Environment

• Wednesday, March 18th 2026 - 01:07 UTC

  Magnitude 6 quake strikes eastern Cuba as island remained under nationwide blackout

  

  A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Cuba early on Tuesday while the island was still dealing with a nationwide blackout caused hours earlier by the collapse of the power grid. The quake was recorded by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre at a depth of about 15 km, while reports from Cuba’s seismological service placed the epicenter 37 km southeast of Imías, in Guantánamo province, and said it was felt across several eastern provinces.

• Monday, March 9th 2026 - 16:53 UTC

  Falklands, Uruguayan scientists join UK project to study biodiversity on the Islands’ sandy beaches

  

  A team of researchers from the Marine Sciences Laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences of the Uruguayan national university (Universidad de la República) is working in the Falkland Islands on the UK sponsored project “Biodiversity Assessment of Sandy Beaches in the Falkland Islands”.

• Monday, March 2nd 2026 - 02:27 UTC

  Ecuador’s rainy season: 21,089 affected as regional emergency remains in force across eight provinces

  

  Ecuador’s rainy season has left 21,089 people affected since January 1, 2026, with three deaths and 14 injured, according to the latest assessment by the National Secretariat for Risk Management (SNGR).

• Saturday, February 28th 2026 - 01:29 UTC

  Uruguay approves offshore 3D seismic survey for oil exploration, sets marine safeguards

  

  Uruguay’s Environment Ministry on Friday granted operational authorization for a 3D seismic survey in its jurisdictional waters, in an offshore block operated by Chevron, with a specialized vessel already in position and work planned through the end of April.

• Wednesday, February 25th 2026 - 03:37 UTC

  Heavy rains leave at least 28 dead and dozens missing in Brazil’s Minas Gerais

  

  Heavy rains and landslides in southeastern Brazil have killed at least 28 people and left more than 40 missing, with the worst impact reported in the state of Minas Gerais, according to local authorities and rescue teams.

• Tuesday, February 24th 2026 - 12:05 UTC

  Colombia brings 12 Mexican Mennonites to trial over deforestation

  

  Colombia’s prosecutor’s office is taking 12 Mexican Mennonites to trial over alleged deforestation of more than 100 hectares in rural Puerto Gaitán, Meta province, tied to agricultural land development carried out between 2016 and 2021.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2026 - 03:12 UTC

  Argentina clears US oceanographic cruise in the South Atlantic as debate grows over “dual-use” data

  

  Argentina’s Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) recorded that it had “no objections,” within its remit, to a United States request for a marine scientific research cruise by the R/V Roger Revelle inside Argentina’s Exclusive Economic Zone between March 5 and March 30, 2026. In the same document, the council asked for “all basic data” plus “preliminary and final reports” to be submitted to Argentine authorities prior to any publication of results.

• Thursday, February 12th 2026 - 21:34 UTC

  6.1-magnitude quake hits Chile’s Coquimbo region; authorities rule out tsunami risk

  

  A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck northern Chile on Thursday morning, with the epicentre in the Coquimbo region. Chile’s National Seismological Center (CSN) said the event occurred at 10:34:30 local time, locating it 13 km west of Punitaqui at preliminary coordinates of latitude -30.781 and longitude -71.613, with an estimated depth of 54 km.

• Tuesday, February 10th 2026 - 04:06 UTC

  January ranks as fifth warmest globally despite severe cold spells, Copernicus says

  

  Last month was the world’s fifth-warmest January on record, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported, even as sharp cold spells hit large parts of the Northern Hemisphere in the second half of the month. Global mean surface air temperature reached 12.95°C, 0.51°C above the 1991–2020 January average and 1.47°C above the estimated 1850–1900 “pre-industrial” baseline used for climate comparisons.

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 15:14 UTC

  Argentine scientists film rare “giant phantom jelly” measuring about 11 meters in the South Atlantic

  

  An Argentine-led deep-sea expedition has recorded rare footage of Stygiomedusa gigantea—the so-called giant phantom jellyfish—in waters off Argentina, offering an unusual look at a species seldom observed alive in its natural environment. The animal was filmed at around 250 meters depth by the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian during the “Vida en los extremos” campaign aboard the research vessel R/V Falkor (too), involving scientists from CONICET and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).