Environment

• Tuesday, December 29th 2015 - 21:54 UTC

  Environmental groups blame massive deforestation for floods in Mercosur members

  

  Deforestation is one of the main causes of the floods in South America that have left at least 160,000 people, 25,000 of them in Argentina alone, homeless, environmental groups said.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2015 - 07:46 UTC

  New five-year strategy for South Georgia emphasizes environment management

  

  The new five-year Strategy for South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands 2016-2020 was published on 27th November. The Strategy sets out an ambitious agenda to deliver the highest standards of environmental stewardship and governance for the British Overseas Territory, according to the latest South Georgia Newsletter.

• Thursday, December 24th 2015 - 10:56 UTC

  Brazil is suing BHP and Vale 'at least' US$ 5bn for Minas Gerais mining disaster

  

  A Brazilian federal court has ordered BHP Billiton and Vale to set aside US$ 491.5 million, with the possibility of billions more, has frozen the mining giants' assets in the country, and ordered it to carry out extensive environmental and social work in the region hit by a dam burst at its joint venture.

• Tuesday, December 22nd 2015 - 15:19 UTC

  Huge asteroid will cross the sky on Christmas eve at 11m km from planet Earth

  

  In a new twist to the old song, it’s Santa Claus who had “better watch out” on Christmas Eve, as he shares the night sky with a huge asteroid that will make its closest pass to Earth at about the same time the jolly old fellow is making his annual deliveries.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2015 - 06:23 UTC

  Paris climate agreement triggers praise for French diplomacy and minister Fabius

  

  France seems to have achieved an unachievable triumph: uniting the world to seal a global climate pact. The Paris climate agreement, adopted on Saturday, was the culmination of more than a year of intense diplomatic efforts by France. Delegates and foreign dignitaries cheered Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the host of the two-week talks, and gave him a standing ovation.

• Wednesday, December 9th 2015 - 08:42 UTC

  Renowned conservationist Doug Tompkins dies during kayak accident in Chilean Patagonia

  

  Douglas Tompkins, 72, the renowned conservationist and co-founder of The North Face, died on Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Lake General Carrera, on the Chilean side of Patagonia. He reportedly capsized in the water and suffered severe hypothermia. A source from Conservacion Patagonica, the non-profit founded in 2000 by his wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, confirmed his death.

• Thursday, December 3rd 2015 - 07:48 UTC

  Argentina will have a state of the art fisheries research vessel in 2017

  

  Argentina's Fisheries Research and Development Institute, INIDEP, has signed the contract for the construction of a new fisheries and oceanographic research vessel to be built at the Armon shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The financing for the vessel and refurbishing of INIDEP's offices and labs comes from the Inter-American Development bank with a 30m dollars loan.

• Wednesday, December 2nd 2015 - 12:38 UTC

  Brazil's worst mining disaster will stress test 'king iron' Vale's resources

  

  Brazil's deadly mining disaster could cost Vale SA at least US$443 million, but it is too early to put a price tag on what it expects to be a long clean-up from the pollution spilled when the toxic dam burst.

• Wednesday, December 2nd 2015 - 12:21 UTC

  Largest whale stranding, 337 Sei specimens, reported in extreme south Chile

  

  A total of 337 sei whales have been found beached in the extreme south of Chile in what scientists state is one of the biggest whale stranding ever recorded. Biologist Vreni Häussermann made the discovery along with other scientists in June during an observation flight over fjords in Chile's southern Patagonia region.

• Monday, November 30th 2015 - 07:03 UTC

  What I expect from the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris

  

  By Ban Ki-Moon (*) - For the nearly nine years that I have been Secretary-General, I have travelled the world to the front-lines of climate change, and I have spoken repeatedly with world leaders, business people and citizens about the need for an urgent global response