If you found the weather last month to be unusually mild, you were not alone in your observation. Climate scientists have warned that the globe is on track to overturn a big climate record due to the temperature of the second-hottest October ever recorded.



The excessive heat affected ecosystems, intensified weather events, and highlighted the urgency for climate action at international forums like COP29



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-october-tipping-the-temperature-scales">October tipping the temperature scales</h2>



The worldwide mean temperature for October was a toasty 59.58°F (15.32°C), as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).



This temperature puts October 2024 just a fraction cooler, at 0.09°F (0.05°C), than the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2024-is-likely-the-hottest-year-in-recorded-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">record-breaking</a> October of the previous year.



Shockingly, last month's temperature was an unsettling 2.38°F (1.32°C) above the 20th-century average of 57.2°F (14.0°C).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-driving-this-change">What's driving this change?</h2>



Taking a deep dive into the factors behind this temperature "anomaly," experts point towards human-caused greenhouse gas emissions as the prime suspect.



The UK Met office has voiced that British <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/september-2024-was-the-second-hottest-month-ever-recorded/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">temperatures</a> last month were notably above average, although this newly released data addresses the global average.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-headed-for-a-new-record">Headed for a new record</h2>



NOAA is predicting that 2024 will almost certainly become Earth's warmest year on record, surpassing the title currently held by 2023.



The U.S. agency leans on temperature sensors stationed around the world, fixed on floating buoys and satellites, to gather its data. <a href="https://www.noaa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NOAA'</a>s findings resonate with those published by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the EU's weather and climate program.



Although C3S's global average was slightly lower at 59.45°F (15.25°C), the agency has echoed the prediction that 2024 is on track to set a new record as the planet's hottest year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-temperature-highs-in-october">Temperature highs in October</h2>



NOAA recently announced that an astonishing 12% of the world's surface experienced a record-high temperature during October.



This widespread heat anomaly highlights the intensifying effects of global warming, exacerbated by El Niño and ongoing human-driven climate changes.



Global temperatures were mostly above average, barring a few regions like Greenland, parts of Africa and central Asia, and much of eastern Antarctica.



North America recorded its warmest October, while South America and Oceania claimed the second warmest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smallest-sea-ice-extent-on-record">Smallest sea ice extent on record</h2>



A troubling record set in October concerns the extent of sea ice (frozen seawater) covering the globe. Its disappearance is associated with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-records-shatter-2024-set-to-be-hottest-year-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">global warming</a> and could potentially threaten habitats for penguins, seals, and other Antarctic life.



A decrease in sea ice also boosts the rise in global sea levels, a growing worry for coastal cities prone to flooding.



October's global sea ice extent was the smallest in a 46-year record, coming in 1.25 million square miles below the average for the period from 1991 to 2020.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-natural-disasters-an-unintended-side-effect">Natural disasters: An unintended side effect?</h2>



NOAA connects rising October temperatures to severe weather events globally, exemplified by Hurricane Milton, which tragically took 35 lives across the US and Mexico. 



As the climate warms, air can hold more water vapor, leading to intensified rainfall during storms. This increased moisture results in more severe damage, affecting communities and infrastructure alike. 



The interplay between higher temperatures and extreme weather highlights the urgent need for climate action to mitigate these impacts. Understanding this relationship is crucial for preparedness and resilience in facing future natural disasters caused by climate change.



The Atlantic basin experienced five tropical cyclones throughout October, including Hurricane Milton, which peaked at Category 5 and made landfall just south of Tampa Bay.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-impacts-of-human-caused-climate-change">Impacts of human-caused climate change </h2>



In 2016, the Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries, pledging to keep global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scorching-summer-of-2024-could-make-it-the-hottest-year-on-record/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">temperature</a> increases below 1.5°C. The goal is to mitigate the impacts of human-caused climate change and prevent irreparable environmental damage.



However, C3S now forecasts that 2024 is almost certain to hit a fever pitch of 1.55°C above the pre-industrial average.



Given these reports, it's clear we are on a precipice. Are we doing enough? Are we too late? 



Mike Childs, head of science, policy, and research at Friends of the Earth, noted that "the time for world leaders to dither and delay is long gone."



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October 2024 recorded the second-highest global temperature ever

If you found the weather last month to be unusually mild, you were not alone in your observation. Climate scientists have warned that the globe is on track to overturn a big climate record due to the temperature of the second-hottest October ever recorded. The excessive heat affected ecosystems, intensified weather events, and highlighted the urgency for climate action at international forums like COP29 October tipping the temperature scales The worldwide mean temperature for October was a toasty 59.58°F (15.32°C), as reported by the National Oceanic and...

The American Midwest is an important summer breeding ground for eastern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monarch-butterflies-are-officially-listed-as-endangered/">monarch butterflies</a>, which – over the course of one year and four generations – migrate between central Mexico and parts of the United States and southern Canada. However, between 1996 and 2014, the eastern monarch population has declined by over 80 percent – with climate change considered the main culprit - leading the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN) to place these fascinating insects on its list of endangered species.&nbsp;



Now, by using extensive data sets and established climate models, a team of researchers from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> (MSU) has forecasted which counties in the midwestern U.S. and Ontario, Canada, are most likely to offer the best breeding grounds for monarchs.



“These projections let us look at how monarch populations will change across the Midwest and say, ‘Here’s where they’ll likely do a little better, here’s where they might do a little worse,’” said study lead author Erin Zylstra, a former postdoctoral fellow in Quantitative Ecology at MSU.&nbsp;



“Climate change is a huge global problem that requires nations working together to solve. When we talk about conservation, though, we tend to want to know what we can do in our local communities. If we can find the places where the impacts of climate change aren’t expected to be so bad, those could become the areas where we invest our resources.”



In their analysis, Dr. Zylstra and her colleagues took into consideration four climate change scenarios in order to forecast monarch population changes in counties throughout the summer breeding grounds, as well as on the overwintering grounds in Mexico. In each of the scenarios, the eastern monarch population is expected to decline, which is not surprising considering their current trajectory. However, identifying the local areas where populations are growing or at least remaining constant offers new hope that their decline could be slowed or even reversed.



“We’re answering scientific questions that we think are important, but we are also working with on-the-ground individuals and agencies that can use our work to implement strategic conservation,” said study senior author Elise Zipkin, an associate professor of Quantitative Ecology at MSU. “The Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center helps us get our research directly into the hands of those people who are thinking about next steps.”



“Monarchs are special. They’re beautiful, easy to identify, widely distributed and they get people to care about conservation in general. Absolutely, with action, we can protect our planet, we can protect other migratory species, we can protect pollinators and we can protect monarchs,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16349">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Scientists forecast the future of monarch butterflies

The American Midwest is an important summer breeding ground for...

The location of continental plates affects how the ocean moves oxygen around. Continental movement could have the opposite effect, choking out marine oxygen killing most deep ocean creatures. These are the findings of a new study on oceanic oxygen.



“Continental drift seems so slow, like nothing drastic could come from it, but when the ocean is primed, even a seemingly tiny event could trigger the widespread death of marine life,” said study co-author Andy Ridgwell, a geologist at <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snailfish-have-a-secret-weapon-to-survive-in-frozen-arctic-waters/">water</a> at the ocean’s surface becomes colder and denser as it approaches the north or south pole, and then it sinks. As the water sinks, it transports oxygen from Earth’s atmosphere down to the ocean floor.&nbsp;



Eventually, a return flow brings nutrients released from sunken organic matter back to the ocean’s surface, fuelling the growth of plankton. This function supports the incredible diversity of fish and other animals in today’s ocean.



For the study, the researchers investigated whether the location of continental plates affect how the ocean moves oxygen around. To their surprise, it does.&nbsp;



“Many millions of years ago, not so long after animal life in the ocean got started, the entire global ocean circulation seemed to periodically shut down,” said Ridgwell. “We were not expecting to find that the movement of continents could cause surface waters and oxygen to stop sinking, and possibly dramatically affecting the way life evolved on Earth.”



“Scientists previously assumed that changing oxygen levels in the ocean mostly reflected similar fluctuations in the atmosphere,” said study first author Alexandre Pohl.



The results show that collapse in global water circulation leads to a separation between oxygen levels in the upper and lower depths. For tens of millions of years, that separation caused the entire ocean seafloor to lose oxygen. This changed 440 million years ago at the start of the Silurian period.



“Circulation collapse would have been a death sentence for anything that could not swim closer to the surface and the life-giving oxygen still present in the atmosphere,” said Ridgwell. Creatures of the deep include bizarre-looking fish, giant worms and crustaceans, squid, sponges and more.



It is unknown whether the Earth could experience a similar event in the future. Existing climate models confirm that increasing global warming will weaken ocean circulation, and some models predict an eventual collapse of the branch of circulation that starts in the North Atlantic.“We’d need a higher resolution climate model to predict a mass extinction event,” said Ridgwell.&nbsp;



In theory, an unusually warm summer or the erosion of a cliff could trigger a cascade of processes that upends life as it appears today.&nbsp;



“You’d think the surface of the ocean, the bit you might surf or sail on, is where all the action is. But underneath, the ocean is tirelessly working away, providing vital oxygen to animals in the dark depths,” explained Ridgwell.&nbsp;



“The ocean allows life to flourish, but it can take that life away again. Nothing rules that out as continental plates continue to move.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05018-z">Nature</a>.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

"Sleeping giant" could choke out oxygen on the ocean floor

The location of continental plates affects how the ocean moves...

Great,White,Sharks,By,Watersurface,View,From,Bottom

By using sophisticated electronic tags, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has assembled a large biologging dataset to better understand how elasmobranchs – a group of marine animals including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-important-deserve-protections/">sharks</a>, rays, and skates – use the ocean depths.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that, while some species spend their entire lives in shallow waters close to the shores, others plunge hundreds of meters under water. Clarifying how elasmobranchs use the ocean will enable resource managers and policymakers to examine the threats these animals face, and devise better future management and conservation plans.



The researchers compiled two decades of satellite data and archival tags to track the movements of 38 species of elasmobranchs in oceans across the globe.&nbsp;



“For the first time, we have a standardized, global database that we used to fill important knowledge gaps about the diving behaviors of sharks and rays,” said study co-lead author Samantha Andrzejaczek, a postdoctoral fellow in Marine Biology at Stanford. “This will enable better understanding of what fisheries interact with elasmobranchs and how to improve management of many of these long-lived animals.”



According to the scientists, one of the most common movements among elasmobranchs appears to match up with the ocean’s diel (twice per day) vertical migration. At dawn, small fish and invertebrates begin migrating from the ocean’s surface to the safety of darker, deeper waters, where they are followed by their predators. At night, they swim back to the surface to feed.&nbsp;



“We think that sharks and rays in their diel migrations are following food resources up and down the water column,” reported Dr. Andrzejaczek. &nbsp;



About one-third of elasmobranch species frequently dive to deep water. For instance, white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) were found to dive deeper than 1,200 meters, while whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) have reached a staggering 1,896 meters-deep.&nbsp;



“Deep divers might be looking for food in deeper water or avoiding hunters themselves as potential prey,” said Dr. Andrzejaczek. “Some sharks and rays are small, and some of the biggest sharks and rays will feed on them. We found that 13 species had individuals that dive to more than 1,000 meters, which is extremely deep.”&nbsp;Some of these animals may dive into the depths not only in search of prey, but also to cool down after spending too much time in the warm surface waters.



The scientists also identified overlaps among species in the same vertical spaces, mainly driven by predator-prey dynamics. For example, the oceanic manta ray and whale shark both feed on plankton, and the tiger shark is known to predate on both of these species.



These findings could help elasmobranch conservation efforts by identifying areas where they might be at risk of bycatch or other hazards.&nbsp;



“Human beings are unaccustomed to thinking of habitat in the vertical dimension. We hope this study can make people realize that we need management strategies that incorporate this overlooked dimension of elasmobranch behavior. For example, we could use these data to better understand how sharks and human fisheries interact,” Dr. Andrzejaczek concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo1754">Science Advances</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Scientists reveal how sharks use the oceans

By using sophisticated electronic tags, a team of researchers led...

The largest mass extinction in Earth's history marked the end of the Permian period, some 252 million years ago. Over 80 percent of all species around at the time disappeared forever from the fossil record. This changed the nature of life on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-fruit-eating-animal-in-earths-history-identified/">Earth</a> and ushered in a new era in which the reptiles evolved and proliferated. In the past, biologists have understood that this rapid radiation of reptiles was driven by the plethora of ecological niches made available by the extinction of Permian species, but new research has now proposed that climate change was also a significant factor behind the spectacular evolution and expansion of reptiles at this time.&nbsp;



“We found that these periods of rapid evolution of reptiles were intimately connected to increasing temperatures. Some groups changed really fast and some less fast, but nearly all reptiles were evolving much faster than they ever had before,” said lead author Tiago R Simões, postdoctoral fellow at the Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a>.



For the investigation, Simões and senior author Professor Stephanie E. Pierce (also from Harvard) worked alongside collaborators Professor Michael Caldwell (University of Alberta, Canada) and Dr. Christian Kammerer (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences) to examine early amniotes. These animals represent the forerunners of all modern mammals, reptiles, birds, and their closest extinct relatives, at the initial phase of their evolution. At this point in time, the first groups of reptiles and mammal ancestors were splitting from each other and evolving along their own separate evolutionary paths.



“Reptiles represent an ideal and rare terrestrial system to study this question as they have a relatively good fossil record and survived a series of climatic crises including the ones leading up to the largest extinction in the history of complex life, the Permian-Triassic mass extinction,” said Simões.



During the Permian period, it was the synapsids that dominated the vertebrate fauna. These were not reptiles, but the ancestors of mammals, known as stem mammals or proto-mammals. Most of them perished during the end Permian extinction, their ecological niches being taken over by reptiles, including numerous dinosaur species, that evolved and radiated rapidly during the Triassic Period (252-200 million years ago).



The new study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>, makes use of morphological data from more than 1,000 fossil specimens from 125 species of reptiles, synapsids, and their closest relatives during approximately 140 million years before and after the Permian-Triassic extinction. This data set is 40 percent larger than the previous largest data set and most of the measurements were made by direct observations and micro-CT scans.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed this data to identify when these fossil species first originated and how fast they were evolving, using state-of-the-art analytical techniques such as Bayesian evolutionary analysis, which is also used to understand the evolution of viruses such as SARS-COVID 19. They then combined the morphological data with information on body size and with global temperature data that spanned millions of years in the geological record, to provide a broad overview of the animals’ major adaptive responses towards climatic shifts.



The experts found that the appearance of new species, increases in the rates of morphological change and alterations in geographical distributions corresponded to periods of rapidly changing climatic conditions, including global warming and cooling,



“Our results reveal that periods of fast climatic shifts and global warming are associated with exceptionally high rates of anatomical change in most groups of reptiles as they adapted to new environmental conditions, and this process started long before the Permian-Triassic extinction, since at least 270 million years ago, indicating that the diversification of reptile body plans was not triggered by the P-T extinction event as previously thought, but in fact started tens of million years before that," said Professor Pierce.



“One reptile lineage, the lepidosaurs, which gave rise to the first lizards and tuataras, veered in the opposite direction of most reptile groups and underwent a phase of very slow rates of change to their overall anatomy,” said Simões, “essentially, their body plans were constrained by natural selection, instead of going rogue and radically changing like most other reptiles at the time.” The researchers suggest this is due to pre-adaptations on their body size to cope better with high temperatures.



“The physiology of organisms is really dependent on their body size. Small-bodied reptiles can better exchange heat with their surrounding environment. The first lizards and tuataras were much smaller than other groups of reptiles, not that different from their modern relatives, and so they were better adapted to cope with drastic temperature changes. The much larger ancestors of crocodiles, turtles, and dinosaurs could not lose heat as easily and had to quickly change their bodies in order to adapt to the new environmental conditions.”



According to Professor Pierce, large-sized reptiles basically took two routes to deal with these climate shifts - they either migrated closer to temperate regions or invaded the aquatic world where they didn’t need to worry about overheating because water can absorb heat and maintain its temperature much better than air.



“This strong association between rising temperatures in the geological past and a biological response by dramatically different groups of reptiles suggests climate change was a key factor in explaining the origin and the explosion of new reptile body plans during the latest Permian and Triassic,” said Simões.



“We show that the origin and phenotypic radiation of reptiles was not solely driven by ecological opportunity following the end-Permian extinction, as previously thought, but was also the result of multiple adaptive responses to climatic shifts spanning 57 million years," concluded the study authors.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Past climate change drove the rapid evolution of reptiles

The largest mass extinction in Earth's history marked the end...

Small mammals will have a hard time surviving the stressors associated with climate change, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.sdu.dk/en">University of Southern Denmark</a>. The experts found that large, long-lived animals are better able to cope with extreme weather such as prolonged <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-is-experiencing-its-worst-drought-in-500-years/">drought</a> and heavy rainfall.



The researchers analyzed historical population fluctuations among 157 mammal species from around the world. These fluctuations were compared with weather and climate data from the same time period.&nbsp;



The results are providing new insight into how animals respond to extreme weather. In particular, the experts have identified which animal populations will be the hardest hit by climate change.



"We can see a clear pattern: Animals that live a long time and have few offspring are less vulnerable when extreme weather hits than animals that live for a short time and have many offspring," said study co-author Professor Owen Jones.



Large animals that live longer can cope better with an extreme event such as a persistent drought because these animals have the option to wait until conditions improve to reproduce. The same weather event would affect small mammals differently, as food sources like insects, flowers, and fruits would disappear quickly.&nbsp;



On the other hand, populations of small mammals may also take advantage when weather conditions improve by producing many offspring.



"These small mammals react quickly to extreme weather, and it goes both ways. Their vulnerability to extreme weather should therefore not be equated with a risk of extinction," said study co-author John Jackson.&nbsp;



Some of the animals that will be the most affected by climate change include: Azara's grass mouse, olive grass mouse, elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum, Canadian lemming, Tundra vole, Arctic fox, and the common shrew.



Meanwhile, larger-bodied animals such as African elephants, Siberian tigers, chimpanzees, greater horseshoe bats, llamas, and grizzly bears will be less impacted by extreme weather conditions.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, the results of the study may help experts make predictions about animals they do not know much about.&nbsp;



"We expect climate change to bring more extreme weather in the future. Animals will need to cope with this extreme weather as they always have. So, our analysis helps predict how different animal species might respond to future climate change based on their general characteristics – even if we have limited data on their populations," said Professor Jones.



Jackson emphasized that the ability of an animal species to withstand climate change is not the only factor to consider when assessing the species’ vulnerability to extinction:



"Habitat destruction, poaching, pollution and invasive species are factors that threaten many animal species - in many cases even more than climate change," said Jackson.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.



---



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

Which animals are most affected by extreme weather?

Small mammals will have a hard time surviving the stressors...

Plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis to produce food for themselves, and the availability of this gas can be a limiting factor for their growth. The current rise in levels of CO2 due to burning fossil fuels and other human activities might therefore be seen as a good thing for plant growth, and for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-quality-can-help-crops-survive-rising-temperatures/">crop</a> yields in particular. However, research from a team of scientists from six different countries indicates that the effects of global warming may not be as straightforward as this. For one, wheat plants don’t tolerate high temperatures very well.



The researchers estimated the comprehensive impact of climate change and extreme climate events on global wheat supply and the demand chain in a 2℃&nbsp;warmer world by using a novel climate-wheat-economic ensemble modelling approach, where they consider the impact of increasing temperatures on wheat price, livelihoods and agricultural markets.&nbsp;



The experts agree that CO2&nbsp;enrichment in the atmosphere could cancel out the effects of temperature stress on crops, and that a slightly higher wheat yield could result under a 2 ℃&nbsp;warming scenario. However, increases in global yield do not necessarily result in lower consumer prices. Indeed, the modelling results suggest that global wheat price spikes would become higher and more frequent, thus placing additional economic pressure on millions of people around the world.&nbsp;



“This counterintuitive result is initially driven by uneven impacts geographically. Wheat yields are projected to increase in high-latitude wheat exporting countries but show decreases in low-latitude wheat importing countries,”&nbsp;said lead author Zhang Tianyi, an agrometeorologist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>.



“This leads to higher demand for international trade and higher consumer prices in the importing countries, which would deepen the traditional trade patterns between wheat importing and exporting countries," explained study co-author Karin van der Wiel, a climate scientist at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute,



It is possible that trade liberalization, the removal of restrictions on the exchange of goods between countries, could help to mitigate climate stress via improving market mobility. The current research team revealed that such policies could indeed reduce the costs of wheat products to consumers, but the impact on farmers would be mixed. For example, the promotion of free trade in wheat under 2 ℃&nbsp;warming could stabilize or even improve farmers’&nbsp;income in wheat exporting countries but would reduce income for farmers in wheat importing countries.



“These results would potentially cause a larger income gap, creating a new economic inequality between wheat importing and exporting countries,”&nbsp;said WEI Taoyuan, co-author and an economic scientist at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research. Zhang further explained that more dependence on imports could lower the wheat self-sufficiency ratio, thus causing a “vicious negative cycle”&nbsp;for wheat importing and less-developed countries in the long term.



“This study highlights that effective measures in trade liberalization policies are necessary to protect grain food industries in importing countries, support resilience, and enhance global food security under climate change,”&nbsp;said study co-author Frank Selten, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.oneearth.org/">One Earth</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wheat prices will spike as climate changes

Plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis to produce food...

A humble shrimp is raising an alarm about climate change. A study published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.960881/full?&amp;utm_source=Email_to_authors_&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&amp;utm_campaign=Email_publication&amp;field=&amp;journalName=Frontiers_in_Marine_Science&amp;id=960881">Frontiers in Marine Science</a> has verified <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/warming-oceans-are-getting-louder/">previous observations</a> that two species of snapping shrimp snap louder and more frequently in warmer water.&nbsp;



Scientists from <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> (WHOI), Ashlee Lillis and T. Aran Mooney, were able to draw a clear connection between warming and snapping by analyzing shrimp off the coast of North Carolina.&nbsp;



The researchers observed that for every one degree (C) increase in water temperature, the shrimp snapped one to two decibels higher and increased in frequency by 15 to 60 percent. The researchers also discovered that the frequency of snaps more than doubled when the water was between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.



This behavior change is important because these tiny shrimp have a tremendous influence on the environment. Whales and dolphins use their sounds to navigate coastal areas, and the snapping attracts fish, shellfish, and coral larvae to good settling areas.



"These shrimp are the most ubiquitous sound producer in the ocean, and now we have evidence that temperature has a huge impact on their behavior and the overall soundscape," said Lillis, principal scientist at Sound Ocean Science. "That's relevant to everything from migrating whales to larvae trying to use the soundscape, or humans who use the sea for extractive or military purposes."



Mooney points out that although it's crucial for functioning ocean systems, crustacean behavior - as it affects the larger ecosystem - is often ignored when considering the consequences of climate change.&nbsp;



The research was conducted during a short-term heatwave, and the study authors stress that there are still many unanswered questions.&nbsp;



"Climate change is impacting the marine soundscape in fundamental ways," Mooney said. "Warming waters can influence how animals are physically able to communicate and use sound to reproduce and attract mates. We don't yet know what happens to the ecosystem when background noise levels are higher, but there are far-reaching implications."



---



By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Snapping shrimp are getting louder as the ocean warms

A humble shrimp is raising an alarm about climate change....

Top,View,Aged,Woman,Lying,On,Bed,Woke,Up,At

According to new research led by the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a> (UCLA), global warming is reducing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/poor-sleep-quality-is-associated-with-mental-illness/">sleep quality</a> – a feature that makes it harder for the body to fend off infections or to produce sufficient quantities of antibodies after vaccinations. These findings regarding the deep connection between high temperatures, poor sleep, and reduced immune responses could contribute to our understanding and fight against current health hazards such as Covid-19, the recent monkeypox outbreak, or the resurgence of polio in places such as London or New York.



“No one has previously put together this notion that the ongoing climate crisis is contributing to sleep disturbance and that it’s possibly contributing to the altered risk of infectious disease we’re seeing,”&nbsp;said study author Michael Irwin, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCLA.



According to Professor Irwin, there is a strong correlation between sleep and thermoregulation. Experimental studies have provided evidence that reducing air temperature improve sleep quality by maintaining a normal body temperature without expanding excess energy, while increases in air temperature result in increased wakefulness.&nbsp;



High-quality sleep helps prepare the body’s responses to possible injuries or infections which may occur the following day, while disrupted sleep contributes to increases in inflammation and dampens the body’s ability to fend off infections. In addition, sleep duration is also strongly associated with infectious disease risks. Longer sleep duration decreases viral or bacterial load, and improves survival rates in a variety of infectious disease models.



Moreover, previous studies have shown that poor sleep could also result in decreased responses to vaccination. For instance, people who had four consecutive nights of low-quality sleep before receiving a trivalent influenza vaccine had a 50 percent reduction in antibody levels. Finally, recent studies on Covid-19 outcomes have found that significant sleep disturbances are associated with an over two-fold increase in the mortality risks for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. 



Future research is needed to evaluate how altering ambient temperatures affects sleep and, consequently, immune responses. Moreover, studies assessing how rising temperatures may be affecting diverse and disadvantaged communities – such as low-income people without access to air conditioning – should be urgently conducted.



“Just like the pandemic is impacting socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic groups disproportionately with more morbid outcomes, it might be that the increases in ambient temperature we’re seeing are further exaggerating those risk profiles,” Professor Irwin concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2022.2109932">Temperature</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Global warming reduces sleep quality, elevates disease risk

According to new research led by the University of California,...

A new climate modelling study led by the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> has found that climate change and extreme weather events will significantly impact <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forced-labor-is-a-big-part-of-the-food-supply-chain/">food supply chains</a> across different sectors and regions in Australia, which will likely cause cascading repercussions on income, food, and nutrient availability.&nbsp;



According to the experts, while more affluent communities would be better safeguarded against such supply shocks, rural communities would be the most severely affected. Moreover, climatic events such as floods, cyclones, bushfires, or heatwaves could affect surrounding areas by limiting food availability and employment, with effects felt in distant regions too, due to the complex interconnectivity of modern supply chains.



“Climate change can directly impact our economy, livelihoods, and health. Disruptions caused by extreme weather events can cascade across regions and sectors, resulting in job and income losses and impacts on food availability,” said study lead author Arunima Malik, a senior lecturer in Sustainability at the University of Sydney. “Our study has sought to model the indirect supply-chain repercussions of these events to bolster our understanding of interconnected supply chain networks and to promote climate preparedness.”



Previous studies have found that localized disasters – such as a cyclone in Queensland – can impact all the other Australian states, resulting in significant losses across primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.&nbsp;



“What plays out globally seems to play out locally as well. Everyone is affected by climate change, even if they’re not in areas directly hit by extreme weather, and the vulnerable are affected most,” explained study co-author Manfred Lenzen, a professor of Sustainability Research at the University of Sydney.



Such impacts could lead to localized food price increases and diminished food quality, with poor people faring worse than their more affluent counterparts.&nbsp;



“Disruptions to food supply can negatively impact diet quality, through reducing the variety that contributes to a balanced diet, diverting diets to unhealthy processed foods that have a longer shelf life. This disproportionately impacts vulnerable groups, who do not have the means to pay escalating prices for scarce fresh foods,” said study co-author David Raubenheimer, a professor of Nutritional Ecology at the same university.



Impacts on food production would most likely affect employment and cause income losses too, not only in the supply food chains, but also in the transportation and service sectors.&nbsp;



“The cascading effects, generated by continuing climate variability and more frequent extreme weather events, not only disrupt supply chains, but may also trigger zoonotic diseases, foodborne epidemics, and broad socio-demographic stresses, including inter-regional migration and social unrest. It’s vital that we understand these impacts so we can build a more resilient society,” Dr. Malik concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00570-3">Nature Foods</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Climate-related disasters will disrupt food supply chains

A new climate modelling study led by the University of...

Disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts, are set to increase in frequency in future as the world’s climate changes. Such events are devastating to the communities they strike, bringing both financial and health-related impacts that can have long-term consequences for people. Today, most U.S. jurisdictions have a local emergency management team to develop suitable responses to natural disasters, which may include evacuation, shelters, financial and food aid and relocation efforts for affected individuals and their families.&nbsp;



Strikingly, however, very few of these response plans take into account the needs of companion animals, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-may-not-understand-humans-generosity/">dogs</a> and cats that are also victims of environmental disasters. Most households in the U.S. own pets in the form of dogs or cats and yet very little accommodation is made for the needs of these animals in the event of disasters. Although animal shelters and rescues are involved in disaster preparedness in most counties, and provide harm-reduction services such as microchipping and vaccine clinics, there is still a disconnect between animal and human disaster planning.



Janice Baldwin Rowitt and Heidi Brown are experts in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>. The researchers investigated changes in cat and dog populations at U.S. animal care facilities during and after disaster events between 2013 and 2018. They limited their analysis to the effects of fires and hurricanes during those years, and considered the numbers of dogs and cats present at facilities at the end of the month in which the disaster occurred, as well as at the end of the month following the disaster and also at the end of the month a year after the disaster took place.&nbsp;



Data for the study was obtained from the Shelter Animals Count (SAC), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which documents 272 fires, and 72 hurricanes between 2013 and 2018. The final, combined data set included 83,910 observations for dogs and 70, 538 observations for cats. In addition to data on shelter occupancy at rescue facilities, the researchers also considered the numbers of animals euthanized at these facilities after environmental disasters.&nbsp;



The results of the analysis, published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000066">PLOS Climate</a>, show that the demand for shelter services varied depending on the type of disaster event (fire or hurricane) and on the species of pet.&nbsp;



“We found significant changes in the demand for animal care services in both the immediate and long-term aftermath of the disaster events we evaluated. These changes vary based across cats and dogs, hurricanes and fires, and the type of animal care facility," said the study authors.



In the case of dogs, there was an increased demand for housing within animal care facilities in the time periods following hurricanes, even after a year had elapsed since the disaster. However, this was not the case after fires, indicating that fires and hurricanes may affect dog interaction with animal care facilities differently. The experts hypothesize that the increase in dog intakes observed in the month and year following a hurricane may be due to the large influx of stray animals that typically occurs after the disaster, as residents move away from the area. The analysis did not indicate that fires and hurricanes result in more dogs having to be euthanized.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Cats appear to need housing in animal shelters particularly in the month of a disaster event. More animal shelter organizations reported higher numbers of cats the month of a fire compared with the month after. More organizations also reported higher cat euthanasia rates the month and year after a fire, though this action is only taken as a last resort, if facilities feel that no owner is searching for the pet. Cats may become burned or injured during a fire and this may lead to the increased need for euthanasia.



According to the researchers, the “findings suggest companion animals and the facilities that house them are greatly affected by the impacts of climate change, as evidenced by the shifts in demand on animal housing and euthanasia in the periods following a disaster.”



In response to these demands, Rowitt and Brown emphasize that the needs of companion animals should be fully integrated into human disaster management plans. The most effective way for this to happen is via collaboration between local governments, emergency management, animal shelter and rescue organizations, veterinarians, and pet owners themselves, say the researchers. Integrating animal welfare into human disaster planning is important as it has been shown that pet owners are likely to be more resistant to evacuation because of the stress of leaving their animals behind.&nbsp;



For many survivors of disasters, the presence of a beloved pet is integral to their emotional and psychological recovery, making integrated planning for animal and human victims even more important. One survey found that over 63 percent of respondents considered their pet to be an important coping mechanism during stressful situations, so losing a companion animal during a disaster event could lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety.



Although the current study indicates the need for increased housing for dogs in the time period after hurricanes, further research may show that different disaster events have different effects on populations of companion animals. The researchers suggest applying a One Health approach to disaster management strategies, whereby the welfare of companion animals is considered alongside the welfare of humans as we prepare to face the consequences of climate change.



"Given the importance of integrating human and animal disaster plans, combined with the fact that communities are currently experiencing adverse consequences associated with climate change, including extreme temperatures, more frequent and severe storms, drought, and rising sea levels, an organized," wrote the study authors. "One Health disaster response that addresses human and animal needs is essential for the continued welfare of companion animals and their owners.”&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pets are unrecognized victims of climate-related disasters

Disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts, are set...

In recent years, bumblebees and other important insect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orchids-evolved-fringed-petals-to-support-pollinators/">pollinators</a> have faced significant population declines. By analyzing a wide range of museum collections, two new studies led by the <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> have examined how climate change has affected bumblebees over more than a century.&nbsp;



An analysis of bumblebee wings showed signs of stress associated with increasingly hotter and wetter conditions, while a genomic sequencing study of over one hundred bumblebee museum specimens dating back more than 130 years ago has highlighted how environmental stress may lead to genetic diversity loss in these insects.



The first study – published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13788">Journal of Animal Ecology</a> – has investigated the morphology of bee specimens dating back to 1900. By using digital image, the experts examined the asymmetry in bumblebee wings as an indicator of climatic stress which affected their normal growth. An analysis of four UK bumblebee species has revealed increased markers of stress (higher wing asymmetry) as the 20th century progressed from its lowest point around 1925.&nbsp;



Further investigations showed that all the species displayed a consistently higher proxy of stress in the second half of the century. Moreover, the researchers found that, in hotter and wetter years, bees showed higher wing asymmetry.



“With hotter and wetter conditions predicted to place bumblebees under higher stress, the fact that these conditions will become more frequent under climate change means bumblebees may be in for a rough time over the 21st&nbsp;century,” said study senior author Richard Gill, an expert in the impact of environmental stress on insect populations at the Imperial College London.



In a second parallel study, published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13945">Methods in Ecology and Evolution</a>, scientists sequenced the genomes of over a hundred bumblebee museum specimens, and found evidence of a relatively consistent rate of DNA degradation – a feature confirming the major role of environmental stress in the loss of bumblebees’ genetic diversity over the past 130 years.



&nbsp;“These studies showcase the value of leveraging museums specimens to go back in time and unlock the past’s secrets. But what we have done is just the beginning, and by continuing our work with these vital public collections and collaborating with curators we can only discover more,” Dr. Gill concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bumblebees increasingly stressed over the past century

In recent years, bumblebees and other important insect pollinators have...

A massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-is-experiencing-its-worst-drought-in-500-years/">drought</a> in the American Southwest is currently drying up the Colorado River and draining the country’s largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. On Tuesday, August 18, 2022, the federal government announced that the Colorado River will start operating in a Tier 2 shortage condition for the first time in history starting in January 2023, as this unprecedented drought has taken a severe toll on Lake Mead. This means that Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will need to significantly reduce their use of water from the Colorado River at the beginning of next year.



According to experts from the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/">U.S. Department of the Interior</a>, in January 2023, Lake Mead’s water level will decrease to 1,050 feet above sea level, which is the required threshold for declaring a Tier 2 shortage. Of the targeted states, Arizona will need to face the largest water cuts – 592,000 acre-feet, or 21 percent of the state’s annual allotment of river water.



“Every sector in every state has a responsibility to ensure that water is used with maximum efficiency,” said Tanya Trujillo, the Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary for water and science. “In order to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the Colorado River System and a future of uncertainty and conflict, water use in the Basin must be reduced.”&nbsp;



Last year, the Department declared a first, Tier 1 shortage on the Colorado River. However, due to extremely low levels of precipitation this year, the situation has further deteriorated.&nbsp;



“We thought we were good, but the last few years have been so dry that we realized those tier reductions weren’t enough and aren’t enough,” explained Bill Hasencamp, the Colorado River resource manager at the <a href="https://www.mwdh2o.com/">Metropolitan Water District of Southern California</a>. “So the two things we’re focused on is how do we get through the next three years without the system crashing, and then how do we develop a long term plan to sustain the Colorado River.”



Since negotiations between the affected states are already starting to heat up, experts are asking strong federal government interventions that could be acted on immediately.&nbsp;



“We kind of need the federal government to make some threats to spur action,” said John Fleck, an expert in Water Resources at the University of New Mexico. “Progress seems to happen when the federal government comes in and says to states, you need to do this or we’re going to do something you don’t like,” he concluded.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Water cuts ahead for Arizona and Nevada as Colorado River shrinks

A massive drought in the American Southwest is currently drying...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



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.

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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 how Earth is unique in our solar system for its ability to sustain liquid water on its surface. But now, the water cycle is shifting as the climate warms, and scientists must find ways to predict how these changes will affect water availability.



Overall, 96 percent of Earth's water is saltwater, and nearly all of freshwater is found in ice and groundwater. These sources of water are linked as it passes through solid, liquid and gas phases.



In a warmer climate, the water cycle will be transformed. It will be easier for water to evaporate and form clouds, and storms will become more frequent and intense. Some regions will get too much water, while others will be left without enough water. In addition, soil moisture will be lost - which threatens food security.



Scientists are using satellite data from over the last 40 years to track changes that are happening in the water cycle. This will ultimately help us prepare for extreme events and better manage our water resources, according to ESA.



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.

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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Saturn,-,High,Resolution,3d,Images,Presents,Planets,Of,The

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> features images of Saturn from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The photographs capture the start of the mysterious "spoke season" on Saturn - when unexplained features appear on its rings. 



According to NASA, both the cause of the spokes and their seasonal variability have yet to be fully explained by planetary scientists.



"Like Earth, Saturn is tilted on its axis and therefore has four seasons, though because of Saturn's much larger orbit, each season lasts approximately seven Earth years. Equinox occurs when the rings are tilted edge-on to the Sun," explains NASA.



"The spokes disappear when it is near summer or winter solstice on Saturn. (When the Sun appears to reach either its highest or lowest latitude in the northern or southern hemisphere of a planet.) As the autumnal equinox of Saturn's northern hemisphere on May 6, 2025, draws near, the spokes are expected to become increasingly prominent and observable."



Experts believe that the spokes may be a product of the planet's variable magnetic field. When magnetic fields interact with solar wind, an electrically charged environment is created. This phenomenon is visible on Earth as the northern lights.&nbsp;



"Scientists think that the smallest, dust-sized icy ring particles can become charged as well, which temporarily levitates those particles above the rest of the larger icy particles and boulders in the rings," says NASA.



The spokes were first observed in the early 1980s by NASA's Voyager mission. Depending on the angle of the rings, the spokes can appear dark or light.



"Thanks to Hubble's OPAL program, which is building an archive of data on the outer solar system planets, we will have longer dedicated time to study Saturn’s spokes this season than ever before," said NASA senior planetary scientist Amy Simon, head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program.



"Despite years of excellent observations by the Cassini mission, the precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season."



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.

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

[sendtonews key="Ccjk8KEMzv-2550719-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

Closeup,Of,Fresh,Green,The,Napier,Bush,Grass,As,Animal

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/">NTU Singapore</a> reveals that some plants can remove toxic heavy metals from soil.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed samples of various tropical plant species to test for levels of heavy metals and metalloids. The study showed that there are existing plants with high levels of these contaminants, which means that these species are great candidates for drawing pollutants out of the soil.&nbsp;



Among the plants examined in the study, 12 species had accumulated several types of heavy metals and metalloids. These plants are widely available, including species that are native to Singapore.



“In a small nation like Singapore, land may be repurposed to support new development plans, so it is important that we have a green and sustainable way to remediate land that is contaminated," said Professor Lam Yeng Ming.



"We set out to uncover how to better make use of tropical plants to do phytoremediation and through advanced characterization techniques, we showed how some of these tropical plant species can be an environmentally friendly and literally a 'green' way to remove contaminants in soil."&nbsp;



"Phytoremediation also has benefits of cost effectiveness, simplicity of management, aesthetic advantages, and long-term applicability and sustainability. The strategy prevents erosion and metal leaching by stabilizing or accumulating heavy metals, so that helps reduce the risk of contaminant spread.”



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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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.

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes why herbicides are not as effective in killing weeds anymore. In the 20th century, chemical companies developed thousands of herbicides. The most commonly used herbicide was glyphosate, which was introduced in 1974.



Over the past few decades, dozens of species of weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Depending on the site of action, the part of the plant that an herbicide interacts with, weeds may even be resistant to herbicides that have not been developed yet.&nbsp;



With increasing resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides, weeds are - once again - becoming a major concern for farmers.&nbsp;



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.

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) describes a dust storm on Mars that was nearly twice the size of the United States. As the storm covered the southern hemisphere of the planet, some of NASA’s explorers had to delay their normal activities.



NASA’s Insight lander put itself in a "safe mode" for 11 days to conserve battery power because solar power was disrupted by the dust. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter postponed flights until conditions improved.



"A fleet of NASA orbiters monitor Martian dust storms like this one and serve as lifelines to Earth by relaying data from the rovers and lander on the ground back to the team. This includes the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, and Odyssey," reports JPL.



"Dust storms like this recent one start close to the ground and are spread by wind as they rise – warming the cold Martian atmosphere."



The images in the video were captured by NASA’s Curiosity as the dust rolled in. A fleet of orbiters monitored the dust storm from above, relaying data from Mars’ explorers back to scientists on Earth.



Video &amp; Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS



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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.

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



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.

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



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.

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency </a>&nbsp;features the Kangerlussuaq Glacier, one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. The glacier is located on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.



As human-induced climate change continues to drive up temperatures, global ice loss is accelerating at an alarming rate. ESA reports that, over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from the Greenland ice sheet. This is enough to cover the UK with meltwater 15 meters deep.



Based on satellite imagery, researchers determined that Kangerlussuaq entered a new phase of rapid retreat and acceleration in 2017. In their study, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00123/full">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>,&nbsp; the experts report that the glacier's ice front is now at its most retreated position since the early 20th century.



"Given Kangerlussuaq’s previous impacts on both the magnitude and pattern of ice sheet wide mass loss, we predict that its new phase of retreat, acceleration and thinning will markedly enhance the south-east region’s contribution to increasing discharge from the ice sheet," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"More broadly, accurate forecasting of the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level rise will require a deeper understanding of, and responses to, these non-linear ice dynamic processes."



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.

Kangerlussuaq Glacier 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 the complex relationship between ocean and climate. ESA's Climate Change Initiative will help us understand how oceans influence the climate and how climate change is impacting the oceans.&nbsp;



"Earth’s oceans are huge heat stores, soaking up 93% of the excess heat from human activity over the past 70 years. Ocean currents redistribute heat around the planet, from the Equator to the poles. Where this ocean heat goes influences weather patterns and regional climate," explains ESA.



"As well as absorbing heat, oceans are a natural carbon sink, absorbing a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This has led to the acidification of ocean water, threating marine life."



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide soaked up by the ocean depends on specific variables, including phytoplankton, temperatures, waves, salinity, and ice cover. Satellites can be used to measure these variables from space.



"From their unique vantage point, satellites provide key information for understanding the complexities of our planet and monitoring environmental issues," says ESA.



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.

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the importance of monitoring the shape of the sea surface, which is constantly changing. These observations have many applications, such as ship routing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-modem-ocean-is-a-tough-place-for-whales-to-survive/">ocean</a> current forecasting, and debris tracking.



"A project supported by the Discovery element of ESA’s Basic Activities recently investigated a new technique to measure sea surface topography very precisely," reports ESA.



"The technique involves looking at satellite navigation (GNSS) signals that have been reflected off of the sea surface at very low angles. At these so-called grazing angles, waves and surface roughness have very little impact on the reflection process; the sea surface acts as a very smooth mirror."



Estel Cardellach is the principal investigator at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia, who first submitted the idea for the project.



“In a mirror-like reflection the phase of the signal can be tracked – it is continuous," said Cardellach. "Different surface heights result in different phase measurements. It gives a very precise measurement of the surface altitude at a few centimetres’ precision.”



The researchers developed a GNSS receiver and set up an experiment in the Balaeric Islands to collect signals from the receiver that were reflected off the sea surface. Ultimately, these signals will provide improved measurements of the shape of the sea surface.



Image/ Video 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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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Aerial,Photo,Of,River,In,Amazon,Rainforest,Jungle,In,Peru

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center</a> describes how scientists are using autonomous sound sensors to monitor deforestation in the Amazon. By recording soundscapes, the experts can determine which animals are present through their distinct sounds.&nbsp;



Using this method, sounds can be used as scientific measurements to analyze the effects of deforestation. The researchers will gain a better understanding of how the acoustics of a forest can be used to measure its health.&nbsp;



"From space, parts of the Amazon rainforest that have previously been logged or burned may look lush and green, like a place buzzing with activity and full of sounds. But inside the rainforest, the animal life may tell a different story, of a harsh environment and a quieter soundscape," says NASA.



Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center&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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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