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France Tightens Bird Flu Measures as Virus Spreads in Europe

Mulard ducks are pictured at a poultry farm in Montsoue, France, January 12, 2017, as France continues a massive cull of ducks in three regions most affected by a severe outbreak of bird flu. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
Mulard ducks are pictured at a poultry farm in Montsoue, France, January 12, 2017, as France continues a massive cull of ducks in three regions most affected by a severe outbreak of bird flu. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
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France Tightens Bird Flu Measures as Virus Spreads in Europe

Mulard ducks are pictured at a poultry farm in Montsoue, France, January 12, 2017, as France continues a massive cull of ducks in three regions most affected by a severe outbreak of bird flu. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
Mulard ducks are pictured at a poultry farm in Montsoue, France, January 12, 2017, as France continues a massive cull of ducks in three regions most affected by a severe outbreak of bird flu. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

The French government has put the entire country on high alert for bird flu as the virus spreads across Europe, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.

The move will extend a requirement to keep poultry flocks indoors, a measure already implemented in certain areas since September, Reuters reported.

"Since the beginning of August, 130 bird flu cases or clusters have been detected in wild animals or on farms in Europe," the ministry said in a statement, adding that three cases had been identified among backyard birds in northeast France.

"Reinforced prevention measures will therefore be implemented to protect poultry farms."

The requirement to keep flocks indoors will be adapted, however, to take into account production practices such as free-range farming, the ministry said.

Elsewhere in Europe, Dutch authorities last week ordered commercial farms to keep all flocks inside after bird flu was reported on a farm.

France's measures will not threaten the bird flu-free status the country secured in early September after a previous wave of bird flu, the ministry added.

France culled about 3 million birds last winter in its southwestern duck-breeding region as it grappled with the spread of the virus from wild birds to poultry flocks.

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Scientists: Melting Sea Ice in Antarctica Causes Ocean Storms

Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
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Scientists: Melting Sea Ice in Antarctica Causes Ocean Storms

Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP
Scientists know the damaging consequences of the loss of Antarctic sea ice. Juan BARRETO / AFP

The record-breaking retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2023 has led to more frequent storms over newly exposed parts of the Southern Ocean, according to a study published Wednesday.
Scientists know that the loss of Antarctic sea ice can diminish penguin numbers, cause ice shelves to melt in warmer waters, and impede the Southern Ocean from absorbing carbon dioxide, AFP reported.
But this new research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, explores another consequence: increased heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere, and an associated rise in storms.
Since 2016 there has been a large-scale reduction in Antarctic sea ice, but nothing like 2023 when a record amount failed to reform over the winter.
For this study, Simon Josey of the UK's National Oceanography Center and colleagues focused on three regions that experienced unusually high levels of sea-ice retreat that year.
Using satellite imagery, ocean and atmospheric data, and wind and temperature measurements, they found some newly ice-free areas experienced double the heat loss compared to a stabler period before 2015.
This was accompanied by "increases in atmospheric-storm frequency" over previously ice-covered regions, the authors found.
"In the sea-ice-decline regions, the June–July storm frequency has increased by up to 7days per month in 2023 relative to 1990–2015."
The loss of heat caused by reduced sea ice could have implications for how the ocean circulates and the wider climate system, the study added.
Oceans are a crucial climate regulator and carbon sink, storing more than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped near Earth's surface by greenhouse gas emissions.
In particular, sea-ice retreat could mean changes in how a deeper layer of cold, dense Antarctic bottom water absorbs and stores heat.
The authors said further in-depth analysis of possible climate impacts were needed, including if sea-ice retreat could have even further-reaching consequences.
"Repeated low ice-cover conditions in subsequent winters will strengthen these impacts and are also likely to lead to profound changes further afield, including the tropics and the Northern Hemisphere," it said.