Every living organism relies on a genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA, yet the amount of DNA - or genome size - varies dramatically across the tree of life.&nbsp;



In animals alone, genome sizes range from the minuscule genome of Intoshia variabili, a marine parasite - which is about 200 times smaller than the human genome - to the massive genome of the marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) - which is over 40 times larger than ours.&nbsp;



Plants exhibit a similar range, with the fork fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolata) setting the record with a genome size over 50 times larger than that of humans.



This diversity in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genome-mapping-completed-for-dozens-of-common-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">genome</a> size reveals the vast variety of life forms on Earth, but it also raises a fascinating question: If smaller genomes lead to faster, more efficient growth, why do some species have larger genomes?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advantages-of-smaller-genome-sizes">Advantages of smaller genome sizes</h2>



The replication of DNA is essential for cell production and growth, making smaller genomes more efficient as they require fewer resources and time to replicate.&nbsp;



Smaller genomes demand fewer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/excess-nutrients-are-creating-ocean-dead-zones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nutrients</a>, especially the DNA-building elements nitrogen and phosphorus, making them ideal for rapid growth and reproduction.



Because of these advantages, it’s not surprising that most species have evolved with relatively small genomes.&nbsp;



However, large genomes persist in some organisms, suggesting that these genomes may confer certain benefits in specific environments, where the costs of carrying extra DNA are outweighed by unique growth advantages.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exploring-large-genome-benefits-in-grasses">Exploring large genome benefits in grasses</h2>



A research team led by the <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Sheffield</a> has recently studied the potential benefits of large genomes in grass species. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fairy-circles-kill-all-newly-planted-grasses-deepening-their-mystery/">Grasses</a>, a vast plant family found worldwide from arctic tundras to tropical savannas, vary in genome size, making them an ideal group to examine how genome size affects growth in different conditions.



The study, published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20150" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New Phytologist</a>, examined the growth of various grass species under conditions mimicking their natural environments - high temperatures, low nutrients, and drought. 



The scientists compared growth rates to each species’ genome size and observed that while grasses with smaller genomes generally grew better across most conditions, larger genomes provided advantages in two specific scenarios.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-large-genomes-thrive-in-nutrient-rich-environments">Large genomes thrive in nutrient-rich environments</h2>



The first scenario where larger genomes proved beneficial was in nutrient-rich soils. While low nutrient levels slowed down large-genome grasses, those with large genomes thrived in high-nutrient environments.&nbsp;



Here, the extra DNA content meant larger cells that produced more biomass, such as leaves, which allowed these plants to outgrow and overshadow neighbors with smaller genomes.&nbsp;



In nutrient-poor areas, however, the demands of replicating additional DNA outweighed these benefits, making smaller genomes more favorable.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-growing-seasons-and-genome-sizes">Growing seasons and genome sizes</h2>



The second advantage for large-genome grasses occurred in cooler environments, such as temperate regions with lower growing season temperatures.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-plants-grow-more-branches-and-become-bushy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant growth</a> typically has two stages: cell division, where new cells are generated, and cell expansion, where cells swell with water to help the plant grow taller or spread. 



Cool temperatures significantly slow down cell division, but they have less impact on cell expansion.&nbsp;



Consequently, grasses with larger cells, which accompany large genomes, can expand more rapidly by cell enlargement even in cooler weather, outpacing smaller-genome plants that rely on faster cell division in warmer temperatures.



This cell expansion process explains the early spring growth of plants like daffodils and bluebells, which also have large genomes.&nbsp;



These plants perform much of their cell division in warmer months, allowing them to use cell expansion to grow quickly in early spring, well before smaller-genome plants begin to compete for light and nutrients.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genome-size-diversity">Genome size diversity</h2>



The diversity in genome sizes among grasses may be one reason for their global success, as it allows them to adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions.&nbsp;



While smaller genomes typically support efficient growth, larger genomes offer unique advantages in specific environments, enabling certain species to thrive where others cannot.&nbsp;



This genetic diversity in grasses underscores the importance of variation in supporting species’ survival and adaptability across ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genome-size-and-evolutionary-success">Genome size and evolutionary success</h2>



The relationship between genome size and survival is not limited to plants. Our own medium-sized genome has supported humanity’s adaptability, though we don’t face the same nutrient limitations as stationary plants.&nbsp;



Unlike grasses, humans can move to seek out food and resources, which may allow us to bear the metabolic costs associated with our DNA without significant limitation.&nbsp;



This mobility highlights how different species leverage their genetic make-up in conjunction with unique behaviors and environmental interactions to thrive across diverse habitats.



In summary, the role of genome size in evolutionary success is nuanced and complex.&nbsp;



From the efficient replication of small genomes to the adaptability enabled by larger ones, genome size continues to shape the ecological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asian-forests-proving-resilient-both-climate-change-human-actions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">resilience</a> and global distribution of life on Earth.



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How does genome size impact evolutionary success?

Every living organism relies on a genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA, yet the amount of DNA - or genome size - varies dramatically across the tree of life.&nbsp; In animals alone, genome sizes range from the minuscule genome of Intoshia variabili, a marine parasite - which is about 200 times smaller than the human genome - to the massive genome of the marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) - which is over 40 times larger than ours.&nbsp; Plants exhibit a similar range, with the fork fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolata)...

From <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-parks-trump-ghost-teddy-roosevelt/">slashing</a> national parks and monuments to doubting the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-trump-tweets/">facts</a> of climate change, President Donald Trump has been at odds with the science community ever since he took office.

Now, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/02/11/the-trump-administration-wants-to-turn-the-international-space-station-into-a-commercially-run-venture/?utm_term=.4c4e1eb3c9de">Washington Post</a> is reporting that the Trump administration aims to cut funding for the International Space Station (ISS) and privatize the orbiting laboratory.

According NASA documents obtained by Washington Post, federal funding for the ISS would end in 2024, and the government would then turn it over to the private sector. According to one document:

“The decision to end direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will be deorbited at that time — it is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform. NASA will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit.”

The plans to flip the International Space Station to the private sector will almost certainly be met with opposition from both sides of the aisle. While the science community will no doubt cite the priceless information collected by the ISS, conservative politicians have already referenced the significant cost already spent on the laboratory.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said the decision was made by “numbskulls” at the Office of Management and Budget.

“As a fiscal conservative, you know one of the dumbest things you can to is cancel programs after billions in investment when there is still serious usable life ahead,” Senator Cruz said.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Trump admin wants to privatize the International Space Station

From slashing national parks and monuments to doubting the facts...

The Trump administration plans to slash the Department of Energy’s renewable energy programs by 72 percent, according to a new report from the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-seeks-72-percent-cut-to-clean-energy-research-underscoring-administrations-preference-for-fossil-fuelsv/2018/01/31/c2c69350-05f3-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?utm_term=.93a53e7d7343">Washington Post</a>.

The administration’s new budget for the 2019 fiscal year is will be released next month, and further underscores their commitment to fossil fuels and blatant disregard for the effects of climate change.

Just last night, during his State of the Union address, Trump made mention of what he called “beautiful clean coal,” despite the dirty nature of the rock itself and the damage it causes to the environment. 

As we reported <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trump-confuses-climate-change/">last week</a>, during an interview with Piers Morgan, Trump confused climate change facts in an embarrassing commentary. “There is a cooling, and there’s a heating,” Trump said. “I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.”

Then there was his now-infamous tweet during a January cold spell:

“In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against,” <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/946531657229701120">Trump tweeted</a>. “Bundle up!”

Of course, by this point, few environmentalists are surprised by the president’s lack of information or concern for the health of the Earth. The good news is that Congress will likely revise the the proposed budget to offset some of the deep cuts to renewable energy research. 

In addition, new research has found that the power of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/divestment-fossil-fuels/">divestment</a> from fossil fuels could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the absence of governmental regulation.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-seeks-72-percent-cut-to-clean-energy-research-underscoring-administrations-preference-for-fossil-fuelsv/2018/01/31/c2c69350-05f3-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?utm_term=.93a53e7d7343">Washington Post</a>

Trump admin aims to cut clean energy research by 72 percent

The Trump administration plans to slash the Department of Energy’s...

In an interview with Piers Morgan for British television station <a href="https://www.itv.com/">ITV</a>, President Donald Trump once again reminds the world that he does not take climate change seriously. 

When asked about the existence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>, the President said: “There is a cooling, and there’s a heating. I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.”

President Trump, who often accuses the media of sharing fake news, does not seem to have his own facts straight on the subject of climate change, which is a regional or global change in climate patterns that is largely attributed to carbon dioxide emissions. 

While the President suggests that climate change and global warming are interchangeable terms, they are not. According to the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA), “global warming is one symptom of the much larger problem of human-caused climate change.”

Another reality that the President seems to be confused about is that Arctic sea ice reached record lows in 2016 and 2017. Trump said in the interview: “The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they’re setting records. They’re at a record level.”

Last month, the Trump administration removed climate change from the country's National Security Strategy (NSS), claiming that it does not pose a threat to the United States. Prior to this, President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord shocked leaders and activists across the globe.

President Trump told Piers Morgan that the Paris Agreement would have been a disaster for the United States. However, the President did admit that there could be a way back for the United States.

“I believe in clean air. I believe in crystal-clear, beautiful… I believe in just having good cleanliness in all. Now, with that being said, if somebody said go back into the Paris accord, it would have to be a completely different deal because we had a horrible deal,” said Trump.

President Trump: The Piers Morgan Interview was produced by ITV Studios Daytime and also by Morgan's company, Ferret Productions.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Trump confuses climate change facts in new interview

In an interview with Piers Morgan for British television station...

Scientists have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for what they believe are unlawful changes in the way the organization assembles its advisory boards. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> claims that the new legislation is not justified and also violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which protects the integrity of advisory committees.

Last October, EPA Administrator <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scott-pruitt-doubts-global-warming/">Scott Pruitt</a> announced that any scientist who received EPA grants for research funding would not be allowed to serve on any of the agency's 23 scientific advisory boards. Critics say that it is an arbitrary move, and that the agency is lacking in any real facts to support the enforcement of its new appointment system. 

Joshua Goldman is a senior policy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The EPA hasn’t bothered to make the case for why EPA grants create a conflict of interest,” Goldman said in a <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press-release/EPA-advisory-committee-lawsuit#.WmjfSoFOnqD">press release</a>. “Mr. Pruitt simply can’t justify this decision, especially when there are no such restrictions on scientists who get funding from the industries the EPA oversees.”

Goldman said that this is yet another example of the Trump administration's refusal to base its policies on impartial scientific evidence.

“This is an abuse of power and an affront to the scientific integrity of the EPA and the federal government,” said Goldman. “This directive singles out scientists from the nonprofit and academic sector - recognized experts in their field who want to serve the public - and asks them to choose between public service and their scientific work.”

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the United States District Court by <a href="https://protectdemocracy.org/">Protect Democracy</a>, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. The scientists are asking the court to repeal the EPA’s new regulation before it is implemented and disrupts the fair balance of the advisory committees.

“When we ban America’s top scientists from providing their expertise to the EPA, we all suffer,” said Goldman. “EPA advisory boards examine vital questions, like what makes for unsafe levels of pollution in the air and the amount of chemical exposure that constitutes a health risk. EPA rules need to be based on the best available science. This directive fundamentally undermines the EPA’s ability to carry out its mission of protecting all Americans.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists suing the EPA to protect integrity of advisory boards

Scientists have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency...

Two adorable monkeys have become the first ever primates cloned from transferred DNA and were born just six and eight weeks ago in China.

The monkeys were cloned by a research team from the Non-Human Primate Research Facility at the<a href="http://www.ion.ac.cn/"> Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience </a>in Shanghai, and their results were recently published in the journal Cell. 

It’s a revolutionary breakthrough that marks one of the most significant steps in cloning since <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/dolly-cloned-sheep-anniversary/">Dolly the Sheep</a>. 

The research team behind the successful cloning attempt hope their work will pave the way for customizable uniform lab monkeys that will help researchers study diseases. 

Critics of cloning are concerned that the new monkeys bring us closer to cloning humans, and the ethical ramifications of human cloning is a topic of much discourse.

However, besides a few unverified and retracted studies and hoaxes, there have been no successful human cloning attempts made. 

The monkeys, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, were cloned using a single cell nuclear transfer technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which was the same technique that was used for Dolly 20 years ago.

There are several cloning methods used today, but SCNT works by transferring the nucleus from a single cell to a donated egg cell that then develops into an embryo. 

Other methods use different techniques such as embryo splitting which is simpler, and in 1999, was used to clone a rhesus monkey successfully. But Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua are the first primates that were cloned with somatic cell transfer. 

The researchers used DNA extracted from fetal connective tissue, and once the DNA was transferred to the donated eggs, certain genes that would have hindered the embryo from developing were switched off with genetic reprogramming. 

The researchers are excited about the implications that Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua could have on disease research especially treating human genetic diseases. 

“You can produce cloned monkeys with the same genetic background except for the gene you manipulated,” said Dr. Qiang Sun, who led the research. “This will generate real models not just for genetically based brain diseases, but also cancer, immune or metabolic disorders and allow us to test the efficacy of the drugs for these conditions before clinical use.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Qiang Sun and Mu-ming Poo/Chinese Academy of Sciences

Two adorable monkeys successfully cloned in China

Two adorable monkeys have become the first ever primates cloned...

<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> scientists have ranked 2017 as the second hottest year on record. The experts explained that in 2016, which holds the record as the hottest year in history, an El Niño event pushed temperatures higher. In 2017, however, temperatures broke records without the help of an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/el-nino-ice-shelves/">El Niño</a>.

March of 2017 was particularly exceptional. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “This marked the first time the monthly temperature departure from average surpassed 1.8°F (1.0°C) in the absence of an El Niño episode in the tropical Pacific Ocean.”

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which includes both El Nino and La Niña, causes global changes in temperatures and rainfall levels. El Niño results in warmer sea surface and atmospheric temperatures, while La Niña events leave the ocean and air colder than usual.

Greenhouse gas emissions are also affecting temperatures, and global warming has raised temperatures an average of 1 degree Celsius since the late 19th century. Since 2001, the planet has experienced 17 out of the 18 hottest years since record-keeping began in 1880.

Gavin A. Schmidt is the director of <a href="https://www.giss.nasa.gov/">NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies</a>, which conducted the study.

“Individual ranking of years is not necessarily the most important thing,” Schmidt told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>. “What we’re seeing is an increasing string of years of temperatures more than 1 degree above the pre-industrial era. And we’re not going to go back.”

Scientists are linking an abnormally warm February, in particular, to climate change. And the experts are saying that Earth’s changing environment is also to blame for the extent of the damaging hurricanes and wildfires that struck the United States in 2017.

“Despite colder than average temperatures in any one part of the world, temperatures over the planet as a whole continue the rapid warming trend we’ve seen over the last 40 years,” said Schmidt.

More details on the study by NASA can be found on their Global Climate Change <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2671/long-term-warming-trend-continued-in-2017-nasa-noaa/">website</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/earth/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

2017 was the second hottest year on record

NASA scientists have ranked 2017 as the second hottest year...

One of the world's most active volcanoes is threatening to erupt in the Philippines on the island of Luzon. Mount Mayon began showing signs of awakening over the weekend, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has elevated the volcano alert to level 3. With lava spilling down the side of the mountain and thick clouds of ash shooting into the sky, the experts continue to monitor the strength and potential danger of the event. 

Chief volcanologist Renato Solidum described the current activity of Mount Mayon as a “non-explosive magmatic eruption.” Solidum explained that volcanic activity over the next few hours will determine whether the alert will be upgraded to a level 4, which would significantly expand the danger zone.

Solidum said that three steam-driven eruptions may have dislodged solidified lava, allowing <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/lava-flow-from-the-kilauea-volcano-in-hawaii/">lava</a> to start gushing out. He told the Associated Press, “Lava has flowed out of the volcano's crater already, but it's just starting. It's a non-explosive eruption. We have to verify tomorrow if it will flow continuously.”

PHIVOLCS warned on Sunday that the bright glow in the crater signifies the growth of a new lava dome, and that “the evacuation zone should be enforced due to the dangers of falling rocks, landslides or a collapse of the dome.”

Mount Mayon is located along the Ring of Fire, a volatile region of the Pacific Ocean basin which contains 75 percent of the world's volcanoes and has hosted over 80 percent of the worst earthquakes in history. 

Mayon has erupted 47 times over the last 500 years. According to PHIVOLCS, the next explosive eruption could occur “within weeks or even days.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Philippines volcano starts spewing lava, prompts evacuations

One of the world's most active volcanoes is threatening to...

The battle against climate change and the Trump administration have always been at odds. Since taking office just under one year ago, President Trump has quickly undermined, erased, and reversed as many climate change mitigation policies as possible.

Trump withdrew the United States from the landmark Paris Climate Accord, suggested that the solution to cold winter weather was a little bit of “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-trump-tweets/">good old global warming</a>,” and has publicly promised to revive the coal and fossil fuels industry.

But now, a new report conducted by the<a href="https://envirodatagov.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Part-3-Changing-the-Digital-Climate.pdf"> Environmental Data and Governance Initiative</a> (EDGI) details how many federal websites have removed any mentions of climate change and renewable energy throughout the first year of Trump’s presidency. 

The EDGI is a collaborative effort between academics and non-profits whose aim is to make government data openly available, and the agency monitors federal websites in order to record any changes made. 

The report, released this week, reveals a dramatic shift in how federal agencies discuss climate change, often removing the mention of greenhouse gas emissions and altering tone and verbiage across different web pages.

It’s something the EDGI calls “science cleansing,” and it’s a tactic that doesn’t fix the problems of global warming but, instead, just confuses the issue. 

“We have found substantial shifts in whether and how the topic of climate change and efforts to mitigate and adapt to its consequences are discussed across a range of federal agencies’ websites,” the report reads. 

Some of the key findings include the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency’s</a> removal and overhaul of its climate change websites, the subject of climate change being left out of issues on the White House website, and renewable energies being downplayed on many websites. 

The EDGI is committed to holding the Trump administration accountable and is working to make the public is aware of these changes in messaging regarding the urgent issue of climate change.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

All mention of climate change removed from federal websites

The battle against climate change and the Trump administration have...

As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ice-sheet-florida-coastline/">we’ve reported</a>, warming temperatures have caused extensive glacial melting, which has in turn caused sea levels to begin to rise. But as a glacier melts and fills with water, it becomes much heavier, which has had an unexpected consequence on the seafloor.

Now, a new study has found that melting ice sheets and glaciers are weighing down on the ocean floor and causing it to sink. As a result, the global sea level has risen even more than scientists had accounted for.

According to the report, ocean basins have sunk an average of .004 inches per year over the past 20 years, and so the ocean itself is .08 inches deeper. These tiny inches add up when applied to the massive size of the Earth’s oceans. 

Using a newly designed mathematical equation called the “elastic sea level equation,” researchers found that they have been underestimating sea level rise by as much as 8 percent.

The research was published online in the journal Geophysical Research Levels.

The scientists say that satellite assessments are no longer the best way to measure sea level changes. Instead, they say, the sinking seafloor needs to be accounted for "either based on modeled estimates of ocean mass change, as was done in this study, or using more direct observations.”

This is not the first time events triggered by climate change have altered the Earth’s crust. According to a report by the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-deformed-the-earths-crust-around-houston/538866/">Atlantic</a>, Hurricane Harvey dropped so much rain on Texas that the ground actually sunk .8 inches.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The weight of melting glaciers is causing the ocean floor to sink

As we’ve reported, warming temperatures have caused extensive glacial melting,...

Tens of millions of people have found themselves in the path of Winter Storm Grayson, one of the most powerful winter storms in the country's history. The blizzard dumped freezing rain, sleet, and snow in the Southeast on Wednesday before charging up the coast and becoming more destructive along its way.

Thousands of fights have been cancelled and over 75,000 people have lost power in 11 states. The Northeast is getting slammed with snow and winds are gusting up to as high as 76 miles per hour as the storm continues to strengthen off the coast.

The system blasted past Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina on Wednesday, leaving behind the first measurable snowfall that Tallahassee has seen in 28 years. Charleston received 3 hours of freezing rain followed by enough snow to nearly break a snowfall record from 1989.

When the storm arrived in New England on Thursday, near hurricane-force winds caused high-tide flooding in and around Boston. According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>, the tide gauge at Boston Harbor hit 15.1 feet, an impact that has not occurred in almost 40 years.

Overall, about 30 coastal communities in Massachusetts experienced coastal flooding, according to <a href="https://weather.com/">The Weather Channel</a>. Streets, cars, and homes were submerged in icy water, with reports of cars stranded and some even floating down the streets. 

The storm was upgraded to a bomb cyclone after the pressure dropped an astounding 53 millibars in 21 hours, according to the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a>. This designation is given to any storm that experiences a drop in pressure of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.

Currently, there are 55 million people under winter alerts. In the Northeast, hurricane force wind gusts are predicted this evening and major coastal flooding is possible.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Historic bomb cyclone winter storm charges up the east coast

Tens of millions of people have found themselves in the...

In response to recent cold weather, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-trump-tweets/">tweeted</a> that that we “could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming.”  There are many fallacies in that little tweet.  

First it’s implied that climate change could be a good thing for some.  In the long run, there will be evolutionary winners and losers but it’s unlikely that humans as a species will benefit.  The humans who will suffer the most from climate change are also likely to be the poorest people living in the poorest countries.  The rich of course will have the means to move or invest in personal infrastructures to allay the negative impacts of climate change.  Those living in rich countries can hope that their nations likewise will invest in infrastructures such as dams to protect their citizens.  That may seem a distant hope in face of the catastrophes hurricanes have caused in the US but compared to the horrors of poorer Haiti, we’ve done relatively well.  

Secondly and more to the point, the president is implying that climate change/global warming is a hoax because the weather is cold now.  This is obviously wrong.  There were many places during the last ice age that were untouched by glaciers but no one doubts it was colder on average than today.  There is a problem in understanding climate change stemming often from hype and hype on both sides of the debate.  

My partner Erin studied conservation biology at a rather good school in New York.  Erin told me recently about footage of a male polar bear eating a baby polar bear.  The photo was used as evidence for the bear’s hunger and it was implied, the bear was hungry due to climate change.  The problem as Erin’s professor pointed out is that male polar bears have eaten babies for a long time.  Male polar bears have exhibited infanticide behavior occasionally for as long as people have observed them.  There are also photos everywhere of bears on tiny pieces of ice or dying of starvation; the internet’s full of these images.  By itself, a picture of a starving polar bear means nothing.  The arctic is and has always been a hard place to live.  Hundreds of muskox have died in a single winter because ice covered vegetation and they couldn’t eat but this doesn’t suggest a global problem.  

I’m not saying climate change isn’t a real problem.  I’m suggesting the problem is incredibly complex and oversimplifying it risks alienating large amounts of people.  You shouldn’t expect one hot summer or one cold winter to indicate an overall trend.  The earth’s been around for 4.6 billion years or so, you shouldn’t expect weather in the short term to be very useful in predicting large changes.  A lot of the data climate scientists use is things like ice core drillings from Antarctica where atmospheric gases over centuries can be analyzed.  Things like long term pollen distribution can be useful as well or growth rings on redwoods.  These are things that have been correlated to current weather and levels of carbon in the atmosphere.  

Weather is the temperature, wind, precipitation, etc. in the short term.  Climate is the same thing in the longer term, influenced by atmosphere, the tilt and wobble of earth, ground cover, etc.  The claim of climate change is that the earth’s climate is gradually changing, long term averages not short term weather is shifting.  The second claim is that this shift is being caused or boosted by human activity.  Most scientists agree these two things are true.  There isn’t as much consensus as to exactly what this will mean.  It’s likely that the weather will be more erratic; more hurricanes are likely the new norm.  Places like Tucson where I’m currently living or California are likely to have more droughts.  This doesn’t mean every drought or forest fire is definitively caused by climate change.  

The climate feedback of the earth reacting to human actions is very complex but the data that we’re causing problems is sound.  We know with certainty that carbon in the atmosphere has been rising due largely to burning of fossil fuels but also other smaller scale burning.  Deforestation and destruction of marine environments also plays an impact.  With less organisms to uptake carbon more is in the air.  The rise of carbon is jagged, showing in the northern hemisphere less input in the summer when plants are using carbon.  The same pattern for different months is evident in the southern hemisphere as well.  

The important thing to consider when it comes to climate change is the scale.  We should think in terms of a geological time scale, not a normal short term scale of human history.  It will be the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren that stand to lose the most from ‘global warming’.        

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Donald and the difference between climate and weather

In response to recent cold weather, President Donald Trump tweeted...

In response to cold temperatures on the east coast, President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that the area could use some “global warming.”  

“In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against," <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/946531657229701120">Trump tweeted</a>. "Bundle up!"

Trump’s thoughts on global warming have always been clear, having called it an <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/408977616926830592?lang=en">“expensive hoax”</a> back in 2013. Earlier this year, he announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, calling it a bad deal for Americans.

The problem is that Trump, like many climate change deniers, is confused about the basic science, ignoring overall trends by just looking at daily weather reports.

Global warming refers instead to a general pattern of increasing ocean and global temperatures overall. According to the <a href="https://www.wmo.int/">World Meteorological Organization</a> (WMO), 2016 was in fact the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2016-hottest-year-record/">hottest year</a> on record.

And that is just one part of the equation, as climate change also includes drastic changes in weather (both hot and cold temperatures), increases in precipitation, and more active hurricane seasons. 

Climate change is wide-reaching, and a cold winter day does not simply disprove the extensive research backing its existence.

Arctic ice sheet melt, changes in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution levels and precipitation all point to how climate change is impacting the planet. 

President Trump’s opinions that climate change appear to be a costly gimmick, where the United States will lose money and his feelings that a brisk cold snap needs some “global warming,” are wholly off the mark. 

In fact, ignoring climate change actually costs taxpayers significantly more money in damages.

“The Government Accountability Office released a report in October that said the US government has spent more than $350 billion over the past decade in response to extreme weather and fire events and estimated that the US would incur far higher costs as the years progress if global emission rates don't go down,” Dan Merica of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a> reported. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

East Coast needs a little “global warming,” Trump tweets

In response to cold temperatures on the east coast, President...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...