An animal welfare disaster resulting in the death of more than half the 5.000 cattle on board a Brazilian-owned live export ship bound for Egypt over the past fortnight has prompted renewed calls to ban the industry.
Ron Naveen, President of Oceanites, announced that the new compendium, covering 142 different sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, can now be downloaded in PDF format at no cost.
Sunday rains and flash floods in Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile have left an estimated 800 people homeless forcing the city to close schools while the local chapter of the National Emergency office, Onemi, raised the alarm level from orange (moderate) to red (maximum).
Since Fukushima, important developments have taken place. Germany has decided to shut down its fission plants. Moreover, in a referendum, 95% of the Italian public opposed plans to restart a nuclear programme in the country.
The United Kingdom Antarctica Heritage Fund UKAHT (http://www.ukaht.org/) is seeking new candidates to work at Port Lockroy for the 2012/2013 season. Deadline for applications is at 12 noon on the 30th March.
At a ceremony held in Government House President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced the renaming of the Jubany Scientific Station in Antarctica, now to be known as Carlini Station, in memory of biologist Alejandro Carlini who died in 2010.
One of the worlds largest Marine Protected Areas (MPA) has been created around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, waters that are amongst the most productive in the Southern Ocean. The SGSSI MPA, which was declared on February 27th, covers more than 1 million km². The report is from the South Georgia Newsletter, February edition.
Brazil approved the allocation of 40 million Reais (approx 22 million dollars) to rebuild and modernize the country’s Antarctic research station Comandante Ferraz which was destroyed during a fire last month.
Providence, RI. - The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) yesterday announced the appointment of South African environmentalist Claudia “Clouds” Holgate to the part-time position of Environmental Operations Assistant.
Antarctic tourists and scientists may be inadvertently seeding the icy continent with invasive species, a new study says. Foreign plants such as annual bluegrass are establishing themselves on Antarctica, whose status as the coldest and driest continent had long made it one of the most pristine environments on Earth.