The Ecuadorian Amazon is shut down by landslides that shut down two pipelines, and the national oil company Petroecuador has declared “force majeure” with disruptions to crude oil shipments that could last up to three weeks, exposing the vulnerability of rainforest infrastructure. Meanwhile, mercury contamination in Peru’s Madre de Dios River Basin has increased, with 84% of members of the Yanomami tribe having excessive mercury levels in their hair, infant developmental abnormalities skyrocketing, and mercury vapors used by artisanal miners having caused mercury concentrations in neighboring fish to be up to three times the safe level.
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