Kids News - Environment Articles

The appearance of large jellyfish blooms is often met with dismay. That's because though these floating blobs of gelatin are essential for the ecosystem and an important food source for certain marine animals, they are very destructive. In addition to inflicting painful stings, large groupings of the invertebrates frequently clog commercial fishing nets and even cause power stations to shut down....

Frank Gehry is famous for his offbeat architectural designs like the enormous glass sails of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the titanium fish scales of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. His latest building, the first in Australia, is as radical - so much so that critics have likened it to a crumpled brown paper bag....

Animals adapt in various ways to protect themselves from predators. Some take on the smell of the food they consume, while others build decoys. But very few are able to do what the cinereous mourner that resides in the Peruvian Amazon rainforests has done. This dull gray bird has evolved such that its chicks not only closely resemble a brightly colored toxic neighbor, but also act like it!...

On Thursday, January 22nd, social media sites were buzzing with excitement at the pictures of the blue patches of glimmering water along Hong Kong's coastline. However, experts were not as thrilled. That's because while the algal bloom responsible for this mesmerizing sight are not toxic to humans, they are well-known to wreak havoc on marine life....

Mention the Indian subcontinent and one of the first things that comes to mind is the Taj Mahal. Located in Agra, the mausoleum that is widely hailed as the "Jewel of Muslim art in India", was built in the 1600's by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Intricately crafted from pure white marble, the masterpiece that took about 22 years to complete, is considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world and visited by millions of people each year....

Animals use many tricks to hide from predators - from blending in with the environment to disguising themselves into something unsavory and even, creating decoys. While different, they are all optical. Now scientists have uncovered a fish species that uses both visual and chemical camouflage. That means they not only blend in with the colorful coral they feed on, but also smell like it!...

Though the sight of a baby whale is always welcome, the report of a newborn in the group of orcas that scientists call the J-Pod, is particularly exciting. That's because, this batch which is part of the 77-member Southern Resident Killer Whale group (SRKW) that reside off the coast of the state of Washington and British Columbia, has been on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's endangered list since 2005....

In April 2014, a series of devastating tornadoes wreaked havoc on the southern United States. The fierce system of multiple tornadoes that ripped through the region ravaged scores of local communities, claimed the lives of more than 35 people, and caused over a billion dollars in damages across 17 states. Also affected of course were the animals that lived in the region. The one species that managed to escape unscathed were the golden-winged warblers that left their breeding grounds in Tennessee two days before the tornadoes struck and flew off to Florida....

With Christmas less than two weeks away, your neighborhood is probably aglow with beautiful lights. However they will pale in comparison to nature's own light show, the Geminids. Though this annual celestial display that has been nicknamed the 900-pound gorilla of meteor showers has been visible since December 4th, their best showing will be on the night of December 13th and the early morning of the 14th, until about 2.00 am local time....