A study led by Tel Aviv University has revealed alarming insights into how microplastic particles are transformed within marine ecosystems, posing new challenges to the health of the ocean’s food web.&nbsp;



The research highlights how filter-feeding marine organisms alter the behavior and composition of microplastics, creating unforeseen risks for marine environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-investigating-microplastic-pollution">Investigating microplastic pollution</h2>



While previous research has documented the dangers of marine animals ingesting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-are-steadily-increasing-in-freshwater-environments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microplastics</a>, this study goes a step further, exploring how these particles change after passing through the digestive systems of filter feeders.&nbsp;



Conducted by PhD student Eden Harel, Professor Noa Shenkar, and Professor Ines Zucker from <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tel Aviv University</a>, the study focused on ascidians - marine animals that efficiently filter tiny particles from water.&nbsp;



The findings reveal how the interaction between filter feeders and microplastics contributes to the spread and transformation of these particles.



“We aimed to examine whether and how plastic changes after passing through the digestive system of a marine organism and how this process affects the presence of plastic and its availability to other organisms,” Shenkar explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-filter-feeders-transform-microplastics">How filter feeders transform microplastics</h2>



Using a controlled laboratory experiment, the researchers simulated seawater environments containing ascidians and introduced two types of microplastic particles.



These particles included polystyrene (PS), a common conventional plastic, and polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable bioplastic marketed as environmentally friendly. The team monitored the filtration, digestion, and excretion processes over 48 hours.



The results showed stark differences between the two types of plastic. Ascidians removed 90% of polystyrene particles from the water within two hours, but these particles were reintroduced to the water after 48 hours following digestion.



Polylactic acid particles, on the other hand, decreased significantly in concentration and remained at low levels. Larger PLA particles appeared to break down during digestion - likely returning to the water as smaller, undetectable nanoparticles.



These findings reveal that while some microplastics persist in their original form, others may fragment into smaller particles, potentially amplifying their environmental impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-disguised-as-organic-matter">Plastic disguised as organic matter</h2>



To understand the changes microplastics undergo during digestion, the team used Raman spectroscopy to analyze particles excreted by the ascidians.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed a surprising transformation: the plastic particles were no longer identifiable as plastics. Instead, they appeared to be organic matter due to a fecal coating acquired in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthy-humans-have-shockingly-different-digestive-systems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">digestive system</a>.



“Our findings revealed that microplastic particles are excreted from the ascidian’s digestive system coated with a fecal layer, and it is likely that the marine environment also identifies these particles as this organic material,” Harel said.



This transformation increases the likelihood of these particles being ingested by other marine animals that feed on feces, further embedding microplastics into the food web.&nbsp;



The fecal coating also facilitates bacterial colonization and the adhesion of pollutants like heavy metals and residual organic compounds, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotic-resistance-could-cause-a-health-crisis-globally/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">antibiotics</a>, making these particles even more hazardous.



According to Zucker, plastic particles undergo many transformations in the environment, from weathering to digestive processes, turning them into carriers of pollutants and diseases within the food web.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-impacts-of-microplastics-on-feces">Impacts of microplastics on feces</h2>



In addition to examining how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-jawless-fish-rhinopteraspis-dunensis-filter-feeders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filter feeders</a> transform microplastics, the study explored how these particles affect the physical properties of feces - a vital nutrient source for many marine organisms. Feces containing microplastics displayed significant changes in behavior.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rapid-sinking">Rapid sinking</h3>



Unlike normal feces, which sink slowly and provide sustenance to organisms along their descent, feces containing microplastics sank rapidly to the seafloor. This deprives marine organisms in the water column of a crucial food source.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-localized-accumulation">Localized accumulation</h3>



The faster sinking caused feces and microplastics to accumulate on the seafloor near the filter feeders, instead of dispersing evenly. This buildup can lead to increased carbon and nitrogen levels, fostering algal blooms that disrupt marine ecosystems.



“This accumulation can increase carbon and nitrogen levels on the seafloor and trigger algal blooms, representing another critical impact of microplastics on the balance of the marine food web,” Harel explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complexity-of-microplastic-pollution-nbsp">Complexity of microplastic pollution&nbsp;</h2>



The study highlights the complexity of microplastic pollution, showing that the problem goes far beyond the particles themselves. Their transformation through biological processes and environmental exposure creates unexpected and far-reaching consequences.



“The most alarming conclusion is that the microplastic problem is far more complex than initially thought,” said the researchers.&nbsp;



“Plastic pollution in the marine environment has many unexpected dimensions, and its complexities continue to grow. Sometimes, neither we nor the environment can even recognize it as plastic.”



The findings emphasize the urgent need for better technologies and strategies to mitigate the spread and impact of microplastics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-addressing-the-microplastics-crisis">Addressing the microplastics crisis</h2>



As microplastic pollution continues to infiltrate marine ecosystems in unpredictable ways, this study reveals just how urgent the issue has become. With microplastics transforming into carriers of pollutants, altering the balance of marine food webs, and contributing to environmental degradation, addressing this crisis is essential.



“As time goes on, plastic continues to harm more and more marine ecosystems,” the researchers concluded. “It is our duty to develop new technologies to mitigate this dangerous phenomenon.”



This research provides a crucial step toward understanding the hidden dimensions of microplastic pollution and calls for global action to protect marine life and the delicate ecosystems that sustain it.



-----



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Filter feeders transform microplastics into a bigger threat 

A study led by Tel Aviv University has revealed alarming insights into how microplastic particles are transformed within marine ecosystems, posing new challenges to the health of the ocean’s food web.&nbsp; The research highlights how filter-feeding marine organisms alter the behavior and composition of microplastics, creating unforeseen risks for marine environments. Investigating microplastic pollution While previous research has documented the dangers of marine animals ingesting microplastics, this study goes a step further, exploring how these particles change after passing through the digestive systems of filter feeders.&nbsp; Conducted...

An investigation into the resilience of Rocky Mountain forests has determined that the warming conditions of climate change will make forests less capable of recovering from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-southern-california/">wildfires</a>.

Researchers led by <a href="https://www.colostate.edu/">Colorado State University</a> analyzed data from 1,500 sites in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. They measured more than 63,000 seedlings left behind from 52 wildfires in the past three decades.

The team set out to determine how the changing climate has affected post-fire tree regeneration, which is a key indicator of forest resilience.

The results of the study were discouraging. Among other findings, the experts noted significant decreases in tree regeneration following wildfires in the early 21st century, a period which was much hotter and drier than the late 20th century.

"We often talk about climate change and how it will affect us in the future, but the truth is we are already seeing those changes," said study co-author Camille Stevens-Rumann. "Disturbances like wildfires are a catalyst for change. In many places, forests are not coming back after fires."

"What we've found is dramatic, even in the relatively short 23-year study period," she added.

In one-third of the sites examined for the study, there were no seedlings growing. These regions were the hottest and driest, where fires were so intense that no trees survived to produce seed. 

Forests change over time, but the researchers said that the results of their analysis suggest that it will now take much longer after a wildfire for sites to return to forests, if they return at all.

"Even if we plant trees in those areas, it's unlikely to be successful," said Stevens-Rumann. "We need to start expecting that these landscapes aren't going to look the same in the future, whether it's reduced density of trees or no longer a forest."

One of the most shocking aspects of the study was data on the average annual water deficit at study sites.

"In my lifetime, you can see these sites becoming substantially hotter and drier," she said. "Many forest managers want post-fire years to be cooler and wetter, to help with regeneration, and that's just not happening anymore, or happening very infrequently."

Stevens-Rumann said that trees similar to the ones that burned have typically been planted to start the recovery process on a fire-ravaged site, but that may no longer be the best strategy.

"Managers may want to plant species that are adapted to the current and future climate, not the climate of the past," she said. "There also are areas that could support certain tree species but there isn't any regeneration currently; these are the ideal places to plant after a fire."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: Camille Stevens-Rumann

Forests are now less capable of bouncing back after wildfires

An investigation into the resilience of Rocky Mountain forests has...

The Colorado River Delta used to be a historically low-salinity river system that consisted of the huge Colorado River, which flowed into the Northern Gulf of California. Due to the unique freshwater conditions, ecological species evolved and adapted to the low-salinity environment, and are distinct from closely related species in the saltier estuaries in other regions of the Gulf.

However, due to invasive agriculture and domestic activities consuming much of the Colorado River water, the river is now more similar in salinity to the other estuary systems in the Gulf of California. The nature and severity of the impact of this fresh-water loss on the ecosystem and fisheries of the Colorado Delta and Gulf of California is controversial.

A new study in the journal <a href="https://peerj.com/">PeerJ</a> finds that there are risks to the unique local biodiversity of the tidal portion of the Delta that were previously unknown. Researchers from the <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a> (UCLA) analyzed species of silverside fish in a genus that is only found in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rampant-overfishing-gulf-california/">Gulf of California</a>. 

One species, Colpichthys hubbsi, only lives in the Delta and is on the endangered species list due to its restricted range. Through genetic and morphologic analyses, the researchers revealed that this species hybridizes along the western edge of the Delta with Colpichthys regis, a relative of C. hubbsi that is widespread throughout the estuaries in the Gulf. In earlier museum collections, no evidence of hybridization between these species was found.

While the genes from C. regis – the widespread species – were found to be common in the range of the C. hubbsi – the Delta specific species. However, there were no genes from the C. hubbsi found anywhere else in the Gulf. This shows clear evidence of gene movement in one direction between the two species, which may put the Delta species at risk of extinction as its genome is replaced by genes of C. regis.

But it isn’t just one species that is affected by this change in salinity. Other groups of fishes – as well as crabs – appear to have evolved as ecological species unable to leave the Colorado Delta’s ecosystem. These species may also be at risk.

As water extraction continues to accelerate in large river systems around the world, it is likely that the loss of ecological species in deltas and estuaries around the world is also accelerating. Although more work needs to be done to determine the exact causes of species separation, it’s clear that efforts need to be made to slow down the destruction being done to these ecosystems.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Water removal from Colorado River putting fish species at risk

The Colorado River Delta used to be a historically low-salinity...

Methane is a greenhouse gas the contributes heavily to global warming. It’s a byproduct of many industrial and agricultural activities, as well as a byproduct of the metabolic processes of bacteria. But along with these known sources, there is the unknown phenomenon of methane release from the ocean, which has long puzzled scientists due to the fact that no known methane-producing organisms live near the ocean’s surface.

Now, a team of researchers from <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> and the <a href="http://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a> has made a discovery that may answer this “ocean methane paradox.” 

Several years ago, Wilfred van der Donk, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois and one of the paper’s senior authors, discovered a microbial enzyme that produces a compound called methylphosphonate. This molecule can become methane when a phosphate molecule is cleaved from it, and it is found in a microbe that lives near the ocean’s surface. 

However, this enzyme was not identified in other ocean microbes, as it was expected to be. Van der Donk and his team searched for other versions of this enzyme by using its genetic sequence (MPnS), but they could never find an exact match in other microbes. What they did find instead was a closely related enzyme, hydrooxyethylphosphonate dioxygenase (HEPD), but this enzyme cannot be cleaved to produce <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cave-organisms-methane-gas/">methane</a>.

Seemingly stuck, Van der Donk asked Catherine Drennan, an MIT professor of chemistry and biology and an expert in determining chemical structures of proteins, if she could determine the structure of MPnS. In doing so, it may help the researchers to find more variants of the enzyme in other bacteria. Drennan’s team used X-ray crystallography to find the enzyme’s structure and compared its structure to the HEPD enzyme, finding one small but crucial difference. On the active site of both enzymes, where chemical reactions are catalyzed, there is an amino acid called glutamine. In MPnS, glutamine binds to iron, which is a required cofactor for methylphosphonate production. The glutamine is fixed in an iron-binding orientation by the amino acid isoleucine. But in HEPD, the isoleucine is replaced by glycine, which isn’t as bulky and allows the glutamine more space to rearrange and not have to bind to iron.

“We were looking for differences that would lead to different products, and that was the only difference that we saw,” says David Born, a graduate student at MIT and one of the study’s lead authors. The researchers then determined that changing the glycine in HEPD to isoleucine was enough to allow conversion of the enzyme to MPnS.

Through searching databases of genetic sequences for thousands of microbes, the team found hundreds of enzymes with the same structural configuration seen in the original MPnS enzyme. In addition, all of these were microbes that are known to live in the ocean.

While this discovery could have significant implications, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. “We know that methylphosphonate cleavage occurs when microbes are starved for phosphorus, but we need to figure out what nutrients are connected to this, and how is that connected to the pH of the ocean, and how is it connected to temperature of the ocean,” says Drennan. “We need all of that information to be able to think about what we’re doing, so we can make intelligent decisions about protecting the oceans.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Where does methane in the ocean come from?

Methane is a greenhouse gas the contributes heavily to global...

Hundreds of marine turtles are killed each year from becoming entangled in waste found in oceans and on beaches, including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/end-ocean-plastic-litter/">plastic</a> six pack rings that are commonly used for packaging beer and soda cans. 

The rise in plastic marine litter is harming turtles of all species, and a recent worldwide survey reports that 91 percent of turtles found entangled in garbage are dead. The research by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> also finds that there is a substantially larger impact on hatchlings and young turtles. 

The experts detailed serious wounds from entanglement, ranging from choking to maiming. Some of the surviving turtles were forced to drag debris along with them.

Besides plastic six pack rings, turtles are getting caught up in fishing nets, nylon fishing line, plastic packaging, wooden crates, and many other types of waste. The research is part of a growing collection that is exposing the extent of the threat of plastic pollution to marine animals.


Lead author Professor Brendan Godley says that, as plastic pollution increases, more and more turtles are likely to become entangled.

Death from entanglement has already increased substantially with both marine mammals and birds as well.

Of the 106 experts surveyed on the Atlantic, Pacific Caribbean, Mediterranean and Indian ocean coast, 84 percent said that they had found turtles tangled in waste, including plastic debris and discarded fishing gear.

Overall, the investigation showed that more than 1,000 turtles are likely to die annually due to entanglement. The researchers acknowledge, however, that this figure is likely to be a “gross underestimation” of the actual threat to turtles. Not all dead turtles get stranded on beaches and those that are stranded are not always found. For example, some turtles are taken by local people to eat.

"Plastic rubbish in the oceans, including lost or discarded fishing gear which is not biodegradable, is a major threat to marine turtles,” said Professor Godley. “We found, based on beach strandings, that more than 1,000 turtles are dying a year after becoming tangled up, but this is almost certainly a gross underestimate. Young turtles and hatchings are particularly vulnerable to entanglement.”

"Experts we surveyed found that entanglement in plastic and other pollution could pose a long term impact on the survival of some turtle populations and is a greater threat to them than oil spills. We need to cut the level of plastic waste and purse biodegradable alternatives if we are to tackle this grave threat to turtles' welfare."

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.int-res.com/journals/esr/esr-home/">Endangered Species Research</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: Kate Charles, Ocean Spirits

Hundreds of turtles killed by entanglement in ocean trash

Hundreds of marine turtles are killed each year from becoming...

An international team of scientists has managed to use an ocean model combined with satellite data to describe and project biodiversity on the floor of the Antarctic Ocean. The unprecedented study was conducted by an incredibly diverse group of researchers, including earth scientists, physicists, geologists, and biologists.

Satellite images of phytoplankton color on the sea surface were used with connected models that represent how the microalgae are swept by ocean currents, sink to the seafloor, and are then redistributed across it. Using this system, the team was able to accurately predict life on the seafloor without the need for physical probing.

Jan Jansen from the <a href="http://www.imas.utas.edu.au/">University of Tasmania Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</a> is the study's lead author. Jansen explained that the breakthrough would support better conservation and management of biodiversity in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-zircons-early-volcanoes/">Antarctic</a>.

"For the first time, we are able to predict how much food is available to organisms on the Antarctic sea floor, and therefore how much life is supported across the region," said Jansen.

"Scientists have long known that there was a relationship between organic matter on the surface and life on the seafloor,” he explained. "But until now there hasn't been a reliable model that not only explained the link but also enabled predictions of biodiversity.”


Jansen said that the “food availability model” brings together analysis of the rate at which organic matter sinks with data about changing ocean currents on and above the seafloor.

"The model's predictions about how much food there will be in a particular area have been verified by physical sampling of seafloor sediments,” said Jansen. "This system of models allows broad scale predictions of seafloor biodiversity over vast regions of the Antarctic continental shelf that were previously hidden, as well as predictions about how climate change will affect the ecosystem.”

Jansen said the new system will also help to develop improved strategies for the management and conservation of specific parts the ocean.

Study co-author Professor Craig Johnson explained that while the study was based on a region in eastern Antarctica, the new strategy could be used to produce maps of biodiversity around the entire Antarctic continent, including areas where information is currently limited and challenging to obtain.

"This information would be very valuable and is an exciting prospect," said Professor Johnson. “With further research, this system of models has the potential to provide valuable insights into seafloor biodiversity across other parts of the world's oceans.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</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: Jonny Stark/Australian Antarctic Division

Satellite data reveals vibrant life on the Antarctic seafloor

An international team of scientists has managed to use an...

A recent assessment finds that time is running out for cutting energy use in compliance with the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/country-paris-agreement/">Paris Agreement</a>. The review indicates that the energy intensity per square meter of buildings must improve by 30 percent over the next 12 years to stay on track with the international target.

The Global Status Report 2017, released by the <a href="https://globalabc.org/">Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction</a>, details how quickly the building sector is growing. 230 billion square meters of additional buildings will be constructed over the next 40 years. This is the equivalent of adding the floor area of Japan to the planet every single year through 2060.

Construction is responsible for 39 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. Population growth between 2010 and 2016, combined with rising floor area per person and greater demand for energy services, contributed to an increase in new energy demand in buildings equal to all the energy consumed by Germany during the same time frame.

The report cautions that time is running out for staying on target with the limits set forth by the Paris Accord. This warning is primarily because over half of new buildings expected by 2060 will go up in the next 20 years, and two-thirds of them will be constructed in countries that do not have mandatory building energy codes.

The review, however, points out many energy-efficient and low-carbon solutions that can be taken advantage of, which have been successfully deployed across the globe.

"Over the next 40 years, the world is expected to build 230 billion square metres in new construction - adding the equivalent of Paris to the planet every single week," said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the <a href="https://www.iea.org/">International Energy Agency</a>. "This rapid growth is not without consequences.

"While the energy intensity of the buildings sector has improved, this has not been enough to offset rising energy demand. Ambitious action is needed without delay to avoid locking in long-lived, inefficient buildings assets for decades to come."

A 30 percent improvement in the sector's energy intensity would require nearly doubling the current rate of energy performance advancements in buildings each year through 2030. This means that buildings with almost zero emissions need to become the worldwide standard within the next decade.

The report points to many examples of buildings that meet this standard, such as the zero-energy Edge building in Amsterdam. This building maximizes solar electricity production and uses smart technologies such as intelligent ventilation systems. 

The use of such smart controls could lower the energy consumption of buildings by 10 percent globally, and could save nearly twice the amount of energy used by this sector in 2017

The Global Status Report 2017 is available for download at <a href="https://globalabc.org/">https://globalabc.org/</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Buildings must be made more energy efficient to hit climate goals

A recent assessment finds that time is running out for...

In 2013, a 65 foot-wide meteoroid entered Earth’s atmosphere and hurtled over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia. 

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/meteoroid-captured-dusk-italy/">meteoroid</a> weighed an impressive 10,000 tons as it exploded over Chelyabinsk with a shockwave that injured a little over 1,000 people, shattered windows, and collapsed a factory roof. 

The explosion, caught on tape as a streaking fireball across the sky, caused skin and retinal burns, glowing 30 times brighter than the sun. 

The Chelyabinsk event is still studied today, and recent research was able to use the major meteor explosion to show how our atmosphere protects against meteoroid impacts. 

Researchers from <a href="http://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a> discovered that Earth’s atmosphere works as a natural shield, and the force of air pushing against the meteoroid as it enters Earth’s gravitational pull causes it to crack and explode. 

The study was published in the journal Meteoritics &amp; Planetary Science. 

It’s well established that meteoroids often explode before they reach Earth’s surface, but researchers were unclear as to why this happened until now. 

The researchers from Purdue collected data from the Chelyabinsk event to help model how meteors explode in the atmosphere. 

The Russian meteor weighed 10,000 tons, but only 2,000 tons of debris were recovered, which means something occurred in the atmosphere to cause the meteoroid to break up into smaller pieces.

The researchers used a computer code that made allowances for both solid mass and air pressure during different meteor trajectories on course with Earth. 

The results of the calculations showed that air pressure in front of a meteor was so forceful that air could move through the meteorite and break it apart. 

“There's a big gradient between high-pressure air in front of the meteor and the vacuum of air behind it,” said Jay Melosh, a professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University and the co-author of the paper. “If the air can move through the passages in the meteorite, it can easily get inside and blow off pieces.” 

This study proves that Earth’s atmosphere works as a natural barrier against debris and porous meteors, but the researchers caution that larger, denser objects could very easily reach the surface. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Why meteoroids burn up before they reach Earth

In 2013, a 65 foot-wide meteoroid entered Earth’s atmosphere and...

ShakeAlert is an earthquake early warning system that has been under development for over a decade, and may result in a U.S. West Coast prototype that could see limited public use in 2018. The system uses a dense network of seismic stations that transfer data to a central processing and alert system. The alert information is then distributed to users as an early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/texas-earthquakes-dormant-faults/">earthquake</a> warning.

In two papers published in <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/srl">Seismological Research Letters</a>, researchers detail the main components and testing platform for this prototype ShakeAlert system – which is currently being tested in California, Washington, and Oregon. 

“Parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco are covered pretty well by regional network stations, but many areas of California, Washington and Oregon are not covered very well,” explains Monica Kohler, a research faculty member at <a href="http://www.caltech.edu/">Caltech</a>. “There's some funding in the works to get some new stations in place, but right now it's not enough to complete the regional arrays that are necessary for earthquake early warning in its most robust form.”

This system was developed using seismic data collected by the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS), which is a national collection of seismic networks supported by the U.S. Geological Survey. In total, roughly 760 seismic stations currently contribute to ShakeAlert. However, one of the top priorities for improving ShakeAlert is the addition of almost 1000 additional stations on the West Coast.

At the moment, the ShakeAlert system is testing the use of “volunteer” accelerometers – mainly in the Los Angeles area – which detect earthquakes and can be plugged in at a home or business, eliminating the need for a full-scale seismic station. The system’s algorithms also help determine a “point source” for an earthquake, but it’s still a work in progress. “We are working on the ability to incorporate algorithms that can handle very large earthquakes that happen in a way that can't be approximated to a single point,” says Kohler. The current system is not as successful at providing useful warnings for earthquakes that rupture a long section of a fault and evolve over time.

Along with providing earthquake warnings and pinpointing the point source, ShakeAlert is also now testing algorithms that provide data on how severe the ground is shaking for users at their exact location. While the system was developed for the West Coast, a similar system could be used for early earthquake warnings in places such as Hawaii, Alaska, or even Oklahoma. “We have been getting questions along the lines of ‘can we try your system where we live?’ or ‘can we port your system over?’” Kohler says. “The answer in theory is yes, but there have to be these certain key elements in place.”

The ShakeAlert team is currently working to get those elements in place, as well as perfect their current system on the West Coast. Improving and expanding this system may one day save the lives of many people in earthquake-heavy areas.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New west coast earthquake warning system could save lives

ShakeAlert is an earthquake early warning system that has been...

Research from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado at Boulder</a> predicts a major shift in wind resources over the next century due to climate change. The study found that global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wind-energy-facilities-birds/">wind power</a> may decrease in many regions in the Northern Hemisphere and could substantially increase in several regions down south. 

"There's been a lot of research looking at the potential climate impact of energy production transformations--like shifting away from fossil fuels toward renewables," said lead author Kris Karnauskas. "But not as much focuses on the impact of climate change on energy production by weather-dependent renewables, like wind energy."

Only 3.7 percent of worldwide energy consumption is currently fueled by wind power, but global wind power capacity is increasing by about 20 percent a year. The research team set out to better understand likely shifts in wind production. To do this, they used an international set of climate model predictions to evaluate changes in wind energy resources. 

Next, the researchers used a "power curve" from the wind energy industry to project global winds, density, and temperature, and to ultimately calculate an estimate of wind energy production potential.

Overall, the analysis showed that substantial changes are likely to occur. If the current rate of carbon dioxide emissions persist, wind power resources may decrease in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and increase in the Southern Hemisphere and tropics by 2100.

The study also revealed that if carbon dioxide emissions are substantially lowered, a reduction of wind power in the north is still very likely, but without an increase of power in the south.

The American Midwest, which has been consistently windy for decades, currently has tens of thousands of turbines. The new research finds that wind power production in this region will be similar to what it is today over the next twenty years, yet could experience a significant drop by the end of the century. By contrast, potential wind energy production in northeastern Australia could drastically increase.

"Europe is a big question mark," said Karnauskas. "We have no idea what we'll see there. That's almost scary, given that Europe is producing a lot of wind energy already." 

The trend in Europe and the southeastern United States remains uncertain, with some models forecasting wind power will increase in these regions and others projecting a decrease.

Harnessing more wind power is critical for countries trying to meet the emission reduction standards agreed upon in Paris. The findings of this study may help to inform policymakers worldwide as they determine where to invest in this renewable energy source.

"The climate models are too uncertain about what will happen in highly productive wind energy regions, like Europe, the Central United States, and Inner Mongolia," said study co-author Julie Lundquist. "We need to use different tools to try to forecast the future--this global study gives us a roadmap for where we should focus next with higher-resolution tools."

The study, which is the first of its kind to predict how global wind power may shift with climate change, is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change to create major shift in wind energy production

Research from the University of Colorado at Boulder predicts a...

North Atlantic right whales are on the brink of extinction, according to a new report from the federal government. 

Low reproduction rates, small populations, and an increase in human-caused deaths through fishing operations have all negatively impacted the whale’s chances to survive. 

This news comes following a particularly tough 2017 for the whales, with 17 deaths so far and only 100 breeding females left in the entire North Atlantic right whale species. As numbers continue to dwindle, it’s time to consider the very real possibility that the whales will become extinct unless immediate action is taken. 

“You do have to use the extinction word, because that’s where the trend lines say they are,” said John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator for the <a href="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/">NOAA Fisheries</a>. “The current status of the right whales is a critical situation, and using our available resources to recover right whales is of high importance and high urgency.” 

According to Bullard, both America and Canada need to work together to regulate fishing operations and reduce instances of entanglement, or the whales may never recover. 

Entanglement takes a greater toll on North Atlantic right whales than was previously thought, which is why Bullard and other officials have called for immediate action to mitigate human interference. 

A study published in the journal Endangered Species Research discovered that whales who have undergone long periods of entanglement in fishing gear are under great levels of stress and this affects reproduction long after. 

According to the <a href="http://ocean.si.edu/north-atlantic-right-whale">Smithsonian Institute of Natural History</a>, 50 North Atlantic right whales are entangled every year, and 83 percent of all whales have had at least one instance of entanglement. 

The grim reality of the North Atlantic right whale is evidenced by low reproduction rates and decreasing numbers. Policy makers will need to make the whale’s survival a priority or the species could very soon no longer exist. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Whales could soon go extinct, report finds

North Atlantic right whales are on the brink of extinction,...

A new study in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behaviour </a>demonstrates that presenting facts as the majority opinion, particularly those facts regarding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-ice-storms/">climate change</a>, can bridge the gap between conservative and liberal and also pull people's opinions closer to the truth.

"Our findings suggest that presenting people with a social fact, a consensus of opinion among experts, rather than challenging them with blunt scientific data, encourages a shift towards mainstream scientific belief - particularly among conservatives,” said lead author Dr. van der Linden. 

He explained that information which directly threatens people's worldview can cause them to become further rooted in their beliefs. 

“This 'backfire effect' appears to be particularly strong among highly educated U.S. conservatives when it comes to contested issues such as manmade climate change," said Dr. van der Linden.

A collection of research has shown that conservatives are the most skeptical of climate change in the United States. However, by presenting a fact in the form of a widely accepted belief such as "97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused global warming is happening," researchers have found that conservatives significantly shift their perceptions.

Psychologists at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> analyzed over 6,000 US citizens, and discovered that introducing people to this consensus fact reduced polarization between liberals and conservatives by around 50 percent. This strategy also increased support by conservatives for a scientific accord on climate change by 20 percent.

Furthermore, the research confirmed the theory that highly educated conservatives are the most skeptical of climate change. By presenting a simple scientific fact as being socially accepted, deeply embedded beliefs were negated.

"The vast majority of people want to conform to societal standards, it's innate in us as a highly social species," explained Dr. van der Linden. "People often misperceive social norms, and seek to adjust once they are exposed to evidence of a group consensus.”

"It is more acceptable for people to change their perceptions of what is normative in science and society,” concluded Dr. van der Linden. “Previous research has shown that people will then adjust their core beliefs over time to match. This is a less threatening way to change attitudes, avoiding the 'backfire effect' that can occur when someone's worldview is directly challenged."

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Facts accepted as consensus help convince climate change skeptics

A new study in the journal Nature Human Behaviour demonstrates...

African deforestation has led to the loss of more than a fifth of the continent’s close-canopy forests since 1900, according to a new report. But that’s better than previous estimates that a third or even half of the continent’s trees have been cut down in that time.

The new analysis of survey data, led by a team of <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> researchers, found that deforestation estimates were higher than they should have been because some ancient savannahs had been mistakenly labeled as newly deforested areas.

But everything’s not coming up roses.

While African deforestation isn’t as big a problem – yet – as scientists expected, forests in West and East Africa have shrunk by 80 to 90 percent.

"As conservationists, it is easy to look at this study as good news – that deforestation isn't as bad as we thought," said Dr. A Carla Staver, the study’s senior author. "The bad news is that central African forests have been spared because violent conflicts have prevented economic development, at the costs of human lives and livelihoods."

Staver and Dr. Julie C. Aleman used early 20th-century maps made by European explorers to estimate what Africa’s forests may have looked like in 1900. They then compared those maps with paleontological records of pollen, charcoal and fossilized leaf parts to reconstruct a more accurate view of the continent in 1900. 

They found that over the past 117 years, forests in West Africa shrank by the greatest amount, as the land was repurposed. Conversely, forests in some countries in central Africa actually expanded, the pair found.

Still, the report gives conservationists the chance to put protections in place for the remaining trees before African deforestation does live up to estimates.

"There is a global effort to increase the number of trees that can trap carbon," Staver said. "In Africa, it would make the most sense to focus these efforts in areas that have truly been deforested rather than in areas which have long been savannas."

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>. It was funded by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>, Seessel Fund and <a href="https://climate.yale.edu/">Yale Climate and Energy Institute</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Missing the forest for the trees: African deforestation not as bad as feared

African deforestation has led to the loss of 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

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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

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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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes why herbicides are not as effective in killing weeds anymore. In the 20th century, chemical companies developed thousands of herbicides. The most commonly used herbicide was glyphosate, which was introduced in 1974.



Over the past few decades, dozens of species of weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Depending on the site of action, the part of the plant that an herbicide interacts with, weeds may even be resistant to herbicides that have not been developed yet.&nbsp;



With increasing resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides, weeds are - once again - becoming a major concern for farmers.&nbsp;



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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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