Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2025 - 14:51 UTC

Environment

  • Tuesday, July 2nd 2024 - 08:03 UTC

    Ban on Heavy Fuel Oil shipping in Arctic waters has become effective

    In colder waters, experts say, the fuel does not break down but sinks in lumps that linger in sediments, threatening fragile ecosystems.

    An international ban starting July first, on the use of Heavy Fuel Oil, HFO, in the Arctic region adopted by the United Nations maritime body, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), at the Marine Environment Protection Committee, in June 2021, has come into effect aiming to protect the vulnerable waters from the risk of oil spills.

  • Monday, July 1st 2024 - 04:01 UTC

    Subzero temperatures recorded in southern Brazil

    The weather is expected to remain unusually cold in the coming days

    Areas in southern Brazil recorded subzero temperatures Sunday as a strong and broad mass of polar air hit the States of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, Agencia Brasil reported citing data from the National Meteorological Institute (Inmet) as well as from Epagri/Ciram, an agency of the Santa Catarina state government.

  • Thursday, June 27th 2024 - 22:00 UTC

    Panama Canal easing crossing conditions beginning July 11

    Incoming new Panama president Jose Raúl Mulino put water levels at the country’s canal as one of his most important items on his agenda

    The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced an increase in draft and daily transits, with the authorized draft raised by another 30 cm on Wednesday to 14.3 m, and will increase to 14.63 m on July 11.

  • Thursday, June 27th 2024 - 19:24 UTC

    Denmark plans to tackle animal gas emissions with a livestock tax

    Dairy farming is believed to contribute greatly to the production of human-related greenhouse gases

    Denmark's coalition government agreed this week to tax livestock owners the equivalent of US$96 per head per year from 2030 due to greenhouse gases produced by animal flatulence, Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus announced. The move on cows, pigs, and sheep is expected to result in a 70% reduction from 1990 levels by the end of the decade on the path to carbon neutrality, Bruus explained. “We will take a big step towards climate neutrality in 2045,” he emphasized. The tax is expected to be approved by Parliament later this year.

  • Wednesday, June 26th 2024 - 10:50 UTC

    Three icebergs sighted off Ushuaia

    These icebergs usually melt down as they “enter warmer waters,” a PNA Officer explained

    Argentina's Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina - PNA) alerted all sailing ships this week of three icebergs near Ushuaia and advised them to avoid all unnecessary approaching these ice floes, of which only 10% is visible on the surface. The first detection was reported last Saturday by the Argentine-flagged fishing vessel Echizen Maru and the latest spotting came through on Monday at the Beagle Channel exit into the open sea.

  • Wednesday, June 26th 2024 - 09:04 UTC

    The tipping point that melts large ice sheets, findings by BAS scientists

    The region beneath an ice sheet where the ground-based ice meets the sea is known as the grounding zone.

    A new and worrying way that large ice sheets can melt has been characterized by scientists for the first time. The research focuses on how relatively warm seawater can lap at the underside of ground-based ice, which can accelerate the movement of the ice into the ocean.

  • Wednesday, June 26th 2024 - 08:45 UTC

    UNESCO calls on Australia for 'utmost priority' in protecting the Great Barrier Reef

    UNESCO did not recommend placing the reef on its endangered heritage list, but did ask Australia to update protection efforts by early next year.

    UNESCO has cautioned that the Australian Great Barrier Reef “remains under serious threat,” calling on the country to take immediate action to protect the world's largest coral system. “Urgent and sustained action is of utmost priority,” the United Nations' cultural organization said in a draft decision released this week.

  • Tuesday, June 25th 2024 - 08:23 UTC

    State of emergency declared in Mato Grosso do Sul due to Pantanal fire

    Mato Grosso do Sul Governor Eduardo Riedel declared an emergency situation in the state's municipalities affected by forest fires

    Brazilian authorities have declared a state of emergency for six months in Mato Grosso do Sul in a move to facilitate help against the fire in the Pantanal, a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands, where flames reached 627,000 hectares this year, according to the Laboratory of Environmental Satellite Applications (Lasa) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Experts believe the main cause for this phenomenon was the extreme drought coupled with human action, especially agricultural expansion.

  • Monday, June 24th 2024 - 08:46 UTC

    Excessive heat leaves over 1,300 Mecca pilgrims dead

    Most fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures to perform the rituals

    According to the latest report from Saudi Arabian authorities, 1,301 people died during this year's traditional pilgrimage to Mecca due to a scorching heat of about 52º C. ”Unfortunately, the number of fatalities reached 1,301, 83% of whom were not authorized to perform the 'hajj' (pilgrimage) and walked huge distances under the sun, without adequate protection and comfort,” the Saudi Health Ministry noted.

  • Saturday, June 22nd 2024 - 06:37 UTC

    BAS three winter stations celebrate the longest night in Antarctica

    Midwinter falls when the sun is at its furthest point and some of the frozen continent will be experiencing 24 hours of darkness on its shortest day.

    June 21st marks the longest night in Antarctica and a very special Midwinter’s Day with 47 people or ‘winterers’ living and working at British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) three winter stations: Rothera on the Antarctic peninsula, and King Edward Point and Bird Island on South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.