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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 2nd 2025 - 00:31 UTC

Environment

  • Monday, October 24th 2016 - 22:42 UTC

    Japan and South Atlantic sanctuary main contentions at the Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia

    Hunting nations Japan, Norway and Iceland are traditionally pitted against much of the rest of the world at the biennial IWC meetings

    Representatives from more than 80 nations will square off in Slovenia this week over the fate of the world’s remaining whales as hunters, ship strikes and fishing gear threaten their survival. The stage is set for heated debate, as the 88 members of the International Whaling Commission are deeply divided along pro- and anti-hunting lines.

  • Tuesday, October 18th 2016 - 18:58 UTC

    The tiny crustacean which plays a key role in fertilizing the Southern Ocean

    This natural iron fertilisation by krill stimulates the growth of phytoplankton and form the base of the Southern Ocean food web.

    Scientists have discovered that Antarctic krill – a tiny shrimp-like crustacean – plays a key role in fertilising the Southern Ocean with iron, which stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants at the base of the marine food web. This finding is important for understanding the oceans’ capacity for carbon capture.

  • Monday, October 17th 2016 - 19:25 UTC

    Historic agreement to phase down HFC gases in air conditioners and refrigerators

    Ban Ki-moon said the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol builds on the strong global momentum for multilateral efforts to address climate change

    Negotiators from nearly 200 nations reached a historic deal to phase down emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — potent greenhouse gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators. The agreement, a major expansion of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which eliminated the use of the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, was finalized during a United Nations meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

  • Monday, October 17th 2016 - 09:34 UTC

    Global momentum to protect the Antarctic Ocean builds as international talks begin in Hobart

    “The time for action to safeguard the Antarctic’s waters, the engine room of the ocean, is now. Commitments for almost 4m sq kms of MPAs have been made in the past weeks” Mike Walker said.

    The Antarctic Ocean Alliance is calling on nations to secure the future of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, at the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) currently meeting in Hobart, Australia. This week, representatives from 25 governments are gathering in Hobart to address three proposed marine protected areas, amounting to more than five million square kilometers of Antarctic waters.

  • Monday, October 17th 2016 - 06:28 UTC

    Uruguayan scientists on HMS Protector en route to Antarctica for a joint research project

    Federico Weinstein and Carolina Rodríguez are travelling on HMS Protector on a scientific cruise to Antarctica (Pics; British Embassy Uruguay)

    Two Uruguayan young scientists are on board Ice Patrol HMS Protector en route to the Falkland Islands and Antarctica and will be participating in a research program on human impact on the Antarctic marine environment including pollution mainly by plastic made products. Federico Weinstein and Carolina Rodríguez belong to the Faculty of Sciences and represent the resumption of long standing links between the Ice Patrol and Montevideo.

  • Saturday, October 15th 2016 - 10:48 UTC

    Russia Is Vital to Protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea

    Putin has expanded protection for a region known as Franz Josef Land, a remote Arctic region, of “rocky, glaciated islands” with “stunning biodiversity.”

    By José María Figueres (*) - The key to protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea may well lie with Russia. On Monday the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, comprising 24 nations and the European Union, will discuss, once again, the creation of a large, marine protected area in the Southern Ocean.

  • Friday, October 14th 2016 - 11:47 UTC

    Symbolic trial will try to hold Monsanto accountable for “ecocide”

    “The aim of the tribunal is to give a legal opinion on the environmental and health damage caused by the multinational Monsanto,” the tribunal organizers stated

    This weekend 30 witnesses and legal experts from five different continents will testify before five international judges at the three-day Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Their testimonies will attempt to hold the agrochemical giant accountable for their alleged “crimes against humanity” and destruction of the environment, or “ecocide”

  • Wednesday, October 12th 2016 - 11:00 UTC

    UN mission in Haiti to be extended six months in aftermath of hurricane Matthew

    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is recommending that the UN Stabilization Mission be extended for six months at the current force and police strength.

    With Haiti facing the dual challenges of addressing the impact of Hurricane Matthew and restarting preparations for the holding of the much-anticipated elections, the United Nations envoy for the Caribbean country on Tuesday expressed support for the recommended extension of the UN mission there by six months until mid-April 2017.

  • Monday, October 10th 2016 - 09:46 UTC

    Haiti: 1.000 dead and counting, and first cases of cholera; three days official mourning

    The powerful hurricane, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, slammed into Haiti on Tuesday leaving 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance

    Matthew, meanwhile, lost its hurricane status, subsiding to a “post-tropical cyclone” after cutting a swath from Florida to South Carolina in United States. Matthew crashed ashore on Haiti’s southern coast on Tuesday as a monster Category 4 storm, packing 230 km winds.

  • Saturday, October 8th 2016 - 11:13 UTC

    Antarctica celebrates 25th anniversary of the Environment Protection Protocol

    Signed on 4 October 1991 by 31 countries, the Madrid Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1998, once it had been ratified by all 26 ATCPs countries

    Tuesday 4 October was the 25th anniversary of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty which was created in order to protect the unique and pristine Antarctic landscape. The Protocol designates Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science; and bans the commercial extraction of minerals (mining and drilling).