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

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

Animals 31-35 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to our blog, today we are sharing another 5 incredible animals. This is part of a series to celebrate our 50th blog post, all about unusual animals! Enjoy! 31. Pangolins These creatures are often mistaken for reptiles but they are in fact mammals. They are covered in scales and use them to defend themselves because similar to a hedgehog, they curl up into a ball. They eat ants, termites and larvae. They eat using their tongue, which is very long- sometimes even longer than their body! Sadly, Pangolins are in high demand as their meat is considered a delicacy their scales are used in traditional folk remedies, which means that there is an illegal trade. Luckily, there have been many initiatives put in place to help these animals by WWF and similar organisations. 32. Macropinna Microstoma This is a species of fish that live at about 600m below sea level. They hang nearly motionless in the water and have a very unusual...

The life of ... Atlantic salmon

Hello everyone, Today we're talking about Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon are found in the north Atlantic and the rivers that flow into it. They can grow up to a meter long and are classified as Least Concern by the IUCN . Atlantic salmon start their lives in rivers. The pea-sized eggs are laid in autumn and hatch in April or May. The tiny salmon are called alevins. They feed on aquatic invertabrates and eventually devolop into parr. Parr are easily recognised by destinictive patterns and markings on their flanks. After up to several years, the parr develop a silvery sheen. These replace those characteristic parr markings. Their bodies change in preparation for the salt water and they are now called smolts. They swim downstream with the current all the way to the ocean. In the deep sea waters, the smolts feed on crustaceans and small fish for 15-50 months. However they are hunted by a number of predators including, sharks, seals and of ...

The life of ... a cicada

Hi everyone, We're back to talk about another animal. Cicadas ( Cicadoidea ) are invertebrates and are 1.9cm to 5.7cm in size. There are 3 000 species that can be divided into annual cicadas and periodical cicadas. Annual cicadas can be seen annually and are found worldwide whereas periodical cicadas only leave the ground every decade or two and are only found in North America with hotspots in the eastern and central areas of the United States. Most annual cicadas have a lifespan of about two to five years and periodical cicadas can live up to the age of 17. Female cicadas lay around 400 eggs split up over several places. They normally lay their eggs on twigs, branches or other vegetation. The eggs hatch after about six to ten weeks, now known as nymphs, and dig their way into the soil. The nymphs feed on the liquids found in plant roots. They fully develop underground, before molting their shells and coming to the surface, now fully deve...

November Top Tips | sustainable activities and hobbies

Hello everyone, So this week, we are going to be talking about sustainable free time activities. This area can quite big when it comes to environmental impact, so here are some things that you can do in your free time, that are more sustainable. 1. Reading So reading is one of our favourite things to do. However, books are made of paper and the paper industry isn't great. Some ways you can get around this is by reading online (for example, on a kindle), or through borrowing books from a library or using book boxes. If there aren't any in your area then at least try to support independent bookshops! 2. Running If you love being active then this one is for you. Running is probably one of the most sustainable forms of sport. All you need are some running shoes and somewhere to run. There is obviously more high-tech gear but that isn't really necessary if it's just a hobby. 3. Gardening If you've got a small area of land o...

Energy comparison: solar (PV) panels

Hi everyone, Today I'm looking into the first on a long list of energy sources: solar (PV) panels. Are they actually sustainable and could they become our main energy source in the near future? After all, enough energy from the sun reaches the earth in 90 minutes to cover the entire world's energy consumption for a whole year! How they work There are a couple of ways to transform energy from the sun into electricity. The one we are looking at today is solar panels also known as solar photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is the key to solar panels. A solar panel is made of many PV cells. A single PV cell will produce 1-2 watts of power. They are very thin and are normally protected by glass and/or plastics. This is the best explanation I could find (click here for the source): When the semiconductor is exposed to light, it absorbs the light’s energy and transfers it to negatively charged particles in the material calle...

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 ...

Announcement: Factfile

This image is owned by a blog editor.

February 2021 Factfile - a bit of news from the last month and more!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to February's factfile! We are very sorry that we have not posted very much so far in 2021 but we are going to hopefully make up for it in the spring. News: Source- BBC Newsround The great yellow bumblebee has been spotted in Scotland! They used to be common in the UK but their population declined by about 80% in the last century. The find is a spark of hope as it is currently endangered. This is thought to be because of a decline in natural flower meadows and a boost in farming. The team of conservationists that found it were thrilled and when we heard about it we wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't heard! Source- Guardian In the 1840s a bird was caught in the East Indies. It had never been seen before and Charles Lucien Bonaparte (Napoleon's nephew) named it the black-browed babbler. The species wasn't seen again, so the only proof that it had ever existed was a stuffed specimen. ...

Palm Oil

Hi everyone, Today we would like to share with you some information about palm oil. With all the focus on climate change and plastic pollution, not many people are acting against the use of palm oil. Workers First of all, the managers promise that the workers will have good money, but when they arrive, their passports are taken from them, therefore, meaning they are trapped. Soon they find out that they aren't paid as well as promised. They have to work long hours with no breaks, maternity leave or sick days. Some people have to spray pesticides with leaking cans and no safety gear, meaning they become ill but are still forced to work. Deforestation Many animals are losing their home because the trees are chopped down to make room for the palm trees. they are now facing extinction. Also, trees helped to slow down climate change, but without them, climate change speeds up. So this is a big problem. Help your planet! Image:...

Green World

Search This Blog