The Arctic, long considered a remote and icy wilderness, is becoming&nbsp;warmer&nbsp;and undergoing dramatic changes. Once a symbol of resilience against the forces of nature, it now stands as one of the most vulnerable regions on Earth. 



The rising global temperatures are not only reshaping its physical landscape but also threatening the delicate ecosystems and communities that depend on it. 



The future of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-is-no-longer-permanent-arctic-communities-in-danger/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a> is not a distant concern - it is unfolding now, and the consequences will be felt worldwide.



In 2024, the world crossed a sobering threshold. For the first time, global air temperatures averaged more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.



This milestone set off a chain reaction of extreme weather events, including unprecedented rainfall and flooding in the Sahara Desert and brutal heat waves across multiple continents. 



Despite years of warnings from scientists, the reality of climate change is becoming impossible to ignore.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-a-warming-planet">Future of a warming planet</h2>



Surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) was never meant to be a stopping point. Scientists have long cautioned that without aggressive action, temperatures would continue to rise.



Based on the current commitments made by governments to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the planet is projected to warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.



This level of warming would have devastating consequences, with no place on Earth experiencing them as profoundly as the Arctic.



The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on the planet. Ice that has existed for thousands of years is vanishing. 



Permafrost, which has locked away vast amounts of carbon, is beginning to thaw. The effects of these changes will not remain confined to the polar regions.



The impacts will ripple outward, influencing global weather patterns, sea levels, and ecosystems in ways that are still being fully understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-arctic-s-fate-in-a-warming-world">The Arctic’s fate in a warming world</h2>



In a review paper published in the journal Science, researchers examined the rapid changes taking place in the Arctic.



The study was led by Julienne Stroeve, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and professor at the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the <a href="https://umanitoba.ca" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Manitoba</a>.



The research provides a comprehensive look at how continued warming will reshape the Arctic landscape and what that means for the planet as a whole.



“The Arctic is warming at four times the rate of the rest of the planet,” said Stroeve. 



“At 2.7 degrees Celsius of global warming, we will see more extreme and cascading impacts in this region than elsewhere, including sea-ice-free Arctic summers, accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, widespread permafrost loss, and more extreme air temperatures."



"These changes will devastate infrastructure, ecosystems, vulnerable communities, and wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-alarming-arctic-transformations">Alarming Arctic transformations</h2>



The findings of the review paper build on the work of the United Nations <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>’s Sixth Assessment Report. 



The study updates previous knowledge by focusing on three critical areas of Arctic transformation: sea ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and permafrost. 



By analyzing existing research, the study presents a clearer picture of how the Arctic will respond to continued warming.



If global temperatures rise to 2.7 degrees Celsius, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-arctic-may-be-ice-free-sooner-than-we-expected/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a> air temperatures will consistently surpass historical extremes. Ice that once covered the Arctic Ocean year-round will disappear for several months each summer. 



The Greenland Ice Sheet, which holds enough ice to raise global sea levels significantly, will see an alarming expansion of areas where surface temperatures remain above freezing for extended periods. 



At the same time, surface permafrost will decline to half of its pre-industrial levels, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-impact-of-arctic-warming">Global impact of Arctic warming </h2>



The loss of Arctic ice is not just a regional issue. It is a critical factor in regulating the planet’s climate. The Arctic acts as Earth’s refrigerator, reflecting sunlight and helping to cool the atmosphere. 



As ice disappears, the darker ocean absorbs more heat, accelerating the warming process in a cycle that scientists call Arctic amplification.



This shift will have severe consequences beyond the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-warming-permafrost-melt-devastating-role-accelerating-global-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a>. The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet will contribute to rising sea levels, threatening coastal cities and small island nations. 



Changes in Arctic weather patterns will disrupt global climate systems, leading to more frequent and intense storms, droughts, and extreme temperatures in regions far from the poles. 



The thawing of permafrost will release trapped greenhouse gases, further accelerating global warming and creating additional challenges for efforts to slow climate change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-activity-and-arctic-warming">Human activity and Arctic warming</h2>



The study serves as a stark reminder that human activity is the driving force behind these changes. The choices made today will determine the future of the Arctic and the planet as a whole. 



Scientists hope that by presenting a clear picture of what lies ahead, decision-makers will take meaningful action to reduce emissions and slow the pace of warming.



Study co-author Dirk Notz is a professor for polar research at the University of Hamburg.



“Our paper shows that, already today, mankind has the power to wipe out entire landscapes from the surface of our planet,” said Notz. 



“It’d be amazing if we could become more aware of this power and the responsibility that goes with it, as the future of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-industrialization-how-will-it-impact-delicate-ecosystems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a> truly lies in our hands.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-time-to-act-is-now">The time to act is now</h2>



The study relied on data from NSIDC’s <a href="https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sea Ice Today</a> and <a href="https://nsidc.org/ice-sheets-today" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ice Sheets Today</a> projects to analyze changes in Arctic ice conditions. 



The findings add to the growing body of evidence showing that climate change is not a distant threat. It is happening now, and its effects are accelerating.



While the Arctic may seem far removed from the daily lives of many people, the changes occurring there will have far-reaching consequences for the entire planet.



The fate of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-ice-free-day-in-the-arctic-may-arrive-in-2027/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a> is not yet sealed. There is still time to prevent the worst outcomes, but it will require a global effort. 



Governments must commit to stronger emissions reductions, businesses must invest in sustainable practices, and individuals must push for change.



The Arctic has long been a symbol of endurance in the face of harsh conditions. Whether it remains that way will depend on the actions taken today. The findings of this study serve as both a warning and a call to action. 



The choices made in the coming years will determine whether the Arctic continues to exist as we know it or becomes an irreversible casualty of a warming world.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads1549" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



-----



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Drastic warming will transform the Arctic "beyond recognition"

The Arctic, long considered a remote and icy wilderness, is becoming&nbsp;warmer&nbsp;and undergoing dramatic changes. Once a symbol of resilience against the forces of nature, it now stands as one of the most vulnerable regions on Earth. The rising global temperatures are not only reshaping its physical landscape but also threatening the delicate ecosystems and communities that depend on it. The future of the Arctic is not a distant concern - it is unfolding now, and the consequences will be felt worldwide. In 2024, the world crossed a...

Yellow mine waste water is seen at the entrance to the Gold King Mine in San Juan County, Colorado

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency dismissed complaints Wednesday by Republican lawmakers that her agency downplayed the seriousness of a toxic Colorado mine spill that fouled rivers in three Western states.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy called the spill caused by her agency "tragic and unfortunate" and said the EPA has taken responsibility to ensure that 3 million gallons of rust-colored sludge released into Colorado's Animas River is cleaned up. The Aug. 5 spill occurred during excavation work at an inactive gold mine near Silverton, Colorado.
Republican senators charged at a hearing Wednesday that EPA is treating itself more gingerly than if a private company were responsible for the spill, which sent lead, arsenic and other heavy metals rushing toward downstream communities. The spill contaminated rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, as well as in the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute Reservation.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said the EPA employed a "double standard" in responding to the Colorado spill. While the agency at times adopts an aggressive, even "heavy-handed" approach to regulating companies, Boozman told McCarthy, "your initial reaction (to the Colorado spill) was to downplay the severity of it."
The EPA initially said the accident spilled 1 million gallons before revising it to three times that amount. State and tribal officials also have complained that EPA was slow to notify them of the accident.
Boozman said he was appalled at McCarthy's comment, during an Aug. 13 visit to New Mexico, that the Animas River was "restoring itself."
"That was done very, very poorly," he told McCarthy at a hearing conducted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
"There's no way EPA should have downplayed this. I certainly did not," McCarthy replied.
Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, said the spill has been devastating to the tribe. Testifying at a separate hearing Wednesday before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Begaye said three tribal members have committed suicide since the spill. The deaths were due at least in part to uncertainty and stress caused by the spill, he said.
"Our Navajo Nation has suffered greatly and we continue to suffer," Begaye said. He urged the EPA to resume offering fresh water to the Navajo for farming and personal use and to create an emergency fund to pay Navajo farmers.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it was "shameful" that six weeks after the spill, the Navajo "are still reeling from EPA's calamitous failure." McCain told McCarthy he was outraged that no one at EPA had been fired or disciplined as a result of the spill.
"You think no one did anything wrong. It was no one's fault," he told McCarthy.
"I'm not suggesting this wasn't a disaster. It clearly was," she said.
McCarthy disputed comments by Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and John Barrasso of Wyoming that a private company responsible for the spill would face stiff fines from the EPA.
"I think EPA ought to be held to an even higher standard" than a private company, Barrasso said.
McCarthy said a private company would likely not face fines for an accident that occurred during a cleanup similar to the one at the former Gold King Mine. The only exceptions would be if the company's actions went "against a settlement" or an administrative order by the EPA, she said.
The EPA's inspector general and the U.S. Interior Department are reviewing the incident, and EPA officials and contractors will be held accountable for any wrongdoing, McCarthy said.
McCarthy defended the independence of the Interior Department review, which comes at her request. While several GOP lawmakers asked for paperwork outlining the scope of the investigation, McCarthy said she did not have documentation, adding that it was up to Interior to decide what to look at and how the inquiry will unfold.
"We are hands-off on this issue," she said, adding that EPA is "going to live with whatever scope" Interior decides is appropriate.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have announced a variety of bills to respond to the spill, including a measure sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., to establish a Hardrock Reclamation Fund, funded by new royalties on minerals extracted from public lands, as well as so-called Good Samaritan authority to allow third parties to cleanup mine sites they had no role in creating.
The EPA has suspended cleanup work and site investigations at 10 polluted mining complexes in four states because of conditions similar to those that led to the Colorado spill. Four sites are in Colorado, three in California, two in Montana and one in Missouri.
---
Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

EPA Chief: Agency Did Nothing Wrong With Colorado Mine Spill

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency dismissed complaints Wednesday...

EPA Chief: Agency Did Nothing Wrong With Colorado Mine Spill. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency dismissed complaints Wednesday by Republican lawmakers that her agency downplayed the seriousness of a toxic Colorado mine spill that fouled rivers in three Western states.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy called the spill caused by her agency "tragic and unfortunate" and said the EPA has taken responsibility to ensure that 3 million gallons of rust-colored sludge released into <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=27fa94ce0e0f4b949a289a23c654d0d0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado's</a> Animas River is cleaned up. The Aug. 5 spill occurred during excavation work at an inactive gold mine near Silverton, Colorado. EPA Chief: Agency Did Nothing Wrong With Colorado Mine Spill
Republican senators charged at a hearing Wednesday that <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/gentoo-penguins-are-not-one-species-but-four/">EPA</a> is treating itself more gingerly than if a private company were responsible for the spill, which sent lead, arsenic and other heavy metals rushing toward downstream communities. The spill contaminated rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, as well as in the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute Reservation.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said the EPA employed a "double standard" in responding to the Colorado spill. While the agency at times adopts an aggressive, even "heavy-handed" approach to regulating companies, Boozman told McCarthy, "your initial reaction (to the Colorado spill) was to downplay the severity of it."
The EPA initially said the accident spilled 1 million gallons before revising it to three times that amount. State and tribal officials also have complained that EPA was slow to notify them of the accident.
Boozman said he was appalled at McCarthy's comment, during an Aug. 13 visit to New Mexico, that the Animas River was "restoring itself."
"That was done very, very poorly," he told McCarthy at a hearing conducted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
"There's no way EPA should have downplayed this. I certainly did not," McCarthy replied.
Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, said the spill has been devastating to the tribe. Testifying at a separate hearing Wednesday before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Begaye said three tribal members have committed suicide since the spill. The deaths were due at least in part to uncertainty and stress caused by the spill, he said.
"Our Navajo Nation has suffered greatly and we continue to suffer," Begaye said. He urged the EPA to resume offering fresh water to the Navajo for farming and personal use and to create an emergency fund to pay Navajo farmers.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it was "shameful" that six weeks after the spill, the Navajo "are still reeling from EPA's calamitous failure." McCain told McCarthy he was outraged that no one at EPA had been fired or disciplined as a result of the spill.
"You think no one did anything wrong. It was no one's fault," he told McCarthy.
"I'm not suggesting this wasn't a disaster. It clearly was," she said.
McCarthy disputed comments by Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and John Barrasso of Wyoming that a private company responsible for the spill would face stiff fines from the EPA.
"I think EPA ought to be held to an even higher standard" than a private company, Barrasso said.
McCarthy said a private company would likely not face fines for an accident that occurred during a cleanup similar to the one at the former Gold King Mine. The only exceptions would be if the company's actions went "against a settlement" or an administrative order by the EPA, she said.
The EPA's inspector general and the U.S. Interior Department are reviewing the incident, and EPA officials and contractors will be held accountable for any wrongdoing, McCarthy said.
McCarthy defended the independence of the Interior Department review, which comes at her request. While several GOP lawmakers asked for paperwork outlining the scope of the investigation, McCarthy said she did not have documentation, adding that it was up to Interior to decide what to look at and how the inquiry will unfold.
"We are hands-off on this issue," she said, adding that EPA is "going to live with whatever scope" Interior decides is appropriate.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have announced a variety of bills to respond to the spill, including a measure sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., to establish a Hardrock Reclamation Fund, funded by new royalties on minerals extracted from public lands, as well as so-called Good Samaritan authority to allow third parties to cleanup mine sites they had no role in creating.
The EPA has suspended cleanup work and site investigations at 10 polluted mining complexes in four states because of conditions similar to those that led to the Colorado spill. Four sites are in Colorado, three in California, two in Montana and one in Missouri.
---
Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

EPA Chief: Agency Did Nothing Wrong With Colorado Mine Spill....

Scientists: Marine Animal Population Has Declined By Fifty Percent. Mangroves are disappearing at five times the rate of traditional forests. And coral reefs continue to shrink.

The World <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/some-cat-owners-care-about-their-pets-impact-on-wildlife-conservation/">Wildlife</a> Federation is once again sounding the alarm on the health of the world's oceans and marine animals. Scientists: Marine Animal Population Has Declined By Fifty Percent

According to the organization's latest Living Blue Planet Report, marine life has been halved since 1970.

The report tracks the health of 5,829 local and regional populations of marine animals, encompassing 1,234 species -- birds, fish, mammals and reptiles. All the numbers are compiled and reviewed by scientists at the Zoological Society of London.

The data suggests animals living in, on and around the ocean have seen their numbers decline by 49 percent between 1970 and 2012.

"That's the unraveling of the fabric of an ecosystem that sustains life on Earth,"scientists write in the report.

Researchers point to habitat loss, global warming, pollution and overfishing as the main culprits of biological losses. Commercial fishing stocks have been some the hardest hit of all species, with tuna, mackerel and bonito populations shrinking as much as 75 percent.

Mangroves are disappearing at five times the rate of traditional forests. And coral reefs continue to shrink.

"Our ocean -- that seemingly infinitely bountiful, ever awe-inspiring blue that defines our planet from space -- is in crisis," Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, declares in the intro to the new report.

The latest estimates are in line with the projects from last year's report -- but "more sobering." They're also in line with declines on dry land. WWF's Living Planet Index has put the decline of the planet's overall animal population at 52 percent.

WWF says there is hope. But action must be immediate. Some of the solutions the organizations suggests: closing fishing grounds, curbing pollution, expanding marine habitat protections and securing an international solution to climate change.

---

Credit: UPI

Scientists: Marine Animal Population Has Declined By Fifty Percent

Scientists: Marine Animal Population Has Declined By Fifty Percent. Mangroves...

Apple Touts Environmental Upgrades In Latest iPhones. Apple has given its latest iPhones an environmental upgrade to go along with a better camera and a few new features.
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have reduced their carbon emissions by 14 to 16 percent from last year's models, according to Apple measurements that quantify how much pollution is caused during the production, distribution, consumer usage and recycling of the devices.
Most of the improvements reflected changes made in the purchasing and manufacturing of the aluminum used in the iPhone enclosures. Lisa Jackson, Apple's top environmental executive, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/peatlands-could-release-more-than-100-billion-tons-of-carbon-this-century/">carbon</a> emissions tied to the production of those iPhone enclosures have been cut in half from last year.
Although those gains won't be highlighted in any of Apple's ads leading up to the Sept. 25 release of the last iPhones, the company is hoping its faithful customers will appreciate the progress. Apple Touts Environmental Upgrades In Latest iPhones
"We feel it's really important to tell folks what we did," Jackson said. "We shouldn't keep these kinds of ideas in a box because we believe other folks should be doing exactly the same thing."
Other major technology companies also have been trying to reduce the pollution caused by their digital services and products, usually by investing heavily in hydroelectricity and renewable energy such as solar and wind power, to run the millions of computers that store and process data for their users.
By some estimates,<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=technology&amp;cvid=8bb5071a9d5d41cbbfdbff9a688c5f3d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> technology</a> products and services account for as much of the world's carbon emissions as the airline industry.
Besides Apple Inc., both Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. have also been praised by environmental groups for reducing their reliance on power plants that burn coal and natural gas.
Apple boasts that all its data centers, offices and stores in the U.S. are now powered by renewable energy. On a worldwide basis, about 13 percent of Apple's operations still draw on power generated from fossil figures. The Cupertino, California, company has pledged to eliminate all fossil fuels from its energy mix.
Apple is also pressuring the hundreds of suppliers of that make and assemble parts for its gadgets to become more environmentally friendly. As part of that resolve, Apple put a higher priority on equipping its latest iPhones with aluminum produced with hydroelectric power.
"It's a first step, but it's the kind of work you have to do to turn the corner," Jackson said. "At the end of the day, if environment is one of our values, then also want it to show up in our products."
© 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.

Apple Touts Environmental Upgrades In Latest iPhones

Apple Touts Environmental Upgrades In Latest iPhones. Apple has given...

528069.TIF

Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions. Methane emissions from Arctic tundra increase when sea ice melts, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden. This connection has been suspected before, but has lacked strong evidence until now.

"Changes in the Arctic Ocean can affect ecosystems located far away on land, " says Dr. Frans-Jan Parmentier, the study's lead author and researcher at the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University.Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions

Bright sea ice reflects most sunlight, while open water absorbs most sunlight. Less sea ice, therefore, leads to more absorbed heat, and higher temperatures throughout the North Pole region. This stimulates the production of methane by microorganisms in permafrost soils, which also drives the change towards a warmer climate.

"While numerous studies have shown the effects of sea ice loss on the ocean, there are only a few that show how this oceanic change affects ecosystems on the surrounding land. Our research shows that to understand the impact of climate change on the Arctic, the ocean and land cannot be viewed separately", Frans-Jan Parmentier explains.

Dr. Parmentier, together with researchers from the United States and the Netherlands, explored the connection between methane emissions and loss of sea ice by using advanced computer models. Models can simulate how methane emissions respond to the effects of sea ice decline, such as higher temperatures and altered rainfall.

"Sea ice decline is one of the most visible consequences of climate change, and has a tremendous impact on the Arctic climate. Since the 1990's, the Arctic has been losing sea ice at a tremendous rate - about 14 percent per decade. The expectation is that with further sea ice decline, temperatures in the Arctic will continue to rise, and so will methane emissions from northern wetlands", says Frans-Jan Parmentier.

The next step is to assess the extent of sea ice's influence on methane emissions by measurements in the field. The results of this research could improve predictions of how climate change affects our planet.

---

<a href="http://www.lu.se/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lund University</a>

Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions

Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions. Methane emissions from Arctic tundra...

Scientists: Marine Animal Population Has Declined By Fifty Percent. Mangroves are disappearing at five times the rate of traditional forests. And coral reefs continue to shrink.

The World Wildlife Federation is once again sounding the alarm on the health of the world's oceans and marine animals.

According to the organization's latest Living Blue Planet Report, marine life has been halved since 1970.

The report tracks the health of 5,829 local and regional populations of<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=marine+animals&amp;cvid=5eb0e27da3e94075a3e56ab23f08909a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> marine animals</a>, encompassing 1,234 species -- birds, fish, mammals and reptiles. All the numbers are compiled and reviewed by scientists at the Zoological Society of <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/a-london-bridge-in-arizona/">London</a>.

The data suggests animals living in, on and around the ocean have seen their numbers decline by 49 percent between 1970 and 2012.

"That's the unraveling of the fabric of an ecosystem that sustains life on Earth,"scientists write in the report.

Researchers point to habitat loss, global warming, pollution and overfishing as the main culprits of biological losses. Commercial fishing stocks have been some the hardest hit of all species, with tuna, mackerel and bonito populations shrinking as much as 75 percent.

Mangroves are disappearing at five times the rate of traditional forests. And coral reefs continue to shrink.

"Our ocean -- that seemingly infinitely bountiful, ever awe-inspiring blue that defines our planet from space -- is in crisis," Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, declares in the intro to the new report.

The latest estimates are in line with the projects from last year's report -- but "more sobering." They're also in line with declines on dry land. WWF's Living Planet Index has put the decline of the planet's overall animal population at 52 percent.

WWF says there is hope. But action must be immediate. Some of the solutions the organizations suggests: closing fishing grounds, curbing pollution, expanding marine habitat protections and securing an international solution to climate change.

---

Credit: UPI

Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions. Methane emissions from Arctic tundra increase when sea ice melts, according to a new study from Lund University in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=sweden&amp;cvid=0ccad60dad9b4a778c1c402bb356bf6c&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Sweden.</a> This connection has been suspected before, but has lacked strong evidence until now.

"Changes in the Arctic Ocean can affect ecosystems located far away on land, " says Dr. Frans-Jan Parmentier, the study's lead author and researcher at the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University.Melting Arctic Accelerates Methane Emissions

Bright sea ice reflects most sunlight, while open water absorbs most sunlight. Less sea ice, therefore, leads to more absorbed heat, and higher temperatures throughout the North Pole region. This stimulates the production of methane by microorganisms in permafrost soils, which also drives the change towards a warmer climate.

"While numerous studies have shown the effects of sea ice loss on the ocean, there are only a few that show how this oceanic change affects ecosystems on the surrounding land. Our research shows that to understand the impact of climate change on the Arctic, the ocean and land cannot be viewed separately", Frans-Jan Parmentier explains.

Dr. Parmentier, together with researchers from the United States and the Netherlands, explored the connection between methane emissions and loss of sea ice by using advanced computer models. Models can simulate how methane emissions respond to the effects of sea ice decline, such as higher temperatures and altered rainfall.

"Sea ice decline is one of the most visible consequences of climate change, and has a tremendous impact on the Arctic climate. Since the 1990's, the Arctic has been losing sea ice at a tremendous rate - about 14 percent per decade. The expectation is that with further sea ice decline, temperatures in the Arctic will continue to rise, and so will methane emissions from northern wetlands", says Frans-Jan Parmentier.

The next step is to assess the extent of sea ice's influence on methane emissions by measurements in the field. The results of this research could improve predictions of how climate change affects our planet.

---

<a href="http://www.lu.se/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lund University</a>

Scientists: Global Warming 'Hiatus' Never Happened. An apparent lull in the recent rate of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/evolution-is-no-match-for-global-warming/">global</a> warming that has been widely accepted as fact is actually an artifact arising from faulty statistical methods, Stanford scientists say.

The study, titled "Debunking the climate hiatus" and published online this week in the journalClimatic Change, is a comprehensive assessment of the purported slowdown, or hiatus, of global warming. "We translated the various scientific claims and assertions that have been made about the hiatus and tested to see whether they stand up to rigorous statistical scrutiny," said study lead author Bala Rajaratnam, an assistant professor of statistics and of Earth system science. Scientists: Global Warming 'Hiatus' Never Happened

The finding calls into question the idea that global warming "stalled" or "paused" during the period between 1998 and 2013. Reconciling the hiatus was a major focus of the 2013 climate change assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=8631bac7a1f149e2aa008f78601eb766&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Climate Change</a> (IPCC).Scientists: Global Warming 'Hiatus' Never Happened

Using a novel statistical framework that was developed specifically for studying geophysical processes such as global temperature fluctuations, Rajaratnam and his team of Stanford collaborators have shown that the hiatus never happened.

"Our results clearly show that, in terms of the statistics of the long-term global temperature data, there never was a hiatus, a pause or a slowdown in global warming," said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist in the School of Earth, Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences, and a co-author of the study.

Faulty ocean buoys

The Stanford group's findings are the latest in a growing series of papers to cast doubt on the existence of a hiatus. Another study, led by Thomas Karl, the director of the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published recently in the journal Science, found that many of the ocean buoys used to measure sea surface temperatures during the past couple of decades gave cooler readings than measurements gathered from ships. The NOAA group suggested that by correcting the buoy measurements, the hiatus signal disappears.

While the Stanford group also concluded that there has not been a hiatus, one important distinction of their work is that they did so using both the older, uncorrected temperature measurements as well as the newer, corrected measurements from the NOAA group.

"By using both datasets, nobody can claim that we made up a new statistical technique in order to get a certain result," said Rajaratnam, who is also a fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. "We saw that there was a debate in the scientific community about the global warming hiatus, and we realized that the assumptions of the classical statistical tools being used were not appropriate and thus could not give reliable answers."

More importantly, the Stanford group's technique does not rely on strong assumptions to work. "If one makes strong assumptions and they are not correct, the validity of the conclusion is called into question," Rajaratnam said.

A different approach

Rajaratnam worked with Stanford statistician Joseph Romano and Earth system science graduate student Michael Tsiang to take a fresh look at the hiatus claims. The team methodically examined not only the temperature data but also the statistical tools scientists were using to analyze the data. A look at the latter revealed that many of the statistical techniques climate scientists were employing were ones developed for other fields such as biology or medicine, and not ideal for studying geophysical processes. "The underlying assumptions of these analyses often weren't justified," Rajaratnam said.

For example, many of the classical statistical tools often assume a random distribution of data points, also known as a normal or Gaussian distribution. They also ignore spatial and temporal dependencies that are important when studying temperature, rainfall and other geophysical phenomena that can change daily or monthly, and which often depend on previous measurements. For example, if it is hot today, there's a higher chance that it will be hot tomorrow because a heat wave is already in place.

Global surface temperatures are similarly linked, and one of the clearest examples of this can be found in the oceans. "The ocean is very deep and can retain heat for a long time," said Diffenbaugh, who is also a senior fellow at the Woods Institute. "The temperature that we measure on the surface of the ocean is a reflection not just of what's happening on the surface at that moment, but also the amount of trapped heat beneath the surface, which has been accumulating for years."

While designing a framework that would take temporal dependencies into account, the Stanford scientists quickly ran into a problem. Those who argue for a hiatus claim that during the 15-year period between 1998 and 2013, global surface temperatures either did not increase at all, or they rose at a much slower rate than in the years before 1998. Statistically, however, this is a hard claim to test because the number of data points for the purported hiatus period is relatively small, and most classical statistical tools require large numbers of data points.

There is a workaround, however. A technique that Romano invented in 1992, called "subsampling," is useful for discerning whether a variable - be it surface temperature or stock prices - has changed in the short term based on limited amount of data. "In order to study the hiatus, we took the basic idea of subsampling and then adapted it to cope with the small sample size of the alleged hiatus period," Romano said. "When we compared the results from our technique with those calculated using classical methods, we found that the statistical confidence obtained using our framework is 100 times stronger than what was reported by the NOAA group."

The Stanford group's technique also handled temporal dependency in a more sophisticated way than in past studies. For example, the NOAA study accounted for temporal dependency when calculating sea surface temperature changes, but it did so in a relatively simple way, with one temperature point being affected only by the temperature point directly prior to it. "In reality, however, the temperature could be influenced by not just the previous data points, but six or 10 points before," Rajaratnam said.

Pulling marbles out of a jar

To understand how the Stanford group's subsampling technique differs from the classical techniques that had been used before, imagine placing 50 colored marbles, each one representing a particular year, into a jar. The marbles range from blue to red, signifying different average global surface temperatures.

"If you wanted to determine the likelihood of getting 15 marbles of a certain color pattern, you could repeatedly pull out 15 marbles at a time, plot their average color on a graph, and see where your original marble arrangement falls in that distribution," Tsiang said. "This approach is analogous to how many climate scientists had previously approached the hiatus problem."

In contrast, the new strategy that Rajaratnam, Romano and Tsiang invented is akin to stringing the marbles together before placing them into the jar. "Stringing the marbles together preserves their relationships to one another, and that's what our subsampling technique does," Tsiang said. "If you ignore these dependencies, you can alter the strength of your conclusions or even arrive at the opposite conclusion."

When the team applied their subsampling technique to the temperature data, they found that the rate of increase of global surface temperature did not stall or slow down from 1998 to 2013 in a statistically significant manner. In fact, the rate of change in global surface temperature was not statistically distinguishable between the recent period and other periods earlier in the historical data.

The Stanford scientists say their findings should go a long way toward restoring confidence in the basic science and climate computer models that form the foundation for climate change predictions.

"Global warming is like other noisy systems that fluctuate wildly but still follow a trend," Diffenbaugh said. "Think of the U.S. stock market: There have been bull markets and bear markets, but overall it has grown a lot over the past century. What is clear from analyzing the long-term data in a rigorous statistical framework is that, even though climate varies from year-to-year and decade-to-decade, global temperature has increased in the long term, and the recent period does not stand out as being abnormal."

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<a href="http://www.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stanford University</a>

Scientists: Global Warming 'Hiatus' Never Happened

Scientists: Global Warming 'Hiatus' Never Happened. An apparent lull in...

Omega-3's Are Vital To A Healthy Ocean. A new study published this week in Nature Scientific Reports reveals the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for the health of the ocean.

This research shows that the 'ocean-fleas' that play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ocean depend on omega-3's to survive. These 2 mm long creatures, called copepods, are distant relatives of crabs and lobsters and rank amongst the most abundant animals on our planet. They get omega-3's from eating microscopic plants in the sea that absorb carbon from the atmosphere. This carbon then gets transported into the deep sea by sinking copepod poo, stopping it returning to the atmosphere. Copepods are also a key source of food for fish larvae, therefore an abundance of copepods results in lots of fish as well as an ocean better able to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Although copepods are relatively well studied, little is known about how they will respond to future environmental change. The lead author of this study, Dr Daniel Mayor from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), said "Copepods are in many ways analogous to wildebeest on the plains of Africa. They undertake a spectacular annual migration, descending over 1 km into the deep ocean to spend winter in a state of suspended animation after fattening up in spring. This is equivalent to you having to walk 875km before being allowed to sleep off your Sunday roast.

We don't fully understand why copepods are so dependent on omega-3's but our study shows that these compounds underpin the health of the ocean."

The tiny plants that copepods eat, called diatoms, 'bloom' in the spring. It is thought that since the start of the diatom bloom is controlled by day length, whereas copepod growth is controlled by water temperature, global warming will increasingly separate copepods from their source of omega-3's.

The study exposed food-deprived copepods to predicted climate change scenarios and measured their response using a new technique called 'metabolomics' that simultaneously determines how animals process fats, sugars and proteins. Dr Ulf Sommer, co-author of the study from the University of Birmingham, explained "Metabolomics is a powerful tool for simultaneously looking at all of the biochemical reactions going on within an organism. We're now able to peer into the inner workings of life and are discovering new and exciting molecules in the process."

The results of this study showed that the effects of seawater warming and acidification on the copepods were negligible relative to the effects of a reduced food supply. Therefore, the copepods appear to be resilient to short-term exposure to future environmental change, although not in the long term since environmental change may well have an effect on food supply.

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<a href="http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Oceanography Center</a>

Omega-3's Are Vital To A Healthy Ocean

Omega-3's Are Vital To A Healthy Ocean. A new study...

Desert woman thirsty dehydrated in Death Valley

Earth's Record-Breaking Heat Streak Continues. Earth's record-breaking heat is sounding an awful lot like a broken record.
The National <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-moon-controls-methane-emissions-from-the-arctic-ocean/">Oceanic</a> and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that August, this past summer and the first eight months of 2015 all smashed global records for heat.
That's the fifth straight record hot season in a row and the fourth consecutive record hot month. Meteorologists say 2015 is a near certainty to eclipse 2014 as the hottest year on record. This year, six of the eight months have been record breaking, with only April and January failing to set new records.
Since 2000, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth&amp;cvid=9cbb4ea5d36341f7a85c31dffa9e3701&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Earth</a> has broken monthly heat records 30 times and seasonal heat records 11 times. The last time a monthly cold record was broken was in 1916. Records go back to 1880.Earth's Record-Breaking Heat Streak Continues
"For scientists, these are just a few more data points in an increasingly long list of broken records (that) is due to warming temperatures," Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe said in an email. "As individuals, though, this is yet another reminder of the impact our unprecedented and inadvertent experiment - an experiment that began with the Industrial Revolution - is having on our planet today."
Scientists blame a combination of human-caused climate change and natural El Nino, a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide.
Global warming is like the steady climbing of stairs and then El Nino "is like standing on your tippy toes" while climbing those stairs, said Deke Arndt, global monitoring chief for NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
August's global temperature average was 61.7 degrees, breaking the previous record, set last year, by a sixth of a degree. The summer average temperature broke the previous record from last year by a fifth of a degree. Those are "relatively large jumps over the last record" in the world of climate monitoring, Arndt said.
NOAA calculates that there is a 97 percent chance that 2015 will break 2014's hottest year mark, but that was before August was factored in. August makes that even more likely, Arndt said.
With the El Nino, NOAA forecasts an unusually warm fall for the eastern, western and northern parts of the nation, as well as Alaska, with New Mexico and half of Texas forecast to be cooler than normal. The southern two-thirds of the nation, and parts of Alaska, should be wetter than normal this fall, with New England and the Pacific Northwest forecast to be on the dry side, NOAA forecast.
NOAA's preliminary winter forecast predicts warmer than normal temperatures for north of the Mason-Dixon line, the West Coast and Alaska. It calls for cooler than normal temperatures from New Mexico to South Carolina. Wetter weather is forecast for the winter for nearly all the U.S. coastal regions.
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Online:
NOAA's August temperature report: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/august-2015-global-climate-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/august-2015-global-climate-report</a>
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Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Earth's Record-Breaking Heat Streak Continues

Earth's Record-Breaking Heat Streak Continues. Earth's record-breaking heat is sounding...

Famous Actors Join The Fight Against Arctic Offshore <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oil&amp;cvid=815b4802e21c4cffb7d91a8758639656&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Oil</a> Drilling. Critics of Arctic offshore oil drilling have used climbing gear, kayaks and polar bear costumes to protest industrial activity in the Arctic. They're now trying humor.
Actors Alexander Skarsgard of "True Blood" and Jack McBrayer of "30 Rock," along with Andy Bichlbaum of "The Yes Men" activists, are on a Greenpeace ship in the Greenland <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sunflower-sea-stars-are-vanishing-after-mass-mortality-event/">Sea</a> with a team from the Funny or Die production company to make a comedy series focused on industrial threats to the Arctic. Famous Actors Join The Fight Against Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling
"It's really important that we reach as many people as possible with the message that the Arctic deserves our protection - it's not just another resource to be exploited until it's exhausted and broken," Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Sune Scheller said by email Thursday from the Arctic Sunset, a 160-foot Greenpeace icebreaker.
Arctic waters, once mostly ignored, are attracting attention as summer sea ice has diminished, expanding opportunities for tourism, shipping and exploratory petroleum drilling. The National Snow and Ice Data Center on Tuesday said the Arctic hit its summer minimum last week with 1.7 million square miles of sea ice, down 240,000 square miles from 2014. It's the fourth-lowest level on record for summer sea ice in September.
Environmental groups say burning oil extracted from the Arctic Ocean seabed will accelerate climate warming and that industrialization will harm polar bears, walruses, whales and ice seals.
Margaret Williams, Arctic program director for World Wildlife Fund, said Arctic awareness has increased as Americans experience extreme weather events.
"Increasingly, Americans understand that the impacts of the extreme weather events - drought and floods and crazy winter storms that they're experiencing in the Lower 48 - are related to the changes in the Arctic," she said.
The declaration of the polar bear as a threatened species in 2008 played a part, she said, as did worldwide photos of 35,000 walrus hauled out last September on northwest Alaska beach because of a lack of sea ice.
Arctic issues reached an apex two weeks ago, she said, when President Barack Obama, on a trip to Alaska to draw attention climate warming, became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Arctic. Eroding Alaska villages, he noted, were once protected by sea ice.
Critics of Arctic drilling, however, target the Obama administration for granting permits to Royal Dutch Shell PLC for exploration wells in the Chukchi Sea.
Scheller said Greenpeace is in the Greenland Sea to investigate seismic air guns used by the petroleum industry to explore for oil. Shell, Chevron, Statoil and other companies hold leases in the region.
"They're basically firing very loud pulses at the seabed, trying to figure out where the oil deposits are located," Scheller said. "These blasts are so loud that they can seriously injure whales and other ocean life. But right now they're doing this without much public attention or scrutiny."
Greenpeace has been tracking seismic vessels off Greenland since mid-August. Skarsgard, McBrayer and Bichlbaum came on board in mid-September.
Arctic drilling also has previously caught the attention of celebrity environmentalists.
Actor Ted Danson, a board member of ocean advocacy group Oceana, was in Alaska in 2010 filming the Drew Barrymore movie "Everybody Loves Whales." He testified at a federal hearing and called for a pause in drilling plans. "Law and Order" star Sam Waterston, another Oceana board member, recently narrated a two-minute video on the risk of Arctic drilling that the organization has posted on its website.
Carolyn Prousky, head of public relations for Funny Or Die, said by email that the Arctic voyage comedy series will be short videos. She was not sure of the release date on the company's platforms.
Shell officials have said repeatedly they have followed every requirement imposed by federal regulators and that drilling can be done safely in Arctic waters. The company is working to complete an exploratory well 70 miles off the Alaska coast and has assembled a flotilla of nearly 30 vessels that could respond to a spill.
In an interview this month, Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co., said nothing will change the minds of some who protest Arctic drilling. He welcomes debate, he said, on how to drill safely but not illegal tactics that put protesters or workers in danger.
© 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.

Famous Actors Join The Fight Against Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling

Famous Actors Join The Fight Against Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling....

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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

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



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



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



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



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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