Recent Posts in ‘Rivers & Oceans’
Fish with “hands” discovered
Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor in an undated picture, the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family. Only four specimens of the elusive four-inch (ten-centimeter) pink handfish have ever been found, and all of those were
“City of Gonads” jellyfish discovered
Sporting a reproductive “skyline,” a new species of jellyfish is like nothing else known under the sea, a new study says. Shaped like flying saucers, both males and females of the new jellyfish have gonads on the outsides of their bodies, unlike any of the approximately 3,000 other jellyfish species known to science. Gonads are
Sinking deltas threaten millions of lives
deltas are sinking, increasing the flood risk faced by hundreds of millions of people, scientists report. Damming and diverting rivers means that much less sediment now reaches many delta areas, while extraction of gas and groundwater also lowers the land. Rivers affected include the Colorado, Nile, Pearl, Rhone and Yangtze. About half a billion people
Climate change opens up a Northeast passage in the Arctic
Two German ships set off on Friday on the first commercial journey from Asia to western Europe via the Arctic through the fabled Northeast Passage – a trip made possible by climate change. Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Bremen-based Beluga Shipping, said the Northern Sea Route will cut thousands of nautical miles off the
Jellyfish stir up the ocean as they move
Jellyfish help to stir up the ocean as they move, researchers have found. Using a green dye, scientists showed how the animals’ umbrella-shaped bodies were a key factor in this mixing. The distribution of heat, nutrients and chemicals helps maintain the marine environment and has an important influence on global climate. Reporting in the journal
10 incredible water facts
Up to 60% of the human body is water – the brain is composed of 70% water, blood is 82% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water.
Where is the world’s largest garbage dump?
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Eastern Garbage Patch or the Pacific Trash Vortex, is the world’s largest garbage dump – a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N and estimated to be twice the size of Texas. The
What is the endangered species capital of the world?
Hawaii is the endangered species capital of the world. With 100s of plants and animals listed as Endangered or Threatened, there are more endangered species per square mile on these islands than any other place on the planet. Occupying just 0.2% of the total land area of the United States, Hawaii is both the endangered
