Bolivian authorities have enacted an orange alert after eight rivers were determined to be at imminent risk of overflowing, which would affect eight departments nationwide, the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (Senamhi) reported. The measure will be in force until Jan. 7.
Argentine President Javier Milei will be traveling to Antarctica this coming Friday, Jan. 5, alongside Ministers Diana Mondino (Foreign Affairs) and Luis Petri (Defense), it was reported in Buenos Aires. The head of state intends to launch a pollution control, according to Casa Rosada sources.
Chile's Government Friday announced it was extending the agricultural emergency stemming from a water deficit due to poor rains, it was reported in Santiago. With this measure, authorities may keep up the aid to producers from Atacama to Magallanes until Sept. 30, 2024.
Scientists, including from British Antarctic Survey, have used octopus DNA to discover that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) likely collapsed during the Last Interglacial period around 120,000 years ago – when the global temperatures were similar to today.
A recent study from the European Union Science Center showed that rivers in the Amazon basin have been severely affected by historic poor rainfalls, Agencia Brasil reported. The region's biodiversity has also been hit by the meteorological conditions, particularly in the headwaters of the Solimões, Purus, Juruá, and Madeira rivers (Brazil's Amazonas state) and also in parts of Peruvian and Bolivian forests.
The lower house of Brazil's Congress passed a bill that allows the paving of highway BR319, which crosses the heart of the Amazon basin and which scientists and environmentalists claim threatens the future of the world's largest tropical rainforest. The bill still has to be approved by the Senate.
On Tuesday 28 November 2023 a black-browed albatross, that was found dead on Steeple Jason, was swabbed for highly pathogenic avian influenza. A positive result was returned.
The Falkland Islands patrol vessel HMS Forth, has paid a visit to the island of South Georgia, where it met some of its permanent residents, penguins and seals, to look after their well being and the environment.
In a significant step towards supporting marine conservation efforts in the South Atlantic, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) has announced the successful transition of ownership of Pharos Marine Limited (part of the Falklands based Byron group) to Workboat Services Limited, WBS, ensuring the continued operational presence of the vessel MV Pharos SG in the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands Maritime Zone.
At least 13 people were reported dead in the city port of Bahía Blanca some 690 kilometers south of the Argentine capital and three others elsewhere in the province of Buenos Aires after Sunday's storms. Parts of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), where one victim was reported, and other provinces were left without electricity for hours.