MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 27th 2024 - 11:22 UTC

Environment

  • Friday, March 22nd 2024 - 09:12 UTC

    Over 4,700 Uruguayans displaced due to heavy storms

    A return to normalcy will depend on each department, President Lacalle explained while touring parts of the country affected by the floods (Pic L. Maine)

    A total of 4,722 Uruguayans were displaced from their homes Thursday as heavy rains caused severe floods in the departments (provinces) of Canelones, Colonia, Florida, Durazno, San Jose, Paysandu, and Rivera, the National Emergency System (Sinae) reported. President Luis Lacalle Pou visited some of the affected areas.

  • Thursday, March 21st 2024 - 09:58 UTC

    Uruguay braces for heavy storm

    “Inumet has decided to raise the current alert level from orange to red,” Santayana announced

    Classes were suspended in Uruguay for Thursday and other precautions were taken after a red alert was declared following the Weather Bureau's forecast of heavy electrical storms. Such a measure is enacted “when the intensity of a meteorological phenomenon in course or forecast implies an extreme or imminent risk level for the population in general.”

  • Wednesday, March 20th 2024 - 19:41 UTC

    One person killed, over 110,000 left without electricity in storm-hit Buenos Aires

    The SMN forecast heavy rains for the remainder of the day

    One woman was killed and over 110,000 households in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) were left with no electricity on Wednesday morning as heavy rains hit the Argentine capital and its surrounding areas, leading to the delay or cancellation of some 60 passenger flights among other nuisances such as flooded streets.

  • Tuesday, March 19th 2024 - 19:54 UTC

    No more petrol stations for the next 5 years in urban Paraguay

    In Paraguay there are approximately 35 gas stations per 100,000 inhabitants

    Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Tuesday signed a decree whereby the opening of new petrol stations was suspended for the next five years in all of the country's urban areas citing environmental concerns. The measure will thus be in force for the remainder of Peña's term in office and is already in force, it was explained.

  • Monday, March 18th 2024 - 08:29 UTC

    Falklands government thanks those involved in the Sea Lion island fire rescue operation

    (Pic Falkland Islands Fire & Rescue Service)

    The Falkland Islands government Chief Executive, Andy Keeling in an open statement has thanked all those involved in the response to the Sea Lion Island fire since Friday 8 March.

  • Monday, March 18th 2024 - 07:56 UTC

    Rio de Janeiro under unprecedented heat wave

    Higher-tan-usual temperatures have been forecast for Monday as well

    Wind chill factor included, Rio de Janeiro Sunday recorded for the second day in a row temperatures above 60º Celsius, Agencia Brasil reported. The Rio Alert System recorded 62.3ºC at the Guaratiba station, on the city's west side, at 9.55 am, the former Brazilian capital's City Council said.

  • Saturday, March 16th 2024 - 12:27 UTC

    Election time in EU; Green Deal measures are to be reviewed to try and quell farmers protests

    Farmers have organized marches on Paris, Berlin, and mostly Brussels to protest the Green Deal climate change measures

    European Parliament elections are scheduled for next June, so the European Commission faced with growing protests from farmers and their marches on some of the main cities, Berlin, France and Brussels, has in response proposed concessions on climate and environmental measures.

  • Thursday, March 14th 2024 - 16:28 UTC

    Argentina: Catamarca court orders halt to lithium extraction following environmental complaint

    The resolution fully impacts on the economic interests of an extractive activity concentrated in a resource such as lithium.

    The Court of Justice in Catamarca (Northern Argentina) has issued a divided ruling ordering a suspension of mining activity in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, impacting lithium production projects. The decision stems from an environmental protection action filed by cacique Román Elías Guitian, urging a comprehensive environmental impact study before new permits are granted.

  • Wednesday, March 13th 2024 - 09:50 UTC

    Weather conditions improving for Panama Canal transit but still far from good

    The Panama Canal was run by Washington between 1914 and 1999

    Recent rains have led the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to announce an increase in the number of vessels through the interoceanic path from 24 to 27 each day, it was reported. Being the only waterway in the world that uses fresh water to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the 80-kilometer Panamanian route carries 6% of the world's maritime trade.

  • Tuesday, March 12th 2024 - 19:03 UTC

    Heavy storm leaves one dead, downs trees, and disrupts flights in Buenos Aires

    The SMN foresees more thunderstorms for the remainder of Tuesday and Wednesday

    The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) and parts of the metropolitan areas around it which together make up the so-called AMBA were hit by heavy rains on Tuesday morning- One person was found dead in the Lanús area, five blocks from the CABA limits as residents coped with an orange alert from the National Meteorological Service (SMN) warning of possible thunderstorms and occasional hail.