Environment

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 07:57 UTC

  Brazilean court allows construction of controversial gigantic dam to continue

  

  A Brazilian federal court on Wednesday rejected an appeal for suspending construction of the controversial 11 billion dollars Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon until after indigenous people has been consulted.

• Friday, November 4th 2011 - 01:06 UTC

  Prepare for a huge iceberg, 880 sq kilometres anticipated NASA

  

  A massive crack is growing wider in the Antarctic ice sheet and could break apart in the coming months, forming an iceberg the size of the island of Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain), NASA scientists warned Thursday.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2011 - 01:35 UTC

  UN publishes blueprint for ocean and coastal sustainability

  

  Four United Nations organizations presented a project to preserve oceans and coastal areas threatened with environmental degradation. The document, released during the XXXVI UNESCO General Conference, warns of the danger faced by large aquifers, which play the role of climate regulators and are food sources and support for the economy of millions of people.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2011 - 00:11 UTC

  International coalition promotes network of Antarctica marine protected areas

  

  A new international coalition is working to set up a network of designated marine protected areas (MPA) and no-take marine reserves in the oceans surrounding Antarctica.

• Saturday, October 29th 2011 - 03:04 UTC

  US bio-fuel production increase: fact or wishful thinking?

  

  A recent study, released on 11 October, “Bio-fuel Markets and Technologies” released by Pike Research states that the global bio-fuel market will double within the next decade to 183.3 billion dollars from its current level of 82.7 billion, with ethanol production accounting for 78 billion of future worldwide bio-fuel production, while predicting that bio-diesel production will reach 25.5 billion.

• Friday, October 28th 2011 - 16:27 UTC

  Mount Hudson has Chile and Argentina on full alert, recalling 1991 eruption

  

  The Mount Hudson volcano, located in southern Chile, maintained its activity on Friday following the eruption earlier in the week. A 1991 eruption of the Hudson send volcanic ash spewing over thousands of kilometres and as far east as the Falkland Islands.

• Thursday, October 27th 2011 - 06:14 UTC

  South Chile Hudson volcano erupts: fears it could repeat events of 1991

  

  Chile said on Wednesday it was evacuating residents from around the Hudson volcano in the country far south after it spewed a jet of steam a kilometre into the air and seismic activity triggered an avalanche.

• Tuesday, October 25th 2011 - 21:24 UTC

  Two-day fire destroys 1.550 hectares of forest and grazing land in Tierra del Fuego

  

  Forest fires that began on Sunday in the province of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina’s extreme south have spread across from 50 hectares of trees to 1.500 hectares of grazing land, provincial officials confirmed.

• Tuesday, October 25th 2011 - 04:06 UTC

  Brazil ignores OAS meeting due to dispute over hydroelectric dam

  

  Brazil will not take part in the annual meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington on Wednesday due to a dispute over a giant hydroelectric plant, said opponents of the scheme.

• Monday, October 24th 2011 - 23:21 UTC

  Falklands in partnership with UK is creating a network of protected areas

  

  Conservation of penguins, rat eradication and creating a network of protected areas in the Falkland Islands are some of the projects currently under implementation by the UK Overseas Territories Environment Program, OTEP with local organizations.