Moist tropical rainforest spanning the Amazon basin in South America
Colombia reports 119,483 hectares of forest lost in 2025, a 5% rise from 2024, but remains 31% below 2021 levels. Officials cite illegal land grabbing, cattle ranching, and infrastructure as the main drivers while highlighting progress in national parks and community conservation efforts.
A truck bomb has detonated outside a police headquarters in Cúcuta, on the Venezuela border, injuring eight officers and three civilians. Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez has blamed the National Liberation Army and offered a reward; authorities have deployed extra security as Colombia prepares for Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration in Cali next week.
A record summer of heat, drought and wildfires has prompted an emergency Cobra meeting and voluntary retailer suspensions of disposable-barbecue sales. Green groups have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to call the crisis 'climate change' and stop new North Sea drilling; Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has questioned net zero and urged adaptation and celebration of warmer weather.
The Supreme Court is considering the fate of Brazil’s soy moratorium, a voluntary pact that has curbed Amazon deforestation but faced state-law challenges. The court is also reviewing a new environmental licensing regime as lawmakers push back against environmental protections while Lula’s government seeks to sustain gains in forest conservation.
The UN Environment Programme has published a report saying the world will likely exceed the Paris 1.5°C limit within years. UNEP has recommended an "overshoot, peak and decline" pathway that combines immediate, deep cuts to greenhouse gases, rapid methane reductions and carefully governed carbon dioxide removal to bring temperatures back below 1.5°C this century.
New USDA-led research has found that farmed salmon have substantially lower levels of omega‑3 fatty acids than older estimates. The drop reflects a shift in salmon feed from wild fish to terrestrial oils and crops such as soy and canola. That change has linked nutrition losses to broader environmental harm from expanded soy production.
Researchers have described a previously unrecognised small wildcat from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forests and given it the scientific name Leopardus tilcayo. Genetic analysis has shown the tilcayo split from related tiger cats about 1.4 million years ago. Scientists have confirmed the species from sanctuary animals, museum specimens and camera-trap records but they still do not know its full range or population size.
The Brazilian election is entering a decisive phase as legal battles and foreign interference concerns escalate. Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro lead a closely watched race ahead of the October runoff, with the judiciary and international pressures shaping public trust and policy direction.
Opinion polls and election results have shown Senator Flávio Bolsonaro leading President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after the Oct. 4 first round, and polls released in mid‑October have kept the race within a narrow margin ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff. Bolsonaro has consolidated some endorsements while Lula has pushed a shorter workweek and social measures to energise voters.
Official satellite data has shown Amazon forest loss fell 41.8% to 3,335 sq km in the 12 months to July 2026, the smallest annual loss since monitoring began in 1988. Brazil’s government credits strengthened enforcement and revived anti-deforestation programs, while a presidential run-off between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro will determine whether protections continue.
Lula has secured a fourth term after a runoff in which he gained about 4.4 million votes more than Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is contesting the results, calling for annulment, while Lula’s victory is recognized by many world leaders. The extension of voting hours sparked controversy, with courts extending voting to address transport and weather issues.
The Guardian and AP reports show Lula has won the runoff, while the opposition faces a Congress sympathetic to extractivism. Analysts warn that deforestation pressures persist, even as Amazon protections see a record decline in destruction under Lula. The result signals a global south leadership moment, with the Amazon's fate closely tied to policy shifts and international funding.
The government has announced that Bolsonaro has been ordered to surrender his passports within 24 hours, amid a money‑laundering probe linked to a biopic financing. He has denied wrongdoing and is staying in Brazil, while authorities check border crossings for possible travel.