confidence in Mexico’s legal system and affect foreign investment.
The peso has already dropped by more than 15 percent since Morena’s victory in the June elections and some foreign businesses have paused investments.
The judicial reform comes as López Obrador’s political movement grows in power, even as the populist president’s term ends this month, CNN added.
Claudia Sheinbaum, president-elect and a protégé of López Obrador, has pledged to continue his policies, including support for the judicial reform.
Observers noted that the new leader may face challenges in consolidating her mandate as the economy slows and political tensions rise over the judicial overhaul.
A Little Moral Support
UKRAINE
Top American and British diplomats reaffirmed their support for Ukraine during a rare joint visit to Kyiv Wednesday, as Ukrainian officials pressed for permission to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia amid escalating Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and deadly drone attacks on Moscow, the Associated Press reported.
During their visit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy underscored their commitment to the war-torn nation, while condemning the “horrific” loss of civilian life from Russia’s ongoing missile and drone attacks.
Lammy said the UK is setting aside an annual $3.9 billion in aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Blinken highlighted the upcoming difficult winter Ukrainians will face, especially because Russian strikes have already knocked out 70 percent of Ukraine’s power generation capacity. He also accused Iran of supplying Russia with Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, calling the move a “dramatic escalation” of the war.
The visit comes as Russia intensifies its assaults on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and other civilian areas, causing numerous casualties.
A key topic during the visit was Ukraine’s repeated calls for the US and its allies to authorize the use of long-range missiles to target Russian military sites. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal claimed that striking these targets within Russia would enhance Ukraine’s security and protect civilians.
However, Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have been hesitant over fears that it would escalate the conflict.
The diplomatic visit came a day after Ukraine launched its largest drone assault on the Moscow region on Tuesday, killing one person, damaging homes and disrupting nearly 50 flights from Moscow’s airports, Reuters wrote.
Russian authorities reported downing 20 drones near Moscow and 124 more across other regions, including Bryansk.
Moscow, typically insulated from the war, has increasingly become a target as Ukraine brings the war into Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the drone attacks as “terrorism,” while both sides continue to expand their use of drones in the conflict.
DISCOVERIES
The Other Furry One
Just like elephants, rhinoceroses also had an extinct relative that was furry. Gold miners in Siberia recently uncovered the well-preserved remains of a woolly rhinoceros, adding to the growing list of Ice Age creatures revealed by the region’s permafrost. Discovered in the Oymyakon District of Yakutia, the mummified remains included soft tissue and a horn, Popular Mechanics wrote.
Maksim Cheprasov, a senior researcher at Russia’s Mammoth Museum of North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU), hailed the discovery as offering scientists a rare opportunity to study these prehistoric giants up close.
“Until today, there was no such rare find in the collection of the Mammoth Museum,” he said. “In the modern history of the NEFU, this is the first such find – the carcass of a woolly rhinoceros with soft tissues.”
The woolly rhino roamed across the frozen landscapes of Eurasia together with the more famous mammoth until their extinction some 10,000 years ago following the last Ice Age. These massive plant-eaters stood more than six feet tall and stretched up to 16 feet in length. They had two horns, with the front one sometimes growing more than three feet long, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Researchers are planning to extract ancient DNA from the well-preserved tissue in the hopes of uncovering genetic links between this rhino and other specimens found in the region.
Further study could shed light on how these Ice Age animals lived and evolved, as well as clues about how they became extinct. A recent study suggested that both climate change and human hunting contributed to the downfall of mammoths and woolly rhinos.
Yakutia, a region rich in permafrost, has become a treasure trove for Ice Age fossils, with numerous discoveries of mammoths, bison, and cave lions.
The freezing conditions preserve soft tissue through a process similar to freeze-drying, but these mummies are rare, as the animal must be buried quickly in frozen ground to avoid decomposition.