Chile
-
Here’s what the night sky ought to look like (i.e. AMAZING)
Here’s your nature porn for the day: a long exposure of the night sky over the aptly named Very Large Telescope array in Chile. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/36154212]
-
Man arrested for stealing glaciers
The Jorge Montt Glacier, in the Patagonia region of Chile, is receding faster than any other glacier in the country. This is probably largely because of climate change, but also maybe a little bit because some dude’s been stealing it piecemeal.
-
Chile to drown Patagonia behind a massive dam, despite disapproval of its citizens
It must be hump day, because a slow-motion screw-the-environment catastrophe was just approved in Chile. A commission appointed entirely by President Sebastian Pinera gave the green light to a 2.75 gigawatt dam project that will "drown 14,000 acres, require carving clear-cuts through forests, and eliminate whitewater rapids and waterfalls that attract ecotourism," reports the Washington […]
-
Critical List: Fracking connected to flammable tap water; eco-friendly paintballs
Remember those people with flammable tap water? Yup, hydrofracking is responsible, according to Duke University scientists. Chile wants to dam two incredible rivers, despite opposition from both locals and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. A judge in Utah shut down Koch Industries' search for the clever people who sent out a fake press release claiming the […]
-
President Obama's Trip through Latin America: Opportunity to Advance Action on Global Warming
President Obama will be travelling through Latin America March 19-23, 2011 with stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador. This is a region that has countries that are: major emitters, key players in global warming negotiations, taking action and ripe for further action, and on the front lines of the impacts of global warming. As […]
-
Lithium: Are “blood batteries” next?
The strategic minerals debate is back-but starring some new rocks. One that has received much recent attention is lithium, which is used in cell phone batteries, as well as those under development for electric cars. Turns out lithium isn’t found in too many places. Around 50 percent of known reserves are in Bolivia, underneath some […]
-
Chilean salmon-farming industry in a sad state
A virus called infectious salmon anemia is sweeping through Chile’s fisheries, bringing attention to the condition of the country’s third-largest export industry. On expansive salmon farms, fish are bred in crowded underwater pens. Fish poop and food pellets contaminate the water. As many as 1 million nonnative salmon escape each year, gobbling native species and […]
-
A proposed gold mine in Chile and Argentina has emails flying
Last week, Chile’s government green-lighted a controversial mining project known as Pascua-Lama. If the name rings a bell, odds are a chain email has found its way to your inbox, an appeal to “friends who care about our earth.” Activists hoped Chile’s new president, Michelle Bachelet, would stop the mine. Photo: Queen/ WireImage.com. The far-reaching […]
-
Why the global food system isn’t kind to local farmers
Recently, I've come across two articles that pungently demonstrate the place of small-scale farmers in a global economy geared toward long-distance trade.
The first, a Salon-published excerpt from Charles Fishman's recent book The Wal-Mart Effect, explores what the U.S. love affair with $5/pound salmon means for Chile. (Prepare to click through a few ads to get to the story.) The other, a NY Times piece, depicts high-level hand-wringing in China over rural "land grabs by officials eager to cash in on China's booming economy."
(Thanks to Tyler Bell for alerting me to the Salon piece.)