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In the context of compounding health, environmental, and climatic crises, Brazil may witness two of its most important environmental policy instruments, environmental licensing and impact assessment, be severely weakened. On May 13, 2021, the Chamber of Deputies passed a new General Law of Environmental Licensing, ignoring the concerns of civil society, scientists, and other relevant parties. If approved by the Senate and ratified by President Bolsonaro, this law will further undermine Brazil's increasingly fragile environmental protection and public participation in decision-making. Here, we review the bill's main provisions, highlighting potential far-reaching implications for environmental protection and governance, public participation in decision-making, and human rights in Brazil and beyond. Scientists can play an important role in debunking misinformation and advising Senators and the public opinion on the bill's dangerous effects. • A General Law of Environmental Licensing is a roll-back in Brazil's environmental legislation. • Bill 2159/2021 was approved by Chamber of Deputies without civil society dialogue. • The Bill's provisions affect each stage of licensing and impact assessment process. • The proposed bill weakens the territorial rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. • National and international adverse consequences of this bill are far-reaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have applied a crossgradient joint inversion and geospectral visualization method to marine seismic reflection, magnetotelluric, gravity, and magnetic data sets acquired along a 162 km profile across a segment of Santos Basin oil province in the continental margin of southeast Brazil. The main exploration targets are the top of the fractured Precambrian crystalline basement and any concealed basement grabens, the overlying presalt and salt/carbonate deposits, and the postsalt cover deposits. The results of joint inversion clearly mapped the various units and are a significant improvement over previous models derived from separate 2D seismic reflection processing and 2D magnetotelluric imaging. Additionally, multispectral fusion of these models resulted in a single image that permits highly constrained geologic interpretations enabling a better understanding of basin architecture. We suggest that joint inversion and image fusion is the way forward for effective geophysical integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Brazil is experiencing a surge in planting of sugar cane crops driven by internal markets and external policy drivers for biofuels. The current expectation is for the expansion of these crops to continue. This creates concern over the extent to which the full implications of large scale land use change are currently being considered by decision-makers. Using the State of São Paulo as a case study (as it accounts for the majority of sugar cane grown in Brazil), a comparison was made of the impacts identified in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and Preliminary Environmental Reports (PERs), which have to be submitted for approval of most new sugar cane activities, with significant impacts known to be associated with sugar cane activities derived from literature review. The results from a review of 32 EISs and PERs (30% of the population) indicated that whilst some impacts were well covered by the sample (water and soil pollution, and air emissions) energy balance and Green House Gas emissions and food security had very limited consideration, and water resources, residues, labour conditions and social responsibility were only partially covered. Environmental Impact Assessment is constrained by its environmental advocacy role and its application to the project level only. This study highlights its limitations in the context of assessment of land use change which demands more strategic consideration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Serra do Mar, in Southeastern Brazil, is an extremely diverse and rich environment characterized by intense rainfall and steep slopes covered by tropical rainforest. A number of roads, highways, railways, pipelines, and transmission lines cross this zone. A new highway that has been approved by the Sa˜o Paulo State environment authorities is currently under construction.During the approval phase, the issue of ensuring proper implementation of mitigation measures arose as a significant concern. As a consequence, an innovative institutional arrangement has been set up for following-up, by which a multi-institutional multidisciplinary team performs weekly inspection tours, whereas the project owner hired its own consultant to oversee the construction, putting the contractor under strict scrutiny. Among the most significant issues addressed, the following are particularly relevant: (1) erosion and sediment yield; (2) river siltation; (3) slope stability; (4) excavated soil and rock disposal; (5) management of water pumped from tunneling; and (6) minimizing habitat loss.Results show that strict environmental supervision can effectively ensure that environmental impacts can be maintained within the limits of predicted impacts or legal requirements. Furthermore, this case showed that careful review of environmental impact studies and the establishment of detailed terms and conditions to be fulfilled by the proponent during the construction phase are necessary conditions for a successful follow-up. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Human impact on coastal ecosystems is one of the greatest environmental threats of our times. An understanding of the scale and magnitude of species and habitat degradation requires a long-term perspective that incorporates historical information from a range of sources, including local newspapers. Here we provide a novel contribution to the historical ecology of marine organisms along the Brazilian coast by exploring evidence of anthropogenic impacts in digitized historical newspapers spanning 167 years, available from the Brazilian Digital Newspapers and Periodicals Library. Using the keyword pesca we analyzed over seven thousand matches published in 26 newspapers between 1849 and 2016 in the state of Santa Catarina, one of the largest fish producing territories in Brazil. We found evidence of anthropogenic impacts involving overfishing and bycatch as early as the 19th century, well before the commencement of scientific studies and collection of fisheries landing data in the region. Impacts were exacerbated by the expansion of commercial fishing beginning in 1930, a process that seemingly increased competition for resources, while from 1980 onward anthropogenic impacts were mostly reported in relation to habitat degradation due to urbanization (including tourism) and industrialization. The results reveal that historical newspapers are valuable sources of information on local stakeholder perceptions of environmental and resource changes, and thus can provide a deeper temporal perspective to studies involving local, traditional-citizen knowledge in conservation and management actions. [Display omitted] • Newspapers offer snapshots of past coastal socio-ecological systems in Brazil. • Newspapers documented local perception of marine population decline. • Impacts on coastal ecosystems were documented since the end of the 19th century. • Newspapers provide clues to the nature of past anthropogenic impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reducing TB mortality is a great challenge in Brazil due to its territorial extension, cultural variations and economic and political crises, which impact the health system. This study aimed to estimate in space and time the risk of TB mortality and test its relationship with social inequities., Methods: This was an ecological study that included deaths from TB between 2006 and 2016 in Cuiabá, Brazilian Legal Amazon. Bayesian models based on the integrated nested Laplace approximation approach were used to estimate spatio-temporal RRs. RRs for TB mortality were obtained according to the covariables representative of social inequities., Results: The risk of TB mortality was stable between 2006 and 2016 and high-risk areas were identified throughout the municipality studied. Regarding social inequities, income was an important factor associated with TB mortality risk, as an increase of 1 SD in income resulted in a 35.4% (RR 0.646; CI 95% 0.476 to 0.837) decrease in risk., Conclusions: The results provided evidence of areas with higher TB mortality risks that have persisted over time and are related to social inequities. Advancing social policies and protections in these areas will contribute to achieving the WHO's End TB strategy., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)