
Pro and anti-whaling nations are set for a showdown when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in Brazil from Monday as Japan leads an assault on a three-decade old moratorium on commercial whale hunting. Tokyo heads into the biennial meeting as chair of the 88-nation body determined to shake-up what it says is a dysfunctional organization mired in dispute and unable to make key decisions.

A large iceberg in Antarctica has calved off the Larsen C ice shelf as of July last year and budged only a little from the coast until recently. In the past two months, the iceberg, known as 'A68', has taken a drastic 90 degree swing away from the Antarctic mainland and into the Southern Ocean.

The Falkland Islands have warned that a million penguins are at risk from a funding black hole caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union. The Islands rely on European conservation projects to care and protect the penguin colonies, rookeries, in its shores. But with the U.K. fast approaching Brexit Day in March 2019, Falklands' lawmaker Teslyn Barkman has urged clarity on the future of Islands’ flippered friends.

A rare snowfall was seen across parts of Uruguay on Sunday while graupel resulted in an icy coating across parts of eastern Argentina.

Large numbers of emus have been flocking to an outback mining town in New South Wales as Australia continues to struggle with extreme drought. The flightless birds are desperately searching for food and water in Broken Hill, local animal rescue services say.

A potential ban on the popular herbicide glyphosate in Brazil over concerns it may cause cancer in humans would be a “disaster” for the country’s agricultural industry, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Thursday.

An indigenous leader has been found murdered in Brazil, exposing the growing threat to tribes fighting illegal logging in the Amazon, campaigners and authorities said. Jorginho Guajajara was found dead in the northern state of Maranhao with his neck broken, rights group Survival International said. Police in Maranhao confirmed on Thursday they were investigating the case.

Shares in German pharmaceutical group Bayer have dropped sharply following a US verdict linking a product to cancer. By mid-morning on Monday, Bayer's shares had lost 10.4% of their value.

Pharmaceutical group Bayer has dismissed claims that an ingredient used in weed killers is carcinogenic. The German company, which owns agriculture giant Monsanto, says herbicides containing glyphosate are safe.

According to a recent study undertaken by a team of fisheries and social scientists from Dalhousie University, New York University, and National Geographic, fishing fleets operating outside of national waters contribute less than 3% to the world's seafood supply.