Maleny Weather

The BBC is considering dumping Britain’s Met Office as the public broadcaster’s main weather forecaster and hiring one from New Zealand instead.The state-owned Met Office has come under fire in the past year for its inaccurate long-term forecasts for Britain.It infamously predicted a “barbecue summer” for Britain in 2009 which turned out to be a washout, before incorrectly forecasting a “mild” winter that instead saw the nation blanketed in snow.The BBC has relied on the Met Office for almost 90 years to provide it with forecasts but is now considering switching to New Zealand’s national forecaster, Metra.

A panel of governmental, academic and non-profit scientists speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled research suggesting that diseases found in dolphins are similar to human diseases and can provide clues into how human health might be affected by exposure to contaminated coastal water or seafood.

“Dolphins and humans are both mammals, and their diet includes much of the same seafood that we consume. Unlike us, however, they are exposed to potential ocean health threats such as toxic algae or poor water quality 24 hours a day,” said Carolyn Sotka of the NOAA and lead organizer of the session. “Our ecological and physiological similarities make dolphins an important ‘sentinel species’ to not only warn us of health risks, but also provide insight into how our health can benefit from new medical discoveries.”