Environment

• Thursday, October 31st 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  Chile will not host APEC trade meeting and COP25 climate conference: “common sense”

  

  Chile has withdrawn as host of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade summit in November and the COP25 climate conference in December after several weeks of violent unrest, President Sebastian Piñera announced on Wednesday. He described the decision as “deeply painful” but “common sense” dictated the decision to withdraw from the two major international summits.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2019 - 09:23 UTC

  Oil spills on Brazil's northeast beaches, “the worst environmental attack”

  

  Oil spills washing up on beaches along more than 2,000 kilometers of Brazil’s northeast coastline could be the worst environmental “attack” in the country’s history, the CEO of Petrobras said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2019 - 09:20 UTC

  Falklands wildlife and tourism promoted by French news agency

  

  Waddling up the beach in single file, their heads held high with an almost self-important demeanor, king penguins are a major draw in the Falkland Islands' tourism industry. Their fluffy brown chicks are nearly fearless of humans, meaning tourists at Volunteer Point, a peninsula on East Falkland Island might get almost close enough to touch one.

• Monday, October 28th 2019 - 08:48 UTC

  California declares emergency as wildfires blaze across the state

  

  California's governor declared a state-wide emergency on Sunday as a huge wind-fuelled blaze forced evacuations and massive power blackouts, threatening tourist towns in the state's famed Sonoma wine region.

• Saturday, October 26th 2019 - 09:14 UTC

  AFP Photo of Brazilian boy with body smeared in oil goes viral

  

  A boy walks ashore in Brazil in filthy waist-high water with a look of exasperation and his body smeared in oil, a photographer takes a shot, and the image goes viral.

• Friday, October 25th 2019 - 09:45 UTC

  Alarming level of mercury contamination in Amazon dolphins: illegal gold mining

  

  Amazon river dolphins are showing alarming levels of contamination mainly because of illegal panning for gold, conservationists say. Researchers measured contamination levels in 46 of these large freshwater creatures known for long, bottle-like snouts in major basins of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.

• Friday, October 25th 2019 - 08:41 UTC

  Uncontrolled wildfire raging through wine territory in California

  

  About 50,000 people were ordered to flee their homes north of Los Angeles on Thursday as a fast-moving wildfire driven by high winds erupted and raged out of control. The so-called Tick Fire near Santa Clarita, about 55km north of Los Angeles, broke out in the early afternoon and quickly consumed 5,000 acres, fire officials said.

• Wednesday, October 23rd 2019 - 09:45 UTC

  Brazil has collected 600 tons of oil from the spill along northeastern beaches

  

  Brazil has collected more 600 tons of oil from its northeastern beaches since Sept. 12, the government said, more than double an estimate of oil and sand collected by state-run oil company Petrobras.

• Wednesday, October 23rd 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  German farmers protest new agricultural policy which promotes organic practices

  

  Thousands of farmers drove their tractors into German cities on Tuesday, in protest at the government's new agricultural policies which they say will hurt their livelihoods and make them scapegoats for climate change.

• Tuesday, October 22nd 2019 - 09:30 UTC

  Brazilian oil spill: Bolsonaro does not discard a “criminal act” designed to harm a major auction next month

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro questioned whether a far-reaching oil spill on the nation’s northeastern shore may have been a criminal act designed to harm a major oil auction scheduled for November.