Environment

• Sunday, December 27th 2009 - 05:53 UTC

  Central Chile has lost 38% of forests between 1975 and 2008

  

  A study of satellite images released this week confirmed a 38% decrease in Chile’s Central Valley forest cover between 1975 and 2008. Forests that used to grow between the coast and the central valley have been replaced either by urban growth or agricultural activity. In some cases the forests have become arid lands.

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 15:54 UTC

  Australia again threatens Japan with legal action for whaling

  

  The Australian government insists it will take international legal action against Japan if it doesn't stop whaling. And it will send surveillance boats to the Southern Ocean to monitor the Japan's annual whaling hunt if it needs to mount a legal case

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 07:38 UTC

  Glacier experts’ international summit next February in Chile

  

  Chile will be the focus of international attention in February when Valdivia’s Centre for Scientific Studies (CECS) hosts an international conference of more than 150 experts on glaciers and climate change.

• Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 12:10 UTC

  35 crew members missing from sunken livestock transport vessel

  

  The four Uruguayans on board the livestock transport vessel that was lost Thursday night off the coast of Lebanon are among 39 of the 83 crew members and stockmen rescued in the midst of high seas and strong winds.

• Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 11:53 UTC

  Key states reach “meaningful but modest” agreement at climate summit

  

  Key states have reached what they call a “meaningful agreement” at the Copenhagen climate summit. Five nations, including China and the US, reached a deal on a number of issues, such as a recognition to limit temperatures rises to less than 2C.

• Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 03:49 UTC

  Record temperatures and low precipitation forecasted in Chile until March

  

  Wednesday was a record hot day for Santiago de Chile - 94 degrees Fahrenheit – and the weatherman says higher than normal temperatures are not going away anytime soon.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 12:51 UTC

  Ship loaded with Uruguayan livestock lost off Lebanon: 20 crew members rescued

  

  At least 20 crew members were rescued Thursday night after a cattle transport ship with more than 80 people capsized in waters off the coast of Tripoli when storms battered the eastern Mediterranean according to Lebanese security and United Nations sources.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 11:48 UTC

  UV radiation alert in the Bolivian highlands

  

  The Ultra Violet radiation index in the Bolivian highlands reached from five to seven out of eleven, which is considered extremely high. Experts have recommended the population to avoid being exposed to sunlight from 10 am to 3 pm, and encourage the use of long-sleeved shirts, hats and sunglasses.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 11:40 UTC

  Scaring Japanese whalers with an eerie intimidating Maori chant

  

  An international conservation society is using a small, space-age-like vessel to scare off whaling fleets from Antarctic waters, with a ghostly tune as its main weapon. The Ady Gil, a 24 metre carbon-fibre wave-piercing trimaran that runs on low-emission, renewable fuels, is the latest addition to the Sea Shepherd Conversation Society's protest fleet against Japan's yearly whale hunt near Antarctica, which is set to begin.

• Thursday, December 17th 2009 - 05:04 UTC

  How Copenhagen will affect international security

  

  The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen has been billed as 'the most important gathering in human history'. Without binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilise expectations, climate change will have a huge impact on future security considerations.
  By Duncan Depledge for RUSI.org (*)