Environment
EnvironmentBan Ki moon message on Mother Earth Day 2016: Trees for the Earth
This year, Earth Day coincides with the signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which takes place at UN Headquarters in New York. The Agreement was adopted by all 196 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015.
Di Caprio addresses the UN on Earth Day and to celebrate the Paris Agreement
This year, the United Nations has decided to celebrate Earth Day, 22 April, in a very special way, by signing the Paris Agreement: a landmark climate change accord that came out of negotiations at the COP21 climate summit in Paris last December. This, of course, was extremely great news for climate advocates and ambassadors all over the world, including Oscar-winning actor and UN Messenger of Peace, Leonardo Di Caprio.
Floods in Uruguay have 10.000 people displaced and losses are estimated in a billion dollars
Uruguay's emergency committee reported on Thursday another death and over 10.000 people displaced because of widespread floods that followed a tornado and several days pouring rain. The ninth victim is a farmhand who fell off his horse while trying to cross an overflowed canal. A few hours before the body of a missing farmer was found kilometers down a river that sucked him while he was trying to save cattle.
Ecuador raises taxes to rebuild cities devastated by major earthquake which continues with aftershocks
President Rafael Correa announced Wednesday night that he is raising sales taxes and will charge a one-time levy on millionaires to rebuild cities devastated by Ecuador's worst earthquake in decades. In a televised address, Correa said damages from the 7.8-magnitude quake will likely run into the billions of dollars, adding to already heavy economic hardships triggered by the collapse in world oil prices.
Monsanto in collision course with the administration of president Macri
Monsanto has rejected a request by Argentina for more time to collect monies owed by small farmers for royalties on genetically modified soybean seeds. Argentine agricultural minister Ricardo Buryaile and members of his staff have met with Monsanto representatives, including chief operating officer Brett Begemann to request a waiver on the monies owed.
Ecuador quake primary toll: 262 killed and over 2.500 injured, but climbing
Aid began to flow in Sunday to areas devastated by Ecuador's strongest earthquake in decades and the death toll continued to rise as people left homeless hunkered down for another night outside in the dark.
Mysterious death of tens of tons of sardines in south Chile; consumption banned
Chile’s government has temporarily banned the consumption of sardines in the south of the country after hundreds of thousands of dead fish turned up floating along the shores of Queule River.
Arctic sea ice recorded its lowest maximum level on record
The growth of Arctic sea ice this winter recorded the lowest maximum level on record, prompting fears of faster climate change than previously expected. Unusually warm temperatures were said to be responsible for the shrinkage.
Japan announces it has harpooned 333 whales in Antarctic waters; conservationists outraged
The Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), the body behind the Japanese government’s whaling program, announced the return of the Japanese whaling fleet from its Antarctic operations. It is the first time that the Japanese whalers have returned to the Southern Ocean to slaughter whales since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled its whaling program to be illegal in 2014.
Finland's new state of the art icebreaker Polaris will also be the world's greenest
Due for delivery in the second quarter of the year, Finland’s new icebreaker Polaris is the world’s first to feature dual fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel propulsion, earning the icebreaking vessel designations as the Finland’s most powerful and the world’s greenest.
