Environment

• Tuesday, January 24th 2012 - 04:00 UTC

  Biggest solar storm in 7 years could disrupt satellite and electric ground communications

  

  The biggest solar storm in seven years to hit the Earth will begin Tuesday early morning, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Centre. It will likely cause the largest solar radiation storm that the earth has encountered since 2005.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 16:36 UTC

  Fire in Florida destroys one of the world’s oldest cypresses: 3.500 years

  

  The cause of an early morning fire in Florida State Seminole County that destroyed one of the world's oldest cypress trees, 3.500 years, remained a mystery, but a state forestry investigator is convinced it was not the work of an arsonist.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 15:13 UTC

  Mass pilot whale stranding in New Zealand; desperate efforts to save remaining 77

  

  New Zealand officials say at least 22 pilot whales have died after being beached on the country's South Island.

• Sunday, January 22nd 2012 - 05:29 UTC

  EU shipping safety review to take full account of Costa Concordia sinking

  

  A review of EU passenger ship safety rules is being stepped up following the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the Italian coast. Europe’s transport Commissioner Siim Kallas announced Friday that the review, which began in 2010, must take full account of the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the cruise vessel Costa Concordia in shallow water a week ago.

• Sunday, January 22nd 2012 - 05:07 UTC

  US and Russia joint team to inspect all foreign installations in Antarctica

  

  United States and the Russian Federation will send a joint team to inspect foreign stations, installations and equipment in Antarctica from January 23 to January 28, 2012. The inspection will be conducted pursuant to the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 and its Environmental Protocol.

• Friday, January 20th 2012 - 15:24 UTC

  Global average temperature in 2011 the ninth warmest in modern records

  

  The global average temperature in 2011 was the ninth-warmest in the modern meteorological record, continuing a trend linked to greenhouse gases that saw nine of the 10 hottest years occurring since the year 2000, NASA scientists said this week.

• Friday, January 20th 2012 - 08:01 UTC

  Bill for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could reach 20/25 billion dollars

  

  British Petroleum is likely to agree to pay the US Department of Justice 20 to 25 billion dollars to settle all charges around the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a leading analyst, a prediction that is at least twice what the company has set aside.

• Tuesday, January 17th 2012 - 06:38 UTC

  Volcanic ashes again isolate Argentine ski and summer resort causing massive losses

  

  The presence of a cloud of ash caused by a volcano in Chile has again closed an airport in neighbouring Argentina just days after it had re-opened anticipating massive losses for the tourism and the resort’s finances.

• Tuesday, January 17th 2012 - 06:35 UTC

  Australian experts link carbon dioxide emissions effects on fish brain and nervous system

  

  Rising human carbon dioxide emissions may be affecting the brains and central nervous systems of sea fish, with serious consequences for their survival, according to Australian research.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 22:37 UTC

  Brazil's orange juice threatened by the discovery of the fungicide carbendazim

  

  Orange-juice futures rebounded from the biggest two-day slump since 2008 on renewed concern that a US government probe of imports from Brazil will tighten supplies. The Food and Drug Administration said it will detain all imports that contain carbendazim, a fungicide that isn’t approved for oranges in the US.