Wanted eco-activist Capt. Paul Watson says he fears for his life in Costa Rica
The eco-activist founder of the Sea Shepard Society, Captain Paul Watson, said he fears for his life should he return to Costa Rica to stand trial where he is wanted on a 2012 arrest warrant for allegedly endangering the crew of a Costa Rican fishing vessel in 2002 which he claims was conducting illegal shark finning.
Popular insecticide used in Costa Rica damaging wild bee populations, study says
A popular, but controversial type of insecticide used in Costa Rica and widely around the world is damaging wild bee populations, which are necessary to pollinate crops and sustain ecosystems, according to a new study.
Amazing images show unexpected, massive eruption of Chile’s Calbuco volcano
The eruption of Chile’s Calbuco volcano Wednesday was as surprising as it was spectacular. Images and video of the event online showed glowing ash spewing from the top of the 6,572-foot mountain like steam from a locomotive. To Chileans living near Calbuco, it was as if hell’s gates had suddenly opened.
New eruption at Turrialba produced ash column reaching more than 6,500 feet
Costa Rica’s Turrialba volcano erupted again Tuesday afternoon, producing a column of ash, gas, and water vapor that reached some 6,500 feet over the volcano’s crater, according to the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI).
On Earth Day, a look at environmental problems facing 20 Latin American countries
Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has destroyed the natural environment and is responsible for climate change. While not everyone blames mankind’s actions, a 2013 report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded with 95 percent certainty that people are to blame for at least half the climate change in the last half-century.
How historic droughts in Central America contributed to Mayan downfall
It must have been a time of great hardship and struggle for the ancient Maya civilization. The land was parched and dry as the devastating effects of climate change on brought a great drought. New research has shown that, despite attempts to adapt to the changes, Mayan culture finally collapsed between 800 and 950 A.D.
Wildfires ravaging Costa Rica national park believed to have been set by hunters
Four wildfires over the last 15 days that have destroyed some 1,500 hectares of the Diria National Park, located in the cantons of Santa Cruz and Nicoya in Guanacaste, were likely intentionally set by hunters, Luis Diego Román, coordinator of Costa Rica’s National Fire Management Program, told the daily La Nacion.
Violence against environmentalists on the rise; nearly three-quarters of killings in LatAm
The past year witnessed a significant rise in violence against environmental activists, with 116 deaths being reported globally, according to a report released Monday. Nearly three-quarters of those killings occurred in Central and South America, where indigenous groups are increasingly being targeted by a nexus of “large landowners, business interests, political actors and agents of organized crime.”
