Environment

• 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.

• Friday, September 4th 2015 - 08:26 UTC

  Falklands approves Noble and Premier plans to drill Rhea-1 and Jayne East

  

  The most recent meeting of the Falkland Islands' Executive Council (ExCo) was dominated by matters relating to oil exploration and development including recommendations for plans of Noble Energy and Premier Oil to go ahead with drilling of Rhea-1 and Jayne East wells.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2015 - 00:00 UTC

  Obama wants to speed purchase of icebreakers for the Arctic and Russian challenge

  

  President Barack Obama on Tuesday is proposing a faster timetable for buying a new heavy icebreaker for the U.S. Arctic, where quickly melting sea ice has spurred more maritime traffic, and the United States has fallen far behind Russian resources.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2015 - 06:36 UTC

  World Dog Day celebrated with and online interactive info-graphic

  

  Around the world humankind benefits from its relationship with dogs; a truth which is at the core of World Dog Day, celebrated annually on the 26th August. In recognition and celebration of the age-old union between Man and Dog, HealthforAnimals has created an online interactive info-graphic, detailing the many valuable roles dogs perform in societies all around the world.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2015 - 06:12 UTC

  US NOAA to investigate whale stranding as an “unusual mortality event”

  

  The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared the recent deaths of 30 large whales in the western Gulf of Alaska an “unusual mortality event,” triggering a focused, expert investigation into the cause. An unusual mortality event is a stranding event that is unexpected, involves a significant die-off of a marine mammal population and demands immediate response.

• Saturday, August 22nd 2015 - 01:48 UTC

  Magallanes warns of minus 10 Celsius temperatures this weekend

  

  Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile must prepare for a weekend of freezing below zero temperatures announced the regional meteorological office. In the early mornings of Saturday and Sunday, the thermometer is expected to register 10 Celsius below zero, with the wind factor even lower.

• Friday, August 21st 2015 - 06:17 UTC

  California sinking as pumping groundwater continues in response to historic drought, says NASA

  

  California's Department of Water Resources released a new NASA report showing land in the San Joaquin Valley is sinking faster than ever before, nearly 5 centimeters per month in some locations, as Californians continue pumping groundwater in response to a historic drought.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2015 - 06:51 UTC

  Sargassum seaweed, 'greatest single threat to the Caribbean tourism industry'

  

  It would take at least US$120 million and more than 100,000 people to clean up the Sargassum seaweed that has created “an international crisis” and “the greatest single threat” to the Caribbean, according to Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Sir Hilary Beckles.