Every year, over 460 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, infiltrating nearly every aspect of life. In a review of 3,000 studies, researchers at UC San Francisco have uncovered alarming evidence of how microplastics - tiny fragments less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in size - are impacting human health.



The findings reveal a troubling link between microplastic exposure and serious medical conditions, including colon cancer, infertility, and respiratory issues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-microplastics">What are microplastics?</h2>



Microplastics, some as small as a grain of sand or even invisible to the naked eye, are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-are-steadily-increasing-in-freshwater-environments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">omnipresent</a>. They result from the gradual breakdown or fragmentation of plastic pollution in the environment.



Microplastics contaminate air, soil, water, food, and even everyday items like drink containers. These particles are ingested or inhaled without our awareness, entering the body through airways or along with food and beverages.



Shockingly, microplastics have been discovered in human tissues, including the brain and placenta. According to recent estimates, the U.S. healthcare system spends $289 billion annually on health issues that are linked to microplastic exposure.



The small size of these particles makes them especially dangerous, as they easily enter the bloodstream and infiltrate tissues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-microplastics-harm-our-health">How microplastics harm our health</h2>



Once microplastics enter the body, they act as foreign invaders, triggering widespread inflammation. The immune system’s response to these particles can cause tissue damage in vital organs, including the heart and liver. Over time, their accumulation leads to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastic-pollution-is-everywhere-even-in-newborns-and-getting-worse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">irreversible harm</a>.



Microplastics have a bio-accumulative nature, meaning their levels in the environment and human bodies will only increase. With plastic production expected to triple by 2060, researchers warn of escalating health risks. 



“Due to ubiquitous exposure and bioaccumulative characteristics of microplastics, the extent of human health impacts due to microplastic exposure is of great concern,” noted the authors of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digestive-system-and-cancer-risks">Digestive system and cancer risks</h2>



The UCSF research revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-nanotechnology-is-fighting-microplastic-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microplastics</a> disrupt the digestive system, particularly in the colon. These tiny particles damage the protective mucus layer of the colon, increasing vulnerability to inflammation and tumor development.



"Exposure to microplastics is 'suspected' to adversely impact the colon and small intestine in humans," noted the researchers.



Chronic inflammation and intestinal cell death were also identified as potential outcomes. Using carcinogen classification methods, the team linked microplastics to colon cancer, and called for urgent attention to these health hazards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microplastics-and-reproductive-health">Microplastics and reproductive health</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-trigger-cloud-formation-and-alter-weather-patterns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microplastics</a> may also disrupt hormonal balance in the reproductive system. For men, this could lead to reduced sperm quality and testicular health. For women, they can impact ovarian function and the placenta. 



In one study, researchers linked microplastics in the placenta to low birth weight and pre-term births.



Furthermore, adverse effects on ovarian function and development highlight the potential long-term implications for reproductive health.



“We concluded that exposure to microplastics is 'suspected' to adversely impact sperm quality and testicular health in humans,” the researchers emphasized.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-respiratory-impacts-and-lung-cancer-risks">Respiratory impacts and lung cancer risks</h2>



Microplastics also pose <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hotspots-of-microplastic-pollution-found-in-the-north-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">significant threats</a> to lung health. When inhaled, they irritate airways, leading to chronic inflammation and lung injuries. Over time, this can increase the risk of lung cancer. 



The experts concluded that exposure to microplastics is “suspected to be a hazard to the human respiratory system.”



“These microplastics are basically particulate matter air pollution, and we know this type of air pollution is harmful,” said study senior author <a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tracey.woodruff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tracey J. Woodruff</a>, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at UCSF.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-widespread-environmental-contamination">Widespread environmental contamination</h2>



The minute size of microplastics allows them to spread across the globe, contaminating even the most remote locations. Researchers have detected microplastics in Arctic sea ice, deep ocean trenches, and in snow and sediment across Antarctica.



Alarmingly, these particles have been found in human breast milk, the liver, and in the placenta - raising concerns about their far-reaching impacts on human health.



Each year, plastic production is projected to increase, reaching 1.1 billion tons by 2050. This means the presence of microplastics in the environment - and consequently in our bodies - will only worsen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-addressing-the-health-risks-of-microplastics">Addressing the health risks of microplastics</h2>



The UCSF review is the first to systematically examine the health impacts of microplastics using methods approved by the National Academy of Sciences.



While many studies in the review focused on animals, the researchers believe the findings are directly applicable to humans due to similar exposure pathways.



The research builds on previous work by the California State Policy Evidence Consortium, which guides policymakers. 



"We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer," noted study first author Dr. Nicholas Chartres. 



"We hope state leaders will take immediate action to prevent further exposures."



The UCSF findings highlight the pressing need for stricter regulations on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-are-infiltrating-the-human-body-even-the-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic</a> production and better waste management. 



Without immediate intervention, the health impacts of microplastics will escalate alongside the increase in plastic production. Reducing exposure is critical for safeguarding human health in the years to come.



The review study was published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/envhealth.3c00052">ACS Environmental Science and Technology</a>.



-----



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Microplastics linked to health issues including cancer and infertility

Every year, over 460 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, infiltrating nearly every aspect of life. In a review of 3,000 studies, researchers at UC San Francisco have uncovered alarming evidence of how microplastics - tiny fragments less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in size - are impacting human health. The findings reveal a troubling link between microplastic exposure and serious medical conditions, including colon cancer, infertility, and respiratory issues. What are microplastics? Microplastics, some as small as a grain of sand or even invisible to...

Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017. Volkswagen said a recall of cars with software that can be used to evade emissions tests could start in Germany in January and last until the end of next year.
The recall does not yet include cars in the U.S., where the scandal engulfing the world's largest carmaker erupted. Any recall there will have to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which disclosed the rigging last month, and the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=2c4e7f0edc884627aa4a96bcfc609b57&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a> Air Resources Board.
Confirmation of the planned launch date of the recall of 2.8 million cars in Germany came in an interview with VW CEO Matthias Mueller published Wednesday in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017
In it, he said many of the cars being recalled won't need much fixing, merely requiring an adjustment to software. Others though may require mechanical fixes such as new injectors or catalyzers.
He said that "care goes before speed" and that if everything goes "as planned, we can start the recall in January."
"All the cars should be in order by the end of 2016," he added.
Mueller also said first results of the investigation indicated that a few developers were responsible for the deceptive engine control software - but that only further investigation would settle how many company officials bear responsibility for the scandal that has engulfed the German carmaker.
Mueller, who became CEO less than two weeks ago following the resignation of his predecessor Martin Winterkorn in the wake of the disclosure of the emission-test rigging, said the automaker may need to set up temporary specialist workshops to deal with more complex cases.
He said VW will have to fix the EA 189 diesel engines "in combination with various transmissions and country-specific designs. So we don't need three solutions, but thousands."
Volkswagen has said up to 11 million vehicles worldwide across several of its brands contain the diesel engine with the software used to cheat on U.S. emissions tests.
"It will hopefully be fewer, but in any case still far too many," he was quoted as saying.
The company has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to deal with costs related to the scandal.
Mueller said that "according to current information, a few developers interfered in the engine management." He said top executives would not have involved themselves in the intricacies of engine software.
But when asked if that meant there was no larger circle of fraudulent behavior, he said the company was "now clarifying the responsibilities in detail" and that "thoroughness comes before speed."
The company has suspended four individuals responsible for engine development and hired U.S. law firm Jones Day to conduct an investigation.
On Wednesday, Volkswagen also elected longtime company executive Hans Dieter Poetsch as board chairman. Poetsch, until now the chief financial officer, was nominated at the beginning of September before the scandal broke. His status as a company insider has provoked criticism that he is too close to current management to be able to deal with the scandal's fallout.
But he retains the backing of major shareholders, including the Piech and Porsche families. They have a majority of voting share through a holding company.
"Mr. Poetsch has distinguished himself through his strategic insight, knowledge of the automobile industry, and his expertise in financial matters," board member Wolfgang Porsche told journalists at VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg.
The company's board of directors announced his appointment after a closed-doors meeting at the company's home plant in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Poetsch fills a position vacated when longtime chairman Ferdinand Piech resigned in April.
Poetsch will be replaced as CFO, a title he has held since 2003, by Frank Witter. Witter was the former CEO of the Volkswagen Financial Services unit.
---
Moulson and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.
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Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017

Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017. Volkswagen said a...

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches . The Antarctic ozone hole, which typically reaches its annual peak area between mid-September and early October, formed more slowly this year but quickly expanded to cover a larger area of low ozone values than the past few years, according to<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=268f08dd10a74b5ab136231121580435&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> NASA</a> and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.

While the current ozone hole area is large, this area is consistent with scientists’ understanding of ozone depletion chemistry and the colder than average 2015 stratospheric weather conditions, which contribute to ozone depletion. Also 2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches more to a maximum.

The Antarctic ozone hole, located above the South Pole, expands during every Southern Hemisphere Antarctic spring. Additional information will be forthcoming about this year’s ozone hole in late October. <a href="http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/dobson_SH.html">Dobson units</a> are a measurement of the concentration of atmospheric ozone.

The ozone hole occurs during the antarctic spring, from September to early December, as strong westerly wind start to circulate around the continent and create an<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earths-atmosphere-beyond-moon/"> atmospheric</a> container. In this container over 50% of the lower stratospheric ozone is destroyed.This year will go down as having the 12th-largest ozone hole in 40 years of satellite records, with the 14th-lowest ozone readings in 33 years of balloon-borne instrumental measurements, the scientists said.

---

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches . The Antarctic ozone...

California Helping Utility Companies Install Thousands Of Car Charging Stations. California wants more drivers to dump the pump and plug in.
Climate change legislation signed Wednesday day by Gov. Jerry Brown calls for major utilities to compete as an alternative transportation fuel source by installing thousands of car charging stations where people live, work and play.
The provision was contained in a broader climate control measure requiring the state to boost renewable electricity use to 50 percent and double the energy efficiency of existing buildings by 2030.
The bill's author, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-may-have-arrived-in-los-angeles-last-year/">Los Angeles</a> Democrat, was forced to drop a key aspect of his proposal that would have pushed the state to cut oil use by half.
State officials hope to see a big cut in greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging residents to fuel their cars and trucks with electricity - a move that environmentalists say will pit utilities against oil companies in the marketplace. California Helping Utility Companies Install Thousands Of Car Charging Stations
"It basically tells the electric industry to go eat the oil industry's lunch," said Max Baumhefner, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
While oil companies aggressively lobbied against the oil reduction provision in the bill, California's largest private utilities - Pacific Gas &amp; Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas &amp; Electric - were among those pushing to boost the electric vehicle charging market.
During the first half of the year, the three private utilities spent about $2 million lobbying state government on dozens of bills, including SB350. That was more than Chevron, Valero, Shell and BP combined in that same period, according to lobbying reports.
The oil companies did not oppose the goal of increasing electric power for cars but point out that the state has policies to diversify transportation fuels.
"We need to make sure Californians can move about our state and have access to reliable, affordable energy," said Catherine Reheis Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, which represents oil companies.
For utilities, the bill is a business opportunity as much as it is a moral imperative for the Democrats who want to fight climate change. Two of Brown's top aides, who negotiated the bill, are former PG&amp;E executives.
The state is already a leader in the electric vehicle market, according to the state's Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative, with four of every 10 electric vehicles in the nation sold in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=ea6dd212320f460f9e94aa6dceaeb53f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a>. Still, they are only a fraction of the 1.7 million cars and light trucks sold in the state each year.
"Companies are going to have to prove to consumers that it's in their best interest to make that switch from traditional fuel vehicles," said Travis Miller, director of utilities research at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. "I don't know we're at the tipping point quite yet."
One reason is the state's still-spotty charging infrastructure. Utilities plan to compete with private companies to install tens of thousands of new charging stations to diminish driver worries of getting stranded with a dead battery. The three utilities have separate plans before state regulators to spend more than $1 billion on charging stations.
Most electric car owners do their charging at home, so utilities are targeting chargers for multi-unit complexes, which can be challenging to break into, and businesses.
"The big opportunity is workplace. It's the other place where you really park your car for a long time," said Aaron Johnson, vice president of customer energy solutions at Pacific Gas &amp; Electric.
Consumer advocates are also watching the state Public Utilities Commission, which must approve plans to install the charging stations, to ensure ratepayers who will foot the bill for the charging stations do not overpay. The regulatory agency has come under fire for its cozy relationship with power company executives.
Betty Plowman of the Western States Trucking Association said while the state's policies are laudable, electric vehicles aren't yet practical for many commuters. She's also worried about having to subsidize electric car drivers through her utility bill.
"Who pays for that electricity? Is it a gift from the gods?" she said.
Electric car drivers and building owners will pay for the electricity, but all utility customers will pay for the chargers through their bills. Utilities estimate the hardware will add a nominal amount - 82 cents to $2 a year per San Diego Gas &amp; Electric customer, according to Laura McDonald, who directs clean transportation for SDG&amp;E. Critics such as Plowman said every penny counts for someone like her who is nearing retirement.
Computer consultant Darshan Brahmbhatt switched to a Nissan Leaf about two years ago. Brahmbhatt, who lives in Folsom, a suburb of Sacramento, estimates his lease and extra electricity costs are about $225 a month, less than the $300 he was paying for gas alone.
"It's kind of really worked out great," he said.
© 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.

California Helping Utility Companies Install Thousands Of Car Charging Stations

California Helping Utility Companies Install Thousands Of Car Charging Stations....

Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide. UCLA-led study restores consensus after controversial 2014 paper questioned direct effects of climate change

An international research team led by UCLA life scientists has, for the first time, quantified the direct influence of climate on the growth of ecosystems around the globe.

The paper also restores scientific consensus to the fact that record-breaking temperatures and droughts directly affect ecosystems -- which was called into question by a 2014 University of Arizona paper in the journal Nature. Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide

The new study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, was published this week in the journal Global Change Biology.

The growth of whole ecosystems -- the accumulation of new growth in a forest, shrub land or grass land -- is referred to by scientists as net primary productivity. NPP is greater in the tropics than in the arctic because productivity responds directly to climate in much the same way that individual plants do. This means that the growth of ecosystems would respond rapidly to climate change. And because forests take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, even as their growth responds to climate, they play a role in determining ongoing climate change.

In challenging that point of view, the Arizona researchers found no correlation between NPP and climate, after accounting for the influence of forest mass and age. They concluded that the correlation of NPP with climate was a coincidence or an illusion that arose simply because larger forests tend to be located in warmer, moister climates, and because larger forests have faster growth.

But the UCLA-led study found definitively that NPP responds strongly and directly to climate. The implication of the new research is that climate change will have strong and immediate effects on forest productivity because climate strongly affects NPP, independent of the mass of the forest and its age.

"Our analysis shows that the direct influence of climate on NPP globally is undeniable and enormous," said Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the UCLA College and senior author of the research. "Our models can explain at least half of the global variation in NPP, with a major proportion attributable to climate, independently of biomass."

Sack said the fact that so much of ecosystems' productivity is tied to climate makes it clearer than ever that new and stronger policies to mitigate climate change are needed.

The researchers found major statistical flaws in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=arizona&amp;cvid=faac2654fe51459fa217af58f5077b74&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Arizona</a> paper. For example, the UCLA-led team demonstrated that, because NPP is a measure of ecosystem growth, the Arizona researchers created a circular model by inputting the biomass and age of the ecosystems together in their model.

"In a statistical model, it's very important to ensure that there are no circularities -- that the model doesn't use terms that automatically explain the variable we want to predict," said <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pandemic-will-alter-families-and-relationships-for-years-to-come/">UCLA</a> graduate student Megan Bartlett, a co-author of the new study. "If there are circularities, you lose the power to find the real influential variables. In this case, when we removed the circular influence of biomass and age, we could see the enormous influence of climate."

The UCLA-led team used multiple approaches to re-analyze the data from the Nature paper, with a focus on isolating the influence of climate from biomass in influencing NPP. They found that climate-related effects explained at least as much of the variation in NPP across forests worldwide as forest biomass.

"Everyone who has grown a plant understands how sensitive growth is to temperature and rainfall, but whether whole ecosystem growth responds in the same way had become controversial," Sack said. "It's obvious that ecosystems with more biomass have higher NPPs, in the same way that larger organisms grow faster than smaller organisms. Also, older ecosystems tend to grow slower than younger ones."

Yet Sack said the UCLA team was skeptical of the claims that the biomass and age of forests could explain global variation in NPP without accounting for climate, or that plants and ecosystems could compensate for different climates and maximize growth globally, as the Nature paper suggested.

"If that were true, the implication would be that climate change would have slower, or minimal, impacts on ecosystem growth worldwide," he said. "But this turns out not to be correct."

Sack said more research is needed to understand how each species and ecosystem responds to climate change, to learn more about the influence of other variables, such as soil fertility, and to make better predictions about the influence of climate on ecosystems.

"Our analyses have to keep improving if we are to have a chance to contribute to policies to anticipate, avert or mitigate the effects of changing climates and to guarantee a future not only for our species, but for entire ecosystems around our planet," Sack said. "Collaborations across scientific fields and among nations are becoming ever more critical."

---

<a href="http://www.ucla.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UCLA</a>

Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide

Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide. UCLA-led study...

Coral Bleaching Is Expanding Into The Caribbean. Bleaching intensifies in Hawaii, high ocean temperatures threaten Caribbean corals

As record ocean temperatures cause widespread coral bleaching across Hawaii, NOAA scientists confirm the same stressful conditions are expanding to the Caribbean and may last into the new year, prompting the declaration of the third global coral bleaching event ever on record.

Waters are warming in the Caribbean, threatening coral in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, NOAA scientists said. Coral bleaching began in the Florida Keys and South Florida in August, but now scientists expect bleaching conditions there to diminish.

"The coral bleaching and disease, brought on by climate change and coupled with events like the current El Niño, are the largest and most pervasive threats to coral reefs around the world," said Mark Eakin, NOAA's Coral Reef Watch coordinator. "As a result, we are losing huge areas of coral across the U.S., as well as internationally. What really has us concerned is this event has been going on for more than a year and our preliminary model projections indicate it's likely to last well into 2016."

While corals can recover from mild bleaching, severe or long-term bleaching is often lethal. After corals die, reefs quickly degrade and the structures corals build erode. This provides less shoreline protection from storms and fewer habitats for fish and other marine life, including ecologically and economically important species.

This bleaching event, which began in the north <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=PACIFIC&amp;cvid=0cfe1390ce5a45c9b9ad1ef0593c64d8&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Pacific</a> in summer 2014 and expanded to the south Pacific and Indian oceans in 2015, is hitting U.S. coral reefs disproportionately hard. NOAA estimates that by the end of 2015, almost 95 percent of U.S. coral reefs will have been exposed to ocean conditions that can cause corals to bleach.

The biggest risk right now is to the Hawaiian Islands, where bleaching is intensifying and is expected to continue for at least another month. Areas at risk in the Caribbean in coming weeks include Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and from the U.S. Virgin Islands south into the Leeward and Windward islands.

The next concern is the further impact of the strong El Niño, which climate models indicates will cause bleaching in the Indian and southeastern Pacific Oceans after the new year. This may cause bleaching to spread globally again in 2016.

"We need to act locally and think globally to address these bleaching events. Locally produced threats to coral, such as pollution from the land and unsustainable fishing practices, stress the health of corals and decrease the likelihood that corals can either resist bleaching, or recover from it," said Jennifer Koss, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program acting program manager. "To solve the long-term, global problem, however, we need to better understand how to reduce the unnatural carbon dioxide levels that are the major driver of the warming."

This announcement stems from the latest NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite coral bleaching monitoring products, and was confirmed through reports from partner organizations with divers working on affected reefs, especially the XL Catlin Seaview Survey and ReefCheck. NOAA Coral Reef Watch's outlook, which forecasts the potential for coral bleaching worldwide several months in the future, predicted this global event in July 2015.

The current high ocean temperatures in Hawaii come on the heels of bleaching in the Main Hawaiian Islands in 2014?only the second bleaching occurrence in the region's history?and devastating bleaching and coral death in parts of the remote and well-protected Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

"Last year's bleaching at Lisianski Atoll was the worst our scientists have seen," said Randy Kosaki, NOAA's deputy superintendent for the monument. "Almost one and a half square miles of reef bleached last year and are now completely dead."

Coral bleaching occurs when corals are exposed to stressful environmental conditions such as high temperature. Corals expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing corals to turn white or pale. Without the algae, the coral loses its major source of food and is more susceptible to disease.

The first global bleaching event was in 1998, during a strong El Niño that was followed by an equally very strong La Niña. A second one occurred in 2010.

Satellite data from NOAA's Coral Reef Watch program provides current reef environmental conditions to quickly identify areas at risk for coral bleaching, while its climate model-based outlooks provide managers with information on potential bleaching months in advance.

The outlooks were developed jointly by NOAA's Satellite and Information Service and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction through funding from the Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Climate Program Office.

---

<a href="http://www.noaa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NOAA</a>

Coral Bleaching Is Expanding Into The Caribbean

Coral Bleaching Is Expanding Into The Caribbean. Bleaching intensifies in...

California Oil Spill

Environmental Group Sues For Mandated Plans After Big Oil Spills. An environmental group sued the federal government Thursday, contending it gives pipeline owners and operators a free pass on developing legally required plans for dealing with big oil spills into lakes, rivers and other inland waterways.

The National Wildlife Federation lawsuit accuses the U.S. Department of Transportation of failing for 20 years to issue regulations on crafting the spill strategies and of allowing companies to operate without them. The plans were ordered under the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/soil-pollution-is-a-source-of-antibiotic-resistance/">Oil Pollution</a> Act, which was enacted in 1990 following the Exxon Valdez disaster, and were supposed to be finished by 1995. Environmental Group Sues For Mandated Plans After Big Oil Spills

"The Department of Transportation's failure to review or approve spill response plans is a huge oversight that has left communities and wildlife vulnerable to catastrophic spills," said Neil Kagan, senior counsel for the federation.

The department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration had no immediate comment. The U.S. Department of Justice said it would review the lawsuit but had no other comment.

The Department of Transportation last week proposed tightening safety rules for pipelines carrying crude oil and other hazardous liquids, including requiring operators to inspect lines in rural areas now exempt and to report problems with smaller, currently unregulated lines.

The wildlife federation, which filed suit in U.S. District Court in Detroit, said those steps don't address what happens after pipeline incidents occur. The Oil Pollution Act requires plans that make sure pipeline operators have enough resources available to remove as much oil as possible during a "worst case" spill and limit damage to public health and the environment, including fish, wildlife, shorelines and beaches.

But the department has yet to approve any such plans, the suit said. It asks the court to set a schedule for them to be submitted and reviewed, and to order the department to issue necessary regulations.

Pipelines carrying oil products or hazardous liquids cross inland waters at least 100 feet wide at 5,110 places nationwide, the suit said. It said the pipeline agency has identified 20 accidents at inland water crossings between 1991 and 2012. Two spills in recent years have sent more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River. In Michigan, a ruptured pipeline in 2010 released 840,000 gallons into the Kalamazoo River and a creek.

The wildlife federation and other environmental groups also have warned of risks from twin pipelines running beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the nearly 5-mile-wide waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michigan. Enbridge Energy Partners LP, which operates the 62-year-old lines, has said they are inspected regularly and pose no threat.

"The oil pipeline industry's track record of spills, accidents and disasters underscores the need for iron-clad protections," said Mike Shriberg, executive director of the federation's Great Lakes Regional Center.

---

Follow John Flesher on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/JohnFlesher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/JohnFlesher</a>

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Environmental Group Sues For Mandated Plans After Big Oil Spills

Environmental Group Sues For Mandated Plans After Big Oil Spills....

Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide. UCLA-led study restores consensus after controversial 2014 paper questioned direct effects of climate change

An international research team led by UCLA life scientists has, for the first time, quantified the direct influence of climate on the growth of ecosystems around the globe.

The paper also restores scientific consensus to the fact that record-breaking temperatures and droughts directly affect ecosystems -- which was called into question by a 2014 University of Arizona paper in the journal Nature. Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change Worldwide

The new study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, was published this week in the journal Global Change Biology.

The growth of whole ecosystems -- the accumulation of new growth in a forest, shrub land or grass land -- is referred to by scientists as net primary productivity. NPP is greater in the tropics than in the arctic because productivity responds directly to climate in much the same way that individual plants do. This means that the growth of ecosystems would respond rapidly to climate change. And because forests take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, even as their growth responds to climate, they play a role in determining ongoing climate change.

In challenging that point of view, the Arizona researchers found no correlation between NPP and climate, after accounting for the influence of forest mass and age. They concluded that the correlation of NPP with climate was a coincidence or an illusion that arose simply because larger forests tend to be located in warmer, moister climates, and because larger forests have faster growth.

But the UCLA-led study found definitively that NPP responds strongly and directly to climate. The implication of the new research is that climate change will have strong and immediate effects on forest productivity because climate strongly affects NPP, independent of the mass of the forest and its age.

"Our analysis shows that the direct influence of climate on NPP globally is undeniable and enormous," said Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pandemic-will-alter-families-and-relationships-for-years-to-come/">UCLA</a> College and senior author of the research. "Our models can explain at least half of the global variation in NPP, with a major proportion attributable to climate, independently of biomass."

Sack said the fact that so much of ecosystems' productivity is tied to climate makes it clearer than ever that new and stronger policies to mitigate climate change are needed.

The researchers found major statistical flaws in the Arizona paper. For example, the UCLA-led team demonstrated that, because NPP is a measure of ecosystem growth, the Arizona researchers created a circular model by inputting the biomass and age of the ecosystems together in their model.

"In a statistical model, it's very important to ensure that there are no circularities -- that the model doesn't use terms that automatically explain the variable we want to predict," said UCLA graduate student Megan Bartlett, a co-author of the new study. "If there are circularities, you lose the power to find the real influential variables. In this case, when we removed the circular influence of biomass and age, we could see the enormous influence of climate."

The UCLA-led team used multiple approaches to re-analyze the data from the Nature paper, with a focus on isolating the influence of climate from biomass in influencing NPP. They found that climate-related effects explained at least as much of the variation in NPP across forests worldwide as forest biomass.

"Everyone who has grown a plant understands how sensitive growth is to temperature and rainfall, but whether whole ecosystem growth responds in the same way had become controversial," Sack said. "It's obvious that ecosystems with more biomass have higher NPPs, in the same way that larger organisms grow faster than smaller organisms. Also, older ecosystems tend to grow slower than younger ones."

Yet Sack said the UCLA team was skeptical of the claims that the biomass and age of forests could explain global variation in NPP without accounting for climate, or that plants and ecosystems could compensate for different climates and maximize growth globally, as the Nature paper suggested.

"If that were true, the implication would be that climate change would have slower, or minimal, impacts on ecosystem growth worldwide," he said. "But this turns out not to be correct."

Sack said more research is needed to understand how each species and ecosystem responds to climate change, to learn more about the influence of other variables, such as soil fertility, and to make better predictions about the influence of climate on ecosystems.

"Our analyses have to keep improving if we are to have a chance to contribute to policies to anticipate, avert or mitigate the effects of changing climates and to guarantee a future not only for our species, but for entire ecosystems around our planet," Sack said. "Collaborations across scientific fields and among nations are becoming ever more critical."

---

<a href="http://www.ucla.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UCLA</a>

Quantifying The Direct Impact Of Climate Change

Historic Rainfall Causing Drinking Water Problems In South Carolina. South Carolina's capital city had too much water. Now, officials are racing to make sure it has enough.
A canal that serves as the main source of drinking water for about half of the Columbia water system's 375,000 customers collapsed in two places following historic rainfall and flooding over the weekend, sending contractors scrambling to build a rock dam to plug the holes while<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=national+guard&amp;cvid=cc8098248afc41048f2c47af4de99316&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> National Guard</a> helicopters dropped giant sandbags in the rushing water.
Water from the canal normally flows directly into the reservoir at the city's water treatment plant. But with the water level falling because of the levee breach, workers were forced to place orange pumps on the banks of the canal to pump water directly into the reservoir. And if that wasn't enough, the city had plans to pump water directly from the nearby <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-aquatic-mice-have-long-feet-to-wade-in-rivers-and-streams/">Broad River</a>. Historic Rainfall Causing Drinking Water Problems In South Carolina
Officials sought to beat back rampant rumors of an imminent water shortage.
"The system is running and it is running strong," Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told reporters.
Meanwhile, Gov. Nikki Haley issued a terse warning to thousands of people in low-lying areas near the coast to evacuate before a mass of water rumbling toward the ocean floods some places for up to two more weeks.
She asked people watching on television to call relatives who may have a false sense of security after surviving hurricanes, calling the second round of expected flooding "a different kind of bad." She said the standing water could last up to 12 days.
"We have thousands of people that won't move. And we need to get them to move," she said. "They don't need to be sitting in flooded areas for 12 days."
Back in Columbia, city officials urged residents to conserve water. And when they do use it, they have to boil it at least one minute. Restaurants are offering bottled water and serving meals on paper plates to avoid washing dishes. And many people often make daily trips to their local grocery stores to stock up on water.
"It's easy to conserve because you can't really use (the water)," said 26-year-old Laura Reinman, who was pushing a shopping cart with two gallon jugs of water at a Publix grocery store just across the street from the canal.
The city is like hundreds of others along the East Coast and in the Midwest that have been told to fix their aging infrastructure.
Columbia is under orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fix its sewage treatment plant and sewer pipes to reduce overflows that can contaminate waterways. Those orders include spending $1 million on projects to reduce flooding along Gills Creek, one of the areas devastated by record rainfall and flooding.
And just last month, the state Supreme Court revived a lawsuit challenging how the city has paid for maintenance to its water and sewer systems, saying "simply put, the statutes do not allow these revenues to be treated as a slush fund."
Columbia separates its property tax collections, which are only imposed on city residents, from its water fees, which are paid by its customers who live throughout the region. In 1993, the city passed a resolution allowing it to pull money from the water fund to help balance the city's budget. According to the lawsuit, in the past three years, $12 million has been transferred form utility customers to pay for non-utility projects, such as economic development and efforts to lure businesses to the city.
Benjamin said the city has reduced the transfer over the past several years. This year, it was $2.8 million to help pay for police, fire and 911 services.
---
Associated Press reporters John Seewer contributed from Toledo, Ohio, and Meg Kinnard contributed from Blythewood, South Carolina.
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Historic Rainfall Causing Drinking Water Problems In South Carolina

Historic Rainfall Causing Drinking Water Problems In South Carolina. South...

Various

California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday requiring California to phase out the use of microscopic exfoliating beads -- microbeads -- in personal care products sold in the state starting in 2020 to protect fish and wildlife.
The tiny plastic beads found in soap, toothpaste and body washes are so small that they are showing up in the bodies of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=fish&amp;cvid=5b4f69ecab024bc4bc5cfb1ce90710d2&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">fish</a> and other wildlife after passing through water filtration systems without disintegrating.
Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-<a href="http://www.earth.com/image/santa-ana-wind-event-over-california/">Santa Monica</a>, said his bill, AB888, seeks to drastically restrict all use of the non-biodegradable beads, which can contain various toxins.
"AB888 was carefully crafted to avoid any loopholes that would allow for use of potentially harmful substitutes," Bloom said in a statement Thursday. "This legislation ensures that personal care products will be formulated with environmentally-safe alternatives to protect our waterways and oceans."
A number of companies are replacing microbeads with natural substances such as ground-up fruit pits.
California lawmakers have attempted similar legislation before, but they met opposition from personal-care product companies. Amendments to the measure this year prompted many business critics to drop their opposition to California joining several other states in eliminating the so-called microbeads.
The microbead ban was one of several pieces of legislation Brown signed Thursday in response to concerns about environmental degredation. California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes
He approved SB185 by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, which will require the state's two large public pension funds, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, to divest from coal holdings.
Brown also signed legislation giving state lawmakers two appointments to a powerful state regulatory board that has expansive authority to set regulations laying out how the state will achieve its aggressive emissions reductions target. Under AB1288, the state Legislature can appoint two members to the California Air Resources Board, expanding its size to 14. Currently, only the governor can appoint its members.
And Brown announced signing legislation requiring cities and counties to create a faster process to approve new charging stations, an effort to address a patchwork of regulations throughout the state that have slowed building.
His approval comes a day after he signed aggressive climate change legislation requiring California to get half its electricity from renewable energy sources within 15 years and to double the energy efficiency of existing buildings.
The Democratic governor also signed three oil spill protection bills, months after a pipeline leaked more than 100,000 gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara Coast. The measures call for pipeline operators to use the best spill-control technology, require annual pipeline inspections and require regulators to notify the state Legislature if caustic chemicals are used in a cleanup.
The bills were introduced after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured underground in May, sending oil onto a beach and into the ocean. The oil spread more than 100 miles.
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California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes

California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes....

New York Governor Signs Agreement To Combat <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=global+warming&amp;cvid=991b876e79ea4d95b267b6489e791e98&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Global Warming</a>. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday joined government leaders worldwide in signing an agreement to help combat global warming and keep the Earth's average temperature from rising dangerously.
The Under Two MOU, a memorandum of understanding signed by more than three dozen government leaders, affirmed New York's commitment to helping keep the Earth's average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius and committed the state to working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions about 40 percent by 2030. Cuomo said he hoped <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/earth-from-space-new-york-city/">New York</a> would be able to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by then.
"Climate change is an issue of society's sustainability. To deny that climate change is real is to defy reason ... denial is not a survival strategy," Cuomo told an audience of a few hundred people at Columbia University before signing the agreement.New York Governor Signs Agreement To Combat Global Warming
The memo comes ahead of the United Nations' climate negotiations in Paris in December. Former vice president and environmentalist Al Gore sat next to Cuomo on stage. He said he hoped New York's commitment would send a strong signal to world leaders and encourage others to make the same pledge.
Cuomo said to ignore climate change "is gross negligence by government and irresponsible as citizens." He reaffirmed New York's commitment to address global warming and climate change amid projections showing a rising sea level that could eventually wipe out parts of the state.
"Current projections estimate that sea levels will rise 1 to 4 feet by 2100," the governor said. "If that is true, New York State would be devastated, it's that simple. Even at a fraction of that rise, Manhattan as we know it would be gone."
Gore said Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was able to gain strength because it passed over ocean waters that were about 9 degrees warmer than normal.
"The cumulative amount of manmade global warming now traps as much extra heat energy every day as would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours," he said, adding that most of the energy goes into the oceans.
New York state also plans to bring solar energy to 150,000 more homes and businesses and aims to include solar technology in every one of the 64 state universities by 2020.
"Now is the perfect time for the state's aggressive climate commitments," said Kit Kennedy, director of the energy and transportation program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmentalist group. "The U.S. is tackling power plant pollution nationwide, countries like China and India have made groundbreaking commitments to tackle their climate emissions, and the international climate talks in Paris are fast-approaching."
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New York Governor Signs Agreement To Combat Global Warming

New York Governor Signs Agreement To Combat Global Warming. New...

NASA's Eyes On Earth Aid Response To Carolina Flooding. It was rain that wouldn't quit. A weather system fueled by warm moisture streaming in from the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 3 and 4 relentlessly dumped between one and two feet of rain across most of South Carolina. The result was rivers topping their banks and dams bursting. Catastrophic flooding followed across most of the state, which has left residents in some areas without power or clean drinking water.

Tracking and predicting the deluge, both as rain and then floodwater, are the first steps to help protect people in harm's way. State and federal emergency managers have been on the front lines of this natural disaster since it began, armed with weather and flood forecasts from the National Weather Service. NASA has supported these efforts with information based on data from Earth-observing satellites in space -- Eyes On Earth

The Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission, a joint project of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), provided regular data on the amount of rain falling across the region. The GPM Core Observatory, launched in 2014, combines data with a network of international partner satellites that together provide updated rainfall estimates every three hours. These data, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, confirmed the record-breaking rainfall totals and fed into other systems that helped forecast the extent of the flooding in the region.

[caption id="attachment_2385121" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/09095422/joaquin-rainfall_2big_nasa.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2385121" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/09095422/joaquin-rainfall_2big_nasa-150x150.jpg" alt="The Global Flood Monitoring maps for Oct. 5 and 6 show where rivers and land surfaces are likely to see flooding. " width="150" height="150" /></a> The Global Flood Monitoring maps for Oct. 5 and 6 show where rivers and land surfaces are likely to see flooding.[/caption]

Equally essential as following the rain is knowing what happens when it reaches the ground. The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center, or SPoRT, at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, runs a computer simulation model called the NASA Land Information System for most of the central and eastern United States, including the Carolinas. The SPoRT Project used rainfall data from the GPM mission and measurements from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite in this near real-time simulation, and provided the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices with experimental soil moisture data that can aid short-term flood forecasting. Soil moisture describes the ability of the ground to absorb water, like a sponge. During the record setting rainfall event, soil moisture across South Carolina reached 75 to100 percent saturation. At these high levels of saturation, the soil no longer has the sponge capacity to hold the water, so it flows over the land – leading to flash floods.

GPM rainfall data is used in another NASA-funded flood prediction tool that follows water on the ground, the Global Flood Monitoring System, developed and run by researchers at the University of Maryland. The Global Flood Monitoring system takes current satellite rain data and combines it with a model of the land surface – showing slopes, streams, and rivers – and soil moisture to project the likelihood of flooding based on when rivers broke their banks in the past. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security use these maps to help tell where the flooding is now, after the rainfall, and where flooding may continue in the days ahead as floodwaters move downstream.

Even before the storm clouds cleared, efforts to assess the damage from space had begun. NASA's Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, developed plans to analyze before-and-after data from synthetic aperture radars (SAR) flown by the Italian Space Agency and JAXA. This data can see through clouds to detect changes in the urban environment, such as storm damage to buildings and roads. NASA's Eyes On<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/scientists-study-earth-to-find-similar-worlds/"> Earth</a> Aid Response To Carolina Flooding

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more on how NASA Earth science benefits people around the world, visit:
<a href="http://go.nasa.gov/earthbenefits" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://go.nasa.gov/earthbenefits</a>

NASA's Eyes On Earth Aid Response To Carolina Flooding

NASA's Eyes On Earth Aid Response To Carolina Flooding. It...

California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday requiring California to phase out the use of microscopic exfoliating beads -- microbeads -- in personal care products sold in the state starting in 2020 to protect fish and wildlife.
The tiny plastic beads found in soap, toothpaste and body washes are so small that they are showing up in the bodies of fish and other wildlife after passing through water filtration systems without disintegrating.
Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, said his bill, AB888, seeks to drastically restrict all use of the non-biodegradable beads, which can contain various toxins.
"AB888 was carefully crafted to avoid any loopholes that would allow for use of potentially harmful substitutes," Bloom said in a statement Thursday. "This legislation ensures that personal care products will be formulated with environmentally-safe alternatives to protect our waterways and oceans."
A number of companies are replacing microbeads with natural substances such as ground-up fruit pits.
California lawmakers have attempted similar legislation before, but they met opposition from personal-care product companies. Amendments to the measure this year prompted many business critics to drop their opposition to California joining several other states in eliminating the so-called microbeads.
The microbead ban was one of several pieces of legislation Brown signed Thursday in response to concerns about environmental degredation.
He approved SB185 by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, which will require the state's two large public pension funds, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/santa-barbara-county-in-southern-california/">California</a> State Teachers' Retirement System, to divest from coal holdings.
Brown also signed legislation giving state lawmakers two appointments to a powerful state regulatory board that has expansive authority to set regulations laying out how the state will achieve its aggressive emissions reductions target. Under AB1288, the state <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=legislature&amp;cvid=b9fc4e1c194f441bb7b5e350e11015d5&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Legislature</a> can appoint two members to the California Air Resources Board, expanding its size to 14. Currently, only the governor can appoint its members. California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes
And Brown announced signing legislation requiring cities and counties to create a faster process to approve new charging stations, an effort to address a patchwork of regulations throughout the state that have slowed building.
His approval comes a day after he signed aggressive climate change legislation requiring California to get half its electricity from renewable energy sources within 15 years and to double the energy efficiency of existing buildings.
The Democratic governor also signed three oil spill protection bills, months after a pipeline leaked more than 100,000 gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara Coast. The measures call for pipeline operators to use the best spill-control technology, require annual pipeline inspections and require regulators to notify the state Legislature if caustic chemicals are used in a cleanup.California To Phase Out Microbeads Used In Soap And Toothpastes
The bills were introduced after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured underground in May, sending oil onto a beach and into the ocean. The oil spread more than 100 miles.
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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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

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



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



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



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



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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