The story of Earth's climate can be found locked away in tiny shells that are scattered across ancient rocks. These seemingly modest remains have just helped scientists crack open one of the most significant climate mysteries in our planet's history. 



Researchers at the University of St Andrews have made remarkable discoveries about the fundamental role of carbon dioxide (CO2) in shaping Earth's climate.



The study provides new insights into how CO2 regulated Earth's warming and cooling over hundreds of millions of years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-co-2-earth-s-climate-architect">CO2: Earth's climate architect</h2>



CO2 is the most influential <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/met-office-2024-co2-levels-will-surpass-the-point-of-no-return/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">greenhouse gas on Earth</a>. It traps heat from the Sun by absorbing it and radiating some of it back toward the planet's surface. 



This natural process keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life. However, when CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase, the planet becomes warmer, leading to significant climate changes.



While scientists understand how CO2 affects the climate today, its role in shaping Earth's climate millions of years ago has been harder to uncover. 



Much of this information on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-co2-emissions-rise-as-nations-tackle-fossil-fuel-dependence/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2</a> is hidden in geological records in the form of layers of rock and fossils that act like time capsules of Earth's past environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-reveal-climate-secrets">Fossils reveal climate secrets</h2>



A team of scientists, led by Dr. Hana Jurikova at the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of St Andrews</a>, has made a breakthrough in understanding this history.



The researchers studied a crucial period called the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, which occurred between 335 and 265 million years ago. This was a time of dramatic climate change when the Earth experienced extensive glaciation (ice ages) and subsequent warming.



The research revealed that CO2 levels played a central role in driving these massive climatic transitions. By unlocking the secrets of this ancient period, the team showed how CO2 fluctuations caused Earth to cool into ice ages and then warm as CO2 levels rose again.



This discovery sheds light on how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-sinks-are-losing-their-ability-to-absorb-co2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2</a> has been a powerful driver of climate shifts throughout Earth's history, influencing both the environment and the evolution of life on the planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reconstructing-past-co-2-levels">Reconstructing past CO2 levels</h2>



The team used the fossilized shells of brachiopods - ancient, clam-like organisms that date back hundreds of millions of years - to reconstruct past atmospheric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-absorb-31-more-co2-than-previously-estimated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2 levels</a>.



These shells, which are preserved across geological time, store chemical fingerprints of Earth's past climate. By analyzing these fingerprints, the researchers determined how atmospheric CO2 fluctuated during the Carboniferous and Permian periods.



"This showed that the Late Paleozoic Ice Age had prolonged low CO2 levels, unprecedented in Earth's history," explained Dr. Jurikova. "Atmospheric CO2 then rose abruptly, 294 million years ago, due to large-scale volcanic eruptions, warming the planet and melting back the ice."



The study demonstrates that these CO2 changes were instrumental in transitioning Earth out of an ice age and spurring the evolution of reptiles.



"The end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age was a turning point in the evolution of life and the environment, leading to the rise of reptiles. Now we know it was paced by carbon dioxide," said Dr. Jurikova.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-the-present-and-future">Lessons for the present and future</h2>



The findings highlight the central role that CO2 has played in regulating Earth's climate over geological timescales.



Low CO2 levels during the Carboniferous period triggered extensive glaciation, while higher levels in the Permian period led to global warming and ice sheet melting.



"This time interval gives a potential geological analog for the impact of CO2 on our planet. CO2 emissions in the past caused major global warming and sea level rise, and if left unchecked, they will do so again in the future," noted Dr. James Rae, a co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-co-2-drives-major-climate-transitions">CO2 drives major climate transitions</h2>



This research highlights the immense power of CO2 levels in shaping Earth's climate over millions of years. CO2 has been a key driver of major climate transitions, including ice ages and periods of significant warming.



By studying how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/co2-levels-linked-to-cascading-effects-that-last-for-millennia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2</a> influenced the planet's ancient climate, scientists have gained valuable insights into the ways greenhouse gases affect Earth's environment over long timescales.



Today, humanity faces a similar challenge: rising CO2 levels due to human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation. This modern surge in greenhouse gases is causing global temperatures to rise, leading to melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events.



The findings from this research serve as a stark reminder that unchecked CO2 emissions can have dramatic and lasting impacts on our planet.



Understanding CO2's role in Earth's past climate transitions offers crucial lessons for addressing climate change today and highlights the urgent need for action to prevent further damage to the environment.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01610-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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CO2 has regulated Earth’s climate for millions of years

The story of Earth's climate can be found locked away in tiny shells that are scattered across ancient rocks. These seemingly modest remains have just helped scientists crack open one of the most significant climate mysteries in our planet's history. Researchers at the University of St Andrews have made remarkable discoveries about the fundamental role of carbon dioxide (CO2) in shaping Earth's climate. The study provides new insights into how CO2 regulated Earth's warming and cooling over hundreds of millions of years. CO2: Earth's climate architect CO2...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.unibo.it/en">University of Bologna</a> and the <a href="https://www.gfbinitiative.org/">Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative</a> (GFBI) has estimated that our planet may be home to over 73,000 tree species, among which approximately 9,000 species are yet to be discovered. These results – which are the outcome of a three-year international project involving over 150 researchers – emphasize the richness, but also vulnerability, of terrestrial <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-extreme-weather-impact-marine-ecosystems/">ecosystems</a>.



“Extensive knowledge of tree richness and diversity&nbsp;is key to preserving the stability and functionality of ecosystems,” explained&nbsp;study lead author Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, a professor in the <a href="https://bigea.unibo.it/en/index.html">Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences</a> at the University of Bologna.&nbsp;



“Until today, our data regarding wide areas of the planet was very limited and based on field-observation and lists of species covering different areas. These limitations were detrimental to a global perspective on the issue.”



In order to address these shortcomings, Professor Cazzolla Gatti and his colleagues had first collected the most extensive database of forest tree species, identifying over 40 million trees belonging to 64,000 species, and then performed complex statistical analyses by using state-of-the-art computers and artificial intelligence algorithms to estimate how many tree species might exist on Earth. According to the calculations, our planet has approximately 73,300 tree species (14 percent more than those already identified). &nbsp;



“We combined individual datasets, coming from someone going out to a forest stand and measuring every single tree, into one massive global dataset of tree-level data. Counting the number of tree species worldwide&nbsp;is like a puzzle with pieces spreading all over the world. We, the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative (GFBI), solved it together as a team, each sharing our own piece,” said study co-author Jingjing Liang, a researcher at GFBI.



The scientists estimate that 40 percent of the 9,000 currently unknown species could be located in South America, in the two biomes composed of “grasslands, savannas, and shrublands” and “tropical and subtropical forests” of the Amazon and the Andes. Many of these tree species are probably rare and may already be endangered by human activities.



“These results&nbsp;highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes, particularly land use and climate, because the survival of rare taxa is disproportionately threatened by these pressures,” said study co-author Peter B. Reich, a professor of Forestry at the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The better the information, the better we can inform national and international plans for conservation priorities and biodiversity targets and management – potentially saving endangered tree species in the process,” concluded study co-author Andrew Marshall, a conservation scientist at the <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/">University of the Sunshine Coast</a>.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115329119">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

Thousands of tree species remain undiscovered

A new study led by the University of Bologna and...

According to most environmental scientists and policy makers, woodland expansion could be one of the most effective strategies to combat climate change. However, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a> which analyzed the temperate rainforests in Dartmoor, England, has found that protecting and expanding woodland is far from simple, and depends upon a variety of factors.



“The planting of trees and an end to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coordinated-efforts-needed-to-slow-deforestation/">deforestation</a> are increasingly being highlighted as low cost and environmentally sensitive mechanisms to combat climate change. These measures have&nbsp;been factored into the net-zero agendas of UK and other governments, with world leaders also pledging to address the issue during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cop26-deal-failure-or-historic-achievement/">COP26</a> in Glasgow last year,” said study lead author Dr. Thomas Murphy, a research fellow in Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth.



“Our findings however suggest the expansion of oak woodland into UK upland pasture systems is not a simple process. They may have a critical role to play, but these important temperate rainforests have been historically degraded and are now highly fragmented. Reversing that trend is likely to require strategic planting and informed livestock management."



"Getting this right, however, will warrant a delicate balancing act and close cooperation with a range of stakeholders, including particularly landowners and graziers, at a time when upland farms are facing severe financial pressures and there are ongoing changes in incentives.”



According to Dr. Murphy and his colleagues, natural expansion is insufficient to adequately aid carbon storage, flood mitigation, and biodiversity protection in such forests. Instead, strategically targeted interventions and selective planting of certain vegetation types would be more appropriate strategies to improve forest quality.&nbsp;



The researchers argue that livestock grazing should be encouraged in areas close to native oak trees at the edge of woodlands since they can help reduce dense and competitive vegetation. However, in areas rich in oak seedlings and saplings, livestock should be excluded for at least 12 years to increase sapling survival and growth.&nbsp;



In addition, the scientists suggest that strategic planting and grazing management schemes should be implemented on upland valley slopes where current ecosystem provision is low and soil hydrological recovery is necessary. Finally, older and larger oak samplings (four to seven years) could be planted directly in regions where dense vegetation protects saplings from livestock.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12126">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</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

Temperate rainforests can help fight climate change

According to most environmental scientists and policy makers, woodland expansion...

Winter snowstorms are increasingly frequent on the United States’ eastern coast and often cause major disruption to transportation, economy, and public safety. In order to study these extreme weather events, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> has initiated a program called <a href="https://espo.nasa.gov/impacts/content/IMPACTS">The Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms</a> (IMPACTS).&nbsp;



With the help of an international group of experts and state-of-the-art technology, the project aims to clarify how storms develop and how snow bands can be used to predict snowfall. The research may ultimately help mitigate the natural, social, and economic impacts of snowstorms.



The team will be tracking storms with the help of two NASA planes equipped with top notch scientific instruments. One of them – the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s<a href="https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/aircraft/ER-2_-_AFRC">&nbsp;ER-2</a> - will fly at 65,000 feet to get a top-down view of the storm clouds, and complement the measurements of cloud properties taken by ground-based radars.



“A project like IMPACTS can really complement those spacecraft measurements with aircraft measurements that are higher resolution, higher accuracy, sample an event more frequently, and provide additional parameters such as Doppler measurements,” explained John Yorks, one of the deputy principal investigators for IMPACTS.



The second aircraft - the<a href="https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/aircraft/P-3_Orion_-_WFF">&nbsp;P-3 Orion</a> – will fly at variable altitudes of up to 26,000 feet and will use probes hanging off its wings to measure the size, shape, and distribution of precipitation particles. Flying this aircraft at different altitudes will allow scientists measure snow particles throughout the clouds, as well as the temperature, water vapor, and other conditions in which they form.&nbsp;



Moreover, P-3 Orion will also drop small instruments called dropsondes over the ocean, which, together with weather balloons launched from the ground, will measure temperature, wind, and humidity, and provide crucial information about the atmospheric conditions before, during, and after a storm.



“Snowstorms are really complicated storms, and we need every piece of data – models, aircraft instruments, meteorological soundings – to really figure out what’s going on within these storms,” said Gerry Heymsfield, another deputy principal investigators for IMPACTS.



This data will help the scientists relate the properties of the snow particles and their environment to large-scale processes such as the structure of clouds and precipitation patterns, and thus improve meteorological models and complement the use of satellite data in order to predict how particular storms will develop and what their impact will be.&nbsp;



Today, residents of New England are bracing themselves for possible whiteout conditions, as a nor'easter has brought heavy snowfall and fierce winds to the region. More than 10 million people in coastal areas (all the way down to Virginia) are under blizzard warnings, and some areas may reach record snowfall totals. According to CNN, parts of eastern Massachusetts and Maine could get more than two feet of snow.&nbsp;



John Yorks, one of the deputy principal investigators for IMPACTS at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, explained that nor'easters travel up the East Coast and can dump several feet of snow, effectively shutting down cities. Being able to predict which areas will get hit the hardest, and with how much snow, could help cities better prepare for severe winter weather.



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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

NASA project aims to more accurately predict snowstorms

Winter snowstorms are increasingly frequent on the United States’ eastern...

It is not uncommon for people to develop symptoms of ‘long COVID’ after recovering from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pigs-are-highly-resistant-to-sars-cov-2-infection/">SARS-CoV-2</a> infection. Also known as PACS (post-acute COVID-19 syndrome), this condition is familiar to scientists and medical practitioners by now, with as many as 3 out of 4 people presenting with at least one lingering symptom in the weeks and months after initial infection.



The most common symptoms of PACS include fatigue, muscle weakness and sleep disturbance - but the potential causes of these symptoms are unknown. Some suggestions include an exaggerated immune system response, cell damage, or the physiological consequences of a critical illness, all of which may contribute to the development of long COVID. Furthermore, scientists do not yet understand why some people suffer persistent symptoms after clearing the initial infection whereas others do not.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In a new study published in the BMJ journal <a href="https://gut.bmj.com/">Gut</a>, researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong propose that the human gut microbiome may play a role in the development of long COVID. They set out to analyze which bacteria, fungi and other microbes are present in the intestines of people who have not had COVID, those who have had COVID, and those who have developed PACS.



There is evidence that gut microbes are important in the development and maintenance of major components of a person’s innate and adaptive immune system, and that imbalances in the populations of different gut microbes can contribute to auto-immune diseases and other illnesses. Given this evidence, it is possible that a disordered immune response to COVID-19 infection, induced by resident microbes, may affect the recovery process as well.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed the gut microbiomes of 106 patients who had been admitted to one of three different hospitals in Hong Kong between February and August 2020. These patients had all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus and subsequently developed varying levels of COVID symptoms.&nbsp;



For comparison, the gut microbiomes of a further 68 people, none of whom had COVID, were also analyzed. These non-COVID controls were recruited before the start of the pandemic (between September 2019 and November 2019) from the volunteer patients at the endoscopy center at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Stool samples were collected before these subjects underwent a normal colonoscopy.



Initial stool samples were collected from the sick people upon their admission to hospital, and from the control group just prior to their colonoscopies. Samples were collected again after one month and after six months. Samples were also collected from 11 patients after 9 months.&nbsp;



The researchers also checked all participants for the presence of the 30 most common long COVID symptoms, one, three, six and nine months after admission to hospital. Their aerobic capacity and endurance, an indicator of long COVID, was also measured in a 6-minute distance walk test.&nbsp;



Of the patients diagnosed with COVID, 86 (81 percent) of them had symptoms of PACS three months later, and 81 (76.5 percent) after six months. The most common symptoms reported at 6 months were fatigue (31 percent), poor memory (28 percent), hair loss (22 percent), anxiety (21 percent) and sleep disturbances (21 percent).&nbsp;



There were no significant differences in potentially influential factors, such as age, gender, prevalence of underlying conditions, use of antibiotics or antiviral drugs, or COVID-19 severity between patients with and without long COVID, six months after initial infection.



However, there were significant differences in the gut microbe populations found in those who developed PACS, and those who did not. While the microbiota were similar for people who did not develop PACS and those in the control group, those who suffered from long COVID had a less diverse and abundant community of gut microbes.&nbsp;



In particular, patients with long COVID had reduced populations of 28 different species of microbes, including the ‘friendly’&nbsp;Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and&nbsp;Blautia obeum. These species are associated with anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, these patients also had increased numbers of 14 other ‘unfriendly’ gut bacterial species, such as Ruminococcus gnavus&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bacteroides vulgatus, both of which are associated with inflammation.&nbsp;



Interestingly, this dysbiosis (unbalance between gut microbe populations) was present at the time of admission to hospital, and it did not improve, even after six months. In contrast, patients who did not develop PACS had only 25 changes in bacterial species at the time of hospital admission, and this recovered completely after 6 months such that their gut microbes were similar to those of people who had not had COVID.



The researchers then looked in more detail at whether the composition of the gut microbiome was associated with specific symptoms of long COVID. They considered the following symptoms: respiratory; neuropsychiatric (headache, dizziness, loss of taste and smell, anxiety, poor concentration, disrupted sleep, low mood, poor memory, blurred vision); gastrointestinal; skin (hair loss); musculoskeletal; and fatigue.&nbsp;



Eighty-one bacterial species were associated with different categories of long COVID symptoms, and many species were associated with more than two categories of persistent symptoms. For example, after six months, persistent respiratory symptoms were strongly associated with the presence of several opportunistic ‘unfriendly’ microbes, including&nbsp;Streptococcus anginosus,&nbsp;Streptococcus vestibularis,&nbsp;Streptococcus gordonii&nbsp;and&nbsp;Clostridium disporicum.&nbsp;



Additionally, several species known to boost immunity, including&nbsp;Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum,&nbsp;F. prausnitzii,&nbsp;R. inulinivorans&nbsp;and&nbsp;Roseburia hominis, were depleted in those with long COVID at six months.



Similarly, several ‘unfriendly’ bacterial species were associated with poorer performance on the 6-minute walk test among those with long COVID.



Overall, the study found that, at the time of hospital admission, the diversity and richness of gut bacteria in patients who subsequently developed long COVID was significantly lower than that of patients who didn’t, suggesting that particular gut microbial profiles may indicate heightened susceptibility, say the researchers.



“In summary, altered gut microbiome composition is strongly associated with persistent symptoms in patients with COVID-19 up to six months after clearance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus."&nbsp;



The study authors propose that gut profiling may even help to identify people who are more vulnerable to developing serious long-term symptoms after having COVID.



“Considering the millions of people infected during the ongoing pandemic, our findings are a strong impetus for consideration of microbiota modulation to facilitate timely recovery and reduce the burden of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome," concluded the researchers.



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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

Gut microbe diversity may predispose people to long COVID

It is not uncommon for people to develop symptoms of...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a> researchers has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-are-higher-than-previously-estimated/">methane</a> leaking from natural gas burning stoves in the US has a similar climate impact as the carbon dioxide emissions from 500,000 gasoline cars. When compared to the carbon dioxide created from burning natural gas while the stove is in use, the contribution of these methane leaks to global warming is about one third.



“Surprisingly, there are very few measurements of how much natural gas escapes into the air from inside homes and buildings through leaks and incomplete combustion from appliances,” said study lead author Eric Lebel, who conducted the research as a graduate student in Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth).&nbsp;



“It’s probably the part of natural gas emissions we understand the least about, and it can have a big impact on both climate and indoor air quality.”



Methane is about 86 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over the first twenty years and 25 times worse for one hundred years after emission. Methane also contributes to approximately one million premature deaths annually across the globe. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, concentrations of methane have increased more than twice as fast as those of carbon dioxide.



Over 40 million homes in the US cook with natural gas, representing more than one third of households. Because people are close to the natural gas emissions coming from their kitchen, they are directly exposed to air pollutants.&nbsp;



These pollutants can include nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, which are all dangerous gasses. Some of these are known to trigger asthma, coughing and difficulty breathing, even occasionally leading to hospitalization.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I don’t want to breathe any extra nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide or formaldehyde,” said study senior author Professor Rob Jackson. “Why not reduce the risk entirely? Switching to electric stoves will cut greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air pollution.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.



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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

Natural gas stoves have greater impacts than expected

A new study led by Stanford researchers has revealed that...

New genetic research techniques are confirming old theories of insular evolution. A study conducted by a team of zoologists at <a href="https://www.tcd.ie/">Trinity College Dublin</a> has confirmed that the isolating effects of islands impact the evolution of species, even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lighter-feathers-help-migratory-birds-to-keep-cool/">birds</a> that are some of their best colonizers. 



For the investigation, the researchers sequenced genes and took measurements of the “Supertramp” bird of southeast Asia, the island monarch (Monarcha cineracens). This is a bird that’s been studied by evolutionary biologists for decades.



“This study was a great opportunity to work with one of biogeography’s ‘star species," said first author Fionn Ó Marcaigh. "The island monarch was studied by famous scientist and geographer Jared Diamond in the 1970s, when he saw that they occurred on small islands across a wide range but were entirely missing from larger islands." 



"He named species with this kind of distribution ‘supertramps,' hypothesising that they essentially evolved into specialist island colonisers in response to their small islands being so unstable."



"This hypothesis has been influential ever since, but now we’re able to test it using modern genetic methods and help to evolve it further.”



The research was focused on island biogeography, an important part of evolutionary theory and ecology. The study showed that although island monarchs can fly to different islands, they generally stay put after colonizing a new island.&nbsp;



“We found that even though the Island Monarch is clearly good enough at flying to reach these islands in the first place, it doesn’t maintain this dispersive lifestyle after colonisation. This causes the island populations to diverge from one another, to the point that the Island Monarch in our study region is probably a different species to the one Diamond worked with, even though they look the same to the eye," explained Ó Marcaigh.



"Our statistical analyses indicate that this genetic divergence is linked to the size, elevation, and isolation of the islands, but we found no evidence that the monarchs get physically worse at flying between islands. They just choose to stop doing so!"



The research shows the importance of insularity to the evolution of new species, emphasizing that isolation allows a bird in this case to evolve in isolation from the rest of its species.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/fb">Frontiers in Biogeography</a>.



Image Credit: Fionn Ó Marcaigh



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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

“Supertramp” birds provide insight into how evolution works

New genetic research techniques are confirming old theories of insular...

Small-scale artisanal gold mining provides an important income for local communities in the Peruvian rainforest, as in many other locations around the world. The miners collect river sediments and then use <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mercury-levels-in-bluefin-tuna-reveal-patterns-of-ocean-pollution/">mercury</a> to bind together the particles of gold present in these sediments. This process forms a pellet of gold large enough to be caught in a sieve and thus separated from the matrix of river sands.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The use of mercury in this process pollutes the river water with this toxic, heavy metal and impacts the associated aquatic ecosystems. Studies have investigated the impacts and spread of river pollution in the past, and exposed the dangers of this practice.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="http://duke.edu">Duke University</a> has collected the first data from the Peruvian rainforest on terrestrial deposits of atmospheric methylmercury, the most toxic and dangerous form of mercury.



Atmospheric mercury is released when the pellets of gold are heated in open fire ovens in order to separate out the gold. The gold melts, while the mercury vapor goes into the atmosphere along with particles of smoke. This smoke settles on the leaves of trees and usually ends up being washed into the soil by rainfall, or absorbed directly into the tissues of the leaves.



In order to quantify the levels of mercury around gold mining sites in an area of the Peruvian rainforest, Gerson and colleagues collected samples of air, leaf litter, soil and green leaves from the tops of trees – these were obtained using a huge slingshot. Their samples came from four different environments: forested and deforested areas that were either near to mining activity or removed from it. Two of the forested areas near mining activity were patches with small, scraggly trees, while the third was at the Los Amigos Biological Station, a pristine old-growth forest that has never been disturbed.



The results of the analysis, published today in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>,&nbsp;showed that samples from deforested areas had low levels of mercury regardless of their proximity to mining activity. Deforested areas would be expected to receive mercury only in the rainfall and so levels would be comparable to those currently recorded in atmospheric circulation globally.&nbsp;



Forested areas, however, showed differing levels of contamination. The four areas with scraggly trees, two near mining activity and two further away, had levels of mercury that were within the range of world-wide averages. By contrast, the areas of mature forest that were near mining activity showed elevated mercury levels.&nbsp;



In fact, the stand of old-growth pristine forest at the Los Amigos Biological Station was found to harbor the highest levels of mercury ever recorded anywhere in the world, rivaling industrial areas where mercury is mined.&nbsp;



“We found that mature Amazonian forests near gold mining are capturing huge volumes of atmospheric mercury, more than any other ecosystem previously studied in the entire world,” said study lead author Jacqueline Gerson, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.



The researchers used a parameter called leaf area index to quantify the density of the forest canopy at each site. They found that mercury levels were directly related to the leaf area index, indicating that the more leaves there are present in the canopy, the more mercury is accumulated. The leaves therefore trap the gases and smoke particles that originate from the open-pit heating of gold pellets.&nbsp;



Not only was the mercury accumulating in the leaves of trees, either. The researchers hypothesized that the metal would undergo bioaccumulation and be present throughout the food webs in the Peruvian rainforest ecosystems. They measured the mercury levels in the feathers of three species of songbirds in forest reserve areas close to, and far from, gold mining operations.&nbsp;



They found that birds from Los Amigos had on average three times (and up to 12 times) more mercury accumulated in their feathers, when compared to birds from other forest stations that were far from mines.&nbsp;



Mercury can be ingested with contaminated food or water, and can also be inhaled and enter the body through the mucus membranes. It is extremely toxic and can have serious impacts on the nervous system as well as the success of reproduction. The high concentrations of mercury in the songbirds could result in a decrease in reproductive success of as much as 30 percent, report the authors. &nbsp;



“These forests are doing an enormous service by capturing a huge fraction of this mercury and preventing it from getting to the global atmospheric pool,” said Professor Emily Bernhardt. “It makes it even more important that they not be burned or deforested, because that would release all that mercury back to the atmosphere.”



Since small-scale artisanal gold mining provides a livelihood for local communities that have little other source of income, it is not feasible to disallow or ban the activity. Just as with the American gold-rush that ravaged California in the 1850s, it is driven by economic necessity, and impacts indigenous communities disproportionally.



“This is not something new or exclusive to this area,” said Professor Bernhardt. “A very similar thing, with very similar methods, has already been done throughout many of the wealthy countries of the world where gold was available. The demand is just pushing mining further into new areas.”&nbsp;



“There's a reason why people are mining,” said Gerson. “It's an important livelihood, so the goal is not to get rid of mining completely, nor is it for people like us coming in from the United States to be the ones imposing solutions or determining what should happen.”



“The goal is to highlight that the issues are far vaster than water pollution, and that we need to work with local communities to come up with ways for miners to have a sustainable livelihood and protect indigenous communities from being poisoned through air and water."



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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

Illegal gold mining dumps mercury in the Peruvian rainforest

Small-scale artisanal gold mining provides an important income for local...

Climate change is increasingly threatening the Winter Olympics and the future of snow sports in general, by making conditions more dangerous for athletes and participants. This is according to a new report published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2021.2023480?journal=&amp;src=">Current Issues in Tourism</a> one week before the start of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Games.



While 21 venues all over the world have been used to host this event since 1924, the researchers suggest that by 2050, less than half of these venues will have the “climate suitability” and natural snowfall levels to be appropriate places for hosting the event.



The Beijing Games, set to start on February 4, 2022, will be the first Winter Olympics to use 100 percent artificial snow, deployed by over 100 snow generators and 300 snow-making guns. Since they are set in naturally arid climates, the two host cities, Beijing and Zhangjiakou will use an estimated 49 million gallons of chemically-treated water frozen by snow machines.



“This is not only energy and water intensive, frequently using chemicals to slow melt, but also delivers a surface that many competitors say is unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” wrote the report authors.



“The 2022 Winter Olympics will, no doubt, be an awesome spectacle watched and enjoyed by millions worldwide. But they should also provoke a debate about the future of snow sports, and the limits of engineering artificial natural environments. Slippery slopes lie ahead.”



Since natural snow is becoming less plentiful in many areas of the world due to climate change, the global snow sport industry will definitely be affected. 



“Navigating erratic snow seasons and rapid melt of low level resorts are now the norm for many competitors. The risk is clear: man-made warming is threatening the long-term future of winter sports. It is also reducing the number of climatically suitable host venues for the Winter Olympiad,” the researchers wrote.



Previous Winter Olympic venues, such as Chamonix (the city in France which hosted the first Olympics in 1924) and other cities in France, Austria, and Norway are now rated “high-risk,” while Vancouver in Canada, Sochi in Russia, and Squaw Valley in the United States are deemed “unreliable.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



“By mid-century the number of reliable hosts declines to four (Lack Placid, Lillehammer, Oslo, and Sapporo) and by the end of the century only one location remains reliable (Sapporo),” the authors concluded.&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

The future is uncertain for Winter Olympics in a warmer world

Climate change is increasingly threatening the Winter Olympics and the...

A new study from <a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> explains why new strategies must be considered for building resilient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-are-more-resilient-and-productive/">forests</a>. Researchers in the Department of Wildland Resources say that historical forest conditions are becoming increasingly hard to achieve in a changing world. They found that trees in forests with less crowding have a better chance of bouncing back after a traumatic drought, fire, or disease outbreak.



"In an emerging era of megadisturbance, bolstering forest resilience to wildfire, insects, and drought has become a central objective in many western forests. Climate has received considerable attention as a driver of these disturbances, but few studies have examined the complexities of climate–vegetation–disturbance interactions," wrote the study authors.



"Current strategies for creating resilient forests often rely on retrospective approaches, seeking to impart resilience by restoring historical conditions to contemporary landscapes, but historical conditions are becoming increasingly unattainable amidst modern bioclimatic conditions."



While restoration efforts are often aimed at recreating historical conditions, today's changing environment calls for a new approach. According to the researchers, "social distancing" among trees can increase their chance of survival after fire.



The results of two long-term studies, which involved more than 50,000 individual trees over 23 years, show that chances for long-term tree survival increases when trees have more space. This reduces competition and helps trees recover more quickly after a fire.



The experts analyzed the cause of death among tens of thousands of trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They found that trees in crowded forests were less tolerant of fire damage, and were more susceptible to post-fire bark beetle attack.&nbsp;



On the other hand, in forests where trees had more space, there was a greater chance for recovery - even after fires that were associated with extreme drought. Overall, the research showed that lower forest density can greatly reduce the risk of death from fire or beetle attacks. Trees that do not have to compete for water resources have a better chance of fighting back against increasingly challenging conditions. 



“Using historical conditions as an ideal example of a healthy forest may not be practical moving forward,” explained study co-author Furniss. He said that forests from the pre-settlement era had their own problems after all.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19395582">Ecological Applications</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

Trees have a better chance of survival in less crowded forests

A new study from Utah State University explains why new...

By analyzing data from 8,671 camera trap stations spanning four continents and 23 countries, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> (UBC) has found that protected areas are highly effective at conserving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lighted-nets-help-protect-endangered-marine-wildlife/">wildlife</a>. 



According to the examined footage, habitats with protected designation had a significantly higher mammal diversity compared to forests or wilderness areas lacking such a designation. The positive effects on wildlife were even found in protected areas exposes to human disturbances, such as logging or recreational use.



“This is not shocking news in itself, but it is exciting evidence of the critical role that parks and nature reserves play in wildlife conservation,” said study senior author Dr. Cole Burton, a conservation biologist at UBC specializing in mammal populations and human-wildlife interactions. 



“As international discussions continue on new global targets for expanding protected areas, it’s important to be able to measure the benefits of the protections that do currently exist.”



According to Dr. Burton and his colleagues, protected areas are the final stronghold for a large number of endangered mammals, which are difficult to protect since they require large areas for habitats and tend to enter into frequent conflict with human intruders.



“If we want to keep larger mammals around, along with the critical roles they play in ecosystems, we need to continue focusing on the growth of the protected area network. In fact, under the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>, the world is currently discussing new targets for how much of the earth’s surface should be covered by parks. We need to have better information to inform these policy discussions. Hopefully this study helps fill the gaps in our knowledge,” he concluded.



According to the researchers, their study provides important evidence of the global effectiveness of protected areas in conserving terrestrial mammals and emphasizes the critical role of area-based conservation in a post-2020 biodiversity framework. The research is published in <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12865">Conservation Letters: A Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology</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

Protected areas are highly effective for wildlife conservation

By analyzing data from 8,671 camera trap stations spanning four...

By combining tree-ring data with U.S. Forest Service inventory data on Arizona’s ponderosa pines, a recent study led by the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> has investigated the possible future effects of climate change on tree growth. The results suggest that global warming may cause a 56 to 91 percent decline in individual tree growth.



Forests <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-sinks-are-a-powerful-weapon-against-climate-change/">remove carbon dioxide</a> from the atmosphere, thus offsetting greenhouse gas emissions and helping to mitigate climate change. “It's a free service that forests provide, so forests have been touted as one of the many natural climate solutions that countries rely on to offset their emissions," said study lead author&nbsp;Kelly Heilman, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Arizona’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ltrr.arizona.edu/">Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research</a>.&nbsp;



“But competition between trees, droughts and disturbances can reduce forest carbon uptake. Knowing how much carbon forests take up globally is essential to addressing the climate crisis and planning for a resilient future.”



The massive declines in tree growth that Dr. Heilman and her colleagues are forecasting will mean less uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future by Arizona's forests. “While Arizona's forests are relatively small in terms of their contribution to the total U.S. carbon sequestration, our approach can be used to make the same predictions for forests around the world,” she explained.



The causes of tree size decline are complex and varied, but the main one seems to be global warming. Since trees have to work against gravity to get water to their top, if temperatures rise, the water-transport system will be under increasing pressure and most likely become damaged. Warming will make trees more drought stressed, and reduce their growth.&nbsp;



Although drought seems to make taller trees more vulnerable due to high temperatures, the scientists found that small trees will also suffer due to lack of water. Since their roots are smaller, they will need to struggle more to extract moisture from the soil.



Moreover, denser forests will likely fare worse during hotter and drier conditions, since there will be more competition between trees for increasingly rare resources such as water and nutrients. “Foresters can't influence the climate, but they can change forest density to reduce competition for the remaining trees,” said study co-author Margaret Evans, an assistant professor of Dendrochronology in the tree-ring lab. “If you have both an overly dense forest and climate warming happening at the same time, that's a double whammy. But if you thin the forests, you can remove one source of stress.”



In order to improve their tree growth predictions in future work, the scientists aim to include variables such as wildfires or insect disturbances into their analyses.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.16038">Global Change Biology</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

Global warming will cause massive declines in tree growth

By combining tree-ring data with U.S. Forest Service inventory data...

Rising sea levels introduce salt water into coastal wetlands, and this has effects that can be seen well above the high-tide level. Although these effects have been studied for coastal salt <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marshes-protect-shorelines-against-inclement-weather/">marshes</a> with their salt-tolerant plant communities, the same cannot be said for coastal wetlands that lie further inland and are characterized by the presence of fresh water.&nbsp;



The Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula covers more than 2,000 square miles on the North Carolina coastal plain. It is a vast expanse of forested swamps and tea-colored creeks that lie in a location currently experiencing a sea level rise of 3–4 mm each year. Much of this area lies a few feet above sea level and is flooded by ocean surges that are driven by storm systems and rising sea levels.&nbsp;



The salinity of sea water is 400 times that of fresh water, and the salt that remains behind after an ocean intrusion recedes gradually increases the salinity to intolerable levels for the wetland plant species. This can lead to changes in plant communities as more salt-tolerant species become established.



In a recent study, researchers from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a> and North Carolina State University surveyed the low-living plant communities that inhabit the waterlogged soils of the wetlands on this peninsula. The goal was to identify whether ground layer plants exhibit threshold responses to salinity exposure and whether this could provide early warning of salinity increases in other coastal wetlands.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The team was led by Professors&nbsp;Justin Wright&nbsp;and&nbsp;Emily Bernhardt&nbsp;of Duke and&nbsp;Marcelo Ardón&nbsp;of NC State. The researchers conducted two vegetation surveys throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula.&nbsp;They focused on 112 species of understory plants that occur in the region and recorded where they were found and how abundant they were in relation to levels of salt in the soil.&nbsp;



“It's hard fieldwork,” said study co-author Steve Anderson. “It gets really dense and scratchy. That, plus the heat and humidity mixed with the smell of sulfur and the ticks and the poison ivy; it just kind of adds up.”



The researchers then used multidimensional scaling methods to identify the factors driving community composition change in these wetlands. They found that two factors, salinity and elevation, explained 64 percent of the variation in community composition. In addition, the team identified two salinity thresholds that were associated with major changes in plant community composition.&nbsp;



The researchers found a "tipping point," around 265 g sodium ions per g of soil, and another at 3,843 g Na+/g, where established plant communities could not tolerate further increases in salinity. Subsequent increases were associated with disproportionately large changes in the plant communities that were present.&nbsp;



For example, above the first critical threshold (265 g Na+/g), the plant community on the marsh floor suddenly shifts, as plants such as wax myrtle, swamp bay and pennywort are replaced by rushes, reeds and other plants that can better tolerate salty soils.



Overall, the results show that ground layer plants can be used as reliable indicators of salinity thresholds in coastal wetlands, said the study authors. These results can be used for monitoring salt exposure of ecosystems and for identifying areas at risk for undergoing future community shifts.



The hope is that monitoring indicator species like these could help researchers spot the early warning signs of salt stress, explained Anderson.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/11258">Plant Ecology</a>.



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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

Coastal wetlands can become too salty for some resident plants

Rising sea levels introduce salt water into coastal wetlands, and...

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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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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



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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

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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

[sendtonews key="u0TYxxqfF7-2186404-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA’s...