Baldwin Gordon Asher

Baldwin Gordon Asher When words fail, music speaks.

"We were surprised – we had to double check it was real," says Anna Wåhlin, professor of physical oceanography at the Un...
11/25/2024

"We were surprised – we had to double check it was real," says Anna Wåhlin, professor of physical oceanography at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. "But we realised, it really does look like this – there are these shapes. There is a landscape of ice down there we had no idea about before," she says.
In 2022, an international team of scientists led by Wåhlin lowered an unmanned submersible underneath 350m (1,150ft) thick Antarctic ice. For 27 days, it travelled over 1,000km (621miles) back and forth under the Dotson Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, scanning the ice above it with an advanced sonar. The result was the very first map of the underside of an ice shelf – and the discovery of an otherworldly ice-scape – which Wåhlin likens to seeing the dark side of the moon for the first time.
The never before seen "swirls and scoops" map the meltwater's journey as it flows beneath the ice, giving us a new understanding of how the ocean melts Antarctica's ice – and how its fate could affect us all.

The eastern oyster has lived in the Hudson River estuary for at least 6,000 years. With 350 sq miles (900 sq km) of oyst...
11/22/2024

The eastern oyster has lived in the Hudson River estuary for at least 6,000 years. With 350 sq miles (900 sq km) of oyster reef, some biologists estimate that the New York harbour used to contain half of the world's oyster population.

Historically, oysters were deeply woven into the life of East Coast cities, as Charles Dickens described enthusiastically in his travelogue American Notes. On the difference between dinners in London and Boston, for instance, he notes that Americans would serve "at every supper, at least two mighty bowls of hot stewed oysters, in any one of which a half-grown Duke of Clarence might be smothered easily".

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacteria which can cause the breakdown of skin and soft tissue, sometimes leading to amputations....
11/08/2024

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacteria which can cause the breakdown of skin and soft tissue, sometimes leading to amputations. According to the latest data, 77 cases and 15 deaths have been reported so far in 2024, the most recorded cases in the past decade, though it is not known how many of cases were reported since Helene and Milton. In 2022, Florida reported an unusual increase in Vibrio vulnificus infections in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
"Vibrio prefers warmer waters, and hurricanes typically occur during times when the water is warmest," says John Drake, director of the centre for the ecology of infectious diseases at the University of Georgia. "Flooding associated with hurricanes could very well lead to a redistribution of Vibrio further inland, and it goes without saying that there is increased human exposure to contaminated water when a hurricane hits."

While cruising the canals of Copenhagen in the summer of 2023, my guide pointed out Nordhavn, the city's once-industrial...
11/06/2024

While cruising the canals of Copenhagen in the summer of 2023, my guide pointed out Nordhavn, the city's once-industrial neighbourhood, excitedly claiming it would become the coolest new city in Europe. From the boat, I couldn't see much beyond a few residential buildings and lots of giant construction machinery, but, as an architect, I was interested to know more.

So, 12 months later, I returned to Copenhagen and headed back to Nordhavn, just a 15-minute metro ride from Copenhagen's central station.

This time, standing at Århusgadekvarteret, the core of the new development, I could see gleaming apartment buildings, high-end office spaces and a cafe-lined boardwalk along the previously industrial harbour. Dozens of people were lying on colourful beach towels spread across the waterfront, all soaking in the Scandinavian summer sun. It was a peaceful, serene scene, with none of the morning commuter chaos I was used to seeing in cities around the world.

Five years ago, Haldre Rogers attended a get-together on the island of Guam – an emerald-green smudge in the western Pac...
11/04/2024

Five years ago, Haldre Rogers attended a get-together on the island of Guam – an emerald-green smudge in the western Pacific Ocean, around 2,492km (1,548 miles) from the Philippines. But soon the party was interrupted by an uninvited guest.
It was late evening, and outside there was a hog roasting – the remains of dinner. The fire was going down, though still warm. Everyone briefly walked off to chat. When they came back, there was a brown form curled around the pig – something shiny and scaly, with vertical slit-eyes and a wide, smiling mouth. The creature was ripping off chunks of the pig's flesh and swallowing them whole – slowly gulping them into its pale, distended body.
"It wasn't [exactly] a 400-pound (181kg) pig, but it was a pig for a big party," says Rogers, an associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech in the US, who has been studying Guam's ecology for the last 22 years.

Olympic rowers and windsurfers have also started raising awareness of the environmental threat invasives pose, by removi...
11/01/2024

Olympic rowers and windsurfers have also started raising awareness of the environmental threat invasives pose, by removing destructive fauna and flora from their boats and hydrofoils. Meanwhile, chefs in the US and UK are serving up squirrel, Japanese knotweed and crayfish. Cooking with prolific pests is unlikely to eradicate them, but can educate the public about the dangers of invasives, the chefs say.

But, in some instances, total eradication is possible. The tropical island of Palmyra in the Central Pacific Ocean managed to get rid of all 20,000 rats that dominated the atoll (a population density 10 times higher than in cooler climates) in 2011. Nature rebounded after the eradication, native trees gained ground and two new crab species were observed on the islands for the first time. (Read more about the rats evicted from paradise in this story by Sophie Hardach).

The Azores Islands created the largest MPA in the North Atlantic in October 2024, spanning 287,000 sq km (110, 811 sq mi...
10/30/2024

The Azores Islands created the largest MPA in the North Atlantic in October 2024, spanning 287,000 sq km (110, 811 sq miles) and protecting 30% of the sea surrounding the Portuguese archipelago. Portugal's first MPA was designed by local fishers who were eager to protect octopus and sardine populations in the Algarve. Spanning 156 sq km (60.2 sq miles) of sea, with a 20 sq km (12.4 sq miles) no-fishing zone, the area has given nature a chance to replenish and ensure vital food sources are available long into the future.
"For centuries, Azoreans have been tied to the sea, and we want to ensure that this connection remains strong by supporting communities that depend on a healthy ocean," says Luis Bernardo Brito e Abreu, a government advisor in the Azores. "Our hope is that our action will not only benefit our people and wildlife in the Azores, but inspire the rest of the world to reach their global commitments to protect 30% of the ocean."

Based on that experience, and a leisurely 32km pedal near my Vermont home recently, I decided to hop on a Greyhound bus ...
10/28/2024

Based on that experience, and a leisurely 32km pedal near my Vermont home recently, I decided to hop on a Greyhound bus to Montréal with my sister, a more experienced biker, and spend five days tackling the Véloroute Gourmande: a 235km paved and gravel cycling trail connecting Montréal and the city of Sherbrooke in southern Québec.
That's how I found myself sopping wet from unrelenting rain, wearing padded bike shorts beneath running tights, multiple shirts under a rain jacket and dripping onto the wooden floorboards of one of the most charming coffee shops I've ever entered, Yamaska Café in Farnham, Québec. I'm not yet an intermediate rider, but I'm certainly a stubborn beginner. And a hungry one.
Luckily, I was – quite literally – on the right track. Launched in April 2022, the Véloroute Gourmande passes more than 100 culinary stops, from farmers' markets and vineyards to casual pubs and elegant farm-to-table restaurants, as it threads through the region's bucolic villages and lake-laced landscape. As a food writer, goose farmer, cooking teacher and restaurant chef, I was keen to turn my attention from the woods where I forage for wild mushrooms and my garden, which abounds with heirloom tomatoes, uncommon herbs and edible flowers, north to explore the culinary heritage of the Québecois countryside.

Every day since, Martin's team has been working to clear the water, clean up, inventory and repair everything that's bee...
10/21/2024

Every day since, Martin's team has been working to clear the water, clean up, inventory and repair everything that's been broken and lost, she says. "There's a significant amount of work to be done over the next few weeks to months," says Martin.
She doesn't yet know when they'll be able to recover fully, but says she considers the response to Hurricane Helene a success: her team deployed the aquarium's storm preparation plan without a blip. The plan is thoroughly reviewed and updated by the organisation every year, says Martin, and consists of moving equipment and animal exhibits to higher grounds if necessary. Through Helene, they kept their animals as safe as they could.
Now the aquarium is bracing for the impacts of Hurricane Milton, less than two weeks after the destruction from Helene. It's just one of many zoos and aquariums making urgent preparations. The Florida Aquarium has moved nine penguins, a smack of moon jellies, six snakes, three lizards, three turtles, two alligators, two toads and a hermit crab from their enclosures on the first floor to higher, safer ground.

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