The Andes
Colombia: worst drought in recorded history
Colombia is suffering the worst drought and forest fires in its history, partially due to weather phenomenon El Niño, with water rationing instated across the country.
Tag: control of water
Central America
Guatemala: activist slain in palm-oil region
An indigenous ecological leader in Guatemala was killed outside a court that one day earlier ordered the closure of a plantation against which he had led protests.
Southern Cone
Argentina: protests follow gold mine cyanide spill
Residents of a town in northwest Argentina took to the streets in protest after a pipe carrying cyanide to Barrick Gold's Veladero mine fractured and spilled its contents in the area.
The Andes
Bolivia: Potosí mine at issue in regional strike
Protesters cut off access to the Bolivian mining city of Potosí for almost a month in a dispute with the central government over development and investment in the remote region.
Iran
Control of water behind Iran nuke deal?
Following years of drought, Iran has quietly sought help from the US in managing a severe water crisis during the same period that US-Iran nuclear talks were underway.
Planet Watch
British Columbia mine waste spill: one year later
One year after a catastrophic waste spill at British Columbia's Mount Polley Mine, the facility is set to re-open—but its expansion is blocked by the opposition of local First Nations.
The Andes
Ecuador: general strike, indigenous march on Quito
An indigenous March for Life and Dignity arrived in Quito just as a general strike was launched to press Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on economic and environmental demands.
Planet Watch
Four Corners haze: harbinger of climate change
Federal authoriites approved an expansion of coal-mining and burning in the Four Corners area—as NASA has detected a massive methane plume over the region.
Greater Middle East
Suez Canal expansion amid regional war
Egypt formally opened an expansion to the Suez Canal amid pomp, spectacle—and a massive troop presence. The new trade hub opens as a jihadist insurgency mounts in the Sinai.
Planet Watch
Anishinaabe ‘Water Walk’ against pipeline plan
Anishinaabe activists in north Ontario are walking 125 kilometers of the proposed Energy East pipeline route to demonstrate their opposition, citing a threat to the region's waters.
Planet Watch
New York state puts fracking ban in place
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation released a final environmental impact statement on the dangers of fracking, officially banning the practice in the state.
Greater Middle East
Turkish enviros block road to mine site
Local residents and environmentalists blocked the road to a forest area in the Cerattepeli region of Turkey's Black Sea province of Artvin to block preparation of a mining project.