A new study has found that, contrary to previous claims, the ocean is not a significant source of microplastics to the atmosphere, but rather a major sink.&nbsp;



The research team used a global chemical transport model to evaluate how tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, move around the world. 



The finding challenges past assumptions about the ocean’s role in releasing plastic fragments into the air.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-journey-of-airborne-microplastics-nbsp">The journey of airborne microplastics&nbsp;</h2>



Plastic debris in dust form is increasingly recognized as a worldwide contaminant. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-in-the-brain-alarming-new-details-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microplastics</a> (particles less than 5 mm in diameter) have been detected in soils, freshwater, the ocean, and even in the air that we breathe.&nbsp;



Scientists warn that microscopic plastic bits pose risks for human health, since they can easily enter the respiratory system and the bloodstream.&nbsp;



Once airborne, these tiny pieces can travel large distances and eventually settle in remote or sensitive regions, harming wildlife and potentially impacting human populations.



But how do these particles enter the atmosphere in the first place? The planet’s primary sources of microplastics are typically found on land, from everyday materials such as vehicle tires shedding particles on roads, or synthetic clothing fibers washed out in domestic wastewater.&nbsp;



However, earlier models had suggested that there might be an additional large source at sea. Microplastics often accumulate in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-pose-a-greater-threat-to-some-ocean-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oceans</a>, carried there by rivers and other waterways. Then, once present in the marine environment, it was believed that they could be lofted into the air by sea spray or wind-driven wave action.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-the-ocean-s-contribution">What is the ocean's contribution?</h2>



Prior reports pointing to a large marine source relied on an inverse modeling technique. That method uses atmospheric measurements of particular substances and attempts to infer their origin by matching observed concentrations with predicted distributions.&nbsp;



Applied to microplastics, inverse modeling suggested the ocean might contribute hundreds of millions - or even billions - of kilograms of these fragments to the air each year.



Such massive figures were then tested experimentally, with scientists using wave tanks and other controlled setups to see how vigorously wave action or bursting bubbles could transfer plastics from the water surface into the atmosphere.&nbsp;



Those studies, however, hinted that only tens or hundreds of thousands of kilograms of plastic might plausibly be introduced into the air - orders of magnitude smaller than the figures derived from inverse modeling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-global-chemical-transport-model">A global chemical transport model</h2>



In an effort to reconcile these contradictory outcomes, a group led by researchers at the <a href="https://mpimet.mpg.de/en/homepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute for Meteorology</a> (MPI-M) ran a global chemical transport model. This computer model simulates the movement of substances, such as microplastic particles, through the atmosphere.&nbsp;



By prescribing a minor oceanic emission of microplastics - consistent with the low estimates from laboratory work - they were able to predict how microplastic concentrations should appear in the air at various locations around the globe.



The results aligned well with real-world measurements. Based on the model, the ocean in fact took up some of these airborne particles instead of emitting them in large quantities.&nbsp;



The scientists learned that rather than being a source, the ocean appeared to be a sink, in which 15 percent of all airborne microplastics are deposited.&nbsp;



In other words, waves, spray, and wind may occasionally lift small amounts of plastic out of the sea, but far more of the material is settling onto the water rather than emanating from it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-airborne-microplastics-travel">How airborne microplastics travel</h2>



The study also uncovered the significant influence of particle size on how microplastics travel. Larger plastic fragments drop out of the atmosphere relatively quickly, often landing in coastal areas or not far from their point of emission.&nbsp;



By contrast, smaller particles can remain suspended for up to a year. That extended flight time allows them to cross entire oceans or continents and reach distant regions such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/citizen-scientists-uncover-microplastics-in-the-remote-arctic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arctic</a>, where they land on ice or snow.



These discoveries highlight the global character of plastic contamination, showing that microplastic dust can be widespread in places typically considered pristine.&nbsp;



They also clarify that stopping microplastic pollution at its land-based sources may be the most efficient approach, as the ocean itself is neither the greatest emitter nor the root cause.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-roadmap-for-pollution-reduction">A roadmap for pollution reduction</h2>



Given that airborne microplastics reach faraway corners of the planet, the research team’s results have immediate practical value. Any broad plan to cut plastic pollution should focus on terrestrial origins: tire wear on roads, textiles shedding fibers, and insufficiently treated wastewater.&nbsp;



Additionally, lessening single-use plastics and improving waste management at landfills can help limit microplastics before they disperse into the environment.



These findings show that ocean waters, already burdened by plastic accumulations, are predominantly sinks - taking in plastic particles from the air. They also emphasize that microplastics do not stay put in the environment: large ones settle nearby, while smaller ones can travel global distances.&nbsp;



Future models aimed at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-changing-the-entire-earth-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic pollution</a> will need to consider these dynamics in more detail, particularly when mapping out strategies to protect vulnerable ecosystems, reduce human exposure, and maintain cleaner oceans.



By settling this debate over whether the ocean is more of a source or a sink, scientists can now direct their attention to mitigating the true origins of airborne microplastics, thus improving targeted policies to help address this pressing environmental concern.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00914-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">npj Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>.



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Airborne microplastics: Where they come from and where they go

A new study has found that, contrary to previous claims, the ocean is not a significant source of microplastics to the atmosphere, but rather a major sink.&nbsp; The research team used a global chemical transport model to evaluate how tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, move around the world. The finding challenges past assumptions about the ocean’s role in releasing plastic fragments into the air. The journey of airborne microplastics&nbsp; Plastic debris in dust form is increasingly recognized as a worldwide contaminant. Microplastics (particles less than 5...

New US energy bill in serious jeopardy. Congressional efforts to approve the first major energy bill in nearly a decade are in jeopardy amid a partisan dispute over oil drilling, water for drought-stricken California and potential rollback of protections for the gray wolf and other wildlife.
A bipartisan bill approved by the Senate in April would boost oil and natural gas production while encouraging renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and increased energy efficiency.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called the overwhelming 85-12 Senate vote "a significant victory that brings us much closer to our goal of modernizing our nation's energy policies," while Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the panel's senior Democrat, said the measure was "urgently needed."
But the bill's prospects dimmed after the House approved a series of election-year amendments last month that promote Republican priorities, such as increased drilling for oil and gas and overriding protections for the gray wolf and other species under the Endangered Species Act. The House bill also would promote hunting and fishing on federal lands, shift more water to California farmers and cut the flow for threatened fish.
The House proposal includes at least seven measures that the White House strongly opposes or has threatened to veto.
House leaders have named 40 lawmakers to serve on a joint House-Senate committee to negotiate a final agreement, but Democrats are threatening to use a procedural motion to scuttle Senate action unless the GOP amendments are withdrawn.
"I wish they could do something besides legislation that has been already circled for veto pen action by the president," Cantwell said after the House vote. A House-Senate "conference that starts with that as the baseline is not going to be a productive effort."
Senators from both parties are expected to discuss the bill at closed-door luncheons on Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House-approved bill was nothing more than "a partisan, special interest package that fails to invest in infrastructure, leads to more energy consumption and carbon pollution, stacks the deck against the environment and ... undermines protections for our public lands and wildlife."
Republicans defended the measure.
"This bill is about jobs. It's about keeping energy affordable. It's about boosting our energy security, here and across the globe," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Eight Democrats joined 233 Republicans to support the bill, while 178 lawmakers- including six Republicans - opposed it.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the GOP bill "modernizes our energy infrastructure so we can address urgent priorities for the country, from tackling California's drought crisis to healing our forests in order to prevent wildfires."
The next steps are unclear.
"It's really hard to see how this thing moves forward," said Marc Boom, associate director of government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. "I don't see why senators who worked very hard on a bipartisan process would want to get into the (negotiating) room with a partisan product" like the House bill.
Even so, Murkowski professed optimism, especially given the overwhelming vote in the Senate. "There's just so much good in this, let's figure out how we can get going," she said.
Cantwell did not rule out participation by Senate Democrats in a House-Senate conference, but said, "A 21st-century energy policy has nothing to do with rolling back environmental laws. It should be about smart investments in American infrastructure, innovation and new technologies."
Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, strongly opposed the Senate bill, especially proposals to support renewable energy and extend authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which protects parks and other public lands.
While Heritage is confident that House Republicans will hold the line on the bill, Democratic efforts to scuttle the measure may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, spokesman Dan Holler said. "If the result of Democrat obstructionism is that they snuff out awful policy, that's fine with us," he said.
Phil Sharp, a former Democratic congressman who now serves as president of Resources for the Future, a nonpartisan think tank, said the energy bill poses "a real test" for Congress, especially Ryan and other House GOP leaders.
"Do they think they are there to legislate and make progress, or do they want to make a statement about themselves?" Sharp said. "Speaker Ryan suggests this is an important priority for him. We'll see if that suggests action."
---
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New US energy bill in serious jeopardy

New US energy bill in serious jeopardy. Congressional efforts to...

Operation IceBridge completes 2016 Arctic spring campaign. Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne survey of polar ice, ended its eighth spring Arctic campaign on May 21. During their five weeks of operations, mission scientists carried out six research flights over sea ice and ten over land ice.
<div>

"We collected data over key portions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, like the fast-changing Zachariae Isstrom Glacier, and we got the broad geographic coverage of Arctic sea ice we needed," said Nathan Kurtz, IceBridge's project scientist and a sea ice researcher at <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=5389b833084446988710430256cdccd4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA's</a> Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "This is an important continuation of the time series for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-rate-of-melting-ice-in-antarctica-is-not-consistent/">Arctic</a> ice, particularly with the very warm Arctic winter noticeably impacting sea ice retreat and ice sheet melt onset this year." Operation IceBridge completes 2016 Arctic spring campaign

The 2016 Arctic campaign's inaugural research flight took place April 19 aboard one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunter planes, a P-3 Orion. This year's deployment was shorter than normal due to aircraft maintenance issues and persistent bad weather in the north of Greenland. The first part of the campaign --based out of Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland and also out of Fairbanks, Alaska-- focused on sea ice.

"The good news is that we covered the entire western Arctic basin," said Jackie Richter-Menge, IceBridge science team co-lead and sea ice researcher with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire.

In the coming weeks, IceBridge scientists will be releasing a dataset of sea ice measurements that were collected during this deployment. Modelers will use the data --together with other measurements, such as those of the European Space Agency's (ESA) CryoSat-2 satellite-- to try to forecast how the upcoming melt season will evolve.

"This year we're looking at the potential of an extremely low sea ice extent, so IceBridge's measurements of sea ice will be particularly relevant," Richter-Menge said.

During this campaign the IceBridge aircraft flew under the path of Sentinel-3A, a recently launched ESA satellite that carries a radar altimeter that gauges sea ice thickness. Scientists will compare the Sentinel-3A measurements to the data IceBridge collected over the same spots with its radar and laser altimeters. This comparison will help validate and refine Sentinel-3A's data gathering.

The last leg of this year's springtime Arctic deployment was based out of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and focused on measuring changes in the elevation of the ice sheet.

"Unlike with the sea ice portion of the campaign, we had a streak of good weather in Kangerlussuaq and the science flights picked up -- we flew 10 out of 11 possible flight days," said John Sonntag, IceBridge mission scientist. "It was a very positive way to end our deployment."

This summer, IceBridge will conduct two additional campaigns to measure the impact of the melt season on Arctic sea and land ice. The first one will take place in late July and will be based out of Barrow, Alaska, focusing on the sea ice cover in the Beaufort Sea. The second one, planned for late August to early September, will be based in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and repeat land ice missions that IceBridge completed in May, to measure how fast ice thins during the upcoming melt season. The Barrow campaign will last about two weeks, while the Kangerlussuaq deployment will go on for three weeks.

While in Kangerlussuaq, Operation IceBridge hosted several visitors: a TV crew from Spain working on a documentary about climate change in the Arctic; a freelance photographer; four IceBridge-affiliated scientists; and Kelly McCarthy, a science and math teacher from Coal Township, Pennsylvania, who visited IceBridge through the National Science Foundation's PolarTREC educational program.

Also new to the flights was Joe MacGregor, the recently-appointed IceBridge deputy project scientist and a land ice researcher with Goddard.

"It was a fantastic experience," MacGregor said. "It was nice to experience the raw challenges of collecting data and the decision-making process involved in moving forward with the campaign."

The mission of Operation IceBridge is to collect data on changing polar land and sea ice and maintain continuity of measurements between ICESat missions. The original ICESat mission ended in 2009, and its successor, ICESat-2, is scheduled for launch in 2018. Operation IceBridge is currently funded until 2019. The planned overlap with ICESat-2 will help scientists validate the satellite's measurements.

During its eight years of operations in the Arctic, IceBridge has gathered large volumes of data on changes in the elevation of the ice sheet and its internal structure. Measurements from IceBridge have revealed a 460-mile-long (740 kilometers) canyon hiding under a mile of ice and mapped the extent of a vast liquid water aquifer beneath the snow in southern Greenland. IceBridge's readings of the thickness of sea ice and its snow cover have helped scientists improve forecasts for the summer melt season and have enhanced the understanding of variations in ice thickness distribution from year to year.
###
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia provided the laser altimeter and one of the infrared cameras that were used during IceBridge's 2016 Arctic spring campaign. IceBridge's three radar instruments came from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, while NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, provided the Digital Mapping System, and the University of Colorado loaned the second infrared camera.

For more about Operation IceBridge, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/icebridge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www. nasa. gov/ icebridge</a>

</div>

Operation IceBridge completes 2016 Arctic spring campaign

Operation IceBridge completes 2016 Arctic spring campaign. Operation IceBridge, NASA's...

What satellites show us about rapid warming in the Arctic. It is not news that Earth has been warming rapidly over the last 100 years as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere. But not all warming has been happening equally rapidly everywhere. Temperatures in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-penguins-need-protection-from-human-activities/">Arctic</a>, for example, are rising much faster than the rest of the planet.
Patrick Taylor, an atmospheric scientist at <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=e429107cef504b978254e8f52e44c791&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA's</a> Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, says that one of the main factors for the rapid warming in the Arctic is how clouds interact with frozen seawater, known as sea ice.
These interactions influence the Arctic’s albedo feedback, which is a term scientists use to describe changes in the amount of solar energy absorbed by the Earth due to changes in the Earth's albedo caused by increased greenhouse gases. What satellites show us about rapid warming in the Arctic

The Earth's albedo is basically the fraction of sunlight that it reflects. Understanding what influences the Arctic’s albedo is particularly important, as its bright snow and ice make it one of the regions with the highest capacity to reflect solar energy.

Taylor's observations were possible thanks in part to new technology like NASA’s CALIPSO and CloudSat missions and an enhanced data product fusing together these unique instruments, which have been orbiting the planet since 2006 to provide more accurate measurements of clouds.

"The unique ability of CALIPSO and CloudSat instruments to provide very accurate knowledge of the vertical distribution of clouds was critical to this study," Taylor said.
Previous ideas about the Arctic were that its warming would likely be buffered -- or slowed down -- during summer by clouds, and Taylor explained why it’s reasonable to think that would happen in the summer. Arctic summers mean more sunlight to melt sea ice, which historically has covered huge areas of the ocean. Less sea ice results in the ocean absorbing more solar energy, causing it to warm, but then also allows for more water to evaporate into the atmosphere.
And since water droplets and tiny ice particles make up clouds, increased water vapor could result in cloudier skies that could then reflect sunlight.
"If the clouds were to increase in summer, that would then slow down the rate of melting," Taylor said. "That has been the thinking for a lot of years."
However, Taylor has been finding that the role of clouds and sea ice for Arctic climate change may be more complex than previously hypothesized. Using CALIPSO-CloudSAT satellite observations spanning from 2006 to 2010, he showed that cloud concentrations differed between ocean and sea ice much less than previously thought in summer.
His findings, which also showed an increase in clouds during fall season, were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
"There's no cloud response in summer to melting sea ice, which means it is likely that clouds are not slowing down the Arctic climate change that is happening—clouds aren't really providing the expected stabilizing feedback," Taylor said. "The fact that you are melting sea ice and uncovering more ocean and the fact that clouds don't increase during summer means that they are not buffering or reducing the rate of the warming, which implies the Arctic could warm faster than climate models suggest."
Clouds are a two-edged sword when it comes to climate change. They have both cooling and warming effects not just in the Arctic but across the entire planet. During the day, white and bright clouds reflect part of the sunlight hitting the planet back into space. At night, however, they act as a blanket that doesn't completely allow day-accumulated heat to escape into space.
This "blanket" mechanism is evident in just about any place on Earth.
"If you think about cold winter nights, normally the coldest ones we get have clear skies," Taylor said. "But if you have winter nights that actually have clouds, those tend to be a little warmer."
In the Arctic, this warming effect of clouds could influence sea ice during fall and winter, when the sun disappears for months and darker skies overlie oceans and land that spent an entire summer absorbing sunlight.
Although further research needs to be conducted, Taylor said the increased clouds he observed in the fall seasons could slow down the process of refreezing sea ice through the winter. Slow refreezing could translate into summers with less and thinner sea ice -- <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/2016-arctic-sea-ice-wintertime-extent-hits-another-record-low">something NASA satellites have already detected</a>.
It's a feedback loop.
"That's what my results imply," Taylor said. "More clouds in the fall may delay or slow down the refreezing of sea ice, and that can lead to a thinner or more susceptible ice pack that will melt more quickly when spring and summer come around."

Taylor also said one thing that is becoming more evident, thanks in part to his research, is that sea ice isn't controlling cloud behavior in the Arctic as much as previously thought. His study shows that different meteorological conditions like temperature, humidity and winds may be influencing Arctic clouds almost 10 times more than sea ice. What satellites show us about rapid warming in the Arctic

These conditions, which contribute to what is known as atmospheric stability, influence whether clouds form and remain close to the sea ice or ocean surface. Taylor said high atmospheric stability restricts a lot of energy exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere.

"That seems to be the reason we found more of a cloud response in fall but not in summer," he said. "We knew going in that meteorology was likely going to be important, but we were surprised it was so important."

Previous research on sea ice and cloud dynamics in the Arctic studied relationships between monthly averaged sea ice and clouds. Looking at the same months over several years, for example, they analyzed whether an area showed increases or decreases in clouds given its sea ice concentrations.

Taylor's study involved a more detailed approach gathering satellite imagery within shorter time spans and sorted them out by what he called atmospheric state regimes. In other words, he classified images of clouds and sea ice over the Arctic depending on whether conditions included certain amounts of humidity, temperature, or wind patterns.

Taylor said the study's design is very much like a preschool sorting activity, where teachers ask children to sort colored blocks into their respective color bins.

"It's really just a fancy way of sorting," he said. "The difference is that we are using atmospheric states and sea ice concentrations—not colors—and saying, 'this cloud is in this environment, so which bin should it go to?'"

Taylor is now trying to find out what's the implication of his results to Arctic energy budget and surface temperature, which are important factors to consider when simulating the future of Arctic sea ice.

"We found some cloud changes in the fall and some responses of clouds to sea ice, so the next question is: How important are they?" he said.

"These measurements have been invaluable to the study of Arctic clouds because for the first time we know for sure how much cloud cover is there and how high clouds are located," Taylor said. "We've been kind of flying in the dark for a long time when it comes to observing Arctic clouds."

--

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a>

What satellites show us about rapid warming in the Arctic

What satellites show us about rapid warming in the Arctic....

Arctic Sky

Environmental groups push for a stronger Polar Code. When the Polar Code takes effect in January 2017, it will strengthen the rules for many of the vessels sailing through Arctic waters. It will help protect the Arctic environment, but experts say gaps remain.

THE FIRST-EVER GLOBAL framework governing commercial shipping in polar zones isn’t even in effect, yet activists and scientists are already pushing for stronger environmental protections.

The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, known as the “Polar Code,” was adopted in a series of votes by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2014 and 2015. The agreement, much of which enters force in January 2017, establishes standards for ships operating in the icy waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

“We’re calling it a first phase. Not everyone does,” said Andrew Dumbrille, WWF-Canada’s oceans and Arctic manager.

Environmental groups have praised the IMO and industry stakeholders for negotiating a binding framework where previously there was none, but they continue to push for a broader regime that covers more maritime activity and adds further environmental protections, said Dumbrille.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2394111" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/06/07094244/arctic-polar-map_1big_IMO-150x150.jpg" alt="arctic-polar-map_1big_IMO" width="150" height="150" />The Polar Code amends the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and its corresponding pollution conventions. But SOLAS applies only to large vessels of 500 gross tons and more. That distinction means tankers, bulk carriers and cruise ships fall under the Polar Code regulations, while fishing boats, yachts and smaller adventure vessels do not, which left environmental groups dissatisfied.

“Right now the conversation around the Polar Code is whether to include non-SOLAS vessels. People are scratching their heads as to how you would actually apply it to fishing vessels. I think there is a broad understanding that it needs to happen,” said Dumbrille.

The challenge with fishing boats, Dumbrille said, is that home nations generally try to keep a firm grasp on regulation of their own fleets, making international agreements more difficult.

The environmental protocols ban discharges of oil, oily mixtures, plastics and noxious chemicals from ships traveling north of a boundary that ranges between 58 degrees N and 73 degrees N. In North America, the rules are in effect above 60 degrees N. Most sewage and food wastes cannot be dumped overboard within 12 nautical miles of an ice shelf – a thick, floating ice sheet attached to the coast.

Dumbrille said there should be a complete ban on discharging untreated sewage. The code also lacks curbs on the release of “gray water,” or non-sewage waste water from sinks, showers and clothes washing. Some vessels can store sewage and gray water on board for long periods, but others would need to install larger tanks or treatment systems.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2394110" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/06/07094240/arctic-polar-code-graphic-150x150.jpg" alt="arctic-polar-code-graphic" width="150" height="150" />Ecologists were disappointed that the Polar Code did not ban ships from using heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel) in the Arctic or carrying it as cargo. Burning heavy fuel oil (HFO) creates black carbon (fine soot) that speeds up melting when it falls on snow and ice. Unlike other fuels, HFO does not evaporate, but sticks to feathers and fur and can smother organisms. Dumbrille said Russia, in particular, blocked the measures because its northernmost communities tend to use heavy oil to generate electricity. Communities in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia are more likely to use cleaner diesel fuel.

Even so, a spill could be costly. “I still believe that the first thing that’s going to happen is a diesel release from a tourist vessel that wants to get just a little bit closer and closer to see the spectacular flora and fauna, and runs aground in a shallow area,” said Christopher Reddy, a marine chemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. “A spill like that in the wrong place at the wrong time can be pretty devastating.”

Policymakers should rely on science to identify sensitive areas and do what’s necessary to minimize the likelihood of a spill there, Reddy said.

It is a complex process to pinpoint the most vulnerable feeding, calving, migration and bird zones in polar regions, where the climate evolves rapidly. “I don’t think we have a good baseline in understanding these habitats and habitat sensitivities for the Arctic,” he added. “A place that is a very good breeding ground today might be very different five years from now.”

The Polar Code’s vessel safety standards include the need for ice-strengthened hulls, properly trained ice navigators, mandatory cold-weather gear and customized safe-voyage plans. Even if certain pollutants are not banned, these shipbuilding and operational requirements reduce the risk of an oil spill, said Lawson Brigham, a former U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker commander who is now a professor of geography and Arctic policy at the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=alaska&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=HS&amp;cvid=a134a638d28e4692afb8344c37bf4332&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOMAjS%21RFp6jzZWJ7AkCsIYKx2EAi9ADDTYaDaGGScuQCXDhsh3HWQYAqguf2pE2ITzBfF5KiMcWF8zwJZtAwUcF&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Alaska</a> Fairbanks.

“The Polar Code is a historic and seminal marine safety and protection regime for the polar waters,” Brigham said. “The No.1 thing that is needed to be done is to create a framework to move forward. It’s not as comprehensive as some might like (but) it deals with the prevention side and preventing (spills) from happening.”Environmental groups push for a stronger Polar Code

Reddy and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-find-a-supernova-that-is-so-bright-it-only-existed-in-theory/">Brigham</a> noted that an immediate concern is the lack of emergency assets in the vast seas. Very little equipment is available for spill containment, search and rescue, salvage or ship repair.

“There is a huge infrastructure gap,” Brigham said.

At IMO sessions later this year, the WWF and other participants intend to hold side meetings to discuss strengthening ecological safeguards and offering indigenous peoples a greater voice. Dumbrille said native villages need better protection from spills and more clean-up equipment.

“We need to empower and train and put resources in local communities,” he said. “Ultimately they are the first responders. It’s going to wash up on their shores and impact what they eat.”

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Credit: UPI

<a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/arctic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arctic Deeply</a>

Environmental groups push for a stronger Polar Code

Environmental groups push for a stronger Polar Code. When the...

Study: Global warming stunts flower fragrances. New research shows flower fragrances are stunted when ambient temperatures are higher.

Few things in the natural world come cheaply. Giving off perfume requires a significant energy investment from plants. According to scientists at the Hebrew University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Jerusalem&amp;cvid=ab9396ad6bdc47bca09943429aa5444c&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Jerusalem</a>, it's an investment plants often can't afford as rising temperatures suppress growth.

Scent isn't a luxury. Like color, shape and other aesthetic flourishes, it's an important strategy for attracting pollinators. Study: Global warming stunts flower fragrances

"Increases in temperature associated with the changing global climate are interfering with plant-pollinator mutualism, an interaction facilitated mainly by floral color and scent," researcher Alon Can'ani recently explained.

Can'ani found two hybrid petunia varieties grown at higher temperatures produce fewer phenylpropanoids, the volatile compounds that give flowers their unique scents. The diminished production was linked to a reduced activity of proteins that synthesize these compounds.

The research was published in the journal Plant, Cell &amp; Environment.

Can'ani's research focuses on the process of scent production in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-parasitic-plants-survive-with-no-body/">plants</a>.

Each flower fragrance can consist of hundreds of volatile compounds from a variety of biochemical groups. The genetic mechanisms underlying the production of these compounds are not well understood.

In a separate study, Can'ani showed that phenylpropanoid production could be maintained or increased regardless of ambient temperature by augmenting the Arabidopsis thaliana PAP1 gene.

The second study was published in the journal New Phytologist.

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Credit: UPI

<a href="http://new.huji.ac.il/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a>

Study: Global warming stunts flower fragrances

Study: Global warming stunts flower fragrances. New research shows flower...

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Coral reefs fall victim to overfishing, pollution and warming. Coral reefs are declining around the world because a combination of factors -- overfishing, nutrient pollution, and pathogenic disease -- ultimately become deadly in the face of higher ocean temperatures, researchers have concluded.

A study published today in Nature Communications, based on one of the largest and longest field experiments done on this topic, suggests that the widespread coral deaths observed in recent decades are being caused by this combination of multiple local stressors and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=global+warming&amp;cvid=21550d216e5944edac88a5e644d972e4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">global warming</a>.

These forces greatly weaken corals, and allow opportunistic pathogens to build to such levels that corals cannot survive.

The findings were made by researchers from six institutions following a three-year experiment that simulated both overfishing and nutrient pollution on a coral reef in the Florida Keys. The large body of field data collected over an extended period of time helped resolve some of the fundamental questions about the cause of coral reef declines, scientists said.

"This is grim news, but at least it will help settle the argument over why corals are dying," said Rebecca Vega Thurber, an assistant professor in the College of Science at Oregon State University and corresponding author on the study.

"This makes it clear there's no single force that's causing such widespread coral deaths. Loss of fish that help remove algae, or the addition of excess nutrients like those in<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fruit-eating-mammals-fertilize-the-soil-in-tropical-forests/"> fertilizers,</a> can cause algal growth on reefs. This changes the normal microbiota of corals to become more pathogenic, and all of these problems reach critical levels as ocean temperatures warm."

The end result, scientists say, is a global decline of coral reefs that is now reaching catastrophic proportions.

"We need to know how human activities are affecting coral reef ecosystems," says David Garrison, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research. "Coral reefs are among the most sensitive indicators of the health of the oceans. This report is a major contribution toward understanding how reefs will fare in the future."

Scientists say the problems caused by bacterial infections due to local stressors and warm temperatures are in addition to damage from mass coral bleaching events already under way. Only in the early 1980's did researchers observe the first mass bleaching event in recorded history. There have now been three such events just in the past 20 years.

"About 25-35 percent of the corals on the Great Barrier Reef are dying right now," Vega-Thurber said. "In 2014-16 large portions of tropical reef across the planet experienced bleaching, and this past April, 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef bleached as part of a massive El Nino event. Corals everywhere seem to be dying."

In addition to helping to sort out the effects of known stressors like overfishing and nutrient pollution, the researchers made one bizarre and totally unexpected finding.

In normal conditions, parrotfish, like many other species, are essential to the health of coral reefs, nibbling at them to remove algae and causing no permanent damage. But in one part of the experiment corals were so weakened by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that when parrot fish would bite them, 62 percent of the corals would die. A normally healthy fish-coral interaction had been turned into a deadly one.

"We want to make clear that parrotfish are not the problem, they are a normal and essential part of healthy reef ecosystems," Vega-Thurber said. "The problem is when corals are so weakened they cannot withstand normal impacts. And the solution will be to help those corals recover their health, by ensuring that their local environment is free of nutrient pollution and that fish stocks are not depleted."

Among the findings of the study:
<ul>
 	<li>Overfishing, nutrient pollution and increased temperature all lead to an increase in pathogens;</li>
 	<li>The sheer abundance of pathogens is more important than what particular type or species they are;</li>
 	<li>Coral reef mortality mirrors the abundance of pathogens;</li>
 	<li>Heat exacerbates these problems, with 80 percent of coral deaths coming in the summer or fall, but only when fish are removed or nutrient pollution is present;</li>
 	<li>While high thermal stress has received the most attention, even modest temperature increases make corals more vulnerable to bacteria;</li>
 	<li>Loss of fish can increase algal cover up to six times;</li>
 	<li>In a distressed system with many algae, coral disease levels double and coral mortality increases eight times;</li>
 	<li>Increased algal cover or elevated temperature can reduce levels of naturally-secreted antibiotics that help protect corals from harmful bacteria;</li>
 	<li>Direct algal contact driven by overfishing and nutrient pollution destabilizes the coral microbiome, in some cases leading to a 6- to 9-time increase in mortality.</li>
</ul>
The findings, researchers say, make it clear that in the face of global warming, some of the best opportunities to protect coral reefs lie in careful management of fishing and protection of water quality. This would give corals their best chance to have a healthy microbiome and resist warmer conditions without dying.
###
Downloadable high-resolution video: <a href="http://bit.ly/1TSUe1N" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Interview with Rebecca Vega-Thurber</a>

Collaborators on this research were from Florida International University, the University of California/Santa Barbara, Penn State University, Rice University, the University of Florida/Gainsville, SymbioSeas and Marine Applied Research Center, and the Laboratoire d'Excellence.

&nbsp;

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Coral reefs fall victim to overfishing, pollution and warming

Coral reefs fall victim to overfishing, pollution and warming. Coral...

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Cheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental changeCheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental change which affects billions of people around the world, new research from the University of Exeter shows.

Experts have developed a new way of surveying vegetation which greatly advances the tools available to ecologists and land managers seeking understand dryland <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=ecosystem&amp;cvid=04265f7a28c74dc286b21547fff228ba&amp;pglt=43&amp;FORM=ANNTA1&amp;PC=HCTS">ecosystems.</a>

Using standard 'point and shoot' cameras attached to a drone and programmed to take pictures automatically, the 3D structure of the environment can be measured much more accurately than is possible using expensive satellite equipment or surveying these areas in person on the ground. Cheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental change

Dryland ecosystems cover 40 per cent of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drastic-changes-ahead-for-the-earths-tropical-rain-belt/">Earth's</a> surface. They provide services such as food, water and biofuel which support 2.4 billion people. These ecosystems are dynamic, changing through time, and it is essential that these changes are measured to understand the role of drylands in modulating climate change.

Recent research suggests that dryland ecosystems might play an important part in dryland exchange and this new surveying method will allow these new theories to be tested.

Experts from the University of Exeter collected 3D images of Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in Central New Mexico, USA using the $3,000 system. The data collected shows the subtle differences in the structure of vegetation and demonstrates how drones have the potential to revolutionise scientific understanding of ecology in these ecosystems.

Surveying areas in this way could reduce uncertainty in biomass inventories and allow previously unfeasible experiments to take place. It can also be used to increase knowledge about changing ecosystems in other places.

Andrew Cunliffe, from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, who led the study, will now use the techniques to measure vegetation in the changing Canadian arctic.

He said: "We have shown you can use inexpensive equipment to better measure plants and how they change over time and space. The nature of dryland ecosystems with many small plants means it is difficult to measure the vegetation in these places using previously available monitoring techniques."

"This technique bridges the gap between satellite and on-the-ground methods. It is a tool to help us further understand climate systems and what changes are happening now, and what could happen in the future."

Ultra-fine grain landscape-scale quantification of dryland vegetation structure with drone-acquired structure-from-motion photogrammetry is published in Remote Sensing of Environment.
 ---

</div>
<div><a href="http://lifesciences.exeter.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> College of Life and Environmental Sciences</a></div>

Cheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental change

Cheap cameras on drones can be used to measure environmental...

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Study: Climate change will impact farmland values. Over the next 70 to 100 years, our climate is projected to change dramatically, with major impacts on a wide variety of economic sectors. But the sector that is most likely to be affected by these changes is agriculture. A number of studies support this assertion, but relatively few look at the effect of climate change on agriculture from a comprehensive economic perspective.

An interdisciplinary team from the University of Illinois recently investigated the effects of climate change on farmland values in the Southwestern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/united-states-global-waste/">United States</a>.

"We chose to look at farmland values because they reflect the sum of future expected profits and account for adaptation. And that's exactly what climate change is about: long-term change and adaptation," explains U of I economist Sandy Dall'Erba.Study: Climate change will impact farmland values

The team focused on a single climate region, the U.S. Southwest, where climate changes are expected to make farming even more difficult than in other regions. The predictions say that places like Arizona will get hotter overall, with more frequent heat waves and more sudden and extreme rainfall events that could lead to periodic flooding. But even within that one climate zone, the team expected some variation. To capture that, they separated out the effects on lowland counties versus highland counties.

What's new about the work is that the team used an economic model that allowed them to look across production systems, so they could evaluate farmland values for soybean producers and cattle ranchers alike. The model, known as the Ricardian approach, also allowed for adaptation on the part of the farmer.

"Farmers are smart; you can't assume that in 100 years they're going to still be farming corn like they are now," Dall'Erba says. "<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;FORM=EDGENA&amp;PC=HCTS&amp;refig=830c566e9ffe4292e333aca825c008ed">Climate</a> is changing, new practices and new technologies develop, so they may switch to another production system. The Ricardian approach assumes farmers will adapt."

Further, they were able to integrate what they called "spillover" effects: the influence of one farmer's practices on another. "A simple example is irrigation -- the amount of water you get is very much dependent on how much the farmer upstream from you is taking away. That element has been pretty much overlooked in this framework so far," Dall'Erba notes. Another example of spillover is communication between farmers about farm practices and the availability of certain subsidies.

Finally, the team evaluated multiple climate change scenarios. In most socioeconomic research relating to climate change, a single scenario is tested. Dall'Erba's co-author, U of I atmospheric scientist Francina Dominguez, knew that it was important to provide a range of what the future climate will look like. As such, the researchers worked with seven scenarios of future climate data derived from several global and regional climate models.

Taking all of these factors into account, the team found that irrigation, population density, and farm subsidies all increased farmland value, but subsidies had an effect in highland counties only. In addition, heat waves were found to hurt productivity.

Their results also indicated that land values in one location are influenced by irrigation and climate conditions in neighboring locations due to water depletion, water run-off, and/or sudden floods that follow intense rainfall.

"Counties are open economies, so elements beyond their boundaries have an influence on them," Dall'Erba says. "Overall, and based on the set of future climate scenarios accounted for in our work, it seems that highland counties will be more affected by climate change than lowland counties."

The next step for the research team is to apply their approach to the rest of the country. Because they found variation between highland and lowland counties within a single climate zone, they're expecting to find even more spatial variation when they look at the country as a whole. They also plan to incorporate the role of trade of agricultural products into their system.

"One element that has been overlooked in the field is that one locality may experience a sudden drought and, as a result, may import more corn or cotton from elsewhere. That kind of spillover due to unexpected weather events outside your own locality is something that deserves a lot more attention. Several articles along these lines have already appeared, but they focus on international trade. Much more needs to be done on the trade network taking place within countries," Dall'Erba says.
###
The article, "The impact of climate change on agriculture in the Southwestern United States: The Ricardian approach revisited," is published in Spatial Economic Analysis. The work was funded by the Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions Initiative as well as USDA's Environmental and Natural Resource Economics program.

The full text of the article can be read at: <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17421772.2015.1076574" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. tandfonline. com/ doi/ pdf/ 10. 1080/ 17421772. 2015. 1076574</a>

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Study: Climate change will impact farmland values

Study: Climate change will impact farmland values. Over the next...

Changing weather patterns threaten grassland songbirds. Two of North America's declining grassland songbirds may be particularly vulnerable to altered weather patterns caused by climate change, according to new research in The Condor: Ornithological Applications.
<div>

Extreme heat waves have been known to kill adult birds, and droughts can cause birds to abandon nests or skip breeding altogether. To learn what species might be at greatest risk, Jessica Gorzo of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her colleagues analyzed more than four decades of bird survey data from the Dakotas, Montana, and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=wyoming&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=3b483eac112f495585c3727640cb7a67&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOMAjS%21RFp6jzZWJ7AkCsIYKYyz7ZgqrGOHqWg8x5w8gI2ojkrdjx1rCd5CRe3rfXzF3zNcWbOglcqi*4BUOaeak&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Wyoming</a>, looking for patterns linking grassland bird abundance to temperature and precipitation.

Of the 14 bird species the researchers focused on, 5 showed significant associations with weather trends, their populations appearing to increase or decrease depending on whether a year had been particularly warm, cold, wet, or dry. Two, the closely related Grasshopper and Baird's sparrows, are already declining enough to concern conservationists, and this study shows that they may be particularly vulnerable to the warmer, drier conditions that are likely becoming more frequent due to climate change. Changing weather patterns threaten <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/from-the-grasslands-to-the-desert-in-morocco/">grassland</a> songbirds

"With climate change, there are bound to be winners and losers," according to Gorzo. "Of the species we considered, Grasshopper and Baird's Sparrows may be imminently at risk. These species responded similarly to our weather metrics, which made sense in light of their shared life history traits. Knowing that these species need tall, lush grassland vegetation, increasingly dry conditions could inhibit the growth they need to be successful."

The data for the study came from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, a program for which skilled volunteer birders conduct annual bird counts along set routes. "It was really an honor to work with this dataset, because though I don't run a route myself, I have many friends who have been visiting the same route year after year and take pride in what they contribute to our understanding of the continent's birds," says Gorzo. "It is a tremendous volunteer effort that takes skill, dedication and hard work. To be able to put it to good use to elucidate some patterns relevant to climate change felt really rewarding, and I can't thank birders over the decades enough for working year in and year out to add to this dataset."
###
"Using the North American Breeding Bird Survey to assess broad-scale response of the continent's most imperiled avian community, grassland birds, to weather variability" will be available June 8, 2016, at <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-15-180.1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. aoucospubs. org/ doi/ full/ 10. 1650/ CONDOR-15-180. 1</a> (issue URL <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. aoucospubs. org/ toc/ cond/ 118/ 3</a>).

About the journal: The Condor: Ornithological Applications is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology. It began in 1899 as the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Club, a group of ornithologists in California that became the Cooper Ornithological Society.

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Changing weather patterns threaten grassland songbirds

Changing weather patterns threaten grassland songbirds. Two of North America's...

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Air pollution affects young people's psychiatric health. New research from Umeå University in Sweden indicates that dispensed medication for psychiatric diagnosis can be related to air pollution concentrations. The study covers a large part of the Swedish population and has been published in the journal BMJ Open.

More and more studies show that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/schizophrenia-linked-to-irregular-fatty-metabolism-in-the-brain/">brain</a> and human cognitive development are affected by pollution.

In a new study conducted by a research team at Umeå University, the correlation between exposure to air pollution in residential areas and children' and adolescents' psychiatric health was studied. The study was performed by looking at register-based data, where dispensed medications of all Swedes are registered, together with Swedish National Register data of air pollution concentrations. The entire population under 18 in the Swedish counties of Stockholm, Västra Götaland, Skåne and Västerbotten were studied.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2394406" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/06/08105020/cff1.greenatom.netuploads20160608105017media.eurekalert.orgmultimedia_prodpubweb117202_web-9c1cbc018075241e4b539fed953fb28efb30c549-03192d777b3c05d78e99b796972b8fa9255b633e-150x150.jpg" alt="Anna Oudin" width="150" height="150" />Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne counties are located in the more densely populated parts in the south and contain the three largest cities in Sweden with a population density of between 68 and 338/km2 whereas Västerbotten County lies the north of Sweden with a population density of 5/ km2. The four counties are different not just in terms of geographic location, size and population density but also with respect to migration, socioeconomic characteristics, urbanisation, and air pollution concentrations.

The results show that air pollution increased the risk of having dispensed medication for at least one psychiatric diagnosis for children and adolescents, the risk increased with 9% with a 10 microgram per cubic meter increased concentration of nitrogen dioxide even after socioeconomic and demographic factors were taken into account.Air pollution affects young people's psychiatric health

"The results can mean that a decreased concentration of air pollution, first and foremost traffic-related air pollution, may reduce psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents," says researcher Anna Oudin, the Unit for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, who led the study.


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Air pollution affects young people's psychiatric health

Air pollution affects young people's psychiatric health. New research from...

Danger from extreme storms and high seas increasing. Storms that battered Australia's east coast are a harbinger of things to come and a stark reminder of the need for a national effort to monitor the growing threat from climate change, UNSW coastal researchers warn.
<div>

"The damage we've seen is a harbinger of what's to come," said Ian Turner, Director of the Water Research Laboratory at the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=new+south+wales&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=574a1a6b27d74aa68c028a6a27076b7c&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOMAjS%21RFp6jzZWJ7AkCsIYKJQJ9pZNHl1cDkQ9CUpFB9Qb9m0IoYZ6bG2cwbPpzPBMXXdYsOXriPoes7nMIS6ZW&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">New South Wales</a>. "Climate change is not only raising the oceans and threatening foreshores, but making our coastlines much more vulnerable to storm damage. What are king high tides today will be the norm within decades."

Turner's lab manages one of the world's longest-running beach erosion research programs, at Collaroy and Narrabeen in Sydney, using drones, real-time satellite positioning, fixed cameras, and airborne LiDAR and quadbikes. The variability, changes and trends in coastal erosion at the beaches have been tracked since 1976. Danger from extreme storms and high seas increasing

But the data collected by the UNSW team is only reliable for modelling when it comes to predicting effects in southeastern<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/logging-intensified-the-risk-and-severity-of-australian-wildfires/"> Australia</a>. For the vast bulk of Australia's 25,760 km long coastline, researchers -- and the governments and coastal communities they advise -- are largely making guesses based on limited or non-existent data, say researchers.

"The wealth of data we've collected over decades makes our models of coastal variability increasingly more reliable -- but only for a 500 km stretch of southeastern Australia," Turner added. "But when it comes to modelling other parts of Australia, in many locations we are basically working blind.

"There are very different coasts across the country exposed to very different conditions, and we just don't have the observational data we need to make predictions with any great confidence," he said. "For that, we need a national approach."

The long-term data from the UNSW program has been crucial in understanding how climate change is changing Australia's coasts, recently showing that El Niño and La Niña cycles will intensify coastal hazards, leading to changes in behaviour of storms, extreme coastal flooding and erosion in populated regions across the Pacific.

As a result, estimates of coastal vulnerability - which once focussed on sea level rise -- now have to factor in changing patterns of storm erosion, more intense storms, and other coastal effects.

Dr Mitchell Harley, a Senior Research Associate at the Lab who manages the Narrabeen-Collaroy program, said that beach erosion and coastal variability has been found to be a lot more complex than had originally thought, partly thanks to insights from the UNSW data.

"It's now clear that sea level rise is not the only player in climate change: shifts in storm patterns and wave direction also have consequences, and distort or amplify the natural variability of coastal patterns," Harley said.

Turner added, "These are precisely the conditions we experienced in Sydney over the past weekend -- waves from the north-east, combined with unusually high sea levels brought on by king tides wreaked considerable damage. And, as sea levels rise, even ordinary tides will reach higher. What we consider king high tides today will be commonplace within decades."

In 2014, Australian coastal researchers called for the creation of a national coastline observatory, with basic data - such as sub-aerial profiles, bathymetry and inshore wave forcing measurements - collected routinely from a network of around 20 'representative' beaches across Australia.

This would provide valuable data that could be used to more accurately model how Australia's more than 11,000 beaches are changing, and predict how they will respond as climate change sets in.

The long experience gained by UNSW in Sydney's Northern Beaches "gives us a template of what can be achieved across Australia," said Turner. "But without consistent and national observational data -- from very different regions like the tropical north, or the highly energetic southwestern coastlines, or the Indian Ocean coastlines of Western Australia -- it's of little value. To say we have blindspots is an understatement."

Harley agreed, adding: "For the great majority of Australia's coastlines, we don't have observations for how they are behaving now -- let alone any clear idea how they might respond to increasing variability in the future. We see it happening at Narrabeen-Collaroy, and can therefore predict it for this part of Australia. But elsewhere, we're largely operating in the dark."
###
DOWNLOADS &amp; LINKS AVAILABLE (Must credit: "UNSW Water Research Laboratory")

Contacts:

BACKGROUND ON FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AT UNSW

UNSW's Faculty of Engineering is the powerhouse of engineering research in Australia, comprising of nine schools, 21 research centres and participating or leading 10 Cooperative Research Centres. It is ranked in the world's top 50 engineering faculties, and home to Australia's largest cohort of engineering undergraduate, postgraduate, domestic and international students.

UNSW itself has 52,000 students from 120 nations, and is ranked #1 in Australian Research Council funding ($68.3 million in 2014), ranked #1 in Australia for producing millionaires (#33 globally); and ranked #1 in Australia for graduates who create technology start-ups.

</div>

Danger from extreme storms and high seas increasing

Danger from extreme storms and high seas increasing. Storms that...

World Oceans Day: Deltas critical to ocean health. Delta: A place where sediment carried downstream by a river enters the sea, forming a fan of sand or mud.

Although deltas make up just 1 percent of the world's land, they're home to more than half a billion people -- and to fertile ecosystems such as mangroves and marshes.

Deltas also serve as economic hotspots, says hydrologist Efi Foufoula-Georgiou of the University of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota">Minnesota</a>. They support much of the world's fisheries, forest products and agriculture, and are food baskets for many nations.

"They're also ports of entry fostering growing cities and harbors," Foufoula-Georgiou says.

Scientists have found that deltas are disappearing at an alarming rate, however, affecting humans and many other species. World Oceans Day: Deltas critical to ocean health

"Deltas around the world play a significant role in providing local, regional and global human communities with agricultural and fisheries resources," says Maria Uhle, program director for international activities in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences, which funds Foufoula-Georgiou’s research. "The delta regions of Asia, for example, supply rice to a large percentage of the people who rely on it as a food staple."

Water and sediment: Lifeblood of a delta

Human actions rob deltas of their lifeblood: water and sediment. On a global scale, people have diverted more than 40 percent of river discharges and 26 percent of river sediments into large reservoirs.

"Deltas are sensitive indicators of changing conditions," says Tom Torgersen, program director in NSF’s Division of Earth Sciences, which also funds Foufoula-Georgiou’s research. "They respond to the effects of humans on the environment, including changes in river flows and sea levels."

Losses of wetlands to development, and the erosion that follows, further deplete deltas of sediment. "Sea level rise accelerates the losses," says Foufoula-Georgiou. "Hurricanes are often the death knell, cutting new channels and washing away huge amounts of mud and sand."

To find out how deltas around the world are faring, Foufoula-Georgiou and her colleagues are studying the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta, a vast fan that stretches across Bangladesh into West Bengal, India. Their work is part of the NSF-supported <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/goodbye?https://delta.umn.edu/">Sustainable Deltas Project</a>.

Despite its size, the GBM Delta is foundering. The delta is sinking, with water covering its land surfaces four times faster than sea level is rising.

"Sediment would normally help build up the delta," Foufoula-Georgiou says. But human land use upriver reduces the amount of sediment carried downstream. A further insult comes from shrimp farming, which modifies delta channels and results in yet more loss of land.

Almost 150 million people live in the GBM region. "Most of them rely on the delta's natural resources," Foufoula-Georgiou says, "so they, as well as the wildlife that depends on the delta's rich sediment, are literally losing ground."

The scene is far from unusual. Much of the sediment has been cut off from deltas across Asia. India has seen a 50 percent reduction for the Brahmani Delta, a 74 percent reduction for the Mahanadi, and a 94 percent reduction for the Krishna.

Nursery grounds for fish, bulwarks against storms

Deltas provide important nursery grounds for many fish species, and support both subsistence and commercial fisheries. They're also prime places for people to settle. Popularity isn't always a good thing, however.

"The catastrophic effects of floods in deltas were clearly demonstrated by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S.," says Foufoula-Georgiou. Katrina resulted in costs estimated at $152 billion. "In comparison with other ecosystems, the restoration of coastal ecosystems such as deltas is among the most expensive," Foufoula-Georgiou says.

Although researchers understand the risks to deltas, their knowledge of natural and human-caused processes in delta landscapes remains incomplete.

"We urgently need to understand the processes that make deltas susceptible to change, and to develop strategies for better management, protection and restoration of deltas," Foufoula-Georgiou says.

World's deltas not all alike

What makes that harder, she says, is that "deltas are enormously variable," from urbanized systems, such as the Pearl River Delta in China and the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt Delta in the Netherlands, to less developed deltas, such as those of the Amazon River and Alaska's Yukon River.

High-latitude deltas, such as the Yukon, Mackenzie in Canada and Lena in Russia, are sensitive to rapidly increasing Arctic temperatures, melting the permafrost on which many formed.

"By assimilating diverse sets of data for different deltas, we can start to predict how a delta is likely to respond to environmental changes," says Foufoula-Georgiou.

Finding answers: Eyes in the skies, boots in the mud

Observations from satellites can tell scientists a lot about river networks, delta sediments, and floods over time. The data offer insights into deltas at local, regional and global scales, and at regularly repeated intervals, something that’s otherwise impossible to achieve, scientists say.

"We also need to test hypotheses and models by getting our boots wet in the mud -- taking measurements on the ground," Foufoula-Georgiou says.

Through studies in the GBM, Mekong and Amazon -- three very different deltas -- researchers affiliated with the Sustainable Deltas Project are finding out how different delta ecosystems respond to climate change, urban development and dam construction.

"A critical part of the work is analyzing how human communities are affected by changes in these deltas," Foufoula-Georgiou says. "Ultimately, we need to accept change as inevitable, and be ready to adapt to it."

For example, she says that people may need to alter where they live to adapt to new coastlines. "But such shifts can be challenging. Populations in many developing countries can't easily move away from deltas due to economic reasons such as the need to grow rice and provide food."

Foufoula-Georgiou hopes that results from the Sustainable Deltas Project will support sound decision-making about deltas and their future.

"The answers matter for the three deltas we’re studying -- and for deltas across the globe."

--

<a href="http://www.nsf.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Science Foundation</a>

World Oceans Day: Deltas critical to ocean health

World Oceans Day: Deltas critical to ocean health. Delta: A...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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

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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

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[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

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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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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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