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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, December 12th 2025 - 02:29 UTC

Environment

  • Saturday, May 31st 2025 - 13:52 UTC

    British Family concern with Darwin Plus suspension and possible axing of vital conservation funds

    The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSPB, claims the commitment has now been suspended and the UK spending review in June will determine if it continues.

    Environmentalists, UK MPs and the same British Overseas Territories fear that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could be axing a vital fund, some £10 million to the Darwin Plus scheme, which is essential for scientific research in places such as the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

  • Saturday, May 31st 2025 - 10:55 UTC

    Argentina objects to EU's deforestation “standard” risk rating

    Argentina was ranked alongside Brazil and Paraguay but riskier than Uruguay

    Argentina has formally objected to the European Union's preliminary classification of the country as a “standard risk” under the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR). The regulation, set to take effect in 2026, aims to ensure that consumer products imported into the EU, such as soybeans, beef, timber, and cocoa, do not originate from deforested areas after December 31, 2020.

  • Thursday, May 29th 2025 - 14:49 UTC

    Forty years since the discovery of the ozone hole by a team of BAS scientists

    NASA image of the ozone hole over Antarctica (NASA)

    This month, the world will mark the 40th anniversary of a moment that changed the course of history: the publication in Nature of ground-breaking research that presented the discovery of the ozone hole more precisely on 16 May 1985.

  • Thursday, May 29th 2025 - 10:50 UTC

    Plus 400,000 Antarctica visitors forecasted next decade; IATTO’s cautious reply

    Tourist numbers have grown rapidly from some 8,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 125,000 in 2023-24, and a forecast to reach 452,000 by 2033-34.

    A new report published in the Journal for Sustainable Tourism suggests Antarctic tourist numbers could almost quadruple to 452,000 next decade. Icebergs, penguins and almost half a million annual tourists, make up the potential scenario facing Antarctica next decade,

  • Thursday, May 29th 2025 - 10:23 UTC

    Brazil: Bird flu case detected in wild animals

    The outbreak involves birds of the “joão-de-barro” species (Furnarius rufus)

    A new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in wild birds in Montenegro, in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul, specifically affecting the species joão-de-barro (Furnarius rufus) was confirmed Wednesday, while a suspected case in a commercial poultry slaughterhouse in Tocantins was ruled out.

  • Thursday, May 29th 2025 - 10:17 UTC

    Falklands, DarwinPlus project to analyze fresh water dynamics for Stanley

    The Freshwater Project involves Dr Alastair Baylis and Dr Nyein Thandar Ko who visited the Moody Brook River to download data from water loggers installed in 2022

    Two scientists from SAERI, South Atlantic Environment Research Institute have been checking on the Falkland Islands capital city Stanley main fresh water supply at the Moody Brook River.

  • Thursday, May 29th 2025 - 10:11 UTC

    Trump tells UK to get rid of unsightly windmills and open North Sea to modern drilling

    “The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!” President-elect Trump posted in early January on Truth Social

    President Donald Trump on Truth Social has strongly criticized UK’s energy policy of pursuing renewables and further taxing North Sea oil and gas operators. In a piece published in OilPrice he suggests getting rid of “costly and unsightly windmills”.

  • Monday, May 26th 2025 - 10:41 UTC

    No fatalities reported as tornado hits southern Chile

    President Boric confirmed that 8 people were injured

    An EF-1 tornado with winds between 138 and 187 km/h Sunday struck Puerto Varas in southern Chile, about 1,000 km south of Santiago, injuring eight people, none critically, and damaging approximately 150–250 homes, with significant impact on roofs, trees, power poles, and vehicles.

  • Friday, May 23rd 2025 - 10:09 UTC

    Punta Tombo penguin massacre: Conviction upheld on appeal

    The defense's proposal of land ownership handover was turned down

    A Court of Appeals is the city of Trelew in thee Argentine province of Chubut upheld this week the conviction of Ricardo La Regina, a cattle rancher found guilty of environmental damage and animal cruelty for using heavy machinery to open a road in a protected area, causing the death of 240 Magellanic penguins and destroying their nests in the Punta Tombo reserve.

  • Thursday, May 22nd 2025 - 10:52 UTC

    Brazil accounted for most of the world's forest fires last year

    A changing climate can hinder forests' natural recovery from fires

    Brazil topped the world last year in forest fires, accounting for 42% of the global loss of primary tropical forests. The extreme heat of the year, exacerbated by climate change and El Niño, intensified fires, which destroyed more forest than agribusiness activities for the first time. The worst drought ever recorded contributed to a sixfold increase in fire-related deforestation compared to 2023.