A rare "super blue blood" Moon lit up the sky last night in Tongatapu, followed by a full lunar eclipse in the early hours of this morning when the spectacularly bright moon went dark for over an hour.
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Results for Environment
Thursday 1 February 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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Wednesday 13 December 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A video study showing a time lapse of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai island was published on Tuesday by America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The video study by NASA shows the transformation of the volcanic island from 2015 to 2017.
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Wednesday 26 July 2017
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Toronto, Canada
Land that was once frozen in the Yukon Territory in Northern Canada is becoming agriculture friendly due to global warming and is being offered for free to small farmers. The Yukon borders on Alaska and its government has already given away nearly 8,000 acres of farmland over the last 10 years, with a dozen applicants currently being considered.
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Thursday 8 June 2017
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Montreal, Canada
“Biodiversity conservation is a pre-condition for achieving sustainable development,” says Cristiana Pasca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on World Environment Day, 5 June. “We know that human health ultimately depends on the ecosystem products and services – fresh water, food and fuel sources – required for human wellbeing and productive livelihoods.”
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Tuesday 6 June 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Important questions over massive environmental damage caused by site works for the Va'epopua 18-holes golf course and its associated commercial developments remain unanswered, in spite of fears that the project is killing the reef and endangering the health and fishing livelihoods of its coastal communities.
Friday 2 June 2017
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Suva, Fiji
Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement is a “grave moral injustice” say Pacific civil society groups, asserting that “His decision is a clear sign of his continued support of the fossil fuel industry which directly threatens the lives of communities living in the Pacific islands.”
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Friday 2 June 2017
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Suva, Fiji
"Deeply disappointing," is how the incoming President of COP23, Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, this morning responded to the decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Bainimarama said the impacts of climate change "are obvious, and humankind ignores these facts at its peril."
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Wednesday 10 May 2017
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Geneva, Switzerland
Pacific Islands urgently need a Pacific-wide ban on asbestos and other toxic substances to protect our islands from being used as a dumping ground for products that other countries around the world have banned, SPREP's Director General, Mr Kosi Latu has warned, saying "The Rotterdam Convention has failed Small Island Developing States."
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Thursday 4 May 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A plaque was unveiled at Maui's Rock (also thought to be a tsunami rock) at Kala'au, Tongatapu on Tuesday, 2 May to raise awareness on the significance of the site.
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Wednesday 3 May 2017
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Geneva, Switzerland
“The pollution on this planet has never been worse. The impact of our people has never been more deadly. But the time to fix it has never been better,” said Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24 April. Two toxic substances on the international "watch list", paraquat and chrysotile asbestos, are particularly relevant to Tonga.
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Friday 14 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
If Pacific Islands Countries could improve the efficiency of their electric lighting, by replacing incandescent bulbs with new types of lights, it would reduce not only their Green House Gas emissions but also reduce the cost of electricity, and boost their economies, according to a report that was published this month by the Pacific Community (SPC).
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Tuesday 11 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
It’s rare to find female sailors in Tonga, but 'Aunofo Havea Funaki is not your average Tongan woman - she has been working in a male dominated marine industry in the kingdom for the last 26 years. A passionate advocate of sustainable tourism, 'Aunofo is concerned about the amount of whale watching operators in Vava’u and how they operate. By Eleanor Gee
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Tuesday 11 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Litterbugs have yet to fined for littering by the Environment Department in Nuku’alofa since the enforcement of an Environment Management (Litter and Waste Control) Regulations 2016, that came into force on 1 April, in Tonga - but they have been warned.
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Friday 7 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Whale watchers around the world can help scientists track the journey of individual whales by taking photos of the underside of their tails, said Ted Cheeseman, co-founder and CEO of Happywhale, a website platform used to help identify whales using pictures. “The underside of a whale’s tail has markings unique to each whale, just like finger prints are to humans."
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Thursday 6 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Whale Declaration was endorsed and signed today by 11 Pacific countries at the Whales in a Changing Ocean conference, ending on a high note in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. The declaration focuses on stronger whale conservation in the Pacific region with Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Tonga signing on today.
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Tuesday 4 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
“All Tongan waters are declared a sanctuary for whales ...The ban against the hunting and killing of whales in Tongan waters remains in force,” Tonga's Acting Prime Minister, Hon Siaosi Sovaleni said at the opening of an international "Whales in a Changing Ocean" conference today in Nuku’alofa.
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Thursday 30 March 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga is getting serious about keeping public places clean as people and companies caught littering or disposing of waste illegally will be fined starting this Saturday, 1 April. Fines will range from $20 per infringement to $2,000, depending on the severity of the disposal and on the spot fines may also be issued.
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Friday 10 March 2017
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Bonn, Germany
To combat climate change effectively, governments need to ensure that they have access to the best available science in order to make the best policy decisions and to be able to allocate the right resources, policy makers from over 100 countries learned in Bonn, Germany this week.
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Thursday 9 March 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Extraordinary flooding on Fonoifua Island, Ha'apai last weekend is concerning Tonga's National Emergency Management Office (NEMO). This is the first time severe flooding has occurred on the small island after prolonged rainfall, raising health concerns after homes were contaminated with water over one meter-deep in places. "We are experiencing something extraordinary..." said Leveni 'Aho.
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Friday 3 March 2017
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Antarctic Peninsula
A huge crack on the Antarctic Peninsula, across the Larsen C ice shelf, set to break free an enormous iceberg six times larger than Tonga’s combined landmass, is being monitored by scientists at Project MIDAS, an Antarctic research group. The crack is more than 100 miles in length and 1,500 feet across and the ice mass could break free within the next few months. The loss of the ice shelf, which acts as a barrier to the flow of land ice, can cause ice to move faster into the ocean contributing to a faster rise of global sea levels.
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Tonga weather forecast from yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK. See also Fua'amotu Weather Forecasting Center, Tonga, for latest local weather bulletin.