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Health authorities worldwide are urgently tracing passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship before an outbreak of hantavirus was detected. The virus has killed three people, and eight others are suspected to have contracted it, as the WHO monitors citizens in at least 12 countries.
A polar air mass from the Southern Ocean is bringing snow, frost, and below-average temperatures to south-eastern Australia, with snowfalls reported at low elevations and freezing conditions forecast for parts of Queensland. The Bureau of Meteorology warns of icy roads and a sharp temperature drop following unseasonably warm weather.
South-east Australia experienced record-breaking May warmth over the weekend, with temperatures soaring 10–14°C above average in some areas, before a cold front and polar air mass are set to bring rain, thunderstorms, and a sharp drop in temperatures. The unseasonable heat was driven by a stalled high-pressure system, while drought conditions persist across NSW and other regions.
New research combining 1960s unpublished data with modern fieldwork has dated the limestone foundations of Australia's Twelve Apostles to between 8.6 and 14 million years old, revealing a complex Miocene geological history while confirming the iconic sea stacks formed only in the last few thousand years through erosion.
The A23a iceberg, once the largest in the world, has completely broken apart while drifting in the Southern Ocean, according to Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The iceberg, which calved from Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986, lost 99% of its original area over its lifetime. The breakup was confirmed by multiple sources, with detailed tracking by scientists.
Ocean temperatures in March reached near-record highs, with scientists predicting a shift toward El Niño conditions that could push global temperatures to new records. The continental United States experienced its most abnormally hot month in 132 years, underscoring the accelerating impacts of climate change.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has declared the emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal endangered, citing climate change as a primary driver. The update also lists southern elephant seals as vulnerable, with bird flu impacting colonies.
NASA's Artemis II mission, set to launch as early as April 1, will carry four astronauts — three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency — on a 10-day loop around the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar voyage in over 50 years. The crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, with historic firsts for a woman, a person of color, and a non-American.