News

NIWA scientists have made an important breakthrough in the battle to save New Zealand’s freshwater mussels.

A new hotspot emerged in the Rangitikei District in Manawatu-Wanganui during the past week. This is the only current hotspot in the North Island. There are currently no hotspots in the South Island.

The diary and hand-drawn maps of a nineteenth century geologist has enabled NIWA scientists to confirm the former site of the iconic Pink and White Terraces at Lake Rotomahana.

The driest soils across the North Island compared to normal for this time of the year are found in parts of Northland, Taupo, and Tararua District. A small hotspot is currently in place in northwestern Marlborough.

The driest soils across the North Island compared to normal for this time of the year are found in Whangarei and Kaipara districts, along with Taupo and Tararua. No hotspots are currently in place in the South Island.

NIWA climate scientists are calling for volunteers to unearth weather secrets from the past – including those recorded by members of Captain Robert Scott’s doomed trip to the South Pole in 1912.

Soils are drier than normal for the time of year in the majority of the North Island, excluding the eastern Gisborne region where the soil moisture is near average. Parts of Queenstown-Lakes District in Otago, the Grey and Buller Districts in the West Coast, northeastern Marlborough, and the Waimate District in southern Canterbury experience well below average rainfall for this time of year, while the rest of the South Island had near normal rainfall.

A chance find by a woman walking on a Northland beach is now helping scientists learn more about mako sharks.

There are no currently no hotspots, but an area to monitor is in the southern Hurunui District in northern Canterbury.