Environment

• Tuesday, August 18th 2020 - 08:33 UTC

  Hottest temperature in at least a century on Sunday in Death Valley, Mojave Desert

  

  One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius).

• Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:57 UTC

  Climate change could trigger epidemics: malaria, dengue, zika, smallpox and pathogens from Siberian permafrost

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the globe and claimed more than 760,000 lives so far almost certainly came from a wild bat, highlighting the danger of humanity's constant encroachment on the planet's dwindling wild spaces.

• Monday, August 17th 2020 - 09:54 UTC

  Falklands' Conservation Zone management could be undermined by unregulated longlining

  

  A recent study has found that unregulated longline fishing for Patagonian Toothfish immediately outside the 200-mile Falkland Islands Outer Conservation Zone (FOCZ) is likely to be having significant impacts on deepwater seabed vulnerable marine ecosystems compared to the low impacts observed in licensed longline fisheries within Falklands' waters.

• Monday, August 17th 2020 - 08:52 UTC

  Indigenous people in Chile fighting to have top lithium miner permits revoked

  

  Indigenous groups in Chile´s lithium-rich Atacama salt flat, fresh off a resounding legal victory earlier this week, said they will push to see top lithium miner SQM´s environmental permits revoked and its operations shut down.

• Friday, August 14th 2020 - 08:38 UTC

  Aberdeen scientists to address Falklands' peat lands research project

  

  Scientists from Aberdeen University will travel to the Falkland Islands as part of a £230,000 research project to help prevent peatland fires. The project will use various techniques to study how the frequency, extent and intensity of burning affects the ability of peat land environments to store carbon. The news was announced by north Scotland daily The Press and Journal.

• Wednesday, August 12th 2020 - 09:58 UTC

  Bolsonaro denies fires in the Amazon rainforest and calls reports a “lie”

  

  Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday angrily denied the existence of fires in the Amazon rainforest, calling it a “lie”, despite data produced by his own government showing that thousands of fires are surging across the region.

• Tuesday, August 11th 2020 - 08:29 UTC

  Two Beluga whales returned to the ocean after ten years in Russia and China

  

  Two beluga whales taken from the sea nearly ten years ago are being returned to the ocean. Little Grey and Little White are now being looked after at the world's first open water sanctuary for belugas in Iceland.

• Monday, August 10th 2020 - 06:06 UTC

  Beirut port explosion left a 43-meter deep crater; angry protests against the political class

  

  The huge chemical explosion that hit Beirut's port, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital and claiming over 150 lives, left a 43-metre (141 foot) deep crater, a security official said on Sunday.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2020 - 10:29 UTC

  Major assets' management fund drops JBS shares based on the Brazilian company environment record

  

  Nordea Asset Management has decided to exclude shares of JBS SA worth about 40 million Euros from all of its funds this month based on the company’s environmental record and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

• Monday, August 3rd 2020 - 10:00 UTC

  Lawsuit against Australia for failing to disclose climate-change risks to its sovereign bond purchasers

  

  A 23-year-old student has filed a lawsuit against Australia's government alleging it has failed to disclose climate change-related risks to investors in the country's sovereign bonds, in the first such action against the Australian government.