From coastlines to capital cities, healthcare workers are warning about the immediate need for a treaty to end plastic pollution.



The danger of a global health disaster is at its highest level as United Nations-led negotiations to form a plastic treaty continue to remain dead-locked due to ongoing disputes.



Plastic pollution not only endangers human health, but threatens to harm our planet itself. Without decisive action, the consequences could be irreversible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-treaty-negotiations">Plastic treaty negotiations</h2>



At the forefront of this urgent plea for action are researchers from the Revolution Plastics Institute at the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Portsmouth</a>.



The experts recently spotlighted the matter in an article published by the British Medical Journal, following their participation in the plastic treaty negotiations in Busan last December.



The negotiations concluded without any agreement being reached, and this pushed further discussions into 2025.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skyrocketing-plastic-production">Skyrocketing plastic production</h2>



With global annual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-production-increases-create-identical-plastic-pollution-increase/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic production</a> currently at an alarming 400 million tonnes and expected to double by 2040, the scientists see health care professionals playing an increasingly crucial role.



The need of the hour, they say, is for more robust scientific evidence showing the impact of plastic pollution on human health. 



Such data will fortify the treaty process and guide the creation of targeted policies to reduce human exposure to plastic pollution.



"The treaty to end plastic pollution represents a historic opportunity to protect human health. If the treaty is to meet this challenge, its text must include specific measures to mitigate the health effects of plastic pollution, human health targets and metrics to measure progress towards improved health outcomes," noted Professor Steve Fletcher, the director of the Revolution Plastics Institute.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-health-versus-plastic-pollution">Human health versus plastic pollution</h2>



The article focuses on two critical health concerns linked to plastic pollution. 



First, there are the omnipresent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-are-infiltrating-the-human-body-even-the-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microplastics</a> - tiny particles found in the air we breathe, waterways, polar ice, soil, and in our food.



Humans are constantly ingesting, inhaling, and absorbing these particles. They have been detected in numerous organs and tissues, from the brain and blood to the placenta and liver. Microplastics have even been found in breast milk and semen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-open-burning-of-plastic-waste">Open burning of plastic waste</h2>



The other critical issue is the harmful health effects of inhaled <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-can-make-other-pollutants-more-toxic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">toxic pollutants</a> that are released from the open burning of plastic waste. This danger is particularly acute in areas with deficient waste management systems.



The emissions from such open burns, which are loaded with toxic chemicals, particulate matter, and microplastics, are associated with serious health conditions. These include respiratory infections, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/steep-rise-in-cardiovascular-disease-expected-in-the-u-s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cardiovascular diseases</a>, and chronic conditions like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).



Dr. Cressida Bowyer, the Deputy Director of the Revolution Plastics Institute, has extensively studied the perils of open burning of plastic waste. 



"With 16% of global municipal waste burned openly, rising to 40–65% in low-and middle-income countries, vulnerable populations bear the brunt of this crisis. The toxic fumes from burning plastic are a silent but deadly contributor to global health burdens. Urgent action is needed to eliminate this dangerous practice and protect public health," she warned.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vulnerable-populations-are-affected-the-most">Vulnerable populations are affected the most</h2>



The longer the world waits to finalize a binding plastic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-plastics-treaty-countries-with-nothing-to-lose-delayed-progress/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">treaty</a>, the more devastating the health impacts of plastic pollution will become.



Studies show that vulnerable populations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are disproportionately exposed to the harmful effects of plastics. 



This disparity is most apparent in regions with inadequate waste management systems, where open burning of plastic waste is rampant and environmental contamination intensifies daily.



Beyond its environmental toll, plastic pollution worsens global health inequalities. Microplastics and toxic chemicals from mismanaged plastic waste seep into the food chain, water sources, and also into the air.



Toxic emissions, especially in urban areas, have been linked to respiratory diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disorders.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treaty-needed-to-end-plastic-pollution">Treaty needed to end plastic pollution</h2>



Health experts warn that without the necessary steps of action, these health crises will intensify and spread aggressively, straining health systems and threatening the health of future generations.



But dealing with plastic pollution is not just an environmental issue; it is an important step to ensuring the global public's health.



The message is clear. As responsible stewards of the planet and protectors of human health, it's time for all health professionals to take a determined stand against the harms of plastic pollution.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.q2890" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">British Medical Journal</a>.



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Plastic treaty is a 'historic opportunity' to stop a human health crisis

From coastlines to capital cities, healthcare workers are warning about the immediate need for a treaty to end plastic pollution. The danger of a global health disaster is at its highest level as United Nations-led negotiations to form a plastic treaty continue to remain dead-locked due to ongoing disputes. Plastic pollution not only endangers human health, but threatens to harm our planet itself. Without decisive action, the consequences could be irreversible. Plastic treaty negotiations At the forefront of this urgent plea for action are researchers from the...

Most of us would be happy to find our love lives heating up. For some fragile insects, though, heat is the last thing they want when it’s time to reproduce.

At least, that’s what a team of researchers from the <a href="http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/">University of Sheffield</a> found in a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.13018/full">new study</a> of the fruit fly Drosophila subobscura.

The researchers wanted to study how heat affected the fruit fly’s life cycle. Their goal was to find out how rising global temperatures might affect the fly.

They found that even in non-lethal heat, if juvenile fruit flies grow up where it’s too warm, they may not be able to reproduce as adults.

“We found both population- and temperature-specific effects on survival and sperm motility; juvenile heat stress decreased survival and subsequent sperm motility,” the scientists wrote in the study.

They found that juveniles from high-altitude populations in Sweden were more sensitive to temperature than those from lower altitudes in Spain.

“We found juvenile heat stress and population impacted egg-to-adult viability and sperm motility, with the northern population having lower fitness than the southern population,” they wrote.

The fragile insects were only exposed to mild heat. The researchers observed the effects of the temperature change over several generations of the insects.

The results offer a foundation for figuring out which traits aid in adaptation to warmer temperatures, the research team wrote. It may also signal which traits could lead to trouble.

The scientists suspect that other insects will undergo similar changes in a warmer climate.

“Many organisms spend a portion of their life cycle as relatively immobile juveniles, so thermal stress during this life cycle stage may have profound negative fitness consequences beyond survival,” the researchers wrote.

They also hope to study DNA from the two fruit fly populations. They hope to see what genetic factors allowed the low-altitude flies to better withstand warmer living.

The study was published in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1420-9101">Journal of Evolutionary Biology</a>.

Study: fragile insects can't take the heat when it comes to reproduction

Most of us would be happy to find our love...

A new study has found that man-made fires in the Sahel may have contributed to drought conditions in the semi-arid region.

The Sahel stretches across the African continent from west to east, just south of the Sahara Desert. The region was plagued with drought most recently in 2012. The climate conditions sparked crop failures, leading to soaring food prices and shortages.

Natural conditions likely played a large role in the drought, including temperature fluctuations in the Atlantic, a new <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> study found that man-made fires also contributed to the dry climate.

One contributing factor was overgrazing by cows and other livestock. The destruction of vegetation that helped the soil retain moisture left dry dirt in its wake.

But another major was burning of “biomass,” the study found. In much of the Sahel, farmers will burn the native vegetation from land to convert it to crop-producing fields. They may also burn fields to remove the remains of crops before replanting. Herders often burn grasslands to stimulate new growth, and to clear more grazing land.

The study, led by Dr. Charles Ichoku of NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">Goddard Space Flight Center</a>, found that such man-made fires dry out the land much like overgrazing does. On top of that, they also contribute soot particles and other aerosols.

When too many aerosols are in the air, they actually prevent clouds and raindrops from forming, the study found. That’s because air particles must be a certain size to encourage water vapor accumulation. Aerosols don't fit the bill.

It’s the first study of its kind in the Sahel region. The research team used satellite data collected between 2001 and 2014 to analyze how fires in the Sahel affected soil moisture, rainfall, and vegetation growth. They paid special attention to the interactions between clouds and smoke.

“We wanted to look at the general impacts of burning on the whole spectrum of the water cycle,” Ichoku said.

They found that in years with more frequent burning, soil moisture, evaporation, and greenness of vegetation all decreased in the next wet season. All of those factors contribute to rainfall.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

NASA study finds a link between man-made fires and drought

A new study has found that man-made fires in the...

According to a Yale University study published today, the ghosts of Ice Age mammals can teach us valuable lessons about what happens to our ecosystem when species go extinct.

Researcher Matt Davis tracked the history of some of the world's largest mammals. His results were published in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Davis reported that the Ice Age wasn't as hard on functional diversity – the role that an animal plays within an ecosystem – as previously thought. Animals that survived the Ice Age, such as the beaver, proved to be just as distinct as those that did not. However, he warned that our planet has reached a point where losing even a small number of core mammals would leave as large a gap as all of the Ice Age mammal extinctions put together. In the Ice Age, our planet lost around 38% of it’s large-mammal functional-diversity.

"You can think of it like a big tent where every animal is holding a pole to keep the tent up," said Davis, a graduate student in Yale's Department of Geology and Geophysics. "We lost a lot of species when humans first arrived in North America, so part of our tent fell down – but not as big of a part as we previously thought. However, now we only have a few animals left holding up those poles. If they die, the whole tent could collapse."

His study reviewed 94 large mammal species in North America over the last 50,000 years. These included Columbian mammoths, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/judge-us-reconsider-canadian-lynx-habitat/">Canadian lynx</a>, long-horned bison, and sabertooths, as well as cougars, moose, coyotes, elk, raccoons, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-truth-about-dog-dreams/">dogs</a>, and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-milk-dairy-products-9000-years/">cows</a>.

One of the study aims was to examine the relationship between functional diversity and extinction risk: were the most distinct species the ones most at risk? Davis found that distinct species with unique traits were not more likely to go extinct. He suggested this is why the Ice Age mammals extinctions were not as harsh on the surrounding ecosystems.

In the case of mammoths, nothing was able to replace their unique function – which was essentially being really large – once they were gone. But Davis found that some European domestic animals introduced later did restore some functional diversity. 

For today's species, such redundancies in functionality are much less frequent. Davis warned that vulnerable species like <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-pollution-new-threat-polar-bears/">polar bears</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wild-jaguar-conservation/">jaguars,</a> and giant anteaters have no functional equivalent and thus it would not be as simple to restore their functional diversity.

"Examining the past through the fossil record actually allows us to better predict future extinctions," Davis said. "We can't understand how valuable or vulnerable species are today without considering the 'ghosts' of those species that died before them."

—

Source: <a href="http://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a>. Illustration by Matt Davis/Yale University

What our Ice Age mammals can teach us about endangered species

According to a Yale University study published today, the ghosts...

Ready for some creepy crawly current events? The news for January 10, 2017 brings us stories about the snake-based diet of giant spiders, the secret love lives of pectoral sandpipers, seafood with a deadly secret, and more.
<h2>Earth news for January 10, 2017:</h2>
<h4>The strange love lives of male pectoral sandpipers</h4>
They would fly 100 miles and they would fly 100 more. Male pectoral sandpipers are willing to fly just about any distance to find a mate, according to a new study by scientists at the <a href="http://www.orn.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Ornithology</a>.

The average male sandpiper flies about 1,900 miles per breeding season to court various females, the study found. And that’s after flying from South America to their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundras of Alaska.

Some go above and beyond, though. One of the Alaskan shorebirds they were tracking logged about 8,100 frequent flier miles in just four weeks on his quest for love, the scientists said.

The problem is that female sandpipers only mate once or twice per season, and they’re only fertile for a short time. The males fly non-stop and barely sleep during mating season, the scientists said.

The study is an interesting look at how pectoral sandpipers reproduce.
<h4>Researchers find giant spider enjoying snake tartar</h4>
Scientists with the <a href="http://site.ufsm.br/">Federal University of Santa Maria</a> in Brazil were looking for tarantulas when they interrupted one of the giant spiders during a meal.

They turned over a rock, and found the spider munching on an Almaden ground snake. It’s the first time one of the tarantulas has been caught preying on snakes in the wild.

The spider likely attacked the snake after the hapless reptile tried to enter its lair, the scientists said. Grammostola tarantulas like this one have both fangs and venom, but the venom has never been studied so scientists don’t know how toxic it is, they said.

The researchers reported the bizarre feast – with some graphic photos – in the journal <a href="http://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/23156/25075">Herpetology Notes</a>.
<h4>How safe is your shellfish?</h4>
Some shellfish is no longer entirely safe for human consumption, scientists have found. And if ocean temperatures keep rising, that may become more common, they said.

A new study by <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> researchers found that warmer waters lead to more frequent blooms of phytoplankton, a type of micro-algae. The tiny creatures produce a neurotoxin called domoic acid, and when marine creatures like crabs and anchovies eat them, that neurotoxin begins working its way up the food chain.

Domoic acid events have been linked to illness and death among otters, sea lions, and other marine mammals, the scientists said. If ingested by humans, it can lead to stomach problems, seizures, and memory loss.
<h4>New phytoplankton species thrive in warm water</h4>
Scientists recently identified two new, rare species of phytoplankton. Unlike other phytoplankton, the two species seem to thrive in warm, low-nutrient waters. The discovery was shared in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31385-9">Current Biology</a>.

It’s an important finding for several reasons, the study claims. Warming ocean temperatures in recent decades have expanded warm, low-nutrient ocean environments, the researchers said.

Phytoplankton are also responsible for close to half of all biological uptake of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to climate change, and serve as the basis for many marine food chains, the scientists added.
<h4>Controlling greenhouse gases won’t stop sea-level rise</h4>
Even if humans manage to stop carbon emissions in their tracks, the seas will still rise, researchers from the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> found.

Part of that is due to carbon dioxide. Once it’s in the atmosphere, it can stay there for centuries, the scientists said. The other cause is ocean inertia. Once the ocean has heated up, it’s an extremely slow process for it to lose that heat, the scientists said. Warmer waters cause sea ice to melt and ocean waters to expand.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/01/03/1612066114.abstract?sid=b9093606-a895-4645-8e59-d3757e444cd5">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.
<h4>Reference datasets could improve information from weather satellites</h4>
Every day, dozens of satellites orbit around the Earth, collecting all kinds of data. Some of that is information about the weather, and scientists want to make that data more useful and available to everyone.

The <a href="http://gsics.wmo.int/">Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System</a>, or GSICS, is an international effort by 15 agencies to collaborate on weather data from satellites. They’ve been working to collect and analyze satellite data, so that they can determine the accuracy of the information they share.

For example, they once found that two different satellites showed a 3-degree temperature difference on the same weather events.

Calibrating satellites against tools like <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA’s</a> Atmospheric Infrared Sounder can reduce that margin of error to about 0.1 degrees, GSICS scientists said, greatly improving the satellites’ accuracy.
— January 10, 2017

Earth news daily: January 10, 2017

Ready for some creepy crawly current events? The news for January...

Groundwater depletion has been a big topic in India in recent years, with most discussion focused on agricultural and urban pumping. But changing monsoon patterns may have just as much to do with depletion as human use, a new study has found.

Monsoons bring heavy rainfall to India and other parts of southern and southeast Asia every summer, generally between July and September.

However, water temperatures in the Indian Ocean have gone up in recent years.

Scientists with the <a href="http://www.iitd.ac.in/">Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar</a> have linked these higher temperatures with changing monsoon patterns, and the monsoons with fluctuations in groundwater storage.

“Declining precipitation in northern India is linked to Indian Ocean warming, suggesting a previously unrecognized teleconnection between ocean temperatures and groundwater storage,” the researchers wrote in the <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2869.html">new study</a>.

In other words, changing monsoon patterns mean less rainfall to restore northern India’s groundwater basins. Old patterns of water use may no longer match the available water supply, the scientists said.

Throughout India, groundwater storage is an essential link of the country’s water supply chain. Groundwater basins store water from rainfall and surface water, such as from lakes and rivers, underground. Wells and pumps access this stored water for human use.

But as monsoons bring less rain to northern India, less water is being stored underground. Between 2003 and 2012, groundwater storage declined at a rate of about a centimeter per year, the scientists found. At the same time, that region relies on groundwater more than ever for agricultural irrigation, to make up for the lower rainfall.

In southern India, however, groundwater storage actually went up by 1 to 2 cm per year, the researchers discovered.

The scientists with IIT hope their new study will help groundwater managers better predict how much water monsoons will bring, and manage stored groundwater use more sustainably.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/index.html">Nature Geoscience</a>.

Changing monsoon patterns linked to groundwater storage in India

Groundwater depletion has been a big topic in India in...

As global surface temperatures rise, yellow cedar trees may face a struggle to survive.

A new study has found that climate change over the next 50 years could weed out a number of the trees, which grow in soggy soil on the West Coast, from Northern California all the way up to Alaska.

The yellow cedar is already being considered for addition to the endangered species list. The tree, which is actually a member of the cypress family, began to lose numbers about 1880, officials with the <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/">U.S.</a> Forest Service said.

But the new study found that the tree may be in greater danger than scientists thought.

The problem stems from melting snow, lead author Dr. Brian Buma of the <a href="http://www.uas.alaska.edu/">University of Alaska Southeast</a> said. When the trees grow in ground covered by a thick layer of snow, the snow acts as insulation, keeping the ground underneath warm enough that the tree roots stay strong and healthy.

When the snow melts, the ground gets colder, and the roots can freeze. The study found root freeze had caused tree death over 7 percent of the yellow cedar’s range.

As more snow is replaced by rain, this mortality rate could continue, Buma said.

However, the study did find that in areas where the ground never reached freezing temperatures, the trees continued to thrive in moist soil. In areas that still saw large amounts of snow, the trees weren’t affected.

The effects of warming temperatures on yellow cedar trees could help scientists predict how climate change will affect other trees with shallow roots.

The slow-growing yellow cedar found its place in the bogs of the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska. There, it became an important part of the life of Native American and First Nations people, who used the trees for totems, canoe paddles, weaving material, and more.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486">Global Change Biology</a>.

Yellow cedar trees in danger as temperatures rise, scientists say

As global surface temperatures rise, yellow cedar trees may face...

One of the largest genetic studies ever conducted on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) was published today. This study was used to clarify management decisions in the Southern Hemisphere, following calls to protect unique and threatened populations by the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>, the <a href="http://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a>, <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>, and others.

Using data gathered from more than 3,000 individual humpback whales found from the South Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, the research team has uncovered huge degrees of relatedness between various whale populations. The study is set to inform ongoing conservation reassessments of humpback whale populations. It reaffirms the highly distinct nature of a small, non-migratory population of humpback whales living in the Arabian Sea who are still in need of continued protection.

Field research on marine mammals is one of the most challenging methods of biological study. Scientists are often unable to follow oceangoing species, such as whales, across their full range; the humpback whale, for example, undertakes far-flung migratory movements. Remote sensing techniques, photo-recognition of individuals, and other methods may help answer some questions, while molecular technologies reveal secrets at a broader level and can be representative of entire populations.

"By comparing carefully selected markers in the DNA of thousands of whales in the Southern Hemisphere, we can begin answering questions about the movements of these animals and how different populations are related," said lead author Dr. Francine Kershaw, science fellow at the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>. "Genetic data provide unique information necessary for effective species management and conservation."

The collected samples were analyzed by the technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. Overall, the results will help to evaluate the validity of current definitions used by the <a href="https://iwc.int/home">International Whaling Commission</a>. They are also being used to demonstrate how to better identify Important Marine Mammal Areas in need of protection, which is an initiative led by the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>.

&nbsp;

Source: <a href="http://www.wcs.org/">WCS</a> (Wildlife Conservation Society)

Humpback whales genetic study will inform conservation

One of the largest genetic studies ever conducted on humpback...

With the transition of United States leadership only days away, many have been left speculating on what this could mean for the future of clean energy technologies. As he prepares to leave office, President Barack Obama has worked to assuage environmentalist fears that the next administration may reverse much of the progress made in the development of green energy. 

This week, President Obama penned an article for the journal <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/01/06/science.aam6284.full?utm_source=sciencemagazine&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=obamaPF-10288">Science</a> titled “The irreversible momentum of clean energy,” in which he outlined four main points that illustrate why he believes “trends toward a clean energy economy that have emerged during [his] presidency will continue.” 

In his first point, titled “Economies grow, Emissions fall,” the President describes how since 2008, the economy has grown by more than 10% while carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by 9.5%. Obama argues that this result should “put to rest the argument that combatting climate change requires accepting lower growth or a lower standard of living.”

Second, President Obama points to how businesses can benefit fiscally by reducing emissions. “Businesses are coming to the conclusion that reducing emissions is not just good for the environment- it can also boost bottom lines, cut costs for consumers, and deliver returns for shareholders,” Obama writes. 

In his third point, titled “Market Forces In The Power Sector,” Obama describes how market forces are shifting the U.S. electric-power sector from a coal-based system to one centered around natural gas. He argues that because renewable electricity costs have dropped so significantly, companies like Google have been prompted to power 100% of their operations using renewable energy.

Lastly, Obama points to how global momentum surrounding clean energy has made U.S. involvement no longer optional. “It’s good business and good economics to lead a technological revolution and define market trends,” writes Obama. “The latest science and economics provide a helpful guide for what the future may bring.”

Obama calls U.S. clean energy trend “irreversible”

With the transition of United States leadership only days away,...

The Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, is the place to be if you want to learn more about the world.

At least, some of the brightest minds in the United States think so. MENSA has listed the museum in its <a href="https://www.us.mensa.org/welcome-to-our-site/the-mensa-top-ten-survey/mensa-top-ten-science-museums/">top 10 American science museums</a>, and it won a coveted nod as the top family-friendly science center in America from <a href="http://www.parents.com/fun/vacation/us-destinations/best-science-centers/">Parents Magazine</a>.

<a href="http://cosi.org/">COSI</a> has earned that praise.

“COSI ... inspires the scientists, dreamers, and innovators of tomorrow,” the museum declares on its website.

The science center, which first opened in 1964, offers more than 300 hands-on activities. It has partnered with the Columbus community to offer unique attractions like the WOSU@COSI television station; Labs in Life, working research labs created in partnership with <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> and staffed by working scientists and students; and a gallery of Columbus, Ohio’s history sponsored by the <a href="http://www.columbushistory.org/">Columbus Historical Society</a>.

Full of brightly colored, kid-friendly exhibits, the Center of Science and Industry is located near Genoa Park. That makes it a great option, whether you want to spend the day getting as much use as possible out of a Do-It-All pass, or just spend a few hours with some hands-on fun before or after a picnic lunch.

The Do-It-All ticket is more winter-friendly, of course! It includes all of COSI’s classic exhibits, along with the Planetarium and Motion Simulator. Do-It-All also includes a 3-D movie at the National Geographic Giant Screen Theater.

The Motion Simulator and the Giant Screen Theater both use modern tech to make it feel like you’re in space, under the ocean, or beyond.

Recent showings at the National Geographic theater have included “Journey to the South Pacific” and “Secret Ocean.”

Of course, those are just the extras. It’s COSI’s classic exhibits that have been the heart of the museum for decades.

They’re divided up into areas like Big Science Park, an outdoor lab where visitors learn about basic physics and green engineering; Ocean, where kids can learn about how water works and pilot an underwater ROV; and Space, which has interactive simulator stations where guests can try landing the Space Shuttle.

There’s also the ever-changing line-up of speakers and live shows, as well as special events geared toward certain age groups. Camp COSI is for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, while COSI After Dark lets legal drinkers explore the museum while enjoying the no-host bar and small plates.

The Center of Science and Industry also offers special programs for educators.

If you’re in the Columbus area, stop by and spend a day with COSI. You’ll have so much fun, you won’t even notice you’re learning.

To purchase tickets and plan your visit, go to the <a href="https://reservations.cosi.org/Info.aspx?EventID=19">COSI tickets website</a> or call (614) 228-2674.

Museum of the week: Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio

The Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, is...

Suraj the elephant spent many of his 45 years on Earth chained up in a tiny, dark room in a temple located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. He was kept dehydrated and malnourished while held as an attraction for temple visitors. That is, of course, until a year ago, when Suraj was finally saved by wildlife rescue workers. 

According to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/">Yahoo News</a>, when <a href="http://wildlifesos.org/">Wildlife SOS</a> (WSOS) volunteers found Suraj, he was living in “solitary confinement in a 20 foot by 20 space with tight spiked chains on all four limbs… 24/7, from dawn to dusk.”

The rescue effort turned out to be no easy operation. According to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html">Daily Mail UK</a>, WSOS workers needed an armed team of more than 70 law enforcement officials to settle a stand-off with 200 temple supporters. 

Emancipation was only the first step in Suraj’s road to recovery. At the time of his rescue, Suraj was in such rough shape from his years in captivity that a crane was needed to lift him onto his feet. While he has made incredible progress since then, many of Suraj’s health problems have continued to require daily care from the WSOS team. 

"You can't undo 50 years of abuse in just a few weeks," said Rhea Lopez, WSOS Elephant Campaign Manager. "But over the first few months at the center, we've gotten to know Suraj — experiencing his first taste of freedom, his capacity to forgive, and his absolute joy in little things. It's rewarding and just completely indescribable."

"It's amazing to see the progress Suraj has made in the last year," added Nikki Sharp,  Wildlife SOS Executive Director. "Sometimes it's hard to imagine the amount of pain and loneliness he endured for so many years. We can't return him to the wild from where he was taken, but we can give him some joy in his life. Seeing him doing so well makes us more motivated to help others in a similar situation as he was."

Suraj the elephant has since been named one of <a href="http://time.com/">Time magazine</a>’s Most Influential Animals of 2016. According to Daily Mail UK, he now spends his days “strolling free, foraging, investigating new smells and sounds.” Suraj also allegedly loves peppermint, peanuts, and papaya.

--

Photo courtesy of <a href="http://wildlifesos.org/blog/an-update-on-suraj-the-one-eared-elephant/">Wildlife SOS</a>

Suraj the elephant: a harrowing story of survival

Suraj the elephant spent many of his 45 years on...

What’s going on in the world today? Plenty. In your daily dose of Earth news for January 9, 2017, you'll find a new nature miniseries, tips on algae growth, potential uses for earwax, and more.
<h2>Earth news for January 9, 2017:</h2>
<h4>BBC launches ‘Spy in the Wild’</h4>
With “Planet Earth II” over, nature fans are looking for their next fix. “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfdrQL5Ff-A">Spy in the Wild</a>” aims to provide it. The new <a href="http://bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a> documentary conceals cameras in lifelike robots, and sends them to watch animals in their natural habitats.

Maybe they're a little too lifelike. In the first episode, a robot disguised as a langur monkey successfully infiltrates a group in India. When the robot was dropped from a height, the monkeys began mourning, producers said.

The miniseries airs in the UK beginning Thursday. In the U.S., the first episode will run February 1 on <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/">PBS Nature</a>.
<h4>Could earwax be the next big tech innovation?</h4>
Scientists at the <a href="http://www.gatech.edu/">Georgia Institute of Technology</a> have taken on a new – and sort of disgusting – project: figuring out a technological use for earwax.

The project was inspired after her boyfriend had water trapped in his ear by an earwax plug, doctoral student Alexis Noel said. She wondered how the earwax was able to allow the water in, then trap it so effectively, and mentioned it to Dr. David Hu. They decided to take on the problem.

Using earwax from pigs, sheep, rabbits, and dogs, they began testing its properties and trying out different uses. They’ve found that earwax is made up pretty consistently across species.

They also found that it has excellent filtering properties. As earwax collects dust, it traps it. When too much dust is trapped, the earwax crumbles and falls away, and new wax is formed.

While they’re still studying exactly how earwax is formed, the researchers already see potential uses in tech. One idea would be to create a biomimetic adhesive surface for ventilation systems in robotics and other machinery.
<h4>Colorful new flatworm species discovered in Brazil</h4>
Scientists have found three new land-based species of flatworm in the Araucaria forest of Brazil. Flatworms are invertebrates, and also predators that hunt other invertebrate species.

The Araucaria is part of Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest and is considered to be a hotspot of flatworm diversity, the scientists wrote in their article in <a href="http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=11093">ZooKeys</a>, an open access journal. The three new species belong to the genus Cratera.
<h4>In forests, Missouri bees prefer darker flowers</h4>
Bees prefer darker colors in cool climates, at least when it comes to flowers. That’s what scientists at <a href="https://www.slu.edu/">St. Louis University</a> discovered while observing how native bee species interact with birds foot violets.

In most cases, the bees prefered the concolor morph, in which all five petals of the flower are light in color. In sunny locations, the concolor morph far outnumbers the bicolor morph, which has two dark purple petals and three light ones.

But in shady, wooded areas, the bicolor morph makes up about half of the flower population. Bees in these areas always land on the darker petals to feed, the researchers found. Testing revealed darker petals were warmer.
<h4>Scientists at UC Irvine find a new method for recycling greenhouse gases</h4>
A team of researchers from <a href="https://uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a> has discovered a new method for dealing with carbon dioxide: using it to help produce biofuel.

The bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii can be used to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide. Though toxic in enclosed spaces, carbon monoxide can be used to produce biofuels and chemical products. Their findings were published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchembio.2245.html">Nature Chemical Biology</a>.
<h4>Biodiversity of algae is important in biofuel production</h4>
<a href="https://www.umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> researchers studying algae-derived biocrude have found that when raising algae, biodiversity is important. They found that growing a wide variety of algae reduced crop failure and gave a better return on investment. While their research was conducted indoors in tanks, that will be true in outdoor tanks or ponds, too, the researchers said.

The research is being funded by a $2 million, four-year grant from the <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>.
<h4>Scientists explore link between rainfall in West, Rocky Mountain air quality</h4>
When the western U.S. suffers from a drought, Rocky Mountain air quality suffers, too, scientists at the <a href="http://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> found.

That’s because drought sparks more wildfires, which creates haze in the Rockies, the scientists said. Haze can be evaluated with instruments that measure aerosol optical depth – the amount of aerosols between the sensor and the sun.

Aerosols in the Rockies went up when the west was in a drought, according to the study published in the journal <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa510a/meta;jsessionid=5E21027595D39B0B34BD2C5716CCDC9D.c4.iopscience.cld.iop.org">Environmental Research Letters</a>.
— January 9, 2017

Earth news daily: January 9, 2017

What’s going on in the world today? Plenty. In your daily...

Tornado outbreaks are on the rise, but the trend doesn’t seem to be connected to climate change, scientists have found.

“The frequency of tornado outbreaks (clusters of tornadoes) and the number of extremely powerful tornado events have been increasing over nearly the past half-century in the United States,” the researchers wrote in the <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6318/1419">new study</a>.

Tornado outbreaks can last anywhere from one to three days, and feature both thunderstorms and at least six tornadoes.

The major storms roll through, leaving a trail of deaths and damage in their wake. Damages from thunderstorms and tornadoes for the first half of 2016 were estimated at $8.5 billion, the research team found.

What they wanted was to figure out how much the tornado outbreaks have increased. They also wanted to figure out the cause.

For their research, the scientists analyzed meteorological data from the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. They used new statistical tools, such as extreme value analysis, to study all of the data.

The estimated number of tornadoes in an outbreak today has doubled since 1965, they found. Or in other words, the “worst case scenario” that meteorologists would expect 50 years ago was a 40-tornado cluster once in five years. Today, meteorologists should brace for an 80-tornado outbreak during the five-year period, scientists said.

They also looked at potential causes for the increase, focusing on convective available potential energy (CAPE) and vertical wind shear as the two most likely sources for the windy weather.

Earlier studies predicted that as global temperatures rise, CAPE will rise along with them. They saw tornado outbreaks as a side effect.

But wind shear, which does not appear to be affected by warming, seems to have a lot more of an effect on tornado outbreaks, the new study found.

“Extreme meteorological environments associated with severe thunderstorms show consistent upward trends, but the trends do not resemble those currently expected to result from global warming,” the scientists wrote.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

Scientists: large tornado outbreaks are happening more often

Tornado outbreaks are on the rise, but the trend doesn’t...

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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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) describes a dust storm on Mars that was nearly twice the size of the United States. As the storm covered the southern hemisphere of the planet, some of NASA’s explorers had to delay their normal activities.



NASA’s Insight lander put itself in a "safe mode" for 11 days to conserve battery power because solar power was disrupted by the dust. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter postponed flights until conditions improved.



"A fleet of NASA orbiters monitor Martian dust storms like this one and serve as lifelines to Earth by relaying data from the rovers and lander on the ground back to the team. This includes the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, and Odyssey," reports JPL.



"Dust storms like this recent one start close to the ground and are spread by wind as they rise – warming the cold Martian atmosphere."



The images in the video were captured by NASA’s Curiosity as the dust rolled in. A fleet of orbiters monitored the dust storm from above, relaying data from Mars’ explorers back to scientists on Earth.



Video &amp; Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency </a>&nbsp;features the Kangerlussuaq Glacier, one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. The glacier is located on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.



As human-induced climate change continues to drive up temperatures, global ice loss is accelerating at an alarming rate. ESA reports that, over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from the Greenland ice sheet. This is enough to cover the UK with meltwater 15 meters deep.



Based on satellite imagery, researchers determined that Kangerlussuaq entered a new phase of rapid retreat and acceleration in 2017. In their study, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00123/full">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>,&nbsp; the experts report that the glacier's ice front is now at its most retreated position since the early 20th century.



"Given Kangerlussuaq’s previous impacts on both the magnitude and pattern of ice sheet wide mass loss, we predict that its new phase of retreat, acceleration and thinning will markedly enhance the south-east region’s contribution to increasing discharge from the ice sheet," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"More broadly, accurate forecasting of the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level rise will require a deeper understanding of, and responses to, these non-linear ice dynamic processes."



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the complex relationship between ocean and climate. ESA's Climate Change Initiative will help us understand how oceans influence the climate and how climate change is impacting the oceans.&nbsp;



"Earth’s oceans are huge heat stores, soaking up 93% of the excess heat from human activity over the past 70 years. Ocean currents redistribute heat around the planet, from the Equator to the poles. Where this ocean heat goes influences weather patterns and regional climate," explains ESA.



"As well as absorbing heat, oceans are a natural carbon sink, absorbing a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This has led to the acidification of ocean water, threating marine life."



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide soaked up by the ocean depends on specific variables, including phytoplankton, temperatures, waves, salinity, and ice cover. Satellites can be used to measure these variables from space.



"From their unique vantage point, satellites provide key information for understanding the complexities of our planet and monitoring environmental issues," says ESA.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the importance of monitoring the shape of the sea surface, which is constantly changing. These observations have many applications, such as ship routing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-modem-ocean-is-a-tough-place-for-whales-to-survive/">ocean</a> current forecasting, and debris tracking.



"A project supported by the Discovery element of ESA’s Basic Activities recently investigated a new technique to measure sea surface topography very precisely," reports ESA.



"The technique involves looking at satellite navigation (GNSS) signals that have been reflected off of the sea surface at very low angles. At these so-called grazing angles, waves and surface roughness have very little impact on the reflection process; the sea surface acts as a very smooth mirror."



Estel Cardellach is the principal investigator at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia, who first submitted the idea for the project.



“In a mirror-like reflection the phase of the signal can be tracked – it is continuous," said Cardellach. "Different surface heights result in different phase measurements. It gives a very precise measurement of the surface altitude at a few centimetres’ precision.”



The researchers developed a GNSS receiver and set up an experiment in the Balaeric Islands to collect signals from the receiver that were reflected off the sea surface. Ultimately, these signals will provide improved measurements of the shape of the sea surface.



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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Aerial,Photo,Of,River,In,Amazon,Rainforest,Jungle,In,Peru

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center</a> describes how scientists are using autonomous sound sensors to monitor deforestation in the Amazon. By recording soundscapes, the experts can determine which animals are present through their distinct sounds.&nbsp;



Using this method, sounds can be used as scientific measurements to analyze the effects of deforestation. The researchers will gain a better understanding of how the acoustics of a forest can be used to measure its health.&nbsp;



"From space, parts of the Amazon rainforest that have previously been logged or burned may look lush and green, like a place buzzing with activity and full of sounds. But inside the rainforest, the animal life may tell a different story, of a harsh environment and a quieter soundscape," says NASA.



Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center&nbsp;



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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