A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck central Peru late on Sunday, and no immediate reports have surfaced about significant damage or major injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey originally estimated the earthquake to be a magnitude 7 but has since downgraded it, according to The Weather Channel. The impact was also felt in northern Chile.
Mining companies are often seen as dinosaurs when it comes to making changes that will benefit the environment, but that perception may be shifting as some companies turn to renewable energy to cut costs and lighten their carbon footprint.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.