Environment

• Tuesday, July 2nd 2019 - 09:03 UTC

  Deluge of ice pellets up to two meters deep from a hail storm covers Mexican city

  

  A freak hailstorm struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico's most populous cities, shocking residents and trapping vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to 2 meters deep.

• Monday, July 1st 2019 - 19:16 UTC

  Japan resumes commercial whaling in defiance of international criticism

  

  Five Japanese whaling vessels have set sail for the country's first commercial hunt in decades, in defiance of international criticism. The whaling ships have a permit to catch 227 minkes, Bryde's and sei whales this year in Japanese waters.

• Monday, July 1st 2019 - 18:40 UTC

  New Acting Executive Director for IAATO

  

  The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) confirmed the appointment of Dr. Terry Shaller as Acting Executive Director of IAATO. Mark van der Hulst, Chair of IAATO’s Executive Committee, said, “Terry will lead the Secretariat and work with the Executive Committee to further IAATO’s mission to advocate and promote safe, environmentally responsible private-sector travel to Antarctica.

• Monday, July 1st 2019 - 09:53 UTC

  Climate related devastation striking the world on a weekly basis, warns Guterres

  

  United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said climate-related devastation was striking the planet on a weekly basis and warned on Sunday that urgent action must be taken to avoid a catastrophe.

• Saturday, June 29th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  Europe “roasting” under a sweltering heat wave

  

  Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heat wave continued across the continent. The Meteo-France weather service lifted its red warning but forecast a “very hot day” across a large central band of the country with the mercury expected to rise to 42 degrees Celsius in some parts.

• Friday, June 28th 2019 - 19:46 UTC

  Environmentalists urge G20 to press Japan to end its whaling program

  

  Environmentalists from around the world urged global leaders at the G20 summit on Friday not to “turn a blind eye” to what they called a “cruel assault on whales” planned by host Japan when it restarts commercial whaling next week.

• Friday, June 28th 2019 - 07:38 UTC

  Bolsonaro says Germany has much to learn from Brazil on deforestation; NGOs ask EU to halt Mercosur talks

  

  President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday Germany has “a lot to learn” from Brazil when it comes to the environment, hitting back at criticism over deforestation in the Amazon. Bolsonaro made the remarks in Japan on the eve of the G20 summit, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday she would seek “straight talk” with the Brazilian leader over destruction of the rainforest.

• Thursday, June 27th 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  Giant squid filmed in the Gulf of Mexico, some 100 miles from New Orleans

  

  On June 19, Nathan Robinson was on board a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, surveying footage taken by the Medusa, a deep sea camera system. Shrimp, jellyfish, lantern sharks—the usual suspects—floated across the screen. But then, something utterly unusual crept into view: a tubular creature that suddenly unfurled its tentacles, wrapping them around the Medusa. Robinson raced to alert his colleagues to what he thought he had seen: a giant squid.

• Thursday, June 27th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Angela Merkel, despite Bayer anticipates the end of weed-killer glyphosate

  

  The use of Bayer's contested weed-killer glyphosate, the subject of more than 10,000 lawsuits in the US over claims it causes cancer, will eventually die out, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the country's lower house on Wednesday.

• Thursday, June 27th 2019 - 08:35 UTC

  
Spanish and Portuguese vessels overfishing sharks in the North Atlantic, claims Greenpeace

  

  Thousands of endangered sharks are killed each year in the North Atlantic due to a lack of protection against overfishing in international waters, Greenpeace said on Thursday .