A comprehensive review study has recently investigated the vital connections between marine biodiversity conservation, human health, and well-being. According to the experts, marine protected areas (MPAs) not only support ecological balance but also provide tangible benefits for people, underscoring their dual importance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-marine-protected-areas-nbsp">Marine protected areas&nbsp;</h2>



Marine protected areas are legally designated sections of the ocean recognized for their conservation value. These areas are protected by laws that restrict human activities, aiming to allow ecosystems to thrive without significant interference. 



Depending on the specific regulations of an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-protected-areas-fall-short-on-2030-biodiversity-targets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPA</a>, activities like fishing, building, or oil drilling may be prohibited or limited. The overarching goal is to create a space where marine life can flourish and, in turn, contribute to ecological and human welfare.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-expanding-ocean-protection">Expanding ocean protection</h2>



With global plans to extend MPAs as part of the UN's “30x30” initiative - seeking to protect 30% of the world's oceans and land by 2030 - understanding the impact of these areas on both people and nature has become increasingly important.&nbsp;



The new study, conducted by the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Wide Fund for Nature</a>, <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard University</a>’s School of Public Health, and <a href="https://duke.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Duke University</a>’s marine laboratory, led by Daniel Viana, reviewed data from over 200 scientific articles published since 1973.



The team discovered that in 234 MPAs worldwide, more than 60% reported improvements in both conservation outcomes and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-the-critical-role-of-nature-in-human-well-being/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human well-being</a>. This finding suggests that well-managed MPAs can simultaneously support nature and the communities that depend on marine resources.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protected-areas-and-local-communities-nbsp">Protected areas and local communities&nbsp;</h2>



The study also included MPAs that permit sustainable use through controlled <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-fishing-gets-a-boost-from-genomics-roadmap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fishing</a> practices that avoid harming delicate ecosystems. These measures, such as using hook-and-line methods or fish traps, minimize damage to coral reefs and other sensitive habitats. 



The research suggests that investing in MPAs often results in benefits for local communities, particularly in terms of fishing yields and food access.



MPAs play an essential role in small island nations like Bonaire, Palau, and the Cook Islands. These regions, where over 95% of fish catches are tied to area-based conservation, illustrate how marine protection can drive both ecological and economic gains.&nbsp;



However, the study noted that despite the evident link between MPAs and improved food access, few studies have measured the direct nutritional impact on local communities.&nbsp;



Only one research project in the Philippines established a connection between enhanced fish access and better health outcomes, finding reduced rates of childhood stunting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nutrient-contributions-of-protected-areas-nbsp">Nutrient contributions of protected areas&nbsp;</h2>



The world’s waters - rivers, seas, lakes, and floodplains - are rich in edible plants and animals that offer essential vitamins, minerals, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-provide-essential-fatty-acids-to-other-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fatty acids</a>. These nutrients, particularly when harvested sustainably, can significantly bolster the diets of coastal populations. 



The study quantified the nutrient contributions from foods within MPAs, revealing that even with just 8% of the oceans under protection, these areas contribute 14% of the global supply of six key micronutrients from marine sources.



By fostering healthy marine environments, MPAs enhance fish populations that can spill over into adjacent areas, leading to more robust catches, increased income from fishing, and better access to nutritious food.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-and-complexities">Challenges and complexities</h2>



While MPAs offer considerable benefits, implementing them effectively is not without challenges. The study found that many MPAs lack effective management, which can limit their success.&nbsp;



Additionally, while MPAs help support marine life and nearby human communities, they do not directly address significant threats like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-protected-areas-were-not-designed-for-climate-resilience/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate change</a> and pollution that require broader action.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aquaculture-impacts-wild-fish-much-more-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aquaculture</a>, or the farming of aquatic organisms, is growing as a supplement to wild harvests to meet the increasing demand for aquatic food. Although it provides more than half of the aquatic food consumed globally, aquaculture must continue to advance in sustainability practices. 



The study also emphasized that in many developing coastal nations, wild-harvested food remains a critical source of nutrition for millions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-marine-protected-areas-and-global-health">Marine protected areas and global health</h2>



Linking marine conservation to human health presents promising opportunities but also reveals research gaps. While MPAs can contribute to better health outcomes by boosting fish availability and nutrient intake, questions remain about the equitable distribution of these benefits.&nbsp;



For instance, in the Maldives, the majority of fish caught from reefs are consumed by tourists rather than local residents, illustrating potential disparities.



Despite these challenges, the study underscores the potential of MPAs to promote a regenerative relationship between people and the environment.&nbsp;



By managing fisheries to support nutritional health rather than merely maximizing profits, a “nutrition-sensitive” approach to marine conservation could help address global food security.



In conclusion, while MPAs cannot tackle all threats alone, their role in sustaining both marine ecosystems and human communities represents a promising path toward a balanced, health-focused future.



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How marine protected areas boost human health

A comprehensive review study has recently investigated the vital connections between marine biodiversity conservation, human health, and well-being. According to the experts, marine protected areas (MPAs) not only support ecological balance but also provide tangible benefits for people, underscoring their dual importance. Marine protected areas&nbsp; Marine protected areas are legally designated sections of the ocean recognized for their conservation value. These areas are protected by laws that restrict human activities, aiming to allow ecosystems to thrive without significant interference.  Depending on the specific regulations of an MPA, activities...

'Rock snot' algae no longer deemed invasive A type of algae called "rock snot" that was thought to be an invasive species in the Northeast is actually native to the northern United States, researchers have concluded.
The aquatic algae, Didymosphenia geminata, has caused massive blooms in some U.S. rivers. Fishermen spotted it in rivers in Vermont in 2007, sparking alarm.
To fight the spread of rock snot and other organisms, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/vermont-windfarm-opposition/">Vermont</a> and about a half dozen other states banned the use of felt-soled waders by anglers. But officials now say Vermont will lift its ban next month, apparently the first state to do so.
The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife said scientists discovered that the algae's spores were present in many Vermont rivers and can cause nuisance algae blooms under certain conditions.
"The fact that we had a ban on something to avoid spreading something that was already where we didn't want it to be spread didn't make any sense," said state biologist Shawn Good.
The algae, also known as didymo, are native to northern North America, Europe, and Asia, but research in recent years has shown that they are also indigenous to the northern United States, scientists say.'Rock snot' algae no longer deemed invasive
It attaches to rocks in river bottoms and has been described as resembling a sewage spill. It prefers pristine, low nutrient rivers. In its early stages, it forms nubby brown growths on rocks and later develops a woolly texture.
Algae blooms aren't new, but they seem to be happening more frequently in certain places and are more noticeable than they were historically, said Max Bothwell a research scientist with Environment Canada in British Columbia, who had initially suggested that anglers were spreading it. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>
Bothwell, who has been studying didymo since 1993 and gave a talk in Vermont last fall, said the only demonstrated cause of blooms is due to low phosphorus levels in waterways. He and another researcher hypothesize that phospshorus is declining in rivers due to climatic warming and nitrogen-enriched soils, leading to more frequent blooms.
After Tropical Storm Irene inundated Vermont in 2011, fish were removed from the White River National Fish Hatchery in Bethel out of concerns that they may be exposed to didymo or pathogens.
Mary Russ, executive director of the nonprofit White River Partnership, said the group is disappointed that Vermont is lifting its ban on felt-soled waders, which she said can transport other organisms.
"We were thinking that it was a good management strategy," she said.
While the waders may be used again on July 1, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is urging anglers and others to clean and dry all equipment after leaving any body of water and before going to another one to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species that can sicken fish.
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'Rock snot' algae no longer deemed invasive

'Rock snot' algae no longer deemed invasive A type of...

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<div>

NASA sees Tropical Storm Danielle ending over Mexico. Tropical Storm Danielle started weakening after making landfall north of Tuxpan, <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/samalayuca-sand-dunes/">Mexico</a> on Monday evening at 7 p.m. CDT. As Danielle weakened the low level circulation quickly became disorganized. The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM mission core satellite looked at the quickly weakening storm's rainfall.

The GPM core observatory satellite passed above rapidly weakening Danielle on June 21, 2016 at 0421 UTC (12:21 a.m. EDT). NASA sees Tropical Storm Danielle ending over Mexico.

A rainfall analysis from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) showed that there were only a few areas where rainfall was still falling at moderate to heavy rates. The analysis showed rain falling at a rate of close to 41 mm (1.6 inches) per hour northwest of the approximate center of the tropical depression. The heaviest precipitation of almost 157 mm (6.2 inches) per hour was measured by DPR off the Mexican coast east of Veracruz.

[ooyala code="czaG5iNDE6RLwSsOKRG2O5xeGFY3XwVm" player_id="ce75157bc770441eaf5e849ae4d1d21f" width="900" height="500"]

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, GPM's Radar (DPR Ku Band) were used to create a 3-D structure of precipitation within the weakening storm. DPR data showed that storm tops reached maximum heights of about 14.3 km (8.9 miles) in a few storms northwest of the storm's disorganized circulation.

GPM is a joint mission between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Danielle dissipated over east central Mexico on June 21.


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<div></div>

NASA sees Tropical Storm Danielle ending over Mexico

NASA sees Tropical Storm Danielle ending over Mexico. Tropical Storm...

94 million-year-old climate change event holds clues for future. A major climate change event millions of years ago that caused substantial change to the ocean's ecological systems may hold clues as to how the Earth will respond to future climate change, a <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=florida&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=1ceebfd4af02460d88172997a9db96ad&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNO4RA7ltALoNE5SspyvjPiArR4Tst1qTYAPsXxoTAAh4PTKgZiJ6xnnr8yAeB4ZceZ69Q*SjPpR6YpqI6Rk1YH&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Florida</a> State University researcher said.

In a new study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Assistant Professor of Geology Jeremy Owens explains that parts of the ocean became inhospitable for some organisms as the Earth's climate warmed 94 million years ago. As the <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/remarkably-detailed-view-of-earth-at-night/">Earth</a> warmed, several natural elements -- what we think of as vitamins -- depleted, causing some organisms to die off or greatly decrease in numbers.

The elements that faded away were vanadium and molybdenum, important trace metals that serve as nutrients for ocean life. Molybdenum in particular is used by bacteria to help promote nitrogen fixation, which is essential for all forms of life.

"These trace metals were drawn down to levels below where primary producing organisms, the base of the ocean food chain, can survive," Owens said. "This change inhibited biology."

The warming of the Earth during this time period took place over millions of years. At the time, the world was a drastically different place. Palms were found in Canada and lily pads dotted the Arctic Circle, while dinosaurs existed on land.94 million-year-old climate change event holds clues for future

But as the world continued to warm, it caused "a natural feedback that had a dramatic effect on the world's ocean chemistry, which is recorded in the rock record," Owens said.

Owens and a team of researchers examined samples of sediment provided through the Ocean Drilling Program, a National Science Foundation-supported program that uses the scientific drill ship JOIDES Resolution to recover samples beneath the ocean floor off the coast of Venezuela. They examined a 10-meter portion that they pinned to the climate turnover event by analyzing microfossils or tiny shell organisms in the layer.

Owens found that ecological communities experienced a substantial shift 94 million years ago because many types of bacteria and algae were affected by the changes in ocean nutrients.

"Some of these species didn't totally die, but they didn't flourish the way they used to," Owens said.

The decrease of these trace metals also suggests a global expansion of oxygen deficiency, which could lead to larger dead zones in bodies of water around the world, meaning little to no life could exist in those areas.

That is of concern to scientists as they try to understand what will happen to the world around us as the Earth continues to warm. For scientists, the events of 94 million years ago provide a possible glimpse into future climate change scenarios.

"This is the best window to understanding future climate change," Owens said. "It gives us insight into the cascade of events that can affect the entire ocean."
###
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Agouron Institute.

Owens' co-authors are Christopher Reinhard at Georgia Institute of Technology, Megan Rohrssen at Central Michigan University, and Gordon Love and Timothy Lyons of the University of California, Riverside.

94 million-year-old climate change event holds clues for future

94 million-year-old climate change event holds clues for future. A...

New software can quickly assess coral bleaching. Scientists using facial recognition technology and 360-degree underwater photos said Wednesday they have developed new software to quickly assess coral bleaching and other damage to the world's imperiled reefs.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials say the technology will provide an unmatched resource for assessing the growing problem.
Researchers at the XL Catlin Global Reef Record told The Associated Press that creating the virtual reality scenes allows hundreds of thousands of images to be analyzed within weeks rather than years.
Coral reefs are essential to food supplies, natural environment and coastal economies the world over, according to scientists who attended this week's International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii.
The survey crew also partnered with Google Street View to provide interactive underwater reef experiences for users all around the world. Now, with the click of a mouse people can immerse themselves in a world they may never have been able to see.
"Less than one percent of humanity has been diving on a coral reef," said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and lead scientist for the project. "So most of us on the planet don't know what a coral reef really is, and thereby, if you don't know about something, how are you going to feel compelled to protect it?"
The data on damage is critically important because it provides a baseline for much of the world's undocumented reef, Hoegh-Guldberg said.
"As we see greater impacts from climate change, things like larger cyclones, mass bleaching events and so on, we really need to know what's in the cupboard to begin with," Hoegh-Guldberg said. "That's what this technology does."
Scientists have never before captured such a comprehensive picture of reef health - and they hope it will lead to the discovery of new phenomena on reefs, said Ruth Gates, president of the International Society for Reef Studies and director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.
"We don't have a lot of time to understand what's going on and we've never had the capacity to look across large spatial scales across the world," Gates said. "They've solved that."
The technology can process the data 900 times faster than previous methods, and its accuracy rivals a human expert, said Richard Vevers, project director of the survey.
The research team used processing units that analyzed 90 images a minute and let them log their entire archive in just a few weeks.
The images can also be used to identify different species of coral and details about reef conditions.
Hoegh-Guldberg said the scientific community needs to get the average person excited about saving reefs and have those people share their passion with the world's leaders to influence policy change.
More important, however, are the discoveries that science will make because of the data, Gates said.
"We will lose reefs if we don't understand the cause," she said.
---
Follow Caleb Jones on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/CalebAP">https://twitter.com/CalebAP</a> Find more of his work at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones">http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones</a>
© 2016 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.

New software can quickly assess coral bleaching

New software can quickly assess coral bleaching. Scientists using facial...

Weizmann Institute scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

Scientists create fuel from carbon dioxide. All life on the planet relies, in one way or another, on a process called carbon fixation: the ability of plants, algae and certain bacteria to "pump" carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment, add solar or other energy and turn it into the sugars that are the required starting point needed for life processes. At the top of the food chain are different organisms (some of which think, mistakenly, that they are "more advanced") that use the opposite means of survival: they eat sugars (made by photosynthetic plants and microorganisms) and then release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This means of growth is called "heterotrophism." Humans are, of course, heterotrophs in the biological sense because the food they consume originates from the carbon fixation processes of nonhuman producers.

Is it possible to "reprogram" an organism that is found higher in the food chain, which consumes sugar and releases carbon dioxide, so that it will consume carbon dioxide from the environment and produce the sugars it needs to build its body mass? That is just what a group of Weizmann Institute of Science researchers recently did. Dr. Niv Antonovsky, who led this research in Prof. Ron Milo's lab at the Institute's Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, says that the ability to improve carbon fixation is crucial for our ability to cope with future challenges, such as the need to supply food to a growing population on shrinking land resources while using less fossil fuel.

The Institute scientists rose to this challenge by inserting the metabolic pathway for carbon fixation and sugar production (the so called Calvin cycle) into the bacterium E. coli, a known "consumer" organism that eats sugar and releases carbon dioxide.

The metabolic pathway for carbon fixation is well known, and Milo and his group reckoned that, with proper planning, they would be able to attach the genes containing the information for building it into the bacterium's genome. Yet the main enzyme used in plants to fix carbon, RuBisCO, utilizes as a substrate for the CO2 fixation reaction a metabolite which is toxic for the bacterial cells. Thus the design had to include precisely regulating the expression levels of the various genes across this multistep pathway.

In one way the team's well-thought-out plan was a resounding success: The bacteria did indeed produce the carbon fixation enzymes, and these were functional. But the machinery, as a whole, did not "deliver the goods." Even though the carbon fixation machinery was expressed, the bacteria failed to use CO2 for sugar synthesis, relying instead on an external supply of sugar. "Of course, we were dealing with an organism that has evolved over millions of years to eat sugar, not CO2," says Antonovsky. "So we turned to evolution to help us create the system we intended."

Antonovsky, Milo and the team, including Shmuel Gleizer, Arren Bar-Even, Yehudit Zohar, Elad Herz and others, next designed tanks called "chemostats," in which they grew the bacteria, gradually nudging them into developing an appetite for CO2. Initially, along with ample bubbles of CO2, the bacteria in the tanks were offered a large amount of pyruvate, which is an energy source, as well as barely enough sugar to survive. Thus, by changing the conditions of their environment and stressing them, the scientists forced the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-algae-steal-beneficial-genes-from-bacteria/">bacteria</a> to learn, by adaptation and development, to use the more abundant material in their environment. A month went by, and things remained fairly static. The bacteria seemed to not "get the hint." But at around a month and a half, some bacteria showed signs of doing more than "just surviving." By the third month the scientists were able to wean the evolved bacteria from the sugar and raise them on CO2 and pyruvate alone. Isotope labeling of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide">carbon dioxide</a> molecules revealed that the bacteria were indeed using CO2 to create a significant portion of their body mass, including all the sugars needed to make the cell.

When the scientists sequenced the genomes of the evolved bacteria, they found many changes scattered throughout the bacterial chromosomes. "They were completely different from what we had predicted," says Milo. "It took us two years of hard work to understand which of these are essential and to unravel the 'logic' involved in their evolution." Repeating the experiment (and again waiting months) gave the scientists essential clues for identifying the mutations necessary for changing the E. coli diet from one based on sugar to one using carbon dioxide.

Milo: "The ability to program or reengineer E. coli to fix carbon could give researchers a new toolbox for studying and improving this basic process." Although currently the bacteria release CO2 back into the atmosphere, the team envisions that in the future their insights might be applied to creating microorganisms that soak up atmospheric CO2 and convert it into stored energy or to achieving crops with carbon fixing pathways, resulting in higher yields and better adaption to feeding humanity.
###
Prof. Ron Milo's research is supported by the Mary and Tom Beck-Canadian Center for Alternative Energy Research; the Lerner Family Plant Science Research Endowment Fund; the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust; Dana and Yossie Hollander, Israel; the Larson Charitable Foundation; and the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust. Prof. Milo is the incumbent of the Charles and Louise Gartner Professorial Chair.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Scientists create fuel from carbon dioxide

Weizmann Institute scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the...

Future global warming will not only depend on the amount of emissions from man-made greenhouse gasses, but will also depend on the sensitivity of the climate system and response to feedback mechanisms. By reconstructing past global warming and the carbon cycle on Earth 56 million years ago, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute among others have used computer modelling to estimate the potential perspective for future global warming, which could be even warmer than previously thought. The results are published in the scientific journal,Geophysical Research Letters.

Global warming from greenhouse gas emissions depends not only on the size of the emissions, but also on the warming effect that the extra amount of gas has on the atmosphere. This effect, called climate sensitivity, is usually defined as the warming caused by the doubling of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Climate sensitivity depends on a number of properties of the earth's climate system, such as the composition of clouds and cloud cover.

"The research shows that climate sensitivity was higher during the past global, warm climate than in the current climate. This is bad news for humanity as greater climate sensitivity from warming will further amplify the warming," says Professor Gary Shaffer, University of Magallanes, Chile, and the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

The past tells about the future

The study was based on reconstructions and climate modelling of a period of global warming 56 million years ago. The period known as the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was triggered by massive releases of carbon into the atmosphere and climate researchers have long identified it as a time that could in some ways be analogous to today's global warming.

Reconstructions of past temperatures show that even before the PETM the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth">Earth</a> was about 10 degrees warmer than today and then warmed an additional 5 degrees during the PETM. In addition, they combined data about minerals, isotopes and the carbon cycle with climate models to estimate the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere - both before and during the period. From this, they could estimate the climate sensitivity and the result was that where it was about 4.5 degrees C before the PETM, the temperature rose to about 5.1 degrees during the PETM. Climate sensitivity is currently around 3 degrees.

"Our results show that the amount of carbon that drove the PETM warming was about the same amount as the current 'easily accessible' fossil fuel reserves of about 4,000 billion tons. But the warming that would result from adding such large amounts of carbon to the climate system would be much greater today than during the PETM and could reach up to 10 degrees. This is partly due to the current atmosphere containing much less<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-temperatures-soil-expelling-co2/"> CO2</a> - approximately 400 ppm (parts per million) - compared to before the PETM, where the concentration was about 1,000 ppm and partly because we emit carbon into the atmosphere at a much faster rate than during the PETM. If we then also take into account the fact that climate sensitivity increases with the temperature, it means that it is all the more urgent to limit global warming as soon as possible by reducing the man-made emissions of greenhouse gases," explains Professor Gary Shaffer, who conducted the study in collaboration with researchers from Purdue University, USA, the University of Chile and the Technical University of Denmark.

--

<a href="http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/press_and_media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Copenhagen</a>

Future global warming could be even warmer

Future global warming will not only depend on the amount...

Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion. Volkswagen has agreed to take a series of steps costing about $10.2 billion to settle claims from its unprecedented diesel emissions scandal in the U.S., two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.
Most of the money would go to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to turn on emissions controls during lab tests and turn them off while on the road, said the people, who asked not to be identified because a judge has issued a gag order in the case.
One of the people said the agreement was tentative and could change by the time the terms are officially announced by the judge on Tuesday. The bulk of the cash would be used to fix the cars, buy them back and compensate owners. Some funds would go to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plan-manage-wild-horses/">government</a> agencies as penalties and for a program to remediate the environmental damage caused by pollution, the person said.
Owners would have a choice between selling their vehicles back to VW at the value before the scandal broke on Sept. 18, 2015, or keeping the cars and letting the company repair them for free. Either way, they would also get $1,000 to $7,000 depending on their cars' age, with an average payment of about $5,000, one of the people said.
Attorneys representing owners, VW and government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency have not yet agreed on the steps VW will take to repair the cars, the person said. Any fix likely would require a bigger catalytic converter or injection of the chemical urea into the exhaust to help neutralize the pollution.
The $10.2 billion cost eclipses costs of all recent automotive scandals. General Motors, for instance, paid roughly $6.9 billion for its giant recall of defective ignition switches two years ago. But unlike other scandals, VW has admitted to deliberately deceiving government regulators.
The EPA has said the cars, which include many of VW's most popular models, can give off more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans. Around 11 million cars worldwide also had the cheating software, but nitrogen oxide emissions standards aren't as stringent outside the U.S.
Neither VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan nor EPA spokesman Nick Conger would comment on the settlement.
VW may have to pay additional penalties to government agencies, one of the people said. The Justice Department has sued VW on the EPA's behalf, and the automaker could also be penalized by the California Air Resources Board and the Federal Trade Commission, which has sued over false advertising claims.
Volkswagen owners filed dozens of lawsuits against VW after it acknowledged in September that it intentionally defeated emissions tests and put dirty vehicles on the road.
The company faces as much as $20 billion in fines for Clean Air Act violations alone, on top of paying to fix the cars or compensate their owners.
The settlement does not include 3-liter Volkswagen diesels, which had another version of cheating software.
Full details of the settlement are scheduled to be released Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.
----
Biesecker reported from Washington. Follow Tom Krisher at <a href="https://twitter.com/tkrisher." target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/tkrisher.</a> His work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tom-krisher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tom-krisher</a>
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion

Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion. Volkswagen has agreed...

APTOPIX Mine Waste Leak

New Mexico is suing the state of Colorado, saying its northern neighbor should be held responsible for the contamination from the massive Gold King Mine waste spill last year as well as decades of toxic drainage from mines near the headwaters of a shared river.
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office and the state Environment Department announced late Wednesday that they filed a complaint against Colorado with the U.S. Supreme Court. It seeks damages and demands that Colorado address problems at the mines.
It marks the second major legal salvo fired by New Mexico in the wake of the August 2015 spill, which fouled rivers in three Western states with a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. The state also is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the owners of two mines.
"We had hoped EPA and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=43a1bcd8519042938587934e6410c467&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNO4RA7ltALoNE5SspyvjPippfC5dYryHbFj%21iL6CyeVzODeCYVxBPjGgZaG6pe0mG8clvmyzw1vPyBZKyfra7h&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> would try to work with us and come up with solutions," New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told The Associated Press. "But the state of Colorado, its leadership, seems intent on defending EPA at every turn and is unwilling to work with us to move forward in a meaningful manner."
The Colorado governor's office said it is disappointed New Mexico has chosen "costly and time-consuming litigation."
"While the Gold King Mine spill was a striking reminder throughout the West that there are thousands of abandoned mines that would benefit from joint cleanup efforts, the litigation doesn't impact our commitment to addressing the challenges posed by historic mine drainage," the governor's office said in a statement.
The EPA has declined to comment on the lawsuit, but it has said it takes responsibility for the cleanup at the Gold King Mine.
An agency contractor accidentally triggered the spill. Wastewater made its way into the Animas River and eventually down to the San Juan River, setting off a major response by government agencies and private groups.
During the spill, water utilities shut down intake valves and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers as the plume moved downstream.
The EPA said water quality quickly returned to pre-spill levels. But New Mexico officials and others warn about heavy metals collecting in the sediment and getting stirred up each time rain or snowmelt results in runoff.
The lawsuit against Colorado details the results of recent soil samples taken north of Durango, Colorado, where discolored sediment was visible at residential properties. The results showed lead at concentrations far above the risk level established by the EPA.
It also outlines the business and regulatory history of the Sunnyside Gold Mine, where operators were allowed to install plugs that eventually caused wastewater to back up and fill the mine. That led to problems at nearby mines.
The shuttering of a water treatment plant for mine discharge further aggravated the situation, according to New Mexico officials.
By 2011, acidic drainage from four inactive mines at and above the former treatment plant - including at Gold King Mine - was pouring into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River, at a rate of nearly 850 gallons per minute, according to the lawsuit.
"The Gold King Mine release was the coup de grâce of two decades of disastrous environmental decision-making by Colorado, for which New Mexico and its citizens are now paying the price," the lawsuit says.
New Mexico contends Colorado's conduct now and in the past and the resulting contamination amounts to a public nuisance.
Attorney General Hector Balderas said New Mexicans rely on the Animas and San Juan rivers for drinking water, ranching, farming, tourism and more, so communities must be compensated and protected from future health and safety risks.
New Mexico and Colorado officials had been in talks for months, and Flynn said the state is still open to discussions in hopes of settling with the EPA and Colorado.
"We're here out of necessity," the environment secretary said. "I would prefer to spend time and resources resolving this rather than duking it out in court."
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Associated Press writer Dan Elliott in Denver contributed to this report.
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New Mexico sues Colorado over Gold King Mine spill

New Mexico is suing the state of Colorado, saying its...

Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe. Filtered tap water is safe for everyone in Flint, Michigan, the federal government said Thursday, lifting a recommendation that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 6 drink only bottled water to avoid lead exposure.
The announcement was based on tests of filters that have been distributed for months for free by the state of Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency said the filters remove or reduce lead to well below the action level of 15 parts per billion, although no lead is considered safe. Some samples from high-risk areas in Flint have been coming back at less than 1 part per billion. Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe
"It is encouraging news," said Mayor Karen Weaver, who still wants all lead-tainted plumbing replaced.
Flint used the Flint River for 18 months, but lead leached from old pipes at homes because the water wasn't treated to control corrosion. Although the city switched water sources last fall, there still is lead in the system.
Officials have been telling most Flint residents that it's OK to drink filtered tap water, including President Barack Obama, who sipped from a glass during a visit in May. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he drank filtered water from a Flint home for more than 30 days.
"People using filtered water instead of bottled water can relieve a significant burden on themselves because they don't have to deal with transporting and storing it," Snyder said.
Trust still is a hurdle in Flint, 60 miles north of Detroit, where people were repeatedly told that water from the Flint River was safe before Snyder and his environmental regulators last fall finally acknowledged that the system was poisoned by lead.
Marc Edwards, an environmental engineering expert at Virginia Tech who helped uncover the lead scandal, praised the government for confirming that filters were working properly before lifting the bottled water recommendation.
"The agencies involved in the disaster response are now worthy of the public trust," Edwards said.
Bob Kaplan, the EPA's Midwest acting regional administrator, said water quality is improving but it's not known when Flint can drink unfiltered tap water.
Volunteers will be fanning out Saturday to check more than 2,300 homes for filters and provide help if needed. Weaver said donations of bottled water still are needed because there are homes where filters don't fit on old faucets.
"This is not the ultimate solution to the problem in Flint," the mayor said of filters. "We still need new infrastructure."
In March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded that it was a "case of environmental injustice" in a poor, majority black city. While under state emergency management, the city began using the Flint River to save money while a regional pipeline was being built to Lake Huron.
---
Follow Ed White at <a href="http://twitter.com/edwhiteap">http://twitter.com/edwhiteap</a>
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Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe

Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe. Filtered tap...

Climate impacts life strategies, time orientation, self-control

Climate change is linked to violent behavior. Researchers have long struggled to explain why some violent crime rates are higher near the equator than other parts of the world. Now, a team of researchers have developed a model that could help explain why. This new model goes beyond the simple fact that hotter temperatures seem to be linked to more violent behavior. Paul van Lange, a professor of psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam along with Maria I. Rinderu (VU Amsterdam) and Brad Bushman, a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University and VU Amsterdam developed a new model - called CLASH (CLimate Aggression, and Self-control in Humans). They describe the CLASH model in an online article in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences.Climate change is linked to violent behavior

The researchers believe that hot climates and less variation in seasonal temperatures leads to a faster life strategy, less focus on the future, and less self-control - all of which contribute to more aggression and violence. "Climate shapes how people live, it affects the culture in ways that we don't think about in our daily lives," said Paul Van Lange, lead author of the article. "We believe our model can help explain the impact of climate on rates of violence in different parts of the world."

Many studies have shown that levels of violence and aggression are higher in hot climates. "But the two leading explanations of why that is so aren't satisfactory", Bushman said. The General Aggression Model (which Bushman helped develop) suggests hot temperatures make people uncomfortable and irritated, which makes them more aggressive. "But that doesn't explain more extreme acts, such as murder", he said. Another explanation (Routine Activity Theory) is that people are outdoors and interacting more with others when the weather is warm, which leads to more opportunities for conflict. But that doesn't explain why there's more violence when the temperature is 95 degrees F (35 °C) than when it is 75 degrees F (24 °C) - even though people might be outside under both circumstances.

Not just hotter temperatures lead to violence

The CLASH model states that it is not just hotter temperatures that lead to more violence - it is also climates that have less seasonal variation in temperature. "Less variation in temperature, combined with heat, brings some measure of consistency to daily life", Rinderu said. That means there is less need to plan for large swings between warm and cold weather. The result is a faster life strategy that isn't as concerned about the future and leads to less need for self-control. "Strong seasonal variation in temperature affects culture in powerful ways. Planning in agriculture, hoarding, or simply preparing for cold winters shapes the culture in many ways, often with people not even noticing it. But it does shape how much a culture values time and self-control, " Van Lange said. "If there is less variation, you're freer to do what you want now, because you're not preparing foods or chopping firewood or making winter clothes to get you through the winter. You also may be more concerned with the immediate stress that comes along with parasites and other risks of hot climates, such as <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=venomous&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=bd3786fe91f54a9aaca37de066a2a5aa&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNO4RA7ltALoNE5SspyvjPizdbvc29r90BnjdqidggKkm9xnaRfoQ6bHJF5mnAon6Rn7d7wY7qXPfInfCSfDgGP&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">venomous</a> animals "

People living in these climates are oriented to the present rather than the future and have a fast life strategy - they do things now. "We see evidence of a faster life strategy in hotter climates with less temperature variation - they are less strict about time, they have less use of birth control, they have children earlier and more often," Bushman said. With a faster life strategy and an orientation toward the present, people have to practice less self-control, he said. That can lead people to react more quickly with aggression and sometimes violence.

The theory is not deterministic and isn't meant to suggest that people in hotter, consistent climates can't help themselves when it comes to violence and aggression. "How people approach life is a part of culture and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/urban-agriculture-food-desert/">culture</a> is strongly affected by climate," Van Lange said. "Climate doesn't make a person, but it is one part of what influences each of us. We believe it shapes the culture in important ways," he said. Since CLASH is a new theory, studies have to be done to prove it is correct. But Rinderu said a lot of evidence already suggests that the theory may be on to something. "We believe CLASH can help account for differences in aggression and violence both within and between countries around the world," Van Lange said. "We think it provides a strong framework for understanding the violence differences we see around the world," he said.
###
Note for the editors

Contact: Paul Van Lange, <a href="mailto:p.a.m.van.lange@vu.nl">p.a.m.van.lange@vu.nl</a> or Brad Bushman, 614-688-8779;<a href="mailto:Bushman.20@osu.edu">Bushman.20@osu.edu</a>

Or contact our press officers at Ohio State: Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457;<a href="mailto:Grabmeier.1@osu.edu">Grabmeier.1@osu.edu</a> or Doede van der Hoeven from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam via<a href="mailto:d.c.vander.hoeven@vu.nl">d.c.vander.hoeven@vu.nl</a> or 0031-205982726

Climate change is linked to violent behavior

Climate impacts life strategies, time orientation, self-control Climate change is...

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival. Scientists say good bacteria could be the key to keeping coral healthy, able to withstand the impacts of global warming and to secure the long-term survival of reefs worldwide.

"Healthy corals interact with complex communities of beneficial microbes or 'good bacteria'," says Dr. Tracy Ainsworth from the ARC Centre of Excellence for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef">Coral Reef</a> Studies at James Cook University who led the study. "It is very likely that these microorganisms play a pivotal role in the capacity of coral to recover from bouts of bleaching caused by rising temperatures."

"Facilitating coral survival and promoting coral recovery are growing areas of research for coral reef scientists," says co-author Dr. Ruth Gates from Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i. "To do this we need to explore and understand the bacteria that help keep corals and coral reefs healthy."

Dr. Ainsworth and Dr. Gates have identified new directions for research in understanding coral survival in rapidly changing reef environments.

"We know that lasting changes to the community of beneficial bacteria affects important aspects of the function of host organisms such as humans or corals, including their ability to withstand further stress," says Dr. Ainsworth.

"Corals rely on good bacteria but crucially we don't yet understand these microbes well enough to know how they influence coral survival."

Their latest research has been published in the journal Science, and gives an overview of the current understanding of bacterial communities on corals. It highlights the vital importance of good bacteria to coral health.

The scientists discuss how corals, and coral reefs that survive large-scale changes in the environment over the coming decades, are likely to be very different from those of today.

They say the interaction between corals and good bacteria is crucial to long-term survival.

Their work comes from recent advances in understanding the complexity of the coral's genetic make-up and the unique bacterial communities that corals maintain.

"Preventing physical contact with corals and maintaining high water quality on reefs during stress events will reduce stress loads on corals and creates the best case scenario for survival and recovery," says Dr. Gates.

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival. Scientists say good...

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather. Scientists need more credible and relevant information to help communities become more resilient to extreme weather events such as floods, a <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Exeter</a> expert has said.

Researchers need improved techniques to be able to understand why the climate is changing, and the part humans play in this process, according to Professor Peter Stott, who also leads the Climate Monitoring and Attribution team at the Met Office.

In an article in the journal Science Professor Stott, who is part of the Mathematics Department at the University of Exeter, says reliable information is vital for policymakers as they decide how to safeguard people from extreme weather. Knowing what causes natural disasters can help inform decisions about how to rebuild or price insurance.

"Placing recent extreme events in the context of past and future climate variability and change would enhance the ability of societies to manage weather and climate-related risks," Professor Stott says in the article.

Climate change caused by humans has led to an overall increase in the frequency and intensity of daily temperature extremes and has led to more extreme rain over the world as a whole. But the risks of unusual weather events such as floods, droughts, and heat waves have changed differently in different parts of the world. More research is needed to understand exactly how communities are being affected by climate change.

Professor Stott co-edits an annual report explaining how the climate has affected extreme events of the previous year. The report has grown from considering only six events in 2011 to covering 28 different events in 2014. These reports help to explain if climate change has influenced either the magnitude or the probability of specific types of weather events.

Most researchers use mathematical modelling to help assess the extent of climate change. It is easier for them to find evidence that human-induced climate change causes extreme temperatures because there is a wealth of data on extreme hot and cold events and they can be well captured in climate models. Heatwaves occur over a wide area.

It is more difficult to examine extreme rainfall because there is a lack of accurate data, climate models can fail to represent them adequately, and their relationship with climate variability and change is often not well understood. Flooding is often extremely localised. Scientists are trying to rectify this through projects, including the European project EUCLEIA (European Climate and Weather Events: Interpretation and Attribution) which is led by Professor Stott and a team from the Met Office.

Professor Stott believes better ways of modelling and analysing climate change will be available very soon. He said: "I believe there is the potential for improvement in our ability to attribute extreme weather events within the next year or two. It is both possible to do this and important that we do. With this information societies will be in a better position to manage the risks of weather and climate-related disasters."

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather. Scientists...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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

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



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



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



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



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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