Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Understanding biodiversity within species is key to our understanding of why nature works the way it does, say researchers Words and photographs by Roberto García-Roa Twelve miles from the heart of Rome, Dr Javier Ábalos pauses his walk, lifts his sunglasses and points. To his right, perched on a rocky wall, sits a beautiful lizard. Its body is coated in charcoal-black tones speckled with striking yellow across a green dorsum, and its head, with a prominent jaw, is splashed with fluorescent blue spots. The reptile basks in the sun, unconcerned by our presence. About 80 miles (130km) drive farther along the road that connects the capital with the small village of Poggio di Roio, the researcher from the University of Valencia has barely stepped out of the car when he spots another lizard. This one is smaller, with a brownish body and a narrower head crisscrossed by a network of dark stripes. Researchers fear the common wall lizard of the white morph could be driven to extinction by the arrival of a new variation Continue reading...

SA premier Peter Malinauskas warns residents to prepare for heavy falls and possible flash floods Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Late summer rain is causing havoc across Australia, with South Australia on flood watch, Victoria cleaning up after a downpour, and Sydney issuing a shark warning after heavy falls. Almost all of South Australia, much of western Victoria and parts of western NSW were on flood watch as a slow-moving pressure system from central Australia moved east. Queensland had also seen severe rainfall. Continue reading...

What is a favourite place if not one built upon our fondest memories? Would I like to write about my favourite place? The invitation inspired me to recall so many magical places – from north-east Arnhem Land to Mediterranean island hamlets with idyllic quayside tavernas, from the Melbourne Cricket Ground on grand final day to Dickensian London pubs, from picture postcard villages beneath snow-capped alpine peaks to the haunts of my literary giants and on to Joshua Tree and Hagia Sofia. Continue reading...

With most Scots supportive of reintroducing the wild cat, charities are focusing on those whose jobs could be affected Could lynx, the elusive wild cat driven to extinction in Britain more than 1,000 years ago, become the new Loch Ness monster? “Whether Nessie’s there or not, she draws tourists,” said Margaret Luckwell, a resident of Moray, Scotland. “It would be the same with lynx. I’d love to see a lynx in the wild.” Luckwell’s view is a majority one among local people gathering at village halls across the Highlands, as a painstaking consultation slowly gathers momentum for the apex predator’s return to Scottish forests. Continue reading...