Historical,House,With,Wind,Towers,In,Abarkuh,,Iran

Our buildings usually remain comfortable during warm days because of constant air conditioning, sealed windows, and an assumption that power never fails. But as large parts of the country have learned, blackouts can hit at the worst possible moment. 



When that happens, glass towers and sealed-off homes can quickly become stiflingly hot, showing why passive cooling methods are essential.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-builders-had-better-cooling-methods">Ancient builders had better cooling methods</h2>



Ancient builders had no electricity, yet they made structures that protected people from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2024-confirmed-as-earths-hottest-year-in-recorded-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">worst heat</a>. Some devised thick walls that absorbed heat by day and released it at night.&nbsp;



Others planned entire neighborhoods to maximize shade. These time-tested ideas remain relevant for anyone who wants to stay cooler without cranking up the air conditioner.



This view is shared by Dr. Pablo La Roche, an architecture professor at <a href="https://www.cpp.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California State Polytechnic University, Pomona</a>, and sustainable design director at <a href="https://www.arcadis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arcadis</a>.&nbsp;



With decades of research on passive cooling systems and low-energy architecture, his work highlights how historical construction techniques effectively addressed the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2024-shatters-heat-records-earths-hottest-year-is-here/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">challenges of harsh climates</a> with intense summer heat.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-ancient-iraq-managed-scorching-heat">How ancient Iraq managed scorching heat</h2>



Archaeologists have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=xpTkEAAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PA3#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">documented</a> the Sumerians’ buildings in what is now southern Iraq. Walls made of mud brick or adobe were thick and had only small windows. This design helped reduce heat inside during the sun’s intense hours. 



In some places, homes were built side by side, so fewer walls were directly hit by sunlight. The neighborhoods also included narrow streets that created cooling shade as people walked through the city.



That compact arrangement worked when indoor temperatures had to stay tolerable. Families gathered in inner courtyards where light and breezes could get in but the scorching rays had trouble reaching the seating areas.



Some of these principles might still be practical in hot, urban environments today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-cities-can-learn-from-passive-cooling">Modern cities can learn from passive cooling</h2>



Major power failures can be disastrous during a heat wave. In <a href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2024/07/22/784992.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">July 2024</a>, the Houston area lost electricity for several days. When air conditioning shut off, many high-rises became uncomfortable in a hurry.&nbsp;



Some designers suggest that reintroducing features like operable windows, thicker walls, or rooftop shade structures might help with indoor temperature control and lower energy consumption at the same time.



Studies indicate that extremely hot summers are occurring more <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2822854" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">frequently</a>. Placing more emphasis on passive cooling could reduce the stress on power grids and keep people safer when the grid goes down.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-egypt-s-simple-but-clever-wind-catchers">Egypt’s simple but clever wind catchers</h2>



In ancient Egypt, builders knew that porous materials such as mud brick would block intense sunlight and slow the movement of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mapping-2024s-record-heat-unveiling-earths-climate-danger-zones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat</a> indoors. Residents also slept outdoors on rooftops at night, taking advantage of the cooler air.&nbsp;



One striking invention was the <a href="https://www.egyptianarch.com/post/mulqaf-origin-language-design-and-development" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mulqaf</a>, which used a tall opening to catch breezes and push them downward into a building. 



That airflow let hot indoor air escape through other vents. This system is still used in parts of the Middle East, where tall <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/971216/what-is-a-traditional-windcatcher" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wind catchers</a> provide fresh air without the need for electricity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-secrets-from-the-ancient-puebloans">Secrets from the ancient Puebloans</h2>



In the U.S. Southwest, the ancestral <a href="https://blog.nativehope.org/pueblo-native-americans-their-history-culture-and-traditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Puebloans</a> built with mud brick and stone for many centuries. They placed dwellings close together and used smaller windows to limit excessive heat. Cliffs provided natural shade in places like <a href="https://greenpassivesolar.com/2010/04/mesa-verde-cliff-dwellings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mesa Verde</a>.&nbsp;



The layout took advantage of the sun’s angle to block the harsh summer rays and let in lower winter sunlight that warmed the interior.



These older methods still guide some modern builders who adopt adobe for its ability to moderate indoor temperatures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-water-for-passive-cooling">Preserving water for passive cooling</h2>



Many cities today send rainwater away as quickly as possible through storm drains. Old societies in arid regions did the opposite. 



During the eighth century, the Muslim caliphates in northern Africa and southern Spain put a high value on every drop of rain. Their structures often had <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38028-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">systems</a> that channeled water from rooftops and courtyards into underground cisterns. That water cooled patios and irrigated gardens during scorching months.



In other parts of the world, societies like the Mayans in Mexico built huge <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/9783031577307" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reservoirs</a> to store the wet-season rainfall. Modern <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301479721002851?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">researchers</a> are exploring ways to adopt or improve rainwater harvesting, especially in places threatened by droughts or limited water supplies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adapting-passive-cooling-ideas-today">Adapting passive cooling ideas today</h2>



Some architects believe that new designs should rely more on passive cooling and water collection. Orienting buildings in the northern hemisphere to take advantage of south-facing windows can help regulate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scorching-summer-of-2024-could-make-it-the-hottest-year-on-record/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat</a> gain and loss (International Association of Certified Home Inspectors). 



Rainwater captured onsite can be <a href="https://www.energy.gov/femp/rainwater-harvesting-systems-technology-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reused</a> for landscape needs, thus reducing the burden on public water supplies.



Larger cities that hope to reduce their energy usage and keep people safe during emergencies could integrate these techniques into upcoming developments. Some methods might look old-fashioned compared to modern high-rises.&nbsp;



Yet people who live in the world’s driest and hottest places have been testing these approaches for a long time, and their successes can offer strong guidance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moving-forward-with-less-power-dependence">Moving forward with less power dependence</h2>



There is a growing call to learn from strategies that rely on local resources. Converting entire cities will take effort, but these ideas do not belong in the distant past.&nbsp;



There is a need to reconsider glassy towers and single-purpose rooftops, especially as blackouts become an increasing risk in regions experiencing more frequent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-added-41-extra-days-of-dangerous-heat-in-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat waves</a>. 



Historical knowledge of staying cool in extreme heat could provide valuable solutions for maintaining comfort when air conditioning is not an option.



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Ancient buildings used passive cooling methods to reduce heat with out air conditioning

Our buildings usually remain comfortable during warm days because of constant air conditioning, sealed windows, and an assumption that power never fails. But as large parts of the country have learned, blackouts can hit at the worst possible moment. When that happens, glass towers and sealed-off homes can quickly become stiflingly hot, showing why passive cooling methods are essential. Ancient builders had better cooling methods Ancient builders had no electricity, yet they made structures that protected people from the worst heat. Some devised thick walls that absorbed...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.syracuse.edu/">Syracuse University</a> has shed more light on the catastrophic impact of the Chicxulub <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-impact-sparked-two-years-of-darkness/">asteroid</a> 66 million years ago. This asteroid, which struck&nbsp;Mexico’s northern Yucatán peninsula - an impact that ejected material equivalent to an area the size of Connecticut and more than twice as tall as Mount Everest - wiped out 75 percent of animals on Earth, including all the dinosaurs. 



Experts now claim that one of the leading causes of this mass extinction was the redistribution of fine particles of sulfate in the stratosphere after impact, which led to rapid climate change.



&nbsp;“The impact blast and fallout ignited widespread fires, which together with rock dust, soot and volatiles ejected from the crater, blotted out the sun globally in an impact winter that may have lasted years, resulting in the extinction,” said study lead author Christopher Junium, an associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Syracuse.



According to Professor Junium, although scientists have long implicated that massive perturbations to atmospheric sulfur were the main causes of climate change after the impact, “there has been uncertainty regarding how much reached the stratosphere where its effects on climate would have been greatly magnified.”



The researchers conducted field work along the Brazos River in Central Texas to collect samples of rock that recorded the immediate aftermath of the asteroid impact. Analyzing these samples through novel geochemical techniques, they managed to trace the unique transformations undergone by sulfur aerosols when they rose above the Earth’s ozone layer and were exposed to ultraviolet radiation, creating diagnostic signatures in the stable isotopes of the sulfur gases.



“The unique fingerprints we’ve measured in these impact sediments provide the first direct evidence for the importance of sulfur aerosols in catastrophic climate change and cooling,” explained study co-author Aubrey Zerkle, an expert in sulfur isotopes and the sulfur cycle at the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">University of St Andrews</a> in Scotland.



The presence of these signatures required enormous amounts of sulfur aerosols in the stratosphere, which returned to the Earth as acid rain and washed into shallow marine areas in the aftermath of the impact. “These sulfur aerosols would have extended the duration of post-impact climate change, taking an already beleaguered biosphere to the brink of collapse,”&nbsp;concluded Professor Junium.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2119194119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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

New details on the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs

A new study led by Syracuse University has shed more...

According to new research published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28742-6">Nature Communications</a>, although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/atlantic-fish-found-unexpectedly-in-the-central-arctic-ocean/">ocean</a> life could possibly adapt to major climate changes, there may be unforeseen costs to quickly evolving in a suddenly-hot world. Thus, while plasticity may facilitate initial survival in global change conditions, it could erode after populations adapted, limiting resilience to new stressors and previously benign environments.



In order to assess how marine organisms adapt to climate change over several generations, the scientists used copepods (Acartia tonsa) as a case study. Since this tiny and humble sea creature reproduces, matures, and creates a new generation in about twenty days, it takes less than one year for twenty generations to pass.&nbsp;



The scientists exposed thousands of copepods to the high temperatures and carbon dioxide levels that are predicted for the future of the oceans, and examined what happened to these creatures as twenty generations passed. Afterwards, they took some of the marine organisms and returned them to the temperature and carbon dioxide levels that the first generation started in, and observed them as three more generations passed.



The results showed that these creatures have the genetic capacity to adapt over twenty generations, evolving to maintain their fitness in radically-changed environments (a process called “phenotypic plasticity”). The researchers observed many changes in the copepods’ genes related to how they managed heat stress, grew their skeletons in more acidic waters, and produced energy, suggesting that they can be highly resilient to rapid warming and acidification. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



However, the flexibility that helped the copepods evolve over twenty generations seemed to be eroded when they tried to return them to what had previously been their normal environment. Brought to the initial temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations, the copepods were less healthy and produced smaller populations. Although they were able, after three generations, to re-evolve to their ancestral conditions, the marine organisms nevertheless lost the ability to tolerate limited food supply and showed less resilience to new forms of stress.



“If copepods or other creatures have to go down this adaptive path - and spend some of their genetic variation to deal with climate change - will they be able to tolerate some new environmental stressor, some other change in the environment?”&nbsp;wondered study lead author Melissa Pespeni, a biologist at the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a>. This study suggests that it may not be so easy.&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

Marine organisms may adapt to climate change, but with hidden costs

According to new research published in the journal Nature Communications,...

Heat is often intensified in cities, since asphalt, concrete, and similar materials absorb and retain significantly more heat than vegetation – a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/urban-heat-islands">urban heat island</a> effect. According to a new study led by climate scientists from NASA’s <a href="https://www.giss.nasa.gov/">Goddard Institute for Space Studies</a> (GISS), rooftop gardens and greenery could help ease some of the severe heat in cities by harnessing the cooling power of plants to lower the temperature.



“As cities grow and develop, they need to make good decisions about their infrastructure, because these decisions often last for 30 or 50 years or longer,” said&nbsp;study co-author Christian Braneon, a climate scientist and civil engineer at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> and GISS. “In the context of more frequent heat waves and more extreme heat, it’s important to understand how these urban design interventions can be effective.”



By using freely available satellite data, Dr. Braneon and his colleagues studied three sites in Chicago to assess how rooftop gardens affected surface temperatures around the buildings. While two of the roofs reduced temperatures, the other one did not, thus indicating that effectiveness may depend on a variety of factors, ranging from geographical location and plant diversity to rooftop structure and the cooling efficiency of the building itself.



“In a lot of places, you might be developing an area that didn’t have something there before; it just had overgrown vegetation. You might think that putting a green roof on your new building would make a significant impact. But what we see is that a lot of impervious material may also be added there – such as a parking lot around the building. As a result, you might reduce the impact of the parking lot, but you certainly haven’t created the cooling effect that the overgrown vegetation had,” explained Dr. Braneon.



Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of the use of greenery and rooftop gardens in other locations in various cities. This could help experts fully understand the diversity of factors that influence processes of urban heating and cooling. Most importantly though, the dynamics of the climate should always be taken into account.



“Traditionally, civil engineers and urban planners assumed a stationary climate,” said Dr. Braneon. “The whole practice is built on the premise that we can look at the past to assess risk in the future. Everything is being flipped on its head due to climate change, so I’m hoping to do more work that changes how civil engineers and urban planners practice.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103376210670721006491">Sustainable Cities and Society</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

Rooftop gardens can lower city heat

Heat is often intensified in cities, since asphalt, concrete, and...

According to the United Nations’ first-ever <a href="https://inweh.unu.edu/water-security-in-africa-a-preliminary-assessment/">assessment</a> of water security in Africa, only 29 African nations have made some progress over the past three to five years, while 25 have made none. This is despite the global <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">Sustainable Developments Goals</a> and commitments that were made in 2015.



This assessment – published on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) – employed ten indicators to quantify water security in Africa’s 54 countries: access to drinking water, access to sanitation, hygiene and health, water availability, efficiency of water use, water infrastructure, water quality, water governance, water disaster risks, and physiography.



On a scale of 100, all country scores besides those of Egypt are below 70. Only 13 African countries have reached a modest level of security in recent years, with Egypt, Botswana, Gabon, Mauritius, and Tunisia being the continent’s top five most water-secure countries. 



At the opposite end of the scale, Somalia, Chad, and Niger are the least water-secure African nations. Thus, according to the report, there has been little progress in national water security of most African states over the past three to five years.



In order to compare Africa’s situation globally, the authors of the report call for global standards for water security measurement data and assessment. 



“Some critical components of water security simply cannot be assessed without introducing surrogates or proxies. With such poor data availability, progress toward water security is difficult to assess accurately,” the scientists warned.



However, according to lead author Grace Oluwasanya - a water scientist at the <a href="https://unu.edu/">United Nations University</a> - “data limitations do not change the main outcome of this assessment, which is strong and clear. Overall levels of water security in Africa are low. Not a single country let alone a subregion have at present achieved a state that can be seen as ‘model’ or even ‘effective’ stage of water security.”



“This assessment for African countries aimed to create a quantitative starting point and a platform for subsequent discussions with national, regional, and international agents; it is neither a prescription nor a guide,” added co-author Duminda Perera, a water resource professional at the United Nations University.



“As this quantitative tool develops, it will help generate targeted policy recommendations and inform decision-making and public-private investments toward achieving water security in Africa,” he 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

Water security in Africa remains very poor

According to the United Nations’ first-ever assessment of water security...

During the Triassic period, early <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/new-evidence-reveals-that-dinosaurs-died-in-the-spring/">dinosaurs</a> evolved but it wasn’t until mass extinction ushered in the Jurassic did dinosaur diversity explode. New research looks at the complex causes of the mass extinction event that paved the way for more dinosaurs.&nbsp;



“This new study adds soil erosion and wildfire activity to the list of factors that drove this mass extinction to end the Triassic era, building on our previous research that found a rise in levels of acid and hydrogen sulfide in the ocean caused by rapid increases in carbon dioxide due to a surge in volcanic activity," explained Dr. Calum Peter Fox of WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC).



"Similar to modern large-scale fire events that are driven by climate change, periods of wildfire activity have significant impacts for land-dwelling fauna and flora and drive environmental and ecosystem stress that can lead to mass extinctions.”



Dr. Fox and colleagues investigated the ancient fires at the end of the Triassic and found similarities to the modern rise of atmospheric carbon.&nbsp;



“By studying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can be formed during the incomplete combustion of organic matter, we found that soil erosion was a more prominent terrestrial ecological stress than intensive wildfire activity during the end-Triassic mass extinction event in the Bristol Channel of the south-west United Kingdom," said Dr. Fox.



"This tells us land and marine ecosystem and environmental stresses occurred at the same time and were likely exacerbated by soil erosion, with fire activity likely to be more localised in other areas rather than widespread across Europe.”



Professor Kliti Grice also found similarities between the modern land degradation caused by soil erosion and the likelihood of the same thing happening at the close of the Triassic.&nbsp;



“These processes certainly have implications in the modern day due to the introduction of pollutants and pesticides," said Professor Grice.



"Observing that soil erosion had major impacts in our history and in comparing and contrasting a global record of the past, we can anticipate the scale and duration of currently-occurring and future soil erosion events.”



The scientists hope that by looking to the past at previous mass extinction events, we might be able to better understand the one we’re living through now and potentially even mitigate it.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Soil erosion and fire contributed to Triassic mass extinction

During the Triassic period, early dinosaurs evolved but it wasn’t...

Spring is arriving earlier in northern climates as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rainfall-patterns-will-decide-if-miami-blue-butterflies-can-survive/">rainfall</a> becomes less frequent, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>. The experts identified a link between a drop in the total number of rainy days each year and the early appearance of leaves.



While experts had already determined that rising temperatures have led to the first leaves coming out at earlier dates, this research shows that fewer rainy days play the second largest role in this early leaf-out, explained study co-author Desheng Liu of The Ohio State University.



"Scientists have looked mainly at how temperature affects when leaves first appear and, if they considered precipitation at all, it was the total amount," said Liu. "But it isn't the total amount of precipitation that matters the most – it’s how often it rains."



The results of the study showed that a decline in rainfall frequency will cause spring to emerge an additional one to two days earlier each decade through the end of the century.



"This study exemplifies the complex consequences of climate change," said Rainer Amon, a program director in NSF's Office of Polar Programs. "We are not simply facing a warmer atmosphere, but also a shift in the diurnal and seasonal timing of biological processes on a global scale."



The researchers explained that fewer rainy days lead to the earlier arrival of spring because trees and other plants are receiving more solar radiation earlier in the year, which stimulates leaf growth.



With fewer rainy days, daytime temperatures are hotter as more sunlight heating reaches the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.&nbsp;



The study was focused on data north of 30 degrees latitude, which includes most of the United States. The experts analyzed satellite images that recorded when vegetation started to turn green from 1982 to 2018. This data was compared with the number of rainy days during each season.&nbsp;



According to study co-author Jian Wang, the findings demonstrate that we should expect an even earlier spring in the future compared to what current models tell us.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.



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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

Spring is arriving earlier as rainy days become less frequent

Spring is arriving earlier in northern climates as rainfall becomes...

The green industry experienced a spike in sales during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-doubles-the-risk-of-severe-pregnancy-complications/">COVID-19</a> pandemic, as people turned to gardening and landscaping during quarantine. A new study from the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> shows that while plant nurseries and greenhouses may not continue to boom as they did in 2020, some people who took up gardening will continue to raise plants as a lifelong hobby.&nbsp;



"The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way many consumers and businesses transacted business. Concerning the green industry, many households began gardening and/or purchased more green industry products. As the pandemic ends and households begin to return to normal, green industry firms need to understand this new normal," explained the study authors.&nbsp;



"Using an online national survey of households, we assessed which households were more likely to remain in the market after entering during the height of the pandemic."



Among more than 4,200 survey respondents, about one out of every three people began gardening in 2020 because they were home more. Many of these individuals also put in new grass lawns or tackled other outdoor renovations and landscaping projects.



“You had low interest rates, so you had a lot of people refinancing, which gave them money to invest in their homes,” said study lead author Professor Benjamin Campbell. “You had people at home looking for something to do, whether by themselves or with their kids. That led to a huge demand for plants.”



Nearly half of the respondents said they did not plan to garden in the future, even if they had in 2020. On the other hand, one in ten participants who had gardened in 2020 said they planned to keep it up going forward.



The survey results suggest that millennials and younger individuals were more likely to have started gardening during the pandemic, yet also more likely to report that they would not continue to garden as states returned to normal.



“We saw a lot of younger consumers come into the market because of the pandemic and because they were having to stay home,” said Professor Campbell. “Plants have been shown to help with a lot of different things related to people’s psyche. Gardening not only gave people something to do, but it also gave them a little bit more happiness.”



The results of the analysis show that food insecurity motivated some people to pick up gardening so they could grow their own food. Many of the study participants said they planned to garden in the future because they were concerned about food shortages.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/horttech-overview.xml">HortTechnology</a>.&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

Gardening got a major boost from the COVID-19 pandemic

The green industry experienced a spike in sales during the...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-are-arriving-with-ships-in-antarctica/">Antarctica</a> – the coldest place on the planet – has recently experienced an episode of warm weather unlike any ever observed, shocking climate scientists worldwide. The temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet have soared to 40°C above normal, causing an unusual amount of melting for this region.&nbsp;



For instance, the average high temperature during March in Vostok – a Russian meteorological observatory located about 808 miles from the South Pole at the center of the eastern ice sheet – is around minus 53°C. But on Friday, March 18, the temperature leapt to -17.7°C, breaking the previous record by a staggering 15 degrees.



“In about 65 record years in Vostok, between March and October, values ​​above -30°C were never observed,” said climate journalist Stefano Di Battista. “Antarctic climatology has been rewritten.”



Jonathan Wille is an expert in Polar Meteorology at the <a href="https://www.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/">Université Grenoble Alpes</a> in France. He told the Washington Post: “This event is completely unprecedented and upended our expectations about the Antarctic climate system." Temperatures running at least 32°C above normal have expanded over vast regions of eastern Antarctica from the Adélie Coast through most of the eastern ice sheet’s interior. Computer modeling suggests that in some areas the temperatures might have even climbed up to 50°C above normal.



According to Professor Wille, these warming was initiated by an extreme atmospheric river (a narrow corridor of water vapor in the atmosphere) on Antarctica’s east coast. This atmospheric river made landfall on Tuesday, March 15, between Dumont d’Urville and Casey Stations and caused a massive amount of rainfall, potentially leading to a significant melting event in the area.&nbsp;



Afterwards, the moisture from the storm diffused and spread over the interior of the continent. The moisture was prevented from escaping by a strong blocking high pressure system - a so-called heat dome. “This is not something we’ve seen before,” said Professor Wille. “This moisture is the reason why the temperatures have gotten just so high.”



While it is difficult to attribute this one event to climate change, Professor Wille and his colleagues do think that rising temperatures helped prime conditions for such an event and that this could be just the beginning of even more extreme occurrences.&nbsp;



“We do believe they will become more intense because it just simple physics … but the details, we’re still trying to figure that out. It would be very difficult to say that there’s not a climate change fingerprint on an event like this,” Professor Wille told the Post.



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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

Soaring temperatures in Antarctica have scientists in shock

Antarctica – the coldest place on the planet – has...

In 2012, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/ga/">United Nations General Assembly</a> designated today, March 21, as the International Day of Forests to raise awareness of the importance of all forest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salt-pollution-threatens-freshwater-ecosystems/">ecosystems</a>.&nbsp;



"When we drink a glass of water, write in a notebook, take medicine for a fever or build a house, we do not always make the connection with forests. And yet, these and many other aspects of our lives are linked to forests in one way or another," reports the UN.



"Forest sustainable management and their use of resources are key to combating climate change, and to contributing to the prosperity and well-being of current and future generations. Forests also play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet despite all these priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate."



According to the UN, around 1.6 billion people are directly dependent on forests for food, shelter, energy, medicines and income. Meanwhile, 10 million hectares of forest are lost every year.&nbsp;



The State of the World’s Forests 2020 report, released by the the Food and Agriculture Association of the United States, notes that deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, and this is a major contributor to the ongoing biodiversity crisis.



"Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades," says the report.&nbsp;



"Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990."



In the Amazon forest alone, thousands of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction as a direct result of deforestation. The <a href="https://www.bgci.org/globaltreesearch">GlobalTreeSearch database</a> reports that there are currently 60,082 tree species in existence. More than 20,000 of these tree species are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.



"International Forest Day is a tremendous occasion to celebrate the world’s wildlife and humanities’ achievements in preservation of it, to educate the public on forests and ecosystems. But it is also a suitable opportunity and the right time to address global problems and to mobilize political will to take action," says the UN.



"Last month, the UN agency on climate change, IPCC, published a report revealing the deadly consequences of climate change for people in all parts of the world in the coming decades. The consequences of climate change are worse than ever, highlighting the importance of global unity."



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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

International Day of Forests: a time for global unity

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly designated today, March...

Changing climate, with associated increasing global temperatures and more severe droughts in places, has created favorable conditions for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-will-increase-by-50-percent-by-the-end-of-the-century/">wildfires</a> over the past few decades. Large-scale fires in Australia, Brazil and California in the past two years have highlighted this phenomenon and drawn the world’s attention to the plight of forests around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Studies have shown changing fire dynamics across the globe due to both changes in climate and changes in land use by humans. However, when scientists try to assess the global trends in fire-related forest loss, they are faced by a lack of globally consistent methodology in measuring this variable, as well as the problem that some satellite maps used have a course resolution (375&nbsp;m for VIIRS and 1&nbsp;km for MODIS)&nbsp;that does not allow discrimination between forest wildfires and burns on agricultural lands at the forest fringes.&nbsp;



“In the case of the Amazonian fires of 2019, there was no clear information on what exactly was burning: forests or previously deforested areas that had been converted to pasture and cropland,” explained Dr Alexandra Tyukavina, of the University of Maryland.&nbsp;“Even I, as a geographer, was terrified reading all the headlines that seemed to imply that the last patch of the Amazonian rainforest was on fire, which was not true.”



No high-resolution global satellite-based assessment of forest loss due to fire, employing consistent definitions and methods across biomes, has been available to date. In order to address this information gap, Tyukavina and her colleagues have developed the first ever 30m resolution (a 30 meter pixel represents a square patch of the land with a 30m side) global map of forest loss due to wildfires between 2001 and 2019. The study was published recently in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/remote-sensing">Frontiers in Remote Sensing</a>.



In their study, they defined forest loss as the removal of woody vegetation over five meters in height, and distinguished between forest loss due to fires and forest loss due to other factors such as agriculture (mechanical clearing of forests), floods, and hurricanes.&nbsp;They report the annual estimates of forest loss due to fire, and their trend between 2001 and 2019, globally and by climate domain within each region/continent. In addition, they analyzed trends in fire loss in tropical primary forests separately, because these forests have a high biodiversity and ecosystem service value.



“We have been producing the global forest loss map and updating it annually since 2013, but we did not attribute drivers of forest loss. This means that we did not know what exactly happened to forests (fire or mechanical removal) and we didn't know whether this forest loss was temporary (for example, due to slash-and-burn farming) or long-term (deforestation),” said Tyukavina.



The new map with its more refined scale, showed that the proportion of global forest loss due to fires between 2001 and 2019 is 26 to 29 percent, which is higher than what was previously estimated. It showed relatively consistent increases in wildfires across the globe, with boreal forests having the highest proportion of forest loss (69–73 percent), followed by subtropical forests (19–22 percent), temperate forests (17–21 percent), and tropical forests (6–9 percent).



The map shows that the area of fire-related forest loss is increasing globally, but particularly within the tropical primary forests of Africa and Latin America.&nbsp; Primary forests are forests in their ‘final form’; fully grown, dense, and bursting with biodiversity. They are extremely important for the environment due to their biodiversity richness and the ecosystem services they provide.



“The map is annual, and not near-real-time, so it won't help monitoring forest fires in real time but will be useful as a historic baseline regarding the rates of forest loss due to fire,” said Tyukavina.



The researchers propose to use the map as a tool for forest management, policy and conservation program development, and climate modeling. They state that understanding more about the exact drivers of forest fires will help from the standpoint of carbon accounting and land management.



“Our new map is a good indicator of where the fires resulting in the loss of forest canopy have happened in the last two decades, and could help guide future finer-detail national, regional and local-scale studies, or tune coarser-scale global models,” concluded Tyukavina.



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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

One-third of global forest loss has been caused by wildfires

Changing climate, with associated increasing global temperatures and more severe...

Land managers have been working to restore the health of the Great Plains <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-parasite-disrupts-an-entire-ecosystem-in-the-high-andes/">ecosystem</a> through the widespread reintroduction of bison. A new study suggests that these efforts are paying off. The experts report that grazing by bison has restored bird diversity and improved the overall health of a mixed-grass prairie in Montana.



Study lead author Andy Boyce is a conservation ecologist at the <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/">Smithsonian National Zoological Park</a> and the Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center.



“We’ve known for some time that bison don’t spend as much time in wetland areas as cattle do, but what we didn’t understand was how this difference was going to influence biodiversity," said Boyce.&nbsp;



"When we looked at areas where bison were reintroduced, and compared them to similar areas with cattle, we found that the&nbsp; vegetation along small streams changed in ways that are associated with more diverse bird communities and increased use of these areas by native ungulates like white-tailed deer."



"Bison reintroduction is resulting in healthier more biodiverse riparian environments, which is great news for tons of other prairie species.”



The researchers explained that grazing by large herbivores in grassland ecosystems affects biodiversity by modifying the vegetative environment through selective consumption. To investigate whether restoration of bison is associated with increased bird diversity within a temperate grassland ecosystem, the experts focused on a mixed-grass prairie in northcentral Montana.&nbsp;



"We used a long time-series of remote sensing imagery to examine changes in riparian vegetation structure in stream networks within bison and cattle pastures. We then assessed how vegetation structure influenced diversity of bird communities and detection rates of mammals in these same riparian networks," wrote the study authors.



"We found that percent cover of woody vegetation, and native grasses and forbs increased more rapidly over time in bison pastures, and that these changes in vegetation structure were associated with increased bird diversity and cervid occupancy."



According to the researchers, the findings indicate that replacing cattle with bison could have positive impacts on vegetation and mammals.



"Furthermore, we predict that increases in riparian vegetation will be associated with increased diversity of bird communities," wrote the study authors."We also predict that deer use will increase with higher shrub and tree cover after accounting for distance to the Missouri River drainage, a forested landscape that serves as a source population for cervids."



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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

Bison can restore animal diversity and ecosystem health

Land managers have been working to restore the health of...

Although the billions of tons of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-a-planetary-emergency/">plastic</a> products produced over the last half-century (called by many the “Plastic Age”) have drastically changed the way we live for the better, the plastic waste that found its way into the environment is posing major challenges for nature.&nbsp;



According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyushu University</a>, about 25.3 million metric tons of plastic may have entered our oceans and almost two-thirds of this amount cannot be properly monitored. Even more alarmingly, this could be only the tip of the plastic-waste iceberg, with another 540 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste still trapped on land (the equivalent of approximately 10 percent of all the plastic manufactured so far).



While scientists have been investigating the oceans’ surfaces and beaches to determine how much plastic waste has reached the oceans, massive amounts of ocean plastics are most probably well below the surface, hidden by the reach of scientific observation if using common sampling equipment.



“To assess the amount and whereabouts of plastic waste in the Earth’s oceans, we have to consider the whole process from their birth to burial, starting with emission from rivers into the ocean and continuing with their transportation and fragmentation into pieces,” said study lead author&nbsp;Atsuhiko Isobe, a professor of Physical Oceanography at Kyushu University.



Together with his research team, Professor Isobe created models that simulate these processes, by using satellite-data to investigate the movements of the plastic particles, as well as a massive amount of data about global plastic-debris emissions going back to 1961.



Their results suggest that large plastics and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-discovered-in-the-blood-of-livestock/">microplastics</a> floating on the ocean surface each account for only about three percent of all ocean plastics. While a similar amount of microplastics was estimated to be on the beaches, 23 percent of the ocean plastic waste was larger plastic litter spread on the shores.



According to the simulations, the remaining two-thirds of ocean plastic may be in locations that make it impossible to monitor, such as the seafloor. However, compared to ocean plastics, the amount of mismanaged plastic waste on land which could find its way into ecosystems and oceans in the future could be twenty times larger. Being indecomposable in nature, this half a billion metric tons of plastic may likely outlive us and many other species.



Further investigations are needed to locate these plastics and build efficient methods of disposing them. “That’s going to be a Herculean task. Few advancements have been made so far in the field of ‘terrestrial plastics’ due to the lack of observation methods,” concluded Professor Isobe.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722010270?via%3Dihub">Science of the Total Environment</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

Half a billion metric tons of plastic waste is unaccounted for

Although the billions of tons of plastic products produced over...

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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



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.

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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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

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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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