Our world is changing. The ocean is on the rise, threatening to disrupt the lives of coastal communities.



As the water inches its way into people's lives, various agencies and organizations are making strides to prepare for this new reality. Right in the heart of these efforts is NASA, offering critical insights on rising sea levels.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-level-data-is-accessible-to-the-public">Sea-level data is accessible to the public</h2>



NASA's extensive global data is now accessible to the public in the brand-new sea level section of the Earth Information Center. 



This comprehensive global sea level <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-sea-levels-spiked-dramatically-in-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">change</a> website is the product of a collaboration between <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>, the U.S. Department of Defense, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of State, and the UN Development Programme.



The site presents comprehensive projections of expected sea level rise through the year 2150 for coastlines around the globe. It also provides estimates of anticipated flooding for coastal communities or regions over the coming three decades. 



The projections draw on diverse sources such as data gathered by NASA and its collaborators, computer models of ice sheets and the ocean, the latest sea level assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and more.



"NASA innovates for the benefit of humanity. Our cutting-edge instruments and data-driven information tools help communities and organizations respond to natural hazards and extreme weather, and inform critical coastal infrastructure planning decisions,” said Karen St. Germain, the director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-sea-level-changes">Global sea level changes</h2>



Major global organizations like the World Bank are set to utilize the valuable data from the global sea level change site for creating Climate Risk Profiles for countries particularly susceptible to sea level <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pacific-sea-levels-are-rising-faster-than-anywhere-in-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rise</a>.



The Defense Department will consistently feed sea level rise data into its plans to help predict - and possibly avoid - hazards caused to its facilities by rising oceans.



Similarly, the State Department will use the data for a range of activities, from disaster preparedness to long-term adaptation planning, and supporting partners globally in related efforts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moment-of-truth-in-our-climate-fight">Moment of truth in our climate fight</h2>



Assistant Secretary-General Selwin Hart, special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general on climate action and just transition, stresses the significance of the current period. 



“We are at a moment of truth in our fight against the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2024-shatters-heat-records-earths-hottest-year-is-here/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate crisis</a>. The science is unequivocal and must serve as the bedrock upon which decision-making is built," said Hart.



"With many communities around the world already facing severe impacts from sea-level rise, this new resource provides a vital tool to help them protect lives and livelihoods."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rising-faster-than-ever">Rising faster than ever</h2>



NASA-led data has revealed that between 1970 and 2023, 96% of countries with coastlines have experienced sea level rise. Furthermore, the rate of this global rise has doubled, from 0.08 inches (0.21 centimeters) per year in 1993 to about 0.18 inches (0.45 centimeters) per year in 2023.



As the rate of sea level rise increases, millions could face the linked effects earlier than anticipated, including larger storm surges, more saltwater intrusion into groundwater, and additional high-tide flood days.



“This new platform shows the timing of future floods and the magnitude of rising waters in all coastal countries worldwide,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, director of the ocean physics program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clear-data-for-unclear-times">Clear data for unclear times</h2>



Earlier data released this year shows that Pacific Island nations will face at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise over the next 30 years. Moreover, the number of high-tide flood days will increase significantly for nearly all Pacific Island nations by the 2050s.



Ben Hamlington is a sea level researcher at NASA’s <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> in Southern California and head of the agency’s sea level change science team.



“The data is clear: Sea levels are rising around the world, and they’re rising faster and faster. Having the best information to make decisions about how to plan for rising seas is more crucial than ever,” concluded Hamlington.



While the future remains uncertain, one thing stays clear - the importance of accurate, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2023-climate-change-report-record-high-temperatures-greenhouse-gases-sea-level-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reliable data</a> to guide our decisions. 



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Sea level warnings: What coastal cities must prepare for

Our world is changing. The ocean is on the rise, threatening to disrupt the lives of coastal communities. As the water inches its way into people's lives, various agencies and organizations are making strides to prepare for this new reality. Right in the heart of these efforts is NASA, offering critical insights on rising sea levels. Sea-level data is accessible to the public NASA's extensive global data is now accessible to the public in the brand-new sea level section of the Earth Information Center. This comprehensive global...

It was over five years ago but it seems so very recent.  I spent the Fourth of July in a small boat out on the ocean with the other man who was monitoring fishing in a small bay on Afognak Island in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-alaskan-hunters-advanced/">Alaska</a>.  We sat in the small boat with an even smaller outboard motor, sipped beer and just took in our surroundings.  The weather was cold for those used to Fourth of July further south but it was pleasant.  All around us, the air and sea were full of life.  

Puffins took off from the water with frantically beating wings, skimming the sea surface even longer than a duck on a pond.  Puffin wings are tiny, an evolutionary compromise between swimming and flying.  To me, puffins with their bright beaks and manic flapping always resemble clowns on the wing.  Puffins can administer surprisingly nasty bites though.  I remember from my time helping with sea bird research on Middleton Island in Alaska, researchers fear of the bird’s beak. 

Gulls seemed to be flying everywhere on that preternaturally bright, cool summer day, flying with more grace and noise than the puffins.  Most people have memories of gulls from childhood.  I know I was encouraged to feed gulls pieces of bread on the beach as a kid (a practice I think shouldn’t be encouraged as it’s not good for birds).  There is more than one gull in Alaska and other northern regions, including Black-legged Kittiwakes, Red-Legged Kittiwakes, Glaucous-Winged Gulls, and Ring-Billed Gulls.  I’m certainly no expert on gulls but I have personal experience working with black-legged kittiwakes and glaucous-winged gulls.

The kittiwakes were part of a research project which involved feeding a portion of the nesting population fish additional to those they caught.  Surprisingly, the chicks which benefited from extra fish, took longer to grow and leave the nest, not being rushed into finding their own food by necessity.  Generally the kittiwakes were pretty ruthless, fighting over nest spots and pushing off other bird’s eggs and chicks to fall great distances just to lay their own eggs.  In one case I watched a new pair of birds force parents with a chick nearly fledged off their nest.  It seemed like the chick was doomed to death until the interlopers started feeding the chick as if she were their own.  

I have no such nice story for the glaucous-winged gull.  As a volunteer I collected data on nesting glaucous-wings on a rocky beach spotted with ferns and short bushes.  The glaucous-winged gulls are exceedingly territorial and will kill a chick or adult that strays unknowingly into another bird’s territory.  I was told that once a volunteer was taking measurements on a large glaucous-wing chick when the chick vomited another chicks disembodied leg onto the volunteer’s boot.  The leg still had a band placed on its ankle for research.  However violent and uncaring the glaucous-winged gull may appear though, it’s important to note that their violence has a lot more desperate purpose than our own.  It’s hard to imagine any gull killing another for religion, money or a fit of anger but solely for the cold reality of survival of the fittest.  

Murres are a little-known arctic and subarctic bird.  The name Murre actually comes from the French word for penguin.  It’s a strange comment on the history of exploration that the southern penguins would be known by the French before the northern Murre but the name appears apt.  Murres are black backed and white bellied.  Common Murres and Thick-billed Murres are hard to discriminate between, being so similar in appearance.  Murres seem so fragile, laying their single egg directly on cliffs with no plants to pad them.  Indeed many times hungry gulls will pull the nesting Murre off egg or chick to relentlessly feed.  Later in the summer one can see Murre father teaching their single chicks to swim and fish.  If a Murre isn’t taught these vital skills by his/her father, they won’t survive.  

Throughout Alaska and the northern oceans as a whole there is an abundance of amazing avian forms.  There are snake-necked Pelagic Cormorants with stubby webbed feet and lovely diving abilities found in Alaskan waters.  Rhinoceros Auklets are similar to puffins with smaller bills topped in a tiny ‘horn’, burrowing into soft cliffs by the sea where they nest.  There is the exotic beauty of the red-necked phalarope.  To those from Minnesota it might come as a surprise that the Pacific Loon winters sometimes on the open ocean; the same is true of Common Loons.  Black Oyster Catchers with their telltale long orange bills forage along rocky coasts where they nest.  Ducks include the bright Harlequin Duck, more monochromatic Bufflehead and the Long-Tailed Duck. 

The oceans of the north are chock full of abundance, a writhing mass of life in summer and seemingly empty in the winter.  Birds, fish and mammals move together in complex patterns, eating and being eaten by microbes and each other.  Life in the north seems to live in bursts, birds you watched hatch from eggs are fledging in what seems a breathlessly short period.  The demands of weather demand much but on that Fourth of July, when I luxuriated in a boat, life was good for bird and man. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Earth.com exclusive: Sea birds of the north

It was over five years ago but it seems so...

The Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-magnetic-poles-flip/">magnetic field</a> is an important barrier that protects us all from harmful solar radiation. Charged particles from solar wind bombard the Earth on a daily basis, but the strong force of the magnetic field keeps them at bay.

The <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency’s</a> (ESA) Swarm mission was first launched in 2013 with the objective of better understanding the magnetic field, which is generated by currents of molten iron from the Earth’s outer core. The field carries about one terawatt of power through its electric currents. 

The goal of Swarm is to shed light on the mysteries of the magnetic field and the inner workings using a trio of satellites. 

Now, researchers are gaining insight into the complex relationship between the magnetic field and solar radiation. 

The satellites have allowed the team to closely examine field-aligned currents (FACs) across different scales. 

“We have a good understanding of how these currents exchange energy between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere at large scales, so we assumed that smaller-scale currents behaved in the same way...” said Ryan McGranaghan from <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>. “Swarm has allowed us to effectively zoom in on these smaller currents and we see that, under certain conditions, this is not the case.”

McGranaghan detailed his findings in a paper that was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 

Despite their size, smaller currents still carry a lot of energy and impact the ionosphere and magnetic field  differently than large-scale FACs.

Colin Forsyth from <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London,</a> a co-author of the Geophysical Research paper, notes the new findings were important for several reasons. 

“Since electric currents around Earth can interfere with navigation and telecommunication systems, this is an important discovery,” said Forsyth. “This new knowledge can be used to improve models so that we can better understand, and therefore, ultimately, prepare for the potential consequences of solar storms.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

How Earth’s magnetic field protects us from solar radiation

The Earth’s magnetic field is an important barrier that protects...

Submarine landslides have the potential to be much more powerful and destructive than those on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-landslides/">land</a>. Researchers from the <a href="https://www.geomar.de/en/">Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel</a> have identified one potential cause of underwater landslides.

“Searching for the causes of such landslides is much more difficult underwater than on land due to their inaccessibility,” explained the study authors.

The researchers referenced the Storegga landslide, which took place 8,150 years ago off the coast of Norway. The event triggered an enormous tsunami wave up to 60 feet tall that slammed into Norway and the Shetland Islands at a speed of around 80 miles per hour.

The authors reported that the massive landslide “affected an area larger than Scotland, and the material today covers hundreds of kilometers on the seabed.”

The team focused its investigation on a submarine landslide that took place off the coast of Mauritania in Northwest Africa. The experts compared seismic data with sediment samples obtained by the Ocean Drilling Program. They determined that a specific sequence of seafloor layers was to blame for at least one of the slides in this region.

“The combination of this drilling and seismic data showed that the slope was slipping just where a clay layer overlies ooze made up of the remains of fossil planktonic organisms,” the researchers explained.

“When a layer gives way, all overlying layers move down the slope. It is difficult to determine the composition of this particular layer because it is destroyed with the landslide.”

The landslide off the Mauritanian Cap Blanc had a maximum slope of 2.8 degrees, which is much more severe than the 1.6-degree slope in the area of the Storegga slide.

“Submarine landslides happen on very shallow slopes, often with gradients as low as one or one-and-a-half degrees,” explained lead author Dr. Morelia Urlaub. “Displacement of large amounts of sediment underwater can cause devastating tsunamis."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://geology.com/">Geology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Underwater landslides can trigger mega tsunamis

Submarine landslides have the potential to be much more powerful...

Researchers have found that few aftershocks take place where faults slipped a great deal during the initial earthquakes. The study supports the common assumption that areas of fault line are relatively safe for some time after an earthquake.

Study lead author Thorne Lay is a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a>.

“This intuition has been challenged by statistical treatments of seismic data that indicate that, based on the clustering of earthquakes in space and time, the area that has just slipped is actually more likely to have another failure,” said Lay. 

“The truth appears to be more nuanced. Yes, the area that slipped a lot is unlikely to slip again, as the residual stress on the fault has been lowered to well below the failure level, but the surrounding areas have been pushed toward failure in many cases, giving rise to aftershocks and the possibility of an adjacent large rupture sooner rather than later.”

The research team analyzed 101 major <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earthquakes-phases-moon/">earthquakes</a> that occurred along the Pacific Ring of Fire between 1990 and 2016. 

When the experts investigated the locations of aftershocks, they found that few occurred along the regions of fault line that had just experienced a large amount of slip. Instead, most of the activity following the mainshock had taken place on the margins of areas that had slipped.

“This produces a halo of aftershocks surrounding the rupture and indicates that the large-slip zone is not likely to have immediate rerupture,” said Lay.

The results of the study suggest that the pressure relieved during a major earthquake leads to a prevalent reduction of stress over the large slip zone on the surface of the fault. The pressure will gradually build up again, but it is a slow process.

According to the study authors, regional clustering of earthquakes is likely to occur outside the main slip zone due to increased stress. The experts also emphasized, however, that intense aftershock activity within the high-slip zone means that another large earthquake is possible.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pressure released during earthquakes makes recurrence less likely

Researchers have found that few aftershocks take place where faults...

Scientists at <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> have found that most of the large storm surges in the northeastern United States are not caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-harvey-global-warming/">hurricanes</a>, but by extratropical cyclones.

The researchers pointed out that it is important to understand the climatology of storm surges driven by extratropical cyclones to better evaluate future risks, especially as sea-level rise continues.

“We wanted to understand the large-scale atmospheric circulation associated with storm surges,” said study lead author Arielle J. Catalano. “It's an atmospheric approach to the surge-producing storms.”

Mid-latitude cyclones, including nor'easters and other non-tropical storms, are capable of generating massive storm surges. The researchers discovered some interesting trends while looking for similarities, or clusters, among extratropical cyclones. 

“The clusters are like rough police artist sketches of what surge-producing storms look like,” said Professor Anthony J. Broccoli. “Like facial recognition software, clustering is trying to find storms that look like one another.”


The investigation was focused on the 100 largest storm surges driven by extratropical cyclones at Sewells Point in Virginia, the Battery in southern Manhattan, and in Boston, Massachusetts. Hybrid systems that shifted from tropical to non-tropical storms like Superstorm Sandy were excluded from the analysis.

The experts examined tide gauge records from the early 20th century through 2010. They took a close look at atmospheric circulation during storms to find clusters, and studied climate variability patterns that influenced circulation in the Northeast.

The scientists determined that the biggest storm surges develop when low pressure systems, or slow-moving extratropical cyclones, encounter high pressure systems. This collision causes a tighter pressure gradient and longer-lasting onshore winds.

The study revealed that extratropical cyclones caused 88 out of the 100 largest storm surges recorded at The Battery. The largest of these surges was 7.9 feet, which is only 20 percent smaller than The Battery’s biggest surge that was generated by Superstorm Sandy.

The highest surge at Sewells Point was 5.4 feet, while the highest surge in Boston was nearly 6.3 feet. Extratropical cyclones were found to be responsible for 71 percent of the largest surges at Sewells Point and 91 percent of those in Boston.

“The elephant in the room is sea-level rise,” said Broccoli. “That will likely matter more than how storms may change in the future, but what happens will be a combination of the two factors.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/loi/apme">Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology</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="http://www.noaa.gov/">NOAA</a>

Largest storm surges in the northeast aren’t caused by hurricanes

Scientists at Rutgers University have found that most of the...

“Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them.” 

-John Muir- The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, (1913)

Science is usually associated most closely with environmentalism, specifically concepts like conservation and ‘green’ technology.  Environmentalism has become tied so strongly to science that those non-scientists, even academics such as philosophers or literary critics are usually banished to the fringe of the movement.  The exception is in nature writing with one caveat: nature writing/environmental writing draws heavily on science for its authority.  

Religion is sometimes seen by scientists and environmentalists as a relic of the past or dangerous to the concepts of objective realities dealt with in environmentalism.  I find myself in an odd place here and must confess my biases.  I am an atheist trained in science with little love lost between me and organized religion.  That said, I am coming to appreciate that a more nuanced, subtle and not strictly logical worldview may be necessary to save environmentalism.  Other movements such as Martin Luther King’s or Gandhi’s struggles for civil rights and a free India were radically helped by spirituality.  Beyond that, it’s more than a bit naïve to assume that even given endless time and resources, the whole world can be understood with the aid of science.  

In Equatorial Guinea, I hiked along paths through the jungle, and what made the paths special is they were no recreational trails but foot routes for practical travel between places.  Along the trails there were clusters of what appeared to be garbage: old bottles, potato chip bags and beer cans.  It was a little depressing to think that people travelling paths to trap animals for food or reach a village had such little respect for their environment.  The ‘trash’ was explained to me and my perspective changed.  The piles of food and drink containers it turned out were respectful offerings left for some sort of forest spirit in a religious tradition quite foreign to me.  

In <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-pelican-spiders/">Madagascar</a>, 80% of original forest has been destroyed.  This is a stark number and one hard to grasp.  Riding in a ‘taxi brousse’ from Antananarivo to Kinjavato, the small village where I worked in reforestion for 5 months, reality set in.  It seemed for the first day of driving that there wasn’t even the smallest snippet of forest to be seen.  It wasn’t until near the end of that first full day driving that we glimpsed some of the famed tropical forest near Ranomafana and that seemed exceedingly small and fragile.  Near Kianjavato, where I worked as a volunteer coordinating and planting trees, there were patches of forest.  In many of the forest patches were tombs, some of them natural caves and rock shelves where bodies were interred.  The forests around the tombs were considered sacred and very likely the reason that the forests were left standing in those places.  

Many modern environmentalists such as Jack Turner (a Buddhist) or Terry Tempest Williams (a somewhat heretical Mormon) draw on their spiritual traditions for inspiration and authority.  Historical figures like John Muir or Thoreau are equally absorbed in spiritual imagery and ideas.

In all honesty, atheist or not, there is something wildly transcendent in nature, whatever it may be.  Trees, rivers, mountains, cool canyons and dark caves are as close to sanctity as anyone should wish.  Feeling your body move shakily or with easy confidence across a rugged landscape engulfs one’s mind in a timeless world beyond puny human understanding.  

Certain beliefs can be detrimental to the environment as well as beneficial.  I remember talking to an old boss I worked under at a gunpowder factory and being disgusted by the narrowness of his thinking. While discussing climate change, this man’s religious beliefs said that humans couldn’t destroy earth because God wouldn’t allow it.  Likewise missionaries have pushed native populations the world over to abandon ‘pagan’ dietary restrictions, resulting in devastation of never before hunted animal populations.  Many Christians take the Bible to mean we can do whatever we want to other animals, plants and ‘inanimate’ earth without responsibility to the environment or fellow organisms.

What I hope is not that people follow any particular religion.  What I hope is that people get away from cities, away from cell phones, even away from books or music.  Lay in a mountain meadow; scramble into a desert canyon; watch the endless lapping of the sea.  Sit, or walk; climb or paddle.  Dream and see if you can’t hear a little whisper of something ancient and sacred in the falling of a leaf or the drifting of a cloud.  Perhaps you’ll see a sign in a boulder field or a stalactite.  Perhaps you’ll find something in yourself and everywhere around you.      

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Religion and environmentalism may not be completely at odds

“Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or...

Some species change the color of their coat to match the seasons and avoid predators. In fact, 21 species of mammals and birds, including weasels and rabbits, have white coloring in the winter, and then their coat then changes to brown in the summer. 

This ability is crucial to the species’ survival, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-savannahs-climate-change/">climate change</a> has caused winters to be milder, arrive later, and spring melts to come earlier each year. 

Animals who change their coats to white to blend in are out of place and easily spotted in areas affected by warmer winters. 

Snowshoe hares, for example, have experienced higher mortality rates in areas with less snow than usual, and with the increasing impacts of climate change, population decline is predicted to worsen.  

However, some species have evolved to where they don’t change their coat color in places with typically milder winters. 

A team of researchers led by L. Scott Mills, a professor from the <a href="http://www.umt.edu/">University of Montana</a>, examined this kind of adaptive evolution to see if  evolution could rescue species in at-risk areas who continue to change their coat color despite the surroundings. 

Their findings were published in the journal Science and could reduce the risk of population loss and decreased biodiversity in the wake of climate change. 

“Weasels in the southern U.S. and mountain hares in Ireland, for example, have evolved to remain brown year-round," said  Mills said. "This is a genetic adaptation to retain camouflage in areas where snow is intermittent or sparse.” 

The researchers identified areas that could potentially foster adaptive evolution or “evolutionary rescue” in at-risk species. These areas have both brown and white animals coexisting in winter. 

The fact that there are individuals with both brown and white coats in winter is important to possible evolutionary rescue. 

“These areas hold the special sauce for rapid evolutionary rescue,” said Mills. “Because they contain winter-brown individuals better adapted to shorter winters, these polymorphic populations are primed to promote rapid evolution toward being winter brown instead of white as climate changes.” 

The results show that it could be possible to help save several species from population decline caused by climate change through adaptive evolution. However, the researchers note that the solution should not be seen as a replacement for climate change mitigation 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: L.S. Mills research photos by Jaco and Lindsey Barnard

Animals who camouflage with the season affected by climate change

Some species change the color of their coat to match...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-crime-behavior/">Air pollution</a> comes from many sources, from factories, to cars, to cigarette smoke. But when we think about air pollution, we generally think of the smog in major cities caused by heavy traffic and proximity to industrial factories. It’s not often that we consider the contributions of the day-to-day products we use.

But now, a new study led by the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA) has found that chemical products that contain certain compounds refined from petroleum – such as pesticides, paints, perfumes, and household cleaners, now rival motor vehicle emissions as the biggest source of urban air pollution.

Although people use about 15 times more fuel by weight than they do petroleum-based compounds in chemical products, these products contribute about as much air pollution as the transportation sector does. In particular, particle-forming emissions from chemical products – which contain tiny particles than can damage people’s lungs – are roughly twice as high as those from the transportation sector.

“As transportation gets cleaner, those other sources become more and more important,” says Brian McDonald, a scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) working in the NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Division, and lead author of the study. “The stuff we use in our everyday lives can impact air pollution.”

In this new assessment, researchers zeroed in on volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can move into the atmosphere and react to produce either ozone or particulate matter. Both products of these reactions are regulated in the U.S. and other countries due to their health hazards.

The researchers assessed recent chemical production statistics gathered by industries and regulatory agencies, and made atmospheric chemistry measurements of the air in Los Angeles. They found that in the U.S., the amount of VOCs emitted by consumer and industrial products is actually two to three times greater than previously estimated by current air pollution inventories. 

They also determined that these same inventories overestimate vehicular sources of air pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 75 percent of VOC emissions come from vehicular sources, with the remaining 25 percent coming from chemical products. These new findings have the split closer to 50/50.

So why does this disproportionate air quality impact of chemical product emissions occur? It’s due in part to a fundamental difference between these products and fuels. 

“Gasoline is stored in closed, hopefully airtight, containers and the VOCs in gasoline are burned for energy,” explains Jessica Gilman, an atmospheric scientist at the NOAA and co-author of the paper. “But volatile chemical products used in common solvents and personal care products are literally designed to evaporate. You wear perfume or use scented products so that you or your neighbor can enjoy the aroma. You don’t do this with gasoline.”

Part of the reason that consumer and industrial chemical products have now been found to have this larger contribution is that, in recent years, cars have gotten cleaner. This means that we now have to focus our efforts on reducing emissions from these products in much the same way we did with cars. 

“It’s worked so well that to make further progress on air quality, regulatory efforts would need to become more diverse,” says Joost de Gouw, a CIRES chemist and co-author of the paper. “It’s not just vehicles any more.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Consumer and industrial products tied to urban air pollution

Air pollution comes from many sources, from factories, to cars,...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/self-driving-cars-sensors/">Autonomous vehicles</a> are quickly becoming more of a reality in the developed world, as some major companies have already put hundreds of vehicles on the road. This new technology could eventually save you the trouble of driving yourself everywhere, but could it also save the environment?

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a> has found that the added weight, electricity demand, and aerodynamic drag of the sensors and computers used in these vehicles are major contributors to their lifetime energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. 

However, when savings from the driving efficiencies of autonomous vehicles are factored into these calculations, the net result is a reduction in lifetime energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of as much as 9 percent compared to conventional vehicles. 

“This study explored the tradeoffs between the increased environmental impacts from adding autonomous vehicle equipment with the expected gains in driving efficiency,” explains Gregory Keoleian, director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the <a href="https://www.umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> School for Environment and Sustainability, and co-author on the study.

In the study, the researchers assess the lifetime contributions of the sensing and computing subsystems in autonomous vehicles to energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Autonomous vehicles – formally known as connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) – usually include multiple cameras, radar, sonar, LiDAR, a GPS navigation system, a computer, and support structures.

The vehicles the researchers analyzed for the study are Level 4 CAVs, which are vehicles that can operate without human input or oversight under select conditions. They assessed two types of CAVs: those powered by internal combustion engines and battery-powered electric vehicles. The two vehicle types were paired with sensing and computer subsystems of three sizes (small, medium, and large) to create six scenarios. To estimate lifetime energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for each scenario, they utilized life-cycle assessment methodology.

The results showed that autonomous vehicles with electric powertrains have 40 percent lower lifetime greenhouse gas emissions than vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines. “We’ve shown in this paper that a battery-electric vehicle is a better platform for CAV components compared to the internal-combustion engine vehicle in terms of minimizing environmental impacts,” says study lead author Jim Gawron, a graduate student at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability and at the Ross School of Business.

Their findings also showed that the sensing and computing subsystems in CAVs could increase a vehicle’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by between 3 and 20 percent, as a result of increases in power consumption, weight, and aerodynamic drag. This includes the added weight and power demand of the onboard computer – roughly 45 percent of the weight and 80 percent of the power – and the drag caused by exterior-mounted CAV components. Luckily, the operational benefits of these vehicles are expected to outweigh these increases in the majority of cases. 

However, the conclusions of this study are based on the assumption that the operational efficiencies of CAVs can result in a 14 percent reduction in fuel consumption over conventional vehicles. But if the reduction ends up being significantly lower than 14 percent, the environmental benefits could disappear.

“Our findings highlight the need to focus on energy efficiency when designing autonomous vehicles so that the full environmental benefits of this emerging, transformative technology can be realized,” says Keoleian. “We hope this work contributes to a more sustainable mobility ecosystem.”

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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

Autonomous vehicles would have environmental benefits

Autonomous vehicles are quickly becoming more of a reality in...

A new report from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has revealed that global warming will lead to a higher frequency of extreme weather events, even if the global temperature goal set forth at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/country-paris-agreement/">Paris Agreement</a> is reached.

The research team analyzed historical climate data to estimate the probability of extreme weather events under two scenarios. The experts modeled future weather with a global average temperature increase of 1.5 to 2 degrees, which is the target agreed upon in Paris. They also modeled global warming of 2 to 3 degrees, which would be the outcome of commitments made by individual countries.

“The really big increases in record-setting event probability are reduced if the world achieves the aspirational targets rather than the actual commitments,” said co-author Noah Diffenbaugh. “At the same time, even if those aspirational targets are reached, we still will be living in a climate that has substantially greater probability of unprecedented events than the one we're in now.”

A previous study by the research team in 2017 demonstrated that human-induced global warming has increased the odds of record-setting hot events across more than 80 percent of the planet, while also promoting the occurrence of both wet and dry extremes. 

For the current study, the researchers expanded the number of climate models that they used to investigate the two different future global temperature rise scenarios. 

The researchers found that, if countries met their individual goals and limited warming to between 2 and 3 degrees, this would result in three times as many extremely wet days in North America, Europe, and East Asia. Record-breaking warm nights would increase by five times across half of Europe and 25 percent of Asia, and the number of hot days would likely increase as well.

If the Paris Agreement target is reached and global warming is limited to less than 2 degrees, regions of the world exposed to record-setting events would be reduced by as much as three times. Regardless, the world will likely experience more record-setting events than before, according to the study authors.


“Damages from extreme weather and climate events have been increasing, and 2017 was the costliest year on record,” said Diffenbaugh. “These rising costs are one of many signs that we are not prepared for today's climate, let alone for another degree of global warming.”


“But the good news is that we don't have to wait and play catch-up. Instead, we can use this kind of research to make decisions that both build resilience now and help us be prepared for the climate that we will face in the future.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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

Extreme weather will occur more frequently

A new report from Stanford University has revealed that global...

Researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have discovered a previously unknown connection between atmospheric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-avoid-carbon-dioxide/">carbon dioxide</a> cycles and the shifting amount of carbon dioxide stored in ocean crust.

The slow carbon cycle is the transfer of carbon between the Earth and the atmosphere. For tens of millions of years, this cycle has been driven by a series of chemical reactions and volcanic activity.

Hot, volcanic ocean crust is subject to weathering from the circulation of seawater through cracks and holes. The invasion of seawater allows minerals that capture carbon to gradually form within the ocean crust.

A recent study demonstrated that the temperature of the water at the seafloor makes a big difference throughout the weathering process. Ultimately, the hotter this water is, the more carbon dioxide gets stored in the ocean crust.

“To find out how this process contributes to the slow carbon cycle, we reconstructed the average bottom water temperature of the oceans through time, and plugged it into a global computer model for the evolution of the ocean crust over the past 230 million years,” explained study co-author Dietmar Müller. “This allowed us to compute how much carbon dioxide is stored in any new chunk of crust created by seafloor spreading.”


“Our plate tectonic model also allows us to track each package of ocean floor until it eventually reaches its final destination--a subduction zone,” said co-author Dr. Adriana Dutkiewicz. “At the subduction zone, the crust and its calcite are recycled back into the Earth's mantle, releasing a portion of the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through volcanoes.”

The study revealed that the capacity of the ocean crust to store carbon dioxide changed consistently throughout time every 26 million years. Previous studies have documented 26 million-year cycles in other geological events as well including extinctions, volcanism, salt deposits, and atmospheric carbon dioxide fluctuations.

“Our model suggests that characteristic 26 million-year periodicity in the slow carbon cycle is instead driven by fluctuations in seafloor spreading rates that in turn alter the capacity of the ocean crust to store carbon dioxide,” said Miller. “This raises the next question: what ultimately drives these fluctuations in crustal production?”

Gaining a better understanding of the slow carbon cycle is critical for predicting how the Earth will respond to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide that results from human activities.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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

Slow carbon cycle driven by weathering on the seafloor

Researchers at the University of Sydney have discovered a previously...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-species-tropical-forests/">Tropical forests</a> are a crucial ecosystem that hold more than half all of the species in the world. These lush forests also play an important role in the carbon cycle by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

However, tropical forests around the world have diminished dramatically, particularly due to forest fragmentation, which is the process of breaking apart or splitting up large swaths of forest into smaller pieces. 

Now, a new study by researchers from the <a href="https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=33573">Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research</a> (UFZ) has calculated the amount of tropical forest fragmentation across the globe.

Their findings, published in the journal Nature, show how tropical forest fragmentation in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia is at a critical tipping point. If tropical forest fragmentation continues at its going rate, it will decrease biodiversity and carbon storage capacity.

In order to reach this conclusion, the researchers first had to find a way to measure and analyze patterns of forest fragmentation around the world. 

Remote sensing data was used to quantify forest cover in the tropics from which the researchers found more than 130 million forest fragments. All three continents showed consistency in frequency and size of fragments. 

The reason for this similarity has to do with the power law in physics and the percolation theory. 

“This theory states that in a certain phase of deforestation the forest landscape exhibits fractal, self-similar structures, i.e., structures that can be found again and again on different levels,” said Andreas Huth, the leader of the research. 

The remote sensing data was compared to different predictions of the percolation theory, and the results showed that fragmentation could be calculated with the theory. As the calculations matched the data in size distribution, fractal dimension, and length distribution of the fragment edges. 

The researchers also found that the percolation theory could be used to predict future fragmentation over the next decade. At its current rate in Central and South America, the number of fragments will increase 33 fold, and the fragments will only get smaller and smaller. 

Forest fragmentation is a major concern for several reasons. The loss of habitat will affect biodiversity and many rare species could go extinct. The loss of forest cover could increase carbon emissions thereby worsening the impacts of climate change. 

The new data allows researchers to measure and predict global tropical forest fragmentation, which could help dictate future policies and conservation efforts. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: Mateus Dantas de Paula

Tropical forest fragmentation impacts CO2 storage, biodiversity

Tropical forests are a crucial ecosystem that hold more than...

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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

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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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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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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

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