October 2021 Factfile | news, animals and more!

Hello,

October is over and November is here - let's hope it's a cosy month full of stunning Autumn colours and beautiful rainy days!

News

Good news

Judge postpones wolf hunt in Wisconsin

Every year in Wisconsin there is a wolf hunt in autumn. But this year, something amazing happened: A judge halted the season. For years there has been a dispute, on one side environmentalists, and on the other hunters and farmers. The farmers claim that wolves destroy their crops and that killing them is the only solution. Environmentalists argue that wolf populations are too weak and that the animals shouldn't be killed. Let's hope that this is the first step toward stopping the wolf hunt altogether.

Bad news

Pacific islands are disappearing

For many of us, the threat of climate change feels distant. But for the people of the Pacific islands, the terror is all too real. These are their homes, and they are rapidly becoming submerged by water. This is, as you may have guessed, a result of the rising sea levels, which is down to the melting of ice caps and the thermal expansion that happens when the sea water heats up. So directly linked to climate change.

The loss of this land is forcing people to move out of their homes and worse: seeing them disappear under the waves. For those who manage to remain on the ever-shrinking islands, life is far from ideal. The seawater seeps into the groundwater, making it unfit to drink and meaning no crops can be grown. This leaves communities relying on the mainland for food supplements and rainfall for water. The soil is sandy and unstable.

The islands may not disappear completely: there may still be trees and some plants. But they will be so small and infertile that those who have always lived there have to move on.

There are a few initiatives in place to help these people rebuild their lives, but nothing can replace the homes and communities they've either lost or will lose. Although the standard of living is better on the mainland and they can grow crops, it's not the same as living on a small tight-knit community-based island.

People are facing the consequences of climate change right now. So anyone who says that they're saving the climate for their children is wrong. They're saving it for people of the same generation as themselves. And the people of the Pacific Islands are the proof.

Rotting Red Sea oil tanker could leave millions without water

In 2017, an oil tanker was abandoned off the coast of Yemen. Ever since it has been slowly breaking apart. Now there is a high risk of the oil on board leaking into the ocean. This would destroy the habitats of millions of marine animals and plants, ruin Yemen's fish industry and possibly leave 8 million people, without proper water. The vessel may also explode which will cause even more damage.

Big businesses lobbying against the climate bill

With the climate crisis becoming more real by the day, new bills and laws are being passed to help stop climate change (although in most cases, not nearly enough is being done). However, it seems that some of the biggest companies in the world are against these new laws. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Disney are among these companies. Despite publicly saying that they will cut emissions and so on, it seems that they are also trying to stop the climate bill from being passed because it will slightly lower their profits.

Animals

Land: Glowworm

Glowworms aren't actually worms - they're beetles. The males look like any other beetle. It's the females, that give this species its name. They give off a low light at night to attract a mate.
Glowworms live in grasslands, moorlands, farmlands and woodlands (so pretty much everywhere). The larvae are predators, feeding on slugs and snails. They often ride on the snails' backs, while waiting for the poison from their bites to kill their prey.

Air: Fruit bat

The fruit bat is one of the numerous bat species, widely found in Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa. As the name suggests, they feed on fruits and flowers, although some of the smaller species feed on nectar and pollen as well. The biggest and most known type is Flying Foxes, which are widely spread from Madagascar to Australia and Indonesia. Flying foxes can reach a size of 40 cm (Head and body length) and a wingspan of up to 1.5 meters.

Water: Sea otter

Sea otters are fast swimmers. They are probably best known for lying on their backs on the surface. They don't only sleep in this position. They also smash open clams and mussels with a rock. Due to the ocean constantly moving and swirling, they often anchor themselves to the ocean floor with kelp or seaweed.
Of course, sea otters eat more than just clams and mussels, they feed on sea urchins, crabs, fish and squid.

They live for up to 23 years and are classified as Vulnerable.

Plant: Banyan tree

The banyan tree was originally native to India but is now spread throughout South Asia. Its sap is used for healing and soothing. The wood and bark are good for making paper and the roots are often turned into rope. They are massive, with the oldest trees reaching a diameter of more than 200 meters and a height of 30 meters. The fruit attracts monkeys and birds and the flower attracts bees and wasps for pollination. The banyan tree is considered sacred and it represents eternal life. In many villages, the villagers meet under this type of tree for meetings and socialising.

Book Recommendation- The Lost Spells and The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

These are two books I absolutely love! They are both acrostic poetry collections by nature writer Robert Macfarlane and absolutely BEAUTIFULLY illustrated by Jackie Morris. It truly transports you to the world of the wild and I love it so much! I wish I could frame the entire book on my wall! Out of the two, The Lost Words is a very large format which is fine but it's harder to read and less practical. I prefer The Lost Spells personally but if you're looking for more of a coffee table book, then I would go for The Lost Words (as long as you have a big coffee table!).

Thank you so much for reading our October Factifile! We're sorry it's late but we hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Thank you so much for all your support and we'll be back soon.

Online vote

Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-wisconsin-lawsuits-madison-scott-walker-c08117dbcc2389817ff7a2ce93d2166b
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1105482
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/01/apple-amazon-microsoft-disney-lobby-groups-climate-bill-analysis
www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/11/rotting-red-sea-oil-tanker-could-leave-8m-people-without-water
https://www.britannica.com/animal/glowworm
https://allanimalfacts.com/fruit-bat/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/sea-otter
https://www.britannica.com/plant/banyan

Images:
Title image: This image is owned by a blog editor.
Wolf: This image is owned by Pixabay (on pexels.com).
Island: This image is owned by Flo Dahm (on pexels.com).
Cargo ship: This image is owned by Ian Lavrinovich (on pexels.com).
Apple laptop: This image is owned by Pixabay (on pexels.com).
Sea otters: This image is owned by Timothy Wills-DeTone (on pexels.com).
Book: This image is owned by a blog editor.

Comments

Ecosia

We all need to do something to save our planet: it is no use just leaving it to Greta Thunberg! She is very inspirational, yes, but she can only do so much. She isn't superhuman! The climate crisis is up to us; up to you. We all have to get stuck in. Research, learn, discover and most importantly: never give up! The world's animals need us. The world's trees need us and a simple way to do this is to switch to Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine but it plants trees while you search the web. Okay, it doesn't have as many websites as google so you may want to have google as a backup but it plants trees: this is your opportunity to make a simple change. Just google Ecosia and search to plant trees. Make a difference. Image: This image is owned by Binyamin Mellish on pexels.com .

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

19.07.2020: Animal of the week: Honey Bees

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10 Animals on the Edge of Extinction No. 10- The Javan Rhino

The Javan rhino is listed as the 1st animal on WWF’s list of the 10 world’s most endangered animals, and I for my part, had never heard of it! If you hadn’t either, we’re changing that now. A bit about the rhino’s lifestyle The Javan rhinos are now exclusively found on the island of Java in Indonesia, but were once found in vast regions of northeast india and Southeast Asia. They have a dark grey colour which looks almost black when wet, and their (often pink) skin folds look a bit like plated armor. Both males and females have lower incisors which resemble tusks that they use to fight. Males have one relatively short horn of about 25 cm (10 inches). Javan Rhinos live in tropical forests, marshy areas and in the thick bush. They are mainly browsers and eat over 100 plants species they find in the forest, weigh between 900 and 2300 kg (1984-5071 pounds) and are between 3 and 3.2 meters (10- 10.5 feet) long. How endangered are we talking? Javan rhinos are the most ...

Heatwaves - what's so bad about them?

Hi everyone, Today we’re talking about heatwaves and what effects they have on us and the environment. Heatwaves are becoming ever more common, with 2023 breaking multiple world records. In China, 52.2°C were recorded at one point and the coastal waters near Florida, USA, were as warm as a hot tub. This is because of the combination of climate change and El Niño , both of which make the effects of the other worse. But we can’t push the blame onto El Niño. When analysed it became clear that without human made climate change the USA heat records would have been almost impossible. So what exactly are the effects of such high temperatures. A study in Europe found that the 2022 heatwave possibly caused over 70 000 heat related deaths. Although it is sometimes hard to tell whether or not someone died from the heat or from something else, after analysing the data the team found that their original estimate of 62 000 people (which is still a lot) was probably ...

Maldives - the direct impacts of climate change

Welcome back, Today we’re looking at the direct impacts of the climate crisis . The main reason why people don’t believe in climate change is that they can’t see it with their own eyes. So, we’re going to have a look at the Maldives where the effects of climate change become more obvious with every passing year. Maldives The full name of the Maldives is The Republic of the Maldives. It is an independent country made up of about 1 200 islands in the North Indian Ocean. The northernmost island is situated 370 miles away from the mainland (India). The islands are actually the tips of an ancient volcanic mountain range that is now almost completely submerged. In fact, the highest point is 1.8m-2.4m above sea level with the average elevation being 1m above sea level. The islands have a large tourism industry, due to the stunning nature found on and around the islands. 500 000 - 1 500 000 tourists visit the islands each year. This is mainly 'nature to...

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