MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hot News from South America.

Iceberg proliferation

An Antarctic ice shelf with a surface area of 3,300 square kilometers and 200 meters thick broke loose this week in the Amundsen Sea, southern Pacific according to US and UK researchers. The Larsen B shelf chunk on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula has now fragmented into icebergs which were rapidly picked up by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center satellite monitoring the area. "This is the largest single event in a series of retreats by ice shelves in the peninsula over the last 30 years. The retreats are attributed to a strong climate warming in the region", read an official release from the American Ice Center. United Kingdom agencies were alerted of the Larsen B collapse and dispatched the RRS James Clark Ross to the area to take photographs and samples of the extraordinary event. The Larsen B, one of the five ice shelves in Antarctica, is a floating extension of the ice sheets that cover the continental land mass, which have been shrinking because of climate change. British and American scientists estimate that temperature in the Antarctic peninsula has been rapidly changing in the last decades with variations in certain areas reaching two degrees Celsius. Although stunned by the size of the shelf that broke loose, scientists had anticipated the phenomenon several years ago.

Chilean Armada looks to UK

Chilean Navy Commander in Chief Admiral Miguel Angel Vergara said he was willing to discuss with the Royal Navy options for the Trident Program to replace most of the Chilean surface fleet. Admiral Vergara remarks follow British Secretary of Defence Geoffery Hoon visit to Chile who anticipated the United Kingdom's desire of closer relations with Chile in trade, investments and defence. Britain has been a traditional supplier of equipment and technology to the Chilean Navy. "If there's a formal offering we are most willing to discuss with the British Navy, with which we have close and long standing links and which we respect very much", indicated Admiral Vergara. Chile is in the midst of a renewal program of its military equipment and just a few weeks ago purchased F 16 strike aircraft from the United States, an operatio