The natural world in 2021

People are spending more time outdoors in 2021 because of Covid. One museum created a special art display by the river in London. People used an augmented reality app to view the art. The idea is part of a wider change. It could increase access to art.

Birbaum: "One of the ideas has been to democratise art, to, to, to, in a way, make art visible in places where normally it's not visible. You know, there are people who don't live in major capitals where there are big collections."

January in Madrid was colder than usual. Spain had its highest snowfall in 50 years, which stopped transport. People in the city were excited and filled the snowy streets. Some built snowmen and travelled on skis. It was a chance to forget the stress of the pandemic.

Covadonga Solares: "It's great! We're so excited and there's also such a good atmosphere. You see people having fun and I really - maybe I'm a bit too sensitive, I think it's moving, the mood is happy. It's nice, really."

A clean air project inBelgium has studied pollution. Local people collected information for scientists. They pushed special sensors around the city in a baby buggy. Baby Claire measures the air for harmful particles.

Bonaers: "I have a child myself and I worry that she has to grow up in a very polluted city."

The pandemic has limited travel. Hong Kong residents started visiting a local island. The cows on Grass Island used to eat beautiful green grass. Now the grass has all gone. The cows are eating plastic waste which was left by the visitors.

Ho Loy: "Many of the cow you can see that they have like a strange, swollen stomach, which mean they have a certain amount of plastic in their, in their digestion system already."

Baby birds in South Africa needed help. The baby cormorants were left by their parents because there wasn't enough food. An animal organisation is looking after the birds. If this happens in future years, cormorants could disappear.

Nicky Stander: "If they're not finding their fish in the wild, what's going to happen? They're going to either stop breeding or if they do breed, they're going to just abandon if they're not finding enough food."

Meet Baarack, a recent TikTok celebrity. The sheep was found in the Australian forest. He was taken to an animal charity, which cut off his thick coat. This had grown for 5 years without a cut. It weighed 35 kilogrammes. Now Baarack has a new home with other animals.

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