MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Falklands approves bill on oil pollution emergencies in relation to offshore installations, and responsibilities]]> The Director of Mineral Resources will be the competent authority – “Falkland Islands contingency plan” and “offshore installations” used in the OPRC Regulations. The Falkland Islands Executive Council has approved a set of Regulations 2026 to amend the Maritime (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention) Regulations 2019 (“the OPRC Regulations”) to make provision for the preparation and maintenance of oil pollution emergency plans in relation to offshore installations and to require the persons responsible for offshore installations to report oil incidents where oil is discharged into the sea.

]]> Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:10:00 GMT <![CDATA[An unusual die-off of southern right whales in Argentine Patagonia alarms scientists]]> Neither researchers nor the provincial government will give an official figure until the season ends; unofficially, more than 300 dead whales are being mentioned Scientists monitoring the southern right whale population at Península Valdés, in Argentina’s Chubut province, have recorded since July an unusual number of deaths among calves and adults which, they expect, could make this the worst year on record. They are investigating the role of a bacterium and of a toxic algal bloom known as “red tide”.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Amazon fires rise 62% in October as deforestation falls to a record low]]> Satellites detected 9,045 fire hotspots in the Brazilian Amazon in the first half of October, 62% more than in the same period last year, amid a drought aggravated by El Niño. The increase contrasts with the fall in deforestation, which over the past year reached its lowest level since 1988.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:29:00 GMT <![CDATA[The area of Antarctic ozone hole during September reached 15 million km2, says Copernicus]]> “CAMS provides high-quality data, forecasts and analyses needed to understand the state of the ozone layer and track its long-term recovery,” Laurence Rouil said The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) (*) has found that the 2026 Antarctic ozone hole reached a significant size threshold slightly earlier than average, aligned with 2025. It has also stayed ahead of average, unlike the previous year.

]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[A tornado and an unusual spring hailstorm overwhelm Santiago, Chile]]> An electrical storm with hail, unusual in the middle of spring, flooded streets, homes and businesses in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday and produced a tornado that the Chilean Meteorological Directorate preliminarily classified as EF0, the lowest intensity category. The national disaster prevention and response service declared a red alert in the Metropolitan Region, five days after the mudslide that hit the Las Condes district.

]]> Wed, 14 Oct 2026 07:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil blames human action for the fires sweeping the Amazon]]> The fires coincide with an El Niño episode that forecasts place among the most intense in recent decades and that is usually associated with drought in the Amazon The Brazilian government has blamed deliberate human action for the wave of fires in Amazonas state, where 540 new hotspots were recorded in 48 hours, more than half of those detected in the whole of October 2025, according to the National Institute for Space Research. The situation has led to a state of emergency in 36 municipalities.

]]> Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:29:00 GMT <![CDATA[Iguazú Falls closed as the river’s flow tops 12,000 cubic metres per second]]> The river rose just over two metres between Sunday and Monday at Puerto Iguazú and reached a level of 24.30 metres, and was still rising Iguazú National Park, in Argentina’s Misiones province, closed access to the falls’ walkways on Monday because of an exceptional rise in the Iguazú River, whose flow exceeded 12,000 cubic metres per second. The flood is part of an episode of heavy rainfall linked to El Niño that has also caused the Uruguay River to burst its banks, with evacuations on both sides.

]]> Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:09:00 GMT <![CDATA[BAS researchers uncover chinstrap penguins massive colony decline in Antarctic volcanic island]]> Chinstrap and macaroni penguins nesting on the volcanic slopes of Zavodovski Island (credit: Nicole Richters) A remote volcanic island near Antarctica has lost its title of largest penguin colony in the world, as new research reveals massive population declines, igniting fears for species’ survival. Researchers from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have uncovered the loss of over half a million chinstrap penguins from the Antarctic island of Zavodovski in the South Sandwich Islands.

]]> Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:04:00 GMT <![CDATA[A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shakes Panama]]> The epicentre was about 14 kilometres southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, a sparsely populated area near the Pacific coast some 240 kilometres from the capital, at shallow depth A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Panama on Friday at 12:56 local time, centred on the Azuero peninsula in Herrera province, according to the US Geological Survey. Panamanian authorities have not so far confirmed any casualties, though inspections are continuing and they have not ruled out injuries or people trapped. Damage to buildings was reported in several provinces.

]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:38:00 GMT <![CDATA[A mudslide sweeps away cars and a bus in Santiago after the wettest October on record]]> Las Condes mayor Catalina San Martín put the number of homes with some damage at around 2,000, 55 of them with serious habitability problems A torrent of water, mud and rocks swept away cars and a public transport bus on Thursday in San Carlos de Apoquindo, in the Las Condes district at the foot of the Andes in eastern Santiago, Chile, after a week of record rainfall. The official toll is six injured, with no deaths or missing, and President José Antonio Kast has declared a disaster zone in the district.

]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:53:00 GMT