Tierramerica
The transport of radioactive material is of concern to Central America and the Caribbean, says Gioconda Ubeda. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

Q&A: Latin America Needs to Address the Transport of Nuclear Weapons

By Emilio Godoy
Latin America and the Caribbean celebrated their 45th anniversary as a nuclear-weapon-free zone amidst allegations of British deployment of nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic and with no specific regime for the transport of radioactive waste. 

Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA: German Loan for Renewable Energy

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), based in Honduras, has received a loan of 65 million dollars from the German bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau to promote renewable energy and combat climate change in the region.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Nitrogen in Soil Increases Carbon Absorption

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The presence of nitrogen in soil speeds up plant growth, reducing the amount of carbohydrates in the leaves of plants and allowing them to live longer and absorb more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, concludes a recent study by the Biosciences Institute at the University of São Paulo.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Transforming Garbage Into Art

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Fundación La Tortuga, an environmental organization based in the northern Venezuelan city of Barcelona, is hosting an exhibition by visionary artist Leopoldo Cardozo, who integrates plastic bags, used phone cards, bottles and other waste into his works.

LATIN AMERICA: Research Decodes Dialogue Between Rainforest and Water

By Alice Marcondes
An alteration of the relationship between the Amazon rainforest and the billions of cubic metres of water transported by air from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean to the Andes Mountains could endanger the resilience of a biome that is crucial for the global climate, warns a recently concluded two-decade research project.

Scientists Find Link Between La Niña and the Flu

By Emilio Godoy
Weather patterns could have an influence on the spread of epidemics like that of the H1N1 influenza virus, initially known as swine flu, which broke out in Mexico and the United States in 2009.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Quality Standards for Waste Oil Biodiesel

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) has developed standards that will enable the certification of small plants that produce biodiesel from used cooking oil.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Increased Protection of Coral Reefs

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Honduras have launched a program to conserve the coral reefs off the country’s Caribbean coast, considered the most beautiful in the world after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: 64 Million Used Tires Removed From the Environment

By IPS Correspondents and - -
During 2011 some 320,000 tons of used and scrap tires, corresponding to 64 million tires from tourism vehicles, were taken out of circulation through environmentally correct treatment by Brazilian industry.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: NGOs Demand Respect for the Right to a Healthy Environment

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The public but autonomous National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) of Mexico should take action to defend the right to a healthy environment, say two non-governmental organizations.
Scientific observation tower in Boa Vista, capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima, which borders with Venezuela. - Courtesy of Mario Bentes

Two-Decade Research Decodes Dialogue Between Amazon Rainforest and Water

By Alice Marcondes and - -
The Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia arose from the need to understand and explain the rainforest by integrating different scientific fields.

ARGENTINA: Progress in River Clean-Up Praised – With Reservations

By Marcela Valente
For the first time in over 200 years, visible progress is being made in cleaning up the Matanza-Riachuelo River basin, the most highly polluted in Argentina, although improvements remain largely superficial so far.

Cloud Seeding – Uncertain Solution for Mexico’s Drought

By Emilio Godoy
As half of Mexico endures one of the most severe droughts in its history, cloud seeding appears to be a promising way to bring desperately needed rain, although it remains a source of controversy.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Promoting the Use of Biogas

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Cuba plans to expand the small- and medium-scale use of biogas, according to the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (Cubasolar).

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Canadian Funding for Protected Areas

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The government of Canada has provided Honduras with 52,000 dollars to enhance the management of protected areas, through the Forest Conservation Institute (ICF).

Ecobreves – BRAZIL : Study Reveal Limits of Amazon Basin’s Resilience

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Amazon basin shows signs of a transition to a "disturbance-dominated regime", including changing energy and water cycles, concluded the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), a research initiative carried out over the course of 20 years.
Results of the clean-up and reforestation of the towpath along the banks of the Riachuelo, as viewed from the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Nueva Pompeya. - Juan Moseinco/IPS

Progress in River Clean-Up Praised – With Reservations

By Marcela Valente and - -
Visible progress is finally being made in the clean-up and reforestation of the banks of the Riachuelo River, which for years had been a virtual open sewer running through Buenos Aires.
Mexico is facing its worst drought in seven decades. - Mauricio Ramos/IPS

Cloud Seeding, an Uncertain Solution for the Mexican Drought

By Emilio Godoy and - -
The artificial creation of rain has moved from the realm of science fiction to real life, but doubts remain as to whether cloud seeding is truly effective - or safe.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Voluntary Collection of Disposable Materials and E-Waste

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Venezuelan environmental organization Ecoclick coordinated the collection of several tons of disposable materials and equipment in middle-class and working-class neighborhoods of the capital in a single weekend.

NICARAGUA-HONDURAS: Re-Greening the Border

By José Adán Silva
Ignacia Matute looks back nostalgically on the days when the hills around her home in northwestern Nicaragua were blanketed in green, and she woke every morning to the sounds of birds singing in the treetops and the rushing waters of the nearly Coco River.

Thematic Social Forum Awash with Criticism for Green Economy

By Clarinha Glock
Critical voices raised against what was dubbed "the gospel of green capitalism" resonated in every discussion and street march held during the Thematic Social Forum, which brought thousands of activists to the capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil.
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