The research used small planes to measure CO2 levels up to 4,500m above the forest over the last decade, showing how the whole Amazon is changing. Previous studies indicating the Amazon was becoming a source of CO2 were based on satellite data, which can be hampered by cloud cover, or ground meas...
Growing trees and plants have taken up about a quarter of all fossil fuel emissions since 1960, with the Amazon playing a major role as the largest tropical forest. Losing the Amazon’s power to capture CO2 is a stark warning that slashing emissions from fossil fuels is more urgent than ever, sc...
Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink.
The emissions amount to a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a study. The giant forest had previously been a carbon sink, absorbing the emissions driving the climate crisis, but is now causing its acceleration, researchers said.
Cutting emissions more urgent than ever, say scientists, with forest producing more than a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year
Sanders said the agreement would end an era in which rich people and big companies weren’t bearing enough of the burden of financing government programs.
The Democrats’ announcement left many questions unanswered. These included how much it would raise through tax increases on the wealthy and corporations and other revenue to pay for its costs; how much would be spent on specific programs; and how Biden’s proposals would be curtailed or elimin...
Senator Bernie Sanders, the budget committee chairman, and other progressives pushed for a $6tn budget top line, while moderates insisted on a far lower price tag. Biden had proposed about $4.5tn.
Schumer and other lawmakers did not respond when asked if they had the support of all 50 Democratic senators. They have virtually no margin for error in the House, where they can lose no more than three votes and still prevail.
He’ll highlight some of the areas where Democrats and Republicans agreed, including investments in removing lead pipes, expanding access to high-speed internet, transit and rebuilding roads and bridges. Biden will also speak about the impact his policies would have on local communities, accordi...
On Wednesday, Biden will push for public support of that infrastructure proposal by hosting a bipartisan group of governors and mayors at the White House. He plans to emphasize the bipartisan aspects of the proposal, as senators work to finalize details for a Thursday deadline.
Separately, a bipartisan group of senators is working to flesh out a measure that would spend around $1tn on roads, water systems and other infrastructure projects, another Biden priority. Biden and that group had agreed to an outline of that measure last month.
Nonetheless, approving a budget will be a major boon for Democrats’ effort to enact their subsequent funding bill. That’s because the budget contains language that would let Democrats move the follow-up spending measure through the 50-50 Senate with just a simple majority, not the 60 votes Re...
The Democrats’ goal is to push a budget resolution through the House and Senate before lawmakers leave for their August recess. The resolution sets only broad spending and revenue parameters, leaving the actual funding and specific decisions about which programs are affected for later legislati...
The proposal reflects Biden’s vision for making the most substantive investments in the nation in years, some say on par with the New Deal of the 1930s. Together with a slimmer, $1tn bipartisan effort of traditional road, highway and public works also being negotiated, they represent close to t...
Biden will attend a closed-door lunch at the Capitol on Wednesday with Senate Democrats to focus on “getting this wonderful plan” enacted, Schumer said.
But Democrats behind the agreement face possible objections from moderates and progressives and will have to work hard to convert their plans into legislation they can push through the closely divided Congress over probably unanimous Republican opposition.