Greenland’s ice-covered landscape looks like an immovable block on satellite maps. Yet the story locked beneath its center suggests a very different past, one that places future coastal cities in a tight spot. 



During the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-were-likely-the-leading-cause-of-megafauna-extinctions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pleistocene</a> - the geologic chapter that began about 2.7 million years ago and ran through innumerable swings between cold and mild - the island’s ice waxed and waned in tune with global climate. 



New evidence hints that those swings were more dramatic than scientists once believed.



In 1993, drillers hauled a two‑mile‑deep ice core up from the island’s highest point and stowed the entire column in a Colorado freezer. 



The surprise awaited in the bottom three inches of sediment: perfectly preserved traces of a tundra ecosystem. 



That sliver of soil, shielded for ages by roughly 1.9 miles (3 km) of ice, now refocuses the conversation about future sea level and the stability of polar ice in a warming world.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tundra-hidden-beneath-greenland-s-ice">Tundra hidden beneath Greenland's ice</h2>



Once the drill broke through that 1.9‑mile roof of ice, the researchers retrieved those three inches of till. 



“These fossils are beautiful,” says Paul Bierman, a scientist at the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a> who co‑led the new study with UVM graduate student Halley Mastro and nine other researchers.



“But, yes, we go from bad to worse,” Bierman added, referring to what this finding implies about the impact of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/indisputable-evidence-of-human-caused-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human‑caused climate change</a> on melting of the Greenland ice sheet.



The till holds poppy, spike‑moss, woody willow tissue, fungal sclerotia, insect parts, and a band of soil capped by about 16 inches of erratic boulders. 



This is clear evidence that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drones-reveal-hidden-details-about-greenlands-melting-ice/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">central Greenland</a> once lay ice‑free under a cold, dry sky where late‑lying snow lingered through early summer.



Because the material sits undisturbed, the team is confident it was not swept in from elsewhere as ice advanced.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inside-a-deep-greenland-ice-core">Inside a deep Greenland ice core</h2>



“Once we made the discovery at Camp Century, we thought, ‘Hey, what's at the bottom of GISP2?’” Bierman recalled.



High‑energy isotope ratios show that the summit last saw open air within the past 1.1 million years, while argon trapped in overlying clear ice indicates at least 250,000 years of continuous cover since then. Basal ice at another drilling site about 19 miles away is roughly 1 million years old. 



A separate core from Camp Century <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-under-the-ice-secret-base-camp-found-in-greenland/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">near the coast</a> yielded plant remains no older than 416,000 years, underscoring the ice sheet’s flickering presence across the Pleistocene. 



These findings draw on material that had been stored at the National Science Foundation <a href="https://icecores.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ice Core Facility</a> in Lakewood, Colorado, for three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-divulge-a-warmer-greenland">Fossils divulge a warmer Greenland</h2>



Under the microscope, what had looked like no more than specks floating on the surface of the melted core sample was, in fact, a window into a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-transformation-ice-melt-plant-growth-vegetation-cascading-effects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tundra landscape</a>. 



“It was amazing,” Mastro exclaimed. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/greenland_soil-sample_fossils_recently-melted-ice_credit-UVermont_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/greenland_soil-sample_fossils_recently-melted-ice_credit-UVermont_1s.webp" alt="Willow bud scale, arctic poppy seed, fungal bodies, and rock spikemoss megaspores found in the GISP2 soil sample viewed under a microscope at the University of Vermont. Credit: Halley Mastro/University of Vermont" class="wp-image-1966471"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Willow bud scale, arctic poppy seed, fungal bodies, and rock spikemoss megaspores found in the GISP2 soil sample viewed under a microscope at the University of Vermont. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Halley Mastro/University of Vermont</figcaption></figure>



Mastro and colleagues picked out spores of spike‑moss, the bud scale of a young willow, and the compound eye of an insect - life‑forms adapted to chilly air and long summer daylight.



“And then we found Arctic poppy - just one seed of it. That is a tiny flower that's really good at adapting to the cold. It lets us know that Greenland's ice melted and there was soil, because poppies don't grow on top of miles of ice,” Mastro continued.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-level-risks-for-global-coasts">Sea‑level risks for global coasts</h2>



Sea level today is rising more than an inch each decade. “And it's getting faster and faster,” said&nbsp;Bierman. The extra water comes from a warming ocean that expands as well as from melting glaciers worldwide.



Near‑complete melting of Greenland’s ice over the next centuries to a few millennia would lead to some 23 feet of sea‑level rise. 



“Look at Boston, New York, Miami, Mumbai, or any other coastal city around the world, and add 20‑plus feet of sea level. It goes underwater. Don't buy a beach house," Bierman advised.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-much-did-sea-levels-rise-after-the-last-ice-age-alarming-new-clues-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sea level</a> is likely to be several feet higher by the end of this century, when today’s children are grandparents.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-greenland-s-fragile-ice-fortress">Greenland's fragile ice fortress</h2>



Richard Alley, a leading climate scientist at Penn State, reviewed the new research.



“This new study confirms, and expands upon earlier evidence, that significant sea‑level rise occurred at a time when the causes of warming were not especially extreme, providing a warning of the damage we might cause if we continue to warm the climate," Alley noted.



“We now have direct evidence that not only was the ice gone, but that plants and insects were living there,” Bierman concluded. “And that's unassailable. You don't have to rely on calculations or models.” 



The fossil soil at Greenland’s summit, locked beneath nearly two miles of ice, speaks plainly: polar ice sheets can retreat far and fast when the climate tips, and the coastlines of the future will trace that story in real time. 



Whether that warning is heeded remains a decision for policy makers and citizens alike.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2407465121#supplementary-materials" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Greenland fossil discovery stuns and worries scientists: "Don't buy a beach house"

Greenland’s ice-covered landscape looks like an immovable block on satellite maps. Yet the story locked beneath its center suggests a very different past, one that places future coastal cities in a tight spot. During the Pleistocene - the geologic chapter that began about 2.7 million years ago and ran through innumerable swings between cold and mild - the island’s ice waxed and waned in tune with global climate. New evidence hints that those swings were more dramatic than scientists once believed. In 1993, drillers hauled a two‑mile‑deep ice core up...

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In Antarctic waters that would kill a person within minutes happily dwells a tiny, single-celled organism known as Euplotes focardii. In a new study, researchers from Italy's University of Camerino examine the genes and proteins behind this organism's remarkable ability to cope with its extreme environment, which is not only unthinkably cold, but also saturated with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earth-oxygen-boring-billion/">oxygen</a> at a level that would be very stressful for most organisms. The team's findings reveal new insights about how--and how quickly--life can adapt to a changing climate. Euplotes focardii thrives in frigid Antarctic waters.

The researchers compared the genes expressed by Euplotes focardii to those expressed by a cousin species that thrives in moderate temperatures. A majority of the genes expressed only by Euplotes focardii coded for proteins that help to defend the organism against oxidative stress, a toxic buildup that results when cells interact with oxygen. The organism also was found to produce proteins that protect other proteins from oxidative and cold stress.

These protective proteins are likely an important feature the organisms evolved to adapt to the Antarctic oxygen-rich environment, and will likely serve them well as climate change alters ocean chemistry, the researchers said. The study also revealed that Euplotes focardii uses an unusually flexible process when decoding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">RNA,</a> possibly indicating an ability to evolve more quickly than other organisms.

Cristina Miceli will present this research on Thursday, July 14 from 5:00-5:30 p.m. during the Evolution and Population Biology session in Palms Ballroom Canary 2 as part of The Allied Genetics Conference, Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida.


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Euplotes focardii thrives in frigid Antarctic waters

In Antarctic waters that would kill a person within minutes...

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New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environmentTrying to think green when buying a car? Whether your new fuel-efficient engine helps or hurts the warming planet depends on where you live and what you're putting in the tank.

New cars aim to deliver high performance with maximum fuel efficiency, making them easier on both the environment and the wallet. To do this, auto manufacturers are adopting a smaller, more fuel-efficient engine type, called <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/beer-alternative-gasoline/">gasoline</a> direct-injection (GDI) -- between model years 2009 to 2015, the percentage of new vehicles sold with GDI engines jumped from five to 46 per cent.New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

But new research out of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering shows that GDI isn't necessarily the greener choice. Although GDI engines emit lower levels of CO2, they emit more <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=black+carbon&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=de786289d6464a1386675f629858ca1c&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemE0kynwwk6Fnnbj3SyzISruy5kKK5BIIeprDlELyGy1R%21T0y*OXLEvkEj125rFL2QS&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">black carbon</a> -- the climate-warming particle commonly known as soot -- and toxic volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and toluene.New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

"The whole motivation for creating these engines in the first place was fuel efficiency. But what we haven't considered are the other climate-related emissions," says Greg Evans, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering &amp; Applied Chemistry and director of the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research. "If a vehicle emits a small amount of soot, it can completely negate the lower amount of CO2 that it's emitting."

Evans, Dr. Naomi Zimmerman (ChemE PhD 1T5) and Professor Jim Wallace (MIE), director of the Engine Research &amp; Development Lab at the University of Toronto, first studied the chemical composition of emissions from GDI engines. They found that GDI emissions ranked in the 73rd percentile of all vehicles studied for black carbon, and in the 80 to 90th percentile for volatile organic compounds.

They then examined the climate trade-offs between reductions in CO2 emissions and increases in black carbon to determine whether this new engine type confers a net climate benefit. They found that whether GDI engines are the 'greener' choice depends on several factors, including fuel composition, temperature and lifetime of the vehicle.

Their work appeared in two papers in the journal Environmental Science &amp; Technology.

"We found that in some cases, you need up to a 20 per cent improvement in fuel economy in order to offset black carbon emissions," says Zimmerman, lead author on the studies. "Offsetting the black carbon might be realistic in a place like California, where fuel composition is more strictly regulated and seasonal temperatures fluctuate less, but is harder to achieve in Canada."

Evans and Zimmerman also compared conventional gasoline engine types, called port fuel injection or PFI, with GDI engines. They found that replacing an older PFI engine from 2005 with a new GDI engine from 2015 meant an 11 per cent improvement in fuel economy, but swapping a 2010 PFI engine with a 2015 GDI engine only saw a one per cent improvement in fuel economy.

"All the complex interactions show that because of the well intentioned desire to mitigate climate warming, the technology is changing quickly and we are not properly considering all the trade-offs and side effects," says Evans. "As engine designs improve, the balance between all these factors could change again."

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New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environmentTrying to think green...

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders. If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study.
The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sierra-nevada-mountains-taller/">Sierra</a> Club compiled public statements from the leaders of the 195 nations recognized by the State Department. An advance copy of the group's report, released Tuesday, was provided to The Associated Press. Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders
In contrast to public statements by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee calling climate change a "con job" and a "myth," the leader of every U.S. ally urges action to reduce climate-warming carbon emissions, including Great Britain, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=germany&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=c03896b002c6427f8e4200299a043fd5&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfMa*3koim6WmYuhKqzXqmtQcqWeep9LndzAkppBympsf02zOxDVYGFEZC%21WLVI65OKScucUYvh3w9F1mnfYt2tX&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Germany,</a> France, Japan and Canada.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, head of the Earth's most populous country and the No. 1 global emitter of carbon, has called for eventually phasing out dirty coal-fired power plants and is leading an ambitious national effort to build massive arrays of solar panels and wind turbines.
The regime of reclusive North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signed on to the Paris accord last year and is implementing a 10-year push to plant new forests as part of a "national effort to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
Even the leaders of nations economically dependent on oil production also accept the reality that the world's climate is warming, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman.
"Being highly vulnerable to climate change and actions and plans to address it, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be engaged in several actions to address climate change and make its development more sustainable," the Saudi state said in a statement issued last year.
Trump, meanwhile, has pledged to "renegotiate" U.S. commitments under the Paris accord and has suggested that the science of climate change is part of a plot to weaken the American economy.
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump tweeted in 2012.
He has also cited cold winter weather as evidence the world is not really warming.
"The entire country is FREEZING - we desperately need a heavy dose of global warming, and fast! Ice caps size reaches all time high," Trump tweeted during a 2014 blizzard.
While Trump's climate-change denial has become orthodoxy within the Republican Party, it is at odds with the overwhelming consensus of the world's scientific community and rejects reams of data about how the Earth's climate is changing.
According to NASA, 97 percent of the climate scientists agree that the world is getting hotter and that man-made carbon emissions are to blame. Ten of the warmest years in history have occurred in the past 12. Studies show the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass, while the world's oceans have risen on average nearly 7 inches in the last century.
Despite his public stance, there is evidence that Trump the businessman may be hedging his bets. Earlier this year, the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Ireland cited the threat of sea level rise in a permit application to build a nearly two-mile-long stone wall between it and the Atlantic Ocean.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not respond to requests for comment.
John Coequyt, the Sierra Club's director for global climate policy, said Trump's failure to acknowledge basic climate science would leave him isolated on the world stage as president, adding, "Trump's climate science denial would make him a global laughingstock if it wasn't so dangerous."
---
Follow Associated Press environmental writer Michael Biesecker at <a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck">http://Twitter.com/mbieseck</a>
---
Read the full Sierra Club report at <a href="http://bit.ly/29Bgb1C">http://bit.ly/29Bgb1C</a>
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy andTerms of Use.

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders....

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Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury. Shorebirds breeding in Alaska are being exposed to mercury at levels that could put their populations at risk, according to new research from The Condor: Ornithological Applications.

Thanks to atmospheric circulation and other factors, the mercury that we deposit into the environment tends to accumulate in the Arctic. Mercury exposure can reduce birds' reproductive success and sometimes even be lethal. Shorebirds may be particularly vulnerable because they forage in aquatic environments where mercury is converted into methylmercury, its most dangerous form. Marie Perkins of the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) and her colleagues investigated the level of mercury in Alaska's shorebirds and found that some birds breeding near Barrow, at the state's northern end, have mercury concentrations upwards of two micrograms per gram of blood.

"These species already face a lot of tough new challenges, from climate change to disappearing stop-over habitat, so throwing a neurotoxin in the mix that can reduce reproductive success is likely to harm their populations," according to Dan Cristol of the College of William &amp; Mary, an expert on mercury in birds who was not involved with the new study. "The mercury concentrations reported in this paper are likely to reduce reproduction, but not catastrophically, based on what we know from other species. What may be even worse, though, is that these mercury levels probably spike when they leave the breeding grounds and start burning their reserve fuel, making their already arduous continent-jumping trips even harder."

To assess the birds' mercury exposure, Perkins and her colleagues collected blood and feathers from nine shorebird species breeding and staging for their southward migration at sites throughout Alaska. In addition to the troubling results from birds breeding near Barrow, they found that mercury levels depended on a species' foraging habits--shorebird species that foraged in upland areas, away from methylmercury-rich wetlands, had the lowest blood mercury concentrations.

More work is needed to determine how much mercury various shorebird species can handle before they suffer adverse effects. "These results have encouraged me to expand my research on mercury exposure in Arctic shorebirds," says Perkins. "I am currently pursuing my PhD at McGill University, where I am working in collaboration with BRI and the Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network to closely examine mercury exposure in multiple shorebird species breeding across the North American Arctic."
###
"Mercury exposure and risk in breeding and staging Alaskan shorebirds" will be available July 13, 2016, at <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-16-36.1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-16-36.1</a> (issue URL <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/3</a>).

About the journal: The Condor: Ornithological Applications is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology. It began in 1899 as the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Club

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Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury

Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury. Shorebirds breeding...

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NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia. Tropical Storm Celia continues to weaken in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and NASA data showed that the strongest winds and storms were pushed north of the center of the storm.

Hurricane Celia had weakened to a tropical storm with winds of about 45 knots (52 mph) when the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-is-bringing-major-changes-to-the-arctic/">Global</a> Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite flew over on July 14, 2016 at 0001 UTC (July 13 at 8:01 p.m. EDT). GPM found that convective storms were mainly located to the north and northeast of the Celia's center of circulation. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) found that rain was falling at over 164 mm (6.4 inches) per hour within the small area of a feeder band spiraling into the northeastern side of the center of circulation. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia

With this orbit GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) made 3-D measurements of Celia's cloud tops and found that they were mainly shallow. A few cloud tops in the most powerful storms were measured by DPR reaching altitudes of over 11 km (6.8 miles).

NASA's RapidScat instrument measured the surface winds around Tropical Storm Celia on July 11 between 0900 and 1000 UTC (5 and 6 a.m. EDT) and found the strongest winds north of the center of circulation near 30 meters per second (67 mph/108 kph).

The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station measures Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction over open waters. Surface wind speed is always lower than speeds at higher altitude. RapidScat is an important tool for meteorologists, because it shows forecasters the location of the strongest winds in different quadrants of an area of low pressure or tropical cyclone as they are not always equally distributed.

[ooyala code="93a3dxNDE6vqbw5E4faCdkm7deWEzc-Q" player_id="ce75157bc770441eaf5e849ae4d1d21f" width="900" height="500"]

On July 14 at 11:11 UTC (7:11 a.m. EDT) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed that Celia continued to maintain a small area of deep convection and coldest cloud top temperatures north of the center of circulation. The National Hurricane Center noted that "the area of cold cloud tops has become separated from the low-level center due to some southwesterly (wind) shear." Those cloud top temperatures are as cold as minus 63 Fahrenheit/minus 53 Celsius.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 13 the center of Tropical Storm Celia was located near 20.8 north latitude and 136.7 west longitude. That's about 1,195 miles (1,920 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Celia is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph) and the National Hurricane Center said that a turn toward the west is expected on Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Weakening is forecast, and Celia is likely to become a tropical depression early Friday, and degenerate into a remnant low by Friday night. July 15. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1000 millibars.

The National Hurricane Center said Celia is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone in 24 to 36 hours. After that time, the cyclone will be moving over slightly warmer sea surface temperatures but moderate to strong westerly shear should prevent regeneration.

Once Celia passes west of 140W, warnings on this system will be issued by NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Celia is expected to pass north of Hawaii and may bring rain to the northern islands on July 18 and 19.


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NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia

NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia. Tropical Storm...

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<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/climate-change-alter-wildflowers/">Climate</a> experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons. Work by University of Exeter experts to predict the weather in India could help millions of people prepare for the devastating effects of the country's summer monsoons.

Climatologists from the University of Exeter have identified a location in central India where they can predict excess <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=monsoon&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=c1d7fb5783b54f5c88987f04bc58a6bc&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemEhc2NvNdoI6DkJU%21MuWGFD10Tz*A1qZZzypZO%21VK*IwypazSGDPZo5OBMZ9NrXv1m&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">monsoon</a> rainfall or drought, which have an enormous impact on the national and global economy.

The new study, which concentrates on a region at Central North East India, could allow government and policymakers to make more informed decisions which will give better protection to communities, farmers and businesses. It will enable them to make policy which will mitigate the impact of extreme and unusual weather.Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons

By comparing the results of mathematical models with human observations, they have proved it is possible to provide an improved forecast of the Indian Summer Monsoon in Central North East India.

The Indian Summer Monsoon has a major impact on agriculture, and therefore the economy, in India, and is responsible for 80 percent of the country's annual rainfall. Farmers rely on this seasonal rain to grow essential crops. Flooding also threatens life. A strong monsoon in 2005 killed more than 1,000 people.

Having more accurate forecasts means farmers can choose the crops and plans which are likely to be most successful. It can also help farmers and policymakers plan how to store the excess water.

The Indian Summer Monsoon is influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which causes extreme weather in different parts of the world.

The ENSO is mainly caused by fluctuations in sea surface temperature around central to east tropical Pacific Ocean. There are two opposite phases, El Niño and La Niña. During La Niña, that sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean is colder, for El Niño, the temperature is warmer. During El Niño there is usually less monsoon rainfall and for La Niña there is more rainfall.

Dr Indrani Roy, Dr Renata Tedeschi and Professor Matthew Collins from the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences studied 23 different mathematical models designed to predict information about the climate. They compared them with human observations about the climate and found that models are able to make accurate predictions about the monsoon rain in Central North East India.

The team found that data from tropical Pacific Ocean could help them predict the behaviour of the Summer Monsoon in Central North East India. The models did not allow the team to make the same predictions for other regions in India.

Dr Roy, the lead author of the study, said: "India is one of the most populated countries in the world, and the monsoon rains have not only a significant impact on the national but also the global economy.

"Our findings will improve prediction skills which will contribute to better business performance, economic prosperity and wealth creation. It can directly affect the ability of the sub-continent to anticipate and adapt to changes."

ENSO Teleconnections to the Indian Summer Monsoon in Observations and Models by Indrani Roy, Renata Tedeschi and Matthew Collins is published in the International Journal of Climatology.


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Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons

Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons. Work by...

Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills. Railroads hauling crude oil would be required to develop comprehensive plans for dealing with a significant oil spill, including providing detailed information to state and tribal authorities, under a rule proposed Wednesday by the Department of Transportation.
The proposal also includes a new testing method for shippers to determine the volatility of oil shipments.
Oil is often transported in trains with as many as 100 tank cars at a time. At least 27 oil trains have derailed in the U.S. and <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/lake-st-clair-of-the-u-s-and-canada/">Canada</a> in the last decade, often leading to fiery explosions and extensive environmental damage. Local authorities have complained in the past that they've been unable to obtain information or there have been delays in obtaining information from railroads.
Last month, a Union Pacific Railroad oil train derailed in the scenic Columbia River Gorge along the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon">Oregon</a>-Washington border. The derailment released 42,000 gallons of crude oil and sparked a massive fire that burned for 14 hours. Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills
The proposed rule would "hold industry accountable to plan and prepare for the worst-case scenario," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.
The Association of American Railroads said in a statement that it is reviewing the 217-page proposal, and that railroads already have response plans in place.
The rule would require railroads to position teams that can respond with equipment and manpower within 12 hours to an oil train derailment. But the department also asks for industry and public comments on whether a maximum 6 hours to respond would be more appropriate in areas where there is high volume of oil train traffic or that are environmentally sensitive.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., praised the proposal, saying it would "ensure that personnel are trained and available, that equipment is in place to respond to a spill, and that procedures are established before a spill occurs." He said he will urge the department to include ethanol shipments in addition to crude oil in the proposal.
Like crude oil, ethanol is also sometimes shipped in trains with with large numbers of tank cars that, if derailed, can spill their contents and ignite fierce fires that spread to other cars.
---
Follow Joan Lowy at twitter.com/AP-Joan-Lowy. Her work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy</a>
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Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills

Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills. Railroads...

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Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. UBC biologists are digging under vineyards to see if the Okanagan's grape industry is affecting soil quality.

Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. Miranda Hart, an associate professor of biology at UBC's Okanagan campus, her PhD candidate Taylor Holland, along with Agriculture <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/lake-st-clair-of-the-u-s-and-canada/">Canada</a> research scientist Pat Bowen, has spent the better part of three years studying soil samples from more than 15 vineyards throughout the Okanagan.

Specifically, they were looking at soils in vineyards and neighboring natural--or uncultivated--habitats. With samples from both areas, the scientists compared the bacterial and fungal communities between these habitats, hoping to determine what's happening to the soil under the wine-producing grapes.

They determined there was a definite difference in soil communities between the natural valley soil and the vineyard soil.

"Soil biodiversity may be an important part of terroir, which is everything to a grape grower, so they have a vested interest in ensuring we preserve soil biodiversity," says Hart "This baseline study shows us that BC wine growing regions are different in terms of the organisms that live in the soil."

All agricultural activity will affect the soil, some more than others, Hart explains. But in order to know how the soil is being changed, researchers wanted to compare samples with natural, uncultivated areas alongside processed areas.

"We have to take care of the microbes in the soil," she says. "The biodiversity of soil microbes is essential if we are to feed our growing population."

While Hart points out there is a limited understanding of how agriculture practices change soil biodiversity, it is important to understand what the soil would be like if left in its natural state, so growers are aware of how they may be changing it.

The samples they tested showed that bacterial and fungal communities responded differently to viticulture: bacteria had a higher biodiversity in vineyards, compared to fungi which had higher biodiversity in unmanaged areas.

These results indicate that viticulture practices influence key environmental factors that control soil microbial communities and possibly affect nutrient availability and other services provided by natural soil communities, says Holland. Microbes are big part of the soil for grape growers; what happens underground can influence the vine growth and fruit development and downstream wine assets, he explains.

"Improved knowledge of how management choices affect microbial communities and their influences on crop performance would benefit the design of efficient and sustainable production systems," Holland adds. "As we move towards more natural practices, hopefully we can reduce these differences."

Bowen, who works at the Summerland research centre, says knowing what's happening in the soil is a vital part of agriculture for several reasons.

"Microbial communities also play an important role in stabilizing vineyard ecosystems which can reduce the need for pesticides and other resource inputs," Bowen adds.
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Hart's research, funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant, and other funds provided by the BC Wine Grape Council and Agriculture &amp; Agri-Food Canada, was recently published in Applied Soil Ecology.

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Study: Vineyards harm soil quality

Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. UBC biologists are digging under...

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NASA analyzes surface winds around Hurricane Darby. NASA found the strongest winds in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/future-hurricanes-wetter-and-windier/">Hurricane</a> Darby were occurring on its eastern side before northeasterly wind shear started affecting the storm.

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> RapidScat instrument measured the surface winds around Hurricane Darby on July 14 between 0731 to 0904 UTC (3:31 to 5:04 a.m. EDT) and found the strongest winds east of the center of circulation near 30 meters per second (67 mph/108 kph). Hurricane-force winds were found to extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 90 miles (150 km).

NASA analyzes surface winds around Hurricane Darby. The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station measures Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction over open waters. Surface wind speed is always lower than speeds at higher altitude

On July 14 at 09:35 UTC (5:35 a.m. EDT) infrared data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed that Darby's strong convection (rising air that condenses into clouds and thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) and coldest cloud top temperatures were south and southwest of the center of circulation. Those cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 63 Fahrenheit/minus 53 Celsius indicating they stretched high into the troposphere.

The National Hurricane Center said Darby still appears to be feeling the effects of 10 to 15 knots of northeasterly vertical wind shear. Recent microwave images continue to show a mid-level eye, but the deep convection has an asymmetric structure, primarily focused to the south and southwest of the center.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 14 the center of Hurricane Darby was located near latitude 15.9 North latitude and 116.9 west longitude. That puts the center of Darby about 665 miles (1,070 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. Darby is moving toward the west near 13 mph (20 kph), and this general motion is expected to continue during the next few days. The estimated minimum central pressure is 989 millibars.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 80 mph (130 kph) with higher gusts. The National Hurricane Center said that some gradual strengthening is forecast during the next day or two.


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NASA analyzes surface winds around Hurricane Darby

NASA analyzes surface winds around Hurricane Darby. NASA found the...

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Tropical Depression 6E forms in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The sixth tropical depression of the Eastern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dust-asia-fertilizes-north-pacific/">Pacific Ocean</a> formed on July 15 and was captured in an image from NOAA's GOES-West satellite.

The image NOAA's GOES-West at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) showed the center of Tropical Depression 6E (TD6E) about 370 miles (595 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. NOAA manages the GOES series of satellites. The NASA/NOAA GOES Project at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Goddard Space Flight Center uses the satellite data to create images and animations. Tropical Depression 6E forms in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

Daniel Brown, Forecaster at the National Hurricane Center noted in the Discussion at 11 a.m. EDT "Visible satellite and overnight ASCAT data indicate that the large low pressure area located southwest of the coast of Mexico has acquired a well-defined circulation and enough convective banding to classify the system as a tropical cyclone."

At 11 a.m. EDT 1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Depression Six-E was located near latitude 14.0 North, longitude 106.3 West. The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph) and this general motion is expected over the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts.

Strengthening is expected during the next 48 hours, and the depression is forecast to become a tropical storm tonight or early Saturday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 millibars.

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.


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Tropical Depression 6E forms in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

Tropical Depression 6E forms in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The...

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How much water does your lawn really need? A University of Utah study re-evaluated lawn watering recommendations by measuring water use by lawns in Los Angeles. The standard model of turfgrass water needs, they found, lacked precision in some common urban southern California conditions, like the Santa Ana winds, or in the shade.

"The current method of estimating water use is very arbitrary," says postdoctoral scholar Elizaveta Litvak, first author on the new study, published today in the Journal of Arid Environments. "And there has been no scientific ground for more precise recommendations."

Field of steam

Scientists study how much water plants lose so that landscape managers can know how much water they need to put back in. Water evaporates in a straightforward physical process that depends primarily on the temperature and humidity of the air. But plants also lose water through transpiration, breathing out water vapor as part of their metabolism. Transpiration is less predictable, because it's controlled by the plant's biological processes. Plants may restrict transpiration in drought conditions, for example. Transpiration rates can also vary from species to species. The combined measure of evaporation and transpiration is called "evapotranspiration" (ET) and it's a difficult quantity to measure. "There is no direct way to measure it," Litvak says. "It's like trying to capture what's not capturable."

Researchers attempt to determine a crop's ET rates by placing a large greenhouse-like chamber over an area of plants and measure how temperature and humidity changed within the chamber. But the presence of such a large chamber changes the plants' environment so much that the method is far from ideal.

The current state-of-the-art method involves placing tall towers, festooned with scientific instruments, in large crop fields. The towers measure slight atmospheric changes multiple times per second, and researchers feed the data into a mathematical model to compute ET rates for that field.

The lawns of LA

The present-day turfgrass ET model serves for estimating water use by forests and agricultural crops in various weather conditions. Urban lawns, however, are much smaller than crop fields. Although turfgrass is the largest irrigated crop in the U.S., researchers aren't certain how the ET model holds up in the fragmented urban landscape. Tall water vapor flux towers are not the answer. "You can't use that method in urban lawns because they're too small," says U biology professor Diane Pataki. "It just can't be done where lawns form a patchwork with streets and buildings. People hadn't gone in to cities and measured what turfgrass was actually doing."

Urban lawns present challenges to the model. First, urban environments create heat islands as air heats up in developed areas like parking lots. The hot dry air likely enhances evaporation rates and changes plant water responses, compared with natural and agricultural settings. Second, shade from landscape trees and buildings may create the opposite effect and mitigate ET rates, perhaps on an hourly basis.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2403267" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/07/14091146/cff1.greenatom.netuploads20160714091143media.eurekalert.orgmultimedia_prodpubweb119770_web-b8cfea053b48e7cbbd2fb65290164fd908a3a23b-a3e9270f2df02e19a52cd4df3230b3351d38ddd3-150x150.jpg" alt="Elizaveta Litvak" width="150" height="150" />Yet, as the best method available, the turfgrass ET model is the foundation of California's watering recommendations and guides the actions of advanced irrigation systems via nearby weather stations. "That's the gold standard in California for watering," Pataki says.

Because of the impracticality of building water vapor flux towers in residential lawns, Pataki and Litvak turned to the simple chamber method for measuring ET. They built a small clear box a bit bigger than a shoebox equipped with sensors that would instantaneously measure temperature and humidity within the box and, when set on a lawn, would provide a rapid estimate of ET. They carefully calibrated the method by weighing lawn pieces on a precise scale to capture weight losses caused by ET.

Litvak says that she got some puzzled looks and questions while toting the mini-chamber around the LA area. Some asked if it was a science fair experiment. "It looks so primitive," she says of the box. "It looks so simple."

Throw some shade

Litvak and Pataki found that their measurements of turfgrass ET didn't always match modeled predictions. The model's recommendations for watering shaded lawns are very vague, Pataki says, and most lawns are shaded, to some degree at some parts of the day by trees or buildings. Shade dramatically reduces plants' water needs, so a partly-shaded lawn will need less water than unshaded.

The model also doesn't account for the Santa Ana winds, masses of hot dry air that periodically tumble out of the mountains and through the LA area. Temperatures go up and humidity plummets. "The models can't deal with that at all," Pataki says. "They predict very high ET, but not as high as what we observed during those time periods."

Litvak says that the model performs best on dense unshaded grass, possibly intentionally overwatered to keep it green. On such lush lawns, actual ET is very close to predicted. Litvak and Pataki developed an approach to adjust ET rates for different urban conditions, including dry air or partial shade, that could lead to adjusted watering recommendations. "At some level, modeled methods work," Litvak says. "But when we transition to really low humidity, they just don't match our findings."

"The water use we measured in the field was higher than the recommendations that California was already making," Pataki says. "So if all people did was follow the recommendations, that's a significant water savings right there. Plus the recommendations could be improved as well."

On home turf

Turfgrasses in California are typically fescue or Bermuda grass species, instead of the Kentucky blue grass that's common in Utah. While the precise ET numbers may not be directly applicable in Utah, the general lessons of the study hold. Pataki and Litvak have one resounding suggestion for managing your grass in the summer: "Shade your lawn!" Then dial back irrigation water use accordingly.

"Do you know how much water you use to irrigate your lawn?" Litvak says. Many people don't, including landscape managers she interviewed in her research. Utah water managers recommend two irrigations per week in early and late summer and three irrigations in the hottest months. Each irrigation should deliver half an inch of water, which should take 20-40 minutes, depending on the sprinkler system type.

"A lot of the lawn space we see in people's yards doesn't seem to be used for anything other than aesthetics," Pataki says. "So that is going to cost some water."

The urban jungle

Litvak's doctoral dissertation work, of which this study is a continuation, results in an upcoming analysis of water use by plants in the entire LA area, including the "urban forest" of trees. The analysis, once completed, will be the first of its kind, a large-scale transpiration measure that can be applied to other urban areas as well.

"If you look out at this landscape in Salt Lake, how much water is coming off of this vegetation?" Pataki says, gesturing at her office window that overlooks the bustling Salt Lake Valley, covered with a canopy of trees. "No one knows."
<a href="http://unews.utah.edu/throw-shade-on-lawns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>

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How much water does your lawn really need?

How much water does your lawn really need? A University...

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Tropical Storm Celia move into central Pacific and has crossed 140 degrees west longitude line, which means the storm has moved from the Eastern into the Central Pacific Ocean. Infrared imagery from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Aqua satellite showed Celia had lost most of its punch.

Enhanced infrared imagery from the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on July 14 at 22:15 UTC (6:15 p.m. EDT) and microwave imagery showed all that remains of Celia's thunderstorms was a fragmented curved band storms about 60 nautical miles north-northeast of the exposed circulation center.

As of July 14, NOAA's Central <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pacific-salmon-water-temperatures/">Pacific</a> Hurricane Center (CPHC) was issuing advisories on Celia. At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Celia was located near 22.0 degrees north latitude and 140.2 degrees west longitude. That's about 975 miles (1,570 km) east-northeast of Hilo, Hawaii. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph (75 kph).

Celia is moving toward the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 kph). The system is expected to turn toward the west at about the same forward speed later today and continue in this general motion during the next couple of days.Tropical Storm Celia move into central Pacific

NOAA's CPHC said that Celia should continue to gradually spin down, due to the sea surface temperatures below 24 degrees Celsius and the surrounding stable air mass, and become a post-tropical cyclone by tonight. Tropical cyclones need sea surface temperatures of at least 26 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain intensity.

NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center noted that Celia will likely become a post-tropical cyclone today and a remnant low on Saturday.


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Tropical Storm Celia move into central Pacific

Tropical Storm Celia move into central Pacific and has crossed...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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



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

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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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