The coldest continent on Earth used to be as warm as Italy. Here’s how we know. Not far from the South Pole, more than half a mile below the ocean in a region that was once covered by ice. A layer of ancient fossils tells a surprising story about the coldest continent on Earth. Today,…
The spate of furious wildfires around the world during the past decade has revealed to ecologists how much biodiversity and “pyrodiversity” go hand in hand. The rich biodiversity supported by such landscapes is the result of two opposing principles. An environment needs to be stable over a long term for a range of evolving species…
Plan your Japan vacation to coincide with the magical cherry blossom festival in Spring for a truly unique experience. The cherry blossom festival in Japan is typically witnessed around late March or early April. Marks the onset of spring and paints the landscape in exquisite tones. This is the time when cherry blossoms – called…
What are the northern lights? Nothing can ruin our joy in the aurora borealis, or northern lights, those ribbons of blue, green and violet light that cascade from the sky. Not even knowing for sure what causes them. Physicists have long speculated about what gives rise to this very specific light phenomenon that occurs in…
Forest coverage Canada’s forests cover 347 million hectares of land and make up nearly nine per cent of world’s total forest area. Canada is the third-most forest country in the world by area. With nearly 10 hectares/person, people living in Canada enjoy more forest area per person than most other countries in the world, over…
For the first time scientists have directly observed Living bacteria in polar ice and snow — an environment once considered sterile. The new evidence has the potential to alter perceptions about which planets in the universe could sustain life and may mean that humans are having an even greater impact on levels of CO2 in Earth’s…
You heard right, compadre. Parthenogenesis — reproduction without benefit of sex — occurs spontaneously in a handful of species, most of them fairly simple but some surprisingly complex. The turkey is the foremost example of the latter group, with the virgin birth rate in some breeds approaching 40 percent. Parthenogenesis also occurs in some lizards. The…
Kilauea volcano is erupting, sending lava and thread-like pieces of volcanic glass, known as Pele’s hair, into Hawaii’s skies, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Weather Service. (Image credit: M. Patrick/USGS) The eruption began at about 3:20 p.m. local Hawaii time Wednesday (Sept. 29), when the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected…
The melting of Earth’s polar ice is warping the planet’s crust. This shape change in Earth’s crust is subtle, but it occurs many hundreds of miles away from the ice sheets. Researchers may be able to monitor the shift as part of research to understand how climate change will affect sea level; understanding the warping…
Arctic sea ice has passed its minimum extent for this year, shrinking to 4.72 million square kilometres on 16 September, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has reported. Owing to a cool and cloudy Arctic summer, this year’s annual minimum was the highest since 2014 — ice covered nearly 1 million square…
