Sea otters: Saving kelp forests and our climate

Sea otters aren’t just cute – these fuzzy marine mammals also perform an important role protecting the kelp forests which maintain our climate and prevent storm damage.

The kelp forests fringing the North Pacific coast are one of the richest marine ecosystems on Earth. The fish that find refuge form the basis of an immense ocean food web and a huge fishing industry. Kelp beds buffer coastlines from storms and sequester carbon as effectively as tropical rainforests. One of the kelp forest’s most endearing denizens, the sea otter, is an important key to its survival.

In some places this valuable kelp carbon store is disappearing, mown down by a hungry army of sea urchins.

In this film, marine ecologist Professor James A Estes, cameraman Doug Allan, ecological economist Pavan Sukhdev, and lead scientist with the Nature Conservancy, Dr M Sanjayan, reveal how sea otters eat sea urchins which would otherwise devour the kelp and disrupt the rich web of life that relies on it. So the otters are helping the forests to store as much carbon as they can.

We tend to think that we can deal with the challenge of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by planting more vegetation, but it turns out that animals like sea otters are providing another solution by helping to keep forests growing.

From BBC- The Power of Nature

Quantum wins the race! Sleek vehicle wins American Solar Challenge after travelling 1,700 miles across seven states

The event started July 20 in Austin, Texas and ended on Monday in Minneapolis. Michigan University won the race despite an early 20- or 30-minute setback when the motor failed and needed to be swapped. Five of the 22 other teams passed Michigan in the process. The car previously took third in the World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2011 and first in the American race in 2012.

From MailOnline

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html

Koala survives 55-mile journey clinging underneath a car

Meet Timberwolf, the little koala who survived a dangerous journey clinging to the underneath of a car.

The four-year-old marsupial hung on for 55 miles of motorway after being hit by the vehicle in Queensland, Australia.

But miraculously, after being discovered at a service station, the koala was taken to an animal hospital with nothing more than a torn nail.

Claude Lacasse, a vet at Australia Zoo said: "It is a truly remarkable story, he is a very lucky koala."

Timberwolf is recovering at the Australia Zoo wildlife hospital

"It is absolutely amazing that he has such minor injuries and he survived," said Claude.

Koalas are now listed as vulnerable in Australia, where it's thought only 43,000 remain in the wild.

Timberwolf, named after a football team by staff at the animal hospital, has been given pain killers for the torn nail and is recovering in a tree at the zoo.

Vets are now trying to work out exactly where his journey began, so they can return him to the wild.

According to scientists humans have been causing a big drop in insect life.

Not so good news!

Humans could be to blame for a big drop in the number of insects on the planet, a new study has found.

In the last 35 years the number of humans on Earth has doubled, but the number of invertebrate animals like beetles, butterflies and spiders has dropped by almost half.

The drop is mainly down to loss of habitat because of human activity, and changes in climate, researchers say.

UK butterflies, bees and beetles have dropped by up to 60%, the study says.

A drop in the number of insects could cause big problems because insects pollinate food crops, and are themselves a food source for other animals.

Dr Rodolfo Dirzo who led the study, said the loss of insects produces "increasingly obvious consequences to the planet and to human wellbeing".

The study was published in the journal Science.

From CBBC newsround