Category: World » Oceania
Warming In The Tasman Sea A Global Warming Hot Spot
30 Jan 12:41 | World
Oceanographers have identified a series of ocean hotspots around the world generated by strengthening wind systems that have driven oceanic currents, including the East Australian Current, polewards beyond their known boundaries.read more »
Pacific Rim Nations Prepare For Tsunami Preparedness Test
4 Nov 2011 | World
Some 30 Pacific Rim countries are to take part next week in a tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to an alert and enhance regional coordination in the event of a disaster. read more »
U.S. In Top 5 For Human Well-Being Among Countries
2 Nov 2011 | World
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead this year’s newly released Human Development Index (HDI) rankings, the annual United Nations measure of progress in human well-being, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger and Burundi are at the bottom.read more »
Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones
30 Oct 2011 | World
Obese people may regain weight after dieting due to hormonal changes, a University of Melbourne and Austin Health study has shown.read more »
7.3 Earthquake Off Coast Of New Zealand Generates Tsunami
21 Oct 2011 | World
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude 7.3 occurred in the remote Kermadec Islands region North of New Zealand on Saturday morning, with authorities saying a tsunami was generated. read more »
Fresh Water Crisis In Some Pacific Islands Due To Drought
10 Oct 2011 | World
Desalination plants are being sent to some Pacific Islands after drought has left a shortage of fresh drinking water.read more »
Hawaii Man Jailed for Webcam Exposure to a Minor In Australia
6 Oct 2011 | World
A Honolulu man convicted of transferring obscenity to a minor under 16 years old residing in Australia over the Internet has been sentenced to nine months in prison.read more »
New Zealand Stresses Disaster Preparedness After Deadly Earthquake
28 Sep 2011 | World
(Newsroom America) -- New Zealand has underlined the need for effective disaster preparedness and promised to share with the United Nations and other concerned organizations the lessons the country had learned from responding to the deadly earthquake that struck its second-largest city, Christchurch, in February.read more »
Marshall Islands Still Paying Cost of 1950's Nuclear Tests
27 Sep 2011 | World
The United Nations has failed to accept the consequences of the decisions it took on nuclear testing in the 1950s, and the people of the Marshall Islands are still paying the penalty physically and psychologically, the country’s Foreign Minister said today.read more »
World Must Pull Together In Face Of Unprecedented Challenges, Warns UN Head
6 Sep 2011 | World
Reaching into the sport of rugby for metaphor and the lore of the Maoris, New Zealand’s original inhabitants, for wisdom, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a fervent appeal for unprecedented global cooperation to meet an exceptional host of complex challenges.read more »
AIDS Epidemic At Critical Juncture In Asia-Pacific Says Report
26 Aug 2011 | World
A new report says the AIDS epidemic in Asia and the Pacific is at a crossroads, adding that while the region has seen impressive gains in the HIV response, greater and sustained efforts will be needed. read more »
First Signs Of Antarctic Ozone Depletion This Year
24 Aug 2011 | World
Signs of ozone depletion are again appearing over the Antarctic, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported, adding that prevailing temperatures and polar stratospheric clouds indicate that the degree of ozone loss this year will most likely be about average in comparison to the past decade.read more »
Scientists discover the most primitive living eel
17 Aug 2011 | World
Scientists at the Smithsonian and partnering organizations have discovered a remarkably primitive eel in a fringing reef off the coast of the Republic of Palau. read more »
Competition with humans responsible for decline of New Zealand's endangered sea lions
2 Aug 2011 | SciTech
Marine researchers in New Zealand have identified the direct impact of fishing as the largest known human factor in the decline of the endangered native sea lion population.read more »
Exports Led Asia-Pacific Out Of Global Economic Crisis: Report
25 Jul 2011 | Business
Exports have led Asia and the Pacific out of the global economic crisis, according to a new report, but it will be difficult to continue the growth without opening new markets within the region, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) reported. read more »
Australian volcano eruptions overdue, new study confirms
5 Jul 2011 | World
Latest research into the age of volcanos in Western Victoria and South Australia has confirmed that the regions are overdue for an eruption, potentially affecting thousands of local residents.read more »
Warming ocean layers will undermine polar ice sheets
4 Jul 2011 | World
Warming of the ocean's subsurface layers will melt underwater portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets faster than previously thought, according to new University of Arizona-led research.read more »
Fighting back from extinction, New Zealand right whale is returning home
27 Jun 2011 | SciTech
After being hunted to local extinction more than a century ago and unable to remember their ancestral calving grounds, the southern right whales of mainland New Zealand are coming home.read more »
Christchurch Earthquake: Swarm of large aftershocks rock southern New Zealand
12 Jun 2011 | World
A swarm of aftershocks in Christchurch, New Zealand have caused more building to collapse and people to be taken to hospital with significant liquefaction reported. read more »
Australia Urged To Have Proper Safeguards For Asylum Seeking Children
3 Jun 2011 | World
Australia’s plan to send unaccompanied minors seeking asylum to Malaysia lacks important operating safeguards for children, the United Nations refugee agency said today.read more »
Humanity can and must do more with less: UNEP
12 May 2011 | World
By 2050, humanity could consume an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times its current appetite – unless the economic growth rate is "decoupled" from the rate of natural resource consumption, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.read more »
Global Population To Pass 10 Billion by 2100
3 May 2011 | World
The world’s population is projected to surge past 9 billion before 2050 and then reach 10.1 billion by the end of the century if current fertility rates continue at expected levels, according to United Nations figures unveiled today.read more »
West Antarctic warming triggered by warmer sea surface in tropical Pacific
10 Apr 2011 | World
The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed rapidly for the last half-century or more, and recent studies have shown that an adjacent area, continental West Antarctica, has steadily warmed for at least 30 years, but scientists haven't been sure why.read more »
9.0 Japan Earthquake Shortens Day, Shifts Earth's Axis: NASA
14 Mar 2011 | USA News
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis, but it says you shouldn't notice the difference. read more »
United States Citizen Named Among New Zealand Earthquake Dead
8 Mar 2011 | World
A young American woman has been named among the 166 people confirmed to have died in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake which struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22.read more »
Police Release More Names Following Christchurch Earthquake
7 Mar 2011 | World
The death toll from the magnitude 6.3 earthquake which hit Christchurch on February 22nd has risen to 166 but is expected to rise further as police name more victims from the quake. read more »
New Zealand Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 160
2 Mar 2011 | World
The death toll following a shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch has risen to 160 as rescuers struggled to work against strong winds.read more »
Climate Change Chief Urges Governments To Impliment Cancun Accords
2 Mar 2011 | World
The United Nations climate change has called on governments to quickly transform the agreements reached in the Mexican city of Cancún last year into tangible action on the ground, and provide clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases emissions.read more »
New Zealand Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 154
28 Feb 2011 | World
The death toll in the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand has now risen to 154 and is expected to increase further.read more »
UPDATE: People from about 20 countries among New Zealand earthquake dead
25 Feb 2011 | World
The death toll from the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand is now 147 and local police say this figure is still expected to rise.read more »
First names of 92 New Zealand Earthquake victims released
24 Feb 2011 | World
New Zealand Police say 92 bodies have so far been recovered from the Christchurch earthquake zone but warn the death toll will climb and is expected to include foreign nationals. read more »
New Zealand earthquake damage illustrates risks from crustal faults
23 Feb 2011 | World
The terribly destructive earthquake that just hit Christchurch, New Zealand, was only a moderate 6.3 magnitude, but had certain characteristics that offer an important lesson to cities up and down the West Coast of North America that face similar risks, experts say.read more »
Curfew Imposed in Christchurch as Rescue Efforts Continue
23 Feb 2011 | World
New Zealand officials have imposed a curfew in parts of Christchurch following a deadly 6.3 earthquake Tuesday that has left at least 75 people dead and 80 percent of the city of 400,000 without water.read more »
Aftershocks Rock New Zealand after Deadly Quake
22 Feb 2011 | World
A series of aftershocks rocked parts of New Zealand early Wednesday following a deadly earthquake that may have killed as many as 150 people, reports said.read more »
New Zealand earthquake causes death and destruction in Christchurch
21 Feb 2011 | World
A shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck the major New Zealand city of Christchurch causing widespread destruction with multiple fatalities reported soon after the disaster and the total death toll still unclear.read more »
44 Million People Driven Into Poverty By High Food Prices: World Bank
15 Feb 2011 | World
Rising food prices have driven an estimated 44 million people into poverty in developing countries since last June as food costs continue to rise to "dangerous levels", according to the World Bank.read more »
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi hits Queensland
2 Feb 2011 | World
Parts of North East Australia continue to be on alert as Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi passes over Queensland.read more »
La Nina Partly To Blame For Global Flooding
14 Jan 2011 | World
In some parts of the world severe flooding is occurring, as very heavy rain and landslides affect regions of Australia, Brazil and much of Sri Lanka, with the La Nina weather pattern to blame to at least some of it, forecasters say.read more »
Three Quarters Of Australian State Declared Disaster Zone
11 Jan 2011 | World
The Premier of Queensland Anna Bligh has today declared three quarters of the Australian state a disaster zone following devastating floods which have claimed at least eight lives.read more »
Ongoing Floods Take Heavy Toll On North East Australia
6 Jan 2011 | World
Ongoing floods have taken a heavy toll on lives and property across much of north-eastern Australia.read more »
UN Leader Ban Ki-moon Gives View On "State Of The World" in 2010
17 Dec 2010 | World
In his end-of-year “state of the world” news conference, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said challenges lay ahead in Sudan, the Middle East and other world flashpoints after “a big year for the United Nations” in 2010.read more »
United States Backs Indigenous Rights Treaty At UN
17 Dec 2010 | World
President Barack Obama has announced that the United States supports the landmark United Nations treaty outlining the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous peoples.read more »
Sorrow At Deaths Of Refugees In Indian Ocean Boat Tragedy
16 Dec 2010 | World
The United Nations refugee agency has voiced “deep shock and sorrow” after a vessel thought to be carrying Iranian and Iraqi asylum-seekers foundered on the coast of Australia’s Christmas Island, with at least 27 people reported dead, including children.read more »
New Zealand Pike River Miners Pronounced Dead
23 Nov 2010 | World
Police say 29 Pike River miners trapped underground in New Zealand are believed to be dead after a second massive explosion in the mine.read more »
New Zealand Mine Rescue Attempt Still Unsafe
20 Nov 2010 | World
Rescuers are still unable to reach 29 miners trapped in a coal mine on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island as combustion underground continues to generate poisonous gases making a rescue attempt unsafe.read more »
Poisonous Gases Preventing New Zealand Mine Rescue
19 Nov 2010 | World
Poisonous gases are preventing rescuers from entering a coal mine on New Zealand's West Coast where 27 miners are trapped about 120 metres underground.read more »
"Hobbit" Filming Location Decided: Warner Bros Squeezes Big Concessions To Confirm New Zealand
27 Oct 2010 | Entertainment
U.S. film studio Warner Bros has squeezed big concessions out of the New Zealand government to confirm JRR Tolkein's "The Hobbit" will be filmed in New Zealand, including a law change and millions more in tax and financial incentives. read more »
Huge parts of world are drying up, study finds
11 Oct 2010 | World
The soils in large areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including major portions of Australia, Africa and South America, have been drying up in the past decade, a group of researchers conclude in the first major study to ever examine "evapotranspiration" on a global basis.read more »
FEMA Remembers American Samoa On First Anniversary Of Tsunami
29 Sep 2010 | World
One year ago today a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck American Samoa and caused extensive damage and loss of life. read more »
Pacific Ocean Islands Appeal For Climate Change Assistance
26 Sep 2010 | World
Three Pacific Ocean countries have appealed to United Nations Member States to act fast to combat climate change and start mobilizing the resources needed to mitigate the effects of global warming, especially in small island developing States that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.read more »
