The United States has taken over the pro-whaling stance traditionally championed by Japan, but instead of supporting the capture of whales for scientific research purposes, it is doing so under the guise of aboriginal subsistence quotas.
The environmental movement continues to gain credibility and support as scientific findings confirm its warnings and natural disasters become increasingly frequent. Yet this growing awareness has yet to reach political decision makers in countries like Brazil, much to the frustration of environmentalists.
While the vast majority of Brazilians place priority on environmental conservation, their elected leaders continue to focus on economic interests and short-term gains.
In addition to the scientific whaling quotas defended by Japan, there are now demands for increased quotas for aboriginal subsistence whaling.
Wind power is an abundant source of energy in Brazil, but it is not given priority in government plans, according to a study by the Institute of Electrotechnics and Energy at São Paulo University.
Marginalized communities in four states in southern Mexico and the central Guatemalan department of Baja Verapaz will be involved in a project to improve natural resource management in areas with scant rainfall.
An Argentine government agency is carrying out a program to teach students in rural primary schools in the western province of Mendoza about the safe handling of pesticides.
Work will begin in July on four climate change adaptation projects in four primarily indigenous departments in Honduras.
Carbon markets have been widely promoted as the only way to generate enough money to enable industries and countries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, which are largely responsible for global warming. The only problem is that nearly 20 years after their conception, they have failed to work, and have also been subject to fraud and other financial crimes.
Serious concerns about industrial livestock production in Mexico have been raised once again by recent controversies over the use of the non-steroidal anabolic clenbuterol and a feed medicine for poultry containing aresenic.
The government of Honduras has established a specialized unit to ensure transparency in the use of loans and donations earmarked for climate change initiatives, at the request of international financial institutions.
The Andean páramo grasslands, located between 3,000 and 4,500 meters above sea level, are shrinking as the result of the expansion of agriculture and cattle farming and the demand for freshwater, leading to the loss of endemic flora and fauna.
Despite the growing amount of information available on environmental issues, the Brazilian public’s willingness to adopt eco-friendly consumer behavior has declined in recent years, according to a survey by the Trade Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Argentina and the United States have launched a jointly developed satellite observatory that will provide real-time information critical to understanding two major components of the earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation.
In the 1998 medical thriller "Toxin" by U.S. novelist Robin Cook, the ground beef in hamburgers is contaminated with a deadly strain of the Escherichia coli or E. coli bacterium, unleashing a massive epidemic. The novel was inspired by a real outbreak that had taken place several years earlier.
Social and environmental organizations in Argentina are threatening to hold a street protest if the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries does not respond to calls for more precise classification of the toxicity of agrochemicals.
In the southeastern Honduran department of La Paz, a project for the reuse of wastewater for irrigation of food crops will be implemented as part of a plan to promote more environmentally friendly practices.
Mexican regulations to improve air quality are either ignored or outdated, and this has a serious impact on human health, according to a complaint filed by five non-governmental organizations.
Industrialized food production systems significantly contribute to the spread of the E. coli bacterium, say scientists.
SAC-D/Aquarius is the fourth and most sophisticated satellite jointly developed and launched by the U.S. space agency NASA and the Argentine space agency CONAE.