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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



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Airborne microplastics: Where they come from and where they go

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

<div class="img-wrapper">Tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe. While tropical forests continued to decline, a remarkable change is happening: tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe, capturing nearly 0.75 Gigatonnes carbon dioxide every year. A new study titled <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep29987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Global Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on Agricultural Land: The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets"</a> provides insights into the patterns of this tremendous change at global, regional and national scales.</div>
According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture and land-use change account for about 24% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change will also have strong impacts on food security in the long-term. Therefore agriculture needs to reduce its climate footprint. But a recent study has shown that the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop and livestock production is limited. At the same time, large forest areas, primarily in the tropics, are still being converted into agricultural land to feed the world's growing population.

For these reasons, agricultural practices that can significantly reduce carbon emissions are in high demand.

Trees on agricultural lands - also known as agroforestry systems - have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation while improving livelihoods and incomes and providing invaluable ecosystem services at the same time. The World Bank estimates that globally 1.2 billion people depend on agroforestry farming systems, especially in developing countries. However, trees on agricultural lands are not considered in the greenhouse gas accounting framework of the IPCC.

A team of researchers from various institutions in Africa, Asia and Europe carried out a study to assess the role of trees on agricultural land and the amount of carbon they have sequestered from the atmosphere over the past decade. The study, entitled <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep29987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Global Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on Agricultural Land: The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets"</a>, looks at biomass carbon on agricultural land both globally and by country, and what determines its distribution across different climate zones.

Biomass on agricultural land globally

"Remote sensing data show that in 2010, 43% of all agricultural land globally had at least 10% tree cover, up from eight percent in the preceding decade," said Robert Zomer of the World Agroforestry Centre, lead author of the study. "Given the vast amount of land under agriculture, agroforestry may already significantly contribute to global carbon budgets."

However, regional differences in the trend are significant. The distribution of tree cover on agricultural land depends on climatic conditions in different parts of the world. High tree cover is found in humid areas such as South East Asia, Central America, eastern South America, as well as central and coastal West Africa. Tree cover on agricultural land was moderate in south Asia, sub-humid Africa, central and western Europe, the Amazonia and mid-west North America. On the other hand, low tree cover was found in east China, northwest India, west Asia, the southern border of the Sahara Desert, the prairies of North America and southwest Australia.

Biomass on agricultural land by country

Remarkable differences are noted in changing biomass carbon stocks over time among countries. Brazil, Indonesia, China and India had the largest increases, while Argentina, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone had the largest decreases in biomass carbon stored on agricultural land.

High average carbon mass levels were to be found in 26 countries in the humid tropics, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/indonesian-forests-disturbed-by-humans-are-highly-flammable/">Indonesia</a> in the lead. On the other hand, 60 countries found in arid and desert parts of the world around the Sahara Desert in North Africa, the Kalahari in southern Africa, Middle East, as well as central and southern Asia recorded low carbon levels over the ten-year period. Tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe

"Study results show that existing tree cover makes a major contribution to carbon pools on agricultural land, demonstrating the potential to add to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts," said Jianchu Xu of the World Agroforestry Centre. "If tree cover is accounted for, the total carbon stock is over four times higher than when estimated using IPCC tier 1 estimates alone."

Given the large amount of agricultural land where tree cover is below its potential, the study suggests that a huge mitigation potential exists and should be explored more systematically.

"The results of our spatial analysis show that trees on agricultural land sequestered close to 0.75 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide globally per year over the past decade," said Henry Neufeldt, Head of Climate Change research at the World Agroforestry Centre. "If we can harness good policies to enhance positive examples and stop negative trends, trees in agricultural landscapes can play a major role in greenhouse gas mitigation. But no one should say that this is already solving the problem for agricultural emissions as long as we do not know what is actually happening on the ground."
###
Correct citation:

Zomer R J, Neufeldt H, Xu J, Ahrends A, Bossio D, Trabucco A, van Noordwijk M and Wang M. <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep29987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Global Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on Agricultural Land: The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets"</a>. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 29987 (2016). doi:10.1038/srep29987

Participating institutions

Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, China

Centre for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), East and Central Asia Region, Kunming, China

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya and Indonesia

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, United Kingdom

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Soils Division, Nairobi, Kenya

Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, IAFES Division, Sassari, Italy

Department of Science for Nature and Environmental Resources (DIPNET), University of Sassari, Italy

Wageningen University and Research, Plant Production Systems, Wageningen, the Netherlands

Tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe

Tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe....

<div>Study: Soil contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. There is more than twice as much carbon in the planet's soils than there is in its atmosphere, so the loss of even a small proportion of that could have a profound feedback effect on the global climate.</div>
<div>

Yet in its most recent report, in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used models that paid less attention to soil carbon potentially entering the atmosphere than had earlier reports, concluding that there simply wasn't enough evidence about how warmer global temperatures might impact soil carbon stocks.Study: Soil contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere

A new Yale-led paper makes the case that developing meaningful climate projections will rely on understanding the role of "soil carbon turnover" and how it might potentially trigger climate feedbacks in a warming world.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, a team of scientists calls for more collaboration between modelers and soil scientists to improve the scientific understanding of the mechanisms that control the creation, stabilization, and decomposition of carbon in the soil.

That in turn will promote the kinds of experiments that will begin to remove uncertainties about the competing mechanisms that drive soil carbon stocks, the researchers write.

While scientists might never eliminate all uncertainty when it comes to evaluating the mechanisms driving changes in soil carbon stocks, new research advances are making it possible to predict the full range of potential outcomes, said Mark Bradford, an Associate Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry &amp; Environmental Studies (F&amp;ES) and lead author of the study.

And that, he says, will increase confidence.

"There is so much discussion of uncertainty in the public debate about climate change that the term now seems ambiguous and politically loaded," Bradford said. "The discussion should not be about how much uncertainty there is, but rather about how much confidence we have that the real planetary response lies somewhere in the range of projected uncertainty."

"You gain scientific confidence by representing the best -- and sometimes polar opposite -- ideas about the how the world works in your models. If someone tells you they have high confidence that something will happen, you can then take actions based on the best knowledge available."

Warming temperatures can trigger two very different changes in soil carbon soil levels. On the one hand, they can stimulate the growth of plants, increasing the amount of carbon storage potential. Conversely, those higher temperatures can also accelerate the activity of organisms that live in the soil and consume decaying plant matter. In that case, there is a net increase in the amount of <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/carbon-is-the-basis-for-all-life-on-our-planet/">carbon</a> released from the biosphere into the atmosphere.

In other words, one function puts carbon into the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere, while the other emits it into the atmosphere. The twist, however, is that the processes that emit carbon from the soil also convert a small fraction of the decaying plant matter into stores of carbon that can be locked away over millennial timescales, which would be optimal to minimizing climate impacts.

While scientists have made great advances in understanding how plants will respond, their ability to evaluate how much carbon goes into the soil, and where it ends up, is made difficult because it's not possible to measure directly.

"In the soil, we don't know how things are working because, if you like, it's as clear as mud," Bradford said. "Often we can't measure what we're trying to measure because we can't see the organisms. You have millions of individual microbes -- from thousands of cryptic species -- in just a handful of soil."

For these reasons, he said, much of the understanding of how soil carbon stocks will respond to warming is based only on the outputs, which is like trying to calculate the balance of a bank account based simply on how much money is being withdrawn.

Another complicating factor is that our knowledge of how soil carbon is created and stabilized is undergoing somewhat of a conceptual revolution, and only one set of ideas is represented in the climate models, the new paper says. For decades scientists assumed that carbon entering the soil through materials that are harder to "digest" by microbes -- like, say, wood -- would be more likely to remain in the soil longer.

In recent years, however, there has emerged a growing consensus that carbon is more likely to remain in the soil if it enters through more digestible plant matter -- a cloverleaf, for instance. "The science has flipped," Bradford said. "The harder it is to digest initially the less of it stays in the soil, whereas the easier it is to be eaten then the more of it stays in the soil."

This is important because it's the easily digestible plant matter -- such as the sugars released from plant roots into the soil -- that likely eventually get converted into the long term stores of soil carbon but they are also the hardest inputs to quantify.

This growing awareness shifts the way scientists view ecosystem management, from thinking about the biomass that you can see aboveground to a focus on thinking about the amount of carbon that can be pumped belowground directly through the roots of the plants and to the organisms in the soils.

Ultimately, Bradford says, it will be impossible to eliminate all uncertainty. But that, he says, is not such a bad thing.

"By increasing our real understanding, we might even end up making our climate projections more uncertain, in terms of a greater range in the extent the planet might warm," he said. "But we'll be more confident that the true answer falls within that range."

"Advancing our confidence and taking necessary actions will ultimately require that we embrace uncertainty as a fact of life."


</div>
<div></div>

Study: Soil contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere

Study: Soil contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere....

Earth's fever got worse last year, breaking dozens of climate records, scientists said in a massive report nicknamed the annual physical for the planet. Earth's annual physical: Fever continues to rise

Soon after 2015 ended, it was proclaimed the hottest on record . The new report shows the broad extent of other records and near-records on the planet's climatic health. Those include record heat energy absorbed by the oceans and lowest groundwater storage levels globally, according to Tuesday's report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"I think the time to call the doctor was years ago," <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NOAA</a> climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report, said in an email. "We are awash in multiple symptoms."

The 2015 State of the Climate report examined 50 different aspects of climate , including dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice and glaciers worldwide. A dozen different nations set hottest year records, including Russia and China. South Africa had the hottest temperature ever recorded in the month of October: 119.1 degrees Fahrenheit (48.4 degrees Celsius).

Even though it was a relatively quiet hurricane year in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/the-namib-desert-on-the-atlantic-coast/">Atlantic</a>, there were 36 major tropical cyclones worldwide - 15 more than average, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden, co-editor of the report published Tuesday in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.Earth's annual physical: Fever continues to rise

And at the heart of the records is that all three major heat-trapping greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - hit record highs in 2015, Blunden said.

"There is really only one word for this parade of shattered climate records: grim," said Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb, who wasn't part of the report, but called it "exhaustive and thorough."

But it's more than just numbers on a graph. Scientists said the turbo-charged climate affected walrus and penguin populations and played a role in dangerous algae blooms, such as one off the Pacific Northwest coast. And there were brutal heat waves all over the world, with ones in Indian and Pakistan killing thousands of people. One-third of Earth's land mass had some kind of drought last year.

Much of the intense record-breaking and record-flirting weather was because of a combination of a natural El Nino - the periodic warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather globally - and ever increasing man-made global warming.

"This impacts people. This is real life," Blunden said.

Oklahoma University meteorology professor Jason Furtado said in an email that the report, which he wasn't part of, illustrates the combined power of nature and humans on Earth's climate: "It was like injecting an already amped-up climate system with a dose of (natural) steroids."

About 450 scientists from around the world helped write the report and in it NOAA highlighted one of the lesser-known measurements, ocean heat content. About 93 percent of the heat energy trapped by greenhouse gases - such as carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and gas - goes directly into the ocean, the report said. And ocean heat content hit record levels both near the surface and deep.

NOAA oceanographer Gregory C. Johnson, a study co-author, said the oceans are storing more heat energy because of man-made climate change with an extra El Nino spike.

Johnson summed up Earth's climate in a haiku, published deep inside the report:

"El Niño waxes,

warm waters shoal, flow eastward,

Earth's fever rises."

---

Online:

Report: <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams/2015" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams/2015</a>

---

Follow Seth Borenstein at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a> and his work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein</a>

© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Earth's annual physical: Fever continues to rise

Earth's fever got worse last year, breaking dozens of climate...

<div>Early snowmelt reduces CO2 absorption in forests. Early snowmelt periods associated with a warming climate may hinder subalpine forest regulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), according to the results of a new University of Colorado Boulder study.</div>
<div>

The findings, which were recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, predict that this shift in the timing of the snowmelt could result in a 45 percent reduction of snowmelt period forest carbon uptake by mid-century.

A separate study, also published in Geophysical Research Letters, found that earlier, slower snowmelt reduces the amount of streamflow, a phenomenon with potentially drastic consequences for agriculture, municipal water supplies and recreational opportunities in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/extra-water-colorado-river-endangered-fish/">Colorado</a> and other areas of the western U.S.

Forests located in seasonally snow-covered areas represent a key terrestrial CO2 sink thanks to the natural photosynthetic processes by which trees uptake carbon. The trees' carbon uptake is restrained during winter, but increases to peak capacity in spring when snowmelt provides sustained water input.

Working at the Niwot Ridge Ameriflux site in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, CU Boulder researchers studied 15 years' worth of snowmelt and atmospheric CO2 data to study the effects of snowmelt periods. The research found that earlier snowmelt periods triggered by climate change align with colder air temperatures, reducing the forests' ability to take CO2 out of the atmosphere.

"This study shows us that, counterintuitively, warming generally causes snow to melt during colder periods of the seasonal temperature cycle due to the effects that warming has on reducing the depth of snowpacks, which causes melt to begin earlier in the year," said Taylor Winchell, a graduate researcher in the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">INSTAAR</a>) and lead author of the study. "The colder temperatures associated with early melt reduce the trees' ability to uptake carbon during the snowmelt period, a key period for seasonal carbon uptake."

"The implications of this research are quite profound as mountains in the western U.S. are an important part of the regional cycling of carbon and water," said Noah Molotch, the director of the Center for Water Earth Science &amp; Technology (CWEST) and a co-author of both new studies. "In this regard, earlier snowmelt will reduce carbon uptake in mountain forests, weakening the ability of forests to offset increases in CO2 associated with human burning of fossil fuels."

Snowmelt also acts as a key hydrological driver for rivers and streams across the state, providing water resources to downstream communities. Previous research has suggested that the timing and rate at which snow melts can impact the amount and quality of water available for vegetation, farming, and fishing.

The researchers used a unique modeling system to study the effects of earlier snowmelt across various regions of western United States including the Cascade range, the Sierra Nevada range, the Wasatch range, and the Rocky Mountains. All of these areas see significant seasonal snow accumulation and generate water resources for downstream communities.

The study results show that earlier, slower snowmelt, triggered by warmer temperatures, reduce streamflow. These slower "trickle" melts reduce percolation in hillslope soil and allow more water to evaporate, resulting in less streamflow overall.

"Of all the regions we studied, streamflow from Colorado's Rocky Mountains is most sensitive to a change in snowmelt," says Theodore Barnhart, a graduate researcher at INSTAAR and lead author of the study. "This analysis suggests that all of the regions studied will experience a decrease in streamflow with a decrease in snowmelt rate, with some regions exhibiting more streamflow sensitivity than others."

"The recent western drought has been accompanied by a snowpack restricted to higher elevations, with a significant effect on the ski industry," says Tom Torgersen, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research. "Climate variability also leads to conditions favoring earlier and slower snowmelt, with a decreased and prolonged peak streamflow. This water flow affects mountain fishing and results in less forest growth. The effects of drought and climate variability reach far beyond farm productivity and urban water restrictions."

"Given that 60 million people in the western U.S. depend on snowmelt for their water supply, the future decline in snowmelt-derived streamflow may place additional stress on over-allocated water supplies," said Molotch.

"There is a similar theme in these two studies: 'colder forests in a warmer world' and 'slower snowmelt in a warmer world.' Both phenomena defy expectations," Molotch added. "In this regard, these studies are reshaping the way scientists and land and water managers think about climate change in mountainous regions."
###
Additional co-authors of the study "Earlier snowmelt reduces atmospheric carbon uptake in midlatitude subalpine forests" include David Barnard and Sean Burns of CU Boulder and Russell Monson of the University of Arizona. The work was funded by the NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Program.

Additional co-authors of the study "Snowmelt rate dictates streamflow" include Ben Livneh of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder; John Knowles and Dominik Schneider of CU Boulder; and Adrian Harpold of the University of Nevada. The work was funded by NSF, with additional assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.

</div>

Early snowmelt reduces CO2 absorption in forests

Early snowmelt reduces CO2 absorption in forests. Early snowmelt periods...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical Storm Howard and Tropical Depression Ivette. Infrared data from NASA's Terra satellite has revealed that Tropical Storm Howard is weakening quickly as it continues to move over cooler waters in the Eastern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dust-asia-fertilizes-north-pacific/">Pacific Ocean.</a></div>
On Aug. 3 at 2:35 a.m. EDT (6:35 a.m. UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=modis&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=58793ca96fb04ccfa017ca18b8813a35&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">MODIS</a>, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite provided infrared data on Howard. The image showed that strong thunderstorms and deep convection (rising air that forms them) continued to decrease and were limited to northwest and south of the center. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that the strongest storms had become separated from the low-level center of the storm overnight. Tropical Storm Howard and Tropical Depression Ivette

At 5 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. UTC) on Aug. 3, the center of Tropical Storm Howard was located near 20.3 degrees north latitude and 132.6 degrees west longitude. That's about 1,465 miles (2,360 km) west of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. Howard was moving toward the west-northwest near 15 mph (24 kph), and this motion should continue through today. A turn toward the west is expected by Thursday. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph (75 kph) and is forecast to continue weakening. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1,005 millibars.

In the Tropical Storm Howard Discussion online at 5 a.m. EDT, National Hurricane Center forecaster Daniel Brown said, "The tropical storm should continue to weaken during the next day or so while it moves over cool water and into a drier and more stable environment. Howard is forecast to become a remnant low in 24 to 36 hours, but this could occur sooner if organized deep convection does not redevelop later today."


</div>
<div></div>

Tropical Storm Howard and Tropical Depression Ivette

Tropical Storm Howard and Tropical Depression Ivette. Infrared data from...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical Storm Omais forms in the Northwestern Pacific. The seventh tropical cyclone of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean season formed, and infrared data from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>'s Aqua satellite showed powerful thunderstorms persisting in the storm's center.</div>
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared temperature data of the newly developed tropical storm on Aug. 4, 2016, at 8:10 a.m. EDT (12:10 p.m. UTC). The<a href="http://www.earth.com/image/winter-caucasus-mountains-russia/"> MODIS</a> data showed cloud top temperatures of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation as cold as minus 80 F (minus 62.2 C). Temperatures that cold indicate strong uplift in the storm and cloud tops high into the troposphere. NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold have the ability to generate heavy rain.Tropical Storm Omais forms in the Northwestern Pacific

At 11 a.m. EDT (3 p.m. UTC) on Aug. 4, Tropical Storm Omais had maximum sustained winds near 46 mph (40 knots/74 kph). The storm developed quickly from a low pressure area into a tropical storm. Omais was centered near 19.3 degrees north latitude and 146.2 degrees east longitude, about 223 nautical miles north of Saipan, Northern Marianas Islands, and farther away from Guam. Omais has tracked north-northwestward at 3.4 mph (3 knots/5.5 kph) and is expected to continue in that general direction.

NOAA's National Weather Service Office in Guam has not issued any watches or warnings associated with Omais as the storm is far to the north.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast calls for Omais to move on a northerly track and strengthen to a typhoon by Aug. 6 after passing far to the east of the island of Iwo To, Japan. It is then expected to continue tracking in a northerly direction through the northwestern Pacific Ocean.


</div>
<div></div>

Tropical Storm Omais forms in the Northwestern Pacific

Tropical Storm Omais forms in the Northwestern Pacific. The seventh...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical storm Earl has been intensifying as it moves through the Caribbean Sea. The GPM satellite spotted hot towers, towering thunderstorms within Earl that indicate the storm may intensify.</div>
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) now predicts that Earl will be a hurricane before it hits Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula tomorrow afternoon. Earl is predicted by NHC to remain in a light to moderate vertical wind shear environment over very warm sea surface temperatures until landfall.

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or <a href="http://www.earth.com/product/low-flow-faucet-aerator-1-0-gpm-2-pack/">GPM</a> core observatory satellite passed over intensifying tropical storm Earl in the Caribbean Sea northeast of Honduras on Aug. 2, 2016 at 11:56 p.m. EDT (Aug. 3, 2016 at 0356 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) showed that powerful storms around Earl's forming eye were dropping extremely heavy rainfall. DPR found that rain was falling at a rate of over 251 mm (9.8 inches) per hour in a band of powerful convective storms.

GPM's Radar (DPR Ku band) were used to show in 3-D the towering thunderstorms near Earl's center reaching heights of over 16 km (9.9 miles). These strong thunderstorms called "hot towers" often lead to rapid intensification in a tropical cyclone. NASA research has shown that whenever there is the presence of hot towers, the storm usually intensifies within six hours. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

On Aug. 3, 2016 a hurricane warning is in effect for Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, southward to the Belize/Guatemala border and for the Bay Islands, Honduras. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the north coast of Honduras from Cabo Gracias a Dios westward to the Honduras/Guatemala border and north of Puerto Costa Maya to Punta Allen, Mexico.

The heavy rainfall rates seen by GPM are evident in the forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC forecast noted that Earl is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 8 to 12 inches over portions of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico through Thursday night. Very heavy rain will reach the Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz between Thursday night and Saturday morning. Isolated maximum amounts of 16 inches are possible in Belize and Mexico.

At 2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Earl was located near latitude 16.8 North, longitude 85.6 West. Earl is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 kph), and this general motion is expected to continue with some decrease in forward speed during the next 48 hours. On the forecast track, the core of Earl is expected to pass near the Honduras Bay Islands this afternoon, and then make landfall in Belize tonight or early Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 12 hours or so, and Earl is expected to be a hurricane by the time it makes landfall along the coast of Belize.

For updated forecasts, visit NHC: <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nhc.noaa.gov</a>.

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Tropical Storm Earl is intensifying

Tropical storm Earl has been intensifying as it moves through...

<div>Adaptation to climate risks: Political affiliation matters. A new study reveals that those who affiliate with the Democratic Party have different views than those who vote Republican on the following climate risks: the likelihood of floods occurring, adopting protection measures, and expectations of disaster relief from the government. The study was jointly conducted by VU University in <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/earth-space-amsterdam/">Amsterdam</a>, Utrecht University School of Economics in The <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=netherlands&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=7205a2e0d6b340a2a21adb4dd802cd50&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNhatJdGhLPZsFzwUkaW6Fhj0dto0zm5*YtANFgMvQHScN2kDjckN7P0h7k*xOQw3kfGg2y%21Zv0fxBmUUqF6ItY&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Netherlands</a>, and the Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA.</div>
<div>

The study, published today in Springer's journal Climatic Change, focused on the flood risk in New York City. Data was collected through a telephonic survey conducted six months after Superstorm Sandy. It included a random sample of 1,035 homeowners with ground level property in flood-prone areas of New York City. Respondents' political affiliation was determined by what political party they voted for in the November 2012 presidential election. Adaptation to climate risks: Political affiliation matters

Key findings:
<ul>
 	<li>Democrats' perception of their probability of experiencing flood damage is significantly higher than Republicans'. They are also more likely to expect climate change to increase the flood risk they face in the future.</li>
 	<li>Democrats are also more likely to invest in individual flood protection measures.</li>
 	<li>Less than half of Democrats and a third of Republicans trust the government to address the flood risk posed in their area of residence.</li>
 	<li>50% more Democrats than Republicans in the study expect to receive federal disaster relief after a major flood.</li>
 	<li>Interestingly, given the above, the researchers find no difference in flood insurance adoption.</li>
</ul>
"We knew Republicans and Democrats in the United States often perceive the risk of climate change differently. We now know they prepare for climate disasters differently, too. This finding has important implications," report Wouter Botzen and Erwann Michel-Kerjan, who co-led the study.

The authors suggest that flood risk awareness campaigns and policies be aimed at encouraging people to adopt preparedness and risk reduction measures and to purchase adequate insurance coverage, irrespective of their political ideology. The strengthening of building codes in NYC after Superstorm Sandy is a good example of how cities can limit damage from future floods, become more resilient, and limit the need for government disaster relief.

Reference: W. Botzen, E. Michel-Kerjan, H. Kunreuther, H. De Moel and J. Aerts (2016). Political affiliation affects adaptation to climate risks: Evidence from New York City, Climatic Change. DOI 10.1007/s10584-016-1735-9


</div>
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Adaptation to climate risks: Political affiliation matters

Adaptation to climate risks: Political affiliation matters. A new study...

<div>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> satellite animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-East satellite shows the movement and landfall of Hurricane Earl near Belize City, Belize. Satellite animation shows landfall of Hurricane Earl in Belize</div>
<div>

NOAA's GOES-East satellite has been providing visible and infrared data on Hurricane Earl since its development as a tropical depression on Aug. 2. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the NASA/NOAA GOES project combined the data into an animation that showed the movement and strengthening of Earl from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4 through the Caribbean Sea.Satellite animation shows landfall of Hurricane Earl in Belize

At 1 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016 reports from an<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/us-air-force-ignored-climate-change-warnings-at-space-fence-radar-site/"> Air Force</a> Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated Earl's maximum sustained winds increased to near 80 mph (130 kph) making it a hurricane. At 2 a.m. EDT Hurricane Earl made landfall 5 miles southwest of Belize City, Belize.

By 11 a.m. EDT on Aug. 4, Earl was inland and already 115 miles (185 km) west of Belize City and had weakened to a tropical storm. The Government of Belize has discontinued all coastal warnings. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Interests along the southern Bay of Campeche should monitor the progress of Earl.

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The center of Tropical Storm Earl was located well inland near 17.2 degrees north latitude and 89.9 degrees west longitude. Earl was moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 kph), and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said this general motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days. On the forecast track, NHC said Earl will continue to move across northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico tonight and Friday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 990 millibars.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 50 mph (85 kph) with higher gusts. Additional weakening is expected as the center moves over high terrain, and Earl is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression by tonight.

In the NHC discussion, Forecaster Lixion Avila wrote: "Earl is already well inland over northern Guatemala, and although visible satellite images still show a vigorous circulation, the convection is rapidly decreasing. There are no wind observations near the center, but the best estimate of the initial intensity is 45 knots. Since most of the circulation of Earl is forecast to move over the high terrain of Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, rapid weakening is anticipated. Earl is expected to degenerate into a tropical depression tonight and into a remnant low in a day or so."

For additional updates, visit the NHC website at: <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nhc.noaa.gov</a>.


</div>
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Satellite animation shows landfall of Hurricane Earl in Belize

A NASA satellite animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-East satellite...

<div class="img-wrapper">Melting Greenland ice sheet could release frozen Cold War-era waste. Camp Century, a U.S. military base built within the Greenland Ice Sheet in 1959, doubled as a top-secret site for testing the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles from the Arctic during the Cold War. When the camp was decommissioned in 1967, its infrastructure and waste were abandoned under the assumption they would be entombed forever by perpetual snowfall.</div>
But climate change has warmed the Arctic more than any other region on Earth, and a new study finds the portion of the ice sheet covering Camp Century could start to melt by the end of the century. If the ice melts, the camp's infrastructure, as well as any remaining biological, chemical and radioactive waste, could re-enter the environment and potentially disrupt nearby ecosystems, according to the study's authors. Melting Greenland ice sheet could release frozen Cold War-era waste

Determining who is responsible for cleaning up the waste could also lead to political disputes not considered before, according to the study's authors.

"Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites," said William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University in Toronto, Canada, and lead author of the new study. "It's a new breed of political challenge we have to think about."

The new study was published today in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

The assumption that any waste could be buried forever under ice is unrealistic, according to James White, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who was not connected to the study.

"The question is whether it's going to come out in hundreds of years, in thousands of years, or in tens of thousands of years," White said. "This stuff was going to come out anyway, but what climate change did was press the gas pedal to the floor and say, 'it's going to come out a lot faster than you thought.'"

During the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cold-war-spy-images-himalayan-melt/">Cold War</a>, U.S. military attention shifted to the Arctic -- the shortest route between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. In April 1951, the U.S. and Denmark agreed to defend Greenland, a Danish territory, from Soviet attack, and the U.S. built several air bases in Greenland that year.

In 1959, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">U.S</a>. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century 200 kilometers (125 miles) inland from the Greenland coast. Encased completely within the ice sheet, Camp Century became known as the "city under the ice."

The camp's official purpose was to test construction techniques in the Arctic and conduct scientific research. While in operation, the camp housed 85 to 200 soldiers and was powered by a nuclear reactor. Scientists at Camp Century took ice core samples providing climate data still cited in research today, Colgan said.

The camp also provided proof of concept for a top secret program to test the feasibility of building nuclear missile launch sites close enough to reach the Soviet Union. While never built, a larger planned camp based on the concept of Camp Century would have housed a 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) long tunnel system underneath the ice, capable of deploying up to 600 nuclear missiles.

Although the camp was built with Denmark's approval, the missile launch program, known as Project Iceworm, was kept secret from the Danish government. Several years after the camp became operational, Project Iceworm was rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the camp was decommissioned. The Army Corps of Engineers removed the nuclear reaction chamber but left the camp's infrastructure and all other waste behind, assuming the ice sheet would secure them forever. In the decades since, falling snow has buried the camp roughly 35 meters (115 feet) further underneath the ice.

In the new study, Colgan and his team took an inventory of the wastes at Camp Century and ran climate model simulations to determine whether the waste will stay put in a warming Arctic. The team analyzed historical U.S. army engineering documents to determine where and how deep the wastes were buried and how much the ice cap had moved since the 1950s.

"Looking at the data, we can see right where it's buried," says Mike MacFerrin, a CIRES researcher who is co-author on the paper. MacFerrin analyzed ground-penetrating radar from NASA's Operation IceBridge aircraft to pinpoint the camp's current location and depth. "The radar shows smooth layers of snow and ice until reaching the camp. Then the signal gets messy. We don't yet have enough detail to map exactly what all is down there, but the outline is clear."

The team found the waste at Camp Century covers 55 hectares (136 acres), roughly the size of 100 football fields. They estimate the site contains 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) of diesel fuel, enough for a car to circle the globe 80 times. Based on building materials used in the Arctic at the time, the authors speculate the site contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pollutants toxic to human health. They also estimate the site has 240,000 liters (63,000 gallons) of waste water, including sewage, along with an unknown amount of radioactive coolant from the nuclear generator.

Looking at existing business-as-usual climate projections, the team determined the wastes would not remain encased in ice forever, as was assumed by both the U.S. and Denmark when the camp was abandoned. Instead, they could melt and re-enter the environment.

"When we looked at the climate simulations, they suggested that rather than perpetual snowfall, it seems that as early as 2090, the site could transition from net snowfall to net melt," Colgan said. "Once the site transitions from net snowfall to net melt, it's only a matter of time before the wastes melt out; it becomes irreversible."

Camp Century's waste presents a significant environmental hazard, according to the study's authors. When the ice melts, pollutants could be transported to the ocean, where they could disrupt marine ecosystems, Colgan said.

Based on ice sheet observations near Camp Century but at lower elevations, the camp's waste could be exposed sooner than the study's models predict, said Jennifer Mercer, a cryospheric scientist with the National Science Foundation who specializes in operations on the Greenland Ice Sheet and who was not connected to the study.

The study does not advocate for starting remediation activities at Camp Century now. The waste is buried tens of meters below the ice, and any cleanup activities would be costly and technically challenging, Colgan said.

"It really becomes a situation of waiting until the ice sheet has melted down to almost expose the wastes that anyone should advocate for site remediation," he said.

But the new study does raise questions about who is responsible for cleaning up the waste when it is exposed. International law is clear about responsibility for preventing future hazardous waste, but ambiguous about who is liable for waste already discarded, said Jessica Green, a political scientist specializing in international environmental law at New York University who was not connected to the study. Although Camp Century was a U.S. base, it is on Danish soil, and although Greenland is a Danish territory, it is now self-governing, she said.

The implications of climate change on politically ambiguous abandoned wastes have not been considered before, according to the study's authors.

"The study identifies a big hole in the extant set of laws and rules we have to deal with environmental problems globally," Green said.

Melting Greenland ice sheet could release frozen Cold War-era waste

Melting Greenland ice sheet could release frozen Cold War-era waste....

<div>Because the oceans absorb man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, its pH declines. Effects of this chemical change on tropical coral reefs can be examined in laboratory or short-term field experiments. However, a team led by Dr. Marlene Wall, marine biologist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, chose a different approach: In the framework of the German research network BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification), they examined corals of the genus Porites, which grow at volcanic carbon dioxide vents in Papua New Guinea and have become a dominant species there.</div>
<div>

"It is very difficult to foresee if tropical corals are able to survive global climate change. These organisms are very sensitive to a rise in water temperatures, ocean acidification and pollution", explains Dr. Wall. "The natural carbon dioxide vents give us the opportunity to study the scenario of the future already today. Previous studies have shown that Porites is among the winners. But up to now, no one knew how they manage."

Porites corals keep their internal pH at a level at which they are able to produce calcium carbonate and grow despite higher carbon dioxide concentrations and lower pH in the surrounding water - a significant advantage over many other species. In this way, they have established themselves under extreme conditions. "According to our observations, the pH regulation is a key feature when it comes to surviving under a lowered pH", emphasizes Dr. Wall. The findings about pH regulation in corals are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

To better understand the ability of pH regulation, the scientific team led by Dr. Wall examined corals using the boron isotope method. For these measurements, a laser is directed at the skeletons. Material that comes off during this procedure is analysed in a mass spectrometer. The isotopic composition of boron that is included in the skeleton reveals information on the coral's internal pH. "This method gives us new insights and allows for conclusions about the physiology of the coral skeleton at the time of calcification", says Dr. Jan Fietzke, a physicist at GEOMAR and co-author of the study. "You could say we look back into the future."

For the study described in the current publication, Fietzke examined the skeleton which had been formed a few days to weeks before sampling. Comparisons with pH measurements in the surrounding water proved that the boron isotopes reflected the internal pH of the coral and that it was different from the pH of the environment - pH regulation has taken place. Based on this knowledge, cores from several decades old corals are currently being evaluated. "So we can find out when and how quickly they have acclimatized."

By looking back to the future, the researchers found out that Porites corals have a remarkable ability to level their pH for decades and thereby counteract global climate change. "But we had to learn that regulation is only possible up to a certain degree. When carbon dioxide concentrations exceed values that are expected after the year 2100, calcification and growth are lower - and even the winner reaches its limit", according to Dr. Wall. "Our results prove how important it is to combine laboratory experiments with long-term field studies and observations. Controlled laboratory experiments provide an understanding of the pH control, but only in combination with field observations, they paint a more detailed picture about possible long-term consequences."
###
Original publication:

Wall, Marlene, Fietzke, J., Schmidt, G. M., Fink, A. Hofmann, L. C., de Beer, D., Fabricius, K. E. 2016: Internal pH regulation Facilitates in situ long-term acclimation of massive corals to end-of-century carbon dioxide conditions. Scientific Reports 6: 30688, doi: 10.1038 / srep30688

BIOACID in brief:

Under the umbrella of BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification), 10 institutions examine how marine ecosystems react to ocean acidification, how this affects the food web and the exchange of material and energy in the ocean and how the changes influence the socio-economic sector. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. A list of member institutions and further information can be found on the website <a href="http://www.bioacid.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.bioacid.de</a>

Links:

<a href="http://www.geomar.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.geomar.de</a> GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

<a href="http://www.bioacid.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.bioacid.de</a> BIOACID - Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification

<a href="http://www.fwf.ac.at/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.fwf.ac.at</a> Fund for Scientific Research (FWF)

</div>

Can coral reefs resist a declining pH in a warming world?

Because the oceans absorb man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) from the...

Anthony DeLuze keeps his ancestors' traditions alive in 21st century Hawaii by growing the staple crop taro on a suburban plot sandwiched between wings of a sprawling shopping mall.Underground <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/navy-pink-turquoise-relaxation/">Navy</a> fuel tanks worry Hawaiian farmers causing a scene.
But the aquifer that hydrates the starchy vegetables sits under 20 enormous underground fuel tanks the Navy uses to store fuel for military ships and aircraft. One tank leaked tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel into the ground in 2014, worrying DeLuze the tanks are a threat to his farm's natural springs and well.
The aquifer also supplies a quarter of the water consumed in urban Honolulu, which includes the tourist mecca Waikiki.Underground Navy fuel tanks worry Hawaiian farmers
DeLuze and Honolulu water utility officials want the Navy to move the World War II-era tanks away from the aquifer. But the Navy views them as a vital strategic asset that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Plus, the Navy says the water is safe.
"It makes no sense to me that one of the biggest aquifers on this island has fuel sitting on top of it," DeLuze said. "Anything can happen - could have an earthquake, could be a disaster, and we're screwed."
Each of the underground fuel tanks is about 25 stories tall. The tanks sit in two rows of 10 inside a hill about 3 miles from Pearl Harbor. They hold a total of about 187 million gallons of fuel, providing the military with a vital fuel reserve in the Pacific. Two are currently out of service.
Navy Region Hawaii commander Rear Adm. John Fuller said the tanks are the last fully U.S.-owned fuel stop for forces en route from the West Coast and Hawaii to Asia and the Middle East.
"If we don't have the fuel to operate the forces, then we can't be present. We can't help our friends," Fuller said.
The Navy is working on a 20-year plan, codified in a signed agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Health Department, to upgrade the 70-year-old tanks and better prevent and detect leaks.
As part of the deal, the Navy is building four new wells to monitor groundwater for contaminants by the end of the year. This will add to the 10 monitoring wells it already has. The Navy conducts quarterly and monthly testing at these wells, said Capt. Dean Tufts, commanding officer of Naval Facilities and Engineering Command, Hawaii.
"Fuel is not moving toward drinking water sources. And fuel is not in the aquifer at all," Tufts told The Associated Press in an interview.
Officials with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the city's water utility, say its water is safe to drink. But they point to Navy studies from the '80s through the late '90s showing petroleum hydrocarbon in the rocks underneath the tanks as a sign of the tanks' risks. They're worried about the possibility of an extremely large release of fuel due to a catastrophic event, in part because the tanks are so old.
As an island state, Hawaii can't import water from a neighbor if the fuel enters the water supply, said Ernest Lau, the utility's manager and chief engineer.
"We live on an island. Every drop of pure fresh water is precious to us," Lau said. He argues a better place for the tanks is about 20 miles west at Campbell Industrial Park, where a hard rock covering insulates the aquifer below.
Honolulu could install a treatment system to remove fuel contaminants, but that would be expensive, and ratepayers would have to foot the bill unless the utility could force the federal government to pay for it, Lau said.
The utility hasn't said how much it would cost to build a treatment system. But a 2010 Navy study estimated the price for installing one for the Navy's Red Hill shaft near the tanks would be between $46 million and $51 million. The study estimated the facility would cost $6 million to $7 million a year to operate.
Part of the difficulty is the uncertainty over where the leaked petroleum is heading and where future leaks might go.
Steve Linder, manager of the underground storage tanks program at the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA"> EPA</a> region that includes Hawaii, said data doesn't indicate alarming signs of fuel in the groundwater or show an imminent threat to drinking water supply wells.
But he said more research would provide certainty and comfort.
"That's what we're looking for - getting a higher degree of understanding, a higher degree of certainty so we can make more informed decisions about what needs to happen in terms of release prevention in the future and what needs to happen in terms of mitigation of a problem that may already exist," Linder said.
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Underground Navy fuel tanks worry Hawaiian farmers

Anthony DeLuze keeps his ancestors' traditions alive in 21st century...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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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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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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

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



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



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



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



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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

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