Climate Change Is Making the Land in Iceland Rise

TIME

Land in Iceland is rising at a pace of as much as 1.4 inches per year in certain areas as a result of climate change, according to a new study. The melting of the country’s glaciers reduces pressure on the land below and allows the surface to rise, researchers say.

“Our research makes the connection between recent accelerated uplift and the accelerated melting of the Icelandic ice caps,” study co-author Kathleen Compton, a University of Arizona researcher, said in a statement.

The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, relied on data from 62 global positioning system receivers placed throughout Iceland that allowed researchers to track the land’s movement.

MORE: The Senate Discovers Climate Change!

While scientists have noticed the rise in land levels in certain areas across the globe, this study is the first to demonstrate the link between climate change and rising land, the researchers…

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Huge baby red crab return for Christmas Island

Parks Australia

A female with eggs, surrounded by returning babies

There’s a baby boom on Christmas Island, with a record number of baby red crabs returning from the ocean this year.

It’s thought to be the biggest return in 25 years.

Millions, perhaps even billions, of babies emerged from the sea in January – forming a stunning moving carpet across beaches, up sea cliffs, over walls, along roads and into the rainforest.

Park staff work with the community to protect crabs migrating and returning

The return migration follows December’s adult crab migration, when the female red crabs released their eggs into the sea. The large number of crabs returning is most likely a result of a number of factors including good sea conditions such as currents, swell, winds and temperatures.

Every year Christmas Island National Park rangers work with the local community to keep the crabs safe and to clear a path for…

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Kakadu celebrates World Wetlands Day

Parks Australia

Kids scoop up wetland water to examine its wriggly contents under the microscope

World Wetlands Day was celebrated in style yesterday at Kakadu National Park’s Bowali Visitor Centre. Locals and visitors, including this year’s Junior Rangers class from Jabiru Area School, enjoyed learning about the importance of Kakadu’s wetlands of international significance – and the work we’re doing to learn about and preserve our wetlands.

Visitors at the Kakadu stand learning about bush tucker found in Kakadu’s wetlands

The Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (ERISS) fascinated visitors with the busy world of wetland water bugs seen under their microscope. The National Environmental Research Program staff flaunted their impressive barramundi tracker and screened a range of films about wetland research in the Bowali theatre.

Jabiru Area School students checking out the airboat

Kakadu rangers helped kids onto the airboat they use to find and remove nasty wetland weeds. They…

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Senegal’s Wetlands

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