Environment

• Saturday, March 31st 2012 - 23:40 UTC

  Height of Antarctica ice sheet increasing

  

  According to findings come from the Europe’s Space Administration ESA’s ice-measuring satellite, CryoSat, over the last two years Antarctica’s ice sheet has increased in height.

• Wednesday, March 28th 2012 - 17:14 UTC

  US retailers stop selling Antarctic toothfish

  

  Three major US retailers announced that they have pledged not to stock endangered Antarctic toothfish. According to an article published by the environmental science and conservation news site, mongabay.com, Safeways, Wegmans and Harris Teeter have announced that they will not source fish coming from the Ross Sea.

• Tuesday, March 27th 2012 - 03:43 UTC

  Central Chile rattles close to devastating quake of February 2010; 14 injured

  

  Fourteen people were injured and thousands evacuated in central Chile between Valparaiso and the Biobio region after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the country Sunday evening, the Chilean Interior Ministry informed on Monday.

• Monday, March 26th 2012 - 14:07 UTC

  Campaign for Antarctic Marine Reserve launched

  

  The Antarctic Ocean Alliance, a coalition of 16 environmental groups, has launched a campaign calling for the full protection of 3.6 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea, as well as the creation of the 18 more reserves in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

• Monday, March 26th 2012 - 09:18 UTC

  BP given permission to drill controversial deep-water well west of Shetland

  

  Oil giant BP has been given consent to drill a controversial deep-water well west of Shetland. The North Uist well is about 125km to the north west of the islands, at a depth of nearly 1,300m. The UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it had thoroughly examined BP's environmental impact and emergency response plans.

• Sunday, March 25th 2012 - 10:17 UTC

  Expedition will try to recreate 1916 Shackleton epic in replica of the James Caird

  

  Two Royal Navy servicemen, Warrant Officer Barry 'Baz' Gray of the Royal Marines and Royal Naval Petty Officer Seb Coulthard will form part of a crew of Antarctic adventurers recreating Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1916 epic and extraordinary double mission.

• Wednesday, March 21st 2012 - 21:29 UTC

  Falklands’ penguin population rising: Gentoo doubled and Rockhopper remains stable

  

  According to the most recent count in the Falklands, the number of Gentoo penguin breeding pairs has doubled when compared with the number counted during the last census in 2005. Rockhopper penguin numbers are reported to be stable.

• Monday, March 19th 2012 - 14:42 UTC

  HMS Protector dares ice pack to pick up scientists in remote Antarctic island

  

  The Royal Navy’s Antarctic patrol ship HMS Protector had to punch her way through ice to first deliver, then pick up a team of scientists as the pack ice threatened to trap them – and the ship.

• Monday, March 19th 2012 - 06:49 UTC

  Greenland’s ice sheet melting much faster that forecasted

  

  Greenland’s ice sheet is more sensitive to global warming than previously thought, according to Spanish and German researchers. The ice sheet may lose its ability to grow once warming reaches 1.6 degrees, a study published in Nature Climate Change found.

• Monday, March 19th 2012 - 06:37 UTC

  Funds from Santiago to put Punta Arenas back on its feet, and loans to small businesses

  

  Chilean Minister of Economy Pablo Longueira announced on Sunday that Punta Arenas in the extreme south of the country which recently suffered a barrage of flash floods will be declared “catastrophe zone”.