australia

A new study by researchers in Australia has found that iconic and endangered koalas have the ability to regulate their body temperatures more than previously thought. For the first time, scientists have observed free-ranging, wild koalas drastically lowering their core body temperatures during cool mornings in preparation for the most sweltering summer days. “This strongly […]

Researchers have found promising signs for a possible increase of Antarctic blue whales, based on surveys spanning from 2006 to 2021. A team of scientists analyzed data they collected from seven acoustic surveys conducted in the Antarctic region over the 15-year timespan. They used “sonobuoys” to detect marine sounds and ultimately gathered about 3,900 hours’ […]

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has released video footage showing that the southern portion of the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from deep-sea coral bleaching, reported The Guardian. The footage shows that the bleaching extends at least as far down as 59.1 feet — the deepest reported during this mass bleaching event, a press […]

The grey-headed and spectacled species of mainland flying fox — common in Australia, also known as “fruit bats” — have historically experienced such low numbers that they faced the possibility of extinction, reported The Conversation. But after a decade-long survey by the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program (NFFMP) — coordinated by CSIRO, along with state and […]

In the past eight years, the Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef in the world, stretching 1,429 miles — has experienced five mass bleaching events, tied by scientists to climate change. Most recently, corals around six islands in Turtle Group National Park, located about 6.2 miles off Australia’s Queensland Coast, have seen extensive […]

More than 2,000 residents of Australia’s Victoria state were under evacuation orders on Thursday due to an out of control bushfire. Residents of Beaufort, Raglan and surrounding areas were encouraged by the state emergency service to leave and head east toward Melbourne while it was safe to do so, reported Reuters. “Leaving immediately is the […]

Have you ever wondered how much biodiversity is in your own backyard? Three housemates in Brisbane, Australia, decided to challenge each other to find out. Not only did they identify 1,150 unique plant, fungi and animal species in their suburban backyard, they wrote an academic research paper detailing the perhaps surprisingly extensive biodiversity to be […]

A new study led by researchers from Griffith University in Australia contributes to the growing research on how global warming and pollution are impacting reproduction for endangered sea turtles. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, found that pollution exposure to heavy metals, like cadmium and antimony, as well as organic contaminants […]