Thirsty in paradise: Water crises are a growing problem across the Caribbean islands
In the popular imagination, the Caribbean is paradise, an exotic place to escape to. But behind the images of balmy beaches and lush hotel grounds lies a crisis, the likes of which its residents have never experienced......»»
How to visit Treasure Islands in Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing New Horizons is all about living that island life, but treasure islands are something special. This is how you can find these rare islands......»»
Famed Thai holiday isles suffer water shortages after heatwave
The dazzling Thai holiday islands made famous by Hollywood film "The Beach" are facing a severe water shortage following a blistering heatwave across Asia, a tourism official and locals said Thursday......»»
In South Africa, tiny primates could struggle to adapt to climate change
In the "sky islands" of the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa, two closely related species of primate jostle for space. One is the thick-tailed greater galago (Otolemur crassicaudatus), also known as a bushbaby, which is about the size of a larg.....»»
Mammals on "sky islands" may be threatened by climate change, human development
A new study sheds light on how climate change and human development threaten mammal species living in isolated biodiversity hotspots known as "sky islands.".....»»
Shoreline model predicts long-term future of storm protection and sea-level rise
Researchers in North Carolina have created a simulation model to analyze how coastal management activities meant to protect barrier islands from sea-level rise can disrupt the natural processes that are keeping barrier islands above water......»»
Same species, different sizes: Rare evolution in action spotted in island bats
A University of Melbourne researcher has spotted a rare evolutionary phenomenon happening rapidly in real time in bats living in the Solomon Islands......»»
Whales and dolphins now have legal personhood in the Pacific—but one treaty won"t be enough to protect them
Whales and dolphins have been officially recognized as "legal persons" in a new treaty formed by Pacific Indigenous leaders from the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Tonga......»»
Aboriginal people made pottery, sailed to distant islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived
Pottery was largely unknown in Australia before the recent past, despite well-known pottery traditions in nearby Papua New Guinea and the islands of the western Pacific. The absence of ancient Indigenous pottery in Australia has long puzzled research.....»»
Artificial reef designed by engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage
The beautiful, gnarled, nooked-and-crannied reefs that surround tropical islands serve as a marine refuge and natural buffer against stormy seas. But as the effects of climate change bleach and break down coral reefs around the world, and extreme wea.....»»
The key to Florida beaches" hurricane recovery: The humble sea oat
From eye level, the wisps of green emerging from sand dunes up and down Pinellas County's barrier islands look sparse, stubby, almost tentative as they peek at the sun. Below the surface, though, they are spreading out, trapping sand in place and act.....»»
Digital nomads: A benefit or burden for local communities?
Many criticize digital nomads for fueling gentrification and pricing out locals. Social, economic, spatial and cultural segregation between nomads and local communities has already stirred controversy from Canada to the Canary Islands......»»
The US Buried Nuclear Waste Abroad. Climate Change Could Unearth It
A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from US nuclear projects in Greenland and the Marshall Islands......»»
Billionaires are building bunkers and buying islands—are they prepping for apocalypse or pioneering a new feudalism?
In December 2023, WIRED reported that Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta and one of the foremost architects of today's social-media-dominated world, has been buying up large swathes of the Hawaiian island Kauai......»»
Secrets in the canopy: Scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific
After a decade searching for new species of bees in forests of the Pacific Islands, all we had to do was look up......»»
First reports of severe coral bleaching this summer as the Great Barrier Reef warms up
As ocean temperatures continue to warm over the Great Barrier Reef this summer, James Cook University scientists have reported areas of moderate to severe coral bleaching around the Keppel Islands offshore from Rockhampton......»»
Mapping out a novel way to assess the effectiveness of development aid
Assessing the effectiveness of international aid across Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country and an archipelago of around 17,000 islands, is no easy task. But that has not deterred Singapore Management University Assistant Professor of.....»»
A new tool can help protect California and Nevada communities from floods while preserving their water supply
At the dawn of the new year in 1997, the Truckee River transformed. The winter season had thus far been great for snow, but when a subtropical storm from near the Hawaiian Islands rolled in, it carried with it unseasonably warm rain. The warm rainfal.....»»
Murderous mice attack and kill nesting albatrosses on Midway Atoll—scientists struggle to stop them
At the far end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lies Kuaihelani—also known as Midway Atoll—a small set of islands home to the world's largest albatross colony. Over a million albatrosses return to Kuaihelani each year to breed. These seemingl.....»»
Nature"s checkup: Surveying biodiversity with environmental DNA sequencing
A thousand kilometers south of Tokyo, far into the largest ocean on Earth, lies a chain of small, volcanic islands—the Ogasawara Islands. Nature has been able to develop on its own terms here, far from both humans and the warm Kuroshio current, whi.....»»