'Brazil was asleep': as the rains come, hope reawakens for the Amazon

While the honeymoon mood created by the new government will run up against political reality, the euphoria is not blindAwe-inspiring storms roll in almost every night during the Amazon rainy season, replenishing the Xingu River and illuminating the night sky with jags of lightning.This is a period when the forest swells with life. Lustrous pale green shoots burst from every plant, bustling the canopy upwards and outwards. At night, the volume rises a few decibels as a new generation of insects and frogs join the chorus of the dark hours. Even the howler monkeys' otherworldly audio undulations last longer and reverberate louder. Continue reading...