In early 2016, 29 male sperm whales beached themselves along the shores of shores of France, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands; with the tragic incidents occurring over a period of time totaling less than a month from January 8 to February 4. Autopsies performed on the whales found that they were all healthy, and well-nourished – offering no apparent physiological reason for the cetaceans to run themselves aground. But researchers looking into the case began to question whether or not the creatures’ navigation systems were compromised in some manner, disorienting them in a fashion that would ultimately prove to be fatal.read more

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a formal agreement between his state and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, linking the three regions’ carbon-emission markets. The deal, going into effect on January 1, creates the largest carbon market in North America: Ontario and Quebec are Canada’s largest provinces, with Ontario being the country’s most populous, and California itself represents the world’s sixth largest economy.
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A new expedition to explore the Mayan complex at Chichen Itza has been launched, that will include studying the 1,000-year-old Temple of Kukulkan, and the landscape’s numerous sinkholes. The expedition’s aim is an attempt to uncover the secrets of a mysterious underworld that is supposed to exist there according to Mayan oral history. This is the first comprehensive exploration of the site in roughly half a century.
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A recently-published study from NASA has revealed that glaciers in West Antarctica’s Marguerite Bay have increased their flow rate, speeding up by up to 25 percent, an event that has accelerated ice loss in the region from 2 to 3 meters (7 to 10 feet) per year to 10 meters (33 feet). Prior to 2008, the flow rates of the four affected glaciers had been stable for two decades, but a major calving event in 1989 left the bay with little to no ice shelf, leaving them with only grounded ice on dry land — a precarious position for its potential to affect sea level rise.
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