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...

Analysis: Volkswagen Pollution Cheating Killed Dozens Each Year. Volkswagen pollution chicanery has not just been victimless tinkering, killing between five and 20 people in the United States annually in recent years, according to an Associated Press statistical and computer analysis.
The software that the company admitted using to get around government emissions limits allowed VWs to spew enough pollution to kill somewhere between 16 and 94 deaths over seven years, with the annual count increasing more recently as more of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-cold-green-detergents/">diesels</a> were on the road. The total cost has been well over $100 million.Analysis: Volkswagen Pollution Cheating Killed Dozens Each Year
That's just in the United States. It's likely far deadlier and costlier in Europe, where more VW diesels were sold, engineers said. Scientists and experts said the death toll in Europe could be as high as hundreds each year, though they caution that it is hard to take American health and air quality computer models and translate them to a more densely populated Europe.
"Statistically, we can't point out who died because of this policy, but some people have died or likely died as a result of this," said Carnegie Mellon environmental engineer professor Peter Adams. He calculates the cost of air pollution with a sophisticated computer model that he and the AP used in its analysis.
Computer software allowed VW diesel cars to spew between 10 to 40 times more nitrogen oxides (NOx) than allowed by regulation, making this "clearly a concern for air quality and public health," said Janet McCabe, acting air quality chief for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Nitrogen oxides mostly form smog - that murky, dirty air that makes it hard to see and for some people to breathe - but also amplify a deadlier, larger problem: tiny particles of soot. Numerous medical studies show those tiny particles cause about 50,000 deaths a year in the United States, mostly from heart problems.
Nitrogen oxides can travel hundreds of miles, so pollution spewed in Pittsburgh can be felt on the East Coast, Adams said.
Experts calculate how much pollution costs society by looking at the value of lost lives. In this case, Adams and other said the lost lives - valued at $8.6 million apiece - overwhelm other costs such as lost work days or hospital costs. The overall annual cost of the extra pollutants from the VW diesels ranged from $40 million to $170 million, environmental engineering professors calculated.
"Even the small increase in NOx from VW diesel emissions is likely to have worsened pollution along the roadways where they have traveled, and affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," said Dan Greenbaum, president of the Health Effects Institute in Boston.
"To say millions of people of people are breathing poor air as the result of that is not off the mark," said Greenbaum, who runs the institute that is funded by both the EPA and the auto industry to serve as an independent arbiter of the science.
Representatives of VW did not respond to AP request for comment.
These calculations should be put in context of air that is getting dramatically cleaner in the United States, experts said. Also, the deaths from extra pollution are dwarfed by the 35,000 people in the U.S. a year who die in auto accidents and are closer to the annual U.S. death toll of spider or snake bites.
The AP calculated how much pollution was spewed year by year, starting with that broad 10 times to 40 times emissions level estimate from the EPA, then factoring in mileage and car number totals from EPA, the car company and Kelley Blue Book.
The results show an upper and lower limit of extra nitrogen oxides pollution allowed by VW's subterfuge. The AP took those figures to scientists who previously created a sophisticated computer program that looks at air movement and numerous epidemiological studies on the health effects of pollutants. The result was a rough estimate on deaths and costs to society based on a certain amount of pollution triggering each death.
The EPA has its own open source computer model that calculates death and social costs of emissions, roughly finding it takes nearly 1,300 tons of nitrogen oxides to cause one death. Using that calculation and AP's emission totals, the total death figures over the past seven years range from 12 to 69, slightly lower than the AP calculations.
The AP ran its calculations and results by more than a dozen experts in emissions, risk and public health. They all confirmed the calculations and results seemed right. One scientist had even done a statistical analysis on his own and came independently to the same conclusion. The experts were mostly university professors or from research institutes. They were not environmental advocates or representatives of auto companies.
But engineers caution that these figures come with many caveats and are ballpark estimates. They rely on many assumptions and a range of potential emissions per car. Air pollution impacts on people are usually calculated on a local level because that's where it is felt, and it changes from place to place. But these calculations were broadened to a national level, which adds more uncertainty.
The computer simulation that made the death calculations use conservative medical studies as their baseline. Other epidemiological studies would more than double the deaths and health costs, said Adams and model co-creator Jinhyok Heo of Cornell University.
Chris Frey, an engineering professor at North Carolina State University, has been testing the VW diesels in real world conditions, driving more than 100 miles with monitors in the car tailpipes. He found pollution 10 times higher than the federal standard, and noticed that the worst pollution came as he got on to highways and in stop-and-go traffic. Those less desirable areas are where poorer people live, Adams and Greenbaum said.
Since 2008, VW sold more than 10 million VW diesel cars in Europe, compared with less than half a million in the United States. In Europe, the population is more densely packed in urban areas, making them more vulnerable to added air pollution, several experts said.
"Assuming most of the cars are in Europe, it's pretty simple to estimate that it could go as high as hundreds," said Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the Berkeley Earth team that has estimated death tolls of air pollution in the past.
---
Online:
EASIUR computer model that calculates costs of air pollution:<a href="http://barney.ce.cmu.edu/~jinhyok/easiur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://barney.ce.cmu.edu/~jinhyok/easiur/</a>
EPA on Volkswagen emissions dodge: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1KLXXH1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://1.usa.gov/1KLXXH1</a>
Volkswagen on the emissions dodge: <a href="http://www.vwdieselinfo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.vwdieselinfo.com/</a>
EPA computer model that calculates death and social costs of pollution: <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/benmap" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www2.epa.gov/benmap</a>
--
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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Analysis: Volkswagen Pollution Cheating Killed Dozens Each Year

Analysis: Volkswagen Pollution Cheating Killed Dozens Each Year. Volkswagen pollution...

BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Finalized. The Justice Department and five states have finalized a settlement of more than $20 billion arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The deal announced Monday resolves all civil claims against BP and ends five years of legal fighting over the nearly 134 million-gallon spill.
"BP is receiving the punishment it deserves, while also providing critical compensation for the injuries it caused to the environment and the economy of the Gulf region," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a Justice Department news conference. "The steep penalty should inspire BP and its peers to take every measure necessary to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again."BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-of-2c-would-unleash-230-billions-tons-of-soil-carbon/">Oil</a> Spill Settlement Finalized
The settlement finalizes an agreement first announced in July.
Among other requirements, BP will be forced to pay $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalties and nearly $5 billion to five Gulf states: Alabama, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=flordia&amp;cvid=d9cf3f84713b48dfa49f365baf7e6659&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Florida</a>, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
The spill followed the April 2010 explosion on an offshore rig that killed 11 workers. BP earlier settled with people and businesses harmed by the spill, a deal that's so far resulted in $5.84 billion in payouts.
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BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Finalized

BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Finalized. The Justice...

Alaska Seeks Federal Funds To Relocate Newtok Village. One of Alaska's most eroded coastal Native villages is being eyed as a possible national model for relocating whole communities whose futures are threatened by natural disasters escalated by climate change.
The state is hoping to kick-start a mass exodus from the tiny Newtok village through a national competition for states and local governments vying for a slice of nearly $1 billion in grants to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD's National Disaster Resilience Competition is billed as an effort addressing <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=787f9db2007144ac92f45715b3eb427e&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate change</a> and extreme weather. Alaska Seeks <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/alaska-federal-public-lands-trump/">Federal</a> Funds To Relocate Newtok Village
If successful, Alaska officials are proposing that $62.6 million of the funds be used for relocation costs, including money for infrastructure and money to allow 62 families from Newtok to establish new homes at the chosen relocation site on higher ground 9 miles away. In the draft proposal publicly released Friday, state officials also are seeking a total of $162.4 million for three other vulnerable villages - Emmonak, Galena and Teller - with extensive storm damage in recent years.
But officials acknowledge that competing for the funding unused by Hurricane Sandy victims won't be easy. Alaska is among 40 finalists for the funds, including Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. Still, Alaska officials are hoping their proposal catches the eye of federal officials.
"We think we have a very compelling story to tell," said Sally Russell Cox, a state planner who worked on the competition entry.
The release of Alaska's proposal opens a 15-day public comment period before the final contest submission is due to HUD Oct. 27.
President Barack Obama, in his recent three-day visit to the state, focused almost entirely on climate change and how temperatures are rising faster in Alaska than anywhere else, already threatening entire communities.
Newtok is the only one of Alaska's multiple imperiled communities that has begun a physical move. The Yup'ik Eskimo community of about 380 shepherded various multiagency projects including construction of several homes and the beginning of an evacuation community center, which would be completed with nearly $5.5 million sought through the HUD competition. A tribal power dispute, however, stalled relocation efforts for about two years until a federal appeals panel sided with the new village leaders last month.
Oblivious to village politics, the raging Ninglick River is steadily inching toward homes, gobbling up as much as 75 feet of riverbank a year. Melting permafrost is sinking and knocking homes and village boardwalks out of alignment. Officials estimate Newtok, nearly 500 miles west of Anchorage, has until 2017 until erosion is expected to reach the school.
Villagers believe they're living on borrowed time, and they are actively lobbying for funding wherever they can find it. Village relocation coordinator Romy Cadiente is in Washington, D.C., this week to gather support by meeting with officials, including Alaska's congressional delegation or their representatives. The village is also trying to obtain funding for some homes for the new site through the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and is working with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks on plans to build a high-efficiency home at the current site as a demonstration model.
"We're trying to really focus on how to get this village out of there," Cadiente said in a phone interview Wednesday. "That shore is not going to grow back."
---
Online:
Alaska's draft proposal:<a href="https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=178489" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=178489</a>
---
Follow Rachel D'Oro at <a href="https://twitter.com/rdoro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/rdoro</a>
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Alaska Seeks Federal Funds To Relocate Newtok Village

Alaska Seeks Federal Funds To Relocate Newtok Village. One of...

Feds: Difficult To Prosecute Companies Over Migratory Bird Deaths. Companies accused of causing migratory bird deaths may be harder to successfully prosecute after a federal appeals court recently ruled that a century-old wildlife protection law only applies if the killing is intentional.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals runs contrary to two other federal courts' interpretations of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act and could save companies that operate wind farms, power transmission lines and other methods of energy production millions in research - at the risk of more bird deaths.
"If you have a dead migratory bird, you have a violation. Doesn't matter how, why or when; that's historically been the government's interpretation," said Barry Hartman of K&amp;L Gates, a Washington law firm that represents Duke Energy Corp. "And what the court is saying is that interpretation doesn't extend to unintentional takes." Feds: Difficult To Prosecute Companies Over Migratory Bird Deaths
The U.S. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=fish&amp;cvid=0ae78e786ab3416dbc210e9377cbe290&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Fish</a> and Wildlife Service has maintained that no intent is required to violate the law, which makes it illegal to "pursue, hunt, take, capture" or "kill" more than 1,000 bird species. But companies have long claimed they should not be held responsible for actions that incidentally cause deaths - up to about a half-million annually by wind turbines alone, the federal agency says.
The nation's appellate courts have starkly different interpretations of the law, resulting in an uneven enforcement across the country, with companies in some <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earth-could-be-powered-entirely-by-renewable-energy/">energy</a>-rich states facing a narrower liability toward migratory birds than operations in other regions.
In the Sept. 4 ruling, the 5th Circuit said a U.S. District Court was wrong to convict and levy a $2 million fine against Citgo Petroleum Corp. for the deaths of at least 35 protected birds that flew into two large, open-top petroleum tanks in 2003 in Corpus Christi. In overturning the lower court's decision, the 5th Circuit agreed with Citgo that the statute was misinterpreted as covering unintentional bird kills.
The ruling agrees with decisions from the 8th and 9th Circuits that hold the law only applies to the intentional killing of birds, but contrasts with two other circuit rulings - one of which upheld misdemeanor convictions of two Kansas oil rig operators after dead birds were found trapped in oil-treatment vessels.
"It was a very easy charge for the government to bring" without having to prove intent, said Benjamin Cowan, a Houston attorney who represents traditional and renewable energy companies. "They won't be able to do that anymore."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has also used the bird act to regulate wind energy, and the Department of Justice are reviewing the 5th Circuit ruling before deciding whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, service spokeswoman Laury Parramore said. She added they may also ask the appeals court to reconsider.
The federal service is considering adding new regulations to mitigate bird deaths from energy production.
Since 2013, the Department of Justice has prosecuted two energy companies whose Wyoming wind turbines killed migratory birds, as well as several oil and gas companies in North Dakota whose wastewater pits became death traps for ducks. In 2014, Duke Energy Corp. was sentenced to $1 million in fines and five years' probation and ordered to develop a mitigation strategy for bird deaths at wind farms.
Environmental groups say the ruling by the 5th Circuit - which covers the energy-producing states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi - weakens the law's intent in some of the country's most crucial bird habitats; Texas leads the nation in wind energy production. The groups also say the ruling threatens the integrity of treaties signed with Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Russia.
The first of these, signed by the U.S. and Canada in 1916, was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade of birds and feathers and was intended to protect against the "indiscriminate slaughter" of migratory birds.
Eric Glitzenstein, an attorney who represents the American Bird Conservancy, called the ruling "an extraordinarily narrow" interpretation of the statute.
"Ignoring the greatest threats to migratory bird populations from inherently hazardous industrial activities is really a setback to our commitment to migratory birds in a serious and unfortunate way," he said.
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Feds: Difficult To Prosecute Companies Over Migratory Bird Deaths

Feds: Difficult To Prosecute Companies Over Migratory Bird Deaths. Companies...

BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Finalized. The Justice Department and five states have finalized a settlement of more than $20 billion arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The deal announced Monday resolves all <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=civil&amp;cvid=5cf3ebea38554c12b31c1db97a3a91a7&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">civil</a> claims against BP and ends five years of legal fighting over the nearly 134 million-gallon spill.
"BP is receiving the punishment it deserves, while also providing critical compensation for the injuries it caused to the environment and the economy of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/city-lights-surround-the-persian-gulf/">Gulf</a> region," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a Justice Department news conference. "The steep penalty should inspire BP and its peers to take every measure necessary to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again."
The settlement finalizes an agreement first announced in July. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an industrial disaster that began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 percent to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf o…

<div id="expitem_-1465872902_26" class="sml inline" data-appns="SERP" data-k="5657.1" data-expl=""></div>
Among other requirements, BP will be forced to pay $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalties and nearly $5 billion to five Gulf states: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Finalized
The spill followed the April 2010 explosion on an offshore rig that killed 11 workers. BP earlier settled with people and businesses harmed by the spill, a deal that's so far resulted in $5.84 billion in payouts.
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Clouds of reef fish and corals, French frigate shoals, NWHI

Obama Designates Two New National Marine Sanctuaries. President Barack Obama declared new marine sanctuaries in Lake Michigan and the tidal waters of Maryland on Monday, while Chile blocked off more than 200,000 square miles of the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Pacific+Ocean&amp;cvid=f37903bcfa0e47ad93b9fbce37e2246e&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Pacific Ocean</a> near the world-famous Easter Island from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration.
The announcements came as top officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, attended an international conference on marine protection in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso. Several nations also outlined plans for tracing seafood imports to combat overfishing and stemming increased pollution in the ocean. Obama Designates Two New National Marine Sanctuaries
The new protected waters in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/severe-fire-threat-continues-in-the-western-united-states/">United States</a> are the first to be designated as such in 15 years, the White House said in a statement.
The 875-square mile area of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan extends from Port Washington to Two Rivers, containing a collection of 39 known shipwrecks. Fifteen are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Mallows Bay-Potomac River in Maryland encompasses a 14-square mile area of the tidal Potomac River next to Charles County. Nearly 200 vessels, some dating back to the Revolutionary War, are found in the largely undeveloped area that provides habitat for endangered species of wildlife and fish.
The actions are the latest in a series of environmental steps by Obama, who last year set aside some 400,000 square miles of the central Pacific Ocean from commercial fishing, deep sea mining and other forms of resource extraction. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is now the largest marine reserve in the world.
In a videotaped message to conference participants, Obama recalled his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia and said he always maintained "a special love for the ocean."
"Our economies, our livelihoods and our food all depend on our oceans," he said, "and yet we know that our actions are changing them. Greenhouse gas emissions are making our seas warmer and more acidic. Marine pollution harms fish and wildlife, affecting the entire food chain. Illegal fishing depletes the world's fisheries."
Obama said he would seek to protect more American waters in the coming months.
Chile made its own ambitious declaration, cordoning off a vast expanse of the South Pacific Ocean.
President Michelle Bachelet said the new marine park would protect the ancestral species of Rapa Nui, the name used by the native Polynesians of Easter Island, which is celebrated for its hundreds of human statues carved out of volcanic rock. She was joined by representatives of the island, who clapped their hands and sang after the announcement was made.
Bachelet called it the third-largest protected marine zone worldwide.
Britain, Gabon, Kiribati, New Zealand and Palau have taken steps as well to protect sections of the sea in recent months.
The "Our Ocean" conference also targeted marine pollution resulting from discarded plastics and increasing levels of ocean acidification, which damages coral reefs and shellfish populations. Such concerns are shared by the U.S., which imports 90 percent of the fish it consumes, and Chile, whose coastline of almost 2,500 miles is vital to the economy.
To address overfishing, the Obama administration announced a global initiative, "Sea Scout," to identify unregulated and unreported activity, and help prosecute illegal fishing organizations. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expanding a program for detecting boats that use lights to attract fishery catch at night and will implement it in Indonesia, the Philippines and three other countries next year.
The "traceability" initiative is supposed to start for the most commonly exported fish species such as tuna, cod, shrimp and crab in September 2016. It would apply to all fish a year later and is designed to provide a full accounting of where exporters are getting their catch and whether they are operating in a sustainable manner. Anyone who wants to export fish to the United States would have to adhere to the conditions. The program needs final approval from the U.S. Senate and several additional countries before entering into force.
"There is literally too much money chasing too much fish," Kerry told the conference. A third of the world's fish stocks are over-exploited, he said, calling overfishing a $10 billion-a-year industry.
---
Online:
Obama's remarks: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UDXsv-BLpI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UDXsv-BLpI</a>
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Obama Designates Two New National Marine Sanctuaries

Obama Designates Two New National Marine Sanctuaries. President Barack Obama...

Feds: Difficult To Prosecute Companies Over Migratory Bird Deaths. Companies accused of causing migratory bird deaths may be harder to successfully prosecute after a federal appeals court recently ruled that a century-old wildlife protection law only applies if the killing is intentional.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals runs contrary to two other federal courts' interpretations of the 1918 Migratory <a href="http://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/save-the-baby-kiwi-birds/">Bird</a> Treaty Act and could save companies that operate wind farms, power transmission lines and other methods of energy production millions in research - at the risk of more bird deaths.
"If you have a dead migratory bird, you have a violation. Doesn't matter how, why or when; that's historically been the government's interpretation," said Barry Hartman of K&amp;L Gates, a Washington law firm that represents <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=duke+energy&amp;cvid=0fb30bf47abc469cba6f66da0b2aa8fe&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Duke Energy</a> Corp. "And what the court is saying is that interpretation doesn't extend to unintentional takes."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has maintained that no intent is required to violate the law, which makes it illegal to "pursue, hunt, take, capture" or "kill" more than 1,000 bird species. But companies have long claimed they should not be held responsible for actions that incidentally cause deaths - up to about a half-million annually by wind turbines alone, the federal agency says.
The nation's appellate courts have starkly different interpretations of the law, resulting in an uneven enforcement across the country, with companies in some energy-rich states facing a narrower liability toward migratory birds than operations in other regions.
In the Sept. 4 ruling, the 5th Circuit said a U.S. District Court was wrong to convict and levy a $2 million fine against Citgo Petroleum Corp. for the deaths of at least 35 protected birds that flew into two large, open-top petroleum tanks in 2003 in Corpus Christi. In overturning the lower court's decision, the 5th Circuit agreed with Citgo that the statute was misinterpreted as covering unintentional bird kills.
The ruling agrees with decisions from the 8th and 9th Circuits that hold the law only applies to the intentional killing of birds, but contrasts with two other circuit rulings - one of which upheld misdemeanor convictions of two Kansas oil rig operators after dead birds were found trapped in oil-treatment vessels.
"It was a very easy charge for the government to bring" without having to prove intent, said Benjamin Cowan, a Houston attorney who represents traditional and renewable energy companies. "They won't be able to do that anymore."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has also used the bird act to regulate wind energy, and the Department of Justice are reviewing the 5th Circuit ruling before deciding whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, service spokeswoman Laury Parramore said. She added they may also ask the appeals court to reconsider.
The federal service is considering adding new regulations to mitigate bird deaths from energy production.
Since 2013, the Department of Justice has prosecuted two energy companies whose Wyoming wind turbines killed migratory birds, as well as several oil and gas companies in North Dakota whose wastewater pits became death traps for ducks. In 2014, Duke Energy Corp. was sentenced to $1 million in fines and five years' probation and ordered to develop a mitigation strategy for bird deaths at wind farms.
Environmental groups say the ruling by the 5th Circuit - which covers the energy-producing states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi - weakens the law's intent in some of the country's most crucial bird habitats; Texas leads the nation in wind energy production. The groups also say the ruling threatens the integrity of treaties signed with Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Russia.
The first of these, signed by the U.S. and Canada in 1916, was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade of birds and feathers and was intended to protect against the "indiscriminate slaughter" of migratory birds.
Eric Glitzenstein, an attorney who represents the American Bird Conservancy, called the ruling "an extraordinarily narrow" interpretation of the statute.
"Ignoring the greatest threats to migratory bird populations from inherently hazardous industrial activities is really a setback to our commitment to migratory birds in a serious and unfortunate way," he said.
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Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen Pollution Testing Center Under Scrutiny After Scandal. When Volkswagen opened its gleaming pollution testing center near the California coast, a top executive from the German automaker helped snip the blue ribbon and joined a tour of a lab so advanced that VW would brag the air inside was cleaner than in the surrounding strawberry fields.
Three years later, with VW admitting that it manipulated emissions results in 482,000 U.S. diesel vehicles to make them seem more environmentally friendly, questions are swirling around Volkswagen's only test center in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=north+america&amp;cvid=ec97ef97f27a477c96c4ca8936edaed1&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">North America</a>. Was anyone at the facility complicit in the scheme? Or were VW's own testers unaware of the deception like so many others?
The center in Oxnard, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, was built with the help of a $10 million, tax-exempt public bond and opened in 2012.


[caption id="attachment_2384940" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05120204/volkswagen-america-headquarters_1big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2384940" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05120204/volkswagen-america-headquarters_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Volkswagens only test center in North America in Oxnard, Calif." width="150" height="150" /></a> Volkswagens only test center in North America in Oxnard, Calif.[/caption]
Volkswagen saw the facility as key to its multibillion-dollar U.S. growth strategy, partly because vehicles would have the selling point of meeting the nation's strictest emissions standards. At the facility, VW runs cars through a battery of tests to check whether they're polluting as little as advertised.
While no evidence has surfaced that Oxnard played a role in the fraud, the test center is sure to attract interest from government investigators and private attorneys lining up to sue VW.
"That would be one of the top facilities on my list to get inside of, whether through a subpoena or a search warrant," said William Carter, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who specialized in environmental crimes. "You'd want to explore what's there."
Carter said that investigators would want to know whether anyone in Oxnard knew about the "defeat devices" that Volkswagen has acknowledged installing on models from 2009 through 2015. The "device" was code in engine software that cheated diesel car emissions tests in the U.S.; 11 million engines worldwide contained the software. The scandal forced out VW's CEO and could lead to $18 billion in U.S. fines, an avalanche of lawsuits and criminal prosecutions both here and abroad.
California has launched its own criminal probe, but the state Attorney General's office would not say if Oxnard was a focus. A U.S. Justice Department spokesman said prosecutors are working closely with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigators but declined to say more.
Two Southern California law firms have cited the center in lawsuits against VW.
"I'm dying to know if they were doing anything in that facility" related to the defeat device, said attorney Graham LippSmith, who is seeking damages for fraud and negligence in federal court in Los Angeles on behalf of VW diesel owners in California.


[caption id="attachment_2384939" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05120202/volkswagen-pollution-testing-center_2big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2384939" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05120202/volkswagen-pollution-testing-center_2big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Volkswagen Passat with a diesel engine is evaluated" width="150" height="150" /></a> Volkswagen Passat with a diesel engine is evaluated[/caption]
Volkswagen declined to answer questions about what it calls Test Center California, instead providing a fact sheet first distributed at the 2012 opening attended by local dignitaries and VW officials. It denied a tour request, and security escorted out an Associated Press reporter who visited.
California officials who began investigating discrepancies in VW's diesel emissions months ago are familiar with the test center. The California Air Resources Board, in charge of enforcing the state's tough emissions standards, has likely received test results from the center but spokesman John Swanton could not be sure and would not say whether they included the 2009 to 2015 diesel models in question. Volkswagen Pollution Testing Center Under Scrutiny After Scandal
In recent weeks, agency staff visited Oxnard for ideas about how to upgrade their own aging emissions test center in El Monte, about 80 miles away, according to Swanton. The visit came while state and federal regulators were pressing VW to explain emissions test discrepancies but was not part of the investigation, he said.
The agency has researched other automaker test labs in California for ideas and was interested in the VW facility's top-notch environmental design, which includes rooftop solar paneling that provides one-third of its electricity.
And the agency is currently collaborating with VW to test emissions from a diesel research vehicle outside the lab. Air Resources Board engineers have been driving a red VW Golf up and down the coast to Oxnard, taking pollution readings using equipment strapped onto the back. The idea is to test ideas that VW is considering for a possible future diesel model, Swanton said.
Paperwork submitted to the City Council in 2010 as part of the approval process for a $10 million California Economic Development Authority tax-exempt bond to build the $27 million center said it would include "sophisticated emission-testing equipment" as part of VW's research to develop ultra-low emission vehicles, including diesel. VW came to Oxnard to replace a smaller, older facility nearby.
Civic leaders in Oxnard received a tour in 2012 that focused on how the precision lab assesses engine performance and its impact on emissions, said Steven Kinney, former president of the Economic Development Corporation of Oxnard.
The floors were so clean you could eat off them, Kinney said. He peered into a climate-controlled chamber where engineers could simulate sub-zero temperatures or desert conditions and saw cars undergoing emissions testing on treadmills.
At the Oxnard facility, and those like it that other automakers have in Southern California, cars would typically be several years old - tested for how they are performing as they age. Testing to certify that a new model meets U.S. and California emissions standards is typically done at an automaker's headquarters.
"They were proud of the fact that the air inside the facility was cleaner than the ambient air," he recalled.
Now, Kinney is left with questions: "How are they going to react to this? How much are they going to now open up the facility to broader public scrutiny?"
---
Pritchard reported from Los Angeles. Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington, D.C., and Don Thompson from Sacramento, California.
---
Contact Flaccus at <a href="https://twitter.com/gflaccus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/gflaccus</a> and Pritchard at <a href="https://twitter.com/lalanewsman" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/lalanewsman</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.

Volkswagen Pollution Testing Center Under Scrutiny After Scandal

Volkswagen Pollution Testing Center Under Scrutiny After Scandal. When Volkswagen...

Obama Designates Two New National Marine Sanctuaries. President Barack Obama declared new marine sanctuaries in Lake Michigan and the tidal waters of Maryland on Monday, while Chile blocked off more than 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean near the world-famous Easter Island from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration.
The announcements came as top officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, attended an international conference on marine protection in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso. Several nations also outlined plans for tracing seafood imports to combat overfishing and stemming increased pollution in the ocean.
The new protected waters in the United States are the first to be designated as such in 15 years, the White House said in a statement.
The 875-square mile area of Wisconsin's Lake Michigan extends from Port Washington to Two Rivers, containing a collection of 39 known shipwrecks. Fifteen are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Mallows Bay-Potomac River in Maryland encompasses a 14-square mile area of the tidal Potomac River next to Charles County. Nearly 200 vessels, some dating back to the Revolutionary War, are found in the largely undeveloped area that provides habitat for endangered species of wildlife and fish.
The actions are the latest in a series of environmental steps by Obama, who last year set aside some 400,000 square miles of the central Pacific Ocean from commercial fishing, deep sea mining and other forms of resource extraction. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is now the largest marine reserve in the world.
In a videotaped message to conference participants, Obama recalled his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia and said he always maintained "a special love for the ocean."
"Our economies, our livelihoods and our food all depend on our oceans," he said, "and yet we know that our actions are changing them. Greenhouse gas emissions are making our seas warmer and more acidic. Marine pollution harms fish and wildlife, affecting the entire food chain. Illegal fishing depletes the world's fisheries."
Obama said he would seek to protect more American waters in the coming months.
Chile made its own ambitious declaration, cordoning off a vast expanse of the South Pacific Ocean.
President Michelle Bachelet said the new marine park would protect the ancestral species of Rapa Nui, the name used by the native Polynesians of Easter Island, which is celebrated for its hundreds of human statues carved out of volcanic rock. She was joined by representatives of the island, who clapped their hands and sang after the announcement was made.
Bachelet called it the third-largest protected marine zone worldwide.
Britain, Gabon, Kiribati, New Zealand and Palau have taken steps as well to protect sections of the sea in recent months.
The "Our Ocean" conference also targeted marine pollution resulting from discarded plastics and increasing levels of ocean acidification, which damages coral reefs and shellfish populations. Such concerns are shared by the U.S., which imports 90 percent of the fish it consumes, and Chile, whose coastline of almost 2,500 miles is vital to the economy.
To address overfishing, the Obama administration announced a global initiative, "Sea Scout," to identify unregulated and unreported activity, and help prosecute illegal fishing organizations. The U.S. National <a href="http://www.earth.com/endangered-species/megalagrion-oceanicum/">Oceanic</a> and Atmospheric Administration is expanding a program for detecting boats that use lights to attract fishery catch at night and will implement it in Indonesia, the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Philippines&amp;cvid=353301fec3bb4845b6a7206c62e11a6a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Philippines</a> and three other countries next year.
The "traceability" initiative is supposed to start for the most commonly exported fish species such as tuna, cod, shrimp and crab in September 2016. It would apply to all fish a year later and is designed to provide a full accounting of where exporters are getting their catch and whether they are operating in a sustainable manner. Anyone who wants to export fish to the United States would have to adhere to the conditions. The program needs final approval from the U.S. Senate and several additional countries before entering into force.
"There is literally too much money chasing too much fish," Kerry told the conference. A third of the world's fish stocks are over-exploited, he said, calling overfishing a $10 billion-a-year industry.
---
Online:
Obama's remarks: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UDXsv-BLpI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UDXsv-BLpI</a>
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Court: EPA Must Revise Ship Ballast Water Dumping Regulations. A federal appeals court has ordered the government to rewrite regulations of ballast water discharges from ships, one of the leading culprits in the spread of invasive species across U.S. waterways.
The ruling Monday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A federal appeals court has ordered the government to rewrite regulations of ballast water discharges from ships. Also showing a lot more environmental groups.
The groups say an EPA permit issued in 2013 isn't strong enough to prevent vessels from introducing more harmful organisms such as zebra mussels, which have caused heavy damage in the Great Lakes and spread as far as the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=west+coast+&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;pq=west+coast+c&amp;sc=8-12&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=7B4EB1169B0347B19F2931267D35F594">West Coast</a>. Court: EPA Must Revise Ship Ballast Water Dumping Regulations
The court says the <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/nasa-prepares-to-take-astronauts-back-to-the-moon/">EPA</a> erred in numerous ways, including by adopting international limits on live organisms in ballast water when technology was available to require tougher standards.The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order.
© 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.

Court: EPA Must Revise Ship Ballast Water Dumping Regulations

Court: EPA Must Revise Ship Ballast Water Dumping Regulations. A...

Estimating The Impact Of Permafrost Carbon And Climate Change. Berkeley Lab scientist leads effort to shed light on a potentially huge player in the planet's climate...permafrost carbon

One of the big unknowns in predicting climate change is the billions of tons of carbon frozen in Arctic permafrost. As global warming causes soil temperatures to increase, some of this carbon will decompose and enter the atmosphere and accelerate climate change.

Although permafrost carbon has the potential to be a huge player in the planet's climate, it's difficult to predict the amount that will enter the atmosphere for a given increase in temperature. That's because the current way to estimate feedback between permafrost <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-of-2c-would-unleash-230-billions-tons-of-soil-carbon/">carbon</a> and climate is by using complex Earth system models that include a wide range of atmospheric and land surface phenomena. When it comes to representing the dynamics of permafrost carbon, these models don't use data from direct observations of the amount of carbon that is currently frozen in Arctic permafrost.

[caption id="attachment_2384952" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05173228/permafrost-graphic_1big_LLNB.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2384952" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05173228/permafrost-graphic_1big_LLNB-150x150.jpg" alt="The new approach includes data from recently compiled soil carbon maps of permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Russia." width="150" height="150" /></a> The new approach includes data from recently compiled soil carbon maps of permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.[/caption]

Now, a team of researchers led by a scientist from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed a simple model of permafrost carbon based on direct observations. Their approach could help climate scientists evaluate how well permafrost dynamics are represented in the Earth system models used to predict climate change.

The scientists present their research in a paper published online Oct. 5 in the journalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.

"In the classic way of evaluating how well climate models account for permafrost carbon, scientists ask: Does the model predict soil carbon levels that are close to what is observed?" says Charlie Koven, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division who led the research.

"But we flipped the question and started with: What are the actual, observed stocks of carbon in the soil? With this approach, we built the simplest possible model of Arctic permafrost carbon and its dynamics," Koven says.

Their approach takes into account recently developed soil carbon maps that identify the distribution and type of carbon in permafrost soils in Alaska, Canada, and Russia. It also includes a meta-analysis of several lab studies in which permafrost was held at a constant above-freezing temperature for months or even years. These incubation experiments quantify the rates of carbon lost due to permafrost thaw. A third component is a meta-analysis of soil thermal models that track soil dynamics in response to climate warming. These models account for the effects of melting snow, freezing and thawing of soils, and differences in soil thermal properties, to name a few phenomena.

The scientists ran their simplified model under two scenarios. In one scenario, fossil fuel emissions begin to curb dramatically by the middle of this century and the global temperature increases 1.8 degrees Celsius. In the other scenario, fossil fuel emissions continue at current rates unchecked and the global temperature increases 3.4 degrees Celsius.

They averaged the results from the two scenarios, and found that for every one degree Celsius of global warming, the amount of permafrost carbon that enters the atmosphere is equivalent to 1.5 years of global carbon dioxide emissions.

"We found for a given amount of warming, there is an extra amount of carbon released, which would lead to further warming--in other words, a feedback loop," says Koven.

Koven notes that their approach doesn't include many important processes that may increase or mitigate carbon release from permafrost soils.

"But the beauty of simple models is they are very easy to understand. We know exactly what goes into this," Koven adds. "The processes responsible for permafrost carbon-climate feedback have not been well represented in many models, and our approach is a way to start. It serves as a data-constrained estimate on the large-scale permafrost carbon response to warming."

The research was funded partly by the Department of Energy's Office of Science.
###
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit <a href="http://www.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.lbl.gov</a>.

Estimating The Impact Of Permafrost Carbon And Climate Change

Estimating The Impact Of Permafrost Carbon And Climate Change. Berkeley...

Estimating The Impact Of Permafrost Carbon And Climate Change. Berkeley Lab scientist leads effort to shed light on a potentially huge player in the planet's climate...permafrost carbon

One of the big unknowns in predicting climate change is the billions of tons of carbon frozen in Arctic permafrost. As global warming causes soil temperatures to increase, some of this carbon will decompose and enter the atmosphere and accelerate climate change.

Although permafrost carbon has the potential to be a huge player in the planet's climate, it's difficult to predict the amount that will enter the atmosphere for a given increase in temperature. That's because the current way to estimate feedback between permafrost carbon and climate is by using complex Earth system models that include a wide range of atmospheric and land surface phenomena. When it comes to representing the dynamics of permafrost carbon, these models don't use data from direct observations of the amount of carbon that is currently frozen in Arctic permafrost.

[caption id="attachment_2384952" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05173228/permafrost-graphic_1big_LLNB.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2384952" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/05173228/permafrost-graphic_1big_LLNB-150x150.jpg" alt="The new approach includes data from recently compiled soil carbon maps of permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Russia." width="150" height="150" /></a> The new approach includes data from recently compiled soil carbon maps of permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.[/caption]

Now, a team of researchers led by a scientist from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed a simple model of permafrost carbon based on direct observations. Their approach could help climate scientists evaluate how well permafrost dynamics are represented in the Earth system models used to predict climate change.

The scientists present their research in a paper published online Oct. 5 in the journalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.

"In the classic way of evaluating how well climate models account for permafrost carbon, scientists ask: Does the model predict soil carbon levels that are close to what is observed?" says Charlie Koven, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division who led the research.

"But we flipped the question and started with: What are the actual, observed stocks of carbon in the soil? With this approach, we built the simplest possible model of Arctic permafrost carbon and its dynamics," Koven says.

Their approach takes into account recently developed soil carbon maps that identify the distribution and type of carbon in permafrost soils in Alaska, Canada, and Russia. It also includes a meta-analysis of several lab studies in which permafrost was held at a constant above-freezing temperature for months or even years. These incubation experiments quantify the rates of carbon lost due to permafrost thaw. A third component is a meta-analysis of soil thermal models that track soil dynamics in response to climate warming. These models account for the effects of melting snow, freezing and thawing of soils, and differences in soil thermal properties, to name a few phenomena.

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/scientists-study-earth-to-find-similar-worlds/">scientists</a> ran their simplified model under two scenarios. In one scenario, fossil fuel emissions begin to curb dramatically by the middle of this century and the global temperature increases 1.8 degrees Celsius. In the other scenario, fossil fuel emissions continue at current rates unchecked and the global temperature increases 3.4 degrees Celsius.

They averaged the results from the two scenarios, and found that for every one degree Celsius of global warming, the amount of permafrost carbon that enters the atmosphere is equivalent to 1.5 years of global carbon dioxide emissions.

"We found for a given amount of warming, there is an extra amount of carbon released, which would lead to further warming--in other words, a feedback loop," says Koven.

Koven notes that their approach doesn't include many important processes that may increase or mitigate carbon release from permafrost soils.

"But the beauty of simple models is they are very easy to understand. We know exactly what goes into this," Koven adds. "The processes responsible for permafrost carbon-climate feedback have not been well represented in many models, and our approach is a way to start. It serves as a data-constrained estimate on the large-scale permafrost carbon response to warming."

The research was funded partly by the Department of Energy's Office of Science.
###
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit <a href="http://www.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.lbl.gov</a>.

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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



---



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.

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;



---



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;



---



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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

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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

[sendtonews key="u0TYxxqfF7-2186404-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA’s...