A Trip to the Southern Right Whale's Summer Home

Tierramérica headed to the sea to visit this endangered species in the waters surrounding Argentina's Peninsula Valdés, where these whales arrive in for the September mating season. They are protected by a hunting ban, but their future is still uncertain.

“Poverty is subversive”

Environmental degradation is one of the causes of socio-economic deterioration, says Honduran Catholic cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez, who describes the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development a failure, and blames "the arrogant attitude of the powerful nations."

'Vegetable Ivory' Reborn

In its natural state, it looks like what it is: a nut produced by a palm tree. But in the hands of artisans or jewelers, the 'tagua', valued for its qualities of hardness and its color, changes its appearance.

Southern Cone Launches Battle against POPs

Thousands of tons of pesticides, among other persistent organic pollutants (POPs), continue to be used in the Southern Cone, where few regulations are in place.

Costa Rica's Unleaded Air

Good news: tests show that Costa Rican children have very little lead in their blood, thanks to policies enacted since 1995 to eradicate the heavy metal.

The War against Malaria

The war to wipe out malaria has made enormous steps since the announcement that the genomes of the most dangerous of the parasites causing the disease and of the mosquito that transmits it had been decoded.

Ecobreves – IFAW Slams Norwegian Whalers For Largest Whale Kill in Ten Years

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW-www.ifaw.org) today slammed the High North Alliance, a Norwegian pro-whaling group, for boasting that Norway had this year broken its annual record of whales killed. In their statement, the High North Alliance announced that Norwegian whalers killed 634 minke whales in the 2002 whale-hunting season, which are expected to yield 892 tons of meat and 63 tons of blubber for the commercial market.

Ecobreves – PERU: El Niño Is Melting Glaciers

The climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, which causes heavy rainfall and flooding along South America's Pacific coast, is accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Andes Mountains, say experts.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Marine Park Needs Funds

The Honduran government plans to launch an international fundraising campaign to create a marine park around the paradise-like islands of Bahía, in the Caribbean, which form part of the world's second largest coral reef, after the Australian Great Barrier Reef.

Childhood Lead Poisoning

Lead poisoning among children is a serious environmental health problem, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Although many countries have made major progress in reducing the use of lead in gasoline, the metal continues to be found in many industrial processes.

Hurricane Season

The annual hurricane season brings with it the fury of nature: a combination of powerful winds, giant ocean waves and torrential rains that almost every year leave their mark somewhere in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico or even farther north along the coast of the United States.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: In Compliance with Kyoto Protocol

Brazil is considering an agreement to manufacture 100,000 automobiles with fuel-alcohol-driven engines through a 30 million dollar donation from Germany, as part of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, signed in 1997.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Refinery Fined

- The Chilean Superintendent's Office for Electricity and Fuel slapped the Concón petroleum refinery, the country's largest, with a 695,000-dollar fine for the contamination caused in four industrial accidents this year.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Beetles Infest Forest

- A plague of pine beetles (Dentroctonus frontalis) attacked 18,000 hectares of forest in Honduras, causing 30 million dollars in losses over the last three years, reports the Honduran Forest Development Corporation.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Laser for Use in Monitoring Climate

The use of the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system in meteorological applications will be discussed at a meeting in Cuba of scientists from around the world in February.

Lead Poisoning Is Not Child's Play

Children in Latin America can no longer play freely on the ground: industrial waste of heavy metals contaminate their bodies, stunting growth, causing deafness and even mental disabilities.

Mango Bark Used in HIV/AIDS Fight

Cuban scientists discovered that the bark of some varieties of this tropical tree holds a potent antioxidant that can be used to improve the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS.

8.6 Million People Face Hunger

Food insecurity affects the poorest residents of the Central American "drought corridor", alerts the World Food Program. They are the victims of natural disasters.

“Mother Earth is a single mother”

The Earth is both a planet and a woman, and is "scorned for being feminine", says Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler. About the Earth's future, he told Tierramérica that he "would like to believe that the environment will someday be better than it is today."

War Games Are Deadly in Vieques

Contaminated soil, the thunder of bombs dropped during U.S. military exercises and the specter of cancer disturb the dreams of the 9,400 people on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

“With neither head nor tail”

No country is prepared for war, says the Colombian singer Juanes. Amid the incomprehensible violence of his country's ongoing civil war, music can heal the wounds of the soul, he told Tierramérica.