Environment

Saturday, January 25th 2020 - 09:00 UTC
Even the richest of the richest now admit climate change is an existential threat

By Gwynne Dyer – Donald Trump's speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday contained no surprises: half an hour of chest-thumping self-praise, although without the usual xenophobia and dog-whistle racism. It was, after all, an audience of the ultra-rich and powerful in which most of the movers and shakers were not American.
Friday, January 24th 2020 - 08:45 UTC
Greta Thunberg and US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin clash at Davos over climate change

The United States' financial chief on Thursday told Swedish teen Greta Thunberg to go study before calling for a fossil fuel halt, prompting the climate campaigner to reply it doesn't “take a degree” to understand the science.
Thursday, January 23rd 2020 - 19:29 UTC
Falklands/Argentine fisheries scientific meetings unlikely to take place

A UK/Falklands-Argentina meeting of the South Atlantic Scientific Sub-Committee scheduled for January is “unlikely” to take place, the Falklands lawmaker MLA Teslyn Barkman told Penguin News. The prospect of this happening and “taking Britain out of the comfort zone enjoyed” until now, had been advanced by Mercopress.
Thursday, January 23rd 2020 - 08:45 UTC
Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne again threatened by high temperatures and bush fires

Soaring temperatures are set to stoke simmering bushfires in Australia's southeast on Thursday with Sydney forecast to hit 41 degrees Celsius following a few days of reprieve.
Wednesday, January 22nd 2020 - 08:34 UTC
Bolsonaro pledges to create an “Amazon Council” to protect the rainforest

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he will create an “Amazon Council” to coordinate the protection and sustainable development of the world's largest rainforest.
Wednesday, January 22nd 2020 - 08:02 UTC
Mining giant Vale's ex CEO charged with homicide for massive dam collapse killing 250 people

Vale's former chief executive officer was charged with homicide for the massive dam collapse that killed more than 250 people in Brazil last January (2019). Fabio Schvartsman is the highest-profile executive facing criminal charges for Brazil's worst environmental disaster.
Friday, January 17th 2020 - 16:11 UTC
Amazon deforestation soared 85% in twelve months of 2019, Brazil's Space Research

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil soared 85% in 2019, compared with the previous year, official data showed Tuesday. The 9,166 square kilometers cleared was the highest number in at least five years, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research.
Friday, January 17th 2020 - 12:28 UTC
Magellanic penguins rookery discovered in Tierra del Fuego remote island

Just in time for Penguin Awareness Day on January 20th, WCS researchers announced the discovery of a new colony of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) on a remote island in Argentina.
Friday, January 17th 2020 - 12:03 UTC
Amazon indigenous leaders summit to form alliance against Bolsonaro's environmental policy

Dozens of Amazon indigenous leaders have gathered in the heart of the threatened rainforest to form an alliance against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policy and his threats to throw their homelands open to mining concerns.
Thursday, January 16th 2020 - 19:15 UTC
Brazilian Antarctica base reopened from its ashes after eight years

Brazil Wednesday reopened its scientific Comandante Ferraz base in Antarctica, which had been destroyed in a fire in 2012. In the incident two soldiers died and more than two thirds of the facilities were destroyed.