The polar bear population in the town of Churchill, known as the ‘polar bear capital of the world,’ is becoming more and more....
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Canada’s Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has declined by 27% since 2016 and by nearly 50% since the 1980s, according to a new survey from the Government of Nunavut, which found that only 618 of the animals remained in the area in 2021.
The polar bear population in the town of Churchill, known as the ‘polar bear capital of the world,’ is becoming more and more threatened each year as Arctic sea ice declines. The bears rely on the ice for their survival, hunting for seals as they come up for air.
A study conducted in 2020 and published in the journal Nature Climate Change found that if the world continues to produce greenhouse gas emissions at the rate it does now, polar bear populations around the world could collapse by the end of the century.
Which species is the unsung champion of the ocean? Seagrass! For decades, scientists knew that this flowering, underwater plant had adapted to grow and colonize the ocean — but they didn’t fully realise how it happened or why!
Marine scientist Carlos Duarte began studying the genome of seagrass and found some startling facts — like that out of the 300,000 seagrass species, only 17 have conquered the ocean, and they are critical to protecting biodiversity, and absorbing and storing carbon pollution from Earth’s atmosphere. ‘One hectare of this seagrass sequesters as much carbon as 15 hectares of pristine Amazonian forest,’ Duarte says.
And beyond that, it protects our shorelines and beaches, our coastal infrastructure, and even our lives! And that’s just the beginning of its many, many benefits. ‘We can expand this success story to the rest of marine life,’ Durate says.
Cassiopea, or ‘upside-down’ jellyfish, has a secret weapon: it can sting without coming in direct contact with its prey!
How does this innocent looking sea creature do it?
Smithsonian scientists discovered the cause of the mysterious ‘stinging water’ reported by snorkelers and swimmers. Cassiopea releases plumes of mucus laced with toxic bubble-like tissues that are loaded with the same stinging cells found in the tentacles of traditional jellyfish.
