Environment

• Monday, January 4th 2016 - 10:30 UTC

  Cheering and fearing — can climate deal save Earth?

  

  By Gwynne Dyer -The climate deal that almost 200 countries agreed to in Paris was far better than most insiders dared to hope even one month ago. The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and the United States, are finally on board. There is real money on the table to help poor countries cut their emissions and cope with warming.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 02:47 UTC

  US bans imports of lion trophies; the majestic cats protected by USFWS Endangered Species Act

  

  In a move that is likely to put a major dent in South Africa’s canned hunting industry for lions — a practice involving the shooting of these majestic predators in fenced enclosures in a pay-to-slay arrangement— the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that it will institute important new measures to protect lions under the Endangered Species Act.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 02:24 UTC

  Russian polar vessel and helicopters will supply Argentine Antarctica bases

  

  For the eighth season, Argentina's Antarctic bases and stations are to be supplied by the Russian polar vessel Vasily Golovnin from Arkadia Ltd. This has been going on since 2007 when the Argentine flagship ice-breaker Almirante Irizar caught fire in the high seas and is still in repairs waiting for the necessary funds.

• Wednesday, December 30th 2015 - 01:01 UTC

  Reclaiming South Georgia from rats: a world leading project

  

  Reclaiming South Georgia is the story of the SGHT Habitat Restoration Project fieldwork that took place on South Georgia in three phases (in 2011, 2013 and 2015). The latest edition of South Georgia Newsletter says that text and photographs tell the story of how this world-leading project baited every square inch of rodent-infested land on the island.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2015 - 21:54 UTC

  Environmental groups blame massive deforestation for floods in Mercosur members

  

  Deforestation is one of the main causes of the floods in South America that have left at least 160,000 people, 25,000 of them in Argentina alone, homeless, environmental groups said.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2015 - 07:46 UTC

  New five-year strategy for South Georgia emphasizes environment management

  

  The new five-year Strategy for South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands 2016-2020 was published on 27th November. The Strategy sets out an ambitious agenda to deliver the highest standards of environmental stewardship and governance for the British Overseas Territory, according to the latest South Georgia Newsletter.

• Thursday, December 24th 2015 - 10:56 UTC

  Brazil is suing BHP and Vale 'at least' US$ 5bn for Minas Gerais mining disaster

  

  A Brazilian federal court has ordered BHP Billiton and Vale to set aside US$ 491.5 million, with the possibility of billions more, has frozen the mining giants' assets in the country, and ordered it to carry out extensive environmental and social work in the region hit by a dam burst at its joint venture.

• Tuesday, December 22nd 2015 - 15:19 UTC

  Huge asteroid will cross the sky on Christmas eve at 11m km from planet Earth

  

  In a new twist to the old song, it’s Santa Claus who had “better watch out” on Christmas Eve, as he shares the night sky with a huge asteroid that will make its closest pass to Earth at about the same time the jolly old fellow is making his annual deliveries.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2015 - 06:23 UTC

  Paris climate agreement triggers praise for French diplomacy and minister Fabius

  

  France seems to have achieved an unachievable triumph: uniting the world to seal a global climate pact. The Paris climate agreement, adopted on Saturday, was the culmination of more than a year of intense diplomatic efforts by France. Delegates and foreign dignitaries cheered Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the host of the two-week talks, and gave him a standing ovation.

• Wednesday, December 9th 2015 - 08:42 UTC

  Renowned conservationist Doug Tompkins dies during kayak accident in Chilean Patagonia

  

  Douglas Tompkins, 72, the renowned conservationist and co-founder of The North Face, died on Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Lake General Carrera, on the Chilean side of Patagonia. He reportedly capsized in the water and suffered severe hypothermia. A source from Conservacion Patagonica, the non-profit founded in 2000 by his wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, confirmed his death.