Columbia is worth seeing for its golden, palm-fringed beaches, lofty, snow-covered mountains, dense tropical rainforests, and scenic lakes. However, wild hippos are now a sight for sore eyes in the Magdalena River of Columbia, thanks to notorious camel Pablo Escobar. 

From Burmese Python in Florida to wild boars in Texas, European Starlings of the U.S to wild hippos of Colombia; invasive species have made  whole ecosystems go haywire. 
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“An invasive species is a non-native organism that causes ecological or socio-economic damage in a new environment”.

These species muscle out native flora and fauna, competing for resources and territories and thus reducing biodiversity and altering habitats. 
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Of the invasive species introduced by humans, Columbian hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius) date back to their exporter, cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. Native to Sub-Saharan Africa, these third-largest land mammals are not only relocating native Colombian animals but also altering the water channels and water quality.

Where the world is witnessing the record lows of Arctic Minimum Ice Extent, Global Methane Emissions strike the record high!

​Global atmospheric concentrations of various greenhouse gases, i.e., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other halogenated greenhouse gases, have constantly amplified over the past few hundred years. Each of these gases hangs around in the atmosphere long enough to ensure uniform mixing. It means that the amount of the gas measured in the atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world, regardless of the source of the emissions. 

Axolotls could help in regeneration!

You might be reading this headline for the first time, but it is true. When it comes to regeneration, Urodele Amphibian, better known as Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are the champions. They don’t form scars on wounds, instead they regrow their lost parts. Scientists are hopeful for human limb regeneration based on this knowledge. 

Like their striking regeneration ability, they possess distinguished larval features as well. These include a flat body, dorsal fins, three pairs of protruding feathery gills, and a slight grin. They can grow up to one foot. These long-living Mexican salamanders live up to 15 years. 

Unlike other salamanders that metamorphose into terrestrial amphibians, the fleshy-pink Axolotls defy the biological laws of metamorphosis. They hold onto their juvenile features throughout their adulthood, so they are known as neonates.

When was the first time you heard the phrase; The Arctic Is Melting? 

I have grown up through adulthood listening to and reading this expression.  Like some climate skeptics, I also wonder, “Has it not already melted?” It was prophesied that the ice of the Arctic Ocean would disappear by 2035. But now scientists are proposing a new end mark: 2050. However, it has already lost two-thirds of its ice sheet. 
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The icy Arctic is a climate-sensitive, fragile ecosystem. It is characterized by its ice and snow-covered land, peaks, and native wildlife including polar bears, reindeer, walruses, arctic cod, and seals. Currently, the polar natives are left with only small chunks of ice. In a few decades, the Arctic, and all its native life, will vanish.