A new study from the Silent Spring Institute reveals a troubling reality: almost one-third of Americans have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water.&nbsp;



These harmful chemicals, not covered by current federal safety rules, could affect people’s health.&nbsp;



The study also shows that Hispanic and Black communities are more likely to face unsafe levels of these pollutants, often living closer to sources of pollution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extent-of-contaminated-water-nbsp">Extent of contaminated water&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers analyzed data from the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA) collected between 2013 and 2015. The team looked at 4,815 public water systems across the country.&nbsp;



The study revealed that 27% of these systems - serving about 97 million people - had detectable levels of at least one unregulated chemical.



Public water systems are required by law to test for nearly 100 specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/u-s-drinking-water-often-contains-unsafe-levels-of-toxic-contaminants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contaminants</a>. These tests ensure that dangerous levels of those substances do not enter our taps.&nbsp;



However, thousands of other chemicals are not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These unregulated chemicals can slip into groundwater and surface water, sometimes reaching the water we drink.



“We know there are thousands of other harmful chemicals that are not regulated that make their way into groundwater and surface waters, and some of these chemicals can ultimately end up in drinking water supplies,” explained Laurel Schaider, a senior scientist at the <a href="https://silentspring.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Silent Spring Institute</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-chemicals-are-in-our-water">Which chemicals are in our water?</h2>



Among the harmful substances found in drinking water are:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>1,4-dioxane: A solvent that is considered a probable human carcinogen. It can also be found in everyday consumer products.</li>



<li><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-filtration-system-removes-forever-chemicals-from-water/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PFAS</a> (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances): Chemicals used to make non-stick coatings and water-resistant fabrics. They are linked to various health issues, including cancer and thyroid problems.</li>



<li>Chlorodifluoromethane (Freon 22): A gas once used in refrigeration and manufacturing products like Teflon.</li>



<li>1,1-dichloroethane: A chemical used in making paints, plastics, and pesticides, which is also associated with cancer.</li>
</ul>



These chemicals are not regularly monitored by water systems, which means their levels could rise without triggering safety actions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disproportionate-impacts-across-communities">Disproportionate impacts across communities</h2>



The study found that communities with higher percentages of Hispanic and Black residents are more likely to have drinking water with these unregulated chemicals.&nbsp;



These communities often live closer to places that release pollution, such as industrial sites, waste treatment plants, airports, and military areas.



“Our findings show that the percentage of Hispanic and Black residents in a community is a consistent predictor of poorer water quality,” said Aaron Maruzzo, lead author of the study and a scientist at Silent Spring Institute.



This situation cannot be explained by income or socioeconomic status alone. The researchers suggest that systemic issues like racism and the historical practice of redlining - which led to placing industrial facilities near communities of color - contribute to the unequal distribution of pollution and contaminated water.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contaminated-water-across-the-nation-nbsp">Contaminated water across the nation&nbsp;</h2>



<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0442-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Past research</a> by Silent Spring Institute has shown that Hispanic residents are more likely to drink water with high nitrate levels, which can lead to health problems like colorectal and bladder <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trained-dogs-can-detect-bladder-cancer-in-other-dogs/">cancer</a>.&nbsp;



Other studies found that community water systems serving majority Hispanic and Black populations often have higher PFAS levels.



The new study is notable because it examines disparities in exposure to PFAS and other unregulated contaminants across all U.S. states, Tribal lands, and territories, offering a comprehensive look at nationwide water quality issues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-growing-pfas-problem">The growing PFAS problem</h2>



PFAS chemicals are more widespread in drinking water than previously thought. As recent tests reveal, many more people may be affected by these substances than the data from 2013 to 2015 indicated.&nbsp;



This makes the study’s estimate of 97 million residents likely an undercount, highlighting an even larger problem.



In April 2024, the EPA set new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strict-pfas-limits-will-make-drinking-water-safer-for-100-million-americans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">drinking water</a> standards for six PFAS chemicals, marking a step forward. However, the study underscores a larger need for federal action: regulating more harmful contaminants and addressing the disproportionate exposure that communities of color face.



“Ultimately, we need to do a better job at protecting source waters and reducing discharges of pollutants into water bodies that feed into our drinking water supplies,” Schaider emphasized.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moving-toward-safer-and-fairer-water-quality-nbsp">Moving toward safer and fairer water quality&nbsp;</h2>



The researchers hope that by making their inventory of unregulated contaminants publicly available, policymakers will be better equipped to create realistic plans for preventing and mitigating water contamination.&nbsp;



This data can guide efforts to ensure safe drinking water for everyone, especially those most at risk.



The study casts a spotlight on a critical public health issue: the uneven burden of contaminated drinking water on minority communities. 



Addressing this challenge involves not only setting stricter regulations for a wider range of chemicals but also tackling the environmental injustices that place these populations at higher risk. 



By improving source water protection and reducing pollution, society can work toward equitable access to safe drinking water for all Americans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP14721" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental Health Perspectives</a>.



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Nearly 100 million Americans exposed to contaminated drinking water

A new study from the Silent Spring Institute reveals a troubling reality: almost one-third of Americans have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water.&nbsp; These harmful chemicals, not covered by current federal safety rules, could affect people’s health.&nbsp; The study also shows that Hispanic and Black communities are more likely to face unsafe levels of these pollutants, often living closer to sources of pollution. Extent of contaminated water&nbsp; The researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collected between 2013 and 2015. The...

The fluctuating value of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/environmental-impact-bitcoin/">Bitcoin</a> is not the only reason the digital network has been making headlines recently. As the price of the cryptocurrency escalates, so do the network's power requirements, which are expected to total half a percent of worldwide electric energy consumption by the end of 2018.

While it has been estimated that the system currently consumes as much energy as some medium-sized countries, accurately calculating this number remains a challenge.

Financial economist Alex de Vries has used a new methodology to quantify Bitcoin's total energy requirements. De Vries works at the Experience Center of PwC in the Netherlands and is the founder of Digiconomist, a blog that aims to better inform cryptocurrency users.

"We've seen a lot of back-of-the-envelope calculations, but we need more scientific discussion on where this network is headed,” explains de Vries. “Right now, the information available is pretty poor quality overall, so I'm hoping that people will use this paper as a foundation for more research.”


De Vries has found that the minimum usage of the Bitcoin network is currently at 2.55 gigawatts, which is nearly the amount of electricity used in Ireland. He also determined that a single Bitcoin transaction uses as much electricity as an average household in the Netherlands uses in an entire month. 

De Vries predicts the network could be using as much as 7.7 gigawatts - half of a percent of the world's total consumption - by the end of this year. 

“To me, half a percent is already quite shocking. It's an extreme difference compared to the regular financial system, and this increasing electricity demand is definitely not going to help us reach our climate goals.”

Computers in the Bitcoin network perform continuous calculations in a process known as “mining.”  

“You are generating numbers the whole time and the machines you're using for that use electricity,” explains de Vries. “But if you want to get a bigger slice of the pie, you need to increase your computing power. So there's a big incentive for people to increase how much they're spending on electricity and on machines.”

Despite some uncertainty in the process, De Vries feels that it is important to get the very best estimate of hardware and electricity costs generated by Bitcoin so that the sustainability of cryptocurrencies can be assessed, which will help to inform future policies. Restrictions around Bitcoin mining have already been established in some American states.

“But you need to base your policy on something. And I think that my method is important in that regard, because it's very forward-looking. It's focused not on the now, but on where we're headed. And I think that's something you really need to know if you're going to draft policy about it.”

De Vries says that there is plenty of room for discussion regarding his method. 

“I think everyone agrees on the minimum energy consumption. But the future estimate? That's actually quite debatable. We don't really have a common approach to getting to a future estimate of electricity consumption right now, which is why I am hoping to get this conversation started. I'm doing this research, but a lot of people should be doing it.”

De Vries reports that the network could eventually consume five percent of the world's total electricity if the value of Bitcoin continues to surge.

The study is published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a> in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/joule/home">Joule</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bitcoin to consume half a percent of the world’s energy this year

The fluctuating value of Bitcoin is not the only reason...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> (UW) have demonstrated that when forest disappears in one region of the country, the impacts are echoed on the other side of the continent. The experts are describing how the effects of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-remaining-untouched-forests/">forest</a> loss ricochet across the atmosphere, affecting conditions for plant growth thousands of miles away.

Study first author Abigail Swann is a UW assistant professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Biology.

“These smaller areas of forest can have continental-scale impacts, and we really need to be considering this when we're thinking about ecological changes,” said Professor Swann. She explained that these far-off effects are widely accepted in the atmospheric sciences community, but the concept is just beginning to catch on among ecologists.

The largest impacts observed in the study were from forest die-offs in California, where millions of trees have been lost in what the state's government has referred to as “the worst epidemic of tree mortality in modern history.”

For the investigation, the researchers divided mainland United States into the 18 regions used in the National Ecological Observatory Network. Next, they used a climate model to simulate the removal of existing forest cover from each of the 13 regions with the most trees to examine the resulting conditions across the country.

Although the Pacific Southwest region had the smallest total area of tree cover, removing these trees caused the most large-scale damage, reducing vegetation in the Eastern United States.


Professor Swann explained that further research is needed to identify the precise mechanisms involved, but it seemed that Eastern summers became subsequently warmer and harmed plant growth.

“Forest loss is disrupting or changing the flow patterns in the atmosphere that is leading to a slightly different summertime climate in the eastern part of the country,” said Professor Swann. 

“It's very analogous to El Niño or ‘the blob,’ something that's occurring that causes the atmosphere to move around, which causes these warmer or cooler conditions, or wetter and drier conditions, somewhere else.”

Professor Swann added that the climate changes are smaller over land, but still comparable to the weather shifts of an El Niño cycle.

The study also revealed other Western regions, such as the Northern Rockies and the Great Basin region, where vanishing forests would lead to negative repercussions for plant growth in the eastern half of the country.

The study indicates that current forest loss in Western regions is significant enough to trigger changes in plant growth over large regions of the country, even though these changes may be too small to detect.

“There's some pretty extensive, widespread forest loss going on,” said Professor Swann. “The changes we made in the model are bigger, but they're starting to converge with things that we're actually seeing.”

“These results show that we need to start thinking about how altering vegetation in one place can affect plants elsewhere, especially in the context of climate change.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/erl">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/">US Forest Service</a>

Forest loss in the western US threatens trees across the country

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have demonstrated that...

A new study may have solved one of the biggest mysteries surrounding Stonehenge, arguably one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments. 

Stonehenge was built around 5,000 years and the construction process was such an undertaking that the monument was erected in stages spanning centuries. 

Researchers are still not sure what purpose Stonehenge served or why it was built in the first place, which only adds to its enigma. 

One of the biggest mysteries behind Stonehenge is how the massive bluestone rocks, believed to be from a quarry in Wales, were transported 140 miles west to the South of England where Stonehenge was built. 

Brian John, a Welsh scientist, has come up with a new theory suggesting that a glacier moved the stones from Wales 5000,000 years. 

John’s new book, The Stonehenge Bluestones, describes his glacier theory and how the stones were already in the area when the Neolithic Britons first decided to erect the stone circles. 

This theory essentially demystifies Stonehenge, which is something that John says has hindered practical scientific research. 

“Over the past 50 years there has been a drift, in Stonehenge studies, from science toward mythology,” John told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5728911/The-gigantic-stones-Stonehenge-moved-GLACIERS-new-theory-claims.html">Daily Mail</a>. “This has been driven partly by constant media demands for new and spectacular stories about the monument.” 

Previously, it had been thought that the stones were either carried or dragged from Wales, but researchers have been unable to come up with a logical explanation for how Stone Age people moved the stones this way. 

Instead, John’s theory puts the stones in the area at the time the monument was first built, meaning that there might not have been any special significance attached to the stones, only that they were available to use. 


It’s well known that glaciers can drastically <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-glaciers-ocean-floor/">change the landscape</a>, carving out different formations and picking up rocks and debris, which are then deposited miles away from where they were first snagged up by the glacier. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New theory suggests Stonehenge was created by glaciers

A new study may have solved one of the biggest...

Smoke from wildfires can have a major impact on air quality, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/wildfires/smoke.html">exposure</a> to particles and fumes from wildfire smoke can cause <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfire-smoke-dangerous-seniors/">respiratory problems</a>, chest pain, headaches, create symptoms that mimic a sinus infection and trigger asthma attacks. 

During fire seasons, it’s recommended to stay on top of air quality alerts and limit exposure to avoid getting sick. 

For wild animals like orangutans, an already critically endangered species, avoiding wildfire smoke during fire season is nearly impossible, and a new study found that smoke is just as harmful to orangutans as it is to humans. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the Department of Anthropology at <a href="https://newbrunswick.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University-New Brunswick</a> and the <a href="https://coreborneo.wordpress.com/">Tuanan Orangutan Research Station </a>in Borneo and published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Between 1999 and 2015, almost 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost from intact forests.  

While habitat loss from logging operations and human activities has played a big role in their demise, the sheer number of orangutans who died indicates that habitat loss alone is not the sole driver of population loss. 

The researchers were studying male orangutans in Indonesian Borneo before and after the 2015 annual fire season.

Wendy Erb, the lead author of the study, noticed a few weeks into the season that the male orangutans’ “long call” vocalization, meant to attract females and warn males, sounded different. 

“I thought they sounded raggedy, a little like humans who smoke a lot,” said Erb.

This led Erb to hypothesize that the wildfire smoke was damaging to the health of the orangutans and the researchers then tested to see how smoke inhalation affected the orangutan's health. 

The researchers observed four “flanged” males with large cheek pads and urine was collected every day. During this time the researchers notices the orangutans traveled less, rested more and ate more calories but the analysis of their urine showed they were burning fat. 

Wildfire smoke was the only explanation for the change in the orangutan's behavior and urine because that was the only new element in the in the great apes’ environment. 

Previous research has emphasized the health risks of smoke exposure to humans, and two 2015 studies found that haze from wildfire smoke was responsible for anywhere between 12,000 and 100,000 premature human deaths. 

This study, however, is one of the few to show the negative health impacts of smoke on wildlife respiratory systems. 

Fires in Indonesia have increased dramatically in recent decades the researchers say that more needs to be done to understand how smoke from Indonesia peatland fires affect the ecosystem. 

The researchers next plan to study female and juvenile orangutans to see if there are similar behavioral and biological changes due to the wildfire smoke. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Beth Barrow

Already endangered orangutans face wildfire smoke health risks

Smoke from wildfires can have a major impact on air...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> have found that forests are expanding in many countries, which represents a state of well-being in these nations. According to the experts, the widespread forest expansion is not a reflection of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.

On average, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-more-valuable/">forests</a> and other terrestrial ecosystems across the planet have become greener, and some climate change models attribute these gains to CO2 fertilization. 

However, forest gains within individual nations have coincided with a transition from self-sufficient farming to market oriented agriculture since before CO2 levels started to rise.

“Our findings offer an important insight for efforts to address climate change,” said study co-author Dr. Paula Kauppi. “Where people and nations are or become relatively well off, we can count on forests absorbing carbon at increasing levels.”

From 1990 to 2015, forest growing stock density rose by 1.31 percent per year in high income countries and by 0.5 percent in higher middle income countries. However, forest growing stock density fell by an annual average of 0.29 percent in 27 lower middle income countries and by 0.72 percent in 22 low income countries.

“From a policy development perspective, it is very important to understand why national forests resources change in such a surprisingly diverse fashion,” said Dr. Kauppi.


Since the 1800s, a transition from net forest loss to net gain was first observed in Western Europe, followed by Central Europe, the eastern United States, Northern and Eastern Europe, Japan, and New Zealand.

The study authors noted that Europe's early forest expansion cannot be attributed to the rapid rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which did not begin until decades later.

“Weather observations confirm indisputably that global temperatures are rising together with atmospheric CO2 levels,” said Dr. Lipponen. “However, the study shows that, over more than a century, changes in forest growing stock around the world have been virtually unrelated to those trends."

China and Chile have also experienced a shift to net forest gain over the last 50 years. More recently, forest expansion has begun in some tropical countries of Latin America, Africa, and the Far East.

Data from the UN shows that forest area is decreasing in Central America, South America, South and Southeast Asia, and in Africa. At a regional level, the greatest forest losses are in Nigeria, Brazil, and Indonesia.


“Unfortunately, deforestation continues in biologically rich forests,” wrote the study authors. “The new expanding forests are biologically less diverse, especially where they consist of planted monocultures.”

The researchers identified several factors that have promoted forest expansion in many countries despite the rising food demands of booming populations.


“Highly developed countries apply modern agricultural methods on good farmlands and abandon marginal lands, which become available for forest expansion,” explained the study authors. “Developed countries invest in sustainable programs of forest management and nature protection.”

Other factors that have helped outweigh the impacts of population growth include better agricultural technologies and yields that eliminate the need to clear more land for farming and the availability of alternatives to wood as a fuel.


“Human development can translate into the well-being of forest ecosystems. This promotes carbon sequestration and preservation of the global biodiversity in the long term,” said co-author Dr. Antti Lipponen.

“Policy analyses must expand from focusing on individual projects such as carbon capture, biodiversity conservation or farm management to interdisciplinary analyses of harmonized well-being of people and forests.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Forests are expanding across the globe in prosperous nations

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have found that forests...

An interdisciplinary team of experts led by the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a> has used ice core records from the Greenland ice sheet to learn more about ancient European civilizations. 

During the height of the ancient Greek and Roman empires thousands of years ago, lead emissions drifted from Europe and settled into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-greenland-ice-sheet/">Greenland's ice</a> almost 3,000 miles away.


The scientists used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) to measure, date, and analyze European lead emissions that were captured in the ice between 1100 BC and 800 AD.

“Our record of sub-annually resolved, accurately dated measurements in the ice core starts in 1100 BC during the late Iron Age and extends through antiquity and late antiquity to the early Middle Ages in Europe - a period that included the rise and fall of the Greek and Roman civilizations,” said study lead author Dr. Joe McConnell. 

“We found that lead pollution in Greenland very closely tracked known plagues, wars, social unrest and imperial expansions during European antiquity.”

The researchers obtained more than 21,000 precise lead and chemical measurements to develop a continuous record for the 1,900-year time period.

“We believe this is the first time such detailed modeling has been used to interpret an ice-core record of human-made pollution and identify the most likely source region of the pollution,” said study co-author Dr. Andreas Stohl.

The team used advanced atmospheric transport model simulations to determine the magnitude of European emissions from the lead pollution levels measured in the ice. Most of the lead emissions observed in the study are likely linked to the production of silver, which was a key element of currency.

“Because most of the emissions during these periods resulted from mining and smelting of lead-silver ores, lead emissions can be seen as a proxy or indicator of overall economic activity,” explained Dr. McConnell.

The research team explored the ice record for connections between lead emissions and significant historical events.

The highest sustained levels of lead pollution emissions were found to coincide with the height of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Lead emissions were found to be very low during the last 80 years of the Roman Republic, a period known as the Crisis of the Roman Republic.

“The nearly four-fold higher lead emissions during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire compared to the last decades of the Roman Republic indicate substantial economic growth under Imperial rule,” said co-author Professor Andrew Wilson.


The ice record demonstrated that lead emissions fluctuated along with wars and political instability, particularly during the Roman Republic. The emissions took notable dives when two major plagues struck the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

“The great Antonine Plague struck the Roman Empire in AD 165 and lasted at least 15 years. The high lead emissions of the Pax Romana ended exactly at that time and didn't recover until the early Middle Ages more than 500 years later,” explained Professor Wilson.

The research team was comprised of ice-core specialists, atmospheric scientists, archaeologists, and economic historians.

“Working with such a diverse team was a unique experience in my career as a scientist,” said Professor McConnell. “I think that our results show that there can be great value in collaborating across disciplines.”

The research is published in the journal <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

Rise and fall of ancient civilizations revealed in Greenland ice

An interdisciplinary team of experts led by the Desert Research...

It’s easy to assume that all humans see basically the same reality, with some gleaning more insight from particular details of that reality than others.  I think well-meaning people of thoughtful demeanors tend to emphasize this idea by focusing on the shared aspects of humanity rather than differences, whether cultural or individual.  The idea that we perceive basically the same reality is however, false. It seems likely that most physiologically and psychologically ‘normal’ people of similar cultural backgrounds perceive a similar reality.  It’s also obvious that people with remarkably similar backgrounds can have distinctly different opinions from each other. It’s only through the normalizing lens of statistics and averages that people of similar backgrounds become things like voting blocs or markets.

That said, culture does play an important role in shaping our world views.  <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/best-ages-learn-language/">Language</a> is perhaps one of the most underestimated and important part of our world views as humans.  Language is everywhere, and even when you’re alone you can be interpreting the language of another person for yourself, as you are doing now.  

The world currently has an estimated 7,097 living languages, according to <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/">ethnologue.com</a>, about one third of which are endangered of dying off.  Only twenty three languages are spoken by half the world’s population.  Some people think that loss of language is a good thing, that it means a step closer to a world in which everyone speaks the same language, a step closer to global peace.  This view seems to assume that we lose nothing of great value with the extinction of a language. Numerous anthropologists and sociologists have pointed to interesting differences in perception and the connection to language.

One intriguing example is the color blue.  I think it’s fair to say that the color blue is taken for granted by most westerners.  However, some cultures don’t actually have a separate word for blue. There is even good evidence that blue was the last color recognized by the ancient Greeks by centuries.  In his amazing book, One River, Wade Davis explains the difference in perception between the Siona people of the Amazon and westerners:

“Schultes first learned the Indians did not distinguish green from blue. “For them”, Padre Marcelino had explained, “the sky is green and the forest is blue. The canopy shelters their lives, and the sky beyond, so rarely seen, is but another layer…” 

If we can literally see a vastly different sky than one another, in other ways how might our perception of the world differ?  Wade Davis has bits of an answer, also shining light on how different plant taxonomy is between Siona natives of the Amazon region again and professional botanists:

“The Indians could readily differentiate their varieties on sight, even from a considerable distance in the forest. What’s more, individuals from different tribes, separated by large expanses of forest, identified these same varieties with amazing consistency…fourteen categories in all, not one of which could be determined based on the rules of his own science… his task was not merely to identify new sources of wealth but rather to understand a new vision of life itself, a profoundly different way of living in a forest.”

It’s not just the Amazon either, in his book Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez, quoting an anthropologist named Brody, describes how language plays a role in the perceived reality of Eskimos:

 “Brody, discussing Eskimo concepts of intimacy with the land, says, flatly, “The key terms are not translatable.” ”

This means that there are Eskimo ideas that can’t be comprehended in English, ideas actually embedded in the construct of language.  It’s the same as saying you can’t understand Quantum Mechanics or Newtonian Physics without understanding the language of mathematics.  We can’t translate ideas of physics into plain English no matter how hard we try, without losing essential elements. In the preceding paragraph, Lopez is more explicit about the implications of differing world views, rising in part from differing language: 

“Misunderstandings that arise when a view of reality similar to our own is assumed to exist; and the ways in which Eskimo’s view of the land presents us with growing ethical, political, and economic problems, because we would prefer that ours was the mind of record in that landscape.”

The point of this is that language can be used as part of a conversation between people and the land.  Language can also be used as a tool for destruction, domination or insurrection. Take a moment to think how language has been carefully and brutally controlled by conquerors.  In America, thousands of Native American children were punished for using their native tongue in school. Throughout the Americas, slaves were forbidden to use their own tongue.  

In Jamaica, the dialect, Patios was developed as a way for slaves to communicate without fear of being overheard by white slave owners while still speaking ‘English’.  In the Bahamas, the similar dialect, Bahamian Creole developed. The Navajo language was a secret, unbreakable code used by allied forces fighting Nazis. Jared Diamond in, The World Until Yesterday, makes the impassioned argument that English also helped the British to persist in their staunch resistance to Nazi Germany, when Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons:

“Winston Churchill responded in the House of Commons on May 13 and June 4, 1940, with the two most quoted and most effective 20th-century speeches in the English language… We know now that Britain never did surrender, did not seek a settlement with Hitler, continued to fight, after a year gained Russia and then the United States as allies, and after five years defeated Hitler. But that outcome was not predestined… My point is not that Churchill’s words were untranslatable…My point is instead that the English language is a proxy for everything that made the British keep fighting against seemingly hopeless odds. Speaking English means being heir to a thousand years of independent culture, history, increasing democracy, and island identity.”

Losing a language is losing a way of viewing the world; it’s a loss of identity.  Languages can bind us to the land, sometimes to a mythic landscape that embodies a people’s view of the land and their relationship with it.  Languages are often destroyed as a way of destroying the people who spoke it. If you can force another culture to speak your language, you are forcing them to abandon their identity for yours and their view of the earth for your own.   

A loss of a native language is like the loss of a native species.  Languages evolve in specific environments. Some languages have more need for nouns, others verbs, some have many words for snow or ice, others for snakes or trees.  No one person can perceive the whole of knowable reality, how can we expect one culture or one language to hold the tools to describe that reality? The languages we’re losing fastest are like the species we’re losing, they’re languages spoken by few with small geographical ranges.  The languages we’re losing are also native to some of the places westerners know the least about and many of them are connected to a richness in specific geography that the rise of globalism has failed to capture. If you want to know someone else or somewhere else, don’t step into another’s shoes speak in another’s tongue.           

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Language has a big impact on our perception of land and the Earth

It’s easy to assume that all humans see basically the...

A new study has found that many diverse tropical species now found in Latin America originated in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-rainforest-back-deforestation/">Amazonian rainforests</a>.

The American tropics are one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet, with many unique species found nowhere else in the world. 

An international team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard</a> Visiting Scholar Alexandre Antonelli identified the processes by which many species first colonized and evolved in Latin America, leading to a thriving ecosystem with unrivaled species diversity. 

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“We were astonished to detect so much movement across such different environments and over such large distances,” said Antonelli, the study's lead author. “Up until now, these natural dispersal events were assumed to be quite rare. Our results show how crucial these events have been in the formation of tropical America's unique and outstandingly rich biodiversity.”

Species have naturally come to colonize different regions and it’s a process that has taken tens of millions of years. 

The plants and animals that migrated away from their original area had to learn to adapt to different conditions and over time, these species evolved into completely different species in their new environment. 

This process is exactly why the American Tropics are so diverse compared to other regions around the world and the researchers wanted to better understand what mechanisms drive species distribution.

“Most evolutionary research focuses on how new species form,” said Antonelli. “But we want to understand how whole ecosystems evolve, and what makes some regions much more species-rich than others. This is important because it shows us how plants and animals deal with new environments and what factors determine biodiversity.”

The researchers collected an expansive amount of data on evolutionary relationships, distribution, and timing of the origin of thousands of tropical species in order to calculate the frequency that species were distributed to a different region.  

Birds, frogs mammals, snakes, lizards, and plants were all considered for the study. 

Among all the regions in the American tropics that have distributed species, Amazonia was the main source of many of the species in the area. 

“Two main factors seem to explain the key role of Amazonia in exporting so much diversity: its huge area, and the large amount of time that species have existed there,” said Antonelli. “Together, these have increased the chances of species dispersing into new habitats and regions.” 

Besides proving the key role that Amazonia played in the biodiversity of the American Tropics, the study shows the danger that many tropical ecosystems face due to human activities. 

“Biodiversity is the dark matter of our planet: we know there must be millions of species that we haven't found yet,” said Antonelli. “Finding, understanding, and protecting this diversity is probably humanity's toughest but most important challenge”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Many diverse tropical species can find their roots in the Amazon

A new study has found that many diverse tropical species...

When it comes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/conservation-displaces-native-peoples/">conservation</a> efforts, location is just as important as management and protection of the species and habitats themselves. 

However, for countries like Canada where conservation and wildlife management are high priorities, there aren’t any existing scientific parameters to inform which regions should be protected to ensure the best results.

A new study, conducted by conservation scientists and researchers from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia </a>(UBC), seeks to address this gap in wildlife conservation practices. 

The research will be published in the journal Facets and the results show just how critical location is when considering which wildlife spaces to protect. 

Canada has 194 unique ecoregions and is home to a majority of the world’s intact wilderness. Many of the most at-risk species, though, live in areas that are highly populated and not optimal for restoration or preservation. 

“Where Canada protects land is a significant decision,” said UBC Okanagan campus researcher Laura Coristine, the study's lead author.  “We wouldn't build a school in the highest traffic density area in a city--especially if few children live there. Selecting a site for a protected area similarly needs to guard against current threats to species and safeguard biodiversity into the future.”

The researchers created a framework, the first of its kind, that would allow wildlife managers to identify geographical hotspots with the most ecological potential for reducing biodiversity loss. 

The researchers picked five ecological principles for their framework and created maps of potential sites for protection and conservation. 

These principles were preserving habits to for species at risk, making sure new protected areas were representative of the biodiversity of Canada, conserving Canada’s remaining wilderness, landscape connectivity and paying special attention to areas that can adapt to climate change.

Even though the framework and principles are specific to Canada, the study could help inform wildlife management on a global scale. 

With species decline steadily increasing, finding ways to protect and manage wildlife areas and habitats is a large part of reducing species loss. 

In Canada, for example, more than 735 species are at the risk of extinction, and climate change is only exacerbating this issue. 

“Now is a critical time for the country to decide what is it that we most want to protect,” said Coristine. “What we choose not to protect, we risk losing; what we protect remains a legacy for the future.”

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Evan Richardson

Location is crucial to wildlife management and conservation

When it comes to conservation efforts, location is just as...

More residents of Hawaii’s Big Island were urged to evacuate after two more fissures opened up over the weekend, bumping up the total number of fissures from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kilauea-volcano-could-explode/">Kilauea volcano</a> to 18.

Lava from the new fissures spewed high into the air along with toxic gas, and the area continues to be impacted by earthquakes, including a 3.5 magnitude quake that struck the island on Saturday.

“Over the past 24 hours, the earthquakes have started rumbling again. ... When I go out and check on some of the fissures, you can start to see where some of the sulphur deposits are building up, and where the lava rocks are starting to turn yellow,” Big Island resident Scott Wiggers told <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/13/610798189/scientists-warn-of-more-eruptions-from-hawaiis-big-island-volcano">NPR</a>.  

<a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">The United States Geological Survey</a> (USGS) has been keeping a close eye on the fissure system and volcano, issuing warnings to residents in the area. 

“Activity was dominated by lava fountaining, explosion of spatter bombs hundreds of feet into the air, and several advancing lava flow lobes moving generally northeast from fissure 17,” the<a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html"> USGS</a> said in their latest report.

Before fissure number 17, the 16th fissure had spilled lava into a field inching towards homes. The fissure was also close to the Puna Geothermal Venture plant where last week, plant workers removed gallons of flammable liquid after the plant was shut down. 

According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/13/us/hawaii-kilauea-volcano/index.html">CNN</a>, 2,000 people have been evacuated so far, and community centers are being made available to serve shelters for families and their pets. 

On Friday May 11th, President Trump declared a major disaster in Hawaii, opening up federal assistance to help with evacuation and recovery efforts.

With all the activity on near the volcano, concerns are still growing that Kilauea could soon explode, sending ash, steam, and giant boulders high into the air. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: <a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/kilauea_multimedia_15.html">US Geological Survey</a>

Giant new fissures open up on Kilauea prompting more evacuations

More residents of Hawaii’s Big Island were urged to evacuate...

A new study by the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/">Pew Research Center</a> has found that most Americans believe that the federal government is not doing enough to protect air and water quality or to address <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>.

Out of 2,541 survey respondents, 69 percent agree that the United States government could do more to protect the quality of water in lakes, rivers, and streams. In addition, 64 percent feel that stronger measures could be taken to safeguard air quality. 

Six out of ten Americans report that climate change is having at least some effect on their local community, with 45 percent pointing to extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, wildfires, and more frequent severe storms.

According to 67 percent of the study participants, the government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change.

Regarding whether or not it is possible to cut back on environmental regulations while still effectively protecting air and water quality, Americans are nearly split down the middle. There is also a political divide on this issue, with around 74 percent of Republicans claiming this is possible while 64 percent of Democrats claim that it is not.

In addition, there are wide political differences over whether policies aimed at reducing the effects of climate change have a positive impact on the environment and the economy. Republicans are skeptical, while Democrats are primarily optimistic.

Political parties are also at odds on the subject of global warming and the influence of human activities. Seventy-five percent of Democrats believe the Earth is warming primarily due to human causes, but only 26 percent of Republicans agree.

"While majorities of Americans believe the government isn't doing enough to protect the environment and reduce the effects of climate change, about half of conservative Republicans see the government as doing about the right amount to protect air and water quality,” said study lead author Cary Funk.

“Republicans and Democrats are largely at odds over how much regulation is needed to safeguard the environment and reduce the effects of climate change.”
--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most think the govt should do more to protect the environment

A new study by the Pew Research Center has found...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> (UEA) are reporting that major changes in the international trade industry could sabotage plans to reduce global carbon emissions. 

As energy-intensive sectors in countries like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/economic-benefits-climate-china/">China</a> relocate manufacturing plants to regions such as Thailand and Vietnam, CO2 emissions are declining in China yet are drastically rising in these developing countries.

International trade grew by more than 50 percent from 2005 to 2015, and around 60 percent of this increase resulted from rising exports in developing countries. Trade among developing countries, which is referred to as South-South trade, more than tripled in the same time frame - totaling $9.3 trillion in 2014 alone.

The study authors are warning that this growing trend may seriously undermine international efforts to reduce harmful global greenhouse emissions.

“The rapid growth in South-South trade reflects a fragmenting of global supply chains whereby early-production stages of many industries have relocated from countries like China and India to lower-wage economies, a trend that has accelerated since the global financial crisis in 2008,” explained study co-author Dabo Guan.

“In addition to their important implications for global economic development, these trends will affect the magnitude and regional distribution of future global CO2 emissions.”


Despite the sense of urgency for countries to help lower their carbon footprints after the Paris Agreement, the economic boom across South-South trade has been relatively ignored. The team found that the emissions embodied in South-South trade increased from 0.47 gigatons in 2004 to 1.1 gigatons in 2011.

“The carbon intensity of the next phase of global economic development will determine whether ambitious climate targets such as stabilizing at 2 °C will be met, and our findings depict the nascent rise of energy-intensive and emissions-intensive production activities in other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Pakistan,” said Professor Guan.

“The success of international climate mitigation efforts may therefore depend on curtailing growth of coal-based energy and emissions in now-industrializing and urbanizing countries.” 

“Otherwise, countries like China and India may meet their nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement by hollowing out low-value, energy-intensive manufacturing, and offshoring those activities to emerging markets elsewhere in Asia with less stringent climate policy measures.”

"Successfully mitigating climate change therefore urgently depends on decarbonizing not only energy systems in developed countries but also the entire process of industrialization."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Global trade boom could stifle efforts to reduce CO2 emissions

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are reporting...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes how Earth is unique in our solar system for its ability to sustain liquid water on its surface. But now, the water cycle is shifting as the climate warms, and scientists must find ways to predict how these changes will affect water availability.



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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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...