A heat wave brought blistering temperatures to the streets of Chile's capital, Santiago, on Wednesday and broke a century-old record as thermometers reached 37.3 Celsius. Chile's meteorological service called the event extreme, while the health ministry advised residents to wear light clothing, drink water and avoid outdoor activities.
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has been recognized in a recent suite of Antarctic place names made by the United Kingdom.The place-names selected for inclusion in a place-naming theme for the pioneers of safe and environmentally responsible Antarctic tourism, includes a group of islands in the Grandidier Channel named the IAATO Islands, to reflect the organization’s role, over the past 25 years, in advocating and promoting the practice of safe and environmentally-responsible Antarctic tourism.
On the twenty fifth anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty Protocol on Environmental Protection, British Minister for Polar Regions, Sir Alan Duncan underlined the hsitoric contribution and role played by the UK in Antarctica and in elaborating the protocol. Sir Duncan also pointed out that Antarctica has been the scene of considerable cooperation between the UK and Argentina, both within the Treaty system and in the field of science, an area where I hope we may be able to do even more in the coming years.
A massive rift in the Antarctica has been spotted by NASA, but the troubling details about the rift is causing the agency to worry. The ice shelf in Larsen C that is close to breaking off is as big as the size of the state of Delaware.
The Patagonia territories of Chile and Argentina, Aysen region and Santa Cruz province are under yellow alert since Saturday evening given the growing seismic activity of the Hudson volcano. The alert is specifically referred to the towns of Los Antiguos and Perino Moreno, Argentina and the Chilean communes of Aysen, General Carrera, Rio Ibañez and Chile Chico in the Aysen Region.
Hurricane Otto finally made its way through Central American and onto the Pacific Ocean Friday leaving at least nine people dead in Costa Rica in villages of The northern part of the country, bordering Nicaragua, where some 7,000 villagers had to me moved into shelters.
Palestinian firefighters and trucks and firefighting aircraft from Turkey, Greece, Croatia and Russia joined the operation to put down the flames. For four days, Israel has fought in its entire territory dozens of fires that spread thanks to a great drought and strong winds.
Otto was by Thursday a dangerous Category 2 hurricane on a sparsely populated stretch of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, while heavy rains from the storm were blamed for three deaths in Panama this week.
Japan’s east coast, near Fukushima - the very site that witnessed the devastating 2011 earthquake, followed by a tsunami that claimed closed to 19,000 lives - was jostled by yet another massive quake on Tuesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey has measured the earthquake at magnitude 6.9, while Japan’s Meteorological Agency placed the earthquake at magnitude 7.3 and said it occurred at 6 am local time and was measured at a depth of 6.2 miles.
Due to an unprecedented drought and to other man-caused factors, the country is suffering from water scarcity in five of its nine departments. La Paz's three main dams are almost dry and the city's residents have seen their taps go dry for up to 60 consecutive hours.