Environment

• Friday, August 22nd 2014 - 00:01 UTC

  An estimated 36.500 tourists and 54 vessels expected this coming Antarctic season

  

  During the upcoming Antarctic season, from November through March, 36,545 tourists are expected to visit, according to estimates compiled by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). That’s a slight dip from the 37,405 who visited in 2013-14, which was a 9 percent increase from the previous year.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:04 UTC

  Scientists create a carbon dioxide absorbing 'polymer sponge' that helps new energy sources

  

  Scientists have created a new sponge-type material that absorbs carbon dioxide, which is believed to play a key role in global warming. The polymer – a large molecule used in plastics – is thought to have the potential to bridge the gap between the use of fossil fuels and new energy sources such as hydrogen, and could be integrated into power plant smokestacks in the future.

• Friday, August 15th 2014 - 06:40 UTC

  Chilean lawmakers approve initiative to ban trawling in territorial waters

  

  The House of Representatives approved this week a draft agreement to ban trawling in Chile. With 55 votes in support, six against and five abstentions, the deputies voted in favor of the Draft Resolution No. 100, which requests the Executive to submit a legislative initiative to amend Article 49 of Act No. 18,892 in order to ban fish catching by trawling.

• Wednesday, August 13th 2014 - 05:52 UTC

  Three Finnish icebreakers for Russia's oil and gas operations in the Arctic

  

  Finland-based Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has been contracted to build three icebreaking stand-by vessels for Russian shipping company Sovcomflot, for a total cost of 380 million dollars.

• Wednesday, August 13th 2014 - 05:34 UTC

  Earthquake strikes Quito kills two and violently shakes buildings

  

  A shallow 5.1-magnitude earthquake has struck the Ecuadorian capital Quito, triggering landslides that killed at least two people and violently shaking buildings and homes. Another eight people were injured and three others trapped in the landslides at quarries on the outskirts of Quito, the country's risk management agency said on Twitter.

• Wednesday, August 13th 2014 - 01:15 UTC

  Chile's massive 2010 earthquake caused Antarctica glaciers to calve and 'icequakes'

  

  A massive earthquake that struck Chile in 2010 caused glaciers thousands of miles away in Antarctica to calve, a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience found. Seismic surface waves radiating away from the earthquake’s epicenter traveled some 4,700 kilometers before passing through Antarctica’s ice sheets and causing small tremors, or “icequakes.”

• Wednesday, August 13th 2014 - 01:04 UTC

  EU sanctions 10 countries for overfishing with reduction of fishing quotas

  

  The European Commission (EC) has decided to sanction Spain and nine other Member States for exceeding their fishing quotas during the past financial year, and reduce their fishing opportunities for 2014. This measure is intended to repair the damage caused to resources and in this way ensure the sustainable capture of resources.

• Monday, August 11th 2014 - 07:46 UTC

  Blackouts, trees and posts knocked down by gales in Ushuaia and Punta Arenas

  

  Hurricane strong winds on Saturday blew roofs, knocked down lamp posts and trees and left big areas of Ushuaia, Argentina and Puntas Arenas, Chile without power according to reports from both cities in the extreme south of the continent.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2014 - 06:21 UTC

  IDB finances photovoltaic solar energy project for private sector in Uruguay

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a 40.9 million dollars loan from its ordinary capital and 25 million from the Canada Climate Fund, which is administered by the Bank, to finance the private sector in Uruguay in the construction, operation and maintenance of a photovoltaic solar energy plant and its related facilities.

• Wednesday, July 30th 2014 - 15:18 UTC

  Sao Paulo faces water rationing; in 100 days the system could run dry

  

  Federal prosecutors have asked the government of Sao Paulo to present water rationing plans for Brazil's most populous state to prevent the collapse of its main reservoir. If such plans are not presented in 10 days, the prosecutor's office said on its website it may ask courts to force rationing.