Environment

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 11:09 UTC

  France will appeal EU opt-out scheme to ban cultivation of GM crops

  

  France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place. The European Union's largest grain grower and exporter has asked the European Commission for France to be excluded from some GM maize crop cultivation under the new scheme, the farm and environment ministries said in a joint statement.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 06:56 UTC

  Chile suffers 6.5 magnitude aftershock rattling Santiago buildings

  

  A fresh 6.5 magnitude aftershock struck central Chile on Monday, rattling buildings in Chile's capital city Santiago, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. An 8.3 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami hit Chile's port city of Coquimbo last Wednesday, killing 13 people.

• Monday, September 21st 2015 - 08:19 UTC

  Barrick Gold cyanide spill in Argentine mine analyzed by UN team of experts

  

  A group of United Nations experts have started to analyze water samples in the Argentine northeastern province of San Juan where a spill from a malfunctioning cyanide pipeline in a gold mine belonging to Canada's multinational Barrick Gold has caused a water emergency. The Veladero mine in San Juan is one of the largest in Argentina and apparently the spill reached the rivers Jachal, Las Taguas and Blanco.

• Friday, September 18th 2015 - 08:25 UTC

  Quake in Chile leaves twelve dead; a million evacuated to escape high scale tsunami

  

  Coastal cities in north-central Chile suffered extensive damage from the powerful earthquake that struck the region on Wednesday night, according to aerial images released on Thursday by the police.

• Thursday, September 17th 2015 - 09:19 UTC

  Fisheries worldwide on the brink of collapse, because of over fishing says WWF

  

  The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the “brink of collapse” caused by over-fishing and other threats, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday.Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75%, according to a study by WWF and the Zoological Society of London, ZSL.

• Wednesday, September 16th 2015 - 08:29 UTC

  UN message on 30th anniversary of the convention for the protection of the ozone layer

  

  Not so long ago, humanity stood on the brink of a self-inflicted catastrophe. Our use of ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had torn a hole in the ozone layer that protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation.

• Wednesday, September 16th 2015 - 08:16 UTC

  Cyanide spill in Argentine Andean mine triggers strong protests from local residents

  

  Residents of a town in the Argentine northwestern province of San Juan took to the streets in protest after an industrial malfunction caused a pipe carrying potentially lethal cyanide to the nearby Veladero gold mine to fracture and spill an amount of its contents in the area on Sunday. The news reached national level on Monday.

• Sunday, September 13th 2015 - 12:23 UTC

  Sperm whales are highly communicative but have different 'dialects'

  

  Sperm whales are very social marine animals and they travel in close groups and communicate by using a pattern of clicks, also known as codas. Similar to humans, the whales use varying dialects worldwide. A recent study of two sperm whale clans living in fairly close proximity off the Galápagos Islands sheds light on animal cultures.

• Wednesday, September 9th 2015 - 13:10 UTC

  A forest area equivalent to South Africa has been lost since 1990, says FAO

  

  The world's forests continue to shrink as populations increase and forest land is converted to agriculture and other uses, but over the past 25 years the rate of net global deforestation has slowed down by more than 50%, FAO said in a report published on Tuesday.

• Friday, September 4th 2015 - 10:30 UTC

  Colombia says its electrical system is ready for the El Niño phenomena

  

  As neighbors Chile and Peru along the Pacific coast of South America, Colombia announced its electrical system is prepared for the El Niño weather phenomena, which may lead to drought and low reserves at hydro-electric facilities, mines and energy minister Tomas Gonzalez said on Wednesday.