The scorching heatwaves we experience, the wildfires that rage across nations, and the invisible carbon dioxide that fills the air are severely impacting our planet.



In 2023, the world saw extreme heatwaves that fueled substantial wildfires and induced severe droughts across the globe. 



What's more, these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-wildfires-are-gaining-even-more-speed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adverse conditions</a> significantly weakened the land's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon. 



The result? A notable surge in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, growing the scale of concern about accelerating climate change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-atmospheric-carbon">Heat and atmospheric carbon </h2>



Data from Hawaii's <a href="https://gml.noaa.gov/obop/mlo/aboutus/aboutus.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mauna Loa Observatory</a> showed that atmospheric carbon concentrations skyrocketed by an alarming 86% in 2023 compared to 2012. This increase sets a new record high since tracking of these levels began in 1958.



Interestingly, the rise in carbon dioxide levels cannot solely be pointed towards fossil fuel emissions. These, it seems, only rose by roughly 0.6 percent.



So, what's the primary culprit behind the spike in emissions? It's likely due to weakened <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-fire-risk-has-grown-exponentially-in-a-hotter-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon absorption</a> by natural ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-weakened-carbon-sink">Weakened carbon sink </h2>



An international team of scientists backed by the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Extreme_heat_weakens_land_s_power_to_absorb_carbon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a> Science for Society Near-Realtime Carbon Extremes project - along with the Climate Change Initiative RECCAP-2 project - set out to investigate the root causes of this event.



The experts used global vegetation models and satellite data to expedite a carbon budget report for 2023.



Land typically absorbs about one-third of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions. However, in 2023, this absorption capacity fell to a mere one-fifth of its usual level, marking the weakest performance by land carbon sink in two decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extreme-heat-and-carbon-storage-capacity">Extreme heat and carbon storage capacity </h2>



“Our research shows that 30% of this decline was driven by the extreme heat of 2023, which fueled massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ultrafine-particles-in-wildfire-smoke-change-weather-patterns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildfires</a> that ravaged vast areas of Canadian forest and triggered severe drought across parts of the Amazon rainforest," said Philippe Ciais, a scientist from France’s Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences.



"These fires and droughts led to substantial vegetation loss, weakening the land ecosystem’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. This was further compounded by a particularly strong El Niño, which historically reduces the carbon absorption capacity in the Tropics." 



The situation was made worse by a particularly potent El Niño, which historically reduces carbon absorption capacity in the tropics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-emitted-from-wildfires">Carbon emitted from wildfires</h2>



Widespread wildfires across Canada and droughts in the Amazon in 2023 released nearly the same amount of carbon to the atmosphere as North America's total fossil fuel emissions. 



This finding highlights the severe impact of climate change on natural ecosystems.



The Amazon rainforest, one of the planet's most essential carbon sinks, is showing signs of long-term distress. Some regions of the Amazon that no longer absorb carbon have shifted into net sources of carbon emissions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-declining-capacity-to-absorb-carbon">Earth's declining capacity to absorb carbon </h2>



The declining capacity of Earth's land ecosystems to absorb carbon dioxide may signify that these natural carbon sinks are nearing their limits. 



They won't be able to continue to provide the mitigation service of absorbing half of human-induced carbon dioxide emissions.



"Consequently, achieving safe global warming limits will require even more ambitious emission reductions than previously anticipated," Ciais adds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saving-earth-s-carbon-cycle">Saving Earth's carbon cycle</h2>



The study also highlights that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-models-underestimate-sea-ice-melt-and-global-warming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">current climate models</a> might be underestimating the pace and impact of extreme events such as droughts and fires on the degradation of these crucial carbon reservoirs.



"Understanding the knock-on effects of climate change on the carbon cycle is imperative, and the two ESA study projects demonstrate the importance of Earth observation in developing methodologies to provide rapid assessment of these impacts globally," said Stephen Plummer, <a href="https://www.esa.int/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a> Earth Observation Applications Scientist.



"These results are particularly alarming, especially considering the difficulty the world is having limiting warming to 1.5°C, as laid out in the Paris Agreement," noted Clement Albergel, ESA’s Acting Head of the Actionable Climate Information Section.



Given these alarming revelations, it's vital that we ask ourselves: how can we contribute to mitigating these effects? Can we consume less, recycle more, and seek out greener alternatives in our daily lives? The need for climate action could not be more urgent.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwae367/7831648?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Science Review</a>.



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Extreme heat of 2023  weakened Earth's carbon storage capacity

The scorching heatwaves we experience, the wildfires that rage across nations, and the invisible carbon dioxide that fills the air are severely impacting our planet. In 2023, the world saw extreme heatwaves that fueled substantial wildfires and induced severe droughts across the globe. What's more, these adverse conditions significantly weakened the land's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon. The result? A notable surge in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, growing the scale of concern about accelerating climate change. Heat and atmospheric carbon Data from Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory showed...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> has found that dengue fever could be largely avoided in the future by combating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stopping-global-warming-save-species/">global warming</a>. The researchers are reporting that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could prevent around 3.3 million cases of dengue fever per year in Latin America and the Caribbean alone.

The dengue virus is spread by mosquitoes in over 100 tropical and subtropical countries, affecting 390 million people worldwide each year. An infection from the virus causes symptoms including fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and there is currently no vaccination or treatment for the disease.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are an estimated 54 million annual cases of dengue fever.

The mosquitoes that carry the virus thrive in warmer and humid conditions, and a rise in global temperatures by 3.7 degrees Celsius could cause 7.5 million additional cases per year by the middle of this century.

“There is growing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on human health,” said study lead author Dr. Felipe Colón-González. “While it is recognized that limiting warming to 1.5°C would have benefits for human health, the magnitude of these benefits remains mostly unquantified.” 

“This is the first study to show that reductions in warming from 2°C to 1.5°C could have important health benefits.”

The researchers analyzed cases of dengue fever in Latin America, and used computer models to project the impacts of the virus under different climate warming scenarios.

The team found that limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius could reduce dengue cases by up to 2.8 million per year by the end of the century, and limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could prevent up to half a million additional cases.

Brazil would benefit the most if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, avoiding up to 1.4 million cases per year by 2100. The study also revealed that curbing global warming could prevent dengue from spreading to areas where incidence is currently low.

“Understanding and quantifying the impacts of warming on human health is crucial for public health preparedness and response,” said study co-author Dr. Iain Lake.

“Warming has already reached 1°C above pre-industrial levels, and the current trajectory, if countries meet their international pledges to reduce CO2, is around 3°C - so clearly a lot more needs to be done to reduce CO2 and quickly if we are to avoid these impacts.”

The research is published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Slowing global warming can prevent millions of dengue fever cases

A new study led by the University of East Anglia...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-bleaching-fish-diversity/">Great Barrier Reef</a> covers an area of 348,000 kilometers and contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs. It is indeed a natural wonder of great significance, and its continued preservation and protection from degradation and bleaching is an important mission for many in the scientific community. 

It’s no secret that climate change, human activities, and ocean temperature variations have caused catastrophic bleaching events, which not only impacts the corals themselves but also the species that rely on corals to thrive. 

Now, a new landmark study of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has discovered that the reef may be more resilient to major sea level changes than previously realized. 

Researchers led by Jody Webster from the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> reconstructed the evolution of the reef over the past 30,000 years using data collected from fossil reef cores at 16 different sites off the coast of Australia. 

The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, shows both glaciation and deglaciation events had a significant impact on the reef. 

All in all, the researchers found that the reef has suffered 5 death events driven by sea-level changes, and in response to these changes, the reef migrated across the ocean floor.

When sea levels dropped 30,000 years ago and again 22,000 years ago, the reef was exposed to air and went through two major death events. During this time, as sea levels dropped, the reef moved further seaward to avoid surface exposure. 

Two more death events occurred when sea levels rose after glacial melting and the reef subsequently moved inward towards to the shore. 

High increases in sediment were likely the biggest driver behind the reef’s deaths, and the fifth death event was linked to a massive sediment increase which reduced water quality, according to the study. 

The results point to a more hopeful outlook for the GBR in the face of global warming. However, the rapid increases in temperature and sea-level due to current changes in climate may be too much for the reef to properly adapt as it has before. 

“Our study shows the reef has been able to bounce back from past death events during the last glaciation and deglaciation,” said Webster. “However, we found it is also highly sensitive to increased sediment input, which is of concern given current land-use practices. I have grave concerns about the ability of the reef in its current form to survive the pace of change caused by the many current stresses and those projected into the near future.” 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The Great Barrier Reef has undergone five different death events

The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of 348,000 kilometers...

Residents of Ellicott City, Maryland, found themselves in a desperate situation on Sunday when over six inches of rain fell in just two hours and triggered catastrophic flash flooding. 

The town's historic Main Street was transformed into a powerful river that tossed around cars and debris. The brown water ripped through shops and restaurants, rising above the first floor of some buildings. 

People scrambled to reach higher ground in the flooded buildings, where many were forced to spend the night before being rescued Monday morning.

Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/atmospheric-rivers-heavier-future-flooding/">flooding</a> is not an unfamiliar sight in the small Howard County community, located about 12 miles west of Baltimore. The people and businesses of Ellicott City were still recovering from a devastating flood that also came out of nowhere in July of 2016.

Today's survey of the damage has revealed that the intensity of this year's flooding is worse compared to that of 2016, but there have been no confirmed casualties. There is a search underway, however, for missing National Guard member Eddison Hermond, who was reportedly swept away by the force of the water while helping to rescue others.

Nick Johnson owns a furniture store in downtown Ellicott City. He saw videos and photos of the destructive floodwaters on social media yesterday, and said that he was surprised to see people reposting images from 2016. He was soon shocked to realize that this was not footage from two years ago, but that the flooding was happening again.

“We don't know the extent of the damage except that it's far worse than it was two years ago,” Johnson told <a href="https://weather.com/">The Weather Channel</a>.

According to the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a>, the nearby Patapsco River swelled up by 17.8 feet during the slow-moving storms. The river, which is a major waterway that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay, hit a record 24.1 feet on Sunday.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said that there are no words to describe the devastation.

Kittleman told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>: “There are a lot of people whose lives are going to be devastated again, and they've been working so hard to come back and we just need to be there for them and to tell them ... all of our resources are there to help them.” 

“I can't imagine what they're going through. I couldn't imagine what they went through two years ago, and now it's even worse.”

Experts say that this is the second time in two years that Ellicott City has experienced a 1000-year flood, which has only a 0.1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

Dangerous flash flooding remains a threat for regions of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas as Subtropical Storm Alberto moves in, and some areas could receive as much as a foot of rain.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo

Flash flood devastates historic Maryland community… again

Residents of Ellicott City, Maryland, found themselves in a desperate...

Tropical rainforests play a vital role in regulating climate and absorbing carbon, but climate change could greatly impact Amazon forests and reduce their CO2 storage abilities. 

Already, severe droughts in recent years have caused huge swaths of tropical rainforests to die off, decreasing carbon storage and impacting species that rely on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazonian-neighborhood-watch-mixed-flocks/">Amazonian</a> habitats. 

Understanding how tropical rainforests respond to drought is a key part in predicting the impact of future climate change, but unfortunately, little research has existed on the drought sensitivity of tropical forests. 

But now, researchers from <a href="http://eee.columbia.edu/">Columbia Engineering</a> have found that Amazon forests are not uniform in their response to climate change, and that tree height and age influences a rainforest’s susceptibility to drought.

The results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience. 

Tropical rainforests represent the Earth’s largest terrestrial CO2 sink, and if habitat reduction in the Amazon continues due to climate change and human activities, this will greatly affect the amount of carbon that can be stored. 

Pierre Gentine, an associate professor at Columbia Engineering, led the study and found that tree height impacts photosynthesis in tropical rainforests.

Remote sensing observations of solar-induced fluorescence, precipitation, canopy height, and data on approximate forest age and biomass were all used to measure tropical forest sensitivity in the study.

The results showed that forests above 30 meters are three times less sensitive to changes in precipitation. Taller forests are also less susceptible to drought because they have deeper root systems.

However, in the face of climate change, despite the resilience of taller trees, these forests may be the most impacted by climate change driven temperature increases and atmospheric dryness. 

“Our findings suggest that forest height and age are an important regulator of photosynthesis in response to droughts,” said Gentine. “Although older and taller trees show less sensitivity to precipitation variations (droughts), they are more susceptible to fluctuations in atmospheric heat and aridity, which is going to rise substantially with climate change.”

The study sheds insight on how tree age impacts susceptibility to climate change and could help with managing and protecting older forests from habitat reduction. 

“Our study makes it clear that forest height and age directly impact the carbon cycle in the Amazon,” said Gentine. “This is especially significant given the importance of the Amazon rainforest for the global carbon cycle and climate.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Taller, older Amazon rainforests are more durable through drought

Tropical rainforests play a vital role in regulating climate and...

The unbalanced trade relations between the United States and China puts the U.S. economy at risk when climate change-induced regional flooding interrupts production and exports, according to a new study. 

The research, conducted at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research </a>and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows how regional floods prompted by global warming will impact the global economy and cause major losses. 

This is the first study to assess the effect of flooding due to climate change on a global scale and the results emphasize the interconnectivity of global trade and supply chains. 

Flooding is projected to increase in many parts of the world due to global warming, and in China flood damages could even increase by 80 percent within the next 20 years. Damages from flooding won’t just affect China, but also many countries that rely on exported goods from China, like the United States.

For the study, the researchers used a new economic computer simulation called an Acclimate-model which was specifically designed to show global impacts on the world’s economy. 

The researchers used projections of near future river floods on a regional scale based on current greenhouse gas emission levels in the atmosphere and simulated the global impacts from the future projected flood events with the Acclimate-model. 

“This work combines two very innovative lines of work: global risk assessment for natural hazards and network theory to understand how localized shocks propagate in time and space,” said Stéphane Hallegatte. The lead economist for The World Bank. “It contributes to scientific progress in multiple ways, but one of the most important policy messages for me is that the world is so interconnected that natural disasters are not local events anymore: everybody can be affected by a disaster occurring far away.”

China could suffer the biggest direct economic losses from floods, according to the model, totaling more than 380 billion US dollars over the next 20 years. The United States and European Union, countries with major trade relationships with China, would, in turn also incur severe indirect losses. 

In the US, the study estimates that indirect losses over the next 20 years could total up to 170 billion dollars because the country’s unbalanced trade relationship with China. 

The researchers say that the EU might be better equipped to adapt to climate-related trade impacts and could even profit by exporting more to China when it needs it. 

The US, on the other hand, imports far more from China than it exports, and with President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, this will only further impact trade susceptible to climate change. 

“But Trump's tariff sanctions are likely to leave US economy even more vulnerable to climate change,” said Anders Levermann, the project leader. “As our study suggests, under climate change, the more reasonable strategy is a well-balanced economic connectivity, because it allows to compensate economic damages from unexpected weather events - of which we expect more in the future.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change in China to impact the U.S. economy

The unbalanced trade relations between the United States and China...

Experts at the <a href="http://www.rzym.pan.pl/en/about-us/polish-academy-of-sciences">Polish Academy of Sciences</a> have been investigating the decline of animals with white fur. The researchers warn that these creatures are especially vulnerable to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricanes-stronger-climate-change/">climate change</a>, as reduced snow cover makes it difficult for them to evade predators.

In the winter months, one subspecies of weasel replaces its brownish fur with a white coat so that it will be camouflaged by its surroundings. 

The research team captured and recorded 118 weasels in the Białowieża Forest between 1997 and 2007, some with white winter coats and others who kept their brown fur. 

According to the study, the number of days with permanent snow cover in the forest were cut in half - from 80 days to 40 days - between 1997 and 2007.

“In our study, the densities of weasels are about four to five times lower than 10 years ago,” said study co-author and biologist Dr. Karol Zub. This decline can be attributed to what experts call camouflage mismatch. In this case, white fur makes the weasels stand out.

Dr. Zub explained that camouflage mismatch may lead to the extinction of the white subspecies, which could be completely replaced by the brown subspecies. On the days without snow cover, as few as 20 percent of the total white-coated weasels were observed, indicating that many had been killed.

“By analyzing trapping data, we found the share of white subspecies in the weasel population inhabiting Bialowieza Forest decreases with decreasing numbers of days with snow cover,” said Dr. Zub.

“This led us to hypothesize selective predation pressure should favor one of the two phenotypes, according to the prevailing weather conditions in winter.”

“A simple field experiment with weasel models (white and brown), exposed against different background colors, revealed contrasting models faced significantly higher detection by predators.”

As snow cover continues to decline in some regions, other white-furred mammals and birds such as the Arctic fox will also be affected. However, there is some hope that animals will find ways to safely adapt to the changing climate conditions.

“We should not underestimate the power of natural selection,” said Dr. Zub. “We hope that along with future climate warming, autumn temperatures will also increase, providing an additional signal to the weasels to delay their moult.”

“Last autumn in our study was mild and under such conditions about half the weasels we observed started to moult at the beginning of January, whereas most weasels complete their moult by the end of November.”

The research was published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Declining snow cover threatens survival of white-furred animals

Experts at the Polish Academy of Sciences have been investigating...

The opioid crisis has reached every corner of the United States, from sea to shining sea. Now, it seems, opioid addiction worries have trickled into the ocean itself off the coast of Washington. Scientists studying mussels transplanted into Puget Sound have discovered trace amounts of oxycodone in the shellfish.

"We found antibiotics, we found antidepressants, chemotherapy drugs, heart medications and then also oxycodone in the mussels from these mostly urbanized areas," biologist Dr. Jennifer Lanksbury told Seattle’s <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/opioids-found-in-puget-sound-mussels/281-558028458">K5 News</a>. Lanksbury led the study for the <a href="https://wdfw.wa.gov/">Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife</a>.

Every two years, the Puget Sound Mussel Monitoring Program takes mussels from uncontaminated water on Whidbey Island and transplant them for three winter months in Puget Sound.

Since mussels are filter feeders – animals that eat by straining food particles and other matter from the water around them – contaminants from polluted water tend to build up in their tissues over time.

After three months, each group of mussels is brought back to the lab and tested to see which pollutants might be found in the Seattle inlet.

The good news is that the problem is not widespread – yet. Oxycodone was only found in three groups of mussels, out of 18 total sets, and only in small amounts. And medical contaminants, which likely came from treated wastewater, were found only in the urban test sites, not in commercial shellfish beds.

“The concentrations of oxycodone in the mussels were about a hundred to five hundred times less than you would get in a normal therapeutic dose for humans,” Lanksbury told K5 News. “So you would have to eat a hundred-fifty pounds of mussels from that contaminated area to even get a minimal dose.”

The findings do raise concerns for other marine wildlife, however. Unlike humans, animals like chinook salmon are affected by a much lower dose of opioids like oxycodone.

“Because we’re finding them in mussels, that means that these chemicals are present in the water and that means that they’re likely affecting the fish and other invertebrates,” Lanksbury said.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Opioid crisis trickles down into the waters of Puget Sound

The opioid crisis has reached every corner of the United...

Atmospheric rivers are long jet streams of air that carry large amounts of water vapor. They are often called “rivers in the sky” and can fuel storms that cause disastrous amounts of flooding due to the high levels of water vapor present in the air streams. 

In early 2017, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/relentless-rain-california-nevada-west/">California</a> and much of the U.S. west coast was battered with severe flooding from atmospheric river storms. 

A new <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> study examined the impact that climate change will have on atmospheric rivers around the world in an effort to provide a better understanding of the weather events. 

According to <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7141&amp;utm_source=iContact&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=NASAJPL&amp;utm_content=daily20180524-2">NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> in California, atmospheric river research was previously limited to either the western United States or Europe. Different methods and results meant that climatologists were not able to compare studies or predict atmospheric river intensity across the globe.  

But this new study provides a method for predicting and evaluating the impacts of climate change on atmospheric river storms on a global scale, as opposed to isolated to a single region. 


The results, recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, project that although atmospheric rivers may slightly decline in numbers, the frequency and intensity of atmospheric river storms will almost double. 

For the study, NASA researchers used global climate projections for the 21st century that were developed for the <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> as well as an algorithm designed to detect atmospheric rivers around the world. 

The algorithm calculates the length, width, and amount of water vapor present in any given atmospheric river from model simulations. 

After applying the algorithm to both real-world observations and model simulations of climate for the 20th century, the researchers were able to show that model simulations accurately represented real-world data and events. 

Next, the researchers used the algorithm to predict atmospheric river events for the late 21st century in order to compare the effects of climate change on these weather events. 

The results showed that increases in global temperature and climate change would impact atmospheric rivers and intensity the frequency of storms even though the number of actual rivers would decrease. 

“The results project that in a scenario where greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, there will be about 10 percent fewer atmospheric rivers globally by the end of the 21st century,” said Duane Waliser, the study’s lead author. “However, because the findings project that the atmospheric rivers will be, on average, about 25 percent wider and longer, the global frequency of atmospheric river conditions -- like heavy rain and strong winds -- will actually increase by about 50 percent.”

Now, because of this study, researchers and climatologists have a uniform way to study climate change and its effect on atmospheric rivers which will be critical for the regions already affected by heavy flooding from atmospheric river fueled storms. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Atmospheric rivers expected to prompt heavier future flooding

Atmospheric rivers are long jet streams of air that carry...

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://ncar.ucar.edu/">National Center for Atmospheric Research</a> (NCAR) is reporting on how past hurricanes would behave under the climate change conditions predicted by the end of this century. Each of the 22 storms analyzed for the study showed unique changes, but the hurricanes became longer, more intense, and much wetter on average.

Hurricane Ike, which devastated regions of the Gulf Coast and claimed over 100 lives, would linger for 17 percent longer, have 13 percent stronger winds, and would be 34 percent wetter under the future climate conditions.


Other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricanes-getting-stronger-faster/">storms</a> were found to be slightly weaker or slightly faster, but none were found to be drier. Across all of the simulated storms, rainfall increased dramatically.

“Our research suggests that future hurricanes could drop significantly more rain,” said lead author and NCAR scientist Ethan Gutmann. “Hurricane Harvey demonstrated last year just how dangerous that can be.”

Hurricane Harvey dumped more than four feet of rain in some regions and caused devastating flooding across the Houston area.

The researchers ran the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model at a high resolution across the United States over two 13-year periods. The first model simulated weather from between 2000 and 2013, and the second simulated the same weather patterns with temperatures boosted by five degrees Celsius.

“Some past studies have also run the WRF at a high resolution to study the impact of climate change on hurricanes, but those studies have tended to look at a single storm, like Sandy or Katrina,” explained Gutmann.

“What we find in looking at more than 20 storms is that some change one way, while others change in a different way. There is so much variability that you can't study one storm and then extrapolate to all storms.”


Overall, the simulated storms had six percent stronger average maximum wind speeds and moved about nine percent more slowly. In addition, average rainfall rates were 24 percent higher.

“This study shows that the number of strong hurricanes, as a percent of total hurricanes each year, may increase,” said co-author Ed Bensman. “With increasing development along coastlines, that has important implications for future storm damage.”

The research is published in the <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/loi/clim">Journal of Climate</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hurricanes will get stronger and wetter with climate change

A team of scientists led by the National Center for...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/country-paris-agreement/">Paris Agreement</a> of the United Nations is a global effort to prevent an increase in the Earth’s climate of 2°C. Almost every country on the planet has agreed to do what it takes to prevent this level of warming becoming a reality – minus the United States, the only country to withdraw. But now, a collaborative research team from China has published a new analysis that predicts the Earth’s climate could increase by 4°C by 2084, compared to pre-industrial levels.

Researcher Dabang Jiang of <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> and his team used the parameters of a scenario in which there was no mitigation of rising greenhouse gas emissions. They compared 39 coordinated climate model experiments from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, which creates and reviews climate models in order to ensure the climate simulations are as accurate as possible. 

The results showed that most models project an increase of 4°C as early as 2064 and as late as 2095 in the 21st century. 

“A great many record-breaking heat events, heavy floods, and extreme droughts would occur if global warming crosses the 4 °C level, with respect to the preindustrial period,” says Jiang. “The temperature increase would cause severe threats to ecosystems, human systems, and associated societies and economies.”

This temperature increase is a result of more annual and seasonal warming over land than over the ocean, and significant warming in the Arctic. Precipitation would likely increase in the Arctic and the Pacific, and the variability of temperature throughout a year would be lower in the tropics and higher in the polar regions. 

“Such comparisons between the three levels of global warming imply that global and regional climate will undergo greater changes if higher levels of global warming are crossed in the 21st century,” says Jiang.

The research team is continuing to study the changes that are associated with a 4°C increase in extreme climates. “Our ultimate goal is to provide a comprehensive picture of the mean and extreme climate changes associated with higher levels of global warming based on state-of-the art climate models, which is of high interest to the decision-makers and the public,” says Jiang. 

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The Earth’s climate could increase by 4 degrees by 2084

The Paris Agreement of the United Nations is a global...

The growing issue of antibiotic resistance has now been linked to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-fish-north-fishing-business/">climate change</a>. A team of epidemiologists led by <a href="https://hms.harvard.edu/">Harvard Medical School</a> discovered that higher local temperatures are associated with increased antibiotic resistance in common bacterial strains. 

Study lead author Derek MacFadden is an infectious disease specialist at <a href="http://www.childrenshospital.org/">Boston Children's Hospital</a>.

“The effects of climate are increasingly being recognized in a variety of infectious diseases, but so far as we know this is the first time it has been implicated in the distribution of antibiotic resistance over geographies,” said MacFadden.

“We also found a signal that the associations between antibiotic resistance and temperature could be increasing over time.”

According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed around 30 percent of the time, which was previously believed to be the cause of rising antibiotic resistance.

In the current study, the team used hospital and lab data from between 2013 and 2015 to examine antibiotic resistance in E. coli, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus. The investigation included more than 1.6 million bacterial specimens from 223 facilities across 41 states.

The study revealed that an increase in temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit boosted antibiotic-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae by 2.2 percent, S. aureus by 3.6 percent, and E. coli by 4.2 percent.

“Estimates outside of our study have already told us that there will already be a drastic and deadly rise in antibiotic resistance in coming years,” said co-senior author John Brownstein.


“But with our findings that climate change could be compounding and accelerating an increase in antibiotic resistance, the future prospects could be significantly worse than previously thought.”

The team also found a link between antibiotic resistance and population density.

“Population growth and increases in temperature and antibiotic resistance are three phenomena that we know are currently happening on our planet,” explained senior author Mauricio Santillana. “But until now, hypotheses about how these phenomena relate to each other have been sparse.”


Brownstein said that the research highlights an urgent need to gain a better understanding of how our changing environment is interconnected with infectious disease and medicine.


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

Antibiotic resistance has been linked to climate change

The growing issue of antibiotic resistance has now been linked...

When a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-jet-stream-weather/">jet stream</a> causes large masses of air to stall out and linger, this process is known as atmospheric blocking. Researchers have found that blocked atmospheric circulations closely resemble traffic jams.

Atmospheric blocking can cause weather patterns to stall over the same regions, triggering floods, heat waves, droughts, and other severe weather events. 

The exact cause of blocking is not very well understood, and neither is the influence that climate change may have on the frequency of blocking events. This uncertainty makes it difficult to accurately predict weather.

Noboru Nakamura is a researcher in Atmospheric and Environmental Fluid Dynamics. He teamed up with Clare Huang to develop a new system for interpreting the nature of atmospheric blocking. 

To understand the processes underlying blocking, the experts combined the use of mathematical theory with a metric for assessing jet streams which they had previously developed.

The study revealed that jet streams which become blocked appear to be very similar to traffic jams, in terms of flow and density of vehicles. 

In light traffic, most cars travel at around the same speed which makes the traffic flow proportionate to traffic density. When traffic becomes congested, the flow of traffic is slowed down, which is precisely what happens to air flow in atmospheric blocking.

Blocking slows down eastward winds, and a highly meandering jet stream can also steer extreme weather. In 2012, atmospheric blocking is what drove Superstorm Sandy onto an unexpected path toward New Jersey. 

The authors found that climate change has the potential to alter the frequency of atmospheric blocking by changing the risk for a jet stream to hit capacity and become overcrowded.

The study is published by the <a href="http://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> (AAAS) in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</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

Jet stream air flow traffic jams can trigger severe weather

When a jet stream causes large masses of air to...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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 



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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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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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

[sendtonews key="6SdlLLbt0t-1988946-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NTU...

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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



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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...