The famed Darwin's Arch in the Galapagos Islands has lost its top, and officials are blaming natural erosion of the stone.
Ecuador's Environment Ministry reported the collapse on its Facebook page on Monday.
The rock structure — 43 meters (141 feet) high, 70 meters (230 feet) long and 23 meters (75feet) wide — is less than 1 kilometer (about half a mile) from Darwin Island and it's a popular spot for scuba divers. It's not accessible by land.
“Obviously all the people from the Galapagos felt nostalgic because it’s something we’re familiar with since childhood, and to know that it has changed was a bit of a shock," said Washington Tapia, director of conservation at Galapagos Conservancy. "However, from a scientific point of view, it’s part of the natural process. The fall is surely due to exogenous processes such as weathering and erosion which are things that normally happen on our planet.”
The unique flora and fauna on remote islands, some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of mainland Ecuador are famed in part for inspiring Charles Darwin's thoughts on evolution.
The Energy Department is investing up to $1.2 billion in projects focusing on removing carbon dioxide from the air.
Russia successfully launched its first lunar space mission in nearly 50 years.
Maui residents who made desperate escapes from oncoming flames, some on foot, asked why Hawaii’s famous emergency warning system didn’t alert them as fires raced toward their homes.
Water infrastructure across the country is vulnerable as climate change makes storms more unpredictable and destructive, flooding low-lying drinking water treatment plants and overwhelming coastal sewage systems.
Russia is putting the final touches on the scheduled launch of its lunar rocket to the moon.
Virgin Galactic launched its first space tourism flight earlier Thursday.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
Health officials are urging people to get vaccinations for the flu, covid and RSV for the upcoming winter season.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
At least 36 people have died in the Lahaina fire in Hawaii, Maui County wrote in a statement posted to the county website Wednesday evening.
