South America

"The warming Atlantic Ocean is drawing moisture away from the Western Amazon, drying the rainforest and catching residents by surprise. 'We weren't prepared.'"

"Brazilian activists who inform on illegal loggers laying waste to the rainforests can expect a visit from the gunmen."

"A review suggests that the Amazon rainforest may be changing, courtesy of human impacts on the region's weather."

"Brazil says the rate of deforestation in its Amazon region has fallen to the lowest level for 23 years."

"RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's government slapped Chevron with a $28 million fine on Monday for causing an oil spill off the country's coast, a penalty that could rise as the U.S. company faces a political backlash over the accident."

"An agricultural leader protesting illegal deforestation was shot to death in northern Brazil, the eighth environmentalist farmer to be killed since May in the Amazon, activists said Tuesday."

"Colombian environmental authorities have reported a huge shark massacre in the Malpelo wildlife sanctuary in Colombia's Pacific waters, where as many as 2,000 hammerhead, Galápagos and silky sharks may have been slaughtered for their fins."

Sibylla Brodzinsky reports for the Guardian October 19, 2011.

Researchers are discovering previously unknown species of the cacao bean in the rainforests of Peru.