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"Google has long offered anyone with an Internet connection a street-level view of cities and landmarks around the world, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Roman Coliseum. Now, it's teaming up with a Brazilian environmental group to offer a 3-D, on-the-ground view of one of the planet's most remote areas: the hamlet of Tumbira in the center of the Brazilian Amazon. The goal is to show how people in the Amazon live - and educate the public about their effort to protect the forest."

As they die and decompose, trees and soil in the Amazon rainforest have traditionally absorbed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they've emitted. But it turns out that during a major drought in 2005, the Amazon put more carbon into the atmosphere than it soaked up.

"A new NASA-led study seven years in the making has confirmed that natural forests in the Amazon remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit, therefore reducing global warming. This finding resolves a long-standing debate about a key component of the overall carbon balance of the Amazon basin."

UC SANTA BARBARA (US) - Human land-use activity has begun to change the regional water and energy cycles of parts of the Amazon basin. A new study published in the journal Nature also shows ongoing interactions of deforestation, fire, and climate change have the potential to alter carbon storage, rainfall patterns, and river discharge on an even larger scale.

"Google is adding addresses along sections of the Amazon River and Rio Negro in Brazil to its Street View service."

Açaí berry business boom in the Amazon linked to conservation efforts.

The mission of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is to work in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health, and culture in tropical America.

"Global, zoomable time-lapse map... View stunning phenomena such as the sprouting of Dubai's artificial Palm Islands, the retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon and urban growth in Las Vegas from 1984 to 2012 Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images-a total of 909 terabytes of data-to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year. As the final step, we worked with the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, recipients of a Google Focused Research Award, to convert these annual Earth images into a seamless, browsable HTML5 animation. Check it out on Google's Timelapse website."

Google's global, zoomable time-lapse map illustrates land use change phenomena such as the sprouting of Dubai's artificial Palm Islands, the retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon, and urban growth in Las Vegas. "Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images-a total of 909 terabytes of data-to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year. As the final step, we worked with the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, recipients of a Google Focused Research Award, to convert these annual Earth images into a seamless, browsable HTML5 animation."

"A transcontinental highway under construction in Peru and Brazil is bringing the prospects of economic opportunity and environmental ruin to some of the most remote places on the planet. NPR correspondent Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and staff photographer John Poole traveled the Peruvian route to produce this series."

New aerial photos show an uncontacted tribe on the border of Brazil and Peru in detail. According to a press release by Survival International, the photos "reveal a thriving, healthy community with baskets full of manioc and papaya fresh from their gardens", but a community that is also threatened by illegal loggers from Peru."

With deforestation, global warming and climate change the new buzz words on everyone's lips, more and more people want to know: Where's the beef from? Knowing what's in burgers and fries is no longer enough. Environmentally aware consumers want to know how the beef, chicken or vegetables got to their dinner plates. Consumers now want health and justice.