Environment & Ecology – Page 7 – Great Barrier Island News

Medlands Beach glimmers in the moonlight, a testament to Aotea/Great Barrier Island's commitment to preserving the dark, star-filled skies. Photo / Mark Russell

Environment & Ecology

Island Shines with International Dark Sky Week Proclamation

Medlands Beach glimmers in the moonlight, a testament to Aotea/Great Barrier Island’s commitment to preserving the dark, star-filled skies. Photo / Mark Russell Barrier’s Local Board has made a “Dark Sky Proclamation” on behalf of the island to mark International…

Red Helicopter against a blue sky. Isaac benhesed / Unsplashed

Environment & Ecology

Motion Grounded: Council Decision Keeps Helipads Hovering Over Gulf

In a decision that clipped the wings of its advocates, Auckland City Council’s Planning, Environment, and Parks Committee on Thursday rejected Councillor Mike Lee’s motion to prohibit private helipads in the residential and settlement areas of the Hauraki Gulf Islands.…

Environment & Ecology

8 ways that stopping overfishing will promote biodiversity and help address climate change

By Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia Amid the escalating threats of a warming world, and with the latest annual United Nations global climate conference (COP28) behind us, there is one critical message that’s often left out of the climate…

Scientists have discovered never-before-seen deep reefs in the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / DoC / Supplied

Environment & Ecology

Mapping the Mysteries of the Hauraki Gulf

Scientists from the Department of Conservation (DoC) and Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington have undertaken an ambitious project to map some of the Hauraki Gulf’s deepest and most unexplored reefs. Using an underwater drone, crews have plunged to depths…

Freshly exposed bedrock at the terminus of Brewster Glacier in March 2023. Andrew Lorrey, CC BY-SA

Environment & Ecology

Frozen in time: old paintings and new photographs reveal some NZ glaciers may soon be extinct

By Andrew Lorrey, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; George Hook, Canterbury Museum; Lauren Vargo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Shaun Eaves, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington As the austral summer draws…

Despite having no official basis, the Kowhai flower is commonly considered the National flower of New Zealand. Sophora microphylla is a spectacular, semi-evergreen, spreading tree, particularly in spring when it bursts into deep yellow flower. Observed on the shores of Lake Te Anau, New Zealand. Photo / Alan Vernon

Environment & Ecology

Plants are Flowering Earlier than Ever – Here’s How they Sense the Seasons

Despite having no official basis, the Kōwhai flower is commonly considered the National flower of New Zealand. Sophora microphylla is a spectacular, semi-evergreen, spreading tree, particularly in spring when it bursts into deep yellow flower. Observed on the shores of…

More than 100 tonnes of caulerpa washed up in this Great Barrier Island Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Sid Ware / Ministry for Primary Industries

Environment & Ecology

Great Barrier to Benefit from $5 Million Funding Against Caulerpa

In a move to protect the marine ecosystems of Great Barrier Island and the wider Hauraki Gulf, the government has announced a $5 million funding initiative aimed at combating the invasive seaweed, caulerpa. Exotic caulerpa poses a threat to biodiversity…

Environment & Ecology

20°C seems the optimal temperature for life on Earth to thrive – what does this mean in a warming world

Have you ever wondered about the optimal temperature for life on Earth? For humans, 20°C is comfortable. Any warmer and we work less efficiently because releasing heat requires energy.

This bright-green invasive caulerpa seaweed is smothering the delicate marine ecosystem on Great Barrier Island. Photo / Glenn Edney

Environment & Ecology

300+ Boaties Ignore Aotea Caulerpa Ban

In the ongoing battle against the invasive seaweed Caulerpa on Aotea, more than 300 instances of vessels violating Controlled Area Notices (CANs) have been reported over the past three summers, John Walsh, Biosecurity New Zealand’s response director told AoteaGBI.news. The statistics…

The main Antipodes Island. Photo / Claire Concannon / RNZ

Subantarctic Islands’ Wildlife Thrives After Million Dollar Mouse Project

These subantarctic islands are wild and remote – some 860km southeast of Rakiura Stewart Island. Their isolation, in a far-flung corner of the South Pacific, means they’re some of the most untouched islands in the world.