Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2024 - 12:13 UTC

Environment

  • Thursday, August 25th 2016 - 06:53 UTC

    Central Italy's earthquake: 247 dead and counting fast

    Mattero Renzi PM called on his fellow citizen to unite in the face of the tragedy.

    247 dead and counting, the death toll after the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Central Italy today. It hit on a hot summer morning in the middle of a busy tourism season. Today rescuers continued to search for survivors on Thursday morning.

  • Saturday, August 20th 2016 - 06:06 UTC

    Scientists spot bright purple googly-eyed squid on Southern California ocean floor

    The animal looks like a cross between a squid and an octopus but is closely related to a cuttlefish, according to the Nautilus Live website.

    Scientists scanning the rocky ocean floor off Southern California have spotted a bright purple, googly-eyed stubby squid. The creature, a stubby squid, was discovered by the Exploration Vessel Nautilus team after they placed a camera on a remote-operated vehicle and came across the iridescent cephalopod with giant round eyes.

  • Saturday, August 20th 2016 - 05:54 UTC

    July was the northern hemisphere hottest month in history of record- keeping

    July 2016 was 1.57° F above the 20th-century average, breaking last year’s record for the warmest July on record by 0.11° F, according to scientists from NOAA

    July is typically the hottest month for the globe in the northern hemisphere, and last month didn’t disappoint. But this time around, it was not only the hottest July on record, but the hottest month in the history of record-keeping.

  • Saturday, August 20th 2016 - 01:50 UTC

    Falklands allows return of abandoned Argentine yacht rescued in Islands waters last October

    “La Sanmartiniana” was discovered abandoned and adrift in the Falklands waters by Fisheries Protection Patrol Protegat and towed to Stanley.

    The Argentine flagged yacht “La Sanmartiniana” which was rescued in October 2015 while abandoned and adrift, by a Falkland Islands Fisheries Protection Vessel and towed to Stanley, where it has remained since waiting for claimants, has finally been released, after the Argentine group FIPCA complied with all the formalities for its recovery.

  • Tuesday, August 16th 2016 - 21:44 UTC

    Ocean warming primary cause of glacier retreat in the Antarctic Peninsula

    Some 90% of the 674 glaciers in this region have retreated since records began in the 1940s.

    A new study has found for the first time that ocean warming is the primary cause of retreat of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Peninsula is one of the largest current contributors to sea-level rise and this new finding will enable researchers to make better predictions of ice loss from this region.

  • Monday, August 15th 2016 - 13:34 UTC

    New Zealand track Rockhopper penguins 15.000 km winter journeys

    It's hoped the study will help determine why Rockhopper numbers on New Zealand's Campbell Island have plummeted.

    Two species of sub-Antarctic penguin have surprised scientists in New Zealand by travelling up to 15,000km during six months spent at sea. Researchers tagged 90 Rockhopper and Snares crested penguins to find out where they go during the southern hemisphere's winter, and were astonished by the birds' long-distance journeys, the New Zealand Herald reports.

  • Tuesday, August 9th 2016 - 22:18 UTC

    Seabirds threatened by by-catches, pollutants and climate change, according to BAS research

    Lead author Dr Richard Phillips from BAS says seabirds become hooked on baited hooks, trapped in nets or collide with warp cables, when scavenging for food

    A review of breeding distributions, population trends, threats and key priorities for conservation actions on land and at sea for the 29 species covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) has been published in the journal Biological Conservation. It reveals increased conservation efforts are required in order to secure a sustainable future for albatrosses and large petrels.

  • Saturday, July 30th 2016 - 08:38 UTC

    Olympics equestrian sports have to live with glanders scare in Rio

    Highly contagious and incurable, glanders has prompted Brazilian agricultural officials to destroy hundreds of horses across the country over the past two years

    Brazil's summer Olympics, scheduled to be opened in less than a week, have added another challenge to the long list of complaints and disease-scares, such as Zika, but this time the culprits are not mosquitoes but an alleged outbreak of glanders disease, a deadly equine respiratory condition. And this has surfaced when the world's top riders and their mounts prepare to compete in Rio de Janeiro events.

  • Saturday, July 30th 2016 - 08:15 UTC

    “Keep mouths closed” aquatic athletes competing at Rio Olympics have been told

    Rio Olympics Games aquatic athletes will “literally be swimming in human crap” and could pick up heavy duty illnesses from the contaminated water.

    Aquatic athletes competing in the forthcoming Rio Olympics Games have been advised to keep their mouths shut while competing because they will “literally be swimming in human crap” and could pick up heavy duty illnesses from the contaminated water.

  • Tuesday, July 26th 2016 - 17:33 UTC

    A recent pause in Antarctic Peninsula warming

    BAS Dr Robert Mulvaney says: “meteorological observations from the Antarctic Peninsula research stations only cover the last 60 years or so”

    The rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula, which occurred from the early-1950s to the late 1990s, has paused. Stabilisation of the ozone hole along with natural climate variability were significant in bringing about the change. Together these influences have now caused the northern part of the peninsula to enter a temporary cooling phase.