In a setback for environmental protection efforts, recent UN talks failed to produce a concrete plan for addressing worldwide drought concerns. 



The extended discussions highlighted growing rifts between developed and developing nations on how to tackle the drought crisis.



At the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 meeting in Riyadh, delegates from 196 countries and the European Union worked through the night, pushing the talks a day beyond schedule. 



Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, had expressed high hopes at the start, stating that the world expected negotiators "to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental disaster: drought."



However, as dawn approached after the night's efforts, Thiaw acknowledged that "parties need more time to agree on the best way forward."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-pattern-of-failed-environmental-negotiations">A pattern of failed environmental negotiations</h2>



This latest setback follows several recent disappointments that have arisen in global environmental talks, including unsuccessful biodiversity discussions in Colombia and failed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-can-we-combat-the-escalating-plastic-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic pollution</a> negotiations in South Korea.



Tom Mitchell from the <a href="https://www.iied.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Institute for Environment and Development</a> noted that these outcomes have "highlighted the challenges facing global negotiations."



"More than ever, the fractured geopolitical landscape is proving to be a stumbling block to the COP process and some voices are being squeezed out," he added. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-real-cost-of-drought-inaction">The real cost of drought inaction</h2>



The stakes couldn't be higher. Droughts, already among the most devastating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natural-disasters-are-on-the-rise-but-hazard-plans-are-inadequate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural disasters</a>, are expected to intensify due to climate change - threatening both ecosystems and human livelihoods.



According to UN reports, drought-related economic losses currently exceed $300 billion annually, a figure that is likely to climb as water becomes more scarce.



Beyond financial tolls, the social and humanitarian impacts are staggering - droughts exacerbate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/late-rainy-season-signals-upcoming-food-insecurity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">food insecurity</a>, force mass migrations, and heighten conflicts over dwindling resources.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-growing-drought-crisis">The growing drought crisis</h2>



Projections for the future are even grimmer. By 2050, up to three-quarters of the global population could face drought conditions, placing unprecedented pressure on agriculture, water management systems, and urban planning. 



Regions already vulnerable will bear the brunt, but no part of the world will remain untouched. 



Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and shrinking freshwater supplies are converging to create a perfect storm of challenges that require immediate and coordinated global action.



If no bold measures are taken, the ripple effects could jeopardize progress toward several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including ending poverty, ensuring food security, and promoting peace and justice. 



Addressing the drought crisis is not merely a matter of environmental stewardship - it is a necessity for global stability and resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-african-nations-push-for-stronger-measures">African nations push for stronger measures</h2>



African countries stood united in pushing for a binding agreement. 



One African delegate, speaking anonymously, shared the hope for mandatory drought preparation plans, stating: "It's the first time I've seen Africa so united, with a strong united front, with respect to the drought protocol."



The divide between nations became clear as developed countries preferred a looser "framework" approach rather than binding commitments. 



This position frustrated both African nations and Indigenous groups that were seeking stronger measures.



Praveena Sridhar of Save Soil suggested moving forward despite the lack of agreement.



"The absence of a protocol from COP16 shouldn't delay progress," said Sridhar, noting that governments can still support farmers through sustainable land management programs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-financial-commitments-and-future-plans">Financial commitments and future plans</h2>



The talks weren't without some progress. Various organizations, including the Arab Coordination Group and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, pledged over $12 billion toward <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toilet-to-tap-california-approves-wastewater-recycling-amid-drought-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">drought resilience efforts</a>.



However, this falls short of the UN's estimated need of $2.6 trillion for land restoration by 2030.



Saudi Environment Minister Abdulrahman AlFadley emphasized his country's commitment, stating they are dedicated "to working with all parties to preserve ecosystems, enhance international cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation, and address drought."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-common-ground">Finding common ground</h2>



The discussions revealed an interesting dynamic, as noted by Sridhar. Unlike climate talks that focus on controversial topics like fossil fuels, land preservation discussions offer more common ground.



"Attending to land, agriculture lands, farmers, livestock – it's not a contested subject. Nobody's going to say 'I don't want food.' The use of fossil fuels or not is a very polarizing subject. This is not," said Sridhar.



The next opportunity for progress will come at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026, where nations again hope to finalize a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/formal-agreement-needed-to-define-the-current-level-of-global-warming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">global drought agreement</a>.



-----



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UN talks on the drought crisis end without agreement

In a setback for environmental protection efforts, recent UN talks failed to produce a concrete plan for addressing worldwide drought concerns. The extended discussions highlighted growing rifts between developed and developing nations on how to tackle the drought crisis. At the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 meeting in Riyadh, delegates from 196 countries and the European Union worked through the night, pushing the talks a day beyond schedule. Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, had expressed high hopes at the start, stating that the world...

&nbsp;

The indications of climate change are all around us today but now researchers have revealed for the first time when and where the first clear signs of global warming appeared in the temperature record and where those signals are likely to be clearly seen in extreme <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scientists-describe-how-rainfall-can-literally-move-mountains/">rainfall</a> events in the near future.

The new research published inEnvironmental Research Letters gives an insight into the global impacts that have already been felt, even at this very early stage, and where those impacts are likely to intensify in the coming years.

"We examined average and extreme temperatures because they were always projected to be the measure that is most sensitive to global warming," said lead author from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Dr Andrew King.

"Remarkably our research shows that you could already see clear signs of global warming in the tropics by the 1960s but in parts of Australia, South East Asia and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=africa&amp;cvid=030615452b1f4bebbb89227758738e73&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Africa</a> it was visible as early as the 1940s."

The reason the first changes in average temperature and temperature extremes appeared in the tropics was because those regions generally experienced a much narrower range of temperatures. This meant smaller shifts in the temperature record due to global warming were more easily seen.

The first signal to appear in the tropics was the change in average temperatures. Later extreme temperature events showed a global warming signal.

Closer to the poles the emergence of climate change in the temperature record appeared later but by the period 1980-2000 the temperature record in most regions of the world were showing clear global warming signals.

One of the few exceptions to this clear global warming signal was found in large parts of the continental United States, particularly on the Eastern coast and up through the central states. These regions have yet to manifest obvious warming signals according to the models but it is expected they will appear in the next decade.

While temperature records generally showed pronounced indications of global warming, heavy rainfall events have yet to make their mark. The models showed a general increase in extreme rainfall but the global warming signal was not strong enough yet to rise above the expected natural variation.

"We expect the first heavy precipitation events with a clear global warming signal will appear during winters in Russia, Canada and northern Europe over the next 10-30 years," said co-author Dr Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, UK.

"This is likely to bring pronounced precipitation events on top of the already existing trend towards increasingly wet winters in these regions."

Importantly, the findings closely correspond to observational datasets used by the IPCC (Chapter 10 - Detection and Attribution of Climate Change) in its most recent report, which showed increasing temperatures caused by global warming.

---

<a href="http://www.unsw.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of New South Wales</a>

When Did Global Warming First Appear?

&nbsp; The indications of climate change are all around us...

Volkswagen Software Thwarted Pollution Regulations For Seven Years. Volkswagen became the world's top-selling carmaker trumpeting the environmental friendliness, fuel efficiency and high performance of diesel-powered vehicles that met America's tough Clean Air laws.
VW's success story was so good that <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=pollution&amp;cvid=b7f48dd572074429ad1448fd7edbf3a0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">pollution</a>-control advocates did their own tests, hoping to persuade other countries to enforce the same strict standards. Volkswagen Software Thwarted Pollution Regulations For Seven Years
Instead, they got a foul-smelling surprise: In actual driving, the VWs spewed as much as 40 times more pollution from tailpipes than allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"We ran the program to show that U.S. diesels are clean," said John German, senior fellow with the International Council on Clean Transportation, the group that blew the whistle on Volkswagen. "Turned out we found a violator."
The EPA and the California Air Resources Board announced the violations on Friday, accusing VW of installing software that switches on pollution controls during smog tests, then switches them off again so that drivers can enjoy more engine power on the road.
VW got away with this scheme for seven years, and according to the EPA, didn't come clean even when repeatedly confronted with evidence of excessive pollution.
Industry analysts say the company was likely trying to reduce costs and improve performance, to match its marketing.
Instead, VW's stock plunged a stunning 17 percent on Monday, costing the company $15 billion in market value in a single day. It also outraged customers, turned up the heat on the CEO, and could bring up to $18 billion in penalties from the U.S. government alone.
The company stopped selling the vehicles and likely will have to recall nearly 500,000 Jetta, Golf, Beetle and Audi A3 cars dating to the 2009 model year.
CEO Martin Winterkorn promised a company investigation as he apologized on Sunday, saying VW had broken the trust of customers and the public. He also pledged to cooperate with government investigations.
U.S. diesel emissions limits, mainly for ozone-causing nitrogen oxide, are more strict than those in Europe. Removing the chemical requires additional hardware. Instead, VW used secret software - an algorithm that detects when cars are being tested on treadmill-like devices called dynamometers, and stealthily switches the engines to a cleaner mode.
Because smog tests are almost always done on dynamometers, VW got away with the scheme for seven years, until the "clean transportation" advocates went to West Virginia University, which tests emissions using equipment that fits in car trunks.
WVU tested three cars in real-world conditions - a 2012 VW Jetta, a 2013 VW Passat and a BMW X5 SUV. The BMW passed, but the university found significantly higher emissions from the Volkswagens, according to the EPA.
The university and the council reported their findings to the EPA and CARB in May 2014, but VW blamed the problem on technical issues and unexpected conditions. The automaker even did a recall late last year, without much improvement, the EPA said.
Only when the EPA and CARB refused to approve VW's 2016 diesel models for sale did the company explain what it had done.
"We met with VW on several occasions, and they continued to dispute our data, so we'd return to the lab," recalled CARB spokesman Dave Clegern. "Over time, VW had no other explanations left, and it was our lab staff who actually got VW to admit that there was, in fact, a defeat device."
VW's diesel cars represent just a fourth of its U.S. sales, so the company was probably trying to avoid the cost of more sophisticated pollution controls, since it sells far more diesels in Europe, said Alan Baum, a consultant in Detroit who advises automakers on fuel economy regulations.
"That enabled them to offer the diesel without some of the additional hardware and software in the U.S.," Baum said.
The scheme also gave VWs better mileage, German said.
The scandal is already damaging VW's reputation as the people's car. European regulators announced parallel investigations, and the EPA said it is expanding its probe to make sure other automakers aren't using similar devices.
VW board members reportedly planned a crisis meeting Wednesday ahead of their regular board meeting. And at the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said "we are quite concerned by some of the reports that we've seen about the conduct of this particular company."
VW CEO Winterkorn will face difficult questions in the coming days.
"I'd be surprised if Winterkorn can ride this out, but in Germany there's often a slightly slower process in these matters," said Christian Stadler, a professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School.
For a company to engage in such blatant trickery, top executives must have been informed, said Guido Reinking, a German auto expert.
Winterkorn is an engineer by training who led research and development across the VW group beginning in 2007, and became chairman of the management board the same year.
The illegal software was made and installed in vehicles with 2.0-liter diesel engines during the model years 2009 through 2015, the EPA said.
Car owners do not need to take any immediate action. The cars threaten public health, but the violations pose no safety hazards, and the cars remain legal to drive and sell while Volkswagen comes up with a plan to repair them at company expense, the EPA said.
VW didn't acknowledge its scheme until Sept. 3, <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/gentoo-penguins-are-not-one-species-but-four/">EPA</a> spokeswoman Liz Purchia said Monday. On Sept. 9, without making any reference to VW, the Justice Department announced a renewed commitment to holding individual executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing. And when the EPA announced VW's violations on Friday, it noted that in addition to the corporate fines of $37,500 per vehicle, individuals could be fined $3,750 per violation of the Clean Air Act.
On Capitol Hill, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said his subcommittee will determine whether auto buyers were deceived. "The American people deserve answers and assurances that this will not happen again. We intend to get those answers."
---
Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., Pan Pylas in London, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit and Judy Lin in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Volkswagen Software Thwarted Pollution Regulations For Seven Years

Volkswagen Software Thwarted Pollution Regulations For Seven Years. Volkswagen became...

When Did Global Warming First Appear?. When global warming first appeared in the temperature record

The indications of climate change are all around us today but now researchers have revealed for the first time when and where the first clear signs of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/evolution-is-no-match-for-global-warming/">global</a> warming appeared in the temperature record and where those signals are likely to be clearly seen in extreme rainfall events in the near future.

The new research published inEnvironmental Research Letters gives an insight into the global impacts that have already been felt, even at this very early stage, and where those impacts are likely to intensify in the coming years. When Did Global Warming First Appear?

"We examined average and extreme temperatures because they were always projected to be the measure that is most sensitive to global warming," said lead author from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Dr Andrew King.

"Remarkably our research shows that you could already see clear signs of global warming in the tropics by the 1960s but in parts of Australia, South East Asia and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=africa&amp;cvid=e466eab6270340c48fef9444311d4e93&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Africa</a> it was visible as early as the 1940s."

The reason the first changes in average temperature and temperature extremes appeared in the tropics was because those regions generally experienced a much narrower range of temperatures. This meant smaller shifts in the temperature record due to global warming were more easily seen.

The first signal to appear in the tropics was the change in average temperatures. Later extreme temperature events showed a global warming signal.

Closer to the poles the emergence of climate change in the temperature record appeared later but by the period 1980-2000 the temperature record in most regions of the world were showing clear global warming signals.

One of the few exceptions to this clear global warming signal was found in large parts of the continental United States, particularly on the Eastern coast and up through the central states. These regions have yet to manifest obvious warming signals according to the models but it is expected they will appear in the next decade.

While temperature records generally showed pronounced indications of global warming, heavy rainfall events have yet to make their mark. The models showed a general increase in extreme rainfall but the global warming signal was not strong enough yet to rise above the expected natural variation.

"We expect the first heavy precipitation events with a clear global warming signal will appear during winters in Russia, Canada and northern Europe over the next 10-30 years," said co-author Dr Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, UK.

"This is likely to bring pronounced precipitation events on top of the already existing trend towards increasingly wet winters in these regions."

Importantly, the findings closely correspond to observational datasets used by the IPCC (Chapter 10 - Detection and Attribution of Climate Change) in its most recent report, which showed increasing temperatures caused by global warming.

---

<a href="http://www.unsw.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of New South Wales</a>

When Did Global Warming First Appear?. When global warming first...

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she opposes construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, breaking her longstanding silence over a project criticized by environmentalists as a threat to the planet's climate.
The <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Democratic&amp;cvid=79cf9cf63e9e4eb2935c6c3fee261ad9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Democratic</a> presidential candidate said she decided to speak out after concluding the ongoing debate over whether the pipeline should be built had become a distraction to larger efforts to fight climate change.
That distraction, she said, is "unfortunately, from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with the other issues. Therefore I oppose it." Hillary Clinton Opposes Keystone XL Pipeline
Clinton's announcement came as she has ceded ground in some polls to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has long opposed the project. It also followed the appearance of protesters at some of her recent campaign events holding signs that read, "I'm Ready for Hillary to say no KXL."
The former secretary of state had previously said she shouldn't take a position on the issue, because she didn't want to interfere with the Obama administration as it considers whether to allow construction of a pipeline that would transport oil from Canada's tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
The announcement was viewed with disappointment in Canada, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said as recently as last month that he was confident the next U.S. president would approve the project.
"This is not a debate between Canada and the U.S.," said Stephen Lecce, a spokesman for Harper. "We know the American people support the project. We will not engage in presidential primary debates."
Less reluctant was Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who said on Twitter that Clinton's decision proves she "favors environmental extremists over U.S. jobs."
Spurred on by environmental activists and liberals who play a key role in the Democratic primaries and vigorously oppose the pipeline project, Clinton had expressed impatience in recent weeks over the Obama administration's drawn-out deliberations.
Her campaign said the White House was briefed on Clinton's position prior to her comments and she privately made her opposition to the pipeline known when she discussed her plans with labor officials in recent weeks.
Clinton is scheduled to raise money in California over three days beginning Sunday and was sure to face questions from donors on why she had yet to stake out a position.
Tom Steyer, a leading environmentalist and top Democratic donor, said it was a "clear example of people power overcoming the special interests" and credited Clinton for joining with "thousands of Americans calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline in favor of building an American economy powered by clean energy."
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Clinton was being "blatantly dishonest" when she said her role at the State Department had prevented her from taking a position. Concern about Vice President Joe Biden political future played a role, too, he said.
"Clearly, Hillary Clinton's rapid decline in the polls and the prospect of the vice president entering the race caused her to change course," Priebus said in a statement.
Clinton announced her decision moments after Pope Francis arrived in Washington at the start of a closely watched visit to the United States. Her opposition came in response to a question from a Drake University student attending a forum on prescription drugs.
"I was in a unique position having been secretary of state, having started this process and not wanting to interfere with the ongoing decision making," Clinton said. "I thought this would be decided by now and therefore I could tell you whether I agree or disagree. But it hasn't been decided and I feel now I've got a responsibility to you and other voters who ask me about this."
Clinton's main rivals for the Democratic nomination have campaigned against the project. Sanders, who has surpassed Clinton in some polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, said in a statement he was "glad that Secretary Clinton finally has made a decision and I welcome her opposition to the pipeline. Clearly it would be absurd to encourage the extraction and transportation of some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet."
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who trails Clinton and Sanders by a wide margin in polls, used the moment to criticize the Democratic front-runner, saying her late-breaking opposition to Keystone is akin to how she arrived at her positions on gay marriage, offering driver's licenses for people not living in the country legally and the Syrian refugee crisis.
"On issue after issue," O'Malley said in a statement, "Secretary <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hilary-clinton-brings-al-gore-help-climate-change-issues/">Clinton</a> has followed - not forged - public opinion. Leadership is about stating where you stand on critical issues, regardless of how they poll or focus group."
Clinton said she would roll out a plan aimed at fighting climate change in a few days and noted proposals released earlier in the campaign that would bolster solar energy and produce more renewable energy.
She said the nation had "a lot of work to do" and that shifting to more renewable energy would create jobs.
---
Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
---
Follow Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/KThomasDC" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/KThomasDC</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/catherine-lucey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/catherine-lucey</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Hillary Clinton Opposes Keystone XL Pipeline

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she opposes construction of the...

Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere. Machines that are much smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans. Nanoengineers at the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=7968e46599c34661bdd10709d015112c&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a>, San Diego have designed enzyme-functionalized carbon-capturing micromotors that rapidly zoom around in water, remove carbon dioxide and convert it into a usable solid form.

The proof of concept study represents a promising route to mitigate the buildup of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas in the environment, said researchers. The team, led by distinguished nanoengineering professor and chair Joseph Wang, published the work this month in the journalAngewandte Chemie. Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere

"We're excited about the possibility of using these micromotors to combat ocean acidification and global warming," said Virendra V. Singh, a postdoctoral scientist in Wang's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/surge-in-alcohol-industry-funded-research-may-be-cause-for-concern/">research</a> group and a co-first author of this study.

In their experiments, nanoengineers demonstrated that the micromotors rapidly decarbonated water solutions that were saturated with carbon dioxide. Within five minutes, the micromotors removed 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from a solution of deionized water. The micromotors were just as effective in a sea water solution and removed 88 percent of the carbon dioxide in the same timeframe.

"In the future, we could potentially use these micromotors as part of a water treatment system, like a water decarbonation plant," said Kevin Kaufmann, an undergraduate researcher in Wang's lab and a co-author of the study.

The micromotors are essentially six-micrometer-long tubes that help rapidly convert carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate, a solid mineral found in eggshells, the shells of various marine organisms, calcium supplements and cement. The micromotors have an outer polymer surface that holds the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which speeds up the reaction between carbon dioxide and water to form bicarbonate. Calcium chloride, which is added to the water solutions, helps convert bicarbonate to calcium carbonate.

The fast and continuous motion of the micromotors in solution makes the micromotors extremely efficient at removing carbon dioxide from water, said researchers. The team explained that the micromotors' autonomous movement induces efficient solution mixing, leading to faster carbon dioxide conversion. To fuel the micromotors in water, researchers added hydrogen peroxide, which reacts with the inner platinum surface of the micromotors to generate a stream of oxygen gas bubbles that propel the micromotors around. When released in water solutions containing as little as two to four percent hydrogen peroxide, the micromotors reached speeds of more than 100 micrometers per second.

However, the use of hydrogen peroxide as the micromotor fuel is a drawback because it is an extra additive and requires the use of expensive platinum materials to build the micromotors. As a next step, researchers are planning to make carbon-capturing micromotors that can be propelled by water.

"If the micromotors can use the environment as fuel, they will be more scalable, environmentally friendly and less expensive," said Kaufmann.

---

<a href="http://www.ucsd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of California San Diego</a>

Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere

Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere. Machines that...

Hillary Clinton Opposes Keystone XL Pipeline. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she opposes construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, breaking her longstanding silence over a project criticized by environmentalists as a threat to the planet's climate.
The Democratic presidential candidate said she decided to speak out after concluding the ongoing debate over whether the pipeline should be built had become a distraction to larger efforts to fight climate change.
That distraction, she said, is "unfortunately, from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with the other issues. Therefore I oppose it."
Clinton's announcement came as she has ceded ground in some polls to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has long opposed the project. It also followed the appearance of protesters at some of her recent campaign events holding signs that read, "I'm Ready for Hillary to say no KXL."
The former secretary of state had previously said she shouldn't take a position on the issue, because she didn't want to interfere with the Obama administration as it considers whether to allow construction of a pipeline that would transport oil from Canada's tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
The announcement was viewed with disappointment in Canada, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said as recently as last month that he was confident the next U.S. president would approve the project.
"This is not a debate between Canada and the U.S.," said Stephen Lecce, a spokesman for Harper. "We know the American people support the project. We will not engage in presidential primary debates."
Less reluctant was Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who said on Twitter that Clinton's decision proves she "favors environmental extremists over U.S. jobs."
Spurred on by environmental activists and liberals who play a key role in the Democratic primaries and vigorously oppose the pipeline project, Clinton had expressed impatience in recent weeks over the Obama administration's drawn-out deliberations.
Her campaign said the White House was briefed on Clinton's position prior to her comments and she privately made her opposition to the pipeline known when she discussed her plans with labor officials in recent weeks.
Clinton is scheduled to raise money in California over three days beginning Sunday and was sure to face questions from donors on why she had yet to stake out a position.
Tom Steyer, a leading environmentalist and top Democratic donor, said it was a "clear example of people power overcoming the special interests" and credited Clinton for joining with "thousands of Americans calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline in favor of building an American economy powered by clean energy."
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Clinton was being "blatantly dishonest" when she said her role at the State Department had prevented her from taking a position. Concern about Vice President Joe Biden political future played a role, too, he said.
"Clearly, Hillary Clinton's rapid decline in the polls and the prospect of the vice president entering the race caused her to change course," Priebus said in a statement.
Clinton announced her decision moments after Pope Francis arrived in Washington at the start of a closely watched visit to the United States. Her opposition came in response to a question from a Drake University student attending a forum on prescription drugs.
"I was in a unique position having been secretary of state, having started this process and not wanting to interfere with the ongoing decision making," <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hilary-clinton-brings-al-gore-help-climate-change-issues/">Clinton</a> said. "I thought this would be decided by now and therefore I could tell you whether I agree or disagree. But it hasn't been decided and I feel now I've got a responsibility to you and other voters who ask me about this."
Clinton's main rivals for the Democratic nomination have campaigned against the project. Sanders, who has surpassed Clinton in some polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, said in a statement he was "glad that Secretary Clinton finally has made a decision and I welcome her opposition to the pipeline. Clearly it would be absurd to encourage the extraction and transportation of some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet."
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who trails Clinton and Sanders by a wide margin in polls, used the moment to criticize the Democratic front-runner, saying her late-breaking opposition to Keystone is akin to how she arrived at her positions on gay marriage, offering driver's licenses for people not living in the country legally and the Syrian refugee crisis.
"On issue after issue," O'Malley said in a statement, "Secretary Clinton has followed - not forged - public opinion. Leadership is about stating where you stand on critical issues, regardless of how they poll or focus group."
Clinton said she would roll out a plan aimed at fighting climate change in a few days and noted proposals released earlier in the campaign that would bolster solar energy and produce more renewable energy.
She said the nation had "a lot of work to do" and that shifting to more renewable energy would create jobs.
---
Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
---
Follow Ken Thomas and Catherine Lucey on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/KThomasDC" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/KThomasDC</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/catherine-lucey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/catherine-lucey</a>
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Hillary Clinton Opposes Keystone XL Pipeline. Hillary Rodham Clinton said...

EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat. Over-regulating methane emissions could discourage the use of environment-friendly natural gas, an energy industry representative told the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday.
However, a former Colorado air quality official countered that such controls would be a cost-effective way to fight <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=769f44b8a46e40aaa1451c43fedd06dc&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate</a> change.
The EPA heard radically different views as it opened public hearings in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/red-wing-blackbirds-attacking/">Denver</a> on its proposal to slash allowable methane emissions from oil and gas production. Sessions were also scheduled in Dallas on Wednesday and in Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat
The proposed rules are aimed at cutting the emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 compared with 2012 levels.
Methane is a key component of natural gas and a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat in the upper atmosphere.
The EPA estimates the new rule would cost industry from $320 million to $420 million annually by 2025 but would reduce health care costs and have other benefits totaling about $460 million to $550 million a year.
At the Denver hearing, Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said agriculture produces more methane emissions than oil and gas development, and the energy industry is the only one capturing and reusing the emissions.
"Why is the oil and gas industry being singled out?" she said.
Imposing tough restrictions could raise the industry's costs so much that the price of natural gas would rise, pushing energy users to use dirtier fuels, she said.
"We are losing sight of that larger climate change benefit," she said. "Natural gas still delivers a huge climate change benefit."
John Lowey, a former member of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, said methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Technology to reduce methane emissions is feasible and cost-effective, he said, and such a reduction would also cut back on chemicals that create ozone.
Lowey said the EPA's proposed regulations are a good start but should go further and incorporate two provisions of Colorado's first-in-the-nation state regulations on methane by including existing wells as well as new ones, and requiring more work to detect and repair methane leaks in oil and gas equipment.
Proponents of the EPA rules also argued the measures would reduce respiratory problems and promote a lucrative pollution-control industry.
Opponents said the energy industry has greatly reduced methane emissions on its own, even though oil and gas production is rising. They said the EPA's proposal could stifle industry innovation and slow the rate of improvements.
---
Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP</a>
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EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat

EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat. Over-regulating...

Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere. Machines that are much smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans. Nanoengineers at the University of California, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/san-diego-greenest-cities/">San Diego</a> have designed enzyme-functionalized carbon-capturing micromotors that rapidly zoom around in water, remove carbon dioxide and convert it into a usable solid form.

The proof of concept study represents a promising route to mitigate the buildup of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas in the environment, said researchers. The team, led by distinguished nanoengineering professor and chair Joseph Wang, published the work this month in the journalAngewandte Chemie.Tiny Carbon-Capturing Micromotors May Help Clean The Atmosphere

"We're excited about the possibility of using these micromotors to combat ocean acidification and global warming," said Virendra V. Singh, a postdoctoral scientist in Wang's research group and a co-first author of this study.

In their experiments, nanoengineers demonstrated that the micromotors rapidly decarbonated water solutions that were saturated with carbon dioxide. Within five minutes, the micromotors removed 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from a solution of deionized water. The micromotors were just as effective in a sea water solution and removed 88 percent of the carbon dioxide in the same timeframe.

"In the future, we could potentially use these micromotors as part of a water treatment system, like a water decarbonation plant," said Kevin Kaufmann, an undergraduate researcher in Wang's lab and a co-author of the study.

The micromotors are essentially six-micrometer-long tubes that help rapidly convert carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate, a solid mineral found in eggshells, the shells of various marine organisms, calcium supplements and cement. The micromotors have an outer polymer surface that holds the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which speeds up the reaction between carbon dioxide and water to form bicarbonate. Calcium chloride, which is added to the water solutions, helps convert bicarbonate to calcium carbonate.

The fast and continuous motion of the micromotors in solution makes the micromotors extremely efficient at removing carbon dioxide from water, said researchers. The team explained that the micromotors' autonomous movement induces efficient solution mixing, leading to faster carbon dioxide conversion. To fuel the micromotors in water, researchers added hydrogen peroxide, which reacts with the inner platinum surface of the micromotors to generate a stream of oxygen gas bubbles that propel the micromotors around. When released in water solutions containing as little as two to four percent hydrogen peroxide, the micromotors reached speeds of more than 100 micrometers per second.

However, the use of hydrogen peroxide as the micromotor fuel is a drawback because it is an extra additive and requires the use of expensive platinum materials to build the micromotors. As a next step, researchers are planning to make carbon-capturing micromotors that can be propelled by water.

"If the micromotors can use the environment as fuel, they will be more scalable, environmentally friendly and less expensive," said Kaufmann.

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<a href="http://www.ucsd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of California San Diego</a>

Half Of US Seafood Supply Is Wasted Researchers say waste adds to other problems threatening global seafood resources such as overfishing, pollution and climate change

As much as 47 percent of the edible U.S. seafood supply is lost each year, mainly from consumer waste, new research from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) suggests. Half Of US Seafood Supply Is Wasted

The findings, published in the November issue of Global Environmental Change, come as food waste in general has been in the spotlight and concerns have been raised about the sustainability of the world's seafood resources. In the U.S. and around the world, people are being advised to eat more seafood, but overfishing, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=769f44b8a46e40aaa1451c43fedd06dc&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate change</a>, pollution, habitat destruction and the use of fish for other purposes besides human consumption threaten the global seafood supply.

"If we're told to eat significantly more seafood but the supply is severely threatened, it is critical and urgent to reduce waste of seafood," says study leader David Love, PhD, a researcher with the Public Health and Sustainable Aquaculture project at the CLF and an assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The new study analyzed the food waste issue by focusing on the amount of seafood lost annually at each stage of the food supply chain and at the consumer level.

After compiling data from many sources, the researchers estimated the U.S. edible seafood supply at approximately 4.7 billion pounds per year, which includes domestic and imported products minus any exported products. Some of the edible seafood supply is wasted as it moves through the supply chain from hook or net to plate. They found that the amount wasted each year is roughly 2.3 billion pounds. Of that waste, they say that 330 million pounds are lost in distribution and retail, 573 million pounds are lost when commercial fishers catch the wrong species of fish and then discard it (a concept called bycatch) and a staggering 1.3 billion pounds are lost at the consumer level.

The researchers found the greatest portion of seafood loss occurred at the level of consumers (51 to 63 percent of waste). Sixteen to 32 percent of waste is due to bycatch, while 13 to 16 percent is lost in distribution and retail operations. To illustrate the magnitude of the loss, the authors estimate this lost seafood could contain enough protein to fulfill the annual requirements for as many as 10 million men or 12 million women; and there is enough seafood lost to close 36 percent of the gap between current seafood consumption and the levels recommended by the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

The 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommended increasing seafood consumption to eight ounces per person per week and consuming a variety of seafood in place of some meat and poultry. Yet achieving those levels would require doubling the U.S. seafood supply, the researchers say.

Waste reduction has the potential to support increased seafood consumption without further stressing aquatic resources, says Roni Neff, PhD, director of the Food System Sustainability &amp; Public Health Program at CLF and an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She says that while a portion of the loss could be recovered for human consumption, "we do not intend to suggest that all of it could or should become food for humans."

"It would generally be preferable for the fish that becomes bycatch to be left alive in the water rather than eaten, and due to seafood's short shelf life, it may be particularly challenging compared to other food items to get the remaining seafood eaten or frozen before it decays," she says. Instead, focusing on prevention strategies involving governments, businesses and consumers can reduce seafood loss and create a more efficient and sustainable seafood system.

The researchers offer several approaches to reduce seafood waste along the food chain from catch to consumer. Suggestions range from limiting the percent of bycatch that can be caught at the production level to packaging seafood into smaller portion sizes at the processing level to encouraging consumer purchases of frozen seafood. Some loss is unavoidable, but the researchers hope these estimates and suggestions will help stimulate dialogue about the significance and magnitude of seafood loss.

---

<a href="http://www.jhsph.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Johns Hopkins SPH</a>

Half Of US Seafood Supply Is Wasted

Half Of US Seafood Supply Is Wasted Researchers say waste...

EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat. Over-regulating methane emissions could discourage the use of environment-friendly natural gas, an energy industry representative told the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday.
However, a former Colorado air quality official countered that such controls would be a cost-effective way to fight <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=769f44b8a46e40aaa1451c43fedd06dc&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate change</a>.
The EPA heard radically different views as it opened public hearings in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/red-wing-blackbirds-attacking/">Denver</a> on its proposal to slash allowable methane emissions from oil and gas production. Sessions were also scheduled in Dallas on Wednesday and in Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. EPA Hears Wildly Different Testimony On Methane Emission Threat
The proposed rules are aimed at cutting the emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 compared with 2012 levels.
Methane is a key component of natural gas and a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat in the upper atmosphere.
The EPA estimates the new rule would cost industry from $320 million to $420 million annually by 2025 but would reduce health care costs and have other benefits totaling about $460 million to $550 million a year.
At the Denver hearing, Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said agriculture produces more methane emissions than oil and gas development, and the energy industry is the only one capturing and reusing the emissions.
"Why is the oil and gas industry being singled out?" she said.
Imposing tough restrictions could raise the industry's costs so much that the price of natural gas would rise, pushing energy users to use dirtier fuels, she said.
"We are losing sight of that larger climate change benefit," she said. "Natural gas still delivers a huge climate change benefit."
John Lowey, a former member of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, said methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Technology to reduce methane emissions is feasible and cost-effective, he said, and such a reduction would also cut back on chemicals that create ozone.
Lowey said the EPA's proposed regulations are a good start but should go further and incorporate two provisions of Colorado's first-in-the-nation state regulations on methane by including existing wells as well as new ones, and requiring more work to detect and repair methane leaks in oil and gas equipment.
Proponents of the EPA rules also argued the measures would reduce respiratory problems and promote a lucrative pollution-control industry.
Opponents said the energy industry has greatly reduced methane emissions on its own, even though oil and gas production is rising. They said the EPA's proposal could stifle industry innovation and slow the rate of improvements.
---
Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP</a>
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Study: Forests Can't Absorb As Much Carbon As Predicted. As carbon emissions continue to rise, scientists project forests will grow faster and larger, due to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which fuels photosynthesis. But a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Bristol in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=united+kingdom&amp;cvid=a0fad001e7b84486a5b5480f130e7c42&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">United Kingdom</a> finds that these projections are overestimated.

By modeling future land cover and land use changes and other factors, the researchers found many forests can't absorb as much carbon dioxide as projected because they'll have a shortage in another vital nutrient for plant growth: <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scientists-identify-molecular-link-between-nitrogen-and-plant-growth/">nitrogen</a>.

"Forests take up carbon from the atmosphere, but in order for the plants to fix the carbon, it requires a certain amount of nitrogen," said graduate student Prasanth Meiyappan, who conducted the study with atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain, in collaboration with Bristol geography lecturer Joanna House. "If that ratio of carbon to nitrogen isn't right, even if you add many times more carbon than it gets currently, the forests cannot absorb the extra carbon."Study: Forests Can't Absorb As Much Carbon As Predicted

The paper, published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles, deals specifically with what are called "secondary forests" - places that are regrowing after deforestation, wood harvest and fires.

"Most forested land on Earth is a secondary forest," Jain said. "When the original forested land is disturbed, much of the nitrogen that is in the soil is released into the atmosphere, making growth in these areas slow-going."

"The carbon that is lost from a forest during harvest or fires can be replaced over time if the forest regrows, so net carbon loss is minimal. If forest regrowth is limited due to a lack of nitrogen, then net carbon emissions are higher," House said.

Another issue compounding nitrogen limitation is the removal of plant matter for burning. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that bioenergy will be needed to meet an anticipated dramatic increase in the world's energy consumption while still limiting carbon dioxide emissions. Forest products and residues - the leaves and sticks below the canopy - and an increase in the range of timber-harvested forests will be a large factor in meeting those energy demands.

"Residue decomposes over time and releases nitrogen for the plants," Jain said. "By taking it out, it further tilts the nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in the future."

The team found that because most climate models included in the IPCC projections don't take into account the effect of nitrogen, they underestimate 21st century net carbon emissions in the land sector by at least 90 percent, and by as much as 150 percent.

"If net land-based emissions are underestimated, it means stronger mitigation action would need to be taken in other sectors such as energy to meet the same mitigation targets," House said

Jain said the panel's latest report discussed the importance of how the nitrogen and carbon cycles interact, but this is the first study to quantify how that interaction affects emissions as land cover and land use change.

"We hope that this study will trigger a discussion on the importance for climate models to consider nitrogen limitation when evaluating the strength of future land carbon uptake, for the next IPCC report," Meiyappan said. He added that when there are more models, the panel can take an average across them and come up with the most likely and relevant emissions projections.

---

<a href="http://www.illinois.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Illinois</a>

Study: Forests Can't Absorb As Much Carbon As Predicted

Study: Forests Can't Absorb As Much Carbon As Predicted. As...

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California Drought Is Stressing The Giant Sequoias. California Drought Is Stressing The Giant Sequoias. Giant Sequoias growing in California's Sierra Nevada are among the largest and oldest living things on earth, but scientists climbing high up into their green canopies say they are seeing symptoms of stress caused by the state's historic drought.
Patches of brown, dead foliage are appearing more than in past years, say researchers studying the iconic trees, which only grow naturally in the Sierra Nevada. By taking stock of groves that are most vulnerable, scientists say they can better manage the forest through the hotter, drier droughts expected in the future.
"They're beautiful, majestic trees," said Koren Nydick, a National Park Service ecologist and part of the research team focused on the treasured trees. "People come from all over the world to see the Giant Sequoias."
Some living more than 3,000 years, Giant Sequoias grow to nearly 300 feet tall. There are other trees that live longer and some that grow taller, but researchers say the Giant Sequoias are unique for their size and longevity.
Roughly 75 distinct groves that grow mostly in the southern Sierra Nevada were critical to founding the Sequoia National Park 120 years ago. They have endured past wildfires and droughts, but Nydick said this fourth year of drought in California is marked by a record-low snow pack and some of the hottest temperatures recorded in the park.
The data they collect will be another important piece of information helping forestry officials to identify which groves need to be thinned through prescribed burns to allow in more sunlight and give certain trees a larger share of the scarce underground water. Nydick said that a single tree can require up to 800 gallons a day.
Anthony Ambrose, a tree biologist with the University of California, Berkeley, hiked deep into the Giant Forest east of Visalia one day recently and dropped his heavy backpack stuffed with a climbing harness and 600 feet of rope. "I'll be climbing this tree," he said.
Ambrose and his team collected foliage from 50 of the Giant Sequoias for testing and retrieved gauges they installed weeks earlier from several of them to measure temperature and humidity.
Within a few minutes, Ambrose had inched his way up the tree and out of view from the ground.
"It's a really humbling experience because you feel just so small in the face of this thing that's so big and so old," said Ambrose, noting an emotional tie he feels with the Giant Sequoias. "If there's some impacts from drought or climate change on the trees, we need to understand that."
Scientists will link information they have collected from the individual trees with field surveys done by U.S. Geological Survey researchers observing thousands more trees on foot and overhead images collected from a plane operated by the Carnegie Airborne <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/a-decade-of-insight-from-the-solar-dynamics-observatory/">Observatory.</a>
Combing their research, scientists say they'll be able to identify patterns of drought stress revealed in the trees. While the drought is taking its toll, Ambrose said it's not causing an abnormally high numbers of Giant Sequoias to die, like millions of other conifers throughout the state.
A massive wildfire this summer burning an hour's drive north of the study area had threatened to sweep through a grove home to the General Grant tree, one of the tallest Giant Sequoias. Firefighters built fire lines and installed sprinklers to protect it, although the resilient trees evolved to resist fire.
About one year into the study, USGS ecologist Adrian Das said researchers are now taking data collected in the field into the laboratory to answer a key question. California Drought Is Stressing The Giant Sequoias
"Which parts of the Sequoia groves should we be more worried about?" Das said. "Potentially, it's the Sequoias telling us, `Hey, these are the areas where we're more stressed.' "
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California Drought Is Stressing The Giant Sequoias

California Drought Is Stressing The Giant Sequoias. California Drought Is...

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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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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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

[sendtonews key="yPSXGZek1I-2312529-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.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



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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



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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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