The RRS Discovery arrived on Tuesday in Chile's extreme south port of Punta Arenas in advance of her next research expedition, to undertake seismic survey and piston coring operations in the eastern Falkland Plateau region of the Sub-Antarctic Southwest Atlantic Ocean.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA is in final negotiations to supply about 700 megawatts of wind turbines for power plants in Brazil. The deal are to supply equipment for projects that Voltalia SA, EDP Renovaveis SA, Enel Green Power SpA, and Neoenergia SA are developing in northeast Brazil. The orders are all for wind farms that won government-organized power auctions in December.
In a surprise move, the Brazilian government has announced that the era of building big hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin, long criticized by environmentalists and indigenous groups, is ending.
The aftermath of a frigid “bomb cyclone” and polar vortex left much of the northeastern US and Canada frigid on Friday night. Wind chills in one part of the state of New Hampshire were forecast to hit negative 50 degrees Celsius, according to forecasters. New York Times reporters who were sent to Mount Washington in that state said the wind “steals your breath and freezes your eyelashes.”
The drought in Argentina continues in several regions and has generated a delay of planting for the 2017-18 season. A report authored by the institution AgroEducación indicated that La Niña, though subtle, already impacts the region with temperatures above normal and scarce rains.
Environmentalists in Brazil say they are trying to figure out why more than 80 gray dolphins have died in less than a month on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. A statement from the Gray Dolphin Institute says the dolphins died over past 17 days in the Bay of Sepetiba, a coastal district about 70 kilometers west of Rio de Janeiro. The institute is an NGO that monitors and strives to protect the dolphins.
Environmental charges at Heathrow are set to increase by 7% as the airport seeks to minimize its impact on local communities. From 1st January 2018, airlines are being incentivized to deploy their newest aircraft at Heathrow – making the airport cleaner and quieter for local communities.
Antipodean Albatrosses court for years, mate for life and work together to raise their young – but human activity is causing a sex ratio imbalance that is destroying their lifelong romance. This year, they have been uplisted to Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to worrying population declines.
Kelp forests grow along coastlines worldwide, largely hidden from view. Like rainforests, they're among the planet's most important ecosystems: beautiful but fragile habitats for a wide array of plant and animal species. But scientists believe kelp forests are being threatened by climate change. Now, researchers from UCLA and seven other universities have an improved tool for tracking these shifting ecosystems, the largest of which is about 5 miles long.
An acute case of intoxication with cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in recreational exposure during an algal bloom in Montevideo beaches, Malvin and Carrasco, was reported in the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.