Scientists investigate thousands of dead Antarctic penguins for bird flu
Reuters Has bird flu already killed hundreds, if not thousands of penguins in Antarctica? That’s what researchers are seeking to find out after a scientific expedition last month found at least 532 dead Adelie penguins, with thousands more thought to have died, according to a statement from Federation University Australia. Researchers wearing protective suits collect […]
Antarctic scientists warn of bird flu spread as penguin cases confirmed
Santiago, Chile Reuters Scientists in Antarctica are warning of the spread of deadly H5N1 avian flu virus after the disease was first confirmed on the frozen continent’s mainland last month and has since been detected in local penguin and cormorant populations. The spread of the virus, which has decimated bird populations worldwide and hit South […]
Bird flu reaches mainland Antarctica for first time, scientists say
Buenos Aires, Argentina Reuters A deadly type of bird flu has been confirmed on the mainland of Antarctica for the first time, scientists said, a potential risk for the southern region’s huge penguin colonies. “This discovery demonstrates for the first time that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus has reached Antarctica despite the distance and […]
UN chief, Chile’s Boric to visit Antarctica before COP28 climate summit
Santiago, Chile Reuters United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will travel to Antarctica this week with Chilean President Gabriel Boric to observe the impact of rising temperatures caused by climate change on the continent, he said on Monday. “Scorching temperatures mean Antarctic ice is melting ever-faster, with deadly consequences for people around the world,” Guterres […]
Emperor penguins now a threatened species due to climate change, US says
New York, USReuters Antarctica’s emperor penguin is at risk of extinction due to rising global temperatures and sea ice loss, the US Government said Tuesday as it finalized protections for the animal under the US Endangered Species Act. The US Fish and Wildlife Service said emperor penguins should be protected under the law since the […]
Satellite imagery shows Antarctic ice shelf crumbling faster than thought
Los Angeles, USReuters Antarctica’s coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish the crumbling ice, doubling previous estimates of losses from the world’s largest ice sheet over the past 25 years, a satellite analysis showed on Wednesday. The first-of-its-kind study, led by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles and published […]
Emperor penguin at serious risk of extinction due to climate change
Reuters The emperor penguin, which roams Antarctica’s frozen tundra and chilly seas, is at severe risk of extinction in the next 30 to 40 years as a result of climate change, an expert from the Argentine Antarctic Institute warned. The emperor, the world’s largest penguin and one of only two penguin species endemic to Antarctica, […]
StrangeSights: Getting away from it all; why a cowboy rides through the drive-through; and, Charles Darwin’s notebooks mysteriously reappear…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination drive reaches Antarctica’s frozen shores
Sydney, Australia Reuters COVID-19 vaccines have arrived at Australia’s Casey research station in Antarctica, authorities said on Friday, allowing expeditioners to be inoculated before they journey back home to a country reopening to the world. Australia is gradually easing pandemic restrictions as it boosts vaccination levels after its southeast was rocked by a third wave […]
Earth is losing ice faster today than in the mid-1990s, study suggests
Anchorage, Alaska, USReuters Earth’s ice is melting faster today than in the mid-1990s, new research suggests, as climate change nudges global temperatures ever higher. Altogether, an estimated 28 trillion metric tons of ice have melted away from the world’s sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers since the mid-1990s. Annually, the melt rate is now about […]