Environment

• Tuesday, June 21st 2011 - 16:04 UTC

  Chile’s volcanic ash cloud again visits Australasia forcing grounding of air traffic

  

  A volcanic ash cloud, which originated in Chile on 4 June and has caused significant disruption to air travel around Australia and New Zealand since 12 June returned on Tuesday to Australasia forcing further cancellations for at the least the next 48 hours.

• Tuesday, June 21st 2011 - 04:51 UTC

  IPSO: unprecedented deterioration of the oceans threatens marine species

  

  The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists. In a new report, they warn that ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”.

• Tuesday, June 21st 2011 - 04:45 UTC

  Chilean court suspends controversial hydroelectric complex in Patagonia

  

  A Chilean court on Monday ordered the suspension of a project to build a complex of five hydroelectric dams in the Patagonian wilderness, bowing to appeals by lawmakers and environmental groups.

• Monday, June 20th 2011 - 06:15 UTC

  Antarctic Treaty half a century celebration this week in Buenos Aires

  

  Signatories of the Antarctic Treaty would celebrate the pact's 50th anniversary here on June 23 while attending the treaty's 34th consultative meeting, Argentine Foreign Ministry said Friday.

• Monday, June 20th 2011 - 05:37 UTC

  Chilean volcanic ash cloud affects flights in South Africa

  

  The ash cloud from the Chilean Volcano Puyehue-Cordón Caulle in eruption since June 4 has reached Cape Town airspace affecting flights in and out of Cape Town International Airport.

• Saturday, June 18th 2011 - 03:02 UTC

  Green light for construction of Uruguay’s second pulp mill

  

  The construction of Uruguay’s second pulp mill, which includes a power plant and port facilities have been authorized following the approval of the Montes del Plata environment policies.

• Saturday, June 18th 2011 - 01:02 UTC

  Dead penguins discovered in Uruguayan coast:perished of “natural causes”

  

  The recent discovery of dead Magellan penguins in several beaches of Uruguay’s eastern coast can’t be attributed to intoxication, “but rather natural causes”, said Daniel Gilardoni head of the Uruguay’s Natural Aquatic Resources Administration, Dinara.

• Friday, June 17th 2011 - 16:33 UTC

  Peru cancels construction of Amazon dams; major setback for Brazil

  

  Peruvian environmentalists have welcomed a decision by the country's Energy Ministry to cancel the development of the 1.5GW Inambari Dam in the Amazon basin.

• Friday, June 17th 2011 - 05:54 UTC

  Naked Russian woman scientist dances in Arctic waters with Beluga whales

  Braving subzero temperatures and underwater conditions, Natalia Avseenko, 36 threw away her inhibitions and her clothes to dive in with the Arctic Beluga whales, in an extremely interesting yet controversial experiment, trying to test the theory that the Beluga whales don’t like to be touched like diving suits, for example.

• Wednesday, June 15th 2011 - 22:02 UTC

  End of intense La Niña cycle anticipates return to average rainfall in Chile

  

  The most intense La Niña climate pattern since 1975 is coming to a close in Chile, after it cooled water temperatures off the Pacific coast of South America and left a troubling drought in its wake.