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Daily Record
31-07-2025
- Daily Record
Spain holiday hotspot swarmed by invasion of horseshoe snakes
The island sees more than 2.3 million British visitors annually and has experienced a dramatic surge in non-native snake populations A popular Spanish holiday hotspot has reportedly been invaded by so many serpents that wildlife specialists are calling for "thousands and thousands of traps". Mallorca, which welcomes over 2.3 million British tourists each year, alongside the wider Balearic islands, has witnessed a dramatic explosion in non-native snake numbers. The horseshoe snake, one particular breed, could pose significant dangers to the local ecosystem. While this reptile can flourish in diverse environments, it commonly dwells in forests, agricultural zones, and built-up areas across southwestern Europe. COFIB, Mallorca's wildlife rescue and sanctuary organisation, reportedly captured nearly 3,000 horseshoe snakes throughout 2023 alone. Despite these measures, the invasive breed continues to endanger the area's environmental balance. Samuel Pinya, a biologist from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), told Spanish publication Diario AS: "We need thousands and thousands of traps to reduce the population." He continued: "The horseshoe snake has swum in, and when it arrives, it eats everything." Nicolau Cerdà, from the Association of Organic Farmers and Producers of Mallorca (APAEMA), explained: "These snakes are beneficial for farmland on the mainland, but on an island like Mallorca, with no predators at all, they become voracious and hunt all wildlife. "They have no competitors and cause imbalances in nature. They've almost wiped out the lizard, and all small fauna, such as geckos, amphibians or small birds like chicks, sparrows or partridges, they wipe them out." What if a tourist is bitten by a horseshoe snake? While local authorities are concerned about the impact of the snake on the native ecosystem, they pose little danger to people in the area. This is because the species is non-venomous, meaning a bite should not pose a serious threat to life. However, if holidaymakers encounter a horseshoe snake while visiting Mallorca, they should keep a safe distance as it can still deliver a painful bite when threatened. It might also be prudent to alert local authorities, as community efforts to control the population of horseshoe snakes continue. How to identify a horseshoe snake Mallorca is home to several types of snakes, making it difficult to immediately identify which one might need to be reported to officials. However, the horseshoe snake typically stands out from other snakes due to its larger size, which can reach up to 170cm in length. The head is also flat and pointed, distinguishing it from the rest of the body. Its name can also help with identification as the species usually has an open horseshoe-shaped marking, along with a particularly long and slender tail. Typically, the horseshoe snake's scales are of an olive-brown hue and often bear dark circular markings against a white or yellow belly.
Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Science
- Straits Times
Marine heatwaves are spreading around the world
In recent decades, the oceans have warmed. Marine heat waves, once rare events, have become more common. One particularly intense event known as 'the Blob' lasted years and devastated plankton populations, starving millions of fish and seabirds and damaging commercial fishing. Recently, high temperatures have persisted. In January 2024, the share of the ocean surface experiencing a heat wave topped 40 per cent. Unusual heat waves have occurred in all of the major ocean basins around the planet in recent years. And some of these events have become so intense that scientists have coined a new term: super marine heat waves. 'The marine ecosystems where the super marine heat waves occur have never experienced such a high sea surface temperature in the past,' Dr Boyin Huang, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in an email. The seas off the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced an unusually intense marine heat wave, one of the longest on record, starting in April, and the temperature rise happened much earlier in the year than usual. Australia and its iconic coral reefs were recently struck by heat waves on two coasts. Scientists define marine heat waves in different ways. But it's clear that as the planet's climate changes, the oceans are being fundamentally altered as they absorb excess heat trapped in the atmosphere from greenhouse gases, which are emitted when fossil fuels are burned. Hotter oceans are causing drastic changes to marine life, sea levels and weather patterns. Some of the most visible casualties of ocean warming have been coral reefs. When ocean temperatures rise too much, corals can bleach and die. About 84 per cent of reefs worldwide experienced bleaching-level heat stress at some point between January 2023 and March 2025, according to a recent report. In 2024, the warmest on record, sea levels rose faster than scientists expected. Research showed that most of that rise in sea levels came from ocean water expanding as it warms, which is known as thermal expansion, not from melting glaciers and ice sheets, which in past years were the biggest contributors to rising seas. Excess heat in the oceans can also affect weather patterns, making hurricanes more likely to rapidly intensify and become more destructive. In the southwest Pacific, 2024's ocean heat contributed to a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones hitting the Philippines. 'If we understand how global warming is affecting extreme events, that is essential information to try to anticipate what's going on, what's next,' said Dr Marta Marcos, a physicist at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain. Dr Marcos was the lead author of a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that found that climate change has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of marine heat waves in recent decades. The losses Some of the earliest research on mass die-offs associated with marine heat waves, before there was a name for them, came from the Mediterranean, which has been warming three to five times faster than the ocean at large. Dr Joaquim Garrabou, a marine conservation ecologist at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, started studying these events after witnessing a die-off of sponges and coral in 1999. He and other scientists believed that with climate change, these die-offs would reoccur. 'The reality is moving even faster than what we thought,' he said. 'Having these mass mortality events is the new normal, instead of something infrequent, which it should be.' In 2012, a marine heat wave in the Gulf of Maine highlighted the risk these events pose to fisheries. The Northern shrimp population went from an estimated 27.25 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion two years later, according to modeling by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. 'This disappearance of the shrimp was just shocking,' said Dr Anne Richards, a retired research fisheries biologist who worked at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center at the time. Her research pointed to a significant culprit: Longfin squid drawn north by warmer water were eating the shrimp. The fishery has not yet reopened. By 2023, the Northern shrimp population was estimated to have dropped to around 200 million. Commercial fishing has always been difficult, but now, 'climate change is taking that to another level,' said Dr Kathy Mills, a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Complicating matters is the fact that much of the research on marine heat waves comes from just a few countries, including Australia, the United States, China, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. 'There are lots of regions around the world where monitoring isn't as good as other places, and so we don't really know what's happening,' said Dr Dan Smale, a community ecologist at the United Kingdom's Marine Biological Association. Rising ocean temperatures can also set off a domino effect through the marine food web, starting at the bottom with plankton. Since the end of most commercial whaling in the 1970s and '80s, humpback whales in the North Pacific had been recovering, reaching a peak population of about 33,000 in 2012. But then came the heat event known as 'the Blob' that blanketed much of region from 2014 to 2017. The heat wave diminished wind and waves, limiting the nutrients that typically get churned up to the sea surface. Fewer nutrients meant fewer phytoplankton, fewer zooplankton, fewer fish and fewer of everything else that eats them. How 'the Blob' took a toll After the Blob dissipated, researchers learned that the effects of a severe marine heat wave could endure long after the event itself has passed. Mr Ted Cheeseman, a doctoral candidate at Southern Cross University, had co-founded Happywhale, a database of tens of thousands of marine mammals built on photos submitted by researchers and whale watchers around the world. Mr Cheeseman found a sharp drop in humpback whale sightings by 2021. The decrease was so significant, at first he thought the Happywhale team was doing the math wrong. The team members spent several years checking and last year published a study that concluded the humpback whale population in the North Pacific had fallen by 20 per cent from 2012 to 2021. They attributed the decline to the loss of food like krill during and after the Blob. With 'an estimate of 7,000 whales having disappeared and not showing up anywhere else,' Mr Cheeseman said, 'there's really no other explanation.' Looking ahead Eventually, parts of the ocean might enter a constant state of marine heat wave, at least by today's common definition. Some scientists see today's shorter-term spikes as practice for this future. Dr Alistair Hobday, a biological oceanographer at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, has been conducting public briefings with marine heat wave forecasts months ahead of time. People are tuning in – and responding. The critically endangered red handfish lives off the coast of Tasmania, crawling along the seafloor on fins shaped like hands. These unusual fish have only been found within two small patches of rocky reef and sea grass meadow. In late 2023, Hobday's forecast predicted potentially deadly marine heat waves. Researchers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, with support from the Australian Department of Climate Change, took a drastic step. They transferred 25 red handfish to an aquarium until the temperatures fell. Dr Jemina Stuart-Smith, an ecologist at the University of Tasmania, described those weeks as the most stressful time of her life. 'If it all went wrong,' she said, 'you're talking about the potential extinction of an entire species.' After three months, 18 fish were returned to the ocean. Three had died, and four were enrolled in a captive breeding program. Scientists recognise that temporary fixes can only do so much in the face of long-term warming. 'It's kind of putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg,' said Dr Kathryn Smith, a marine ecologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Marine Biological Association. But those studying today's extreme events still hope their work gives people some visibility into the future of the world's oceans, Dr Hobday said. 'Clever people, if you tell them about the future,' he said, 'can think of all kinds of things to do differently.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Boston Globe
09-06-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Marine heat waves are spreading around the world
Scientists define marine heat waves in different ways. But it's clear that as the planet's climate changes, the oceans are being fundamentally altered as they absorb excess heat trapped in the atmosphere from greenhouse gases, which are emitted when fossil fuels are burned. Hotter oceans are causing drastic changes to marine life, sea levels, and weather patterns. Advertisement Some of the most visible casualties of ocean warming have been coral reefs. When ocean temperatures rise too much, corals can bleach and die. About 84 percent of reefs worldwide experienced bleaching-level heat stress at some point between January 2023 and March 2025, according to a recent report. Last year, the warmest on record, sea levels rose faster than scientists expected. Research showed that most of that rise in sea levels came from ocean water expanding as it warms, which is known as thermal expansion, not from melting glaciers and ice sheets, which in past years were the biggest contributors to rising seas. Advertisement Excess heat in the oceans can also affect weather patterns, making hurricanes more likely to rapidly intensify and become more destructive. In the southwest Pacific, last year's ocean heat contributed to a record-breaking streak of tropical cyclones hitting the Philippines. 'If we understand how global warming is affecting extreme events, that is essential information to try to anticipate what's going on, what's next,' said Marta Marcos, a physicist at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain. Marcos was the lead author of a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that found that climate change has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of marine heat waves in recent decades. Some of the earliest research on mass die-offs associated with marine heat waves, before there was a name for them, came from the Mediterranean, which has been warming three to five times faster than the ocean at large. Joaquim Garrabou, a marine conservation ecologist at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, started studying these events after witnessing a die-off of sponges and coral in 1999. He and other scientists believed that with climate change, these die-offs would reoccur. 'The reality is moving even faster than what we thought,' he said. 'Having these mass mortality events is the new normal, instead of something infrequent, which it should be.' In 2012, a marine heat wave in the Gulf of Maine highlighted the risk these events pose to fisheries. The Northern shrimp population went from an estimated 27.25 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion two years later, according to modeling by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Advertisement 'This disappearance of the shrimp was just shocking,' said Anne Richards, a retired research fisheries biologist who worked at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center at the time. Her research pointed to a significant culprit: Longfin squid, drawn north by warmer water, were eating the shrimp. The fishery has not yet reopened. By 2023, the Northern shrimp population was estimated to have dropped to around 200 million. Commercial fishing has always been difficult, but now, 'climate change is taking that to another level,' said Kathy Mills, a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Complicating matters is the fact that much of the research on marine heat waves comes from just a few countries, including Australia, the United States, China, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. 'There are lots of regions around the world where monitoring isn't as good as other places, and so we don't really know what's happening,' said Dan Smale, a community ecologist at the United Kingdom's Marine Biological Association. Eventually, parts of the ocean might enter a constant state of marine heat wave, at least by today's common definition. Some scientists see today's shorter-term spikes as practice for this future. Alistair Hobday, a biological oceanographer at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, has been conducting public briefings with marine heat wave forecasts months ahead of time. People are tuning in — and responding. The critically endangered red handfish lives off the coast of Tasmania, crawling along the seafloor on fins shaped like hands. These unusual fish have only been found within two small patches of rocky reef and sea grass meadow. Advertisement In late 2023, Hobday's forecast predicted potentially deadly marine heat waves. Researchers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, with support from the Australian Department of Climate Change, took a drastic step. They transferred 25 red handfish to an aquarium until the temperatures fell. Jemina Stuart-Smith, an ecologist at the University of Tasmania, described those weeks as the most stressful time of her life. 'If it all went wrong,' she said, 'you're talking about the potential extinction of an entire species.' After three months, 18 fish were returned to the ocean. Three had died, and four were enrolled in a captive breeding program. Scientists recognize that temporary fixes can only do so much in the face of long-term warming. 'It's kind of putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg,' said Kathryn Smith, a marine ecologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Marine Biological Association. But those studying today's extreme events still hope their work gives people some visibility into the future of the world's oceans, Hobday said. 'Clever people, if you tell them about the future,' he said, 'can think of all kinds of things to do differently.' This article originally appeared in
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Tiny European beach that could be in the Caribbean named among 10 best
According to a ranking by travel professionals, this tiny beach in Santanyi has been named one of Europe's best beaches of 2025 despite being the site of a major protest in 2024 A small cove with crystal blue waters, and only a small stretch of sand, has been named among the 50 best beaches in the world. A new report from The World's 50 Best Beaches has named Mallorcan beach Es Caló des Moro, the ninth best beach in Europe as part of its 2025 list of Europe's 50 Best Beaches. According to the company: 'The ranking was voted on by over 1,000 travel professionals, including our judges, Beach Ambassadors and our own World's 50 Beaches team.' Es Caló des Moro, dubbed a hidden gem, is just 3.7-miles from the town of Santanyi in the southeast corner of Mallorca. Despite its relatively small size - only 40 metres in length - it is regularly praised for its fine sands and turquoise waters. One of the reasons the beach is so beloved by British holidaymakers is because of its relative seclusion. Es Caló des Moro sits deep inside a bay with white cliffs creating a sense of privacy for sunbathers. That said, the beach's seclusion also makes it somewhat difficult to access. To get down to the water you will need to walk around 100m on foot. But, it is possible to drive all the way down to the beach, if accessibility is a concern. The beach is also a regular haunt for locals who are fiercely protective of it, having put up signs saying that the road is private. If you are able to take the flight of stairs down to the beach, you will pass the beach Cala s'Almunia on the way down. While Es Caló des Moro is considered the more picturesque of the two, Cala s'Alumunia offers a wonderful detour with its rocky outcroppings and pine tree surroundings. The water is just as clear as further below, though the shore is more gravel than sand at times. The beach's limited accessibility also means that modern conveniences like sunbed and parasol rental and beach bars and restaurants are not available. This is also likely because of its popularity with the locals, who wished to keep the beach under the radar for a while. There are also no water sport activities at Es Caló des Moro. However, crystal-clear and calm conditions of the water mean that the beach is ideal for snorkelling. The water is relatively shallow though, but that makes it well-suited for children. As Es Caló des Moro has gained greater attention and drawn the interest of foreign holidaymakers, locals have begun to increasingly avoid the area. Es Caló des Moro has become one of the four beaches most heavily avoided by locals, according to a recent research project. The research project was conducted by Sergio Obrador of the Demographic and Tourism Studies Group at the University of the Balearic Islands and was designed to determine the effects of overcrowding on the mobility of local residents. Of the random sample of 404 residents that participated in a survey, 85% said they had stopped visiting certain places on the island due to overcrowding in the summer. Mallorcan locals confirmed that the majority of the places they had begun to avoid due to overcrowding were beaches and coves. Four of these beaches locals named were: Es Caló des Moro, Es Trenc, Sa Calobra and Magaluf. Access in Es Caló des Moro became an increasingly heated issue. In fact, in the summer of 2024 the beach became the site of a major local-led protest against overcrowding. Around 300 residents gathered on Es Caló des Moro cove in Santanyi protesting overcrowding on the Spanish island on June 16, 2024. The police were called after protesters began shouting 'tourists go home' and officials called for the removal of protest banners from the beach. On The World's 50 Best Beaches list of Europe's best for 2025, six beaches are in Spain. Playa de Rodas came in fourth on the ranking while Cala Macarelleta also cracked the top 20, taking fourteenth place.
Euronews
27-03-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
Heavy rainfall fills empty reservoirs in Spain, bringing drought relief and floods
ADVERTISEMENT Drought relief in Spain has come at a price as flash floods and record rainfall forces hundreds to evacuate their homes, closes schools and sweeps cars away. Parts of the country suffered from a stubborn drought last year , but the weather has recently taken an abrupt turn. In the first 18 days of March, Spain received more than double the normal amount of monthly rainfall, according to Spanish national weather agency, AEMET. That included normally arid regions like Andalusia, where flooded rivers forced hundreds of people to evacuate. Madrid had more rainfall in the first three weeks of this month than any month since records began in 1893, said an AEMET meteorologist. Emergency teams rescue a dog from flooded areas after heavy rains in Malaga, Spain, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Gregorio Marrero/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved. But volatile weather is a fact of life in Spain. 'The blessing and curse of the Spanish climate is exactly that,' said Daniel Argüeso, a climate scientist at Spain's University of the Balearic Islands. 'We have these periods of extended drought that usually end with these kinds of situations. Having said that, the rain we had in March has been quite exceptional.' For now, a drought that began in 2023 is over. The Sau reservoir that supplies water to Barcelona is now about 48% full, compared to less than 5% at the same time last year. Related Storm Martinho triggers flood warnings and widespread damage across Spain Dozens evacuated and roads closed after flooding in central and northern Spain How long Spanish water reserves remain at healthy levels will depend on factors like how much more springtime rain the country gets and the heat and dryness of the summer to come. However, climate scientists believe Spain will likely stay free of water restrictions at least through the summer. The recent floods took place only months after a deadly deluge in Valencia killed hundreds after some areas saw a year's worth of rain in just eight hours. A woman reacts after floods, in Picanya on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. Alberto Saiz/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved Scientists say climate change is making swings between dryness and downpour more acute. Around the world, rising temperatures are speeding up the hydrological cycle in which water moves between the Earth and its atmosphere. That triggers extreme weather like prolonged droughts and intense rainfall.
