Life on Earth is in trouble. That much we know. But how bad have things become – and how fast are events moving? How soon, indeed, before the Earth’s biological treasures are trashed, in what will be the sixth great mass extinction event? This is what Gerardo Caballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico […]
Tag: global warming
Rare Seal Pups Stranded on Shrinking Arctic Ice
Mikhail Verevkin points his spyglass toward the Gulf of Finland and squints into the distance. “One, two, three.” He counts 19 animals lounging on rocks before looking up. They are all gray seals. The Baltic ringed seal is nowhere to be found. It’s April 20, the time of year when seal scientists like Verevkin, who […]
Climate change is ‘single biggest threat’ to polar bear survival
Global warming is now the single most important threat to the survival of the polar bear with retreating sea ice set to decimate populations, according to a new study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It found a “high probability” that the planet’s 26,000 polar bears will suffer a 30% decline […]
4 Ways Polar Bears Are Dealing With Climate Change
The Arctic predators—which depend on constantly diminishing amounts of sea ice to catch marine mammals such as seals—are declining in number, and fast. There are fewer than 25,000 polar bears left in the wild, according to the nonprofit organization Polar Bears International. Near the southern Beaufort Sea (map), for instance, the population has dropped about […]
Scientists discover lizard that changes sex in the sun
A lizard that changes sex in the sun has been discovered by scientists. It is the first time the phenomenon has been seen in reptiles in the wild and could have implications for other animal species because of climate change. The cold-blooded Australian Central Bearded Dragon is widespread on red sandy areas in the semi-arid […]
Let’s not martyr the white-throated needletail to the anti-wind cause
This week an extraordinary animal paid a visit to our shores. The elegant and lightning-fast white-throated needletail breeds mostly in China and migrates to Australia, so it was unusual sight dancing around the Isle of Harris in Scotland. The spectacle attracted birders from across the country and created a flurry of activity online as the […]
Poisonous jellyfish on the rise in the Mediterranean
Scientists across the Mediterranean say a surge in the number of jellyfish this year threatens not just the biodiversity of one of the world’s most overfished seas but also the health of tens of thousands of summer tourists. “I flew along a 300km stretch of coastline on 21 April and saw millions of jellyfish,” said […]