A new study has found that, contrary to previous claims, the ocean is not a significant source of microplastics to the atmosphere, but rather a major sink.&nbsp;



The research team used a global chemical transport model to evaluate how tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, move around the world. 



The finding challenges past assumptions about the ocean’s role in releasing plastic fragments into the air.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-journey-of-airborne-microplastics-nbsp">The journey of airborne microplastics&nbsp;</h2>



Plastic debris in dust form is increasingly recognized as a worldwide contaminant. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-in-the-brain-alarming-new-details-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microplastics</a> (particles less than 5 mm in diameter) have been detected in soils, freshwater, the ocean, and even in the air that we breathe.&nbsp;



Scientists warn that microscopic plastic bits pose risks for human health, since they can easily enter the respiratory system and the bloodstream.&nbsp;



Once airborne, these tiny pieces can travel large distances and eventually settle in remote or sensitive regions, harming wildlife and potentially impacting human populations.



But how do these particles enter the atmosphere in the first place? The planet’s primary sources of microplastics are typically found on land, from everyday materials such as vehicle tires shedding particles on roads, or synthetic clothing fibers washed out in domestic wastewater.&nbsp;



However, earlier models had suggested that there might be an additional large source at sea. Microplastics often accumulate in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-pose-a-greater-threat-to-some-ocean-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oceans</a>, carried there by rivers and other waterways. Then, once present in the marine environment, it was believed that they could be lofted into the air by sea spray or wind-driven wave action.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-the-ocean-s-contribution">What is the ocean's contribution?</h2>



Prior reports pointing to a large marine source relied on an inverse modeling technique. That method uses atmospheric measurements of particular substances and attempts to infer their origin by matching observed concentrations with predicted distributions.&nbsp;



Applied to microplastics, inverse modeling suggested the ocean might contribute hundreds of millions - or even billions - of kilograms of these fragments to the air each year.



Such massive figures were then tested experimentally, with scientists using wave tanks and other controlled setups to see how vigorously wave action or bursting bubbles could transfer plastics from the water surface into the atmosphere.&nbsp;



Those studies, however, hinted that only tens or hundreds of thousands of kilograms of plastic might plausibly be introduced into the air - orders of magnitude smaller than the figures derived from inverse modeling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-global-chemical-transport-model">A global chemical transport model</h2>



In an effort to reconcile these contradictory outcomes, a group led by researchers at the <a href="https://mpimet.mpg.de/en/homepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute for Meteorology</a> (MPI-M) ran a global chemical transport model. This computer model simulates the movement of substances, such as microplastic particles, through the atmosphere.&nbsp;



By prescribing a minor oceanic emission of microplastics - consistent with the low estimates from laboratory work - they were able to predict how microplastic concentrations should appear in the air at various locations around the globe.



The results aligned well with real-world measurements. Based on the model, the ocean in fact took up some of these airborne particles instead of emitting them in large quantities.&nbsp;



The scientists learned that rather than being a source, the ocean appeared to be a sink, in which 15 percent of all airborne microplastics are deposited.&nbsp;



In other words, waves, spray, and wind may occasionally lift small amounts of plastic out of the sea, but far more of the material is settling onto the water rather than emanating from it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-airborne-microplastics-travel">How airborne microplastics travel</h2>



The study also uncovered the significant influence of particle size on how microplastics travel. Larger plastic fragments drop out of the atmosphere relatively quickly, often landing in coastal areas or not far from their point of emission.&nbsp;



By contrast, smaller particles can remain suspended for up to a year. That extended flight time allows them to cross entire oceans or continents and reach distant regions such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/citizen-scientists-uncover-microplastics-in-the-remote-arctic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a>, where they land on ice or snow.



These discoveries highlight the global character of plastic contamination, showing that microplastic dust can be widespread in places typically considered pristine.&nbsp;



They also clarify that stopping microplastic pollution at its land-based sources may be the most efficient approach, as the ocean itself is neither the greatest emitter nor the root cause.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-roadmap-for-pollution-reduction">A roadmap for pollution reduction</h2>



Given that airborne microplastics reach faraway corners of the planet, the research team’s results have immediate practical value. Any broad plan to cut plastic pollution should focus on terrestrial origins: tire wear on roads, textiles shedding fibers, and insufficiently treated wastewater.&nbsp;



Additionally, lessening single-use plastics and improving waste management at landfills can help limit microplastics before they disperse into the environment.



These findings show that ocean waters, already burdened by plastic accumulations, are predominantly sinks - taking in plastic particles from the air. They also emphasize that microplastics do not stay put in the environment: large ones settle nearby, while smaller ones can travel global distances.&nbsp;



Future models aimed at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-changing-the-entire-earth-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic pollution</a> will need to consider these dynamics in more detail, particularly when mapping out strategies to protect vulnerable ecosystems, reduce human exposure, and maintain cleaner oceans.



By settling this debate over whether the ocean is more of a source or a sink, scientists can now direct their attention to mitigating the true origins of airborne microplastics, thus improving targeted policies to help address this pressing environmental concern.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00914-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">npj Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>.



-----



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Airborne microplastics: Where they come from and where they go

A new study has found that, contrary to previous claims, the ocean is not a significant source of microplastics to the atmosphere, but rather a major sink.&nbsp; The research team used a global chemical transport model to evaluate how tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, move around the world. The finding challenges past assumptions about the ocean’s role in releasing plastic fragments into the air. The journey of airborne microplastics&nbsp; Plastic debris in dust form is increasingly recognized as a worldwide contaminant. Microplastics (particles less than 5...

The Polar Vortex got an early start this year, and those months of warm-up have it ready to lay a freezing smackdown on the the upper Midwest and East Coast in the U.S.

The weekend is expected to bring the first breath of winter to the Northeastern U.S. this weekend, and could close roads by Monday, according to meteorologists with <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/">Accuweather.com</a> and <a href="http://www.weatherbell.com/">WeatherBELL Analytics</a>, two private forecasting firms. 

The weather will likely be mild in the beginning of next week, but it won’t last. By Wednesday or Thursday, freezing air will drift south from Canada into the northern Plains and upper Midwest. By next weekend, it will work its way east.

After looking at models of the current Arctic blast gathering above Canada, Ryan Maue of WeatherBELL <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/806176153031602176?lang=en">tweeted</a> that it looked similar to the Polar Vortex of 2014, the first time most Americans were introduced to the weather event. The Northwest might get some cold weather late next week, too, he <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/807298971471376385?lang=en">tweeted</a>.

The Polar Vortex is swirling mass of frigid air that usually stays high in the atmosphere above the North Pole – hence the name.

But in recent years, instability in the Polar Vortex combined with unusual behavior in the jet stream has allowed tentacles of icy air from the vortex to unfurl over parts of North America, Europe and Asia, bringing record freezing temperatures with them. 

Some scientists studying the phenomenon think <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/polar-vortex-linked-loss-arctic-sea-ice/">melting sea ice</a> in the Arctic Circle could be playing a role in the unstable vortex, making the freezing air break free for the south more often. However, the <a href="http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/cold/polar_vortex.shtml">National Weather Service</a> points out that the U.S. has suffered cold weather from the vortex in the past, with notable cold in 1977, 1982, 1985, and 1989.

The Arctic blasts this weekend and next week – which Accuweather meteorologists say with bring <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-wintry-mix-may-cause-delays-and-closures-in-northeastern-us-by-monday/70000234">piles of snow</a> from Chicago north, sleet or rain to the rest of the East Coast, and <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/rain-snow-to-hammer-northwestern-us-into-the-weekend/70000231">snow and heavy rain</a> in the Pacific Northwest – are expected to bring single-digit or below-zero temperatures to much of the northern U.S.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Polar Vortex is back and it's going to get ugly

The Polar Vortex got an early start this year, and...

Meadow restoration in California. Could restoring some of the surviving meadows in the Sierra Nevada mountains help California bring its carbon emissions down to 1990 levels in the next three years?

The question spurred a team of researchers from the <a href="http://www.unr.edu/">University of Nevada, Reno</a> and citizen scientists with the <a href="http://earthwatch.org/expeditions">Earthwatch Institute</a> to hit the trails, armed with equipment to investigate.

Settlement in the mountains along the California and Nevada border since the mid-1800s has led to the destruction of many of the region’s meadows, said Dr. Ben Sullivan, a professor with the university’s Soil Science Laboratory – and released the carbon stored in the soil for long periods into the atmosphere. 

Water use also dried out the soil in former meadows, microbes move in, degrading the carbon and causing it to be released as gas, he explained. 

While trees and shrubs move into the former meadow space, they can’t take in nearly enough carbon to keep up, Sullivan added. A single acre of meadow can release more carbon through degradation than 11 acres of forest can absorb, he said.

The university decided to team up with Earthwatch Institute and its ranks of volunteer citizen scientists to study four meadows in the Truckee River watershed. Volunteers included 75 citizens from the local area, including a team of high school students from Reno and college students from UNR and the <a href="https://forestrycamp.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley Forestry Field Camp</a>.

The researchers and citizen scientists took samples from trees, shrubs, grasses, and soils. They also measured diameter and height of trees and shrubs and collected other data.

The volunteers’ help allowed the sampling to be done over the course of a few days instead of several weeks, and gave the students valuable experience in the field, Sullivan said. 

Sullivan and his team at the UNR Soil Science Lab will use the collected data to determine how much carbon is being stored in the four meadows, and create a model that can be used by the <a href="https://www.arb.ca.gov/">State of California Air Resources Board</a> to sell carbon credits in exchange for the meadows’ restoration. The board’s cap-and-trade program is one of a number of efforts to bring California’s carbon emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020.

Sullivan hopes to expand the research to more meadows in the Sierras. 

—

Organizations participating in the data collection expeditions included University of Nevada, Reno, the Earthwatch Institute, the <a href="http://berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, the <a href="http://www.plumascorporation.org/">Plumas Corporation</a>, <a href="http://caltrout.org/">CalTrout</a>, and the <a href="https://www.truckeeriverwc.org/">Truckee River Watershed Council</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists, citizens team up for Sierra Nevadas meadow restoration, California carbon credits

Meadow restoration in California. Could restoring some of the surviving...

A massive earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Friday, leaving hundreds homeless and triggering small tsunamis throughout the country and other nearby Pacific islands.

No deaths have been reported, according to the aid organization <a href="http://www.wvi.org/">World Vision</a>. However, hundreds of Solomon Islanders reported their homes were badly damaged or completely destroyed in the 7.7-magnitude earthquake. 

Communication has not been restored with some of the more remote communities, so a full assessment of the damage has not yet been made, World Vision officials said.

As many as 3,000 people may have been affected, said Suzy Sainovski, the organization’s Pacific Timor-Leste spokeswoman. Many of the damaged homes were traditional stilt homes, she added.

On the island of Makira, closest to the quake’s epicenter, a hospital was damaged and 20 patients were evacuated, Sainovski said. A church and other buildings were damaged, including the World Vision office. 

A World Vision employee who witnessed the earthquake called it terrifying, in a statement the organization released to the press. People panicked and fled toward high ground, the employee said.

Aftershocks and power outages continued through Friday. Though there were some small tsunami waves in the Solomon Islands and nearby, no larger waves materialized and a tsunami warning throughout the Pacific islands – including Hawaii – was canceled. 

The epicenter of the earthquake was deep, about 30 miles below the surface, according to the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a>. Deeper earthquakes tend to cause less damage, the USGS said. 

The Solomon Islands, located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” are a common site for large quakes. In 2013, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands, triggering a 4.9-foot tsunami and killing 9 people. Four villages were completely destroyed. 

A 7.1 temblor in 2010 left as many as 1,000 people homeless on the islands, and an 8.1-magnitude quake and tsunami killed 52 in the island nation in 2007.

Hundreds affected by massive earthquake in Solomon Islands

A massive earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Friday, leaving...

America’s forests are under attack by a variety of different insect infestations, both native and foreign-born, that pose a serious threat to trees and wildlife. 

The Hemlock woolly adelgid sits under branches, quietly sucking the sap until the tree ultimately dies. The emerald ash borer has the ability to cause $12.7 billion in damage in the next four years alone. It is estimated that these insect infestations threaten 63% of the nation’s forests through the year 2027. 

“They are one of the few things that can actually eliminate a forest tree species in short order - within years,” said ecologist David Orwig from <a href="http://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a>.

The potential death of so many trees threatens biodiversity from coast to coast, with some hemlock and ash species already headed for extinction. Their death costs millions in damage and dead tree removal, and greatly increases the risk of damaging wildfires. This, in turn, lowers property values and timber industry loses, according to a study in <a href="http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1939-5582/">Ecological Applications</a>.

Forests also provide the crucial absorption of greenhouse gas emissions. The homes of birds, insects, and the food sources for many animals will also be in danger. 

One of the primary causes of this insect attack on forests is thought to be globalization. Now more than ever, foreign insects from all over the world can enter ecosystems via packages, luggage, and plants. Once they’ve arrived, they can populate quickly.

Climate change exacerbates the problem by inviting insect species to northern areas that have recently warmed. The native bark beetle, in particular, has taken advantage of warming trends by moving up from Mexico all the way to Canada.

"They drain the resin that otherwise defends the tree," said Matt Ayres, an ecologist from <a href="http://dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a>. "Then, the tree is toast."

Drought conditions make matters worse for already weakened forests now dealing with insect infestations. According to the <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us">U.S. Forest Service</a>, and in California 100 million-plus trees have died in the Sierra Nevada since 2010.

In an effort to contain the growing predator insect populations, scientists have come up with several approaches. The first method would be to introduce bio controls, where an insect that feeds upon the pests in their native land are introduced to the ecosystem. The <a href="http://www.usda.gov/">USDA</a> reports that 24 of the the 30 states with emerald ash outbreaks have released wasps to combat them. 

"With all bio controls, the hope is to create balance — balance between predator and prey," said Ken Gooch from the <a href="http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/">Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation</a>.

Another option would be genetic modification of trees. Chestnut trees can already be tweaked with a wheat gene to make them resistant to chestnut blight, a fungus from Japan that killed millions of trees. According to William Powell, professor at the <a href="https://www.suny.edu/">State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry,</a> genetic engineering could also be used to fight insects.

Scientists will need to get creative, as the trend of predator bugs shows no sign of slowing. Gary M. Lovett, from the <a href="http://www.caryinstitute.org/">Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies</a> in New York, has suggested switching out shipping materials for ones that can’t carry insects. 


Said Lovett, "We have this burgeoning global trade, so we will get a lot more of these."

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Insect infestations killing many American forests

America’s forests are under attack by a variety of different...

Using millions of satellite images, researchers have created water maps showing how human activity and Mother Nature have changed global surface water distribution over the past three decades.

The high-resolution maps were created using 32 years worth of images taken by  <a href="https://landsat.usgs.gov/">Landsat</a>, from 1984 to 2015. And it turns out that their results are no wet blanket on the status of Earth’s surface water, at least in most locations.

When the images were translated to maps, the researchers found that land regions lost nearly 35,000 square miles of surface water – about the size of Lake Superior. However, new lakes, ponds, and rivers containing 71,000 square miles of surface water formed in other regions.

However, new and permanent surface water features have appeared in nearly every continental region, the researchers reported in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature20584.html">the new study</a>. 

The researchers focused on surface water, excluding oceans from their map. They used varying shades of blue, green, and pink to denote permanent, seasonal, new, and lost water. 

Using an algorithm to break the satellite images into 30-by-30-meter squares, then classify each one as land or water, the team was able to do what scientists have struggled with for years: record month-by-month changes on high resolution satellite water maps.

Their study showed a correlation between increased human activity and changes in surface water, the researchers said. For example, more than 70 percent of the 34,749 square miles of surface water that went missing was in Central Asia and the Middle East – where new dams and river diversions occurred.

Drought activity was a natural process also associated with disappearing water, particularly in the U.S. and Australia. 

However, all of the continents except Oceania, which includes Australia and New Zealand, had a net gain of permanent surface water.

The scientists believe that reservoir-filling and other human activity explains the new surface water, along with climate change.

The study and maps were published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Water maps show how nature, human activity affect surface water

Using millions of satellite images, researchers have created water maps...

Driving an electric car may seem like one of the most environmentally-friendly decisions one can make. But upon taking a closer look at the manufacturing side, it may turn out that the batteries and electricity needed for the electric car could have come from fossil fuel burning. This begs the question: what exactly is the environmental footprint of electric car?

Scientists from the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu">Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s</a> <a href="http://www.ntnu.edu/indecol">Industrial Ecology Programme</a> examined the environmental costs of electric cars and published their findings in a report in this week’s issue of <a href="http://www.nature.com/nnano">Nature Nanotechnology</a>. The team provides a model for developers to use alternative nanomaterials for batteries in hopes of creating the most environmentally sustainable cars.

The report illustrates the environmental impacts of the extraction, refining, synthesis, performance, and durability and recyclability of the materials used. The team evaluated the most eco-friendly nanomaterials for building lithium-ion batteries and proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells.

"Our analysis of the current situation clearly outlines the challenge,” said the team. “The materials with the best potential environmental profiles during the material extraction and production phase.... often present environmental disadvantages during their use phase... and vice versa.”

By outlining the environmental costs of each material used to build electric cars, the team hopes that engineers will “make the right design trade-offs that optimize LIB and PEMFC nanomaterials for EV usage towards mitigating climate change.”

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How environmentally friendly is the electric car?

Driving an electric car may seem like one of the...

Materials scientists at <a href="http://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a> have taken a very close look at the binders used in construction, in hopes of creating eco-friendly programmable cement.

Led by Dr. Rouzbeh Shahsavari, the team of scientists dug down to the microscopic level so they could study the semi-crystalline particles that make up cement. Through experimentation, the team was able to watch the crystallization of the calcium-silicate hydrate particles that make up cement through nanoscale reactions, a process called morphogenesis.

Using the knowledge gained in those experiments, the scientists were able to synthesize C-S-H particles in a variety of shapes and sizes, rather than their natural blobby form. 

That led the scientists to an unsurprising conclusion: cement made from particles of ordered shapes and sizes is more durable and less porous.

The new cement-making process is greener than the current one for a couple of solid reasons. Stronger cement means stronger concrete, and stronger concrete means less can be used in the building process, the researchers said. Since concrete production is a top greenhouse gas producer, being able to use less may be good news for the atmosphere.

By making cement less porous, it also better protects materials inside or underneath from chemicals, Shahsavari said.

The morphogenesis process created by the team uses the “seed particles” to control how the rest of the particles in the programmable cement form. It involves adding positive or negative ionic surfactants and calcium silicate in small amounts to C-S-H, then exposing the mixture to carbon dioxide and ultrasonic sound to create the desired particle shapes. Once the seed particles settle on a shape, the rest follow their lead.

The team has collected its data into a morphology diagram that can serve as a recipe for builders and manufacturers.

The techniques the team used can be adapted for other uses, Shahsavari said, both with building materials like ceramics or colloids, or for medical purposes like bone tissue engineering or drug delivery.

The study was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journal/TA">Journal of Materials Chemistry A</a>. The research was funded by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> and the <a href="http://www.energy.gov/">Department of Energy</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Programmable cement could offer greener concrete

Materials scientists at Rice University have taken a very close...

Paris pollution problem worsens

The city of Paris is experiencing its worst bout of winter pollution in at least a decade. Citizens have begun using face masks commonly seen in notoriously polluted cities like Beijing. 

The pollution problem culprit is tiny particulate matter that has filled the air, creating a brown haze that blankets the city. <a href="http://www.airparif.asso.fr/en/">Airparif</a>, an organization responsible for monitoring air quality in Paris, says this “very fine dust” is mostly due to car emissions and wood-burning heating. Spokeswoman Amelie Fritz attributes the combination of a high-pressure weather system and a low-altitude blanket of warmer air over the city traps the pollution, acting like a saucepan lid. “An anticyclone with very little wind that prevents the dispersion of pollutants,” said Fritz.

The PM10 particles, or particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter, are breathed in and absorbed into the bloodstream and lungs. According to the <a href="http://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a>, they can cause lung cancer, heart disease, asthma, and acute respiratory infection. 

In response to the pollution problem, Paris officials have introduced new measures to cut down on emissions. To incentivize commuters to switch to public transportation, the Metro, trains, and buses have been free since Tuesday. This is said to have cost the city approximately 4 million euros ($4.3 million) per day.


Speed limits have also been reduced, in addition to a ban on outdoor and indoor fires. Home heating has been limited to no more than 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Officials have also introduced an alternating vehicle ban, depending on whether they have odd or even-numbered license plates. Violations cost drivers between 22 and 75 euros ($23 and $80), though the rules do not apply to small trucks carrying food and essentials.

But it remains to be seen how many citizens are actually adhering to the new restrictions. "We've noticed that the measures haven't been followed that much," said Fritz. "We've noticed only 5 to 10 percent less traffic."

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paris pollution problem worsens

Paris pollution problem worsens The city of Paris is experiencing...

Bad seed sows havoc on conservation land. The reports had been coming in for years. Seed mixes sold by outside companies for use in the <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>’s Pollinator Habitat Initiative and its Conservation Reserve Program contained aggressive weeds.

Turns out, they were right.

Crop scientists who investigated the claims found that seed packets from at least one Midwestern company contained Amaranthus palmeri, also called Palmer’s amaranth or Palmer’s pigweed. Smooth pigweed and waterhemp, two other non-native amaranth species, were also found.

The researchers did things the old-fashioned way: they germinated seeds from the suspected packets to see what they got.

The seed mix was promised to be “100 percent weed-free,” according to the team of scientists, led by Dr. Aaron Hager of the <a href="http://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a>, but it contained the three species of amaranth.

The investigators are not naming the company responsible, because they believe other companies may have seeds from the weed in their pollinator mixes.

Palmer’s amaranth is native to the Southern United States, but not to Iowa, Minnesota, or other Midwestern states where it has been found. While it was introduced to some states in the Midwest through agriculture, it has appeared on conservation land in others, and was traced to the tainted pollinator seed mixes. 

The weed has been found in dozens of counties across the Midwest, and while many of the appearances can be traced back to agricultural seed, 41 counties reported that the first appearance was on land that was part of the USDA conservation and pollinator programs.

Palmer’s amaranth is incredibly aggressive, even in the Southern states where it’s a native plant. It can grow up to 7 feet, and is a prolific seed producer.

It’s also often herbicide-resistant, making it nearly impossible to get rid of once it’s established in an area. 

Cotton farmers have reported that the plant can ruin good farmland in a few short years, and it’s driven some farms out of business, Hager said. 

Growers need special training on how to eradicate the stubborn plant, Hager said, but he worried that those enrolled in the USDA programs may not be able to properly fight the invasive species under the program rules. 

The USDA, which runs the programs through its <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/">Farm Service Agency</a>, do not license or inspect the seed mixes sold by companies for use in the program. They do review the seed tags to make sure each mix is representing itself correctly, and to check for the presence of weeds.

The Palmer’s amaranth may have spread to thousands of acres of land, Hager said.

While he and the other crop scientists support the concept behind the pollinator program and conserving wild land, but the USDA needs to let farmers do whatever necessary to eradicate the invasive plants spread by tainted seed packets.

Any in the USDA conservation program who finds suspected amaranth plants in their pollinator plots should immediately contact their FSA administrator to find out their next steps, agency officials said.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bad seed sows havoc on Midwest conservation land

Bad seed sows havoc on conservation land. The reports had...

There are still modern hunter gatherer societies: the Hadza of Tanzania, the Tsimine of Bolivia, the San of Namibia, the Pirahã of Brazil.

For most of us, though, hunting and gather is something our ancestors stopped doing generations ago – or even as the last ice age came to an end and agriculture took hold, 10,000 to 11,000 years ago.

According to anthropologists <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.22919/full">studying the lives</a> of the Hadza people, however, that switch to farming, then industrialization may have harmed our health. 

In the Hadza village, men leave the village on foot each day to hunt and bring home that night’s main course. Women spend their days gathering tubers and fruits. The community moves every month or two.

This extremely active lifestyle means the Hadza spend a lot of time in “moderate to vigorous physical activity” each day. U.S. officials recommend 150 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. Hadza people get, on average, 14 times that much exercise.

The Hadza aren’t going overboard on exercise, the researchers said. Instead, humans in industrialized countries with sedentary lifestyles are exercising far less than the species has evolved to handle, which the researchers have dubbed physical activity mismatch. 

The mismatch hypothesis explains why physical health declines with a lack of activity and usually improves once regular exercise is in the picture, the study found. 

Anthropologists and other scientists have long suspected that hunter-gatherers have better health than people in industrialized communities because they get more exercise. However, until recently, there was no real measurement of just how much more exercise they were getting, the research team said.

Participants were fitted with chest strap heart monitors and GPS trackers at the beginning of each day; when they returned home at night, they gave the monitoring devices back to the researchers, who lived with the Hadza during the study.

Members of the Hadza who participated in the study showed biomarkers for good cardiovascular health and no signs of risk factors like hypertension, the researchers reported. They did acknowledge that other factors in the Hadza lifestyle, such as diet, may play a role in their health. 

Their findings were published in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1520-6300">American Journal of Human Biology</a>.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hunter gatherers are healthier because they exercise more, study finds

There are still modern hunter gatherer societies: the Hadza of...

What if there was a way to capture carbon dioxide and convert it to methanol fuel on a large scale – easily and affordably?

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide can currently be turned into methanol, a “clean” liquid fuel, but the process is requires a complex and costly series of steps. It’s a solution to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but not an economically feasible or efficient one.

Dr. Karl Johnson, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s <a href="http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/">Swanson School of Engineering</a>, and Dr. Jingyun Ye, a postdoctoral associate, didn’t want to let that transformation of greenhouse gas go, though.

They believed that the ability to convert carbon dioxide to methanol on a large scale could solve two problems at once, Johnson said, reducing carbon emissions and creating clean fuel. Carbon dioxide has been linked to climate change, and is often produced by use of fossil fuels.

The pair teamed up to see whether they could <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2016/CY/C6CY01245K#!divAbstract">create a catalyst</a> that would make the conversion process of carbon dioxide to methanol more efficient and cost-effective. Their goal was to reduce the number of steps and materials needed to transform the greenhouse gas into liquid fuel.

Johnson and Ye’s hoped to design a single material that could both capture and convert carbon dioxide to methanol. 

With computer modeling, they were able to design a potential catalyst that uses a microporous metal organic framework and dihydrogen – molecular hydrogen made up of two atoms – to convert carbon dioxide to methanol. The framework breaks down the dihydrogen in such a way that it binds to the CO2 and reforms as methanol. 

They published their design in the journal <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journalissues/cy">Royal Society of Chemistry Catalysis Science &amp; Technology</a>. Their research was funded by a grant from the <a href="http://www.energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy</a>. 

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Engineers design catalyst to transform carbon dioxide to methanol

What if there was a way to capture carbon dioxide...

This holiday season, a few families will be rockin’ around the stolen Christmas tree. Theft of Christmas trees is a growing problem, and at a woodland park in Scotland, it meant the death of five “extremely rare” Serbian conifers.

<a href="http://www.kinnoull.org.uk/">Kinnoull Woodland Park</a>, just across the River Tay from Perth, Scotland, is home to hundreds of trees, an arboretum full of specimens that can be planted in the garden, and miles of trail.

It is also the site of a project by the <a href="http://www.pkct.org/">Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust</a> to protect threatened conifers – evergreen trees like cedars, firs, pines, and junipers – from extinction. 

Last week, thieves stole five of those rare trees, specimens of the species Picea omorika. Officials said that although it appears they tried to dig up the five spruces, most of the roots were left behind and the trees were probably killed.

“Until these trees were stolen, we probably had the greatest concentration of these trees outside of their native range,” PKCT Project Officer Tim Christian said in a statement on the organization’s website. “Because of the nature of these collections, the trees are irreplaceable: there is no way to recover the missing genetic material.”

Each of the trees was grown from seed collected from the species’ native range in Serbia, and represents years of work, he said.

Collecting these particular seeds involved traveling to remote locations, and often climbing steep trails or rock faces to ensure a wide variety of genetic material for the <a href="https://www.pkct.org/conifer-conservation-programe">Perthshire Big Tree Country Conifer Conservation Programme</a>. The program then sends seeds back to programs in each tree’s native range so that each species can be preserved in its home country.

While it’s rare for Christmas tree thieves to target priceless specimens from conservation projects, the theft of Christmas trees is not a new problem.

In a surprisingly similar case the Kinnoull Woodland Park theft last week, two valuable trees were swiped from <a href="http://www.cornellbotanicgardens.org/">Cornell Botanic Gardens</a> in 2014 – and it wasn’t the first time. 

"We know from past history that from around Thanksgiving to Christmas time, from time to time, we have trees stolen," gardener Phil Syphrit told <a href="http://ithacavoice.com/2014/12/grinches-steal-20-foot-white-spruce-christmas-tree-cornell-plantations/">The Ithaca Voice</a> at the time. 

One of the trees was a 20-foot spruce, and the other was a 3-foot red cedar. Syphrit believed the trees were stolen to serve as Christmas trees, he told the newspaper, and <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> seemed to agree.

“[Cornell Botanic Gardens] collections have been carefully cultivated to provide visitors with a world class public garden experience.  When a tree or plant is lost to theft it is like losing a unique work of art,” a statement from the university read. “Please go to your local Christmas tree stand to purchase a tree that was harvested for this purpose.”

The same year, a Maine Christmas tree farm reported the theft of <a href="http://www.centralmaine.com/2014/12/14/christmas-trees-stolen-from-norridgewock-tree-farm/">more than 30 trees</a> over several days, and a club in Georgia that fundraises for children with illnesses and youth sports teams with a Christmas tree sale was the victim of a <a href="http://chronicle.augusta.com/news-metro-crime-courts/2016-10-18/community-assists-north-augusta-optimist-club-after-christmas">nearly 50-tree heist</a>.

Last year, a thief in Waterbury, Conn. made off with 10 trees from a lot at <a href="http://wtnh.com/2015/12/01/christmas-tree-theft-at-waterbury-school/">Saints Peter and Paul School</a> in two separate thefts. The stolen trees were intended for a school fundraiser. 

In most cases, though, these kinds of crimes rarely shatter the Christmas spirit. 

In the U.S., Christmas tree farms don’t report many thefts, said High Whaley, spokesman for the <a href="http://www.realchristmastrees.org/">National Christmas Tree Association</a>. There might be the occasional theft from a lot or a farm, he said, but the NCTA hasn’t heard of anything on a larger scale.

“It’s not a nationwide trend,” Whaley said.

Despite the availability of artificial Christmas trees, real trees are still very popular. The <a href="http://www.bctga.co.uk/">British Christmas Tree Growers Association</a> estimates that about 6 million trees are sold each Christmas season in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In the U.S., 25.9 million real trees were sold in 2015, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, more than double the number of fake trees.

Not all wood poaching is for so innocent a reason as cutting down an evergreen to celebrate the Christmas season, however. In California and the Pacific Northwest, “burl poaching” has become a major problem in old growth redwood forests.

Burl poachers cut large portions out of the trunks of redwood trees, then sell the wood to furniture makers and other artisans. The swirls of the wood grain and large size of old-growth redwood burls make them particularly attractive to poachers. Cutting them out can badly damage a tree and sometimes lead to its death.

In 2015, four men were accused of illegally cutting down <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Feds-Music-wood-poachers-targeted-6427888.php">old-growth maple trees</a> in Washington state and using it to produce and sell high-priced musical instruments.

Officials estimate about 1,000 cords of wood or more are <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2014/02/03/wood-poaching-santa-cruz-mountains-little-known-but-widespread-crime/">illegally logged</a> in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California each year.

And illegal logging is a major cause of deforestation around the world. Illegal operations account for 80 percent of logging in Peru, 85 percent of logging in Myanmar, and nearly 65 percent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/stopping-illegal-logging">World Wildlife Fund</a>.

Some parks are taking unique approaches to combatting wood poaching. In 2014, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/redw/">Redwood State and National Parks</a> in California gated one of the main roads through the park and began closing it each night, after several burl poaching incidents.

At the Kinnoull Woodland Park program, officials are now weighing the use of surveillance cameras to protect their trees.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Grinch steals five rare 'Christmas' trees from Scottish park

This holiday season, a few families will be rockin’ around...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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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



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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



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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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