Alexandria, Egypt, has stood for almost 2400 years. Today, though, parts of it are crumbling—one building at a time. As Earth’s climate changes, the Mediterranean Sea is rising, the coast is eroding, and saltwater is seeping into groundwater supplies. That weakens buildings, causing them to collapse. And according to a recent study, without action to protect the coastline, the problem will get worse in the years ahead.
Sometimes we consider a species rare because it truly is, whether because it’s endangered or simply because it naturally has sparse populations. But other times, a species may only appear rare because it lives in such remote locations that people haven’t managed to find it very often. That seems to be the case with the world’s largest amphipod, Alicella gigantea. Amphipods include more than 10,700 shrimp-like crustaceans found throughout the sea and other aquatic environments.
