The era of wondering and wildly speculating may be drawing to a close, with researchers recently devising a new model they're calling the "formula for life." 



The experts hope this tool will calculate the chances of intelligent life existing in our universe and even predict the potential for alien life in future universes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-generation-of-intelligent-life">Next generation of intelligent life </h2>



According to this new calculation model, the likelihood of life beyond our galaxy sits at 27 percent, which may let down the 65 percent of American adults who firmly believe in extraterrestrial life.



Interestingly, the chances of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/are-aliens-sending-radio-signals-to-each-other/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intelligent life</a> existing within our own Milky Way are even lower - just 23 percent.



These estimates come from the concerted efforts of researchers at the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Edinburgh</a> and the University of Genevieve. The study suggests that star formation and the evolution of large-scale planets might intertwine to quietly "form the next generation of intelligent life."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dark-energy-and-the-potential-for-alien-life">Dark energy and the potential for alien life</h2>



To understand the potential of other life forms, the team devised a theoretical model that leans heavily on the Drake Equation, developed in 1960. 



This well-known formula calculates the universe's expansion and has been used to research the existence of advanced civilizations in our galaxy.



The researchers emphasized that their calculations do not suggest a number of intelligent life forms but rather estimate the likelihood of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-oxygen-in-the-deep-sea-may-hold-clues-about-alien-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">existence</a>.



Their estimation process takes into account dark energy, which comprises over two-thirds of the universe and fuels its expansion.



"Understanding dark energy and the impact on our universe is one of the biggest challenges in cosmology and fundamental physics," said lead researcher Dr. Daniele Sorini, affiliated with <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Durham University</a>’s Institute for Computational Cosmology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-for-future-alien-life">Potential for future alien life</h2>



In addition to the probabilities of current extraterrestrial life, the researchers' model also accommodates for alien life forms that don't exist yet but could develop in the future. 



To do this, they calculated the amount of ordinary matter that combined to form stars across the universe's history, stretching back a staggering 13.8 billion years.



It seems the chances of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-connection-aliens-could-make-contact-by-2029/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intelligent life</a> appearing in universes beyond our own also hover at around 27 percent. 



"Surprisingly, we found that even a significantly higher dark energy density would still be compatible with life, suggesting we may not live in the most likely of universes," said Dr. Sorini.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-future-research">Implications for future research</h2>



The pioneering work of modeling the probability of intelligent life in other universes opens up numerous avenues for future research. Scientists are now challenged to refine these models further, grounding them in observations and experiments to reach more precise conclusions. 



Such work may involve advancing our understanding of dark matter and energy - components of the universe that remain elusive yet crucial to grasping the cosmic puzzle.



This pursuit could bridge the gap between theoretical physics and cosmology, bringing them closer within the realms of empirical science.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interplay-of-gravity-and-alien-life">Interplay of gravity and alien life</h2>



Another intriguing factor in cosmic life creation is gravity's role. Gravity influences the formation of stars and galaxies, effectively setting the stage for potential habitats where life could develop. 



The extent of gravity's influence in these processes highlights its importance, not just in structural formation, but in setting conditions that could favor the emergence of life. 



Existing research suggests that regions with optimal gravity balance might support complex planetary systems, paving the way for biological evolution. 



As scientists continue to explore the mysteries of the universe, understanding the precise role of gravity will add another layer to our comprehension of life's cosmic potential.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-speculation-to-exploration">From speculation to exploration</h2>



"It will be exciting to employ the model to explore the emergence of life across different universes and see whether some fundamental questions we ask ourselves about our own universe must be reinterpreted," noted study co-author Lucas Lombriser, a professor at the University of Genevieve.



If this research can help us to better understand our own universe and its likelihood for hosting life, it seems we have come a long way from wild speculation to measured investigation into our place in the cosmos.



So, what does this all mean for us? Are we on the brink of making contact with alien life forms? While the research findings might lead some to temper their expectations, the search for extraterrestrial life continues.



In the end, we need to remember that the universe is vast, mind-bogglingly diverse, and still largely unexplored. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/finding-alien-life-searching-for-color-purple-not-green/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potentials for life</a> - both as we know it and beyond our current comprehension - remain a thrilling frontier in scientific exploration.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/535/2/1449/7896079?login=false#493432585" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



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What are the chances that alien life exists?

The era of wondering and wildly speculating may be drawing to a close, with researchers recently devising a new model they're calling the "formula for life." The experts hope this tool will calculate the chances of intelligent life existing in our universe and even predict the potential for alien life in future universes. Next generation of intelligent life According to this new calculation model, the likelihood of life beyond our galaxy sits at 27 percent, which may let down the 65 percent of American adults who firmly...

The turkeys we'll be sitting down to eat on Thursday have a history that goes way back. Archaeologists have unearthed a clutch of domesticated turkey eggs used as a ritual offering 1,500 years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico -- some of the earliest evidence of turkey domestication.

"Our research tells us that turkeys had been domesticated by 400-500 AD," explains Field Museum archaeologist Gary Feinman, one of the paper's authors. "People have made guesses about turkey domestication based on the presence or absence of bones at archaeological sites, but now we are bringing in classes of information that were not available before. We're providing strong evidence to confirm prior hypotheses." The results were published in an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Feinman, along with lead author Heather Lapham from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and co-author Linda Nicholas also of The Field Museum, discovered the eggs during an excavation in Oaxaca that was home to the Zapotec people going back thousands of years. "It was very exciting because it's very rare to find a whole cluster of intact eggs. This was very unexpected," says Feinman.

"Heather Lapham is an archaeologist who studies animal bones, and she knew immediately that we had found five intact or unhatched eggs that were left as an offering alongside seven newly hatched baby turkeys, of which only their tiny bones survived," says Feinman. Scanning electron microscope analysis of the eggshells confirmed that they were indeed laid by turkeys.

"The fact that we see a full clutch of unhatched turkey eggs, along with other juvenile and adult turkey bones nearby, tells us that these birds were domesticated," says Feinman. "It helps to confirm historical information about the use of turkeys in the area."

The eggs, according to Feinman, were an offering of ritual significance to the Zapotec people. The Zapotec people still live in Oaxaca today, and domesticated turkeys remain important to them. "Turkeys are raised to eat, given as gifts, and used in rituals," says Feinman. "The turkeys are used in the preparation of food for birthdays, baptisms, weddings, and religious festivals."

The new information about when turkeys were domesticated helps amplify the bigger picture of animal domestication in Mesoamerica. "There were very few domesticated animals in Oaxaca and Mesoamerica in general compared with Eurasia," explains Feinman. "Eurasia had lots of different meat sources, but in Oaxaca 1,500 years ago, the only assuredly domestic meat sources were turkeys and dogs. And while people in Oaxaca today rely largely on meat from animals brought over by the Spanish (like chicken, beef, and pork), turkeys have much greater antiquity in the region and still have great ritual as well as economic significance today."

The turkeys that are so important to the Zapotec today are similar birds to the ones that play a role in the American tradition of Thanksgiving. "These are not unlike the kinds of turkeys that would have been around at the first Thanksgiving, and similar to the birds that we eat today," says Feinman.24

--

Credit: <a href="http://www.fieldmuseum.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Field Museum</a>

Turkey domestication happened at least 1500 years ago

The turkeys we'll be sitting down to eat on Thursday...

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving this year, it’s time to put aside our worries for a day and remember that we have a lot to be grateful for – including these five incredible scientific breakthroughs that taught us more about the planet we all live on. Happy Thanksgiving:
<ol>
 	<li><a href="http://www.earth.com/video/images-photosynthesis-action/">Scientists capture images of photosynthesis in action</a>: Humans have known about photosynthesis – the process through which plants use light, air and the nutrients absorbed from the soil to create their own food – for a while. We don’t really understand how it works, though. Now, scientists are using ultrafast X-ray lasers to get a better picture of the process, and their results could lead to cleaner, more plentiful fuel sources.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="2">
 	<li> Researchers investigate alternative sources of fuel: Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory may have discovered a way to <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/scientists-sewage-future-biofuel/">turn sewage into biofuel</a> using a process called hydrothermal liquefaction. Meanwhile, researchers at Tel Aviv University believe they’ve figured out how <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/algae-may-soon-be-a-source-of-clean-energy/">microalgae produces hydrogen</a>, the first step in increasing its output of this clean fuel source.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="3">
 	<li><a href="http://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-impacts-responsible-life-earth/">Asteroid impacts may be responsible for seeding life on Earth</a>: A group of researchers studying the effects of an asteroid suspected wiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago made a surprising discovery. The asteroid impact caused some changes in surrounding rock that might explain how much earlier asteroids created conditions for life to take hold on Earth.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="4">
 	<li><a href="http://www.earth.com/news/human-occupation-actually-improves-some-environments/">Human occupation actually improves some environments</a>: While scientists normally seek to minimize the human impact on the environment, from litter to greenhouse gas emissions, some ecosystems have actually benefited from human residents. One of these is the temperate rainforest along the coast of British Columbia, which benefited from First Nations people living there.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="5">
 	<li><a href="http://www.earth.com/news/study-eco-friendly-wines-taste-better/">Study: Eco-friendly wines taste better</a>: A study at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that wines grown by “eco-friendly” vintners got better reviews from wine experts in blind taste-tests. They’re also often cheaper to produce, the study found.</li>
</ol>
---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

5 Earth stories we were grateful for in 2016

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving this year, it’s time to put...

Water balance found to influence soil pH and fertility

Even casual fans of nature and environmental science understand that the pH level of soil is a major indicator of the soil’s ability to store nutrients and provide for vegetation growth. As such, soil pH serves as a significant controlling factor in the ultimate landscape of a terrestrial ecosystem. But a recent study published in the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature20139.html">Nature</a> journal highlights that pH soil does not regulate plant fertility on its own. Rather, environmental conditions can easily sway soil pH balance. 

The study illustrates how even minor changes in water balance can quickly change the pH level from alkaline to acidic soils. Until now, however, it has not been clear how to quantify the exact threshold of soil pH balance. While topography and mineralogy are clear contributing factors, climate conditions appear to play an important overarching role.

A team led by J.E. Johnson of the <a href="http://globalecology.stanford.edu/">Carnegie Institution</a> for Science at Stanford University extracted a random sample from a compilation of 60,291 soil pH measurements. They found that the sudden transition from alkaline to acid soil pH occurs at the very point that mean annual precipitation starts to exceed mean annual potential evapotranspiration. 

The team concluded that climate conditions can certainly create a nonlinear pattern in soil chemistry. Moreover, they indicate that the very conditions under which soil currently maintains pH balance are out of balance with modern climate.

Water balance found to influence soil pH and fertility

Water balance found to influence soil pH and fertility Even...

While traipsing across Rannoch Moor in Scotland on Sunday, Melvin Nicholson saw a rare sight: a “fog bow.”

Nicholson described spotting the white arc on the snowy moor as magical.

Like a rainbow, a fog bow is created when moisture in the air bends the sun’s light, causing us to see an arc made up of various colors in the sky. 

But unlike a rainbow, a fog bow is colorless, because the droplets of water that make up fog are much smaller than those that make up rain. Some fog bows, also called cloudbows, have a red outer edge and blue inner edge, but most are completely white. The white light forms an arc through the air much like any other rainbow, however.

According to Nicholson, they can usually only be seen if the sun is behind you.

Although fog bows are relatively rare, Nicholson has joined the ranks of several Scottish photographers to catch a glimpse of one. Scotland is a wet country with relatively mild winters, ideal conditions for fog.

Fog bows aren’t just a Scottish phenomenon, though. In recent years, they’ve been spotted and photographed in Ireland, Finland, Australia, and several U.S. states including Massachusetts, Missouri, California and North Carolina.

In some cases, they can form what appears to be a full circle instead of a standard rainbow’s arc, due to reflections.

Want to spot one for yourself? Fog bows always appear in the fog or mist, and usually when the sun is bright and high in the sky. They do sometimes appear at night, if light from the moon is very bright. A thin fog is best, and they’re often spotted over the ocean. 

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stunning image of a rare 'fog bow' snapped on the Scottish moors

While traipsing across Rannoch Moor in Scotland on Sunday, Melvin...

Could a little bit of extra greenery on building façades help cool down urban heat islands? That’s what a group of scientists from the <a href="http://www.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/parameter/en/?no_cache=1">Technische Universität Berlin</a> and <a href="http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/">Freie Universität Berlin</a> set out to discover in a new study.

Some urban metropolitan areas are measurably hotter than surrounding rural land, and scientists have dubbed them “heat islands.” According to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a>, cities with more than 1 million people can be anywhere from 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the surrounding region.

Though there are many potential causes of heat islands, scientists suspect the main culprits are replacing green space with asphalt and concrete, which absorb the sun’s heat.

Façade greening, the practice of planting greenery that takes up little space on the ground but can shade much of a building’s surface, is one step identified by scientists as a method to cool temperatures, according to <a href="http://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=9280">the new study’s authors</a>. Additional vegetation in cities can reduce temperatures by providing shade and cool the air through evapotranspiration, according to the EPA.

The Berlin research team decided to look into how their city could implement façade greening, as well as any barriers stopping the practice’s adoption. 

They found that, under current conditions, the likelihood of Berlin implementing façade greening is only 2 percent, even though there is the potential for greening over about 1,400 acres of the city.

Financial incentives to adopt façade greening and other programs could raise the adoption rate to 14 percent, the team said. However, better success would require the willingness of building owners, city officials and other involved parties, as well as a combination of supportive programs and education. 

The researchers used Bayesian networks to determine the likelihood of Berlin adopting façade greening programs on a larger scale. A Bayesian network is an analytical graphical model of a real world system that takes into account the “actors,” current conditions, planned changes, parameters that won’t change, the desired outcome, and more. 

In the case of Berlin, data for the model was collected by interviewing two façade greening experts and two climate protection commissioners from different administrative areas of the city.

The study was published in <a href="http://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/">One Ecosystem</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists: green facades could cool urban heat islands

Could a little bit of extra greenery on building façades...

Scientists can now get a very close look at how plants make oxygen using water molecules, thanks to an international team of researchers.

Led by Dr. Johannes Messinger from <a href="http://www.umu.se/english">Umea University</a> in Sweden, the scientists used experimental molecular studies to produce high-resolution images of photosystem II, a protein complex in the light-dependent reactions of the process of photosynthesis.

The images will allow researchers to take a close look at the step-by-step conversion of two water molecules into one oxygen molecule that takes place during this part of photosynthesis, Messinger said.

Plants play a large role in mitigating the effects of climate change, according to the researchers. In addition to absorbing atmospheric carbon from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, plants also convert water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.

If humans can learn how plants split water molecules, they can do the same, providing more oxygen in the atmosphere and hydrogen as a cleaner source of energy than carbon-based fuels, Messinger said.

The visualization of the plants’ process was created with the help of the X-ray free electron laser at Stanford University’s <a href="https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/">SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory</a>.

The team grew microcrystals of the photosystem II protein, then placed them on a conveyor belt. The laser was used to stimulate the crystals similar to sunlight and jumpstart the water splitting process. 

The crystals were then hit with superfast X-ray pulses to visualize them. The study describes how the scientists were able to use the data gathered during this experiment to produce high-resolution images showing the structural differences in the photosystem II protein at different stages of the water splitting process.

Messinger has since joined the Molecular Biometrics Programme at <a href="https://www.uu.se/en/">Uppsala University</a>.

—

Researchers on verge of solving how plants make oxygen

Scientists can now get a very close look at how...

Climate change to set new highs in US weather records.

Love those hot August nights? You may be getting more of them if increasing heat records are any indication, according to a new study led by Dr. Gerald Meehl of the <a href="https://ncar.ucar.edu/">National Center for Atmospheric Research</a>.

Daily temperature records were a little lopsided in the United States in the first decade of the 21st century  – about twice as many heat records were set as cold milestones, the researchers found.

Under normal weather conditions, the country should see about the same number of heat records and cold records averaged over a decade, the scientists said. However, the number of heat records has been steadily outpacing the number of cold records, and it’s getting worse fast, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/11/15/1606117113.abstract">the study stated</a>. 

The scientists used their data, collected from weather stations around the country from the 1930s through the modern day, to project what the weather could look like in 2100, and got a shock. If hot weather continues to set new records at current rates, the U.S. could be seeing 15 heat records for every 1 cold record if the average temperature of the country rises just 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit, the scientists said.

The researchers tied their findings to warming temperatures around the globe. Meehl said that a 4.5-degree hike in temperatures could come after only 50 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate.

The scientists pointed out that many of the heat records being broken were set in the “warm” 1930s, when drought in the Midwest caused a devastating Dust Bowl that caused enormous damage to the U.S. economy. During that time, there was 1.1 heat record set for every cold record, the researchers said.

Monitoring shifts in temperatures from decade to decade is vital because most temperature changes are gradual and people only notice the weather extremes, the team said. Keeping an eye on records can point to a shift before those extremes begin, they said.

The study was published in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

&nbsp;

Hot hot heat: study predicts climate change will set more U.S. heat records

Climate change to set new highs in US weather records....

If climate change alters winter weather conditions in western Europe, deep sea coral in the North Atlantic could suffer, according to <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/11/160494">a new study</a> by researchers at the <a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a>. 

The scientists studied a specific species of deep water coral called Lophelia pertusa, which depends on current patterns to spread coral larvae from one site to another. The coral grows in a number of Marine Protected Areas as well as on seamounts and several oil and gas platforms in the North Atlantic off the coast of Scotland.

The research team found that the coral larvae are dependent on the North Atlantic Oscillation, an annual weather pattern. According to the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/teleconnections/nao/">U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, changes in the NAO can lead to abnormal temperatures, pressure systems and storm patterns.

And according to the University of Edinburgh team, changes in the NAO can also send coral larvae drifting away toward areas they don’t normally end up – such as mid-Atlantic coral populations during a negative phase of the NAO, for example. 

The problem is when this disrupts connections between various coral populations. The reefs depend on exchanging coral larvae to build stronger structures, the research team said. Reefs that become isolated due to shifting ocean currents are at higher risk to diseases and damage, said study co-author Dr. Alan Fox of the university’s School of GeoSciences.

The Marine Protected Areas being established internationally are not well-connected with each other, the researchers found – especially when changes to the NAO are taken into account.

The scientists used data from a number of protected sites in Scotland’s waters and computer modeling to track the dispersal of coral larvae in 40-year runs. 

The coral reefs provide habitat for a number of marine species to safely reproduce and hide from deep sea predators, the researchers noted. 

The study was published in the November issue of <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

Deep sea coral in North Atlantic faces threat from climate change

If climate change alters winter weather conditions in western Europe,...

Cement found to absorb CO2 emissions from the atmosphere

In recent years, cement manufacturing has come under fire by environmentalists due to the high levels of carbon dioxide realized in the process. But a new study indicates that over time, most of the carbon dioxide emitted gets absorbed by building materials. 

A team led by Steven Davis, associate professor of Earth system science at the <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/">University of California</a>, Irvine, published a study in Nature Geoscience, reporting that cement can be an effective “sink” for carbon dioxide emissions. “Sink” is a term often used to refer to anything that removes large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and hides it away so that it can no longer contribute to climate change.

According to Davis, “it sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. The cement poured around the world since 1930 has taken up a substantial portion of the CO2 released when it was initially produced.”

David and his team, that included colleagues from Europe, China, and other U.S. institutions, measured the CO2 emissions released during manufacturing and compared them to the amount of CO2 ultimately reabsorbed by the material. They determined that “cement is a large, overlooked and growing net sink” for CO2 emissions.

During cement manufacturing, CO2 is released into the atmosphere when limestone (calcium carbonate) is converted to lime (calcium oxide). Fossil fuels are also burned to generate the heat required to break up limestone.But through a process known as carbonation, CO2 is absorbed the pores of cement materials like concrete. 

It is estimated that over 76 billion tons of cement were produced worldwide from 1930 to 2013, releasing a total of 38.2 gigatons of CO2 were released into the atmosphere. However, the team concluded that 43% of those emissions were gradually reabsorbed.

According to Davis, “cement has gotten a lot of attention for its sizable contribution to global climate change, but this research reinforces that the leading culprit continues to be fossil fuel burning.”

Cement absorbs CO2 emissions from the atmosphere

Cement found to absorb CO2 emissions from the atmosphere In...

According to climate scientists, if greenhouse gas emissions continue polluting the atmosphere at the current pace, Americans later this century will have to endure, on average, about 15 daily record high temperatures for every time that the mercury notches a record low.

That ratio of record high temperatures to record lows may turn out to be much higher if the pace of emissions increases and produces even more warming, according to the study led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

"More and more frequently, climate change will affect Americans with record-setting heat," said NCAR senior scientist Gerald Meehl, lead author of the new paper. "An increase in average temperatures of a few degrees may not seem like much, but it correlates with a noticeable increase in days that are hotter than any in the record, and nights that will remain warmer than we've ever experienced in the past."

The 15-to-1 ratio of record highs to lows is based on temperatures across the continental United States increasing by slightly more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above recent years, which is about the amount of warming expected to occur with the current pace of greenhouse gas emissions.

Over the last decade, in contrast, the ratio of record high temperatures to record lows has averaged about two to one.

The new research appears next week in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." It was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is NCAR's sponsor. The study was co-authored by NCAR scientist Claudia Tebaldi and by Dennis Adams-Smith, a scientist previously at Climate Central and now at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

Hotter days

In a 2009 study, Meehl and colleagues found that the ratio of record daily high temperatures to record daily low temperatures has steadily increased since the 1970s as average temperatures over the United States have warmed. Computer models at that time indicated that the ratio could continue to increase during this century, although the research team looked into just one scenario of future emissions. The scientists also found that the models were overstating the ratio of record highs to record lows in recent years compared to observations.

By digging further into the issue and analyzing why the models differed from observations, Meehl and his co-authors have now produced a better calibrated projection of future record-breaking daily highs across the U.S. They based their projections on the average temperature increase over the continental United States, rather than on a particular scenario of future emissions.

By about 2065, for example, U.S. temperatures will rise by an average of slightly more than 3 degrees C (5.4 degrees F) if society maintains a "business as usual" increase in the emission of greenhouse gases. Under such a scenario, the ratio of record daily high temperatures to record daily lows will likely be about 15 to 1, although it could range anywhere from 7 to 1 up to 22 to 1, the study found.

If temperatures increase even more this century, the ratio of record highs to record lows will jump substantially. For example, if temperatures climb more than 4 degrees C (7.2 degrees F), Americans could experience about 38 record highs for every record low. Such an outcome could occur if society does not make any efforts to mitigate the production of greenhouse gases.

"Every degree of warming makes a substantial amount of difference, with the ratio of record highs to record lows becoming much greater," Meehl said. "Even with much warmer temperatures on average, we will still have winter and we will still get record cold temperatures, but the numbers of those will be really small compared to record high maximums."

If temperatures were not warming, Meehl said, the ratio of record highs to record lows would average out to about one to one.

Instead, record high temperatures have already become a common occurrence in much of the country. The ratio of record highs to lows has averaged about 2 to 1 over the first decade of the 21st century, but there is considerable year-to-year variation. The ratio was about 5 to 1 in 2012, dropping to about 1 to 1 in 2013 and 2014, then almost 3 to 1 in 2015. The unusual warmth of 2016, resulting from both climate change and natural patterns such as El Niño, has led to 24,519 record daily maximums vs. 3,970 record daily minimums -- a ratio of about 6 to 1.

Precipitation and the warm 1930s

A key part of the study involved pinpointing why the models in the 2009 study were simulating somewhat more daily record high maximum temperatures compared with recent observations, while there was good agreement between the models and the observed decreases in record low minimums. The authors focused on two sets of simulations conducted on the NCAR-based Community Climate System Model (version 4), which is funded by DOE and NSF and developed by climate scientists across the country.

Their analysis uncovered two reasons for the disparity between the computer models and observations.

First, the models tended to underestimate precipitation. Because the air is cooled by precipitation and resulting evapotranspiration -- the release of moisture from the land and plants back to the atmosphere -- the tendency of the computer models to create an overly dry environment led to more record high temperatures.

Second, the original study in 2009 only went back to the 1950s. For the new study, the research team also analyzed temperatures in the 1930s and 1940s, which is as far back as accurate recordkeeping will allow. Because the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s were unusually warm, with many record-setting high temperatures, the scientists found that it was more difficult in subsequent years to break those records even as temperatures warmed. However, even taking the warm 1930s into account, the model-simulated and observed ratio of record highs to record lows has been increasing.

"The steady increase in the record ratio is an immediate and stark reminder of how our temperatures have been shifting and continue to do so, reaching unprecedented highs and fewer record lows," said Tebaldi. "These changes pose adaptation challenges to both human and natural systems. Only a substantial mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions may stop this increase, or at least slow down its pace."

--

Credit: <a href="http://www.colorado.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Colorado, Boulder</a>

Record high temperatures will soon outnumber record low temperatures 15 to 1

According to climate scientists, if greenhouse gas emissions continue polluting...

Gina McCarthy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, insists that President-elect Donald Trump will not derail the progress made by the United States in fighting climate change and creating clean energy jobs, arguing "the inevitability of our clean energy future is bigger than any one person or nation."

McCarthy said the world is "in a spectacularly different place today than we were when President (Barack) Obama took office," citing new environmental rules and actions to help create thousands of jobs in clean energy such as wind and solar power.

Eight years ago, "developing countries pointed a finger at us" over U.S. refusal to act against climate change, McCarthy said.

Now, other countries "are wondering if the U.S. will turn its back on science and be left behind," she said. "That is the choice we face."

McCarthy did not mention Trump by name. The Republican has called climate change a hoax and has vowed to undo many of Obama's environmental policies.

McCarthy said that would be a mistake, calling climate change the biggest threat to U.S. and global prosperity.

"The train to a global clean energy future has already left the station," she said. "We can choose to get on board - to lead - or we can choose to be left behind, to stand stubbornly still. If we stubbornly deny the science and change around us, we will fall victim to our own paralysis."

While she is proud of the Clean Power Plan imposed by Obama to cut carbon pollution form coal-fired power plants, McCarthy said those who claim the plan is the driving force behind a U.S. transition to clean-energy jobs "give us too much credit."

The plan was "designed to follow the clean-energy transition already under way," she said, citing huge increases in wind and solar power in recent years. According to the Department of Energy, there are now more than three solar power jobs in the U.S. for every job mining coal.

Twenty-four states had lower greenhouse gas emissions in 2015 than in their annual goals for 2022 under the Clean Power Plan, including states such as Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Dakota, McCarthy said.

McCarthy also hailed a clean water rule imposed by Obama and measures to reduce smog and mercury emissions from industrial sources. All have been targeted by Trump and congressional Republicans, but McCarthy said she is confident they will withstand legal challenges planned or underway.

"I am very confident in the work we've done. EPA has done its job well," McCarthy said.

Nick Loris, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Obama's legacy on global warming and other environmental regulations was nothing to brag about.

From the 2015 Paris climate agreement to the Clean Power Plan to new rules limiting oil and gas drilling, Obama has "levied bundles of new regulations on businesses and the American people - killing jobs, raising energy prices and having nearly zero impact on global temperatures," Loris said.

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&nbsp;

Source: Associated Press

EPA chief: Trump will not derail clean energy and climate change progress

Gina McCarthy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, insists...

Ocean acidification could drive a huge loss of biodiversity in some marine habitats, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change.

The work by biodiversity researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and colleagues in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan and China, combines dozens of existing studies to paint a more nuanced picture of the impact of ocean acidification.

While most research in the field focuses on the impact of ocean acidification on individual species, the new work predicts how acidification will affect the living habitats, such as corals, seagrasses, and kelp forests, that form the homes of other ocean species.

"Not too surprisingly, species diversity in calcium carbonate-based habitats like coral reefs and mussel beds were projected to decline with increased ocean acidification," said UBC zoologist and biodiversity researcher Jennifer Sunday, who led the study. Species that use calcium carbonate to build their shells and skeletons, like mussels and corals, are expected to be particularly vulnerable to acidification.

"The more complex responses are those of seagrass beds that are vital to many fisheries species. These showed the potential to increase the number of species they can support, but the real-world evidence so far shows that they're not reaching this potential. This highlights a need to focus not only on individual species, but on how the supportive habitat that sets nature's stage responds and interacts to climate change."

The researchers combined data and observations from 10 field studies that measured the impact of underwater volcanic vents, which release carbon dioxide and mimic the conditions of future ocean acidification, on the density of habitat-forming species. They combined that data with 15 studies looking at how changes in habitat typically impact local species to make their predictions.

"We've known for a while that there will be big losers and some winners with climate change," said UBC marine ecologist Christopher Harley, senior author on the paper.

"We don't have time to measure the impact of climate change on each individual species, but using this approach allows us to make reasonable predictions. Now we have a much clearer picture of how some losers can drag biodiversity down with them, and how some other species might be able to help their habitat mediate a response to acidification.

"For example, in the Pacific Northwest, the number of medium to large-sized edible saltwater mussels is likely to decrease as the chemistry of our oceans changes, and this is bad news for the hundreds of species that use them for habitat," added Harley.

The researchers focused their study on the impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs, mussel beds, kelp forests, and seagrass meadows that form the homes of thousands of marine species. They used observations of altered habitats around the world to project how changes in these habitats brought on by ocean acidification will impact the number of species that each habitat can support.

The researchers were able to test their predictions against real-world data from two sites: a coral reef near Papua New Guinea, and a group of seagrass beds in the Mediterranean. In the case of the coral reef, the diversity and complexity of marine life in the area decreased as acidification increased. Despite predictions that the seagrass beds would fare well under increased levels of carbon dioxide, no increases in biodiversity was observed.

Because there are so few test sites to use to directly test the model, the authors want to expand on the approach.

--

Credit: <a href="http://www.ubc.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of British Columbia</a>

Study predicts how ocean acidification will impact species

Ocean acidification could drive a huge loss of biodiversity in some...

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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

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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;



---



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



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.

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



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.

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

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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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

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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



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 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



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 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

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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



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 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



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.

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



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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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.

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



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.

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



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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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