Environment

Ice loss in southwest Antarctica may be slower than thought: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Global warming has caused ice to melt faster than normal in the Antarctic, but a study Tuesday suggested the rate of loss in some areas may be slower than previously thought. Researchers in Britain mapped the change in the speed of ice loss using data from five different satellites, said the report in Geophysical Research Letters, a US scientific journal. After studying changes at more than 30 glaciers since 1992 […]

Black rhinos to come back home to Rwanda

by Cyril BELAUD Agence France-Presse KIGALI, Rwanda – Around 20 of Africa’s endangered Eastern black rhinos are returning in an “extraordinary homecoming” to Rwanda after the species disappeared there 10 years ago, the African Parks organisation said Tuesday. The rhinos are being moved from South Africa to the Akagera national park in eastern Rwanda, according to the non-profit group that manages protected areas for African governments. “This extraordinary homecoming will take place over the first […]

Vinegar offers hope in Barrier Reef starfish battle

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Coral-munching crown-of-thorns starfish can be safely killed by common household vinegar, scientists revealed Thursday in a discovery that offers hope for Australia’s struggling Great Barrier Reef. The predatory starfish is naturally-occurring but has proliferated due to pollution and run-off at the World Heritage-listed ecosystem, which is also reeling from two consecutive years of mass coral bleaching. Until now other expensive chemicals such as bile salts have been used to try and […]

More Antarctic protections urged on World Penguin Day

by Martin Parry Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The world needs to do more to protect the Antarctic wilderness and its wildlife, scientists warned Tuesday, as they marked World Penguin Day. The flightless seabirds — a favorite with children for their clumsy, waddling gait — offer a useful yardstick for researchers to judge the health of their habitat. “Penguins are great ambassadors for understanding the need to conserve Southern Ocean resources,” Christian Reiss, an Antarctic […]

Watch: Magnificent sight of Hukou Waterfall (courtesy CCTV)

JIXIAN COUNTY, China (CCTV) — A section of the Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River in Jixian County, north China’s Shanxi Province, has turned the water from yellow to clear, presenting a magnificent sight that attracts crowds of visitors. Water flows of the Yellow River usually become low in the period from April to June every year, when minor waterfalls have disappeared, leaving only the major one, with the water turning from yellow sandy into […]

Rare green Sakura, namulaklak sa east China; Milyong tulips namukadkad naman sa US

Sikat ang mga sakura flower sa China, pero ang mas agaw pansin ngayon sa lugar ay ang paglutang ng mga green Sakura na syang bihira lamang at syang nagpadagdag sa ganda ng iba pang bulaklak. Kaya naman agad itong dinayo ng mga residente at turista sa lugar upang makapagpa-litrato sa unique green flowers na ito. Ayon sa residente sa lugar,  ang nasabing puno ng sakura ay nasa edad na ng 30s O 40s na syang […]

Fossils may be earliest known multicellular life: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Fossils accidentally discovered in South Africa are probably the oldest fungi ever found by a margin of 1.2 billion years, rewriting the evolutionary story of these organisms which are neither flora nor fauna, researchers said Monday. If verified as both fungal and multicellular, the 2.4 billion-year-old microscopic creatures — whose slender filaments are bundled together like brooms — could also be the earliest known specimens of […]

Belgium’s ‘fairytale’ bluebell forest victim of own beauty

https://youtu.be/V5qLUUCMra8 by Philippe SIUBERSKI Halle, Belgium (AFP) — A carpet of bluebells bursts into flower in Belgium in a wonder of the natural world — but one that is at risk of being trampled by tourists drawn to its beauty. For two or three weeks in April the ground of the Hallerbos wood just outside the drab capital of Brussels is transformed into a breathtaking sea of shimmering purple. “The scene is like in a […]

Reindeer at risk from Arctic hot spell

by Pierre-Henry Deshayes Agence France-Presse Kautokeino, Norway (AFP) — Winter temperatures in Norway’s Lapland could rise dramatically this century, with potentially devastating consequences for the region’s reindeer and the indigenous Sami people who make their living herding them. A vast frozen tundra, the mountainous Finnmark plateau in Norway’s far north, is experiencing a hot spell — relatively speaking — wreaking havoc on the centuries-old Sami way of life. “We already feel the effects of global warming […]

Last killer whale born at Sea World

SAN ANTONIO. United States (Reuters) — The last killer whale to be born at SeaWorld was delivered on Wednesday (April 19) at the company’s San Antonio park. Sea World veterinarians said they have not yet determined the gender of the calf, but said the baby and its 25-year-old mother, Takara, are in good shape and are being monitored 24 hours a day. This is Takara’s fifth birth, and officials say she will determine when park […]