Antarctica’s winter sea ice usually forms a bright lid over millions of square miles. So when a massive, black patch was spotted by NASA scientists for the first time, satellite operators were taken aback, to say the least.



Then roughly a year later, the situation got even stranger. The gap, called a polynya, swelled to the size of Switzerland and stayed open for weeks.



Only after it refroze did researchers start piecing together how such an enormous opening in the ice could appear hundreds of miles from the nearest shoreline - right above a submerged plateau named Maud Rise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-polynyas-the-basics">Understanding polynyas - the basics</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Southern Ocean</a> is normally a layer cake. A thin cap of cold, relatively fresh water floats over saltier, warmer layers, and that slight density difference keeps the column from churning. 



A mid‑ocean polynya needs the cake to collapse. Salt must slip into the surface, make the top layer heavier, and flip the stack. 



Once that happens, convection kicks in, the lid fractures, heat pours skyward, and the ocean “breathes” gases.



Coastal versions manage something similar each year because fierce winds shove ice away from land. Out on the high seas, though, the phenomenon is much less common.



<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Rise" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maud Rise</a>, a 4,600‑foot‑tall seamount, may provide the missing ingredient by diverting currents and trapping water in tight spirals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stubborn-patch-over-maud-rise">Stubborn patch over Maud Rise</h2>



History backs that hunch. Between 1974 and 1976, a much larger hole lingered over Maud Rise each winter. 



The Maud Rise polynya was discovered in the 1970s, when remote‑sensing satellites capable of observing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-antarctic-sea-ice-loss-is-causing-severe-storms-around-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sea ice</a> over the Southern Ocean were first launched. 



It persisted through consecutive winters from 1974 to 1976, and oceanographers at the time assumed it would become an annual occurrence. But since the 1970s, it has occurred only sporadically and for brief intervals.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/antarctica_sea-ice-hole_Maud-Rise-polynya_switzerland-size_blue-ice_credit-NASA_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/antarctica_sea-ice-hole_Maud-Rise-polynya_switzerland-size_blue-ice_credit-NASA_1s.webp" alt="An arial view of the Maud Rise polynya. Scientists were baffled as to how this formed but now have an explanation. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory" class="wp-image-1966649" style="width:300px;height:auto"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An arial view of the Maud Rise polynya. Scientists were baffled as to how this formed but now have an explanation. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory</figcaption></figure>



“2017 was the first time that we've had such a large and long‑lived polynya in the Weddell Sea since the 1970s,” said Aditya Narayanan of the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southampton</a>, lead author of the study in Science Advances. 



He joined colleagues to probe the comeback with robotic floats, tagged elephant seals, and a high‑resolution <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrinking-sea-ice-what-record-lows-tell-us-about-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocean model</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-salt-storms-and-a-hidden-conveyor">Salt, storms, and a hidden conveyor</h2>



During those winters, the clockwise Weddell Gyre sped up. That spin drew a deep layer of warm, salty water nearer the surface, softening ice from below. Yet the meltwater should have freshened the lid and shut down mixing.



"This upwelling helps to explain how the sea ice might melt. But as sea ice melts this leads to a freshening of the surface water, which should in turn put a stop to the mixing," explained Fabien Roquet, a Professor in Physical Oceanography at the <a href="https://www.gu.se/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Gothenburg</a> and co-author of the research. 



"So, another process must be happening for the polynya to persist. There must be an additional input of salt from somewhere."



Roaring extratropical storms supplied part of that punch. Their swirling winds flung sea ice outward and dragged briny water toward Maud Rise. 



Atmospheric rivers - plumes of moist air stretching a thousand miles - added warmth from above, helping strip away stratification.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ekman-transport-as-the-missing-shove">"Ekman transport" as the missing shove</h2>



A final push came from physics first described a century ago. When wind blows across the ocean, Earth’s rotation deflects the surface flow roughly 90 degrees, a process called <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/04currents4.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ekman transport</a>. 



The model showed this flow steering salt‑laden water onto the northern flank of Maud Rise, exactly where the 2017 hole opened. 



“Ekman transport was the essential missing ingredient that was necessary to increase the balance of salt and sustain the mixing of salt and heat towards the surface water,” said co‑author Alberto Naveira Garabato, also from the University of Southampton.



The storms didn’t just move ice; they herded the right water into the right spot, letting convection roar. By late September, the opening had vented more than twenty times the heat that normally seeps through unbroken ice before finally freezing again.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-polynyas-have-a-global-impact">Polynyas have a global impact</h2>



A hole in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/southern-ocean-absorbs-more-co2-than-previously-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Southern Ocean</a> sea ice may look local, yet its fingerprints show up far away. 



“The imprint of polynyas can remain in the water for multiple years after they've formed," noted Professor Sarah Gille from University of California San Diego (<a href="https://www.ucsd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCSD</a>), another co-author of the research



"They can change how water moves around and how currents carry heat toward the continent. The dense waters that form here can spread across the global ocean.” 



Deep convection hauls carbon‑rich water upward, where it can release CO₂, and sends newly formed, oxygen‑rich brine sliding along the seafloor.



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



That heavy brine eventually feeds the global conveyor belt of currents that helps regulate climate. Because the Maud&nbsp;Rise mechanism hinges on a stronger gyre and stormier skies, its future frequency could ride on winds already shifting as the planet warms.



“For the first time since observations began in the 1970s, there's a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-low-antarctic-sea-ice-and-rapid-melting-pace-stuns-climate-scientists/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">negative trend in sea ice</a> in the Southern Ocean, which began around 2016. Before then, it had remained somewhat stable," Professor Gille concluded.



The same rise of warm, salty water that primed the 2017 hole now seems to be thinning ice across Antarctica’s fringe.



Scientists will watch the next few winters closely. Whether the polynya returns or not, its story shows that the frozen edge of the world can still spring surprises - and that what happens far south seldom stays there, for the wider planet.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj0777" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Massive hole the size of Switzerland appeared in the Antarctica sea ice, now we know why

Antarctica’s winter sea ice usually forms a bright lid over millions of square miles. So when a massive, black patch was spotted by NASA scientists for the first time, satellite operators were taken aback, to say the least. Then roughly a year later, the situation got even stranger. The gap, called a polynya, swelled to the size of Switzerland and stayed open for weeks. Only after it refroze did researchers start piecing together how such an enormous opening in the ice could appear hundreds of miles from...

Glimmer of hope in battle against coral bleaching. A report commissioned by the United Nations and co-authored by the University of Sydney's UNESCO Chair in Marine Science offers a glimmer of hope to those managing the impact of bleaching on the world's <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=coral+reefs&amp;cvid=9760408b3ffe48c0be021d25bf586289&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">coral reefs</a>, including the Great Barrier Reef.

Coral bleaching has affected virtually the entire Great Barrier Reef and many other coral reef systems globally, a result of the continuing rise in global temperatures and exacerbated by the summer's major El Niño event.Glimmer of hope in battle against coral bleaching

The 35 authors of the United Nations Environmental Programme report - including the University's Professor Elaine Baker in the School of Geosciences - say as the world's surface reefs are being threatened, part of the ecosystem may survive in these barely known deeper environments, known as mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs).

Shallow coral reefs from the water's surface to 30-40 metres depth are the tip of the iceberg that comprises the ocean's extensive coral ecosystem. MCEs are intermediate depth reefs starting at about 40 metres depth and continuing to around 150 metres. The report being launched today - 'Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems A lifeboat for coral reefs?' - looks at the role MCEs could play in the preservation of shallower reefs.

The report asks if MCEs can provide a refuge for the species under threat in shallower reef ecosystems and whether they can provide the stock to re-populate shallow reefs if they continue to decline.

"Mesophotic coral ecosystems are a seed bank for some organisms," said Professor Baker.

"More research needs to be done to firmly establish the role of MCEs in preserving our reefs; they aren't a silver bullet but they may be able to resist the most immediate impacts of climate change -- thereby providing a refuge for some species and potentially helping to replenish destroyed surface reef and fish populations.

"It may be that the cooler, deeper water in MCEs could be more hospitable to many species than the warmer surface water," she said. "They also are less prone to waves and turbulence, therefore potentially offering a more stable environment."

The review brought together information on the geology, biology, distribution and socio-economic aspects of mesophotic reefs in order to examine their potential resilience.

The report found some deep mesophotic coral ecosystems may be less vulnerable to the most extreme ocean warming, but others may be just as vulnerable as their shallow counterparts and cannot be relied on to act as "life boats".

The report was set to be launched at the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA-2 in Nairobi, coral reef media roundtable, on Tuesday 24 May from 15:30 to 16:15 Kenyan time / by 11.15pm Australian Eastern Standard time.

The full report and UN media release will be available via UNEP/UNEA-2 as well as from the University of Sydney.

--

<a href="http://www.usyd.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Sydney</a>

Glimmer of hope in battle against coral bleaching

Glimmer of hope in battle against coral bleaching. A report...

People power crucial for low-carbon future. Policy makers must harness people power if society is to transition to a low-carbon energy future, argues a leading technology historian.

New research by Johan Schot, Director of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=SPRU&amp;cvid=51e8f431c9c543cf826584f574dc5ff0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">SPRU</a> (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex, shows that viewing people as mere energy consumers means we risk losing a vast amount of potential in altering society and bringing about the substantive change we need to our existing energy system.

Published in the May edition of the journal Nature Energy, the research puts into sharp focus the crucial role different types of 'user-groups' play in helping shift society to a low-carbon system.People power crucial for low-carbon future

The paper -- 'The Roles of Users in Shaping Transitions to New Energy Systems' -- synthesises findings to outline five key types of users that interplay to create and change technology and society's application of it. Along with his co-authors, Assistant Professor Laur Kanger (University of Tartu) and Professor Geert Verbong (Eindhoven University of Technology), Schot urges Government and policy-shapers to understand this central dynamic and the opportunity it affords. Users are not just consumers -- they are creators, influencers and game-changers.

The five main sets that influence change are: User-Producer, User-Legitimator, User-Citizen, User-Intermediary and User-Consumer. Crucially, everyday actions and routines shared by these types, create collective beliefs and expectations that pave the way to shaping a new story for energy, taking what is often a novel niche in society through to its overarching energy regime. Taking the long view, the research shows that utilising user power is fundamental to long term change. The onus on Government should be to create incentives, initiatives and a system that is receptive.

Professor Schot said: "Consumers are often overlooked as important actors that are driving a transition towards a low carbon and highly energy-efficient future. In this process they develop new collective routines which shape further consumer choices on a routine basis. Taking this perspective means that government policies should not only focus on providing more information and raising awareness but also on mobilising the power of users for combating climate change and reducing energy use."

The User-Producers -- construct, tinker, amend, exploit, modify and improve technologies by engaging in extensive thinking and learning around the product, process or system. User-Producers are key to the innovation and start-ups.

The User-Legitimators -- These types are intrinsic in creating belief in the fresh technology, system, product or method. They positively inform and affect wider societal beliefs. They help provide knowledge to aid cultural acceptance.

The User-Citizens -- They are the activists, challengers and agents of social change against the current system. They mobilise and contest to carve out the existing structure fuelling the appetite and adoption of the new methods.

The User-Intermediaries -- create, influence and nurture the necessary networks by bringing together the critical producers, users, regulators and organisations. They create credibility which helps 'mainstream' the niche.

The User-Consumers -- these 'lead-consumers' adopt the niche developments early. They change to embed them in their daily routines. By attaching meaning, significance or status, User-Consumers contribute considerably to the positive construction of ideas about the niche within wider society. Therefore, they prompt mass take-up to take it from an innovative niche to fully-fledged regime.

--

<a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Sussex</a>

People power crucial for low-carbon future

People power crucial for low-carbon future. Policy makers must harness...

Northern invaders threaten Antarctic marine life. An international study led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence that marine life can easily invade Antarctic waters from the north, and could be poised to colonize the rapidly-warming <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=antartica&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=HS&amp;cvid=ab3641074d054459b54f96b6f52edfe1&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOMAjS%21RFp6jzZWJ7AkCsIYKzkAWjVAwo0vgMUXAwW1L0vjzAVAInxtvF4*DJo9rNbUASUXLgd9gEpsxe7rF055E&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Antarctic</a> marine ecosystems.

The Antarctic Polar Front, a strong ocean front formed where cold Antarctic water meets warmer waters to the north, has historically been seen as a barrier preventing movement of marine life.Northern invaders threaten Antarctic marine life

But the study has found the Antarctic Polar Front is often crossed by floating kelp that can form rafts carrying crustaceans, worms, snails and other seaweeds across hundreds of kilometres of open ocean.

"So far, the northern species don't seem to be surviving long in the cold, icy Antarctic. But with climate change and warming oceans, many non-Antarctic species could soon colonise the region," said lead researcher Dr Ceridwen Fraser, from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.

"We now know marine <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/marine-species-adapt-to-warming-faster-than-terrestrial-species/">species</a> from the north can easily get into Antarctic waters. The Antarctic is one of the world's fastest warming regions, and the consequences of new species establishing there could lead to drastic ecosystem changes," Dr Fraser said.

The evidence was collected by surveys of floating kelp. On three different ship voyages in 2008, 2013 and 2014, researchers counted drifting seaweed species in both sub-Antarctic and Antarctic water.

"Although we saw more seaweed north of the Polar Front, we still found lots of kelp in Antarctic water, especially just south of the Front," said co-author Professor Peter Ryan, from the University of Cape Town.

Dr Fraser said the study will help scientists to plan strategies for conserving Antarctica's unique marine life.

"We've been focusing a lot on minimising plants and animals being accidentally carried into the Antarctic by humans, for example with ship ballast water," Dr Fraser said.

"This research shows that some species can also get into the region without our help."

<hr />

<a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/media" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australian National University</a>

Northern invaders threaten Antarctic marine life

Northern invaders threaten Antarctic marine life. An international study led...

<div>

Planning for climate change impact. How can society plan for the future if we only look at individual issues in isolation? Climate change impact studies typically focus on a single sector such as agriculture, forestry or water, ignoring the implications of how different sectors interact. A new study, published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nature Climate Change</a>, suggests that an integrated, cross-sectoral approach to climate change assessment is needed to provide a more complete picture of impacts that enables better informed decisions about climate adaptation.

The importance of a cross-sectoral approach as a prerequisite for any type of comprehensive climate impact assessment is not a new notion. Already stressed by the <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC), it is surprising that until now no published research has assessed the differences between impacts simulated by single sector and integrated models.

As a part of the FP7-funded EU project <a href="http://impressions-project.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IMPRESSIONS</a>* which aims to assess the implications of high-end climate change (+2 degrees and above), the new paper aims to demonstrate the benefits of using multi-sectoral modelling approaches.

"To address the current knowledge gap, in our paper we compare 14 indicators derived from a set of impact models run within single sector and integrated frameworks across a range of climate and socio-economic scenarios in Europe. The results show that single sector studies misrepresent the spatial pattern, direction and magnitude of most impacts because they omit the complex interdependencies within human and environmental systems", explains Dr. Paula Harrison, <a href="http://www.ceh.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> (CEH), UK.

In reality, it is often through the socio-economic drivers that cross-sectoral impacts become evident, as policy effects in one sector can have indirect effects in others. For example, measures designed for coastal flood defence also impact on coastal habitats and biodiversity, or changes in water allocation schemes affect the water available for irrigation of agricultural crops. Exactly these important nuances are lost in single sector studies, where one aspect is taken out of its context.

Using the CLIMSAVE Integrated Assessment Platform (IAP), which links models of agriculture, forestry, urban growth, land use, water resources, flooding and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-offsetting-may-be-limited-by-land-constraints/">biodiversity</a>, the new study compares single-sector and integrated modelling approaches and their outcomes.

The resulting discrepancies are particularly evident for indicators such as food production and water exploitation which are highly influenced by other sectors through changes in demand, land suitability and resource competition.

"This analysis has demonstrated quantitatively for the first time the uncertainty arising from a single sector perspective. This highlights the importance of developing adaptation plans that are robust to changes in climate and socio-economic pathways and that take account of cross-sectoral interactions", concludes Dr. Harrison. Planning for climate change impact
###
<a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3039.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full study available here</a>.

Additional information:

*This research is funded by the FP7-funded EU project IMPRESSIONS: Impacts and Risks from High-end Scenarios: Strategies for Innovative Solutions, Grant Agreement No 603416.

IMPRESSIONS aims to advance understanding of the implications of high-end climate change, involving temperature increases above 2°C, and to help decision-makers apply such knowledge within integrated adaptation.

Contact:

Dr. Paula A. Harrison
Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology (CEH)
Email: <a href="mailto:PaulaHarrison@ceh.ac.uk">PaulaHarrison@ceh.ac.uk</a>
Tel: +44 1524 595858

</div>

Planning for climate change impact

Planning for climate change impact. How can society plan for...

<div>

Methane-producing microbes found in California rocks. Deep in vents on the ocean floor, methane-producing microbes feed off chemical reactions between water and rock. Now evidence of this process has been found on land in a freshwater spring in California.

A team of scientists report in a new study that they have found evidence of hardy, methane-producing microbes in water that surfaces from deep underground at The Cedars, a set of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/conservation-planning-in-the-amazon-should-be-redirected-to-freshwater-species/">freshwater</a> springs in Sonoma County.Methane-producing microbes found in California rocks

It is the first time scientists have proven that these kinds of methane-producing microbes, which thrive in harsh environments, live anywhere outside of the deep sea. The new finding could offer clues into how early microbes could have lived on Earth billions of years ago and if they might be present on other planets like Mars, according to scientists in the field.

The new study also shows the newly-discovered microbes are likely capable of using carbon dioxide to produce methane - a finding that could have implications for future carbon sequestration projects being proposed in areas similar to The Cedars, said Lukas Kohl, a biogeochemist at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland and lead author of the new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

If the microbes convert carbon dioxide injected into the ground into methane - a potent greenhouse gas - it could offset the benefit gained by carbon sequestration, he said.

"As our technology's expanding, we're able to look outside of the box a little to capture some of these groups [of microbes]," said Matt Schrenk, a microbiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, who was not involved in the study. "As we're beginning to look into some of these natural environments [deep underground], our view of the microbial world, and of life in general, is really expanding."

Serpentinization, a process where water reacts with rock to create a green stone called serpentine, is common on the ocean floor. In the process, byproducts of the reaction, including methane, hydrogen, and heat, are released. The Cedars--a small, isolated set of springs flowing out of a large patch of red rock from Earth's mantle - is one of the few easily-accessible sites of serpentinization on land.

Communities of microbes have been detected at many serpentinization sites across the globe, including in oceanic vents and sites deep underground. These harsh, high-pH environments have few organic molecules for organisms to feed on. These hardy microbes likely use the byproducts of serpentinization as an energy source, according to the study's authors. Until the new study, however, the only sites known to host microbes that released methane as a waste product were deep underwater, Schrenk said.

Previous analysis of water from The Cedars suggested some of the methane found in the springs could have come from microbes. To confirm the microbes could produce the methane at The Cedars, the study's authors took water samples from the springs and exposed the samples to different conditions in the laboratory.

In one group of samples they killed any living microbes. In these samples, they did not detect any additional methane being produced.

The samples with live microbes, however, produced significant amounts of methane. In some cases, the live-microbe vials contained 650 percent more methane than vials with dead microbes. The scientists were also able to trace the methane, and determine that it had been produced by microbes, rather than as a product of serpentinization. The new study, combined with previous data, suggests a significant portion of methane in water at The Cedars likely comes from the microbes living there.

The new findings also suggest the microbes can convert carbon dioxide into methane. Some scientists have proposed injecting carbon dioxide from the air into rocks like those at The Cedars. The carbon dioxide interacts with the rock and water to form a solid carbonate that can sequester carbon underground indefinitely and keep it out of the air. But if the microbes convert the injected carbon dioxide to methane and release it into the atmosphere, it would defeat the purpose of sequestration, Schrenk said. "If some of that [sequestered] carbon dioxide is converted to an even more potent greenhouse gas, we're really in trouble," he said.

The new study also sheds light on how microbes could have used the energy and chemicals from serpentinization to survive on early Earth when the atmosphere contained less oxygen and fewer organic molecules, said William Brazelton, an astrobiologist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City who was not involved with the study. Further, the methane they released could have had an impact on the environment and the Earth's evolution, he added.

The discovery of the methane-producing microbes at The Cedars also gives hope to those searching for life on Mars, Brazelton said. Some surveys of the Martian atmosphere have found methane, which was thought to be a product of serpentinization. This study shows the methane could be a product of both serpentinization and microbes, Brazelton said.


</div>
<div></div>

Methane-producing microbes found in California rocks

Methane-producing microbes found in California rocks. Deep in vents on...

Olympic sailors fear pollution in Guanabara Bay, Brazil. If you're the head of world sailing, this is your worst Olympic nightmare.
A sailor nears the finish line in Rio de Janeiro's polluted Guanabara Bay, holding the lead with a coveted gold medal in sight. Suddenly, the boat loses speed. A plastic bag catches the rudder. Chasing boats overtake for all the medals, and millions on worldwide television watch a life-time dream being crushed.
"We want an absolutely fair playing field; getting the rubbish out of the water," Andy Hunt, the CEO of World Sailing - the sport's governing body - told The Associated Press. "We don't want to have any stories of sailors with plastic bags, or whatever it might be that in any way impacts performance."
Hunt met in Rio on Monday and Tuesday with city, state, and Olympic organizing committee officials, pushing for what amounts to a superficial cleanup of Guanabara Bay.
Rio state officials have acknowledged a real cleanup of Guanabara Bay will take 20 years - organizers promised to do it for the Olympics - with the city still pouring at least half of its untreated sewage into its surrounding waters, including Guanabara.
The massive bay is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) long and almost as wide in places.
<a href="http://interactives.ap.org/2015/brazil-water/">An independent study by The Associated Press</a> has shown high levels of viruses and sometimes bacteria from human sewage in the waters where hundreds of sailors will compete when the Olympics open in 2 1/2 months.
There has been one big improvement so far: the new Marina da Gloria. The new marina building is sparkling, and the water is clearer just months after a new sewage system was installed to stop brown, untreated sludge from being poured into the small harbor.
"The water is cleaner, and there isn't a smell," Hunt said.
At a test event a year ago, sailors complained about the stench, and shot videos of open sewage flows just meters (yards) from where boats were launched.
"We're going in the right direction," Hunt added. "We remain cautiously optimistic. It doesn't mean we're going to take off the pressure."
World Sailing, backed by the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee, is not testing the water for viruses. World Sailing says the bacterial levels are below what would be considered dangerous for athletes.
The WHO and IOC argue that viral testing lacks a clear standard for measuring risk, and therefore is not needed.
World Sailing is attacking the problems it can see: spotting and collecting floating rubbish during the Olympic sailing events. Hunt said a helicopter would go up at 6 a.m. every morning and direct 11 rubbish collection boats below where to deploy.
In addition, he said 17 so-called eco-barriers - fences across trash-filled streams that flow into Guanabara - will keep dead animals, bags, and household rubbish from entering the bay.
"Those eco-barriers have got be completed before the end of June, so there's enough time to track the rubbish and then make sure it's collected effectively for games time," Hunt said.
Though World Sailing says the water will be safe for hundreds of sailors, Hunt said teams are being briefed about how to stay healthy in Rio.
"There are briefings for the teams to make sure they prepare in terms of hygiene," Hunt said. He added that there would be "facilities to wash down clothing when they come off the boats, alcohol gels, anti-viral gels and so on that can help ensure that the athletes keep well through the competition."
Three Spanish sailors were robbed at gunpoint last week while they were training in Rio, including 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Fernando Echavarri. Hunt acknowledged that several other sailing teams had also been robbed in Rio in the last several years.
Hunt called it a "very, very scary experience."
The former head of the British <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/olympics-climbing-surfing/">Olympic</a> Association, Hunt urged national Olympic committees to watch their athletes in Rio.
"The National Olympic committees need to issue clear instructions and guidance, and protocols around what athletes and support staff can do during games times," he said.
Australia, for one, has told its athletes to stay out of Rio's favelas - or slums.
Many sailors will be staying in hotels near the sailing venue, rather than at the better-protected Athletes Village more than an hour away.
"Like any city in a country like this," Hunt said, "you need to be very aware of the environment you are operating in, and take every precaution yourself to prevent yourself from getting mugged. It's doesn't mean it's right or acceptable, but it's the reality."
---
Stephen Wade on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP">http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP</a> . His work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade</a>
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Olympic sailors fear pollution in Guanabara Bay, Brazil

Olympic sailors fear pollution in Guanabara Bay, Brazil. If you're...

Shell Oil pipeline fixed in California. Crews have repaired a Shell Oil pipeline that broke days ago and spilled up to 21,000 gallons of crude underground in rural <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=norhtern+california&amp;cvid=6031caaf3ea644568f2c7f5c637fea85&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Northern California</a>, a spokesman for Shell Oil Co. said Tuesday.
The company was running small amounts of oil through the pipeline to test it as crews worked to clean up the spill in remote, undeveloped countryside near Tracy, about an hour east of San Francisco, Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said.
<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-of-2c-would-unleash-230-billions-tons-of-soil-carbon/">Oil</a> was visible over about a 250-foot-by-40-foot stretch of land, but none of it spilled into waterways, Miryam Barajas, a spokeswoman with the state Water Resources Control Board, said Tuesday.
Additionally, groundwater reserves in the area of the spill are relatively deep, lessening the risk of contamination of underground water supplies, Barajas said.Shell Oil pipeline fixed in California
A company command center noticed a problem with the pipeline on Friday morning and shut it down within a minute, Fisher told The Associated Press. Shell believes a crack of up to 20 inches opened in the line, which is about 7 feet underground.
The company notified state and local agencies of the break within two hours, Fisher said.
"The fact it's already been repaired speaks to the expedience" with which Shell handled the break, he said.
State water board officials were in contact with local officials about the spill Friday morning, said Barajas, the water board spokeswoman.
Environmentalists are assessing the threat from the spill, including what wildlife could be affected, Patrick Sullivan, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press.
In scale and threat, the release was "certainly nothing like the Santa Barbara spill" last year, when more than 120,000 gallons of oil from a broken pipeline flowed onto scenic coastline, Sullivan said.
Even so, authorities should investigate to see if poor maintenance contributed to the break and if other stretches of the same pipeline might also be at risk of rupture, Sullivan's group said in a statement.
"A spill involving thousands of gallons of oil can't be shrugged off like it didn't happen," the environmental group said.
The Santa Barbara spill was California's biggest oil spill in recent years, fouling beaches and killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals. The oil plume spread 9 miles into the Pacific Ocean, and tar balls washed ashore more than 100 miles away in Los Angeles County.
Federal regulators said this month that the pipeline company responsible for that break, Plains All American Pipeline, failed to prevent corrosion in its pipes, detect the rupture or respond swiftly as crude streamed toward the ocean.
The company was indicted this month on 46 criminal counts, including four felonies of polluting state waters and three dozen misdemeanors of harming wildlife. Houston-based Plains has apologized for the Santa Barbara spill but said it would not comment further.
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Shell Oil pipeline fixed in California

Shell Oil pipeline fixed in California. Crews have repaired a...

Higher than expected carbon emissions found at inland waterways. Washington State University researchers have found that greenhouse-gas emissions from lakes and inland waterways may be as much as 45 percent greater than previously thought.
<div>

Their study, published today in Environmental Research Letters, has implications for the global carbon budget and suggests that terrestrial ecosystems may not be as good a carbon reservoir as scientists thought. Washington State University researchers have found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/perennial-vegetables-for-a-greenhouse/">greenhouse</a>-gas emissions from lakes and inland waterways

Similar to the way people use a budget to manage finances, researchers are working to understand where carbon is being spent and saved on a global scale to better manage resources. The scientists know that humans are emitting about 33 billion tons of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=carbon+dioxide&amp;cvid=2cf8180e5bb54b31bb7753dcb0c5f8ef&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">carbon dioxide</a> per year into the atmosphere globally and that the emissions are changing the climate. About half of the emissions stay in the atmosphere, but researchers are unable to quantify with certainty how much carbon is taken up by land and oceans.

"People can't figure out how to close the budget with great confidence,'' said Heping Liu, associate professor in the WSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "That's the big mystery.''

A significant part of the carbon dioxide initially sequestered by terrestrial ecosystems moves into inland waters and is then released to the atmosphere. Scientists previously have made only occasional measurements of emissions from waterways - most often during calm, daytime conditions - and have used these measurements to make broad estimates for waterways' contribution to regional or global emissions. They missed nighttime emissions and periods between field samplings.

In the study, the WSU team took a yearlong series of continuous measurements of carbon dioxide emissions, gathering data from atmospheric instruments on a platform over the water in Mississippi's Ross Barnett Reservoir. The researchers used a sophisticated system that measures atmospheric eddies, called an eddy covariance system. It was powered by solar panels and batteries.

The WSU team found that nighttime carbon emissions were as much as 70 percent higher than during the day and that storms also created emissions spikes.

"That's pretty huge,'' said Liu. "Based on this study, the emissions from inland waterways are much larger than previously thought.''

The researchers surmise that during the day, when air temperatures are warm, water layers in the reservoir are stratified and carbon dioxide from microbes in the lake bottom cannot escape. Colder nighttime temperatures allow for mixing of the water and for higher emission rates. Wind from storms also creates mixing and an opportunity for carbon dioxide to escape.

Liu and his colleagues believe that the Mississippi reservoir is not unusual and that the higher emission rates apply to waterways around the world. Other researchers have seen similar higher nighttime emissions, but had not connected the measurements to a higher overall emissions rate in the global carbon budget.
###
In addition to WSU, the research group includes scientists from Duke University, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and University of California, Santa Barbara.

</div>

Higher than expected carbon emissions found at inland waterways

Higher than expected carbon emissions found at inland waterways. Washington...

<div>

Models underestimate the dirtiness of Arctic air. Black carbon aerosols--particles of carbon that rise into the atmosphere when biomass, agricultural waste, and fossil fuels are burned in an incomplete way--are important for understanding climate change, as they absorb sunlight, leading to higher atmospheric temperatures, and can also coat Arctic snow with a darker layer, reducing its reflectivity and leading to increased melting. Unfortunately, current simulation models, which combine global climate models with aerosol transport models, consistently underestimate the amount of these aerosols in the Arctic air compared to actual measurements during the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/migratory-birds-rely-on-spring-greening-which-is-now-changing-with-the-climate/">spring</a> and winter seasons, making it difficult to accurately assess the impact of these substances on the climate.

To find out if these inaccuracies could be mitigated, a team of scientists decided to use the Japanese K computer to perform fine-grained simulations of how black carbon aerosols are transported to and distributed in the Arctic region. By using smaller grids--with spacing of just a few kilometers rather than several tens of kilometers as in conventional current models--they were able to show that they could more realistically model the amount of black carbon aerosols, mitigating the underestimation in more coarse-grained models. Their finest model used 3.5 kilometer grids broken up vertically into 38 layers, so that it required 1.6 billion grids to cover the globe. The simulation, done on the 10-petaflop K computer, still required 17 hours to perform the two week simulation.

According to Yousuke Sato of the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS), "this research shows that powerful supercomputers, by performing more fine-grained simulations, can help us to model weather and climate patterns in a more realistic way. We have to note, however, that while our model reduced the underestimation, it did not completely eliminate it. Further generations of even more powerful computers will allow us to run simulations that may be able to make even more realistic simulations and help us to understand the mechanism through which these aerosols are transported."

"It is also known," continues Sato, "that current models do not realistically model the vertical distribution of the aerosols, and we believe that finer measurements could help there as well. Unfortunately there were no vertical measurements taken in November 2011, the time we chose to model, so we plan in the future to do simulations for time periods for which actual measurement data exist."Models underestimate the dirtiness of Arctic air
###
The research, published in Scientific Reports, was carried out by AICS in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, the National Institute of Environmental Studies, Kyushu University, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

</div>

Models underestimate the dirtiness of Arctic air

Models underestimate the dirtiness of Arctic air. Black carbon aerosols--particles...

US House approves bill to regulate toxic chemicals. The House on Tuesday easily approved a bipartisan bill that would for the first time regulate tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.
Supporters said the bill would clear up a hodgepodge of state rules and update and improve a toxic-chemicals law that has remained unchanged for 40 years.
"Today marks a milestone - for this Congress and for the American people as we make great strides to update our nation's chemical safety laws," said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "This bill is good for jobs. It's good for consumers. And it's good for the environment."
The 403-12 vote in favor of the bill sends it to the Senate, where it's expected to be approved and sent to President Barack Obama. The White House has signaled its approval. The White House has signaled its approval, as well, following a bipartisan agreement reached last week.
The bill, more than three years in the making, won support in recent days from a broad coalition that ranged from environmental and public health groups to the chemical industry and the National Association of Manufacturers.
Some environmental groups remained opposed, however, saying the bill did too little to protect consumers from dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer, nervous system disorders and other health problems.
"Despite the best efforts of many lawmakers to redeem legislation that originated in the suites of the chemical industry, on balance the law Congress will send to the president's desk continues to place chemical company interests above the public interest," said Ken Cook, president of the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.
Toxic chemicals have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. But under current law only a small fraction of chemicals used in consumer goods have been reviewed for safety.
The bill approved Tuesday would set new safety standards for asbestos and other dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, styrene and Bisphenol A, better known as BPA, that have gone unregulated for decades.
The measure would update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate new and existing chemicals against a new, risk-based safety standard that includes considerations for particularly vulnerable people such as children and pregnant women. It also establishes written deadlines for the EPA to act and makes it harder for the industry to claim chemical information is proprietary and therefore secret.
The manufacturers group said industry has "revolutionized the way chemicals are made and used" since the original toxics law was adopted in 1976, "yet the law has not been updated to keep up with those changes."
State laws enacted to fill the void have resulted in "a patchwork of confusing, often contradictory, regulations for manufacturers and consumers to navigate," the manufacturers group said in a statement. "It is time to update our nation's chemical laws."
"While not perfect, the bill meets the high goals set by the administration for meaningful reform," the White House said in a statement Monday. The legislation is likely to restore public confidence in the safety of chemicals while improving public health and environmental protections, the White House said.
A key sticking point in negotiations over the bill has centered on state regulation of toxic chemicals.
California, Massachusetts, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/vermont-windfarm-opposition/">Vermont</a> and other states have moved aggressively to regulate chemicals, and some Democrats said they feared the bill would block state efforts even as it imposed the first-ever national standards for tens of thousands of chemicals that have gone unregulated for decades.
The 181-page bill declares that any state law or rule in place before April 22 would not be pre-empted by federal law. The legislation also would allow states to work on some regulations while federal rules are being developed, a process that can take up to seven years.
States that do not regulate chemicals closely would follow the federal standard.
Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., said the bill includes a "regulatory pause" that prevents states from acting on some chemicals for up to 3 1/2 years while EPA reviews a chemical. Tonko called that "a core flaw in reform that cannot be ignored."
Supporters say they hope to win Senate approval later this week, with the goal of sending it to Obama's desk by Memorial Day.
---
Reach Matthew Daly: <a href="http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC">http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC</a>
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US House approves bill to regulate toxic chemicals

US House approves bill to regulate toxic chemicals. The House...

<div>

Abundance inequality in freshwater communities has an ecological origin. In nearly every biological community, distributions among species are highly uneven. That is, there is a large number of rare species with very few members and only a small number of common species concentrating most members of the community.

Sophia Passy, an associate professor of biology at the University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/earth-from-space-houston-texas/">Texas</a> at Arlington, has now demonstrated that this distribution is driven by environmental favorability and species stress tolerance, shedding light on the long-standing academic debate about whether this much-studied pattern is a biological or a non-biological, or even a statistical phenomenon.

Passy's work, published recently in the leading journal The American Naturalist, as "Abundance inequality in freshwater communities has an ecological origin," showed that freshwater communities experienced significantly lower disparity between common and rare species in favorable, low-stress environments. Specifically, watersheds with extensive wetlands were favorable for algae and watersheds with large proportions of deciduous forests were favorable for fish. Conversely, harsh stressful environments led to a decline in sensitive species and a greater disparity between common and rare species. Urban development, even at low-intensity, was a harsh environment for fish.

"These results indicate that protection of natural habitats at a watershed level, including wetlands and forests, will increase the proportion of rare species and reduce the risk of extinction, which is much greater in aquatic than in terrestrial ecosystems," Passy said. "We can also use this knowledge to design environmentally-favorable habitats where rare and endangered species can thrive."

Morteza Khaledi, dean of UTA College of Science, noted that Dr. Passy's research breaks new ground among biologists studying how biological communities respond to their environment and contributes to the university's increasing focus on global environmental impact within the Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions|Global Impact.

"If the environment drives the species abundance distribution, then we can also start predicting which species may become extinct and move to protect them, which is a vital step forward," Khaledi said.

For this study, Passy developed a novel conceptual framework explaining the variability in species abundance distribution as a function of two gradients - environmental favorability and species stress tolerance. She then tested the model by analyzing data sets of 3,228 algal communities from 1,582 localities and 761 fish communities from 399 localities in U.S. streams, using data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. Watershed data on basin hydrology, climate, land use and fertilization were factored into the model. Information on algal and fish tolerance to common environmental stressors with an impact on water quality was also used.

"According to our framework, under harsh conditions, only a few tolerant species can grow large populations, while the remaining and sensitive species can be present in low numbers, likely due to chance immigration. As a result, the species abundance distribution becomes highly unequal with a few species dominating the community and most species remaining rare" Passy said. "Under benign conditions, both tolerant and sensitive groups can reproduce and grow in numbers, giving rise to a much more equitable species abundance distribution with low disparity between common and rare species."

Clay Clark, UTA's chair of biology, said, "Dr. Passy has developed a model that provides an important new perspective on the well-known phenomenon of inequality in biological communities. Interestingly, she suggests that future studies could explore whether pathways, analogous to those in her model, exist in the non-biological world for distributions such as wealth inequality. These results are important because they may eventually influence policy decisions on watershed protection and species conservation."

Sophia Passy studies the ecology of aquatic communities in systems ranging from laboratory streams to the continental freshwaters. She earned her Ph.D. in ecology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and held post-doctoral positions at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before coming to UTA in 2001.
###
About The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington is a R-1: Carnegie "highest research activity" institution of more than 53,000 students in campus-based and online degree programs and is the second-largest institution in The University of Texas System. U.S. News &amp; World Report ranks UTA fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times' 2016 Best for Vets list. Visit <a href="http://www.uta.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. uta. edu</a> to learn more, and find UTA rankings and recognition at <a href="http://www.uta.edu/uta/about/rankings.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. uta. edu/ uta/ about/ rankings. php</a>.

</div>

Abundance inequality in freshwater communities has an ecological origin

Abundance inequality in freshwater communities has an ecological origin. In...

Climate change puts a 100-million-year partnership on the brink. A relationship that has lasted for 100 million years is at serious risk of ending, due to the effects of environmental and climate change. A species of spiny crayfish native to Australia and the tiny flatworms that depend on them are both at risk of extinction, according to researchers from the UK and Australia.
<div>

Look closely into one of the cool, freshwater streams of eastern Australia and you might find a colourful mountain spiny crayfish, from the genus Euastacus. Look even closer and you could see small tentacled flatworms, called temnocephalans, each only a few millimetres long. Temnocephalans live as specialised symbionts on the surface of the crayfish, where they catch tiny food items, or inside the crayfish's gill chamber where they can remove parasites. This is an ancient partnership, but the temnocephalans are now at risk of coextinction with their endangered hosts. Coextinction is the loss of one species, when another that it depends upon goes extinct.Climate change puts a 100-million-year partnership on the brink

In a new study, researchers from the UK and Australia reconstructed the evolutionary and ecological history of the mountain spiny crayfish and their temnocephalan symbionts to assess their coextinction risk. This study was based on DNA sequences from crayfish and temnocephalans across eastern Australia, sampled by researchers at James Cook University, sequenced at the Natural History Museum, London and Queensland Museum, and analysed at the University of Sydney and the University of Cambridge. The results are published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We've now got a picture of how these two species have evolved together through time," said Dr Jennifer Hoyal Cuthill from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences, the paper's lead author. "The extinction risk to the crayfish has been measured, but this is the first time we've quantified the risk to the temnocephalans as well - and it looks like this ancient partnership could end with the extinction of both species."

Mountain spiny crayfish species diversified across eastern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/australian-bees-adapted-their-vision-to-forage-at-night/">Australia</a> over at least 80 million years, with 37 living species included in this study. Reconstructing the ages of the temnocephalans using a 'molecular clock' analysis showed that the tiny worms are as ancient as their crayfish hosts and have evolved alongside them since the Cretaceous Period.

Today, many species of mountain spiny crayfish have small geographic ranges. This is especially true in Queensland, where mountain spiny crayfish are restricted to cool, high-altitude streams in small pockets of rainforest. This habitat was reduced and fragmented by long-term climate warming and drying, as the continent of Australia drifted northwards over the last 165 million years. As a consequence, mountain spiny crayfish are severely threatened by ongoing climate change and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed 75% of these species as endangered or critically endangered.

"In Australia, freshwater crayfish are large, diverse and active 'managers', recycling all sorts of organic material and working the sediments," said Professor David Blair of James Cook University in Australia, the paper's senior author. "The temnocephalan worms associated only with these crayfish are also diverse, reflecting a long, shared history and offering a unique window on ancient symbioses. We now risk extinction of many of these partnerships, which will lead to degradation of their previous habitats and leave science the poorer."

The crayfish tend to have the smallest ranges in the north of Australia, where the climate is the hottest and all of the northern species are endangered or critically endangered. By studying the phylogenies (evolutionary trees) of the species, the researchers found that northern crayfish also tended to be the most evolutionarily distinctive. This also applies to the temnocephalans of genus Temnosewellia, which are symbionts of spiny mountain crayfish across their geographic range. "This means that the most evolutionarily distinctive lineages are also those most at risk of extinction," said Hoyal Cuthill.

The researchers then used computer simulations to predict the extent of coextinction. This showed that if all the mountain spiny crayfish that are currently endangered were to go extinct, 60% of their temnocephalan symbionts would also be lost to coextinction. The temnocephalan lineages that were predicted to be at the greatest risk of coextinction also tended to be the most evolutionarily distinctive. These lineages represent a long history of symbiosis and coevolution of up to 100 million years. However they are the most likely to suffer coextinction if these species and their habitats are not protected from ongoing environmental and climate change.

"The intimate relationship between hosts and their symbionts and parasites is often unique and long lived, not just during the lifespan of the individual organisms themselves but during the evolutionary history of the species involved in the association," said study co-author Dr Tim Littlewood of the Natural History Museum. "This study exemplifies how understanding and untangling such an intimate relationship across space and time can yield deep insights into past climates and environments, as well as highlighting current threats to biodiversity.


</div>
<div></div>

Climate change puts a 100-million-year partnership on the brink

Climate change puts a 100-million-year partnership on the brink. A...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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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



---



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



---



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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

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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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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