Human litter has now infiltrated the deepest parts of Earth's oceans and seas. Debris and trash produced by human activity was spotted at a depth of 5,112 meters (3.2 miles) in the Mediterranean Sea. 



The site, which is the deepest point in the Mediterranean, is known as Calypso Deep, and is located off the south-western coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea.



In a new study, researchers have identified 167 objects at the bottom. Of these, 148 were clearly marine debris, while 19 were believed to be of human origin, though less definitively.



According to the authors, this represents one of the highest concentrations of litter documented at great depths in any sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-debris-in-the-bottom-of-the-sea">Debris in the bottom of the sea </h2>



To investigate the Calypso Deep, scientists used a crewed submersible called the Limiting Factor, a deep-submergence vehicle capable of withstanding extreme pressure.



Images captured by the Limiting Factor confirm that besides accumulating on coasts, surface waters and shallower bottoms, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-it-still-possible-to-save-the-ocean-from-plastic-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marine waste</a> also reaches the deepest, most remote points of the Mediterranean Sea.&nbsp;



Given the heavy impact of human activities on this nearly enclosed sea, the discovery emphasizes the urgency of global actions to reduce marine debris and a need for lifestyle changes that cut waste and protect marine environments worldwide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-calypso-deep-as-a-debris-trap">The Calypso Deep as a debris trap</h2>



Located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south west of the Peloponnese coast in Greece, the Calypso Deep is a depression within the Hellenic Trench system. 



Surrounded by steep terrain in an area with active faults, it has slopes measuring thousands of meters and a mostly flat floor at its lowest point. 



Its deeper, kidney-shaped portion extends over approximately 20 by 5 kilometers (12 by 3 miles) at depths surpassing 5,000 meters (3 miles).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-litter-s-journey-to-the-bottom">Litter's journey to the bottom</h2>



But how does rubbish collect so far down?



According to Miquel Canals from the University of Barcelona’s <a href="https://www.ub.edu/portal/web/earth-sciences" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Faculty of Earth Sciences</a>, the debris comes from various sources, both terrestrial and marine. 



It could have arrived by various routes, including both long-distance transport by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weakening-ocean-currents-could-cost-trillions-of-dollars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocean currents</a> and direct dumping. 



Canals explains that plastic items, for instance, can drift from coastal waters. 



Some light waste, such as plastics, comes from the coast, from where it escapes to the Calypso Deep, just 60 kilometers [37 miles] away. 



Some plastics, such as bags, drift just above the bottom until they are partially or completely buried, or disintegrate into smaller fragments.



“We have also found evidence of the boats’ dumping of bags full of rubbish, as revealed by the pile-up of different types of waste followed by an almost rectilinear furrow," Canals continued.



"Unfortunately, as far as the Mediterranean is concerned, it would not be wrong to say that ‘not a single inch of it is clean.'"



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-debris-transport-across-the-sea">Debris transport across the sea</h2>



Canals noted that the Calypso Deep is a closed depression, which favors the accumulation of debris inside it. He pointed out that the weak currents in the trench also facilitate the deposition of light debris at the bottom.



Floating debris originates mostly in the southern Ionian Sea or further south, and drifting eddies bring it toward the Calypso Deep.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-litter-debris_bottom-seafloor_Mediterranean-Sea_montage_credit-Caladan-Oceanic_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-litter-debris_bottom-seafloor_Mediterranean-Sea_montage_credit-Caladan-Oceanic_1s.webp" alt="The debris identified by the international team in the Calypso Deep warns of the need to implement global policy actions to reduce ocean waste, as well as to encourage changes in citizens’ consumption habits and waste reduction in order to protect seas and oceans around the world. Credit: Caladan Oceanic" class="wp-image-1962233"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The debris identified by the international team in the Calypso Deep warns of the need to implement global policy actions to reduce ocean waste, as well as to encourage changes in citizens’ consumption habits and waste reduction in order to protect seas and oceans around the world. Credit: Caladan Oceanic</figcaption></figure>



“When these eddies are located over the Calypso Trench, some debris tends to fall slowly to the bottom, aided by degradation mechanisms and ballasting processes that increase its density," explained Canals 



"Surface currents can also transport debris from the Adriatic Sea to the north, through the Strait of Otranto, and from the waters off north-western Greece."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-technology-to-explore-the-abyss">Technology to explore the abyss</h2>



Investigating such extreme depths demands cutting-edge tools. In this case, the Limiting Factor submarine, built by Triton Submarines, allowed a small crew of two to descend. 



Moving at about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) per hour to obtain clear images, the Limiting Factor covered roughly 650 meters (0.4 miles) in a straight line over a 43-minute window on the bottom.&nbsp;



“On each dive, more time is usually spent descending and ascending the vehicle back to the surface than inspecting the bottom. Each complete dive usually takes a few hours,” Canals noted.



The expedition revealed no substantial impact on local marine life, likely due to the area’s low biodiversity. 



Only a few species - namely, the fish Coryphaenoides mediterraneus and the crustacean Acanthephyra eximia - appeared in the footage. 



“However, in places with more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-ocean-day-a-unified-approach-to-protect-biodiversity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biodiversity</a>, there are different types of interaction between the debris deposited on the bottom and the organisms, such as ghost fishing, burial, hooking or ingestion, but also the use of debris as a substrate where animals can grow, hide or lay their eggs,” Canals said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mediterranean-s-pollution-problem">Mediterranean’s pollution problem</h2>



Scientists first documented trash on the ocean floor in 1975, in the North Atlantic’s Skagerrak Strait. Areas like canyons and seamounts are especially prone to accumulating garbage, either from settling, burial, or erosion processes. 



Now, the Mediterranean ranks among the worst-affected seas. In 2021, research identified the Strait of Messina as the global hot spot for seafloor litter. 



This highlights broader concerns about intensifying human influence on an enclosed region subject to heavy maritime traffic and fishing.



“The Mediterranean is an enclosed sea, surrounded by humanity, with intense maritime traffic and widespread fishing activity," noted Canals. 



"The evidence provided by our research should shake up global efforts, and in particular in the Mediterranean, to mitigate waste dumping, especially plastics, in the natural environment and ultimately in the sea, in line with the <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UN Global Plastics Treaty</a> against plastic pollution, which is still pending approval."



Canals emphasized that the ocean floor is still largely unknown to society as a whole, which makes it difficult to raise social and political awareness about the conservation of these spaces. 



"It is necessary to make a joint effort between scientists, communicators, journalists, the media, influencers and other people with social impact. The problem is there, and it has an enormous scope, even if it is not directly visible. We should not forget about it."



Details of the study are published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25000852?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a>.



Image Credit: Caladan Oceanic



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Human trash has found its way to the deepest parts of Earth's seas and oceans

Human litter has now infiltrated the deepest parts of Earth's oceans and seas. Debris and trash produced by human activity was spotted at a depth of 5,112 meters (3.2 miles) in the Mediterranean Sea. The site, which is the deepest point in the Mediterranean, is known as Calypso Deep, and is located off the south-western coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea. In a new study, researchers have identified 167 objects at the bottom. Of these, 148 were clearly marine debris, while 19 were believed to be...

Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging. For weeks, rancher Darrel Holliday has rounded up frightened cows and calves off the smoldering hills of the Strawberry Mountain Range, a wilderness area in eastern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oregon&amp;cvid=2dc81c6a4a514352b324c9ed1551128b&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Oregon</a> of old-growth forest and grass where wildlife and cattle roamed.
Holliday's entire federal forest grazing allotment of about 32,000 acres - 50 square miles - burned last month as a wildfire ravaged the area. The land is now a smoke-filled expanse of blackened tree sticks and ash a foot and half deep.
"We're picking up cows that should have calves with no calves. We assume they might have died out there," said Holliday, who is still missing 22 of his 180 cow-calf pairs. He's among dozens of ranchers similarly wrestling with the loss of animals and grazing land in a region where cattle production is one of the leading agricultural industries.
The vast majority of the 1.6 million acres - nearly 2,600 square miles - that burned in Oregon, Idaho and <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/mount-rainier-in-washington/">Washington</a> this year are federally owned, data show, with large swaths of that public land used as rangeland for livestock grazing.
Many of Holiday's recovered animals have burnt hooves or are lame from walking on hot coals, he said. Miles of fences have burned. And the land, for which Holliday pays a fee, will likely be closed to grazing for at least two years while it recovers, he said.
That's left him scrambling to figure out how to feed the cows.
"We've been ranching here all our lives," said Holliday, whose father started grazing cattle in the area in 1942. "To watch it totally destroyed, you get sick to your stomach every day you go out there."
In Oregon's Canyon Creek Complex alone, 125 of the 170 square miles burned were grazing allotments, said Malheur National Forest rangeland management specialist Nick Stiner. Some 4,000 cows ranged on those allotments, he said.
And in the Soda Fire in southwest Idaho, that state's biggest fire this year, 280 of the 430 square miles burned were federal grazing allotments and another 75 square miles were private grazing lands, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging
In addition to rangeland lost, ranchers and ranching groups say hundreds of cows have perished and millions of dollars' worth of hay stacks and barns has gone up in flames.
"We're hearing lots of reports of displaced cattle and grazing grounds that are no longer usable," said Kayli Hanley of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, which says many ranchers are still assessing damage and looking for lost cows.
In northern Washington state, where the Okanogan Complex burned about 475 square miles and is considered the largest wildfire in state history, rancher Doug Grumbach found the burned carcasses of several cows on a hill among smoldering trees.
One of those cows became wedged between two trees trying to flee the flames.
When the fire started last month, the fourth-generation rancher was on his way to move the cows dispersed in the mountainous terrain. But, he said, the winds picked up and the fire exploded, so "we had to get ourselves out of there."
In total, eight of his cows and four calves died and 20 are still unaccounted for - a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. He's also treating calves and cows with burnt feet, severe body burns and respiratory problems.
"They're kind of like family ... you care for them all their life, so you hate for anything to happen to them," he said.
Grumbach said he doesn't have enough unburned private land to feed his cattle; his cows are now eating hay meant for winter feed. And because of the drought, he doesn't have as much hay as usual, he said.
Many ranchers like Grumbach are desperately looking for pastures and hay, said Wyatt Prescott of the Idaho Cattle Association. Those who can't afford feed, he said, are sending their animals to sale yards.
"Producers spend generations developing the genetics of their cows to produce the best beef. Liquidating part of their herd is something they try to avoid at all costs," Prescott said.
His group is facilitating a confidential online pasture exchange where farmers who have land out of production can lease it to those who lost their grazing grounds.
Idaho rancher Brenda Richards, who runs about 500 cow-calf pairs, lost 95 percent of her grazing allotment to the Soda Fire.
"Ranching is the strength of these local communities, that's our tax base," Richards said, adding that the fire has been devastating, but it also brought out local ties. "It was amazing to watch people come together."
Cattle associations and private groups are now collecting hay and distributing it to those who lost rangeland.
In eastern Oregon, convoys of trucks have hauled in about 600 tons of hay from donors inside and outside the state to a storage set up by newly-formed group Hay for John Day, a town just northwest of the Strawberry Mountain Range.
The historic fire season has also re-kindled a long-running debate.
Ranchers say the federal government should have allowed more grazing to reduce the severity of the wildfires. Environmental groups say more grazing would have increased soil erosion and riparian damage, removed native grasses and increased fire risk.
Federal officials stand in the middle: grazing, they say, may help slow some fires' spread, but it won't make a difference in extreme weather.
"When you have high winds, grazing won't stop or slow that fire," said Jessica Gardetto with the Bureau of Land Management.
© 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.

Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging

Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging. For...

Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging. For weeks, rancher Darrel Holliday has rounded up frightened cows and calves off the smoldering hills of the Strawberry Mountain Range, a wilderness area in eastern Oregon of old-growth forest and grass where wildlife and cattle roamed.
Holliday's entire federal forest grazing allotment of about 32,000 acres - 50 square miles - burned last month as a wildfire ravaged the area. The land is now a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/people-who-smoke-just-one-cigarette-a-day-are-likely-addicted/">smoke</a>-filled expanse of blackened tree sticks and ash a foot and half deep.
"We're picking up cows that should have calves with no calves. We assume they might have died out there," said Holliday, who is still missing 22 of his 180 cow-calf pairs. He's among dozens of ranchers similarly wrestling with the loss of animals and grazing land in a region where cattle production is one of the leading <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=agricultural&amp;cvid=7b5e04a682dd42139723b2d3fdebd222&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">agricultural</a> industries. Ranchers Losing Cattle And Land As Wildfires Continue Raging
The vast majority of the 1.6 million acres - nearly 2,600 square miles - that burned in Oregon, Idaho and Washington this year are federally owned, data show, with large swaths of that public land used as rangeland for livestock grazing.
Many of Holiday's recovered animals have burnt hooves or are lame from walking on hot coals, he said. Miles of fences have burned. And the land, for which Holliday pays a fee, will likely be closed to grazing for at least two years while it recovers, he said.
That's left him scrambling to figure out how to feed the cows.
"We've been ranching here all our lives," said Holliday, whose father started grazing cattle in the area in 1942. "To watch it totally destroyed, you get sick to your stomach every day you go out there."
In Oregon's Canyon Creek Complex alone, 125 of the 170 square miles burned were grazing allotments, said Malheur National Forest rangeland management specialist Nick Stiner. Some 4,000 cows ranged on those allotments, he said.
And in the Soda Fire in southwest Idaho, that state's biggest fire this year, 280 of the 430 square miles burned were federal grazing allotments and another 75 square miles were private grazing lands, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In addition to rangeland lost, ranchers and ranching groups say hundreds of cows have perished and millions of dollars' worth of hay stacks and barns has gone up in flames.
"We're hearing lots of reports of displaced cattle and grazing grounds that are no longer usable," said Kayli Hanley of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, which says many ranchers are still assessing damage and looking for lost cows.
In northern Washington state, where the Okanogan Complex burned about 475 square miles and is considered the largest wildfire in state history, rancher Doug Grumbach found the burned carcasses of several cows on a hill among smoldering trees.
One of those cows became wedged between two trees trying to flee the flames.
When the fire started last month, the fourth-generation rancher was on his way to move the cows dispersed in the mountainous terrain. But, he said, the winds picked up and the fire exploded, so "we had to get ourselves out of there."
In total, eight of his cows and four calves died and 20 are still unaccounted for - a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. He's also treating calves and cows with burnt feet, severe body burns and respiratory problems.
"They're kind of like family ... you care for them all their life, so you hate for anything to happen to them," he said.
Grumbach said he doesn't have enough unburned private land to feed his cattle; his cows are now eating hay meant for winter feed. And because of the drought, he doesn't have as much hay as usual, he said.
Many ranchers like Grumbach are desperately looking for pastures and hay, said Wyatt Prescott of the Idaho Cattle Association. Those who can't afford feed, he said, are sending their animals to sale yards.
"Producers spend generations developing the genetics of their cows to produce the best beef. Liquidating part of their herd is something they try to avoid at all costs," Prescott said.
His group is facilitating a confidential online pasture exchange where farmers who have land out of production can lease it to those who lost their grazing grounds.
Idaho rancher Brenda Richards, who runs about 500 cow-calf pairs, lost 95 percent of her grazing allotment to the Soda Fire.
"Ranching is the strength of these local communities, that's our tax base," Richards said, adding that the fire has been devastating, but it also brought out local ties. "It was amazing to watch people come together."
Cattle associations and private groups are now collecting hay and distributing it to those who lost rangeland.
In eastern Oregon, convoys of trucks have hauled in about 600 tons of hay from donors inside and outside the state to a storage set up by newly-formed group Hay for John Day, a town just northwest of the Strawberry Mountain Range.
The historic fire season has also re-kindled a long-running debate.
Ranchers say the federal government should have allowed more grazing to reduce the severity of the wildfires. Environmental groups say more grazing would have increased soil erosion and riparian damage, removed native grasses and increased fire risk.
Federal officials stand in the middle: grazing, they say, may help slow some fires' spread, but it won't make a difference in extreme weather.
"When you have high winds, grazing won't stop or slow that fire," said Jessica Gardetto with the Bureau of Land Management.
© 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.

Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries. California's Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2015 was at the lowest level in the past 500 years, according to a new report led by University of Arizona researchers.

The team's research is the first to show how the 2015 snowpack compares with snowpack levels for the previous five centuries.

"Our study really points to the extreme character of the 2014-15 winter. This is not just unprecedented over 80 years — it's unprecedented over 500 years," said Valerie Trouet, an associate professor of dendrochronology at the UA<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/using-a-real-world-laboratory-to-resolve-cheetah-farmer-conflict/"> Laboratory</a> of Tree-Ring Research. Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries

"We should be prepared for this type of snow drought to occur much more frequently because of rising temperatures," Trouet said. "Anthropogenic warming is making the drought more severe."

California's current record-setting drought began in 2012, the researchers note in their report.

On April 1 of this year, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared the first-ever mandatory water restrictions throughout the state while standing on dry ground at 6,800-foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada. The historical average snowpack on that site is more than five feet, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The lack of snow in 2015 stems from extremely low winter precipitation combined with record high temperatures in California in January, February and March, Trouet said. About 80 percent of California's precipitation occurs in the winter months, she said. Snowpack level is generally measured on April 1 each year, a time when the snowpack is at its peak.

"Snow is a natural storage system," Trouet said. "In a summer-dry climate such as California, it's important that you can store water and access it in the summer when there's no precipitation."

In past years, the snows of the Sierra Nevada slowly melted during the warmer months of the year, and the meltwater replenished streams, lakes, groundwater and reservoirs. In a winter with less snow or with winter precipitation coming as rain rather than snow, there is less water to use during California's dry summers.

First author Soumaya Belmecheri said of the extremely low snowpack in 2015, "This has implications not only for urban water use, but also for wildfires."

Belmecheri is a postdoctoral research associate at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

To determine snowpack levels for the past 500 years, Trouet and her colleagues used previously published tree-ring data that reflects annual winter precipitation in central California from 1405 to 2005 and annual snowpack measurements since the 1930s. The team also used a previously published reconstruction of winter temperatures in southern and central California that spanned the years 1500 to 1980.

Trouet, Belmecheri and their colleagues' report, "Multi-century evaluation of Sierra Nevada snowpack," is scheduled for online publication in Nature Climate Change today.

---

<a href="http://www.arizona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Arizona</a>

Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries

Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries. California's Sierra Nevada...

NOAA Ocean Explorer: NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: Northeast U.S.

Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument. Undersea ravines deeper than the Grand Canyon, submerged mountains rising thousands of feet from the ocean floor and forests of kelp and coral would become the first marine national monument in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=atlantic&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=SC&amp;cvid=4450ac7c2e41498398b1d76d83773514&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfOY30fClOq9osfcI6T5oj*hqZUvcxf7xNr3NZxWXz1ZTzc19PcCPInY*O72ANlJm7nZ*sUzoql0THWK6*RAlALN&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Atlantic</a> ocean if conservationists have their way.
The proposal to protect a pristine ecosystem undamaged by heavy fishing and pollution in the Gulf of Maine and canyons and peaks off <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sea-turtles-stranded-on-cape-cod/">Cape Cod</a> - where vivid coral has grown to the size of small trees over thousands of years - would mirror the massive conservation efforts that have already taken place in the Pacific Ocean.
"We have an opportunity to permanently protect two of our nation's greatest ocean treasures, right off our coast," said Priscilla Brooks, the Conservation Law Foundation's director of ocean conservation.
Environmental groups want President Barack Obama to permanently protect Cashes Ledge, the underwater mountain and offshore ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine, and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts, the chain of undersea formations about 150 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
But Maine Gov. Paul LePage and others oppose the effort to protect the two sites, together totaling about 6,000 square miles, because of the potential impact on fishermen.Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument
LePage, a Republican, also takes issue with the president's authority under the Antiquities Act to designate monuments, calling it a sweeping power that provides few procedural protections to those who are most likely to be affected.
"These National Marine Monuments serve only one purpose- excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean," he wrote in a letter to Obama last month. He also urged the president to consult with fishermen who make their living in the Gulf of Maine.
Four existing marine monuments - a designation applied only to areas of outstanding scientific, cultural, conservation and aesthetic value - were established by President George W. Bush. Obama expanded one, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, last year.
The Pacific monuments cover more than 330,000 square miles of ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rules for each differ slightly, though typically commercial fishing and resource extraction such as drilling and mining are prohibited, NOAA said.
NOAA plans to hold a town hall meeting in Providence on Tuesday to discuss possible protections for three of the deep-sea canyons and four seamounts, which it says "create unique habitats supporting tremendous biodiversity and fragile ecosystems."
There are two more canyons that are not contiguous to the three mentioned by NOAA. Conservationists and other supporters plan to attend the meeting at the Providence Marriott Downtown to press for all five canyons, the four nearby seamounts and Cashes Ledge to be included, said Roger Fleming, a staff attorney at Earthjustice. The Conservation Law Foundation, National Geographic Society, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other groups support the proposal.
"These are some of the last places that haven't been spoiled by fishing and human development," said Peter Baker, who directs U.S. Oceans, Northeast for Pew. "We're hopeful this is the right time, for the right places, for the right reasons."
Groups representing the fishing industry have taken issue with the project as a whole, but there appears to be more opposition to protecting Cashes Ledge than the more remote canyons and seamounts.
Robert Vanasse, executive director of the fishing advocacy group Saving Seafood, said the monument proposal overlooks existing protections for Cashes Ledge and would remove local and expert input from the process. Bottom trawling and dredging have been banned there for more than a decade.
"There shouldn't be a couple of people sitting around a table in the West Wing deciding this kind of thing," Vanasse said.
Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for a scallop industry trade organization, the Fisheries Survival Fund, also said that using an executive action is the "wrong way" to protect these areas because there is already a democratic process in place, and he worries about the precedent it would set.
Federal fishery regulators already voted in June to keep Cashes Ledge mostly closed to fishing. And the New England Fishery Management Council also plans to discuss protecting deep-sea corals from fishing gear at a meeting this month.
But conservationists argue that both sites deserve permanent, comprehensive protections before it's too late, rather than temporary safeguards.
Brooks, of CLF, called such temporary safeguards "tenuous at best."
"There are some places that need to be protected forever," she 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.

Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument

Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument. Undersea ravines deeper...

Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument. Undersea ravines deeper than the Grand Canyon, submerged mountains rising thousands of feet from the ocean floor and forests of kelp and coral would become the first marine national monument in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=ocean&amp;cvid=69222616542949ebbcbda0fc18d2f7b4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Atlantic</a> ocean if conservationists have their way.
The proposal to protect a pristine ecosystem undamaged by heavy fishing and pollution in the Gulf of Maine and canyons and peaks off Cape Cod - where vivid coral has grown to the size of small trees over thousands of years - would mirror the massive conservation efforts that have already taken place in the Pacific Ocean. Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument
"We have an opportunity to permanently protect two of our nation's greatest ocean treasures, right off our coast," said Priscilla Brooks, the Conservation Law Foundation's director of ocean conservation.
Environmental groups want President Barack Obama to permanently protect Cashes Ledge, the underwater mountain and offshore ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine, and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts, the chain of undersea formations about 150 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
But Maine Gov. Paul LePage and others oppose the effort to protect the two sites, together totaling about 6,000 square miles, because of the potential impact on fishermen.
LePage, a Republican, also takes issue with the president's authority under the Antiquities Act to designate monuments, calling it a sweeping power that provides few procedural protections to those who are most likely to be affected.
"These National Marine Monuments serve only one purpose- excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean," he wrote in a letter to Obama last month. He also urged the president to consult with fishermen who make their living in the Gulf of Maine.
Four existing marine monuments - a designation applied only to areas of outstanding scientific, cultural, conservation and aesthetic value - were established by President George W. Bush. Obama expanded one, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, last year.
The Pacific monuments cover more than 330,000 square miles of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=ocean&amp;cvid=69222616542949ebbcbda0fc18d2f7b4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">ocean,</a> according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rules for each differ slightly, though typically commercial fishing and resource extraction such as drilling and mining are prohibited, NOAA said.
NOAA plans to hold a town hall meeting in Providence on Tuesday to discuss possible protections for three of the deep-sea canyons and four seamounts, which it says "create unique habitats supporting tremendous biodiversity and fragile ecosystems."
There are two more canyons that are not contiguous to the three mentioned by NOAA. Conservationists and other supporters plan to attend the meeting at the Providence Marriott Downtown to press for all five canyons, the four nearby seamounts and Cashes Ledge to be included, said Roger Fleming, a staff attorney at Earthjustice. The Conservation Law Foundation, National Geographic Society, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other groups support the proposal.
"These are some of the last places that haven't been spoiled by fishing and human development," said Peter Baker, who directs U.S. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-oceans-absorb-much-more-carbon-than-previously-thought/">Oceans</a>, Northeast for Pew. "We're hopeful this is the right time, for the right places, for the right reasons."
Groups representing the fishing industry have taken issue with the project as a whole, but there appears to be more opposition to protecting Cashes Ledge than the more remote canyons and seamounts.
Robert Vanasse, executive director of the fishing advocacy group Saving Seafood, said the monument proposal overlooks existing protections for Cashes Ledge and would remove local and expert input from the process. Bottom trawling and dredging have been banned there for more than a decade.
"There shouldn't be a couple of people sitting around a table in the West Wing deciding this kind of thing," Vanasse said.
Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for a scallop industry trade organization, the Fisheries Survival Fund, also said that using an executive action is the "wrong way" to protect these areas because there is already a democratic process in place, and he worries about the precedent it would set.
Federal fishery regulators already voted in June to keep Cashes Ledge mostly closed to fishing. And the New England Fishery Management Council also plans to discuss protecting deep-sea corals from fishing gear at a meeting this month.
But conservationists argue that both sites deserve permanent, comprehensive protections before it's too late, rather than temporary safeguards.
Brooks, of CLF, called such temporary safeguards "tenuous at best."
"There are some places that need to be protected forever," she 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.

. Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument. Undersea ravines deeper than the Grand Canyon, submerged mountains rising thousands of feet from the ocean floor and forests of kelp and coral would become the first marine national monument in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=atlantic+ocean&amp;cvid=25abadd228e84e4097a74b19f7520bae&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Atlantic ocean</a> if conservationists have their way.
The proposal to protect a pristine ecosystem undamaged by heavy fishing and pollution in the Gulf of Maine and canyons and peaks off Cape Cod - where vivid coral has grown to the size of small trees over thousands of years - would mirror the massive conservation efforts that have already taken place in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deep-pacific-little-ice-age/">Pacific Ocean</a>. Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument
"We have an opportunity to permanently protect two of our nation's greatest ocean treasures, right off our coast," said Priscilla Brooks, the Conservation Law Foundation's director of ocean conservation.
Environmental groups want President Barack Obama to permanently protect Cashes Ledge, the underwater mountain and offshore ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine, and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts, the chain of undersea formations about 150 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
But Maine Gov. Paul LePage and others oppose the effort to protect the two sites, together totaling about 6,000 square miles, because of the potential impact on fishermen. Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument
LePage, a Republican, also takes issue with the president's authority under the Antiquities Act to designate monuments, calling it a sweeping power that provides few procedural protections to those who are most likely to be affected.
"These National Marine Monuments serve only one purpose- excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean," he wrote in a letter to Obama last month. He also urged the president to consult with fishermen who make their living in the Gulf of Maine.
Four existing marine monuments - a designation applied only to areas of outstanding scientific, cultural, conservation and aesthetic value - were established by President George W. Bush. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=obama&amp;cvid=98c6f366191e474496e0d4fab128ee05&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Obama</a> expanded one, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, last year.
The Pacific monuments cover more than 330,000 square miles of ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rules for each differ slightly, though typically commercial fishing and resource extraction such as drilling and mining are prohibited, NOAA said.
NOAA plans to hold a town hall meeting in Providence on Tuesday to discuss possible protections for three of the deep-sea canyons and four seamounts, which it says "create unique habitats supporting tremendous biodiversity and fragile ecosystems."
There are two more canyons that are not contiguous to the three mentioned by NOAA. Conservationists and other supporters plan to attend the meeting at the Providence Marriott Downtown to press for all five canyons, the four nearby seamounts and Cashes Ledge to be included, said Roger Fleming, a staff attorney at Earthjustice. The Conservation Law Foundation, National Geographic Society, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other groups support the proposal.
"These are some of the last places that haven't been spoiled by fishing and human development," said Peter Baker, who directs U.S. Oceans, Northeast for Pew. "We're hopeful this is the right time, for the right places, for the right reasons."
Groups representing the fishing industry have taken issue with the project as a whole, but there appears to be more opposition to protecting Cashes Ledge than the more remote canyons and seamounts.
Robert Vanasse, executive director of the fishing advocacy group Saving Seafood, said the monument proposal overlooks existing protections for Cashes Ledge and would remove local and expert input from the process. Bottom trawling and dredging have been banned there for more than a decade.
"There shouldn't be a couple of people sitting around a table in the West Wing deciding this kind of thing," Vanasse said.
Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for a scallop industry trade organization, the Fisheries Survival Fund, also said that using an executive action is the "wrong way" to protect these areas because there is already a democratic process in place, and he worries about the precedent it would set.
Federal fishery regulators already voted in June to keep Cashes Ledge mostly closed to fishing. And the New England Fishery Management Council also plans to discuss protecting deep-sea corals from fishing gear at a meeting this month.
But conservationists argue that both sites deserve permanent, comprehensive protections before it's too late, rather than temporary safeguards.
Brooks, of CLF, called such temporary safeguards "tenuous at best."
"There are some places that need to be protected forever," she 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.

Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National

. Conservationists Push For Atlantic Ocean National Monument. Undersea ravines...

Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries. California's Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2015 was at the lowest level in the past 500 years, according to a new report led by University of Arizona researchers.

The team's research is the first to show how the 2015 snowpack compares with snowpack levels for the previous five centuries. Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries

"Our study really points to the extreme character of the 2014-15 winter. This is not just unprecedented over 80 years — it's unprecedented over 500 years," said Valerie Trouet, an associate professor of dendrochronology at the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

"We should be prepared for this type of snow drought to occur much more frequently because of rising temperatures," Trouet said. "Anthropogenic warming is making the drought more severe."

California's current record-setting drought began in 2012, the researchers note in their report.

On April 1 of this year, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared the first-ever mandatory water restrictions throughout the state while standing on dry ground at 6,800-foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada. The historical average snowpack on that site is more than five feet, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The lack of snow in 2015 stems from extremely low winter precipitation combined with record high temperatures in California in January, February and March, Trouet said. About 80 percent of California's precipitation occurs in the winter months, she said. Snowpack level is generally measured on April 1 each year, a time when the snowpack is at its peak.

"Snow is a natural storage system," Trouet said. "In a summer-dry climate such as California, it's important that you can store water and access it in the summer when there's no precipitation."

In past years, the snows of the Sierra Nevada slowly melted during the warmer months of the year, and the meltwater replenished streams, lakes, groundwater and reservoirs. In a winter with less snow or with winter precipitation coming as rain rather than snow, there is less water to use during California's dry summers.

First author Soumaya Belmecheri said of the extremely low snowpack in 2015, "This has implications not only for urban water use, but also for wildfires."

Belmecheri is a postdoctoral research associate at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

To determine snowpack levels for the past 500 years, Trouet and her colleagues used previously published tree-ring data that reflects annual winter precipitation in central California from 1405 to 2005 and annual snowpack measurements since the 1930s. The team also used a previously published reconstruction of winter temperatures in southern and central California that spanned the years 1500 to 1980.

Trouet, Belmecheri and their colleagues' report, "Multi-century evaluation of Sierra Nevada snowpack," is scheduled for online publication in Nature Climate Change today.

---

<a href="http://www.arizona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Arizona</a>

Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries. California's Sierra Nevada snowpack in 2015 was at the lowest level in the past 500 years, according to a new report led by University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arizona-rock-will-help-solve-mysteries-of-the-triassic/">Arizona</a> researchers.

The team's research is the first to show how the 2015 snowpack compares with snowpack levels for the previous five centuries.

"Our study really points to the extreme character of the 2014-15 winter. This is not just unprecedented over 80 years — it's unprecedented over 500 years," said Valerie Trouet, an associate professor of dendrochronology at the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

"We should be prepared for this type of snow drought to occur much more frequently because of rising temperatures," Trouet said. "Anthropogenic warming is making the drought more severe." Sierra Nevada Snowpack Lowest In Five Centuries

<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=42ddcce1f79a44b18dae1ba270d405cb&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California's</a> current record-setting drought began in 2012, the researchers note in their report.

On April 1 of this year, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared the first-ever mandatory water restrictions throughout the state while standing on dry ground at 6,800-foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada. The historical average snowpack on that site is more than five feet, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The lack of snow in 2015 stems from extremely low winter precipitation combined with record high temperatures in California in January, February and March, Trouet said. About 80 percent of California's precipitation occurs in the winter months, she said. Snowpack level is generally measured on April 1 each year, a time when the snowpack is at its peak.

"Snow is a natural storage system," Trouet said. "In a summer-dry climate such as California, it's important that you can store water and access it in the summer when there's no precipitation."

In past years, the snows of the Sierra Nevada slowly melted during the warmer months of the year, and the meltwater replenished streams, lakes, groundwater and reservoirs. In a winter with less snow or with winter precipitation coming as rain rather than snow, there is less water to use during California's dry summers.

First author Soumaya Belmecheri said of the extremely low snowpack in 2015, "This has implications not only for urban water use, but also for wildfires."

Belmecheri is a postdoctoral research associate at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

To determine snowpack levels for the past 500 years, Trouet and her colleagues used previously published tree-ring data that reflects annual winter precipitation in central California from 1405 to 2005 and annual snowpack measurements since the 1930s. The team also used a previously published reconstruction of winter temperatures in southern and central California that spanned the years 1500 to 1980.

Trouet, Belmecheri and their colleagues' report, "Multi-century evaluation of Sierra Nevada snowpack," is scheduled for online publication in Nature Climate Change today.

---

<a href="http://www.arizona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Arizona</a>

Dealing With Climate Change Among Communities In Africa. Experts should take note of local knowledge and beliefs when making plans about how to help people in vulnerable regions cope with the impacts of climate change in Africa. This will ensure that such interventions are money well spent, and are not culturally insensitive, advises Conor Murphy of Ireland's Maynooth University. Together with an interdisciplinary research team from universities in Malawi, Zambia and Ireland he interviewed community members in rural Malawi and Zambia to assess how well they are able to adapt to the way they produce food within the context of shifting belief systems and climate change. The findings are published in Springer's journal Climatic Change. Dealing With Climate Change Among Communities In Africa

On a global scale, vulnerability to climate change tends to be greatest in parts of the world where religion is most important in daily life. In a vulnerable area such as sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, Christians have increased 70-fold and Muslims 20-fold over the past century. Traditional beliefs and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) rooted within an ancestral spirit-world however continue to influence the day-to-day lives especially of rural communities. Religious beliefs are an important element of culture, but are not always static.

Such shifting belief systems influence how people respond and adapt to important issues such as the challenges relating to climate change. The research team interviewed members of two rural communities in Africa: Bolero in Malawi and Monze in Zambia. Christianity and traditional beliefs co-exist within these communities. The researchers assessed how holding multiple belief systems influences the ability of these communities to produce food and adapt to the impact of changing climates.

In Bolero, a smooth co-existence and integration was observed between traditional and Christian beliefs and practices. Faith-based organizations have helped community members to better understand what causes climate variability in their area. Previously, this was associated with punishment from ancestral spirits.

In Monze, by contrast, tensions were experienced when livelihood decisions were made based on the practice of rain rituals. Traditional practices and worshipping of ancestral spirits were seen as evil by Christian religions. Elders blamed recent failures of rainfall on a lack of adherence to traditional beliefs by younger generations. In both communities, elders were concerned that changing beliefs are affecting the way people use traditional ecological knowledge management practices.

"Culture, when approached through the lens of religious beliefs and practices, plays an important role in adaptive capacity, but is not static," reminds Prof. Olusegun Yerokun of Mulungushi University, co-author of the paper. "The manner by which communities holding multiple belief systems are able to adapt is largely determined by the manner in which belief systems co-exist, and how different knowledge forms are valued, accepted and integrated."

"As climate services become the focus of research and government interventions in vulnerable regions, avoiding culturally and economically expensive mal-adaptation will require giving attention to the complexity and dynamism of such changing religious landscapes," Murphy advises.

---

<a href="http://www.springer.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Springer</a>

Dealing With Climate Change Among Communities In Africa

Dealing With Climate Change Among Communities In Africa. Experts should...

Decision Expected Soon On Endangered Status Of American Eels. Fishermen benefiting from booming prices for American eels are squirming about a decision expected this month on whether to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act.
An environmental advocacy group wants the federal government to list the American eel as threatened, giving the fish protections that would greatly limit fishermen's ability to pursue and catch them.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision about protecting the eels will likely come toward the end of September, said Steven Shepard, a spokesman for the agency. Decision Expected Soon On Endangered Status Of American Eels
The decision will come as the market for baby eels, called elvers, is booming. In Maine, which has by far the most lucrative eel fishery in the country, elvers were worth more than $2,100 per pound in 2015 after being worth less than $100 per pound in 2009. The elvers are sold to Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity and use them as food, including sushi.
The Fresno, Calif.-based Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy &amp; Reliability says the eels have lost more than 80 percent of their habitat, largely due to dams that impede <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/human-migrations-to-the-ryukyu-islands-were-led-by-explorers-not-drifters/">migration</a>, and suffer from too much commercial fishing pressure. The group, which was called the Council For Endangered Species Act Reliability at the time of the petition, also states that the eels' population is "declining catastrophically," as are other eel species worldwide.
"In our time this species has been going through a dramatic decline with very little regulatory oversight," said Rob Roy Ramey, a science adviser to the petitioners. "They're slimy, they're odd looking, they're eels. They're not warm and fuzzy and charismatic - this is like the passenger pigeon of our time."
American eels range from Greenland to Venezuela, hatch their young in the Sargasso Sea, and are the subject of commercial fishing in several <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=east+coast&amp;cvid=6129c6dbf55d48fda65dc53a5ee0bbba&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">East Coast</a> states. Their value rarely exceeded $3 million per year from 1950 to 2010 before it ballooned to more than $40 million in 2012, largely buoyed by Maine's elver fishery. Value has waned somewhat in more recent years, in part due to a quota system and other controls, but remains far above historical averages.
Only Maine and South Carolina fishermen harvest elvers, and South Carolina's fishery is much smaller. Several other states have fisheries for older eels, including Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.
Darrell Young, who co-directs the Maine Elver Fishermen's Association and has fished for elvers for more than 20 years, said he is hoping the eels aren't listed under the Endangered Species Act. He said some opponents of fishing assume eels are imperiled because Maine fishermen failed to reach their elver quota in 2015, and he thinks that opinion is misguided.
Fishermen didn't reach their quota this year because the cold weather shortened the spring fishing season, Young said.
"After the season closed this year, there were plenty of eels running up the brooks," Young said. "There's going to be plenty of adult eels running out to the Sargasso Sea."
American eels have become more valuable in recent years largely because of a sharp decline in their population across Europe in the 1990s.
Regulators in Maine are monitoring the federal government's decision about whether to protect eels, but won't have a comment until a decision is made, said Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the state's Department of Marine Resources.
© 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.

Decision Expected Soon On Endangered Status Of American Eels

Decision Expected Soon On Endangered Status Of American Eels. Fishermen...

Dealing With Climate Change Among Communities In Africa. Experts should take note of local knowledge and beliefs when making plans about how to help people in vulnerable regions cope with the impacts of climate change in Africa. This will ensure that such interventions are money well spent, and are not culturally insensitive, advises Conor Murphy of Ireland's Maynooth University. Together with an interdisciplinary research team from universities in Malawi, Zambia and Ireland he interviewed community members in rural Malawi and <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/fires-in-zambia/">Zambia</a> to assess how well they are able to adapt to the way they produce food within the context of shifting belief systems and climate change. The findings are published in Springer's journal Climatic Change.

On a global scale, vulnerability to climate change tends to be greatest in parts of the world where religion is most important in daily life. In a vulnerable area such as sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, Christians have increased 70-fold and Muslims 20-fold over the past century. Traditional beliefs and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) rooted within an ancestral spirit-world however continue to influence the day-to-day lives especially of rural communities. Religious beliefs are an important element of culture, but are not always static.

Such shifting belief systems influence how people respond and adapt to important issues such as the challenges relating to climate change. The research team interviewed members of two rural communities in Africa: Bolero in Malawi and Monze in Zambia. Christianity and traditional beliefs co-exist within these communities. The researchers assessed how holding multiple belief systems influences the ability of these communities to produce food and adapt to the impact of changing climates.

In Bolero, a smooth co-existence and integration was observed between traditional and Christian beliefs and practices. Faith-based organizations have helped community members to better understand what causes climate variability in their area. Previously, this was associated with punishment from ancestral spirits.

In Monze, by contrast, tensions were experienced when livelihood decisions were made based on the practice of rain rituals. Traditional practices and worshipping of ancestral spirits were seen as evil by Christian religions. Elders blamed recent failures of rainfall on a lack of adherence to traditional beliefs by younger generations. In both communities, elders were concerned that changing beliefs are affecting the way people use traditional ecological knowledge management practices.

"Culture, when approached through the lens of religious beliefs and practices, plays an important role in adaptive capacity, but is not static," reminds Prof. Olusegun Yerokun of Mulungushi University, co-author of the paper. "The manner by which communities holding multiple belief systems are able to adapt is largely determined by the manner in which belief systems co-exist, and how different knowledge forms are valued, accepted and integrated."

"As climate services become the focus of research and government interventions in vulnerable regions, avoiding culturally and economically expensive mal-adaptation will require giving attention to the complexity and dynamism of such changing religious landscapes," Murphy advises.

---

<a href="http://www.springer.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Springer</a>

Arctic Sea Ice Levels Shrink To Fourth Lowest Levels. Summer Arctic sea ice shrank to its fourth lowest level on record this month, dispelling faint hopes of a recovery, federal scientists said.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Tuesday that the Arctic hit its summer minimum last week with 1.7 million square miles of sea ice, down 240,000 square miles from 2014. That's a difference the size of<a href="http://www.earth.com/image/tule-fog-across-californias-central-valley/"> California,</a> New York and Maryland combined. Arctic Sea Ice Levels Shrink To Fourth Lowest Levels
"The ice is decreasing over time, which you would expect because the Arctic is warming," data center scientist Julienne Stroeve said.
Summer minimum sea ice has shrunk since satellites started measuring in 1979. It reached a peak of 2.91 million square miles in 1980 and hit an all-time low of 1.3 million square miles in 2012. It went back up to 1.95 in 2013 and hovered near there in 2014.
Variations in weather mean sea ice levels drift a bit year to year, but Stroeve said there's a long term trend that is best seen when looking at averages of five years or more.
The five years between 1979 and 1983 averaged 2.76 million square miles during the summer minimum. The last five years average 1.72 million square miles, a decrease of 38 percent and more than a million square miles.
That means there's no recovery in Arctic sea ice, despite claims of some climate change doubters, said Stroeve and Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn't part of the government measurement team.
The world overall so far this year is easily the hottest it has been in more than a century of record keeping, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, the El Nino that has been helping push temperatures even warmer isn't having as much an effect up north, which is farther away from the tropical Pacific Ocean, Stroeve said. It has been hot, but not near record breaking in the Arctic this summer.
With human-caused warming continuing, computer simulations show on average that around the year 2040, sea ice will disappear from the Arctic during some summers, Stroeve said.
"We remain on a trajectory that is actually ahead of model predictions," Mann said. "Arctic sea ice is one of several aspects of climate change that his happening even faster than originally predicted."
Sea ice in Antarctica, which had been at record high levels in recent years, are about average, Stroeve said.
---
Online:
National Snow and Ice Data Center: <a href="http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/</a>
--
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.

Arctic Sea Ice Levels Shrink To Fourth Lowest Levels

Arctic Sea Ice Levels Shrink To Fourth Lowest Levels. Summer...

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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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



---



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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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"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

[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



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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



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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



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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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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

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



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



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



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



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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