Environment

• Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:07 UTC

  All 50 US states suffered freezing temperatures, affecting 190 million people

  

  Weather records have tumbled across North America, as all 50 US states saw freezing temperatures. The most extreme arctic blasts, blamed on a weather pattern known as the polar vortex, were said to have affected nearly 190 million people.

• Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 01:00 UTC

  IAATO expedition vessel helps HCA chart Antarctic waters

  

  An IAATO sailing yacht has demonstrated that private and commercial vessels on expeditions in Antarctica can perform official hydrographic surveys and produce navigational charts that are still much needed for the region. Results were presented at the 13th Conference of the Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica (HCA) in Cadiz, Spain 3-5 December, hosted by the Spanish Navy.

• Tuesday, January 7th 2014 - 23:48 UTC

  Earth's gassy twin has been discovered in another solar system 200 light years away

  

  Earth’s gassy twin has been discovered in another solar system 200 light years away. The planet, known as KOI-314c, weighs the same as the Earth but is 60% larger, leading scientists to suspect it has a thick gaseous atmosphere.

• Monday, January 6th 2014 - 06:47 UTC

  Midwestern US warned of 'life-threatening' temperatures of up to minus 51 Celsius

  

  Residents of the Midwestern United States braced for the coldest weather in two decades, temperatures that forecasters warned would be life-threatening. An estimated one third of the US population has been affected by the extreme weather conditions that also reached neighboring Canada.

• Sunday, January 5th 2014 - 14:41 UTC

  US icebreaker sent to Antarctica to rescue Chinese and Russian trapped vessels

  

  A U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaker left Australia for Antarctica on Sunday to rescue more than 120 crew members aboard two icebreakers trapped in pack ice near the frozen continent’s eastern edge, officials said. The 122-meter cutter, the Polar Star, is responding to a Jan. 3 request from Australia, Russia and China to assist the Russian and Chinese ships.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 14:43 UTC

  Chinese icebreaker trapped in Antarctica after rescuing passengers from Russian vessel

  

  The Chinese icebreaker that helped rescue 52 passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice, further complicating the 9-day “roller-coaster” rescue operation. “Snow Dragon” (Xue Long) had ferried the passengers from the stranded Russian ship to an Australian icebreaker late on Thursday.

• Thursday, January 2nd 2014 - 16:00 UTC

  China starts to build its fourth Antarctica base: more planned

  

  Just days after the Chinese rover Jade Rabbit settled down on the moon, China is setting out to bolster its presence in another remote place: Antarctica. Chinese state media said on Thursday that construction workers are en route to the future site of China’s fourth Antarctic research station, after a pit stop at one of its other bases.

• Thursday, January 2nd 2014 - 15:49 UTC

  Chinese helicopter rescues stranded passengers from Russian vessel trapped in Antarctic ice

  

  A Chinese helicopter reached on Thursday a Russian ship stranded in Antarctica for nine days to pick up 52 passengers who spent Christmas and the New Year trapped in ice, the expedition leader has said.

• Friday, December 27th 2013 - 05:28 UTC

  Blackouts continue in Argentina while government keeps threatening power distributors

  

  Blackouts continued in several neighborhoods of Argentina's metropolitan Buenos Aires area while protests increased including pickets in highways, attempts to set on fire power distributors offices or kidnap power companies' officers while the only resource from government has been to blame companies and threaten to take over utilities.

• Friday, December 27th 2013 - 05:01 UTC

  UK Met Office will offer daily forecasts about the weather in space: solar storms the target

  

  The United Kingdom Met Office is to begin offering daily forecasts about the weather in space. The 24 hour service will aim to help businesses and government departments by providing early warnings of solar storms that can disrupt satellites, radio communications and power grids. The first forecast is expected to be available next spring.