Skip to main content

December Factfile

Image
By
Hello,
The fact file vote has come to an end and we have a winner. This year, we will be doing top tips. These will come out at the beginning of the month. These tips are, at the same time, challenges. We hope you will enjoy, and apply them!

News

Good news

New hope for coral reefs

A coral reef in India has been restored to health- the proof being in the noises the fish have been making. Many of these strange sounds have never been recorded before. This is amazing, especially considering that the reef has been devastated by blast fishing, where explosives are used to stun or kill everything in the area. Although the corals are being restored, scientists want to know if the animals are also returning and in what numbers. The Guardian states that 'Sound is vital for reef survival, because almost all of its inhabitants, from corals to crustaceans to fish, produce offspring that spend the early part of their lives in the open oceans, before using sound and other cues as a homing beacon to return.'
which explains why these sounds are so crucial to the revival of this habitat.

Plastic in farming harms our health

Going to the supermarket, the first thing you see is plastic. It surrounds us everywhere we go and has become an everyday companion. You think little about the big fields from which food comes when you live in the city. But it seems that we are at great risk from the masses of plastic. The UN's food and agricultural organisation recently released a report in which it is stated that the soils contain more microplastic pollution than the seas! The amount of microplastic in the soil is alarming, and we humans may end up eating our own plastic. Quite ironically, because plastic is usually used to prevent bacteria from coming into our food, and us from getting sick. Although the FAO recognizes the benefits of plastic in the production of food, the masses of plastic should be better controlled, as there is an increasing concern about microplastics settling in the food chain and threatening food security. It is commonly known that marine animals already suffer under the effects of microplastics in their environment, but little is known about the effect it will have on humans when we consume plastic. But everyone can imagine that the effects will certainly not be good. So again, this report brings back the call for less plastic with more urgency!
Below I will put a couple of useful links about this topic, along with the link to the article from "The Guardian" that we got our information from.

Bad news

COP26 promises aren't enough

New reports and surveys show that, despite the promises made during COP26, many countries aren't phasing out coal fast enough. Coal is the most polluting of the fossil fuels and if it doesn't go quickly, we will have no hope of keeping inside the 1.5 C goal, set by the Paris agreement. This is not good. The global temperature has already risen too much for comfort; many countries are already feeling the effects.

And these effects are severe. From recent experience I can tell you, seeing the water inch closer to your house with every high tide, and every wave makes it a lot more real. It seems like many people will find the motivation to act once the impacts can be felt. But that will be too late! 

Animals and Plant of the month

Land - Polar Bear

Polar bears live in the artic. They mainly feed on seals but have been known to eat birds' eggs if they can find any. If other options are available then they are very flexible. Male bears will even eat cubs if there isn't any other food around! Polar bears hunt on sea ice and are strong swimmers. They spend the winter in dens under the snow. Female bears give birth to 2-3 cubs in that time underground. Half of all cubs die in their first year on the sea ice, while their mother hunts for food.




Polar bears are classified as vulnerable due to rising sea levels and permanent sea ice starting to melt.

Water - Common octopus

The common octopus is an incredible ocean-dwelling invertebrate that is known for its incredible intelligence. Like all octopuses, they have eight arms, also known as tentacles. They have a massive heads and two large eyes. 
Their most accomplished achievement is their ability to escape and hide from predators. Here are some of their techniques:

Ink

When discovered, the common octopus will squirt out a cloud of black ink. This means that their predator can't see, giving them time to speed off in the other direction. This ink also affects the predator's sense of smell. This is probably one of the most well-known of the common octopus's defence tactics.

Getting away

Once the common octopus has slowed the predator down with ink, they now have to get away. To do that, they normally slip through tiny gaps. The only hard part of their bodies is their beak, so they can get through any hole that is bigger than their beak. And if there is no hope left, then they can also lose an arm and regrow it later.

Camouflage

But they don't necessarily have to do all of the above. Common octopuses are very good at camouflage. They can change the colour of their skin to match their surroundings within seconds if a predator comes to a close. This also makes them very hard to find.
Common octopus use their intelligence to keep themselves safe and to overcome everyday problems, such as hunting. They are incredible animals. If you want to learn more about these amazing creatures, then we would suggest watching 'My Octopus Teacher' on Netflix. It's an incredible film/documentary about a filmmaker who befriends a common octopus in the kelp forest off the coast of Africa.

Air - Malachite Kingfisher

The malachite kingfisher has five subspecies that live around the world, and although share very similar traits, also look slightly different. They are all quite small at around 13cm long although this varies in different countries. A distinguishing feature is most definitely the bright metallic blue of the upper parts and the blue/black crest. They have white feathers too. They live near slow-moving bodies of water and like other species of kingfisher, are usually seen as a blue blur as they fly over the water. They eat small fish and insects. 

I have been lucky enough to see a kingfisher (though not one of this species) and I would be interested to know if any of you have seen a kingfisher so definitely let us know in the comments!

Plant - Water lily

Water lilies are plants living in freshwater, native to the temperate and tropical parts of the world. There are 58 species in the family. Water lilies are very popular for ornamental purposes in gardens and little ponds. They like to sit in calm waters, where they provide food for fish and wildlife. Water lilies typically have thick, waxy leaves that lie in or on top of the water, connected to the stems that are buried in the mud by long, thin stalks that contain many air spaces. The flowers of some species bloom only at night or in the morning to attract insect pollinators. The fruits are typical berry or nutlike and may grow underwater until they rupture or decay and the seeds will sink or drift away. Over the globe, water lilies vary greatly in size, colour and shape. In the Amazon Rainforest, gigantic water lilies can be found, and while typical flowers in Europe are white, yellow or pink, the Egyptian Lotus is blue and has toothed leaves.

Book Recommendation!

Migration by Melissa Mayntz
This is a book I got for Christmas and it is (obviously!) about bird migration. It goes through why birds migrate, exactly what migration is, how birds prepare for migration, why some birds don't migrate, the future of migration, your role in migration and so much more! I honestly can't believe how much is packed into this! I might do a post about it once I've read the book - so far I've just flicked through it! It looks fascinating and I love the illustration on the front too.

We hope that you enjoyed the last fact file. Sadly, this is the last one but we will be back with the first top tips soon! We are also hoping to get a wrap-up post for the whole year published in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled!


Your Green World Blog TeamšŸ’š

Sources:


FAO, "About Us" page to get to know the organisation: https://www.fao.org/about/en/


Images:
Title image: This image is owned by a blog editor.
Coral reef: This image, owned by USFWS - Pacific Region (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Farm fields: This image, owned by Peter Miller (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Polar bear cubs: This image, owned by Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ozone layer

By
Hi everyone, What even is ozone? And the ozone layer? Where does the hole in the ozone layer come from and what does it mean? Is it dangerous? What can be done? Often the ozone-talk can be complicated and confusing, keeping an overview is hard and understanding all the problems always difficult. Let us break it down a bit for you: What is the ozone layer? We'll start with the basics: The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere, which is the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere, between 10 and 50 km above the Earth's surface and made up of protective gases. One of these protective gases is ozone. There is not much ozone in the atmosphere, only 0.3 molecule of ozone per 1 million molecules of air. This is because ozone is chemically unstable and only forms when ultra violet radiation (UV light) hits oxygen and breaks the bonds between the atoms. It fact it is so unstable that even when it has formed, it breaks down again relatively quickly. This leads to ozone turning back ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

By
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...
Post a Comment
Read more

How much do you know about migrating birds? - Quiz

By
Hello everyone, We've got another quiz for you and this time it's about migrating birds. As most of you probably know, there are loads of birds that fly to a different country or even continent to avoid harsh weather and to find better feeding and breading areas. Questions True or False? Birds use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate while migrating? How many miles does an arctic term migrate? a) between 10 000 and 20 000 km b) between 20 000 and 30 000 km c) more than 40 000 km True or False? Arctic terns can fly 600km in a day. What percentage of birds migrate? a) about 40% b) about 60% c) about 80% True or False? Great snipes travel 5 000 miles at 70mph. How long can the bar-tailed godwit fly non stop for? a) nearly 5000 miles b) nearly 7000 miles c) nearly 9000 miles True or False? Bar-headed geese can fly up to 5.5 miles above sea level. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eco system GalƔpagos: Part 1 Geography

By
Hello and welcome to the first post about the Galapagos Islands. Currents and Winds The volcanic islands of GalƔpagos started to form 4 million years ago. Where they lie, is unique. They are situated directly on the equator, on the Nazca tectonic plate. The Galapagos Islands are on the crossroads of three currents. The cold South Equatorial Current flows westward towards Galapagos. The warm Panama Current runs in from the north. And finally, the deep sea Cromwell Current runs from the west. The Galapagos Islands are also where the Northeast Trade Wind meets the Southeast Trade Wind. Galapagos Hotspot 21 Volcanoes make up the GalƔpagos Islands with 13 still active. The reason for this volcanic activity is a giant hotspot under the island. A hotspot is a gigantic column of super heated molten lava, rising up towards the surface. It is immense; at least sixty miles (97 kilometers) across and 1800 miles (2897 kilometers) deep. It connects the islands to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Amazon Rainforest series - part 3: human involvement

By
Hi everyone, This is the last post in the amazon rainforest mini series. It's all about how humans have affected the amazon rainforest. Unfortunately, most human impact on the amazon is negative. The Amazon rainforest faces many threats, but the main one is fire. You may think that the fires in the amazon are wildfires or created by accident, but that is not true. All over the amazon, farmers are setting fire to the trees and foliage. For only one reason, to clear land for farming. But this is a disaster. Last month, the amazon rainforest reached its tipping point . Due to the fires, it is now releasing more CO2 than it is absorbing. To feed our growing population, we are killing countless species. Species, that in some cases, we haven't even discovered yet. If the amazon rainforest goes, climate change will become pretty much unstoppable. But it isn't only animals and plants that are suffering. Do you remember all those tribe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Energy comparison: nuclear fission

By
Welcome back to Green World Today we're talking about nuclear fission. This energy source is quite controverial, so we're going to be looking at why. Before we begin, just a quick side note, there are multiple forms of nuclear power. This post is about nuclear fission. Nuclear decay is rarely used, most notably in some space missions. Nuclear fusion is currently being researched by scientists around the world and isn't used for commercial electricity yet. First, let's explain how nuclear fission actually works. This involves a lot of complicated chemistry and physics, but I'll do my best to explain it. Before anything else we need to look at what is in an atom. In this image, the grey represents negatively charged electrons, which circle the nucleus (plural: nuclei) in the center. The nucleus (blue and red) is made up of positively chargerd protons and neutrons (which are neutral). This means that the nucleus is positive. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Animals 36-40 in our '50 incredible animals' series

By
Hi, As you probably noticed, we took a break from this series, mostly due to having just too much to do. But we're back now with the last three posts. 36. The Pinocchio frog The Pinocchio frog can be found in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia. They mainly eat insects, although little is known about them. They are named because the males have a spike on their noses. They were only discovered in 2008, and this was completely by accident! It remained unnamed scientifically until over ten years later when it was given the name " Litoria pinocchio " . There is very little information about them but Wikipedia states that "the male Pinocchio frog inflates its nose when calling, and the nose decreases in size when the frog is calm and quiet," which I think is hilarious and so interesting! 37. Snub-nosed monkey Especially noticeable due to their curious looks, the snub-nosed monkeys can be found in the forests of central China and northern...
Post a Comment
Read more

06.09.2020 Animal Of the Week: Seven-spotted Ladybird

By
Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's animal of the week post. This time about the ladybird, and personally I can't wait to find out more about these creatures. Enjoy! Which ladybird we are investigating today? Today, I am telling you about the seven-spotted ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), which is the most common ladybird in Europe. Other species include the Two Spot Ladybird and other uncommon ladybirds such as the 16 Spot and other peculiar types. Habitat The seven-spotted ladybird lives in a variety of habitats such as meadows, gardens and hedgerows. They can also be found on farmland, especially with crops such as alfalfa, clover and wheat and corn before it grows too tall. Diet The seven-spotted ladybird feeds on a range of aphid species. This is why they are often referred to as a gardener's best friend as they eat these creatures who can damage plants. They can also eat white flies and anything else that is soft-bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maria Sibylla Merian

By
Hello, Today we wanted to tell you all about Maria Sibylla Merian. Maria was born in Germany on 2nd April, 1647. Like many young girls at that time, she loved to paint. Every day she would gather flowers from her garden and paint them. Sometimes, the flowers would have caterpillars on them and she would paint them changing, day by day, into butterflies. At that time, not much was known about insects, and people thought that butterflies magically sprouted from the mud. Maria knew from what she had seen while she was painting, that this was not true, but no-one believed her. As time went by, Maria became a great watercolour artist. She wrote about her discoveries, but scientists only took books written in Latin seriously, and Maria wrote hers in German. When Maria and her daughter were living in Amsterdam, Maria found display cases in museums filled with exotic insects collected from South America. Maria thought that if she could study the bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coral reefs

By
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...
Post a Comment
Read more