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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Extreme heat of 2023  weakened Earth's carbon storage capacity

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

One of the most invasive marine species in Europe has arrived on Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline in alarming numbers. According to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>, the appearance of large swarms of nomad jellyfish is reviving a dispute over the Suez Canal.

The nomad <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/pee-jellyfish-sting/">jellyfish</a>, Rhopilema nomadica, is native to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, yet has been showing up in the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal since the 1970’s. Despite this fact, many blame the recent invasion on the 2015 expansion of the Suez Canal.

The jellyfish interrupted the Eid al-Fitr holiday last month, as beach-goers avoided the water and took to social media with pictures of the unwelcome visitors. The numbers of nomad jellyfish appearing in the Mediterranean has steadily increased over the years, but this year they are especially dominant.

The Suez Canal has been expanded several times since it was built in 1869. However, the 2015 project was a multi-billion dollar transformation. Egyptian officials deny the expansion is to blame for this year’s unprecedented jellyfish invasion.

Mostafa Fouda, an advisor to the Environment Minister, points out that this is not the first time nomad jellyfish have appeared on Egypt's north coast. “This time the number was just larger than previous years,” explains Fouda.

Egypt’s environmental ministry has set up a team to assess the phenomenon. They believe there are many other factors to be considered for the abundance of alien jellyfish this year such as global warming, the availability of more food, or a lack of predators.

While experts agree that these environmental influences may have allowed a spike in the nomadic jellyfish population, many feel the larger waterway has increased the progression of the creatures from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Jason Hall-Spencer is a marine biologist at Britain's Plymouth University. He says,"The primary cause of the invasion of jellyfish is the Suez Canal. Other ecosystem stressors have allowed them to thrive and become a plague.”

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>

Egypt’s Suez Canal blamed for jellyfish invasion

One of the most invasive marine species in Europe has...

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> are taking a new look at past temperatures in Greenland to determine how quickly the country’s massive ice sheet is melting. 

Atmospheric scientists J. E. Jack Reeves Eyre and Xubin Zeng say that observing past and present surface air temperatures can help establish the rate at which the ice has melted and help predict how fast it will continue to disappear. Previous research suggests that the Greenland ice sheet began vanishing in 1900, and the annual rate of shrinkage has doubled since 2003. 

The loss of this enormous sheet could have a major impact on rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/measuring-sea-levels-rising/">sea levels</a>. Greenland’s ice covers an area of land larger than France, Germany, and Italy combined. The sea would rise an additional 7 meters, or 23 feet, in the event that all of Greenland’s ice melted.

"Greenland is particularly important to global climate change because it has the potential to cause a big change in sea level," explains Reeves Eyre. "Knowing how it's going to change over the next century is important."

Calculating the average temperature of Greenland in the 20th century is challenging due to the fact there were only coastal weather stations in the country until 1995. Remote sensing data, climate models, and other methods have been used to establish Greenland’s average temperatures last century, but the studies produced conflicting results.

For the current study, the scientists looked at data sets from 16 previous evaluations. They divided the temperature data into three categories to get an unbiased view of which studies were more accurate. The team ultimately combined the findings of the two best analyses.

"By studying a wide range of available data and combining two of the best data sources, we've come up with a combination that best represents the whole distribution of temperatures over Greenland from 1880 to 2016," says Eyre. "Using this dataset is the best way to evaluate climate models and their projection of temperature change over Greenland."

The findings of the study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.the-cryosphere.net/">The Cryosphere</a>, will be used to improve climate models to more accurately predict how Greenland will respond to future warming.

--

By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>

Greenland is melting, but the question is how quickly?

Researchers from the University of Arizona are taking a new...

Volcanic activity in the oceans induced by falling sea levels may have caused an unusual decline in the Earth’s temperature 80,000 years ago, according to a new study.

Although temperatures dropped, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere remained relatively stable for several thousand years, according to the study by <a href="http://www.geomar.de/en/">GEOR MAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel</a> and the<a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html"> Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research</a>.

Normally, if the temperatures decline, CO2 values also decrease and vice versa, the authors said.

Researchers analyzed why <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/ocean-circulation-absorb-carbon-dioxide/">CO2</a> levels were stable during the temperature drop during the last transition to glacial conditions. They investigated the response of mid-ocean ridges and of 43 ocean island volcanoes to glacial sea level changes.

During the development of glacial conditions, temperatures decrease and ice sheets form, redistributing water from the ocean to continental regions. Sea level falls, decreasing pressure on the seabed and the Earth’s crust, and increasing magma production, the authors said.

"To better understand and quantify these processes, we developed a comprehensive computer model that we integrated with geodynamic data,” said Jörg Hasenclever, the lead author of the study. “In addition to this we analyzed paleo-climate data and carried out simulations with a model of the global carbon cycle." 

Close interactions between the solid earth and the climate system exist on geologically relatively short time scales of about 5,000 to 15,000 years, the study suggests.

"Such interactions could provide a novel component for earth system research to better understand the climate evolution at times of glacial sea level changes," co-author Gregor Knorr said. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.geomar.de/en/">GEOR MAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel</a>

Sea-level declines, volcanoes explain unusual temperature drop

Volcanic activity in the oceans induced by falling sea levels...

A new study reveals how strike-slip faults form in the Earth’s crust, as two tectonic plates slide past one another, generating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/slow-earthquakes-tsunami-generation/">earthquakes</a>.

In addition to a video description, <a href="http://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts at Amherst </a> researchers re-enacted the events in wet clay in the lab.

"When I give talks to other geologists I put up a picture of a fault and ask, wouldn't you love to be able to see exactly how that formed?,” said structural geologist Michele Cooke. “Well, in my lab that's what we do. We set up the conditions for faulting on a small scale and watch them unfold.”

The researchers have developed methods that allow them to see faults grow in very, very fine detail, at a finer resolution than anyone has documented before," Cooke said.

In two-hour experiments, the researchers load a tray with kaolin, also known as china clay, prepared so its viscosity and length scale to that of the earth's crust. One scenario begins with a pre-existing fault, another with localized displacement beneath the clay, and a third that is characterized by a displacement across a wider zone of shear beneath the clay.

The scientists record strain localization and fault evolution that represents millions of years at the scale of tens of kilometers during the maturation of strike-slip faults. "We have captured very different conditions for fault formation in our experiments that represent a range of conditions that might drive faulting in the crust,” Cooke said.

One surprising finding was that faults “shut off along the way,” Cooke said. This is the first experiment to document this.

“Another especially surprising finding is that fault irregularities, which are inefficient, persist rather than the system forming a straight, efficient fault," she said.

The study identifies four stages in fault evolution: pre-faulting, localization, linkage and slip. The process starts simply, advances to a complex peak, and simplifies again before lengthening into a "through-going" or continuous single, surface crack, the research found.

“What you're left with at the end is a long fault with abandoned segments on either side, which is something we see in the field all the time,” Cooke said.”It's a nice confirmation that our lab experiments replicate what is going on within the Earth."

The study was published in the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01918141">Journal of Structural Geology</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts at Amherst</a>

How strike-slip faults form and lead to earthquakes

A new study reveals how strike-slip faults form in the...

Scientists have discovered a geomagnetic “fingerprint” that will allow them to study the Earth’s magnetic field and its past with finer resolution.

"This is something of a Holy Grail discovery," said Maureen Walczak, a post-doctoral researcher at <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> and lead author on the study. "It is an important first step in better understanding the magnetic field, and synchronizing sediment core data at a finer scale."

Researchers made the discovery while studying two high-resolution sediment cores from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/500-year-old-fish-trap-alaska/">Gulf of Alaska</a>. They compared those records with sediment cores from other sites in the Pacific Ocean to capture a magnetic fingerprint, which is based on the orientation of the magnetite in the sediment, which acts as a magnetic recorder of the past.

The magnetic signal found in the cores now covers an area spanning from Alaska to Oregon, and over to Hawaii, researchers said.

"Magnetic alignment of distant environmental reconstructions using reversals in the paleomagnetic record provides insights into the past on a scale of hundreds of thousands of years," Walczak said

It will allow scientists to compare events between ocean basins, and “really get down to the nitty-gritty of how climate anomalies are propagated around the planet on a scale relevant to human society,” said Walczak.

The Earth’s magnetic field changes, which shields the planet from solar winds and cosmic radiation, changes over over time, researchers said. About 800,000 years ago, the field was reversed, meaning that a compass would have pointed south. Magnetic field reversals occur every several hundred thousand years, the authors said.

The magnetic field is generated by a fluid outer core of iron, nickel and other metals that creates electric currents, which in turn produce magnetic fields. It is well known that the field changes but the new research can help explain the reasons why, the study authors said.

The research was published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0012821X">Earth and Planetary Science Letters</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University </a>

Earth’s magnetic field is simpler than scientists thought

Scientists have discovered a geomagnetic “fingerprint” that will allow them...

With North Korea claiming to have missiles that can reach <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-idUSKBN19P02W">Alaska</a>, disaster movie scenarios have crept into the minds of many Americans. This isn’t the first time Alaska has been the locale for potential disaster. In 2008, the 49th State on the northwest extremity of North America saw two of the state’s 40 plus active volcanoes erupt in the southwestern <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-aleutian-islands/">Aleutian Islands</a>. Neither Kasatochi Volcano or Mount Okmok’s eruptions were disastrous, but they did get us thinking… Might some natural disaster take us out before a foreign missile? When was the last time a volcano did some real damage in the United States?

In 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted and caused 57 casualties, making it the deadliest and most costly volcano in US history. In 1989, Mount Redoubt in… you guessed it, Alaska, sent volcanic ash 45, 000 feet into the sky, causing all four engines on a Boeing 747 to fail and send the airplane plummeting toward the earth, until the pilots managed to get the engines restarted. Then in 2009, the same volcano went off from March to July. Fortunately, no planes fell from the sky that time and volcanoes on the North American continent have been relatively quiet since.

Mauna Loa in Hawaii, considered to be the largest volcano on earth having emerged above sea level some 400, ooo years ago, experienced its last eruption from March to April of 1984. Benjamin Edwards, Associate Professor of Geology at<a href="http://www.dickinson.edu/"> Dickinson College</a> in Pennsylvania<a href="https://www.maxim.com/maxim-man/which-5-volcanoes-are-most-likely-erupt-next"> predicted</a> in 2014 that Mauna Loa was one of the volcanoes most likely to erupt next. “It can produce pretty big lava flows that travel quickly, so there’s certainly some danger to the people on the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s such a famous volcano that there would be people from all around the world trying to go see it because it’s so well known for having such a large outpouring of lava when it erupts.”

In addition to Alaska and Hawaii, Russell McLendon <a href="https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/which-us-volcanoes-are-likely-to-erupt-next">lists</a> the Cascade Range of mountains sprawling from Southern British Columbia to Northern California on the list of US volcanoes likely to erupt soon. “They aren't as active as Alaska's volcanoes, but they've caused the most powerful eruptions on U.S. soil, and they're dangerously close to large population centers in California and the Pacific Northwest.”

There are also many theories about volcanoes outside the US that should be closely observed. Included on that list is Campi Flegrei (Italian for burning fields) in Italy, a volcano that <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006094057.htm">one study</a> suggests wiped out the Neanderthals 40, 000 years ago. Also along the Campanian Arc lies <a href="https://www.livescience.com/27871-mount-vesuvius-pompeii.html">Mount Vesuvius</a>, the only active volcano on the European mainland. Vesuvius is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its proximity to the neighboring city of Naples, but hasn’t had a major eruption since 1944. 

Iceland is also lousy with volcanoes. In 2010, a volcano went off sending plumes of ash into the sky, grounding 100, 000 European flights and resulting in losses estimated at 4 billion euros. Edwards said of Hekla, a stratovolcano in the south of Iceland, “The bigger volcanoes often give you a few weeks of warning or more–you start to get earthquake swarms, you start to get different gases. If it’s an ice-covered volcano, sometimes you see melting early on as magma starts to move. But with Hekla, it’s not unheard of for there to be only a few hours between the first signs of unrest and an eruption.” Hekla is historically more likely to produce flowing lava than do something more explosive, which is fortunate given its popularity as a hiking destination.

Of course, with something like 1,300 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, it’s impossible to predict when and where the next volcano will erupt. But just to be safe, we’ll keep an eye on Alaska.

--

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Darryl Joseph</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Which volcanoes are most likely to erupt next?

With North Korea claiming to have missiles that can reach Alaska,...

A Canadian uranium mining company won’t be fined for twice spilling low-level radioactive sludge outside a Utah waste disposal facility, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Cameco, based in Saskatoon, Canada, won't be fined in part because the company plans in the future to store the barium sulfate sludge in bags within the trucks.

"However, significant violations in the future could result in a civil penalty," NRC Deputy Regional Administrator Scott Morris wrote the company June 29, the <a href="http://network.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RADIOACTIVE_SLUDGE_SPILL?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-07-05-17-45-13">Associated Press</a> reported.

Cameco spokesman Gord Struthers said Wednesday that the company is pleased to have resolved the problem to the NRC’s satisfaction. 

After the NRC has signed off on Cameco's corrective measures, shipments of barium sulfate sludge from the Smith Ranch in-situ uranium mine and processing facility in northeast Wyoming will resume, Struthers said.

Cameco officials asked the NRC not to fine the company, saying the radioactive spills didn't endanger anyone.

Low-level radioactive waste leaked from trucks from a Wyoming uranium processing facility in 2015 and 2016.

The first time, sludge spilled over the back of the truck when the driver braked hard to avoid hitting a deer. The second time, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-fukushima-radiation-no-threat/">sludge</a> leaked from a faulty door in the truck container.

Workers noticed the leaks after the trucks arrived outside Energy Fuels Resources' White Mesa Mill waste disposal facility near Blanding, Utah. Testing found no elevated radiation along the roughly 600-mile shipment route through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.

Cameco committed nine rule violations, all on the low end of the agency's severity scale but five were serious enough to warrant fines, the NRC said.

The sludge that spilled is a normal byproduct of in-situ uranium mining, in which water mixed with oxygen and baking soda dissolves uranium out of underground sandstone deposits. The solution is then processed into yellowcake and nuclear fuel.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://network.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RADIOACTIVE_SLUDGE_SPILL?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-07-05-17-45-13">AP</a>

U.S. won’t fine Canadian company over radioactive spill

A Canadian uranium mining company won’t be fined for twice...

Snakebites are a serious global threat to public health, particularly in rural areas. According to a new study published in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/">PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases</a>, snakebites cost Sri Lanka the equivalent of over 10 million dollars in medical expenses each year, with individual economic losses of nearly 4 million. 

The typical victims of snakebites in poverty-stricken rural communities of Asia, <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/wildfires-south-africas-southern-coast/">Africa</a>, and Latin America are young people who have labor intensive jobs. These young adults most often do physically demanding work such as farming, which must be put on hold for recovery from snakebites. 

David Lalloo of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine led colleagues from the University of Kelaniya in the study. The team collected data from a nationwide survey conducted in Sri Lanka in 2013. They used the information to evaluate the annual number of snakebites and deaths from snakebites, and used additional household questionnaires and hospital records to estimate the overall costs of snakebites.

The study established that 79 percent of snakebite victims suffered economic loss. The grand total of individual economic loss in 2013 was the equivalent of 3.8 million dollars. The snakebites also placed a heavy financial burden on Sri Lanka’s health care system, costing 10.3 million USD in one year.

"It is unlikely that these costs will reduce in the near future as there is no indication that the high incidence of bites is declining," said the authors of the study. "Even more concerning is the economic burden that snakebite places on victims and their households... It is highly likely in Sri Lanka that snakebite drives the same catastrophic costs for the poor as many other diseases."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/">PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases</a>

Image Credit: Gihan Jayaweera, Wikimedia Commons

Snakebites cost Sri Lanka over $10 million per year

Snakebites are a serious global threat to public health, particularly...

According to new research from the <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a>, ocean acidification will cause a drastic decline in fish diversity. The study also predicts that small, weedy fish species will take over and dominate oceans at the end of the century.

The scientists observed species living in marine habitats at underwater volcanic vents, where levels of C02 have reached the point that all oceans are predicted to reach by the end of the century. These were compared to nearby marine environments with regular CO2 levels.

"This study was done in a shallow-water temperate kelp ecosystem using volcanic CO2 vents as natural laboratories to get a peek into what future ecosystems might look like,” said Ivan Nagelkerken, a marine ecologist with the University of Adelaide who led the study.

The research team conducted underwater experiments over three years. The study found that one or two species of smaller, dominant fish multiplied in the marine environments with high levels of Co2. Less aggressive and less common species of fish, on the other hand, started to vanish. 

"If we look at the total number of fish we actually see that these increase under ocean acidification but local biodiversity is lost," said Professor Nagelkerken. "There are increases in the abundance of food such as small crustaceans and snails and, because the dominant species tend to win almost all combats with other species and are attracted to food much faster, their numbers rise.”

The weedy fish species projected to take over the oceans would normally be kept under control by medium-sized predators. However, ocean acidification is transforming kelp - which these intermediate predators depend on for protection - to low grassy turf. These species will disappear along with their natural habitat.

"The result is a lot of what are known as weedy species -- somewhat the marine equivalent to rats and cockroaches, plenty of them around but no-one really wants to eat them,” explained Nagelkerken.

The study, published in Current Biology, determined that one way to delay the loss of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sea-mining-loss-biodiversity/">biodiversity</a> is to lessen the overfishing of medium-sized predators. 

"We showed how diminishing predator numbers has a cascading effect on local species diversity," explained Professor Nagelkerken. "Strong controls on overfishing could be a key action to stall diversity loss and ecosystem change in a high CO2 world."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a>

Ocean acidification will cause huge increase of small, weedy fish

According to new research from the University of Adelaide, ocean...

Recent climate models have shown California will get hotter and drier over the next several decades. However, new research finds evidence to the contrary, and predicts that the golden state will receive an average of 12 percent more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/relentless-rain-california-nevada-west/">precipitation</a> through the end of the century.

The study projects areas of California which are north of Santa Rosa will have an increase in precipitation by 14.1 percent. The central part of the state, which is defined in the study as beginning just south of San Luis Obispo, will go up in precipitation by 15.2 percent. The southern region, on the other hand, will see less precipitation by 3.3 percent.

The study indicates that the majority of the increase in the golden state's precipitation will take place in the months of December, January, and February. These months will bring nearly 40 percent more precipitation to central regions of California and over 30 percent more precipitation to northern California.

SoCal will also see an increase in precipitation in these winter months by 10.6 percent, according to the study. These percentages have been established in comparison to data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project between 1979 and 1999.

"Most previous research emphasized uncertainty with regards to future precipitation levels in California, but the overall thought was California would become drier with continued climate change," said Robert Allen from <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>. "We found the opposite, which is quite surprising."

Allen teamed up with graduate student Rainer Luptowitz for the study. The team investigated 38 climate models from across the globe for their analysis. 

The main reason for the proposed increase in the California's precipitation is rising ocean temperatures. Warming surface temperatures in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean will cause a shift in the jet stream to the southeast which will bring more mid-latitude cyclones to the golden state.

"Essentially, this mechanism is similar to what we in California expect during an El Nino year," Allen said. "Ultimately, what I am arguing is El Nino-like years are going to become more the norm in California."

Allen pointed out that the prediction of an El Nino-like year does not mean for certain there will be a wet winter in California. Allen said there are many other climatic factors that still must be considered. The study is published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

[caption id="attachment_717969" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/144704.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-717969" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/144704-300x297.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="297" /></a> Image Credit: UC Riverside Strategic Communications[/caption]

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC, Riverside</a>

Image Credit: UC Riverside Strategic Communications

Why California will become wetter over the course of this century

Recent climate models have shown California will get hotter and...

Fish killed by sewage can spread harmful bacteria to scavenger fish and birds, a new study found.

The <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/">University of Waterloo</a> study is the first to analyze how bacteria from dead and decaying organisms affects the metabolic performance of rainbow darters.

Using custom-made respirometry chambers, researchers measured the rate of breathing in fish exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/another-hawaii-beach-closed-after-massive-sewage-spill/">contaminated sewage water</a>.

"We saw an increase in metabolic rate in fish exposed to wastewater effluent," said study leader Paul Craig. "This indicated that these fish were under environmental conditions that required more energy to survive in a resting state, leaving less energy to find food, attract mates or escape predators.”

When fish who had been exposed to wastewater were returned to clean water, the metabolic rate returned to normal after a week, prompting researchers to investigate the role of the the bacteria necrobiome.

"This increase in metabolic rate is likely the result of a costly immune response to overcome infection from these pathological bacteria," Craig said.

After they die, decaying fish can spread the bacteria to scavenging fish and birds, Craig said.

“Fish caught in areas downstream of effluent outlets may also pose a health risk to anglers,” he added.

Effluent-contaminated waters are “particularly enriched in pathogenic bacteria most associated with human infection including bacteria that cause food poisoning such as Clostridium perfringens,” said study coauthor Andrew Doxey.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.sebiology.org/"> Society for Experimental Biology</a>

Image Credit: Mr Hossein Mehdi

Fish exposed to sewage in water can spread bacteria

Fish killed by sewage can spread harmful bacteria to scavenger...

Even light oil on birds from spills can make it difficult for them to fly, a new study found.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.uwo.ca/">Western University in Canada</a> applied oil from the 2010 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/long-term-damage-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/">Deepwater Horizon oil</a> spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 to the backs and bellies of western sandpipers and tested their flight in a wind tunnel. The birds were forced to expend 45 percent more energy than normal.

“They found it hard to keep up with the wind speed,” said Ivan Maggini, one of the researchers. Scientists had to stop half of the flight trials early because the birds kept attempting to land, he said.

Even with only light oil on their wingtips and tails, birds used 20 percent more energy to fly, the study said.

“It's like trying to fly with clipped wings or carrying a ball and chain,” said Maggini.

With no oil on them, the birds flew comfortably for two hours, the researchers found.

“'Birds are often used as the poster children for the deadly effects of oil,” said Maggini.  “However, the effects of oiling go far beyond the unfortunate individuals that become heavily oiled.”

Maggini believes oil reduces the amount of lift that the birds can generate while also increasing the drag that they experience. This could have significant repercussions for the amount of time that the animals take to recover after a high endurance flight.

“We think that our results set a precedent for future oil spill damage assessments by showing how significant small amounts of oil can be for bird flight,” he said. “Every movement they make in the air becomes more costly and this can have cumulative effects on migration, survival and reproduction.”

The study was published in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>

How even light oil severely affects a bird’s ability to fly

Even light oil on birds from spills can make it...

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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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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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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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

[sendtonews key="fxH3eJHEkQ-2010196-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

[sendtonews key="gRpsplpwpe-2251464-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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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