Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit dies aged 93
Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, a global style icon and patron of Thai silk who helped revive the monarchy’s standing after World War II and late...
Scientists have detected DNA from an invasive barnacle species in Canada's Arctic, raising alarm over the loss of the region's natural defence against ecological threats.
A recent study published in Global Change Biology by researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reveals the first recorded presence of a non-native barnacle in Arctic Canadian waters. The species, identified as Amphibalanus improvisus or bay barnacle, was found using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, which allows scientists to analyse water samples for genetic traces left by marine organisms.
This discovery suggests that the Arctic is no longer a reliable thermal barrier against biological invasions. As climate change warms the region nearly four times faster than the global average, the once-hostile waters are becoming increasingly hospitable to invasive species.
The bay barnacle, already common in European and Pacific marine environments, poses significant ecological risks. It can cause biofouling on ships, pipelines, and coastal infrastructure, while also displacing native species. It's likely introduction route into the Arctic is via increased shipping traffic, either through ballast water or hull attachment.
Since 1990, shipping in Canada's Arctic has surged by over 250 percent, driven largely by diminishing sea ice. This rising marine traffic, combined with warmer waters, creates favourable conditions for invasive species to survive and establish populations.
Elizabeth Boyse, the study’s lead author and a BAS ecologist, said the findings highlight how climate change is central to this growing threat. “Ships are increasing in number because of reduced sea ice, opening new shipping routes. Add to this, the invasive species that the ships bring to the Arctic are also more likely to survive and establish populations because of warmer water temperatures,” she said.
The research underscores growing concerns about how rapid Arctic warming could trigger long-term ecological disruption far beyond the region.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
Snapchat will start charging users who store more than 5GB of photos and videos in its Memories feature, prompting backlash from long-time users.
A general strike and mass demonstrations paralysed the southern Tunisian city of Gabes on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of people demanded the closure of a state-run chemical plant blamed for a worsening pollution crisis.
Global investors managing more than $3 trillion in assets have urged governments to halt and reverse deforestation and ecosystem destruction by 2030, according to a joint statement released on Monday ahead of next month’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil.
A team of Argentine paleontologists has uncovered one of the oldest known dinosaurs, a nearly complete skeleton of a long-necked herbivore that roamed Earth 230 million years ago in what is now La Rioja province.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Papua province in Indonesia on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Five days after historic floods that have killed at least 66 people and damaged 100,000 homes, Mexico is still struggling to provide aid to the worst-affected communities and locate 75 missing individuals, amid growing criticism of the government’s response to the crisis.
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