Krill may be small, but their role in carbon storage is monumental. Beneath Antarctica's icy waters, these tiny crustaceans are emerging as unexpected heroes in the fight against atmospheric carbon.



While the significance of blue carbon habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes is well-known, recent research highlights the vital contribution of Antarctic krill and their impressive carbon storage capacity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-unsung-heroes-of-carbon-capture">The unsung heroes of carbon capture</h2>



When we think of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mountains-both-carbon-sinks-and-carbon-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon sinks</a> - the vital natural systems that absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere - we might not consider the role of small crustaceans.



The new findings reveal that Antarctic krill store amounts of carbon that are comparable to critical blue carbon habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes.



Despite <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/antarctic-krill_store-huge-amounts-carbon_credit-Imperial-College_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">their minute size</a>, these krill contribute significantly to carbon cycling, thanks to their enormous combined populations.



"A key player in the biological carbon pump is the Antarctic krill,&nbsp;Euphausia superba, whose faecal pellets, moults and carcasses can completely dominate Southern Ocean carbon fluxes to the ocean’s interior in the Austral growth season," wrote the researchers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-krill-in-carbon-cycling">The role of krill in carbon cycling</h2>



Krill are often viewed as merely being food for larger animals. Whales, seals, and penguins relish these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-deep-sea-crustacean-species-discovered-in-the-bahamas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crustaceans</a>, and humans also fish them for bait, aquaculture, and dietary supplements. 



However, the value of krill extends far beyond the food chain.



“For the past decade we have been piecing together the role krill have in carbon cycling, finally resulting in this amazing finding that krill, and their poo, store similar amounts of carbon as some coastal marine plants," explained Dr. Emma Cavan, one of the lead authors from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Imperial College London</a>.



Protection for these vital creatures is an urgent matter. 



"I hope this means we can now work towards conserving krill and their valuable Southern Ocean ecosystem with the same gumption as we are seagrasses and mangroves," Cavan continued.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-storage-in-ocean-systems">Carbon storage in ocean systems</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-impacting-marine-life-more-than-we-realized/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marine life</a> plays a pivotal role in locking carbon away from the atmosphere in ocean systems. The term "blue carbon" was coined over a decade ago to describe the crucial role <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/native-aquatic-plants-could-help-clean-coastal-waters/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coastal marine plants</a> play in this process. 



Yet, the ocean has other storage methods far from the coast through animals like krill. These creatures feed on phytoplankton - microscopic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/good-news-plants-are-absorbing-more-human-produced-co2-than-expected/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plants that absorb carbon</a> during photosynthesis.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/antarctic-krill_store-huge-amounts-carbon_illustration_credit-Imperial-College_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/antarctic-krill_store-huge-amounts-carbon_illustration_credit-Imperial-College_1s.webp" alt="Illustration of Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Credit: Glynn Gorick/Imperial College" class="wp-image-1945051"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Illustration of Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Credit: Glynn Gorick/Imperial College</figcaption></figure>



When krill excrete or shed their exoskeletons, the carbon they've consumed sinks to the ocean depths, where it remains for a long time. 



This process could lock away at least 20 million tons of carbon annually, which is the equivalent of up to $46 billion worth of carbon storage.



“Antarctic krill are well known for being at the center of the unique Southern Ocean ecosystem and supporting an important fishery. But this study paints another picture of krill -- on their key role in storing carbon," noted study co-author Professor Angus Atkinson from <a href="https://pml.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plymouth Marine Laboratory</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-power-of-krill-swarms">The power of krill swarms</h2>



The massive populations of krill make them effective carbon storers. Swarms can contain up to 30 trillion individuals, producing a deluge of carbon-rich waste products.



“One of the amazing things about krill is that they form massive swarms, which can be over a kilometer in length," said Dr. Anna Belcher, a co-author from the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a>. 



"This drives a huge 'rain' of krill poo after feeding, making krill globally important for locking carbon away from the atmosphere."



The study also reveals that the depth needed to secure carbon storage effectively is surprisingly shallow, with an average of 381 meters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-krill-for-carbon-storage">Protecting krill for carbon storage </h2>



Antarctic krill are under increasing threat from rapid polar climate change, which is drastically altering their habitat. These krill are also targeted by an expanding fishery that further depletes their populations.



The combined pressures make the carbon storage capacity of krill an urgent and vital area for protection. 



Preserving this crucial carbon sink is essential for maintaining the delicate balance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, and for meeting global climate goals.



The research highlights the need to integrate carbon considerations into broader conservation policies.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52135-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



-----



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Tiny Antarctic krill store enormous amounts of carbon

Krill may be small, but their role in carbon storage is monumental. Beneath Antarctica's icy waters, these tiny crustaceans are emerging as unexpected heroes in the fight against atmospheric carbon. While the significance of blue carbon habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes is well-known, recent research highlights the vital contribution of Antarctic krill and their impressive carbon storage capacity. The unsung heroes of carbon capture When we think of carbon sinks - the vital natural systems that absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere - we might...

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to nest. WCS reported today that in the late summer of 2016, a WCS field team led by Dr. Trevor Haynes monitored Caspian tern chicks through to fledging in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska. This discovery of Caspian terns breeding above the Arctic Circle in the Chukchi Sea is nearly 1,000 miles farther north than previously recorded – a strikingly large jump in the range of nesting for this (or any) species.

Rapid range expansions in the Arctic are largely being driven by climate change. The arrival of Caspian terns is just one of a suite of profound alterations to the rhythms of this environment being reported by scientists and local residents. There is now less summer sea ice, and a longer snow and ice-free season – simply put, summer conditions now last longer. Therefore, more temperate species can, where possible, opportunistically move north.

Species such as fin and humpback whales are now spending more time in the Arctic, and boreal species such as the red fox and brown bear now interact more routinely with their arctic counterparts – the arctic fox and polar bear.

“The challenge for scientists is to help understand the repercussions of these changes– for example, we’ve seen red foxes take over areas previously used by arctic foxes. We don’t know what the repercussions of new colonies of Caspian terns will be on the current resident species, particularly if they gain more of a foot hold and expand their numbers,” says Dr. Martin Robards. Elsewhere there have been critical concerns about predation by Caspian terns on local fish stocks, such as in the Columbia River.

Caspian terns are the largest and most majestic of all tern species and are avid full-body divers for fish. They occur on all continents except Antarctica. Unlike many other species of wildlife, Caspian tern populations appear to have increased in recent years. They were first noted in Alaska in 1981 and were thought to be breeding in Southeast Alaska by 1989. They have gone from being rare occurrences to breeding annually, but only at a handful of locations, and no farther north than Neragon Island in the southern Bering Sea, a thousand miles to the south.

“What we saw this season for Caspian terns is another example of the fragility of the Arctic system,” said Peter Zahler, WCS Regional Director. “New patterns are starting to take hold in an environment that is dynamic and reinventing itself in the context of a new warmer climate. However, the arrivals of new species are mirrored by the challenges for existing ones adapting to new conditions such as walrus and polar bear. Adaptation of wildlife and people to new conditions in the Arctic represents one of the most significant challenges for conservationists and local communities, not just in the future but right now. Long-term monitoring efforts that supported this discovery are vital as we continue to monitor changes in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-penguins-need-protection-from-human-activities/">Arctic</a> and develop tools to support adaptation planning for both wildlife and people.”

The discovery of Caspian terns nesting in the high Arctic was made possible through a partnership led by the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program efforts to monitor long-term change in Cape Krusenstern National Monument, and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s interest in coastal conservation in the Arctic.

---

<a href="http://www.wcs.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to nest

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to...

A year after the tap water in Flint was exposed as a source of dangerous levels of lead, residents of the impoverished city are still grappling with the man-made public health crisis, which has led to criminal charges and drawn attention in the presidential election.
Doctors discovered high amounts of the toxin in children last September and warned against using the Flint River water. Local health officials declared an emergency and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder confirmed there were "serious issues" after state officials downplayed concerns despite other problems with the municipal water.
In addition to the criminal investigations, the Flint water crisis has sparked congressional hearings, lawsuits and scrutiny of lead testing across the country. Here's where things stand today:
IS THE WATER SAFE?
Flint, whose water source was switched in 2014 to save money while the city was under state emergency management, returned to a Detroit-area water system in October. But Flint's 99,000 residents still can't drink the water without a filter until the system has been made safe with corrosion-reducing phosphates, a critical step that was missing when Flint used the river for 18 months. The state is still distributing filters and bottled water at spots throughout Flint. The state health agency says the decision on whether to shower or bathe with city water "is an individual one."
IS THE END IN SIGHT?
The water quality has improved, yet when it will be deemed OK to drink unfiltered is unclear. Another round of testing will be completed in early October. It's also unknown when Flint will receive water from a new regional pipeline that is to draw water from Lake Huron. Lifelong resident Luke Waid said he remains so stressed about lead detected in his 3-year-old daughter Sophia that he had to leave his welding job at an aerospace manufacturer. "I'd get working and all I can think about is, 'Is she OK?'" he said. "It gets to be such a burden. I didn't want to leave her." Before the crisis exploded, Waid, 31, and his fiancee Michelle Rodriguez feared losing custody because of her lead levels, which they worry cause Sophia's symptoms such as irritability. Waid said it's hard to keep a "positive mind frame," not only for his daughter but much of anything.
WHAT ABOUT THE PIPES?
One source of the contamination was old lead pipes that leached the toxin into homes and businesses. Flint plans to replace thousands of the underground lead and galvanized steel service lines with an initial $27 million in state funds. But progress has been slow. Just 177 of what could be at least 10,000 lines had been replaced as of Friday.
ACCOUNTABILITY?
The Republican governor, who apologized for his administration's failures that created and prolonged the crisis, has seen his approval rating plummet but has rejected calls to resign. The state's former epidemiologist and Flint's suspended utilities administrator struck plea deals. Criminal cases for seven other current or former state environmental or health employees continue amid accusations of a cover-up. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has hinted that charges against higher-ranking officials may follow. He also has sued two water engineering companies for negligence.
ENOUGH MONEY?
The state has allocated $234 million to provide water bill credits and other assistance, such as additional school nurses, healthy food to reduce lead poisoning risks and psychotherapy sessions. Much has yet to be spent. The Republican-led Congress is at odds over Democrats' calls for $220 million to help Flint and other cities replace pipes and clean their water. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint has received more than $12 million in private donations to respond to the crisis.
CIVIL DAMAGES?
Waid and other residents have filed lawsuits seeking compensation. The cases are in the early stages. A federal judge currently is considering a request by residents, pastors and national advocacy groups to order the regular delivery of bottled water to all Flint homes unless a household opts out. The plaintiffs say lead levels haven't been minimized and response efforts by the state and city "have not alleviated the exhausting struggle many in Flint face in trying to find alternative sources of safe drinking water."
POLITICS?
National attention on Flint has dissipated since Snyder and President Barack Obama issued emergency declarations in January and Democrats campaigned there and later met in the city for a March presidential primary debate. But Republican Donald Trump, who wants a good showing in the industrial Midwest, visited in mid-September amid his increased outreach to African-Americans only to be cut short after criticizing Hillary Clinton in a church. Clinton's daughter Chelsea visited Friday for a briefing.
POLICY REFORMS?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to release new regulations next year to strengthen its lead rules. While Michigan is spending money, it has been much slower in enacting major policy reforms. Snyder has implemented or referred many of his task force's 44 recommendations, yet no significant legislative action is expected until 2017. The governor has proposed the nation's toughest lead-testing rules and the replacement of all underground lead service pipes in Michigan, among other proposals. Democrats are pushing to repeal or amend the emergency manager law, which was blamed as a factor in the crisis.
---
Follow David Eggert on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00</a>. His work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert">http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert</a>
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&nbsp;

The flint water crisis, one year later

A year after the tap water in Flint was exposed...

Despite evolving separately for 400 million years, some sharks and tuna share genetic traits linked to higher metabolism and quick swimming behavior.

Tuna fish and the lamnid group of sharks, which includes great white sharks, share some similar traits that help make them super predators, including their style of swimming and their ability to stay warm.

Despite their genetic separation, new research led by Imperial College London reveals many genes in the two groups that give them this predatory edge. The genes, linked to similar traits such as metabolism, have been preferentially selected for in both groups – meaning that they are more likely to be passed on since they give the creature a survival advantage.

The team also found one identical gene in both groups that is linked with metabolism, and the creatures’ ability to produce energy. This finding could help scientists unravel the relationship between genetics and physical traits. The research is published this month in Genome Biology and Evolution.

[caption id="attachment_87501" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-87501" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/yellowfin-tuna_1big_stock-150x150.jpg" alt="Yellowfin tuna" width="150" height="150" /> Yellowfin tuna[/caption]

Study co-author Professor Vincent Savolainen from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial said: “Lamnid sharks and tuna both have stiff bodies and tails that allow them to swim in bursts. They can also keep their temperature up in colder waters. Both of these things make them more effective predators, allowing them to snatch prey in usually inhospitable waters.

“These are simple traits, and ones that have evolved twice. They give us a great point to start really examining the underlying genetics and understanding the relationship to physical traits.”

Genes in the body code for different proteins, the building blocks of all tissues and functions in the body. When a gene is activated, and produces proteins, the process is called gene expression.

However, it is difficult to directly link a single gene to a physical trait, such as metabolism, because gene expression can be different in different organisms, causing the resulting trait to be different.

Looking at examples of the same gene used in two different animals can provide scientists with important clues as to how the expression of a gene relates to the physical trait observed.

Lamnid sharks and tuna fish both have very different lifestyles and bodies to other fish, but are remarkably similar to each other. This provides an ideal scenario for scientists to look for the convergence of genes and physical traits.

The team obtained samples of muscle tissue from three species of lamnid sharks and six species of tuna, as well as a closely related mackerel species, and looked at all the genes that were expressed.

While complex experiments are needed to know exactly what each gene does, the researchers could see genes that were associated with similar processes involving metabolism being preferentially selected in the sharks and tuna, but not the mackerel.

---

<a href="http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imperial College London</a>

Sharks and tuna share genes that make them super predators

Despite evolving separately for 400 million years, some sharks and...

Federal wildlife officials on Thursday made a formal recommendation to list the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species because it has disappeared from about 90 percent of its historic range in just the past two decades.
The U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service made the recommendation after the Portland, Oregon-based Xerces Society petitioned the agency on behalf of the bee in 2013 and presented studies showing it was struggling due to a combination of disease, habitat loss, climate change and overuse of pesticides on commercial crops.
If approved, the species would be the first bee listed as endangered in the continental United States, said Rich Hatfield, senior conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.
The group, which advocates for the preservation of pollinator insects such as butterflies and bees, used "citizen scientists" to take counts of the rusty patched bumble bees.
The bees once ranged over 28 states stretching from Minnesota to Maine and into parts of Canada, but are now limited to small and scattered colonies in about a dozen states, including Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota, and one Canadian province, the Fish &amp; Wildlife Service said in a statement Thursday.
Even those populations may have disappeared or been reduced because the last counts were done in 2000, the agency said.
"This is a very difficult thing to track. It's not like honey bees that are out in boxes that people can go out and count so keeping track of them in the wild is very difficult," Hatfield said of the bumble bee's numbers.
The rusty patched bumble bee gets its name for a crescent-shaped, reddish patch on its abdomen. It is one of 4,000 native bee species in North America, Hatfield said.
It is an important pollinator for crops such as cranberries, blueberries and tomatoes and has increasingly been used in commercial farming because it is bigger and stronger than the honey bee. Because of its bigger size, it causes a higher vibration in the pollen-laden anthers of the flowers it is visiting, resulting in more and better fruit harvests, Hatfield said.
But the populations of bumble bees being used to pollinate greenhouse tomatoes, cranberry bogs and blueberry fields have become infected by disease and spread a virulent pathogen to their wild cohorts, causing those colonies to collapse, he said. The phenomenon is similar to the colony collapse that has affected honey bees in recent years, he said.
Honey bees create hives of up to 50,000 individuals and make honey to survive through the winter. Bumble bees live in small colonies of 50 to 500 individuals and don't make honey because they don't live through the winter, Hatfield said.
They rarely sting because they don't have large colonies to protect and don't have a honey stash to defend, he added.
Seven species of yellow faced bee in Hawaii were proposed for listing by the Fish &amp; Wildlife Service last year, but the recommendation has yet to be finalized, Hatfield said.
"I think one of the great things about pollinator conservation in general is that no matter where you live, you can do something about this," Hatfield said. "All these animals need our flowers from spring through fall and if we can help create or restore some habitat that's been lost, we can give bees a chance to recover."
The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed listing for the rusty patched bumble bee and the agency will make a final ruling within a year of Thursday's date, said Georgia Parham, an agency spokeswoman.
-----
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus">http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus</a>
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The rusty patched bumble bee recommended for endangered list

Federal wildlife officials on Thursday made a formal recommendation to...

Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms. Conservation groups say Laos has promised to phase out tiger farms, which could help to curb the illegal trade in the endangered animals' body parts and protect the depleted population of tigers in Asia.
The groups say Laotian officials made the announcement in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=south+africa&amp;cvid=fe7ac1cdce4446c1ad4d2f825ecfc2b0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">South Africa</a> on Friday, one day before the start of a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.
Tiger parts are used in traditional medicine in some <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-could-help-asian-carp-invade-lake-michigan/">Asian</a> countries.
The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which works with Laos on tiger protection, is urging other Asian countries with commercial tiger breeding centers to close them.
The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency says Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese criminal networks are involved in tiger farming and trading. Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast and Thailand to the west and southwest.
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Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms

Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms. Conservation groups say...

Millions of pounds of Dungeness crab are pulled from Pacific Northwest waters each year in a more than century-old ritual for commercial and recreational fishermen.
But as marine waters absorb more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, federal scientists are worried that the ocean's changing chemistry may threaten the sweet-flavored crustaceans.
So scientists with the NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center are exposing tiny crab larvae to acidic seawater in laboratory experiments to understand how ocean acidification might affect one of the West Coast's most lucrative fisheries.
Research published this year found that Dungeness crab eggs and larvae collected from Puget Sound and exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide - which increases ocean acidity - grew more slowly and larvae were more likely to die than those in less corrosive seawater.
Now, researchers are taking the experiments a step further to study how the crabs respond to multiple stressors during various growth stages. They also plan to analyze the sublethal effects: Even if the crabs don't die, are they affected in physiological or other ways by ocean acidification?
"They're so economically and ecologically important here on the West Coast," said Paul McElhany, a research ecologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center north of Seattle, who is leading the current experiments.
Crab larvae are valuable food for small salmon and forage fish like herring that are eaten by salmon. Dungeness crabs are also the top revenue-fetching fishery in Washington and Oregon. In 2014, nearly $200 million worth of crabs were harvested along the West Coast.
Previous research has found that levels of ocean acidification expected within a century are likely to impact red king crab and Tanner crabs, two commercially important species in Alaska. One long-term experiment found that both crab species grew slower in acidified waters and survival decreased.
In Puget Sound, McElhany and Audrey Djunaedi set out in a boat one morning over the summer to retrieve crab larvae from light-catching traps.
Once back in the lab with their catch, Djunaedi and others readied equipment so each crab could be reared separately in different treatment containers.
An intricate complex of tubes, pipes and sensors control the levels of CO2, temperature and oxygen in each container. High carbon dioxide and low oxygen create the most stressful conditions, while low carbon dioxide and high oxygen simulates more benign environments, in addition to other combinations.
The experiments simulate current conditions as well as what can be expected in the future as the seas absorb more carbon dioxide.
"We don't see them outright dying in the experiment, but there are still some physiological cost to being reared in these high CO2, low oxygen conditions," McElhany said. After the crabs molt, they're frozen and researchers will analyze their chemical changes to understand those impacts.
"There's some sort of metabolic cost, there's some sort of physiological cost for them in trying to maintain their internal pH in the presence of this lower pH in the external environment," he added, referring to the measure of acidity in the water.
Because Puget Sound has naturally higher CO2 levels from upwelling - events that bring water higher in carbon dioxide up from the deep ocean - one worry is that adding more human-caused carbon emissions will make conditions even worse.
Not all species of crabs may be affected by ocean acidification in the same way. And the broad range of habitats that Dungeness crabs occupy along the West Coast gives McElhany hope that the crustaceans can do well in some environments even if they don't survive in others.
"It's something we want to watch and follow. The challenge is that by the time we know there's a problem, it's really too late to do much about it - which is why we need to be concerned and proactive now," McElhany added.
Hugh Link, executive director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, said his group is concerned about anything that affects the resources, including the high levels of domoic acid that delayed or temporarily closed Dungeness commercial crabbing last year.
"Nobody wants to catch the last crab. We want to make sure our children and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren can go out fishing and enjoy this resource," he said.
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Ocean acidification is threatening crab populations

Millions of pounds of Dungeness crab are pulled from Pacific...

Private water wells in New England are drying up. When Roxanne Moore got up to make her morning coffee a few weeks ago, she turned on the faucet and got a burst of water - then nothing came out but air.
That was the last time Moore had water at her home in Kingston. The 70-year-old woman has been forced to depend on relatives and friends for water to bathe, cook and clean because her private water well has gone dry amid dry weather in parts of the Northeast.
"The things you take for granted like going in the bathroom to wash your face, you can't do that anymore," said Moore. "You have to have someone do your laundry. You have to leave the house to take baths. I have to make sure I have enough water for the animals. It's not easy."
Moore is among the latest feeling the effects of a drought that experts say is the worst in more than a decade. With the region receiving about half the rain it needs this summer, much of northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are in an extreme drought.
The <a href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/RegionalDroughtMonitor.aspx?northeast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Drought Monitor map</a>, produced by federal agencies and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, shows parts of southwestern Maine and western New York also in extreme drought. Parts of other states, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, are in a drought or abnormally dry conditions. Private water wells in New England are drying up
The dry weather, expected to last through the fall, has caused problems for farmers, led to water restrictions and raised concerns about a shortened fall foliage season so important to New England's tourism business. Now it's hitting wells.
About 2.3 million people, or 20 percent of New England's population, get their water from private wells, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The hardest hit this summer are those like Moore who have shallow, or what are called dug, wells. Deeper underground wells have largely been spared.
"Anybody with a dug well is at risk," said Scott Costa, owner of Comac Pump &amp; Well in Kingston, whose company started getting calls in May about dry wells.
At the bottom of some wells, his employees have seen no water at all.
In East Poultney, Vermont, Parker Water Wells has its two drilling rigs at work every day.
"We're re-drilling a lot of them, going deeper, and it's harder to find water, for sure," said owner Dave Parker, who has been in business for 35 years. "It's definitely drier out than we've seen it in 20 years."
The National Weather Service has gotten reports of privately owned wells in Burrillville, Rhode Island, also drying up.
As the water runs out, several towns and private organizations are lending a hand. The Kingston Fire Department has opened its doors to residents who need water, and Sanborn Regional High School is offering free showers in the evenings.
At Elation Salon in Kingston, owner Laurie Farmer gives free shampoos to people who don't have water - something she has done in past disasters like ice storms.
"There are always reasons why washing your hair can be a hardship whether you lost your well temporally or you have a power outage," Farmer said. "It's easy to sponge bath, but it's not so easy to really wash your hair."
For people whose wells have gone dry, the options are limited. They can either wait things out and hope for a wetter fall or spend upward of $10,000 to hire a company to drill an artesian well, which goes much farther down.
Moore can't afford to drill a new well, so she is doing everything to conserve the water, even putting buckets outside to collect the little rain that's fallen. She also is lobbying for a tougher ban on outdoor water use in Kingston.
"I'm looking ahead to plenty of rain," Moore said. "Hopefully, it will be supplied. ... You just need to have patience and wait."
---
Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, contributed to this report.
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Private water wells in New England are drying up

Private water wells in New England are drying up. When...

Greenland is losing about 40 trillion pounds more ice a year than scientists had thought, according to a new study that used GPS to help estimate how much is melting.
So instead of losing on average 550 trillion pounds of ice each year between 2003 and 2013, Greenland lost about 590 trillion pounds , said co-author Michael Bevis of Ohio State University in a study published Wednesday in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a> . That's about a 7.6 percent difference.
The Empire State Building weighs 730 million pounds, so 40 trillion pounds a year is the equivalent to more than 50,000 Empire State Buildings.
"If you look at the last 15 years since we've been having these measurements, it's clearly getting worse, the ice loss," Bevis said. "It is pretty scary."
Overall, though, it is still "a small percentage. I don't think it changes the picture of what's going on," cautioned study co-author Beata Csatho at the University at Buffalo. The extra ice loss adds a tiny amount - one-sixtieth of an inch (0.4 mm) a decade - to global sea level rise, Bevis said. Altogether, Greenland melt adds one fiftieth of an inch - 0.54 mm- a decade, he said.
"Not good news certainly as the values are already larger than we'd had wished, but not a dramatic change in the overall already very alarming pattern we've been seeing over the past couple decades," said Duke University climate scientist Drew Shindell, who wasn't part of the study team.
Most measurements of ice sheet loss in Greenland and Antarctica use a satellite that measures changes in gravity and uses computer simulations to calculate the weight loss of ice. But the trouble is that as ice sheets melt, ground juts up to take its place, both instantly and slowly over centuries. The rocks that rise to replace the heavier ice are counted in the overall ice mass by the satellite and thus the satellites overstate how much ice there is, Bevis said.
The new measurements that use global positioning satellites and other sources compensate for that and are thus more accurate, Bevis said.
Erik Ivins, a senior research scientist at NASA's sea level and ice group who wasn't part of the team, called the study a significant breakthrough.
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Online: Science Advances: <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">http://advances.sciencemag.org/</a>
---
Follow Seth Borenstein at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a> and his work can be found at<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein</a>
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Greenland is losing ice much faster than previously believed

Greenland is losing about 40 trillion pounds more ice a...

A team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham warns that without significant improvements in technology, global crop yields are likely to fall in the areas currently used for production of the world’s three major cereal crops, forcing production to move to new areas.

With a worldwide population projected to top nine billion in the next 30 years, the amount of food produced globally will need to double. A new study led by researchers from the University of Birmingham shows that much of the land currently used to grow wheat, maize and rice is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

This could lead to a major drop in productivity of these areas by 2050, along with a corresponding increase in potential productivity of many previously-unused areas, pointing to a major shift in the map of global food production.

The study, published today in Nature Communications, uses a new approach combining standard climate change models with maximum land productivity data, to predict how the potential productivity of cropland is likely to change over the next 50-100 years as a result of climate change.

The results show that:

-- Nearly half of all maize produced in the world (43%), and a third of all wheat and rice (33% and 37% respectively), is grown in areas vulnerable to the effects of climate change
-- Croplands in tropical areas, including Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and the Eastern US, are likely to experience the most drastic reductions in their potential to grow these crops
-- Croplands in temperate areas, including western and central Russia and central Canada, are likely to experience an increase in yield potential, leading to many new opportunities for agriculture

While the effects of climate change are usually expected to be greatest in the world’s poorest areas, this study suggests that developed countries may be equally affected.

Efforts to increase food production usually focus on closing the yield gap, i.e. minimising the difference between what could potentially be grown on a given area of land and what is actually harvested. Highly-developed countries already have a very small yield gap, so the negative effects of climate change on potential yield are likely to be felt more acutely in these areas.

‘Our model shows that on many areas of land currently used to grow crops, the potential to improve yields is greatly decreased as a result of the effects of climate change,’ says lead researcher and University of Birmingham academic Dr Tom Pugh.

‘But it raises an interesting opportunity for some countries in temperate areas, where the suitability of climate to grow these major crops is likely to increase over the same time period.’

The political, social and cultural effects of these major changes to the distribution of global cropland would be profound, as currently productive regions become net importers and vice versa.

‘Of course, climate is just one factor when looking at the future of global agricultural practices,’ adds Pugh.

‘Local factors such as soil quality and water availability also have a very important effect on crop yields in real terms. But production of the world’s three major cereal crops needs to keep up with demand, and if we can’t do that by making our existing land more efficient, then the only other option is to increase the amount of land that we use.’

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<a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/" target="_blank">University of Birmingham</a>

Study examines how climate change will impact global crop yields

A team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham...

Great Salt Lake Change Imagery

On the southern shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake, more than 100 boats are sitting high and dry in a parking lot, unable to sail the shallow, drought-stricken sea.
North of the nearly empty marina, salt-loving bacteria thriving in the low water has turned the liquid pink.
The massive lake, key to the state's economy and identity, is skirting record low levels after years of below-average precipitation and record heat. A few dozen lawmakers are taking a road trip Thursday and Friday to see the problems firsthand and learn what they can do to help - besides praying for more rain and snow this winter.


[caption id="attachment_87393" align="alignleft"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-87393" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/great-salt-lake-drought-092016_2big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Great Salt Lake drought, September 2016" width="150" height="150" /> Great Salt Lake drought, September 2016[/caption]
The lake, about 75 miles long (120 kilometers) and 30 miles wide (50 kilometers), is America's largest outside the Great Lakes. Water levels have always fluctuated, but they have been dropping steadily since 2011.
"If this continues ... the ecosystem as a whole is under a pretty significant threat," said Jason Curry, a spokesman for Utah's Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
The state estimates that the Great Salt Lake's ecosystem has a $1.32 billion economic effect. It is a home or major resting place for more than 250 species of birds. Salt and other minerals are mined from the lake and used for fertilizer, melting snow on roadways and other products. Its waters are credited with helping produce dry, powdery snow that attracts skiers worldwide to the nearby mountains.
It's generally three to five times saltier than the ocean, allowing swimmers to float easily. The lake is an unforgiving environment for most creatures, but a prime habitat for brine flies and brine shrimp - tiny, clear crustaceans once sold as "sea monkeys" in the back of comic books, whose eggs are now harvested and sold worldwide as food for other shrimp, crab and fish.
As lake levels drop and the water becomes saltier, even those creatures are threatened.
"Brine shrimp are very resilient to salt but even they have a limit, and we're reaching that limit," said Don Leonard, CEO of the Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative, a group of companies that harvest and sell their eggs.
The low water levels stress the shrimp in a way that produces fewer eggs, Leonard said. Last year, the cooperative had a below-average harvest and had to pay to dredge its harbor just to get its boats on the water.


[caption id="attachment_87392" align="alignleft"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-87392" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/great-salt-lake-drought-092016_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Great Salt Lake drought, September 2016" width="150" height="150" /> Great Salt Lake drought, September 2016[/caption]
He declined to say how much it affected the industry but that mentioned that dredging has become a yearly, expensive endeavor to dig out a deeper path for boats.
A visit to Leonard's operation is on lawmakers' itinerary this week, as is Antelope Island, a 15-mile (25-kilometer) state park and the largest of several islands on the lake where visitors now must walk a quarter-mile on the beach to reach the water. Legislators also will stop at another state park where boats are beached near the marina.
Republican state Rep. Mike McKell said lawmakers will be looking at whether Utah should step up efforts to remove an invasive weed that grows in tall, dense clusters and sucks up tens of thousands of acre-feet of water every year.
Legislators approved spending $1.5 million last year to dredge the lake, which will add an additional 6 to 8 feet (1.83 to 2.44 meters) and create a passable channel for boats. Utah hopes to start construction on that project early next year, said Jeremy Shaw, manager of the state parks at the lake.
Lynn de Freitas, executive director of the conservation group Friends of Great Salt Lake, said Utah needs to look at how major water pipeline projects may divert fresh water from rivers that normally flow into the lake.
"It's dire," she said. "We all have a stewardship responsibility for the lake and should honestly and actively own up to that."
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Officials worry over historically low level of the Great Salt Lake

On the southern shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake, more...

An environmental group accused three major television manufacturers Wednesday of misleading consumers and regulators about how much energy their high-definition screens devour by designing them to draw less power during government testing than in ordinary use.
The Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that the TVs made by Samsung, LG Electronics and Vizio saddle households with an extra $120 million in electricity bills each year and generate tons of additional pollution.
The added expense works out to about $10 to $20 per household annually over the anticipated decade-long life of the typical widescreen TV.
Both Samsung and LG Electronics disputed the findings.
"It appears that some major manufacturers have modified their TV designs to get strong energy-use marks during government testing but may not perform as well in consumer homes," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist and director for the NRDC's center for energy efficiency standards.
The report called to mind elements of the Volkswagen emissions scandal in which the automaker duped U.S. regulators by using sophisticated software to turn on emissions controls when the cars were being tested and turn them off during real-world driving.
Samsung and LG did not break any laws, according to the report, but rather exploited weaknesses in the Department of Energy's system to measure electricity usage.
The behavior "smacks of bad faith," Horowitz said.
The findings were based on an analysis of high-definition TVs with screens spanning at least 55 inches made in 2015 and 2016. The estimates on electricity costs are based on high-definition TVs with screens 32 inches and larger.
The study concluded that Samsung and LG exploited the testing system to get better scores on the yellow "EnergyGuide" labels that appear on sets in stores. Those scores often influence the buying decisions of consumers looking to save money on utility bills.
Samsung and LG sets have a dimming feature that turns off the screens' backlight during the 10-minute video clip used in government tests, according to the study. But that does not typically happen when the sets are being used in homes to watch sports, comedies, dramas and news programming.
The reason the TVs perform differently during tests is because the government relies on an 8-year-old clip that stitches together 260 separate scenes that rapidly change, keeping the backlight off. The NRDC study found scenes lasted longer in a football game, the HBO comedy "Silicon Valley," the AMC drama "Breaking Bad" and a CNN program. The longer scenes resulted in the picture staying brighter, drawing more electricity than in government tests.
LG spokesman John Taylor wrote in an email that the company was "confident that our products are being tested properly and are delivering energy efficiency in real world use."
Samsung said the government-tested ratings are based on the factory settings for the picture - something that most consumers do not change. That is consistent with the report, which assumes that two-thirds of consumers leave those settings in place.
The company did not comment on what happens to energy usage when the settings are changed except to say that consumers should have the option to choose the picture they want.
Vizio did not respond to requests for comment.
The NRDC called on the Department of Energy to test energy usage with a montage of clips mirroring how TV is typically watched in homes. The department said Wednesday that it is reviewing whether it needs to change its testing to keep up with the latest TV technology.
The analysis also found that Samsung, LG and Vizio disable energy-saving features in their TVs when consumers change the factory setting on the picture with a remote control. The report estimated that happens in one-third of all homes.
The energy-saving feature is turned off with little or no warning on the screen, sometimes doubling the amount of electricity consumed, according to the NRDC report. This potential uptick in energy usage is not detected in government testing either.
Other TV sets made by Sony and Philips did not deactivate their power-saving features when changes were made to the default setting for the picture, according to the study.
Add it all up, and the report estimates that total electricity bills during a decade of watching the high-definition TVs will be $1.2 billion higher than the energy ratings imply. The higher energy usage generates an additional 5 million metric tons of carbon pollution, potentially affecting the climate, the report warned.
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This story has been corrected to change the reference to the yellow power-rating label to "EnergyGuide" instead of "Energy Star."
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Group accuses TV makers of misleading consumers about energy consumption

An environmental group accused three major television manufacturers Wednesday of...

Edgar Serralde Galicia lives in a part of Mexico City known for water: Xochimilco, where picturesque canals have irrigated produce grown on man-made islands and served as transportation routes since the days of the Aztecs.
But like roughly a million residents of the capital, Serralde isn't connected to the city's water system. While most rely on the water trucks that rumble through the city's less-affluent neighborhoods, he tried his hand at collecting rainwater and storing it in rusty barrels. When it did not rain, his family had to go to his parents' house to wash.
"When there's no water, I feel useless because I feel that I can't move my family forward," said Serralde, a lettuce farmer who lives with his wife and their two children. "The truth is we suffered a lot because we are a humble family."
All that changed when he installed a more-advanced rainwater harvesting system that can store six times more water than his barrels. He says such rain-harvesting systems could be a life-changing solution in a rain-heavy megalopolis that is plagued by water shortages.
Serralde began his attempt at collecting water when he had his one-bedroom house built with a slanted roof, hoping to take advantage of the average of 47 inches of rain that falls on Xochimilco each year, a Venice-like district of canals that draws tourists who are rowed in boats called trajineras.
Then with the help of a Mexican nonprofit group, Isla Urbana, Serralde was able to capitalize on the odd construction of his roof to collect and store far more rainwater than he ever imagined. His new system collects, filters and stores water in a 5,000-liter cistern. For those without a pre-slanted roof, Isla Urbana says the rain collector can be installed either on part or all of a roof. The water passes through two filters, has the sediment removed and emerges safe to drink.
Serralde paid less than 20 percent of the system's total cost, with the nonprofit covering the majority through government funds and private donations. Without the assistance, he likely would not have been able to come up with the $900 needed to install the system.
Isla Urbana put in its first system in 2009, and since then has installed over 2,600 in Mexico. In one year, over 15,000 gallons of rainwater can be captured by one system alone when installed on a roof measuring 80 square meters (861 square feet).
Jennifer White, director of community relations at Isla Urbana, sees firsthand how lives are affected by the scarcity of water. She recalled a woman who received a rain-harvesting system and was close to tears telling how happy she was to be able to wash her sheets and curtains on top of bathing daily.
"That's definitely what makes me keep going," White said. "It's so rewarding to see the families and how their lives have changed with the systems."
Serralde uses the collected water to wash himself after what is often a 12-hour workday growing lettuce in Xochimilco's chinampas, or man-made islands. He earns about 16 cents per head of lettuce he sells during the four harvests, resulting in an income of just over $6,500 before he pays any hired hands or fills the tilling machine with gasoline.
Every time rain falls and his reservoir fills, he says he is reminded of his past.
"The necessity makes you really work your imagination," Serralde said, recalling his past efforts to provide his family with water.
Mexico City relies on the Cutzamala system for 30 percent of its water needs, but since it was built in the late 1970s leaks have sprung. The 75-mile pipeline loses about 40 percent of its water before a drop reaches the city. The remaining 70 percent of the city's water comes from aquifers, but professor Luis Zambrano says they are being depleted.
"We are over-exploiting the aquifer 100 percent," said Zambrano, who specializes in ecology of aquatic communities at Mexico's Metropolitan Autonomous University. "So in some moment we will not get any more - some people say that will be in 40 years . we will have a huge problem."
Those who install a rainwater harvesting system will be able to reap nature's benefits for five to eight months during the rainy season, if not longer.
White says she regularly hears complaints from residents not connected to Mexico City's water network about how people in affluent neighborhoods regularly wash their cars and water their gardens.
Pointing to people who have installed rain collectors, White said: "They understand that the water that is in this city is all the water that there is for all the people that are living here, over 20 million people. They've grown up their whole lives with this consciousness about how water is gold, and they're not just going to throw it away so easily or flush it down the toilet."
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Rainwater harvesting is taking off in Mexico

Edgar Serralde Galicia lives in a part of Mexico City...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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



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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