Consciousness has long intrigued thinkers, from ancient philosophers to contemporary neuroscientists. It is a complex phenomenon we encounter daily, yet we often find it difficult to fully define or comprehend.



This elusive aspect of our existence encompasses our thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and self-awareness. 



Despite significant advancements in fields like cognitive science and psychology, the true nature of consciousness remains one of humanity's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/panpsychism-what-if-all-things-humans-plants-atoms-have-universal-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most profound mysteries</a>.



Researchers are actively investigating how consciousness emerges from brain activity, the distinctions between conscious and unconscious states, and the broader implications of consciousness on our understanding of reality and existence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hyperdimensional-paradigm">Hyperdimensional paradigm</h2>



Michael Pravica, a physics professor at the <a href="https://www.unr.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Nevada</a>, offers a fresh perspective on the age-old mystery of consciousness. 



He proposes that understanding this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/understanding-human-consciousness-through-eureka-moments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complex phenomenon</a> may require us to look beyond our familiar dimensions.



Central to his theory is the concept of hyperdimensionality -- the intriguing possibility that our universe harbors more dimensions than the four we can perceive (three spatial dimensions and one of time).



Could this expanded view open new pathways for exploring the nature of consciousness? 



By examining these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-in-the-brain-does-consciousness-reside-scientists-think-they-might-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">broader dimensions</a>, we may uncover insights that have significant implications for our understanding of the universe and our place within it.



"The sheer fact we can conceive of higher dimensions than four within our mind, within our mathematics, is a gift... It's something that transcends biology," Pravica told Popular Mechanics. 



He believes that our ability to imagine and mathematically describe dimensions beyond <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-do-babies-start-gaining-their-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our physical experience</a> hints at a deeper connection between consciousness and the fabric of the universe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-string-theory-and-higher-dimensions">String theory and higher dimensions</h2>



String theory is an ambitious framework in physics that seeks to unify all fundamental forces and particles into a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-new-theory-finally-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">single theoretical model</a>. It proposes that the basic building blocks of the universe aren't point-like particles but tiny, one-dimensional "strings" that vibrate at specific frequencies. 



These vibrations correspond to different particles, much like how different musical notes come from vibrations of a guitar string. To make the mathematics of string theory work, scientists have found that it requires additional spatial dimensions. 



These new dimensions extend beyond the three we experience daily. In some versions of the theory, there are up to ten or eleven dimensions in total.



The extra dimensions aren't easily observed because they might be compactified or curled up at scales so small they're beyond our current ability to detect. Imagine dimensions folded in on themselves like tiny loops at every point in space. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dimension-of-consciousness">Dimension of consciousness</h2>



While the concepts of hyperdimensionality and string theory have received overwhelming acceptance from physicists, attributing a link between higher dimensions and consciousness can stir up a tempest in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meditation-reveals-common-altered-states-of-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scientific teapot</a>.



Interestingly, Pravica, an Orthodox Christian with a PhD from <a href="https://www.harvard.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard</a>, harnesses hyperdimensionality to bridge the gap between his scientific understanding and religious faith. He posits a fascinating theory: Jesus could be a hyperdimensional entity.



Pravica explained his perspective by citing a Biblical event. "According to the Bible, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after being on Earth. How do you ascend into heaven if you're a four-dimensional creature?" he pondered.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-science-fiction-or-fact">Science fiction or fact?</h2>



Not everyone in the scientific field is convinced by Pravica's approach. Some argue that linking consciousness to hyperdimensionality -- and by extension, to religious concepts -- blurs the line between empirical science and personal belief. 



One scientist commented that such theories are bordering "on science fiction." <a href="https://www.fordham.edu/academics/departments/physics-and-engineering-physics/faculty-and-staff/stephen-holler/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephen Holler</a>, an associate professor of physics at <a href="https://www.fordham.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fordham University</a> in New York, shares this skepticism. 



He emphasizes the importance of acknowledging gaps in our scientific knowledge without resorting to non-scientific explanations. 



"Gaps in scientific knowledge are attributed to divine intervention, rather than being seen as opportunities for further inquiry and understanding," Holler told Popular Mechanics.



He further expresses concern that this approach might <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-consciousness-and-you-what-happens-when-machines-become-sentient/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hinder scientific progress</a>. "It's a poor explanation mechanism that arguably stifles the inquisitive nature required for good science and teaches that it’s not okay to say, 'I don’t know'," Holler added. 



His viewpoint highlights the delicate balance between remaining open to new ideas and maintaining rigorous scientific standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dimension-of-consciousness-0">Dimension of consciousness</h2>



The debate sparked by Pravica's theory brings to light the broader conversation about how we explore consciousness. Could considering extra dimensions <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-can-lead-to-altered-states-of-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">offer new insights</a>, or does it complicate the matter further? 



While hyperdimensionality is a well-established concept in theoretical physics, its application to consciousness is relatively uncharted territory.



This discussion also touches on how personal beliefs can influence scientific exploration. Throughout history, many scientists have drawn inspiration from their philosophical or religious views. 



The key challenge lies in ensuring that such influences encourage curiosity rather than limit it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-consciousness-research">Future of consciousness research</h2>



As we continue to investigate the nature of consciousness, it's essential to keep an open mind while adhering to scientific principles. 



Theories like Pravica's invite us to think creatively and consider possibilities beyond conventional wisdom. They remind us that much about the human mind -- and the universe -- remains unknown.



Advancements in technology, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-connection-behind-brain-signals-and-human-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quantum computing</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-will-outsmart-humans-when-we-crack-the-neural-code/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">artificial intelligence</a>, may soon provide new tools to study consciousness. 



These developments could help us understand how cognitive processes might interact with dimensions we have yet to explore fully.



The quest to comprehend consciousness is far from over. Ideas that challenge the status quo, like the hyperdimensional paradigm, play a crucial role in pushing the boundaries of knowledge. 



Whether or not such theories withstand scientific scrutiny, they provoke valuable discussions that drive progress.



-----



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Consciousness may stem from unseen dimensions beyond our reality

Consciousness has long intrigued thinkers, from ancient philosophers to contemporary neuroscientists. It is a complex phenomenon we encounter daily, yet we often find it difficult to fully define or comprehend. This elusive aspect of our existence encompasses our thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and self-awareness. Despite significant advancements in fields like cognitive science and psychology, the true nature of consciousness remains one of humanity's most profound mysteries. Researchers are actively investigating how consciousness emerges from brain activity, the distinctions between conscious and unconscious states, and the broader implications of...

Refugio State Beach To Reopen Two Months After Oil Spill. A California beach fouled by an oil spill will reopen to swimmers and campers two months after a pipeline ruptured and spewed thousands of gallons of crude along the coast, officials said.
State Parks rangers toured the shoreline west of Santa Barbara on Thursday and cleared Refugio State Beach to reopen July 17.
Crews still need to finish scraping oil off cobblestones with wire brushes and putty knives before the public can use the beach next week. Hard-to-access areas will be off limits as cleanup continues, but officials said the work would not affect beachgoers. Refugio State Beach To Reopen Two Months After <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oil&amp;cvid=f75d4a949e9f475d8ea27217270c66f0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Oil</a> Spill
An underground pipeline operated by Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline ruptured May 19, releasing up to 101,000 gallons of oil. About 21,000 gallons flowed into a drainage ditch, coated Refugio beach and washed out to the Pacific Ocean.
The spill led authorities to close the beach and nearby El Capitan State Beach, which reopened in late June.
Tar balls from the spill have been sighted on beaches as far south as Los Angeles County, 100 miles away, and nearly 300 dead birds and marine mammals have been recovered near the spill site. Cleanup costs have exceeded $92 million.
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is investigating the cause of the spill, and state prosecutors have been considering potential charges against Plains.
Preliminary findings released by the federal agency suggest that the break occurred along a heavily corroded section of pipe.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee opened an investigation last month and asked Plains for detailed information on maintenance of the line. The panel also wants the company to explain how it reported the leak to the National Response Center, a clearinghouse for reports of hazardous-material releases.
Documents showed it took Plains nearly 90 minutes after confirming the leak to alert the response center. By then, the federal response led by the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/coast-guards-of-arctic-nations-seek-more-help-dealing-with-melting-sea-ice-3/">Coast Guard</a> was underway.
Plains has maintained that the response was not delayed.
© 2015 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.

Refugio State Beach To Reopen Two Months After Oil Spill

Refugio State Beach To Reopen Two Months After Oil Spill....

Environmental Group Wants More Deep Sea Drilling Regulations. As is so often the case, business interests are outpacing regulatory protections -- this time in the realm of deep sea drilling.

According to a new report from the conservation group Center for Ocean Solutions, mining and drilling companies are making plans to extract natural resources from previously untapped deep seabeds, yet protections for the ocean floor remain limited. Environmental Group Wants More Deep Sea Drilling Regulations
<div class="ad_slot"></div>
The Center for Ocean Solutions' new policy paper, <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6244/144.summary?sid=eaa86aa1-2b2c-4fef-a677-c15899409edc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published in the journal Science</a>, calls on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to address the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/how-will-ocean-anoxic-zones-interact-with-climate-change/">ocean</a> floor's currently lax environmental protections, in the face of growing industrial interests.

"Our purpose is to point out that the ISA has an important opportunity to create networks of no-mining Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as part of the regulatory framework they are considering at their July meeting," Lisa Wedding, a scientist with the group and lead author of the new paper, <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.centerforoceansolutions.org/news-stories/protecting-deep-sea-call-balancing-mining-and-ecosystem-protection-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explained in a recent press release</a>. "The establishment of regional MPA networks in the deep sea could potentially benefit both mining and biodiversity interests by providing more economic certainty and ecosystem protection." Environmental Group Wants More Deep Sea Drilling Regulations

The ISA is a U.N.-backed intergovernmental organization tasked with regulating mining activities in the seabed outside national jurisdiction. The body, which has already granted more than two dozen exploratory permits to national and private mining interests, is currently meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.

Conservation groups are calling on the body to cease issuing permits until stronger regulatory protections are established.

"Deep-sea areas targeted by mining claims frequently harbor high biodiversity and fragile habitats, and may have very slow rates of recovery from physical disturbance," said <a class="tpstyle" title="Craig Smith" href="http://www.upi.com/topic/Craig_Smith/">Craig Smith</a>, report co-author and professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Sought after for the minerals and rare earth metals that may exist there, these dark ocean floors are far from public eyes, making keeping tabs on environmental damage is especially difficult. That's all the more reason, activists say, to establish more expansive protections.

"The time is now to protect this important part of the planet for current and future generations," added Larry Crowder, report co-author and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. "Decisions that affect us all will be made by the ISA this summer."

---

Credit: UPI

Environmental Group Wants More Deep Sea Drilling Regulations

Environmental Group Wants More Deep Sea Drilling Regulations. As is...

Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Feet Last Time Earth Was This Hot "As the planet warms, the poles warm even faster, raising important questions about how ice sheets in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=greenland&amp;cvid=b9b6e499e7a54b05b5bfb025f9eddd7c&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Greenland</a> and Antarctica will respond," study author Andrea Dutton said.

Even if the world can stem the flow of carbon emissions and slow the rise of global temperatures, researchers suggest dramatic sea level rise may already be unavoidable. Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Feet Last Time <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth&amp;cvid=7c1b76613a75493db4347bc933803e82&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Earth</a> Was This Hot

According to a new study published <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6244/aaa4019.abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in the journal Science</a>, the last time the planet featured a run of temperatures this high, the oceans rose a total of 20 feet. Should a similar turn of events play out in the coming decades, the U.S. would lose 48,000 square miles of land to the rising tides of climate change -- coastal land currently home to some 23.4 million Americans. Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Feet Last Time Earth Was This Hot
<div class="ad_slot"></div>
Researchers at the University of Florida used computer models, combined with data from the geologic record, to calculate sea levels the last time average temperatures rose 1 to 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

The numbers suggest climatic conditions similar to today's precipitated a dramatic rise in sea levels -- 20 to 40 feet higher than current levels -- 400,000 years ago and then again 125,000 years ago.

"As the planet warms, the poles warm even faster, raising important questions about how ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica will respond," lead study author Andrea Dutton, a University of Florida geochemist, <a class="tpstyle" href="http://news.ufl.edu/archive/2015/07/evidence-from-past-suggests-climate-trends-could-yield-20-foot-sea-level-rise.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a press release</a>. "While this amount of sea-level rise will not happen overnight, it is sobering to realize how sensitive the polar ice sheets are to temperatures that we are on path to reach within decades."

Should rising seas mimic climatic trends of the past, states like <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/striking-antisolar-rays-over-florida/">Florida</a>, New York, California, Louisiana, Virginia and New Jersey would be most vulnerable.

Researchers say their work is not a stone-etched prediction, but a warning of what climatic history says is possible. To get a more accurate sense of exactly how much seas will rise in coming decades, researchers say they need a more comprehensive understanding of ice sheet dynamics.

"We're going to reach temperatures we had in the past periods in the next couple of decades," <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/scientists-predict-huge-sea-level-rise-even-if-we-limit-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dutton told the Guardian</a>. "Understanding which are the most vulnerable sectors of polar ice sheets is critical to projecting future pattern of sea level rise regionally."

<a class="tpstyle" href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014EF000239/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Previous research</a> has predicted (with 90 percent probability) that seas will rise anywhere from two to five feet by the end of the century.

---

Credit: UPI

Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Feet Last Time Earth Was This Hot

Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Feet Last Time Earth Was...

On a vast tract of old North Carolina farmland, crews are getting ready to build something the South has never seen: a commercial-scale wind farm.
The $600 million project by Spanish developer Iberdrola Renewables LLC will put 102 turbines on 22,000 acres near the coastal community of Elizabeth City, with plans to add about 50 more. Once up and running, it could generate about 204 megawatts, or enough electricity to power about 60,000 homes.
It would be the first large onshore wind farm in a region with light, fluctuating winds that has long been a dead zone for wind power.
After a years-long regulatory process that once looked to have doomed the plan, Iberdrola spokesman Paul Copleman told The Associated Press that construction is to begin in about a month.
Right now, there's not a spark of electricity generated from wind in nine states across the Southeast from Arkansas to Florida, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group.
But taller towers and bigger turbines are unlocking new potential in the South, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and the industry is already looking to invest.
And with the electricity system in the region undergoing a period of change as coal plants are phased out, some experts believe the door is open for renewables like wind.
Federal energy researchers have found stronger winds at higher elevations that can be tapped by new towers and bigger rotor blades. New federal maps of onshore wind flows at higher elevations than were previously available indicate that this new technology significantly increases the areas that wind can thrive, especially in the Southeast.
"If you go higher, the wind is better," said Jose Zayas, director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Department of Energy. "The question is how you get there responsibly and economically."
The average tower height now in the U.S. is about 260 feet; the new technology allows turbines to mine air at 460 feet.
The project in North Carolina was not viable just a decade ago, company officials said. But the new, larger turbines unlocked the area's potential.
"In the past this site barely showed up on old (wind) maps. It was a little brown smudge," said Craig Poff, one of the developers, referring to color-coded wind resource maps. "The larger-diameter rotors are really the game-changer here."
Spiraling wind farms in 36 states already generate about 5 percent of U.S. energy - low compared to other countries like Denmark (28 percent), Portugal, Spain and Ireland (16 percent each). South Dakota and Iowa already derive about 20 percent of their electric energy from wind, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The Energy Department believes the U.S. can generate 20 percent of the country's power with wind by 2030, and opening up the Southeast and other new areas is a key to achieving that goal.
There are hurdles: Utilities in most Southern states have not invested heavily in renewable energy. Also, only North Carolina has adopted a state law mandating utilities to increase their renewable energy portfolios.
But other factors are already forcing change in the region's energy market. Abundant natural gas, coal being phased out and aging nuclear plants are creating a potentially robust market for wind power as utilities seek the next best investment to add to their energy mixes, said Jonas Monast of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
"It's conceivable that we can see a dramatic growth in wind as we've seen in solar because utilities are entering into a new phase," he said.
Florida, Alabama and Georgia have signed contracts to start importing wind power from other regions to help with fuel price volatility. Wind farms have been proposed in Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama and other areas, the industry group said.
Still, without state renewable energy mandates like North Carolina's, the growth could be slow going, experts said.
"Quite frankly, often this is driven by customer demand and I don't really sense consumer demand in the Southeast, particularly in Alabama," said Clark Midkiff, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Alabama who studies energy issues in the region.
Another issue facing wind farms in the Southeast is protecting the region's birds and bats.
The danger of wind turbines to birds like rare golden eagles and bats has plagued or derailed major projects in the West. Avian research is now factored into decisions on where to put wind farms, and can make or break a project.
Because no wind farms exist anywhere in the South, little research has been done on the issue. Researchers and developers will have to catch up.
"This is a community that has not experienced a lot of wind," said Zayas, of the Energy Department. "And understanding and recognizing we can deploy these responsibly with biological and agency (studies) of species is a priority."
---
Dearen reported from Gainesville, Florida. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen</a>
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Huge Wind Farm Being Built In North Carolina

On a vast tract of old North Carolina farmland, crews...

Vanuatu Villagers Seek Higher Ground From Global Warming. Many people living in this coastal village in Vanuatu believe the March cyclone that sent waves surging through their homes was the latest and most dramatic sign of climate change. They are now considering rebuilding their entire community on higher ground.
Cyclone Pam struck the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/noumea-in-the-south-pacific-archipelago-of-new-caledonia/">Pacific</a> archipelago three months ago, blasting the islands with winds of 270 kilometers (168 miles) per hour, killing at least 11 people and affecting 180,000 more by destroying their homes and crops. Many residents saw it as part of broader environmental changes they've witnessed in recent years, from higher sea levels to trees bearing fruit out of season. Vanuatu Villagers Seek Higher Ground From Global Warming
"We have seen a lot of changes in our weather patterns. The level of the sea rise. And it is affecting the nation at the moment," said Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale in an interview with The Associated Press. "The impact of climate change is quite real in Vanuatu."
Parts of Vanuatu are low-lying and are starting to see visible signs of rising sea levels as the earth warms and ice caps melt. The world's oceans have risen nearly 7 centimeters (nearly 3 inches) since 1992, scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say, and are projected to rise at a faster rate in the decades to come.
More damaging than the overall rise, however, are the unpredictable surges brought on by more severe storms. While scientists caution that singular events like the cyclone can't be attributed solely to climate change, many say there is a link to a general increase in violent weather.
"The short answer would be that certainly there is a connection between climate change and extreme weather," said Debarati Guha-Sapir, a professor at the University of Louvain School of Public Health in Brussels. "The numbers of storms and high wind events have been increasing. So have droughts, in fact, and all of these are very connected to climate change."
She said there's likely to be an increase in catastrophic flooding in coming years and people need to better prepare for that.
Vanuatu isn't the only Pacific island nation figuring out how to face climate change. Low-lying Kiribati has purchased land in Fiji, which Kiribati President Anote Tong says is an investment and also a guarantee in case the entire nation needs to move.
In Takara, which is on Vanuatu's main island of Efate, village chief Benjamin Tamata said he wants to move the village of about 200 people inland by about 300 meters (1,000 feet) to move away from the rising seas and to avoid future storm surges.
"When the cyclone came to my village, it's not only the cyclone," he said. "With the sea level rising, it came through and damaged our houses. And some of the people run away."
He said many escaped to a nearby school, but now it's time to plan for the long term.
"We try to relocate," he said. "To take all the people from this village and we try to relocate where we can be safe, or where we can survive from the sea."
If Takara does move inland, it won't be the first village to do so in Vanuatu. A decade ago, dozens of villagers on Tegua Island moved inland in what the U.N. described as one of the first cases of mass displacement triggered by global warming.
"Staff from the meteorological office and hazard department, they went and assessed the level of sea rise," said Lonsdale. "And they advised people to move inland. And so they assisted. They assisted the communities and we have moved them further up from the coastal area."
NOAA, NASA, the Japanese weather agency, and the World Meteorological Organization all declared 2014 the hottest year on record, with NOAA putting 2014 at an average of 58.26 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6 Celsius).
As the world gets warmer, water expands, so the seas rise. But on top of that, ice sheets in Greenland and west Antarctica are melting, as are world glaciers, and scientists worry that meltwater will dramatically increase sea level by about 1 meter by the end of the century.
Islanders are also noticing other effects of climate change, said Shadrack Welegtabit, the director of Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office. He said trees are bearing fruit and nuts all year round, instead of in distinct seasons like in the past.
"Not only in Vanuatu, but probably in the Pacific as a whole, climate change does have an impact," Welegtabit said. "We are beginning to see changes in the weather patterns. We are beginning to have more intense weather, more severe cyclones."
Vanuatu has made strides in its rebuilding efforts since the cyclone, and many tourism operators are hoping that the tourists who help power the economy will soon return. But for others, like Vila North School Principal Elina Jaywelson Gilu, the rebuild has been painfully slow.
She's still operating three classes from a tent provided by aid agency UNICEF while she waits for her classroom buildings to get new roofs.
"You can just imagine our classes are very noisy, and it's really, really hard to get the students to concentrate," she said. "Because they are all under one roof and it's not been partitioned to separate the classes. And they are all sitting on the floor."
Shirley Laban, the climate change adaptation manager in Vanuatu for aid agency Oxfam, said its time for the world to get serious about tackling climate change.
"What more can we show you. Category-5 Cyclone Pam is the real evidence already," she said. "We need to cut down on this carbon emission. Because as long as we do not cut down, vulnerable individuals, countries, women and children will continue to be impacted."
---
Associated Press video journalist Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.
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Vanuatu Villagers Seek Higher Ground From Global Warming

Vanuatu Villagers Seek Higher Ground From Global Warming. Many people...

Huge <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-was-supercharged/">Atlantic</a> Herring Haul Worries Fishermen And Environmentalists. A little fish that New Englanders have sought since the Colonial era is at the center of a battle over how to manage massive boats that trawl swaths of ocean off the East Coast.
The catch for the Atlantic herring, which travels in groups sometimes numbering in the billions, is in the midst of a massive boom. Last year fishermen caught more than 95,000 metric tons of the fish for the first time since 2009, federal statistics show. Huge Atlantic Herring Haul Worries Fishermen And Environmentalists
Now rival fishermen are raising concerns about the high catches, and regulators are starting to consider whether the big haul is adversely impacting the environment, marine <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=mammals&amp;cvid=6bfef0a0fce343da8ca9fb1c56475818&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">mammals</a> or other fisheries.
Herring trawlers have the ability to deplete localized areas of other fish, in part because the hulking boats leave pieces of ocean bereft of the herring other species they rely on to eat, some fishermen of species such as cod and tuna complain.
Steve Weiner, a tuna fisherman based out of Ogunquit, Maine, said the high herring catches need a hard look because of the fish's status as a lynchpin of the Atlantic Ocean's food web. Everything from seabirds to whale-watching boats rely on a steady supply of herring for stability, he said.
The issue is particularly concerning for Cape Cod fishermen, many of whom are struggling to make a living in a time of strict cod quotas, Weiner said.
"You have to worry about all the other people who depend on healthy herring resources," he said. "When you get down to the Cape, it's raw, real."
But some herring fishermen dismiss those complaints as nonsense and reference federal studies that describe the species as "not overfished."
The herring trawlers can be more than 100 feet long and drag 300-foot nets behind them to catch hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring. Fishermen of other species complain that they also take other fish as bycatch, and environmentalists have long charged that they sometimes kill marine mammals. Fishing observers found that midwater herring trawlers killed four pilot whales, three seals and a dolphin through incidental catch in Northeast oceans in 2014, federal statistics show.
Fishermen and conservationists have also charged that wiping herring out of localized areas of the ocean makes those areas economically worthless because other species then stay away.
The New England Fishery Management Council, which regulates fishing in the area, will solicit feedback from the industry and the public about the issue of "localized depletion," said Lori Steele, a fishery analyst for the council. It's too early to say what the council will do with the information, she said.
Mary Beth Tooley, who sits on the council, said it will be important to develop scientific metrics for localized depletion. Tooley also works in government relations for O'Hara Corporation, which operates two herring trawlers out of Rockland, Maine. She said the issue has become "political" in recent years.
"We hear a lot from tuna fishermen," she said. "I think they would like us to catch less because they think it would make their fishing better."
About half of the Atlantic herring caught last year came to shore in Maine, with Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey fishermen also reporting significant catches. The fish is in high demand in part because of its key role as the preferred bait for Maine's lobster industry, which has also reported record catches in recent years. Herring that aren't used as bait sometimes end up as food in the form of canned fish, and it is also popular smoked, pickled or salted.
Maine had its second-most productive herring fishing year since 2000 with more than 100 million pounds of herring brought to the docks in 2014. The fish were worth more than $16 million, an all-time high according to state records that go back to 1950, making it one of the most valuable fisheries in a state where fishing is the lifeblood industry.
But the Northeast herring fishery has struggled with quota cuts and wildly fluctuating catches as recently as this decade. Peter Baker, who directs the Herring Alliance conservation group, said the fishery is in need of closer monitoring.
"If you've got a boat that can catch half a million pounds overnight, you change all the other animals in the area," he said. "There's no reason for herring to stay there, no reason for whales to stay there, no reason for tuna to stay there."
In Gloucester, Massachusetts, one of the busiest fishing ports on the East Coast, herring fisherman Jerry O'Neill said the abundance of herring and the strength of the lobster fishery have combined to keep business strong. He said he's unmoved by complaints about herring trawlers disrupting other fisheries, which he said lack "actual, scientific" basis for their claims.
O'Neill said he'd like to see more New England waters opened to year-round herring fishing.
"It's a healthy stock," he said. "I don't think there's any basis for believing it's an issue."
But Rockland herring fisherman Glenn Robbins said tighter restrictions could be necessary. Robbins, who uses a different kind of gear, said the larger trawlers should be kept out of the Gulf of Maine year-round.
"They do kill the whales, they do kill the porpoises and seals. Anything that gets in them," he said. "They never die in my net."
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Huge Atlantic Herring Haul Worries Fishermen And Environmentalists

Huge Atlantic Herring Haul Worries Fishermen And Environmentalists. A little...

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'Mini Ice Age' Study Being Criticized. Some headline-grabbing research by a math professor at Northumbria University in England suggesting that the Earth will experience a "mini ice age" in the 2030s is being criticized by climate experts.

Valentina Zharkova's study, which made <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/07/11/Earth-heading-for-mini-ice-age-in-just-15-years-scientists-say/2751436649025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">headlines around the world</a>, didn't directly predict a miniature ice age, but that the sun's solar activity would go into a prolonged lull.
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Zharkova says the magnetic waves that cause sunspots exist as two divergent -- and competing -- frequencies. These frequencies will soon cancel each other out, she says, leading to a reduction in radiation hurled toward Earth. 'Mini Ice Age' Study Being Criticized

The Royal Astronomical Society, after its National Astronomy Meeting last week in Llandudno, Wales, sent out a <a class="tpstyle" href="http://nam2015.org/index.php/press-releases/64-irregular-heartbeat-of-the-sun-driven-by-double-dynamo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press release</a> that helped shine the spotlight on Zharkova's research, which was published last year in the Astrophysical Journal.

Zharkova recently questioned the consensus of anthropogenic global warming. She believes the sun's fluctuating output plays a greater role in influencing temperature than does the greenhouse gas effect.

"I am not convinced with the arguments of the group promoting global warming of an anthropogenic nature," <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/14/no-earth-is-not-heading-toward-a-mini-ice-age/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zharkova told The Washington Post</a>.

For this reason and others, Zharkova predicts a reduction in solar radiation to precipitate a drop in global temperatures, similar to the last mini ice age, or Maunder Minimum, that hit Earth in the mid-1700s and caused several decades of harsh winters in the Western Hemisphere.

But Zharkova is isolated in her conclusions on the sun's climatic effects.

Recent studies suggest a slowdown in solar radiation will have a minimal effect on upward-trending global temperatures.

"Any reduction in global mean near-surface temperature due to a future decline in solar activity is likely to be a small fraction of projected anthropogenic warming," scientists concluded in a recent <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150623/ncomms8535/abs/ncomms8535.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study published in the journal Nature</a>.

"The effect is a drop in the bucket, a barely detectable blip, on the overall warming trajectory we can expect over the next several decades from greenhouse warming," <a class="tpstyle" title="Michael Mann" href="http://www.upi.com/topic/Michael_Mann/">Michael Mann</a>, professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University, told The Washington Post.

Furthermore, a number of recent studies suggest the so-called Little Ice Age was, as its name suggests, quite small in size and stature -- resulting in only small temperature reductions <a class="tpstyle" href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10712-012-9181-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">isolated to Europe</a>. It was also, scientists say, mostly the result of an uptick in volcanic activity, which spewed sun-blocking gas and ash into the atmosphere.

'Mini Ice Age' Study Being Criticized

'Mini Ice Age' Study Being Criticized. Some headline-grabbing research by...

Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines. The Obama administration is proposing new regulations Thursday designed to reduce the impact of coal mining on the nation's streams.
Current federal regulation designed to protect streams near coal mines date back to 1983. The proposed regulations, long anticipated, would maintain the buffer zone that prevents coal mining from within 100 feet of streams to prevent debris from being dumped into the water. But they will set clearer guidelines for companies to follow. Current federal regulation designed to protect streams near coal mines date back to 1983.
A summary obtained by the Associated Press said the regulations would update reclamation practices that require companies to restore streams and return mined areas to a condition capable of supporting the land uses available before mining activities. Companies also would have to replant native trees and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=vegation&amp;cvid=1b5c9942b1d54b32ada0a50ceacc3c5d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">vegetation</a>.
Mine operators often already undertake such restoration work. The proposed rule acknowledges those advancements and seeks greater consistency from companies to expedite forest recovery.
The Obama administration has made clear for a while that it intended to develop a new rule that keeps pace with current science and modern mining practices. Some Republican lawmakers and industry groups have voiced fears that the proposed regulatory changes would force some mining operations to close, leading to job loss and higher utility costs in states where surface mining is most common, namely West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The administration is maintaining that the costs of the proposed rule is projected to have a minimal impact on the coal industry overall. Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines
Leading up to the release of the proposed rule later Thursday, Republicans sought to undercut the legitimacy of process that the Office of Surface <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/potential-impacts-of-deep-seabed-mining-are-not-yet-understood/">Mining</a> Reclamation and Enforcement undertook in developing it. A House committee posted letters from nine states withdrawing from an environmental review process that coincided with the rule's development because, as one West Virginia official put it, a "lack of fundamental engagement."
President George W. Bush sought to relax the existing regulations shortly leaving office. The regulatory change allowed excess spoils to be place in streams, but added new requirements designed to reduce the adverse environmental impact. A federal court tossed the rule after environmental groups sued, and the 1983 version was reinstated.
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Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines

Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines....

California Drought

The House on Thursday passed GOP-led legislation designed to bring more water to California's farm belt amid a severe and lengthy drought.
Similar legislation has failed in the last two congressional sessions, and the White House and Democrats remain opposed.
The four-year California drought has forced communities to cut water use. Some rural areas have been particularly hurt as the state's water distribution systems curtailed the amount of water for agriculture. The bill is designed to take more water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before it flows into the ocean. It also seeks to speed up studies for a handful of new or expanded dams.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 245-176. Opponents said that diverting more water to farms will take water from other California communities and harm the state's salmon fishing industry. Only five Democrats voted for the bill.
Republicans have blamed some of the cutbacks on environmental regulations designed to protect salmon populations and the threatened Delta smelt, a three-inch-long fish that is disappearing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. At times over the years, state and federal officials have reduced the amount of water pumped from the Delta to prevent smelt from getting sucked into the pumps.
The bill authored by Republican Rep. David Valadao required that federal regulators maintain certain pumping levels unless the secretary of the Interior Department certifies that level would harm the long-term survival of the Delta smelt and no other alternatives to protect the smelt are available. The 170-page bill also sets deadlines for the completion of feasibility studies to build or enlarge five dams in the state and ends efforts to build up salmon populations in the San Joaquin River.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said that people would lose their livelihoods if lawmakers didn't act, and consumers would have to rely more on food from countries that don't have the same labor and environmental laws.
"We designed the bill to move as much water down south to our farms and to our cities as possible without making any fundamental changes to the environmental law," McCarthy said.
Republicans focused on how more water flowing out to the ocean should be captured for agriculture. Democrats said that would upset the balance of the delta, harming both the environment and the quality of the drinking water.
"If that fresh water doesn't run through and run out to the ocean, the salt water runs back in. I have two major cities in my district that rely on that for a source of water," said Democratic Rep Mike Thompson. "If this bill were to pass, their water supply is in jeopardy. You can't drink salt water. It just doesn't work."
The White House said it strongly opposes the bill and argued that dictating operational decisions for the state's water distribution systems could limit water supplies. Other provisions would likely result in the resumption of costly litigation, said a statement from the White House Office of Management and Budget.
"Much of the bill contains provisions that have little connection to the ongoing drought," the statement said.
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US House Passes Another Bill To Help Stem California Drought

The House on Thursday passed GOP-led legislation designed to bring...

Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water. In their annual, detailed physical of Earth's climate, scientists say the world is in increasingly hot and rising water.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society's annual state of the climate report, released Thursday, delves into the details of already reported record-smashing warmth globally in 2014, giving special attention to the world's oceans.
<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=NOAA&amp;cvid=6c942ade05c34f1fa128b7ea6168776f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NOAA</a> climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report, said the seas last year "were just ridiculous." Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water
The report said ocean surface temperatures were the warmest in 135 years of records, with the seas holding record levels of heat energy down to 2,300 feet below the surface. <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/clear-blue-waters-highlight-the-caribbean-sea/">Sea</a> level also hit modern highs, partly because warmer water expands. Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water
About 93 percent of the man-made heat energy from the burning of fossil fuels went into the world's oceans, said NOAA oceanographer Greg Johnson. And that heat energy trapped in the ocean affects all sorts of weather, including providing more fuel for tropical cyclones, said Tom Karl, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
All sorts of warming events shifted into overdrive, especially in the Pacific. In addition to a brewing El Nino - where weather worldwide is changed by warm water in parts of the central Pacific - there was a warming of the northeast Pacific nicknamed "The Blob" and a larger scale warming called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which often coincides with faster warming of the planet, Johnson said.
Johnson said subtropical fish not normally seen that far north were appearing off the coast of an unusually warm Alaska.
More than 400 scientists wrote the peer-reviewed 292-page study, the 25th year that the climate checkup was conducted. Its highlights include:
-Four different measuring systems concluded that 2014 was hottest year on record on Earth's surface. However, because of margins of error, there's a chance it could only be second hottest.
-Many places, such as Europe, not only had record heat on average, but record patches of extreme heat.
-There were 91 tropical cyclones worldwide in 2014, slightly more than the 30-year average of 82.
-Permafrost in Alaska measuring sites thawed, as temperatures at 65 feet underground set record highs for the second year in a row.
-Glaciers worldwide continued to shrink, but not at a record pace.
-Arctic sea ice, while not at a record setting low last year, is still declining over the long-term.
-However, Antarctic sea ice hit record high levels for the third straight year; different factors aside from temperature have been a cause, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden.
Jeff Severinghaus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who wasn't part of the report, said if this is Earth's annual checkup, "the doctor is saying `you are gravely ill.'"
---
Online:
NOAA's State of the Climate: <a href="http://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2014-state-climate-highlights" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2014-state-climate-highlights</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water

Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water. In their...

Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights. Ranchers in New Mexico, California and Washington state have challenged a new Obama administration rule giving federal agencies authority to protect some streams and wetlands.
The Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation announced it has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/minnesota-stricter-emissions-standards/">Minnesota</a> on behalf of the ranchers over the recent expansion of the Clean Water Act.
The rule came in response to calls from the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=us+supreme+court&amp;cvid=be7780b6700a45c0904345024bd0b766&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">U.S. Supreme</a> Court and Congress for the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify which smaller waterways are protected under the law. Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights
The foundation argues the rule is unconstitutional because it sets no limit on the reach of the Clean Water Act.
"We are suing to block the administration's breathtaking attempt to control practically every pond, stream, and ditch in the country," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Reed Hopper.
EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The agency said in a statement that the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Clean Water Rule because protection for many of the nation's streams and wetlands had been confusing, complex and time-consuming as a result of past Supreme Court decisions.
"The agencies developed a rule that ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more precisely defined, more predictably determined, and easier for businesses and industry to understand," the EPA said.
Minnesota-based Pierce Investment Co. also is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit that seeks to throw out the new rule.
The company owns property in Marshall County, Minnesota, that the Corps of Engineers claims is subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.
In June, 13 states led by North Dakota filed a lawsuit over the same rule change.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the "Waters of the U.S." rule by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers is a power grab that is "unnecessary and unlawful and will do nothing to increase water quality."
That lawsuit, filed in federal court in Bismarck, also asks for the rule to be thrown out.
Nine other states later joined the lawsuit.
---
Follow Russell Contreras at <a href="http://twitter.com/russcontreras" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/russcontreras</a>
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Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights

Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights. Ranchers in New...

Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming. A study of an Alaska polar bear population in summer concludes the bear's biology will not help stave off starvation in the face of global warming.
The study of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears by university, federal and private researchers over three years concludes they have no special ability to minimize energy loss during increasing periods of fasting brought on by <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=cd165a8ab6cf4a029c787c6b55acd97d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate</a> warming, less sea ice and fewer hunting days. Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming
The research rejects the idea that polar bears can avoid harmful declines in body condition in a sort of "walking <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-ground-squirrels-recycle-their-own-nutrients-during-hibernation/">hibernation,</a>" as suggested by 1970s research.
Co-author, Steve Amstrup, a retired U.S. Geological Survey polar bear researcher now affiliated with Montana-based Polar Bears International, said the "walking hibernation" theory arose with observations of bears at Canada's Hudson Bay.
The paper published Thursday in the journal Science instead concludes that polar bears have no such ability to conserve energy and react like all other mammals when faced with limited food.
"We haven't known until now whether bears really reduce their metabolism in summer, which, if they did, may have offered a limited buffer from some of the negative effects of ice loss," said lead author John Whiteman of the University of Wyoming.
Fasting is a way of life for many animals. For polar bears, fasting can last eight months.
Their main prey is ringed seals. Hunting is most successful from April to July when seals use sea ice for rearing pups and molting.
In months following, ringed seals spend most of their time in water. Some polar bears retreat to land, where feeding opportunities are limited, or stay on sea ice that in recent years has retreated far north of the shallow, biologically abundant outer continental shelf.
Using helicopters launched from a Coast Guard icebreaker, researchers sampled bears on summer sea ice.
"This paper gives us the first solid understanding of polar bear metabolism in summer, especially out on the sea ice over deep water far from shore, where bears have never been sampled before," Whiteman said.
The study found that activity and temperature patterns recorded for polar bears in summer were not comparable to patterns for hibernating bears in winter dens. The patterns were typical of food-deprived mammals rather than hibernating mammals, Amstrup said.
Karyn Rode, U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist in Anchorage who was part of a polar bear fasting study published in 2012, said the new study confirms that "walking hibernation" does not accurately describe polar bears' energetic status in the summer.
"It's definitely a different line of evidence that further supports that they can't conserve energy when they're fasting," Rode said.
Additional studies are coming out, but scientists say it's already clear what needs to be done.
"We already know the answer to the question, `What do we need to do to save polar bears from extinction?" Amstrup said. "All of the studies in the world won't help us there. If we don't deal with greenhouse gas emissions, those of us who have been studying polar bears for our whole lives will be nothing more than polar bear historians."
© 2015 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.

Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming

Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming....

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image 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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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.

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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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 the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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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How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



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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Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&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.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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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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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



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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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



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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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; 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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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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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How the immune system responds to injury

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

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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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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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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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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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