Environment

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

  Russia Is Vital to Protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea

  

  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”

  

  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

  

  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

  

  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

  

  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).

• Saturday, October 8th 2016 - 10:47 UTC

  Fracking controversy erupts in UK following approval of shale gas industry request

  

  Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the British government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.

• Saturday, October 8th 2016 - 09:59 UTC

  WTO confirms ruling in favor of Argentina in biodiesel imports dispute with EU

  

  The World Trade Organization confirmed on appeal on Thursday its ruling partially in favor of Argentina in its dispute with the European Union over duties the bloc imposes on imported biodiesel.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2016 - 11:24 UTC

  Cruise ships forced to divert Caribbean schedule by Hurricane Matthew

  

  Hurricane Matthew is forcing a growing number of cruise ships to alter course as it barrels northward toward Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Cruise giant Carnival has rerouted half a dozen ships scheduled to visit ports in the region over the next few days, including the Carnival Sensation, Carnival Splendor and Carnival Ecstasy.

• Saturday, October 1st 2016 - 11:53 UTC

  A 32.8 feet Anaconda found in Brazil, largest snake in the world

  

  Construction workers in Brazil have stumbled upon one of the most frightening creatures in the planet a ten meters long anaconda. The snake measuring 32.8 feet and weighing over 400 kilos, was discovered after the workers set off a controlled demolition explosion to destroy a cave in Belo Monte Dam to make way for their project.

• Friday, September 30th 2016 - 08:09 UTC

  RRS James Clark Ross sails to Falklands collecting Mid-Atlantic Ridge data

  

  British Antarctic Survey ship, the RRS James Clark Ross, set sail on its long voyage from Immingham in the UK to Stanley in the Falkland Islands last 20 September. The ship, which carries out important scientific research in the Southern Ocean during the Antarctic summer months, is conducting survey work as it makes its passage south.