and rental of coffee machines and the sale of related supplies Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo Credit: Alessandra Fidelis / personal archive The study "From ashes to flowers: a savanna sedge initiates flowers 24 h after fire" "The species is Bulbostylis paradoxa, a sedge [perennial herb similar to rushes and grasses] belonging to the family Cyperaceae," Alessandra Fidelis "Its common name in Brazil is cabelo-de-índio ['Amerindian hair']." Its capacity to grow back and flower after burning is a key difference in comparison to African and Australian savannas a professor at the University of São Paulo (USP) Fidelis has been studying postfire regeneration of the Cerrado since 2009 paradoxa flowers after being completely charred in a wildfire The article is indeed a first in this respect "It's the only event of its kind described worldwide to date," she said paradoxa is distributed throughout South America and is found from Venezuela to the south of the continent It flowers on a significant scale only after fires "In our experiments with burning as a careful management practice we found that plants of this species reduced to carbonized stumps began exhibiting white spots 24 hours after the fire These spots were incipient inflorescences," Fidelis recalled the flowers were fully formed and ready for pollination The speed of this response is a significant advantage for the plant fructify and disperse windborne seeds in the open with the soil uncovered and without barriers or competitors it's very hard to find seeds because they've dispersed." Burning is a problem when it results from arson or uncontrolled wildfires that spread disastrously owing to a buildup of combustible material after years without properly managed burning "The Cerrado has evolved through fire," Fidelis said Species that did not occur before a fire may appear in certain areas It is crucial to bear in mind that the Cerrado contains gallery forest where fire-sensitive species may fail to recover after a major burning with total area zoning and a rotating fire schedule for demarcated patches is the best defense against disasters due to uncontrolled wildfire." with large-scale monocultures and the intensive use of machinery and herbicides leaving the soil completely clear and subject to invasion by signalgrass and molasses grass is currently the main threat to the Cerrado's survival Improper use of fire is the next most important threat these two factors endanger the continued existence of the entire ecosystem Some of Brazil's most important rivers originate in the Cerrado In addition to the irreparable loss of biodiversity destruction of the Cerrado jeopardizes the basins of these rivers as a major source of fresh water and hydropower potential About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) 10.1002/ecy.2648 are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system Copyright © 2025 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Algae pollution in the Pinheiros River in Sao Paulo caused the water to turn green in September fueled by severe drought exacerbated by climate change have created a toxic smoke cloud spanning about 4 million square miles — an area larger than the entire United States according to the air quality monitoring company IQair The historic drought in the Amazon has worsened the spread of the fires Many of the fires have been attributed to human activity but the drought has created favorable conditions for their rapid spread 60% of Brazil's territory is currently affected by smoke Including neighboring countries and the Atlantic Ocean the area impacted by the toxic cloud now spans 4 million square miles (10 million square kilometers) — an area larger than the entire United States a researcher at the Plant Ecology Laboratory of the State University of São Paulo Natalia Gil an atmospheric science expert and member of the Air Quality and Emissions Department at the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay told Live Science there has been a progressive decline in air quality in cities across southern Brazil Related: Sahara desert hit by extraordinary rainfall event that could mess with this year's hurricane season Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox including the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires the Pinheiros River turned emerald green due to an algae bloom triggered by the severe drought Paulo Saldiva a pathologist and professor at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine compared the smoke produced by burning biomass to cigarette smoke noting that both contain toxic substances that enter the body through the eyes the level of vehicular and industrial pollution is equivalent to smoking four to five cigarettes daily for those exposed to smoke from forest fires over long periods the impact is akin to "lighting one cigarette after another," Saldiva said indicating a worsening of climate-related impacts "The forest is more susceptible to burning even with the reduction in deforestation rates It has become more flammable," Fidelis said In addition to changes in precipitation, rising temperatures, soil moisture and carbon dioxide levels can influence the timing, extent, duration, frequency and intensity of fires, Luis López-Mársico a researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the University of the Republic of Uruguay —Even trees 'hold their breath' to avoid harmful wildfire smoke, research finds —Amazon wildfires could burn at unprecedented scale as El Niño and drought make rainforest 'more flammable' these changes manifest as higher temperatures which prolong the so-called "fire seasons," All of this constitutes a "new normal," according to Fidelis "We need to start recognizing that we are dealing with a new factor we once thought of as a future scenario but which is now our reality: climate change," she said María de los Ángeles OrfilaLive Science ContributorMaría de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist from Montevideo known for her long-form writing featured in El País and El Observador She also participated in the Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program 2023 offered by The Open Notebook and has bylines in Science 'The Big One' could rock the Pacific Northwest and fuel sea-level rise and massive flooding Climate wars are approaching — and they will redefine global conflict May's full 'Flower Moon' will be a micromoon Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 5th 2025 - 15:40 UTC yellow fever virus transmission continues to expand towards the Atlantic coast of Brazil in areas not deemed to be at risk for yellow fever transmission prior to the revised risk assessment published by WHO in the Disease Outbreak News of 27 January 2017 and supported by the scientific and technical advisory group on geographical yellow fever risk mapping (GRYF)  The revised risk assessment was based on epidemiological evidence and ecological factors The expanded areas at risk of yellow fever transmission remain the same as in the Disease Outbreak News of 27 January 2017 and the WHO travel advice of 31 January 2017 • Espírito Santo State: at risk for yellow fever transmission with the exception of the urban area of Vitoria • Rio de Janeiro State: at risk for yellow fever transmission in the following northern municipalities bordering Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo States: Bom Jesus do Itabapoana; Cambuci; Cardoso Moreira; Italva; Itaperuna; Laje do Muriae; Miracema; Natividade; Porciuncula; Santo Antonio de Padua; São Fidelis; São Jose de Uba; Varre-Sai; Campos dos Goytacazes; São Francisco de Itabapoa; São João da Barra Currently there is no evidence of yellow fever virus transmission in the large metropolitan areas of the East Coast such as Rio de Janeiro The determination of new areas considered to be at risk for yellow fever transmission is preliminary and updates will be provided regularly and considering that travelers for the Carnival in the next few weeks may take side tours outside the main cities the current advice by the WHO Secretariat for international travelers going to areas of Brazil deemed to be at risk Vaccination against yellow fever at least 10 days prior to the travel as per Annex 7 of the International Health Regulations (2005) a single dose of a yellow fever vaccine approved by WHO is sufficient to confer sustained immunity and life-long protection against yellow fever disease Travelers with contraindications for yellow fever vaccine (children below 9 months people with severe hypersensitivity to egg antigens and severe immunodeficiency) or over 60 years of age should consult their health professional for advice; adoption of measures to avoid mosquito bites; awareness of symptoms and signs of yellow fever; seeking care in case of symptoms and signs of yellow fever while travelling and upon return from areas at risk for yellow fever transmission For 2017 updates on yellow fever vaccination requirements and WHO vaccination recommendations for travelers see Annex and country list on the WHO International Travel and Health website Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page Communities initially invaded by Melinis minutiflora (left-hand columns) and Urochloa brizantha (right-hand columns) Photographs taken after two years of burn experiment showing unburned control plots (top row); early burn (in May In communities dominated by each invasive species the first and second columns represent samples for the rainy and dry season respectively (photos: Gabriella Da Brazilian researchers show that African forage grasses resist management by fire and that palisade grass tends to spread to burned areas previously occupied by molasses grass By José Tadeu Arantes  |  Agência FAPESP – The Cerrado the predominant biome on Brazil’s Central Plateau is the most biodiverse savanna in the world with 35 different plant species per square meter Some of Brazil’s most important rivers rise in the Cerrado Its survival is dramatically threatened by expansion of the agricultural frontier and inadequate land management Invasive species are doing serious damage to the Cerrado especially signalgrass and other African grasses of the genus Urochloa introduced to Brazil for cattle pasture and capable of propagating from cultivated areas into conservation areas and wildernesses where they trigger changes in native plant communities and reduce the occurrence of endangered species with precious medicinal properties such as Erythroxylum vaccinifolium (catuaba) or Brosimum gaudichaudii (mama-cadela) “Our aim was to measure the extent to which the timing of fires in the Cerrado – whether they occur in the early middle or late dry season – affects the abundance of Melinis minutiflora [molasses grass] and Urochloa brizantha [palisade grass] These are invasive species found in several conservation units in the Cerrado,” Damasceno told Agência FAPESP because the predicted effects of climate change on the Cerrado include an increase in the frequency of extreme events such as drought and outlier temperature highs and lows we wanted to see if rainfall and temperature ranges influence the recovery of these two invasive grasses.” The results showed opposite responses to the use of fire for land management purposes minutiflora being reduced by burning in all parts of the dry season and U brizantha not being affected at all compared with unburned controls “The study also produced an unexpected result: when M brizantha invaded the burned area more easily Burning at the start and end of the dry season controlled the former but also accelerated a fresh invasion by the latter,” Fidelis said The two invasive grasses were also differently influenced by environmental variables minutiflora correlated negatively with the amount of rainfall (i.e an increase in rainfall reduced its total and dead biomass) Colder temperatures were harmful to both species but in different ways with the former’s abundance decreasing and the latter’s dead biomass increasing “Our findings show that in future it will be more challenging still to control invasive grasses in the Cerrado since even similar species respond so differently to land management initiatives,” Damasceno said combined responses by two or more invasive species may be hard to predict given the variable influence of environmental factors on the response of each species.” The article “Abundance of invasive grasses is dependent on fire regime and climatic conditions in tropical savannas” can be retrieved from: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479720309440?via%3Dihub and by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor’s Ordinance No The new provisions aim to reduce workplace inequalities based on gender and other characteristics such as race The law establishes new obligations that employers in Brazil must comply with concerning the adoption of mechanisms for transparency and The new equal pay law established a new directive for equal pay primarily with respect to the identification of salary differences between men and women but it also considers other characteristics the Brazilian Ministry of Labor will prepare and disclose a Salary and Remuneration Criteria Transparency Report (“Transparency Report”) in March and September of each year covering employers with 100 or more employees The Transparency Report will contain statistical information regarding internal salary differences which employers are required to make publicly available on their website or social media The Transparency Report will be based on (i) the public employment information required by law to be posted on eSocial, the Brazilian government’s platform for information regarding employment, tax and social security; and (ii) additional information regarding internal remuneration practices and policies previously provided by the employer to the Ministry of Labor in February1  and August If any salary discrepancies are identified the employer may be notified by the Ministry of Labor to take action which involves preparing an action plan to mitigate workplace inequality within 90 days from the date of notification Preparation of the action plan must include the participation of the union that represents the employees or employees’ representatives and the final version of the plan must be filed with the union the new law provided for changes in the Brazilian Labor Code establishing that the payment of salary differences regarding salary discrimination on the basis of gender or age does not preclude the employee’s right to file indemnification claims for moral damages and that labor authorities will apply higher fines to the employer where salary discrimination is identified All employers are required to guarantee a workplace free of any kind of discrimination and it is expected the inspections and enforcement by the labor authorities from the Ministry of Labor on this matter will increase as of the enactment of the new equal pay law the obligations related to the disclosure of the Transparency Report and the creation of action plans will only apply to employers with 100 or more employees Potential fines stemming from non-compliance will be equivalent to up to 3% of the employer’s payroll up to a limit of 100 times the Brazilian minimum wage In order to avoid running afoul of salary discrimination laws it is recommended that employers adopt career and salary plans with a clear job function and salary framework based on objective criteria as well as consider the adoption of DEI policies aimed at the reduction of any workplace inequality between men and women and other characteristics Regarding the procedures related to the Transparency Report employers with 100 or more employees must: 1) The deadline to submit additional information regarding the first Transparency Report in 2024 was extended to March 8 Paucity of funds has crippled activities at the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Authority (JDA) resulting to non payment of staff salaries for months investigations by Daily Trust have revealed This is despite raking in a total of $300 million in signature bonuses from exploration and exploitation of natural resources based on the 2001 JDA treaty between the two countries The bonuses were shared in the ratio of 60 percent for Nigeria and 40 percent for Sao Tome and Principe in line with the provisions of the treaty independent companies were said to have invested the sum of $415 million in six oil blocks through the signing of Production Sharing Agreement Contracts (PSUs) The JDA treaty gave rise to the Joint Development Zone – an area in the region of Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe boundary – that is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves The two countries created the JDA to assist them in benefitting from the economic potentials of the zone because neither could explore the resources in the zone without interfering with the maritime territory of the other.  Negotiations were said to have commenced in December 1999 and completed on February 21 2001 when the treaty (referred to as the Abuja Treaty) was signed by the then two heads of state President Obasanjo and President Miguel Trovoada of Sao Tome and Principe.  The JDA has a Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) at the apex having the overall political responsibility and policy direction for the JDA and is made up of key ministers of both state parties Its board is made up of four executive directors two from each state party appointed by the Presidents to serve for 6 years as contained in the Treaty and is saddled with the responsibility of running the authority the JDA started suffering funding challenges following the withdrawal in 2013 of TOTAL SINOPEC and ADDAX from the JDZ (Joint Development Zone) because they considered the discoveries so far made in the various blocks they operate to be uneconomical for production by their ranking and standard The withdrawals affected JDA’s revenue generation capacity to run its activities with the attendant heavy reliance on the State Parties for funding in line with the provisions of the treaty Daily Trust findings reveal that the current financial situation in the JDA had resulted to alleged sacking of 35 workers while some were sent on ‘administrative leave.’ The workers are currently owed salaries for five months It was also gathered that from January 2017 the board decided to stop payment of some allowances while the salaries of some categories of staff especially from executive directors were said to have been reduced by half Similarly the dwindling financial fortunes of the JDA was said to have forced it to relocate from its initial luxury office located at No 117 Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II Abuja in 2016 to a ‘more affordable building’ at No 13 Audu Ogbeh Street This is even as a multi-million naira contract for the construction of head office for the JDA in Abuja had been abandoned over alleged sharp practices.  ‘Restructuring’ as partners fail commitments Daily Trust gathered that the management of the JDA has proposed ‘restructuring’ as a way out of its current funding predicament but there is apprehension among staff members who see the move as synonymous to further downsizing Investigation by Daily Trust reveals that over-staffing also accounted for the current financial hardship that has crippled activities at the JDA A source confided in our reporter that the agency at a time was forced to recruit too many people leading to overstaffing which is expected to meet regularly to approve JDA’s budget and deliberate on other matters relating to its objectives a Sao Tomean and foundation member who served as chairman of the JDA board for six years before resigning last year told Daily Trust in exclusive interview before his departure that the body started having funding challenge in 2014 when the two countries stopped funding the JDA.  “In 2015 the situation became worse and we wrote to the two countries saying that the state parties should continue funding the JDA We also stressed the need for the two countries to sit down and look at the JDA We had an overstaffed organization and funding problem,” Mr He also revealed that the expenditure on staff had gone up to 60 percent of its budget hence the decision by the JMC to embark on restructuring Although the proposed restructuring was introduced in 2015 with the JDA management agreeing that it should be a continuous process the Nigerian government at the time kicked against proceeding with it till both countries sat at the JMC meeting to decide on the matter.  Daily Trust gathered that the tenure of the last board of the JDA lapsed last year and even though new members have been appointed into the board it is yet to be inaugurated as the JMC has not met.  who has assumed office as the Executive Director confirmed to Daily Trust that a meeting of the JMC had been proposed for Abuja in September this year a government delegation from Nigeria earlier in August met in Sao Tome and commenced negotiations with the government of São Tomé and Príncipe to relaunch the agreement on the Joint Development Zone for oil exploration Minister for Foreign Affairs and Communities reportedly said the meeting was to establish a bilateral commission that will meet in each country alternately and make decisions and supervise programmes and joint actions UPDATE NEWS: Nigerians can now earn US Dollars through domain flipping buy domain names for cheap and have it resold to earn up to $15,000 Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You 14.611 of 2023 – “Equal Pay Act”)—regulated by Decree No The Equal Pay act entered into force in February 2024 the Equal Pay Act established two obligations for private legal entities with more than 100 employees: (i) Enter information on the federal government’s “Emprega Brasil” portal regarding the companies’ practices regarding the equal pay of men and women and how these companies attempt to curb inequality on the grounds of gender This data will be cross-referenced by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (“MLE”) with the larger “eSocial” database in order to issue a report on salary transparency and remuneration criteria (a “Report”); and With regard to the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (Law No the Equal Pay Act established that the LGPD should always be taken into account while fulfilling its obligations The Equal Pay Act also requires that Reports disclose only anonymized data the Report will end up disclosing data that could indirectly identify a natural person and therefore anonymization will not be guaranteed The risk of having salary range—and possibly race and gender—exposed makes compliance with the Equal Pay Act difficult for certain companies some companies have already taken legal action to prevent the enforcement of this law given the potentially severe penalties for violating the LGPD—the Report could expose sensitive and highly confidential data of a vulnerable category of data subjects (e.g. the ANPD recently released its guide on data anonymization for public consultation—in other words ANPD is attentive to whether anonymization is effective or not and has even indicated in this draft guide a series of governance measures related to the anonymization of personal data There is a chance that the publication of the Report will only provide aggregated and generic data which does not identify natural persons—this is generally expected for companies with a large number of employees where in each salary race and gender range there will be a significant number of employees for smaller companies with fewer employees the publication of the Report may result in a significant risk of exposing non-anonymized personal data The courts considered the risk of violating the LGPD and the Brazilian Federal Constitution while granting the injunctions aimed to prevent enforcement of the Equal Pay Act The Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro and the Civil Court of São Paulo granted emergency injunctions so the companies are not required to provide the information on the “Emprega Brasil” portal nor are they required to publish the Report on their websites and/or social media The courts ruled that the regulating ordinance and decree surpassed the limits of the Equal Pay Act because of all the information they required and also in view of the mandatory publication of the Report Both courts agreed with the plaintiffs that the publication of the Report is not grounded on the existing Brazilian framework The ruling issued by the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro also pointed out that the publication of the data could end up violating the LGPD We are monitoring further decisions on the matter which will have a direct impact on companies subject to the Equal Pay Act 1 Preliminary Injunction No pending before the 26th Federal Court of the Judicial Section of Rio de Janeiro pending before the 26th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo Brazil’s Superior Labor Court (TST) ruled that the Labor Reform (Law 13,467/2017) had immediate effect on ongoing employment contracts but only to facts occurring after the law's effective date of November 11 The court reached this majority decision in a Repetitive Appeals Incident (IRR) establishing a binding precedent (Topic 23) to be followed by the entire Labor Justice system The judgment involved a worker from JBS S.A who sought payment for horas in itinere — the time spent commuting using company-provided transportation which had previously been considered time at the employer’s disposal The main issue at question was whether the new rule would apply to contracts established before the reform the Third Panel of the TST ruled that JBS should pay for the horas in itinere determining that this right was part of the worker’s legal patrimony covering the entire contractual period from December 2013 to January 2018 and the case was taken up by the Full Court of the TST due to its prominence aiming to set a precedent for similar cases argued that the changes introduced by the Labor Reform should be immediately applied to ongoing contracts but only for facts occurring after the new legislation when contract conditions are derived from legal provisions the new law applies to pending or future situations without affecting acquired rights The majority opinion emphasized that the constitutional principle of wage non-reduction protects only the nominal value of permanent installments not the calculation method or variable benefits linked to future events legal changes impacting variable payments are applicable to ongoing contracts JBS was ordered to pay horas in itinere only up to November 10 the day before the Labor Reform came into effect The decision also reinforces the application of this understanding to other changes introduced by the Labor Reform The binding precedent established by the TST is as follows: 13,467/2017 has immediate application to ongoing employment contracts regulating rights derived from laws whose triggering events occurred after its effective date.” The Superior Labor Court is composed of 27 Ministers; 25 participated in the judgment argued that contracts predating the Reform should follow the previous rules a position supported by the other nine ministers Several entities participated in the judgment including the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) the National Confederation of the Financial System (CONSIF) This decision marks an important milestone in the interpretation of the Labor Reform providing greater legal certainty for both employers and employees regarding the application of new rules to ongoing employment contracts