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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 20th 2025 - 05:21 UTC

Environment

  • Saturday, August 30th 2014 - 11:49 UTC

    Marina pledges to restore Brazil credibility and limit spending below growth rate

    “We will be transparent. We will not use creative methods to make the accounts look good,” she said in reference to the Rousseff administration

    Opposition presidential candidate Marina Silva said that Brazil's recession is very worrying and her government would work to restore the credibility of the country's economic policies to recover investment and growth if elected. The Brazilian economy fell into recession in the first half of the year, a heavy blow for President Dilma Rousseff's already diminishing hopes of winning re-election in October.

  • Friday, August 29th 2014 - 06:49 UTC

    New technology could end the debate over pipeline safety

    Despite advances smart pigs aren’t terribly accurate. Pipeline operations have to shut down and analyzing the data smart pigs gather can take some time

    Who could have ever imagined that North America would surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids? A decade ago, that would have seemed laughable. Yet that’s exactly what has happened; and it’s not just Saudi Arabia that has been left in North America’s dust -- Russia has, too.

  • Tuesday, August 26th 2014 - 07:10 UTC

    Ring of fire hits central Peru and the Napa Valley in California

    The epicenter of the quake was about 26 miles northeast of a region called Tambo, which is more than 290 miles from Lima

    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.

  • Friday, August 22nd 2014 - 13:07 UTC

    Unlikely bedfellows: mines that run on solar or wind power

    Brazil's Vale has formed a joint venture with Australian company Pacific Hydro to build and operate two wind farms in Brazil's northeast.

    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.

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

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

    “Since 2011-12, there has been a slight recovery in the overall numbers although there is little change forecast for this coming season” IAATO's Crosbie said.

    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

    “The key point is that this polymer is stable, it’s cheap and it adsorbs CO2 extremely well”, said Dr. Andrew Cooper of Liverpool University

    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

    “Gradually reducing the effort of trawling is a presidential commitment, where marine ecosystems harmed by trawling also benefit,” pointed out Machuca.

    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

    The contract for the three 95 meters long vessels sums 380 million dollars and should be delivered by 2017

    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

    The country's Geophysics Institute said the quake occurred at a depth of five kilometers and was followed by a forceful aftershock.

    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'

    Scientists found that almost 30% of the stations revealed definitive proof of high-frequency seismic signals as the surface-wave reached Antarctica.

    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.”