All eyes are on the future of freshwater after a winter of record heat

Quirks and Quarks19:36Water, water, everywhere. But will we have enough to drink? After a winter that smashed heat records, researchers around the world are taking a close look at how human disturbances and the rapidly changing climate are affecting the world’s freshwater supply. “We’re reducing both water quantity and water quality,” says Katrina Moser, an associate professor … Read more

How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction

Quirks and Quarks17:24How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction When species cease to exist, we often say they went “the way of the dodo.” But it might be more fitting to say they went “the way of the great auk” because it was the Icelandic bird’s disappearance that led to the discovery that … Read more

Bottom-contact fishing banned near rare Central Coast coral reef

Federal authorities have closed Canada’s only known live coral reef in the Pacific Ocean to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the indefinite closure came into effect on Feb. 14 for the Lophelia Reef, located in the Finlayson Channel of British Columbia’s Central Coast, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver and 200 kilometres directly east of … Read more

Human-caused climate change fuels hottest February on record, all-time high ocean warming

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world’s oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus. The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren’t just the hottest for … Read more

More than 100 possible new marine species discovered in a single deepsea expedition

As It Happens6:13More than 100 possible new marine species discovered in a single deepsea expedition During a research expedition off the coast of Chile, Erin Easton says her colleagues were constantly showing her some amazing new sea creature they’d just discovered. “It would just be, like, ‘Erin, Erin, Erin, look!’” Easton, a marine scientist at the University … Read more

India reveals astronauts for its Gaganyaan space mission

On Tuesday, India introduced four crew members for its maiden Gaganyaan space voyage, as it aims to become the world’s fourth country to send a crewed mission into space, just months after a historic landing on the south pole of the moon. Gaganyaan, or “sky craft” in Hindi, is the first mission of its kind for … Read more

World temperatures go a full year above 1.5 C warming limit, EU scientists say

The world just experienced its hottest January on record, continuing a run of exceptional heat fuelled by climate change, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. Last month surpassed the previous warmest January, which occurred in 2020, in C3S’s records going back to 1950. The exceptional month came after 2023 ranked … Read more

Hypothermic turtle rescued in B.C. waters in first sighting since 2015

When B.C. marine scientist Anna Hall encountered a very lost loggerhead turtle in waters near Victoria over the weekend, she knew it faced a grim fate at sea. “The turtle would not have survived,” said Hall, principal scientist at consulting group Sea View Marine Sciences. “Had the turtle stayed in the ocean, either it would have … Read more

Explorers think they’ve found Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane. Not everyone’s convinced

The Current11:27Explorers say they’ve found Amelia Earhart’s plane A deep-sea exploration company says it may have found the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane, reigniting a mystery that dates back to the famed pilot’s disappearance in 1937. “She’s America’s favourite missing person … she was a fantastic person, a pioneer in the aviation field, an early … Read more

Nasa’s PACE ocean-monitoring satellite all set to be launched on Tuesday

NEW DELHI: Nasa‘s PACE spacecraft is set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday at 1.33 am EST (12.03 pm IST). PACE, which is short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, aims to map the colors of the ocean and help scientists gauge the health … Read more