Environment

• Friday, February 26th 2016 - 06:19 UTC

  Greenpeace celebrates and supports cancellation of Icelandic fin whale hunt

  

  Greenpeace celebrates the 'incredible' news that Iceland has cancelled the fin whale hunt for the current season and underlines that nowadays “there is simply no place for commercial whaling” plus the fact that Iceland and Japan have stockpiles of unwanted whale meat.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2016 - 07:50 UTC

  FAO summit in Morocco addresses fish trade traceability and eliminating IUU fishing

  

  High-level delegations of fisheries ministries from more than 50 countries are gathering in Agadir, Morocco for a summit with industry players to discuss emerging governance needs in a sector that provides the world with 17% of its animal protein and developing countries with more export revenue than meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2016 - 06:05 UTC

  Homicide charges for seven top officials linked to Brazil's worst mining accident

  

  Brazilian authorities have charged the president of mining company Samarco and six others with homicide for the mining disaster that killed 19 people last November. Police in Minas Gerais State have asked for Ricardo Vescovi, along with five other Samarco executives and one contractor to be arrested.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2016 - 05:53 UTC

  Huge fireball plunged through the atmosphere into the Atlantic, off Brazil coast

  

  The biggest fireball since the Chelyabinsk explosion has plunged through the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean. The event, which has only just come to light, occurred off the coast of Brazil at 13:55 GMT on 6 February.

• Tuesday, February 23rd 2016 - 06:43 UTC

  Argentina celebrates 112th anniversary of flag flying and presence in Antarctica

  

  Argentina Antarctica Day was celebrated on Monday 22 February, recalling the 112th anniversary of the first time the country's flag was flown at the Meteorological and Magnetic Observatory in the Laure Island, South Orkneys in 1904.

• Friday, February 19th 2016 - 04:49 UTC

  New study reveals patterns in Antarctic tourism: more visitors but highly concentrated in area

  

  Results from a new study examining 20 years of commercial cruise activity in the Antarctic Peninsula region have important implications for Antarctic visitor management. The paper was published online this week in the journal Antarctic Science, according to the latest release from IAATO.

• Friday, February 19th 2016 - 04:24 UTC

  Brazil biggest environmental disaster: compensation agreement could be signed this week

  

  The Brazilian government expects to reach an agreement by Friday with Samarco Mineração to settle a 20 billion-real (US$4.9 billion) lawsuit for damages in the deadly dam disaster which burst in inland Minas Gerais creating a tsunami of mud and waste that killed 17 people and reached the Atlantic ocean.

• Tuesday, February 16th 2016 - 08:30 UTC

  Blocked access to food in Antarctica kills an estimated 150.000 Adelie penguins

  

  Scientists say an estimated 150,000 Adelie penguins have been wiped out on Antarctica's Cape Denison in the five years since a giant iceberg blocked their main access to food. A study recently published in the journal Antarctic Science says the B09B iceberg crashed with the Mertz Glacier Tongue and got stuck in Commonwealth Bay, an area that was rarely covered by sea-ice, making it ideal for Adelie penguin colonies.

• Thursday, February 11th 2016 - 05:45 UTC

  ICAO agrees on first binding limits on emissions from the aviation industry

  

  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the announcement by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) proposing the first binding limits on emissions from the aviation industry.

• Thursday, February 11th 2016 - 05:40 UTC

  Brazil reopens crucial waterway for transporting soy; water was used to generate power

  

  Brazil's Tiete-Parana waterway, a key transport corridor for soybeans, corn, cellulose, fertilizer and other agricultural products, has reopened after a 20-month closure due to drought and the use of water for electricity, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported this week.