Environment

• Thursday, June 14th 2012 - 11:26 UTC

  Rio+20 summit takes off in Brazil with optimism and many challenges

  

  The United Nations conference on Sustainable Development opened in Brazil on Wednesday, launching a new round of debate on the future of the planet, its resources and people, 20 years after the first Earth Summit.

• Thursday, June 14th 2012 - 11:19 UTC

  Indian delegation after investments and technology cooperation with Brazil

  

  India has invited companies from Brazil to invest in the country’s national infrastructure, manufacturing in Special Economic Zones and the food processing sector.

• Thursday, June 14th 2012 - 10:59 UTC

  Australia will create world’s largest network of marine reserves

  

  Australia says it will create the world's largest network of marine parks ahead of the Rio+20 summit. The reserves will cover 3.1 million sq km of ocean, including the Coral Sea.

• Wednesday, June 13th 2012 - 18:13 UTC

  South Georgia plans removal of reindeer herds with Norwegian advisors

  

  The South Georgia Government has released the report of a reconnaissance trip by two experts from the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate investigating the practicalities of eliminating reindeer from the South Georgia Island.

• Tuesday, June 12th 2012 - 09:30 UTC

  Members of a gospel group caught sowing barley in Antarctica, reports IAATO

  

  Two members of a gospel group were caught this last austral summer sowing barley in Antarctica in a bio-security breach that highlights calls for tougher controls on growing tourism to the continent.

• Monday, June 11th 2012 - 19:23 UTC

  Extended blooming phytoplankton discovered under thinning Arctic ice cap

  

  Scientists have made a biological discovery in Arctic Ocean waters as dramatic and unexpected as finding a rainforest in the middle of a desert. A NASA-sponsored expedition punched through three-foot thick sea ice to find waters richer in microscopic marine plants, essential to all sea life, than any other ocean region on Earth.

• Monday, June 11th 2012 - 03:15 UTC

  “Depraved” sexual activities among penguins come to light a century later

  

  Accounts of unusual sexual activities among penguins, observed a century ago by a member of Captain Scott's polar team are finally being made public.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 23:18 UTC

  Environmentalists propose a whales’ sanctuary ring along the American continent

  

  Environment organizations meeting in Panama will demand the creation of a whales’ sanctuary in the south Atlantic and south Pacific, at the coming meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

• Thursday, June 7th 2012 - 05:28 UTC

  In anticipation of Rio+20, Brazil creates new nature reserves and closes major land-fill

  

  Brazil announced plans to protect an additional 10 000km² of land and pledged not to let economic woes stop it from implementing other measures to protect the environment.

• Monday, June 4th 2012 - 22:38 UTC

  Bright side of the Puyehue eruption: volcanic ash bricks and natural insecticides

  

  Argentine scientists developed bricks and are analyzing the possibility of making natural insecticides with the ashes from the Chilean Puyehue volcano eruption which this month a year ago covered several cities in Patagonia and caused millions of dollars losses, sources of the University that coordinates the studies announced.