Environment

• Wednesday, October 24th 2012 - 05:19 UTC

  Italian seismic experts sentenced to jail for inadequate warning triggers global controversy

  

  Six scientists and a government official were sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter by an Italian court on Monday for failing to give adequate warning of an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L'Aquila in 2009.

• Tuesday, October 23rd 2012 - 22:29 UTC

  Penguins, whales and Antarctic species have found a powerful friend: DiCaprio

  

  Leonardo DiCaprio urged a high-level Antarctic conservation meeting in Australia on Tuesday to approve a sweeping Southern Ocean marine sanctuary to protect thousands of polar species.

• Tuesday, October 23rd 2012 - 20:51 UTC

  Australian icebreaker ‘Aurora Australis’ caught in packed Antarctic ice

  

  The Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis is stuck in ice 80 nautical miles from the Antarctic coast. The vessel is heading to the frozen continent with 50 scientists from around the world to study the relationship between sea ice and marine life.

• Tuesday, October 23rd 2012 - 07:18 UTC

  South Georgia plans to expand Marine Protected Areas; could affect krill fishery

  

  The government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, GSGSSI, announced a vast Marine Protected Areas around the Island in February and it is likely there is more protection to come that could affect krill fishing and long-lining, reports the September edition of the South Georgia newsletter.

• Monday, October 22nd 2012 - 23:37 UTC

  Brazil purchases high-tech oceanographic research vessel

  

  The Brazilian government announced on Monday that it will invest 162 million Reais (81 million dollars) in the purchase of a high-tech oceanography research vessel.

• Monday, October 22nd 2012 - 03:43 UTC

  BAS contractors’ team shoot horror movie ‘South of Sanity” in Antarctica

  

  A fictional feature film has been shot in Antarctica for the first time. Scottish climbing instructor and documentary-maker Kirk Watson filmed South of Sanity while working for British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

• Monday, October 22nd 2012 - 03:16 UTC

  UK launches environmental and climate fund for Overseas Territories

  

  The UK has launched a new Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund, which consolidates funds from the Foreign Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department for International Development, dedicated to environmental and conservation projects in those territories.

• Friday, October 19th 2012 - 02:23 UTC

  Environmental groups call for more protected zones off East Antarctica

  

  Thirty environmental groups on Thursday issued a joint appeal for upcoming talks on establishing protected zones in the seas off East Antarctica to widen the scope of the marine haven.

• Thursday, October 18th 2012 - 18:14 UTC

  Astronomers working from Chile discover Earth ‘clone’ in ‘our backyard’

  

  Astronomers have found a new planet, the closest yet outside our solar system and just an astronomical stone's throw away at four light years, raising the chances of finding a habitable planet in Earth's neighbourhood.

• Thursday, October 18th 2012 - 16:04 UTC

  Protector catches stunning sonar imagery and bathymetric survey off St Helena

  

  The Royal Navy Ice patrol HMS Protector heading for another Antarctic season previous visit to South Africa and Falkland Islands has produced stunning sonar imagery of the wreck of a wartime RFA tanker to help salvage experts study the state of it.