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...

Warming Temperatures Are Forcing Eastern Brook Trout To Relocate. When trying to explain the potential effects of climate change on plants, fish and wildlife, scientists usually resort to language that fails to convey the impact of warming. Now, a study by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-emotion-vocabulary-we-use-reflects-our-true-state-of-mind/">Penn State's</a> College of Agricultural Sciences fisheries researchers clearly explains the impact of projected warming waters on wild brook trout in the eastern U.S. for fishermen.Warming Temperatures Are Forcing Eastern Brook Trout To Relocate

The eastern brook trout is a socially and economically important fish that occurs in small cold water streams and lakes, and self-sustaining populations support angling throughout the Appalachian Mountains, from Maine to Georgia. However, warming air temperatures are expected to reduce available cold-water habitat and result in a smaller brook trout distribution and fewer angling opportunities.

Building on recent research at Penn State, Tyler Wagner, adjunct professor of fisheries and Tyrell DeWeber, now a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University, used two models they previously developed, one predicting stream temperature and one predicting where brook trout might occur, to identify streams likely to support wild brook trout under current and future climate scenarios.

The researchers then calculated the distance required to drive from the centers of 23 cities spread throughout the eastern brook trout range to the 10 nearest stream segments likely to have wild brook trout under current and future conditions. They published their study in a recent issue of Fisheries.

"Climate change is expected to result in widespread changes in species distributions for freshwater fish species. Although anglers and other resource users could be greatly affected by these predicted changes, changes are rarely reported in ways that can be easily understood by the general public," said Wagner, who is assistant unit leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State.

The effects of climate change on fish and wildlife are usually reported to the general public using summary metrics or maps designed to communicate concepts that are not normally encountered in everyday life, including changes in habitat suitability, range shifts, or increasing risks from disease or extreme events, according to Wagner. "Though these metrics are necessary, meaningful, and understood by scientists, many people lack the necessary training and background to readily understand them."

"Further, scientists and nonscientists alike may struggle to convert these metrics into a currency that directly affects day-to-day life. Climate science is a complex issue, and when we communicate potential responses of vegetation, fish and wildlife to nonscientists, creative thinking with respect to the currency of communication will facilitate discussions between scientists, policy makers and the public."

DeWeber, who was a doctoral student at Penn State when the research was conducted, noted that travel costs based on distance have been widely used to value ecosystem services such as angling under climate-change scenarios, but have not been used for communicating potential changes to the public, despite the intrinsic link to everyday life.

"Under current conditions, brook trout are predicted to occur in streams throughout the region, and average driving distances from cities to the nearest streams predicted to offer angling opportunities ranged from 4 to 87 miles. As a result of projected warming, driving distance to go fishing for wild brook trout was predicted to increase, on average, by almost 164 miles over the next 70 to 80 years."

For example, the driving route from Philadelphia to the nearest brook trout stream was predicted to cover 249 miles in a warmer future, much longer than the current 48 miles.

The lengths of trips from many northern cities, such as Bangor, Maine, were predicted to increase but were still relatively short in the future because nearby streams were still predicted to support brook trout under warmer conditions.

In contrast, anglers in southern cities, such as Cleveland, Tennessee, would experience dramatic increases in the lengths of trips because brook trout are predicted to be lost in surrounding areas.

Although anglers tend to be very dedicated, DeWeber pointed out, it is unlikely that many would drive great distances to fish very often due to cost, especially if those last remaining streams become popular and crowded. He believes that losses of wild brook trout populations and increased trip lengths would likely result in reduced resource use in many areas.

But he suggested that people are unlikely to be concerned about the potential effects of warming if they do not understand what may be coming. "Communicating species responses to climate change in everyday language could greatly increase the ability of resource users and other members of the general public to understand and relate to predicted changes," he said. "A clear understanding of potential changes might not lead to greater societal concern about species' responses, but it may enable people to make informed decisions."

---

<a href="http://www.psu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Penn State University</a>

Warming Temperatures Are Forcing Eastern Brook Trout To Relocate

Warming Temperatures Are Forcing Eastern Brook Trout To Relocate. When...

Heavy Air Pollution In Beijing Awaits World Running Championships. The drifting smoke from forest fires sometimes makes it difficult for marathoner Heather Lieberg to take a deep breath during her afternoon training runs in the hills of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=montana+map&amp;cvid=32baadfdb0ac483b8242d1d0c3196dca&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Montana</a>.
Even on days when the local advisory lists the air quality as "unhealthy for sensitive groups," Lieberg is out there chugging away through the hazy and hot conditions.
No better way to acclimate her body to the heavy air pollution that awaits in Beijing for the world championships. Heavy Air Pollution In Beijing Awaits World Running Championships
"I've literally trained when there's ash falling on me, where they say `Do not go outside,'" said Lieberg, a 36-year-old from Helena. "My lungs are definitely ready."
Seven years after the Olympics sparked talk of a dramatic clean-up of heavy air pollution in Beijing, a milky haze still covers the city on most days and is expected to be there when the marathons take place - Saturday for the men, and Aug. 30 for the women.
According to a recent study conducted by physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, 1.6 million people die each year in China from heart, lung and stroke-related problems due to polluted air. The statistic is a reminder that while the Olympics may serve to shed light on a host city's environmental problems, they don't necessarily solve them.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics set to also take place in Beijing, the environment is likely to stay in the spotlight, in part because of plans to bring tons of artificial snow to the relatively dry mountains outside Beijing.
It's as true for Rio de Janeiro today as it was for Beijing in 2008, Athens in 2004, Sydney in 2000 or almost any other host, all of which have had their problems with air and/or water, said John Karamichas, author of the 2013 book "The Olympic Games and the Environment."
"All these issues were, in one way or another, addressed for the duration of the games," Karamichas said. "Environmental legacy will depend on the post-event political processes."
An expert from the World Health Organization, Martin Taylor, said government figures have shown some improvements in Beijing's air quality since the Olympics left town "but there is still some way to go before (it) meets international safe standards."
Competition conditions for the Olympic athletes have been at the forefront recently with the Rio Games less than a year away.
An analysis commissioned by The Associated Press found viruses running rampant in Rio's sewage-strewn water. The International Olympic Committee has made no plans to test for viruses, sticking with a plan to only monitor bacteria. Some swimmers have fallen ill after competing in the water, though the direct correlation between the water and the illness is difficult to make.
Running in heavily polluted air carries some health risk because of particulates that can clog up passageways and increased ozone that mainly bothers people with asthma. It can also affect finely tuned athletes who operate at maximum lung capacity. In 2008, the marathon world record holder, asthma sufferer Haile Gebrselassie, said he wouldn't run the race. "The pollution in China is a threat to my health," he said.
But he was an exception. And even though pollution readings distributed by the U.S. Embassy's Beijing Air Quality Monitor frequently shows the air quality in the "unhealthy" range, the races at world championships will go on.
Questions about if runners should wear masks for competition are resurfacing. Scientists think that would produce, at best, mixed results. The masks do filter out particulates but most elite runners are creatures of habit and not used to wearing them. Distance runner Galen Rupp won U.S. championships wearing a mask in 2011, but he had trained extensively with it, and it was used to filter out pollen, not pollution.
"One can't with a straight face say that it doesn't do anything," said Dr. Sverre Vedal, a health science professor at the University of Washington. "But one of the issues that comes up is the practicality of wearing a mask if you're performing."
Last October, the Beijing Marathon began with thousands of participants wearing masks. The air quality reading that day was considered hazardous, and a level at which the U.S. Embassy says everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion.
Big events such as the Olympics and world championships put authorities on timelines to mitigate the problems, at least temporarily.
For the track meet, local organizers are following a model nicknamed "APEC Blue" - a Chinese government program that produced blue skies last November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
This approach calls on nearby provinces to cut down on the amount of pollution drifting in from factories outside the city limits. Officials also will restrict the number of cars on the streets of Beijing starting Thursday, two days before the world championships begin. They took half the cars off the road each day starting a few weeks before the Olympics.
A handful of athletes the AP interviewed said they're heading to Beijing knowing they can't do much about the pollution.
"I'm running for only 12 seconds," American hurdler David Oliver said. "Now, if I were a marathoner, maybe I'd pay more attention."
© 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.

Heavy Air Pollution In Beijing Awaits World Running Championships

Heavy Air Pollution In Beijing Awaits World Running Championships. The...

Study: Dying Wildlife And Bigger Fires If Drought Continues. The carcasses of salmon, trout and more than a dozen other newly extinct native species lie in dry streambeds around California.
Exhausted firefighters in the Sierra Nevada battle some of the biggest wildfires they've ever seen. And in Central Valley farm towns, more and more mothers hear the squeal of empty pipes when they turn on water taps to cook dinner.Study: Dying Wildlife And Bigger Fires If Drought Continues
A new report by the Public Policy Institute of California non-profit think-tank paints that distressing picture of California for the next two years if the state's driest four years on record stretches further into the future.
Written by water and watershed experts working at the policy center, at the University of California, Davis, and elsewhere, the report urges California to do more now to deal with what researchers project to be the biggest drought crises of 2016 and 2017 - crashing wildlife populations, raging wildfires and more and more poor <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rising-suicide-rates-rural-counties/">rural</a> communities running out of water entirely.
So far, of all the sectors dealing with the drought, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=959b5795b215418bb2b813f28e952351&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a> cities are doing relatively well thanks to the lessons of past droughts, the report concludes. Meanwhile, farms have been able to turn to pumping well water to make up for having half as much surface water for irrigation as normal.
With California wildlife, by contrast, "we're really looking at widespread crisis" if the drought continues, Ellen Hanak, director of the think-tank's water policy center, said in an interview Wednesday.
California's fresh-water habitats and forests, along with their wildlife, have experienced the most severe impacts of the drought so far, the study concluded.
Lack of water means 18 species of native California fish, including most native salmon and steelhead trout, face an immediate threat of going extinct in the wild, the report said.
Greatly reduced water deliveries to bird refuges and rice fields - the flooding of which provides crucial habitat - means there is dangerously little room and food for the 5 million migratory birds that fly through the Central Valley each year and a high risk of deadly disease for the birds, the study said.
For California's environment, officials should be thinking more strategically about how best to use what water is left for wildlife, and preparing "conservation hatcheries" to safeguard native fish species that are on the verge of extinction in the wild, it said.
Hanak also called wildfires a tremendous risk as overgrown forests dry in the drought. Fire and forest agencies already are working to reduce the overgrowth that contributes to making those fires bigger and harder to control, researchers said.
After the environment, rural communities have been hardest-hit by the drought, the study said. As of last month, more than 2,000 domestic wells were reported to have gone dry, mostly in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. More than 100 small public-water systems around the state have been cited as needing emergency water supplies.California's fresh-water habitats and forests, along with their wildlife, have experienced the most severe impacts of the drought so far
State and federal efforts to help those communities have been increasing but remain stop-gap, the study concluded. It urges the state to do more to track areas in need of help and come up with longer-term water supplies to replace wells that have likely gone dry for good.
© 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.

Study: Dying Wildlife And Bigger Fires If Drought Continues

Study: Dying Wildlife And Bigger Fires If Drought Continues. The...

BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places. Clusters of landlocked municipalities more than 100 miles from the Gulf Coast have secured millions of dollars in BP money through settlements designed to compensate local governments for lost tourism dollars and other economic damage from the company's 2010 oil spill, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
This week, BP finished making approximately $687.4 million in settlement payments to 383 local government entities in the five Gulf states. Nearly $8 million of that money went to 32 government entities that are more than 100 miles from the coast, in places like the<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=mississippi&amp;cvid=a6dd128c0c76464cb2b2849ff061a493&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> Mississippi</a> Delta and suburbs of central Alabama, the records show.BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places
BP's well blowout off Louisiana's coast triggered a deadly explosion that killed 11 rig workers and spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, staining beaches, killing wildlife and scaring away tourists.
The company agreed last month to pay up to $1 billion to resolve economic claims by local governments, but the settlement payouts have fallen well short of that maximum amount. The records obtained by the AP provide the most comprehensive accounting of where the money went and what types of government entities received shares.
The AP analyzed minimum distances from the center point of each city or town to the coastline to determine which locations were farther than 100 miles away from the coast.
Jackson, Mississippi, approximately 175 miles from the coast, received $1.3 million. Birmingham, Alabama, more than 200 miles from the coast, received $1 million.
Among the smaller cities receiving money is Ruleville, a Mississippi Delta city that landed $40,748. Ruleville, which is nearly 300 miles from the coast and has about 3,000 residents, said it lost revenue from sales taxes and other sources due to a drop in tourist travel after the spill. The city, perhaps best known as the hometown of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, is in an area that is a popular destination for blues music fans.
"Everybody in Mississippi suffered to varying degrees," said Danny Griffith, Ruleville's city attorney.
Irondale Mayor Tommy Joe Alexander - whose city in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/drinking-cocoa-can-make-your-brain-sharper-and-faster/">Birmingham</a> suburbs received a $57,225 settlement award - said a seafood shortage after BP's spill led to a decrease in sales tax generated by local restaurants.
"We're very fortunate that we did get something," he said. "There was an impact on the whole state."
BP's settlements with local governments are part of its broader $18.7 billion agreement with the five Gulf Coast states and the federal government. Larger portions of settlement money are dedicated to coastal restoration work. BP already has paid billions of dollars in compensation to Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money.
July 15 was the deadline for local governments to decide whether to accept the settlement offer, which could not be renegotiated. BP, which couldn't veto individual payments, accepted the package of settlements on July 27.
A modest "windfall" for several communities far from the coast must have been an afterthought for BP given the broader deal's high stakes, according to Ed Sherman, a Tulane University Law School professor emeritus and expert in complex litigation.
"It's not a great deal of money when you consider the total amount of the settlement," Sherman said.
Only a handful of local governments have publicly announced that they rejected a settlement offer. They are free to continue pursuing their claims, but may have to wait for a trial date if BP is unwilling to negotiate a separate deal.
Many local governments that sued BP over the spill enlisted help from private attorneys who handled their claims on a contingency basis, typically in exchange for at least 20 percent of the settlement amount.
Ike Gulas, an attorney who filed claims for several government entities in the Birmingham area, said officials from other local communities contacted him after the settlement was announced last month and were disappointed to learn it was too late to file their own claims.
"A lot of lawyers looked at it and didn't think there was a claim there, but we did," Gulas said.
Many communities sought significantly more than what they ultimately accepted. Bessemer, another Birmingham suburb, accepted a $310,392 settlement, even though city attorney Shan Paden said independent accountants pegged Bessemer's spill-related losses at roughly $590,000.
"The timing was bad," Paden said of the spill. "The general economy was in bad shape. We can show objectively that the revenues were down for that period of time."
The federal judge overseeing most of the spill-related litigation against BP appointed a panel of neutral parties, including former FBI director Louis Freeh and Lafayette-based attorney Patrick Juneau, to determine the amounts of each settlement offer. The formulas and criteria used by the panel members have not been publicly disclosed.
The panel made offers to each local government that met certain legal requirements. To qualify, each government entity had to formally present its Oil Pollution Act claim to BP and either file a lawsuit or submit a two-page claim form directly to the federal court in New Orleans.
The $687.4 million in payments doesn't include awards to local governments that resolved their BP claims before the broader settlement was announced on July 2.
Nearly $371 million - more than half of the total settlement money - was awarded to local governments in Louisiana. Approximately $210 million is going to local governments in Florida, where the tourism industry cratered in the spill's aftermath even though few places in the state ever felt any direct impact from BP's oil. Local governments in Texas are getting $39.9 million, while those in Mississippi are receiving $37.3 million. Local governments in Alabama are getting $28.8 million.
The bulk of the settlement money - which was paid by BP in lump sums and can be spent on anything - is going to city and county or parish governments along the coast. Nearly $157 million, almost one quarter of the total, is going to more than 50 public school districts. Law-enforcement agencies are receiving around $21 million. Airports are getting nearly $15 million. About $6 million is going to hospitals.
William Husfelt, schools superintendent in Bay County, Florida, said the spill led to losses in property and sales tax revenues that fund public schools across the state.
"It was a terrible time for it to happen. It was right after the recession," he said. "The budgets were cut. Pay raises were flat."
Henry Kelley, a spokesman for the Okaloosa County, Florida, public schools, said the school board hadn't yet decided how to use its $2 million settlement award.
"We're not flush with cash. If spent properly, this will make a big impact," he said.
---
This story has been corrected to indicate that 32 recipients, not 33, are more than 100 miles away from the coast, and that the amount of money going to those entities is nearly $8 million instead of nearly $8.2 million.
---
AP data journalist Michelle Minkoff in Washington contributed to this report.
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BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places

BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places. Clusters...

Western Wildfires Burning Unchecked Due To Lack Of Firefighters. This summer's massive western wildfires have strained resources to the point that<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=wildfire&amp;cvid=3d1e2b511a104aeaa6d8b0656bf735b0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> wildfire</a> managers are being forced to let some fires burn unchecked, and that has renewed a longstanding debate about whether it is better to fight a fire - or to sometimes just let it burn out.
Drought and heat have combined to make this one of the most active fire seasons in the Lower 48 in recent years. Nearly 29,000 firefighters are battling some 100 large blazes across the West, but it hasn't been enough. In northern Idaho, private citizens have even jumped on fire lines to help overwhelmed firefighters. Western Wildfires Burning Unchecked Due To Lack Of Firefighters
"What we're getting now are much more intense fires because of all those years of suppression," said John Freemuth, a Boise State University professor and a public lands expert. "Those kinds of intense fires are usually not allowed to burn."
But fire managers have little choice this year.
Some 11,000 square miles have burned so far. Most of that has been in Alaska, but an increase in fires in the Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and California has caused competition for firefighting resources with some requests going unmet.
Some fires have simply been unstoppable. Steve Ellis, deputy director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, earlier this week flew over a 443-square-mile rangeland fire in southwest Idaho and said he could see where retardant bombers put in lines that the fire easily crossed.
"It's always tough when we get to this point where we have much more fire than we have resources," said John Segar, one of eight members on an interagency group based in Boise that decides how to deploy the nation's wildland firefighters. "The decisions are essentially triage decisions."
Segar, chief of Fire Management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sits on the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group at the National Interagency Fire Center.
While there's been a longstanding debate about whether it's better to fight a fire or just let it burn out, Sager said conditions are so volatile right now that every current fire or new fire start is being attacked with the intent of putting it out if resources are available.
"It's just been too dry and too hot," he said. Letting fires burn "really hasn't been a consideration this year."
Freemuth said land managers have moved toward recognizing using fire as a tool to reduce fuels that lead to intense fires, particularly after the giant fires in Yellowstone National Park in the late 1980s.
"Having fire on the landscape in the right conditions has been accepted management now," Freemuth said.
But efforts to reduce the threat of fires have been hampered by a lack of money for prescribed burns or work to clear brush.
Some Western lawmakers, including Republican Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, have been pushing for letting firefighting agencies use dollars meant for natural disasters. Currently, agencies have been dipping into money set aside for fire prevention, such as prescribed burns.
"It's sort of an East-West issue where other members of Congress and other parts of the country don't get it because they don't see these kinds of fires," Freemuth said.
Even some <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scientists-track-endangered-green-turtles-in-western-australia/">Western</a> residents don't want to allow beneficial fires to burn because of the smoke, he noted. "It's like two environmental values having to be reconciled - the need for the right kind of fire and the need for good air quality."
Arguments have also been made for decades that more logging to remove trees and grazing by livestock to mow down grasses could remove fuels that would otherwise burn.
"Those can be legitimate tools," Freemuth said. "But that gets to the question of what's the purpose of our federal lands. Other people are going to say the No. 1 purpose should be ecosystem health."
Segar said the fires this year will likely burn until a season-ending weather event with rain or snow arrives, which could be weeks.
"We have so much fire on the ground we don't have enough people to put them out," he said. "They'll go out at the end of the season."
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Western Wildfires Burning Unchecked Due To Lack Of Firefighters

Western Wildfires Burning Unchecked Due To Lack Of Firefighters. This...

July Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded On Earth. Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet's hottest month on record, smashing old marks, U.S. weather officials said.
And it's almost a dead certain lock that this year will beat last year as the warmest year on record, they said.
July's average temperature was 61.86 degrees <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/babbler-birds-are-shifting-their-behavior-in-the-wrong-direction/">Fahrenheit</a>, beating the previous global mark set in 1998 and 2010 by about one-seventh of a degree, according to figures released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's a large margin for weather records, with previous monthly heat records broken by a 20th of a degree or less.
"It just reaffirms what we already know: that the Earth is warming," said NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch. "The warming is accelerating and we're really seeing it this year."
NOAA records go back to 1880. Separate calculations by NASA and the Japanese weather agency also found July 2015 to be a record.
The first seven months of 2015 were the hottest January-to-July span on record, according to NOAA. The seven-month average temperature of 58.43 degrees is 1.53 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average and a sixth of a degree warmer than the old record set in 2010.
Given that the temperatures have already been so high already - especially the oceans, which are slow to cool - NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said she is "99 percent certain" that 2015 will be the hottest on record for the globe. The oceans would have to cool dramatically to prevent it, and they are trending warmer, not cooler, she said.
Crouch, Blunden and other scientists outside of the government said these temperatures are caused by a combination of man-made climate change and a strong, near-record El Nino. An El Nino is a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that alters weather worldwide for about a year.
The oceans drove the globe to record levels. Not only were the world's oceans the warmest they've been in July, but they were 1.35 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.
The heat hit hard in much of Europe and the Middle East. It was the hottest July on record in Austria, where records go back to 1767. Parts of France had temperatures that were on average 7 degrees above normal and temperatures broke 100 in the Netherlands, which is a rarity. And an Iranian city had a heat index (the "feels like" temperature) of 165 degrees, which was still not quite record.
Nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005, according to NOAA. Twenty-two of the 25 hottest months on record have occurred after the year 2000. The other three were in 1998 and 1997.
This shows that despite what climate change doubters say, there is no pause in warming since 1998, Blunden said.
It doesn't matter if a month or a year is No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 5 hottest on record, said University of Georgia climate scientist Marshall Shepherd.
"The records are getting attention but I worry the public will grow weary of reports of new records each month," Shepherd said in an email. "I am more concerned about how the Earth is starting to respond to the changes and the implications for my children."
---
Online:
NOAA on July records: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507</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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July Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded On Earth

July Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded On Earth. Earth...

BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places. Clusters of landlocked municipalities more than 100 miles from the Gulf Coast have secured millions of dollars in BP money through settlements designed to compensate local governments for lost tourism dollars and other economic damage from the company's 2010 oil spill, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
This week, BP finished making approximately $687.4 million in settlement payments to 383 local government entities in the five Gulf states. Nearly $8 million of that money went to 32 government entities that are more than 100 miles from the coast, in places like the Mississippi Delta and suburbs of central Alabama, the records show.BP Oil Spill Settlement Money Found In Strange Places
BP's well blowout off <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Louisiana&amp;cvid=9a909e965da74bd1971484c6a6f29522&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Louisiana's</a> coast triggered a deadly explosion that killed 11 rig workers and spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, staining beaches, killing wildlife and scaring away tourists.
The company agreed last month to pay up to $1 billion to resolve economic claims by local governments, but the settlement payouts have fallen well short of that maximum amount. The records obtained by the AP provide the most comprehensive accounting of where the money went and what types of government entities received shares.
The AP analyzed minimum distances from the center point of each city or town to the coastline to determine which locations were farther than 100 miles away from the coast.
Jackson, Mississippi, approximately 175 miles from the coast, received $1.3 million. Birmingham, Alabama, more than 200 miles from the coast, received $1 million.
Among the smaller cities receiving money is Ruleville, a Mississippi Delta city that landed $40,748. Ruleville, which is nearly 300 miles from the coast and has about 3,000 residents, said it lost revenue from sales taxes and other sources due to a drop in tourist travel after the spill. The city, perhaps best known as the hometown of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, is in an area that is a popular destination for blues music fans.
"Everybody in Mississippi suffered to varying degrees," said Danny Griffith, Ruleville's city attorney.
Irondale Mayor Tommy Joe Alexander - whose city in the Birmingham suburbs received a $57,225 settlement award - said a seafood shortage after BP's spill led to a decrease in sales tax generated by local restaurants.
"We're very fortunate that we did get something," he said. "There was an impact on the whole state."
BP's settlements with local governments are part of its broader $18.7 billion agreement with the five Gulf Coast states and the federal government. Larger portions of settlement money are dedicated to coastal restoration work. BP already has paid billions of dollars in compensation to Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money.
July 15 was the deadline for local governments to decide whether to accept the settlement offer, which could not be renegotiated. BP, which couldn't veto individual payments, accepted the package of settlements on July 27.
A modest "windfall" for several communities far from the coast must have been an afterthought for BP given the broader deal's high stakes, according to Ed Sherman, a Tulane University Law School professor emeritus and expert in complex litigation.
"It's not a great deal of money when you consider the total amount of the settlement," Sherman said.
Only a handful of local <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/crack-down-environmental-protests/">governments</a> have publicly announced that they rejected a settlement offer. They are free to continue pursuing their claims, but may have to wait for a trial date if BP is unwilling to negotiate a separate deal.
Many local governments that sued BP over the spill enlisted help from private attorneys who handled their claims on a contingency basis, typically in exchange for at least 20 percent of the settlement amount.
Ike Gulas, an attorney who filed claims for several government entities in the Birmingham area, said officials from other local communities contacted him after the settlement was announced last month and were disappointed to learn it was too late to file their own claims.
"A lot of lawyers looked at it and didn't think there was a claim there, but we did," Gulas said.
Many communities sought significantly more than what they ultimately accepted. Bessemer, another Birmingham suburb, accepted a $310,392 settlement, even though city attorney Shan Paden said independent accountants pegged Bessemer's spill-related losses at roughly $590,000.
"The timing was bad," Paden said of the spill. "The general economy was in bad shape. We can show objectively that the revenues were down for that period of time."
The federal judge overseeing most of the spill-related litigation against BP appointed a panel of neutral parties, including former FBI director Louis Freeh and Lafayette-based attorney Patrick Juneau, to determine the amounts of each settlement offer. The formulas and criteria used by the panel members have not been publicly disclosed.
The panel made offers to each local government that met certain legal requirements. To qualify, each government entity had to formally present its Oil Pollution Act claim to BP and either file a lawsuit or submit a two-page claim form directly to the federal court in New Orleans.
The $687.4 million in payments doesn't include awards to local governments that resolved their BP claims before the broader settlement was announced on July 2.
Nearly $371 million - more than half of the total settlement money - was awarded to local governments in Louisiana. Approximately $210 million is going to local governments in Florida, where the tourism industry cratered in the spill's aftermath even though few places in the state ever felt any direct impact from BP's oil. Local governments in Texas are getting $39.9 million, while those in Mississippi are receiving $37.3 million. Local governments in Alabama are getting $28.8 million.
The bulk of the settlement money - which was paid by BP in lump sums and can be spent on anything - is going to city and county or parish governments along the coast. Nearly $157 million, almost one quarter of the total, is going to more than 50 public school districts. Law-enforcement agencies are receiving around $21 million. Airports are getting nearly $15 million. About $6 million is going to hospitals.
William Husfelt, schools superintendent in Bay County, Florida, said the spill led to losses in property and sales tax revenues that fund public schools across the state.
"It was a terrible time for it to happen. It was right after the recession," he said. "The budgets were cut. Pay raises were flat."
Henry Kelley, a spokesman for the Okaloosa County, Florida, public schools, said the school board hadn't yet decided how to use its $2 million settlement award.
"We're not flush with cash. If spent properly, this will make a big impact," he said.
---
This story has been corrected to indicate that 32 recipients, not 33, are more than 100 miles away from the coast, and that the amount of money going to those entities is nearly $8 million instead of nearly $8.2 million.
---
AP data journalist Michelle Minkoff in Washington contributed to this report.
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Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet's hottest month on record, smashing old marks, U.S. weather officials said.
And it's almost a dead certain lock that this year will beat last year as the warmest year on record, they said.
July's average temperature was 61.86 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the previous global mark set in 1998 and 2010 by about one-seventh of a degree, according to figures released Thursday by the National <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dead-land-species-changed-ocean-chemistry-during-extinction-event/">Oceanic</a> and Atmospheric Administration. That's a large margin for weather records, with previous monthly heat records broken by a 20th of a degree or less.
"It just reaffirms what we already know: that the Earth is warming," said NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch. "The warming is accelerating and we're really seeing it this year."
NOAA records go back to 1880. Separate calculations by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> and the Japanese weather agency also found July 2015 to be a record.
The first seven months of 2015 were the hottest January-to-July span on record, according to NOAA. The seven-month average temperature of 58.43 degrees is 1.53 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average and a sixth of a degree warmer than the old record set in 2010.
Given that the temperatures have already been so high already - especially the oceans, which are slow to cool - NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said she is "99 percent certain" that 2015 will be the hottest on record for the globe. The oceans would have to cool dramatically to prevent it, and they are trending warmer, not cooler, she said.
Crouch, Blunden and other scientists outside of the government said these temperatures are caused by a combination of man-made climate change and a strong, near-record El Nino. An El Nino is a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that alters weather worldwide for about a year.
The oceans drove the globe to record levels. Not only were the world's oceans the warmest they've been in July, but they were 1.35 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.
The heat hit hard in much of Europe and the Middle East. It was the hottest July on record in Austria, where records go back to 1767. Parts of France had temperatures that were on average 7 degrees above normal and temperatures broke 100 in the Netherlands, which is a rarity. And an Iranian city had a heat index (the "feels like" temperature) of 165 degrees, which was still not quite record.
Nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005, according to NOAA. Twenty-two of the 25 hottest months on record have occurred after the year 2000. The other three were in 1998 and 1997.
This shows that despite what climate change doubters say, there is no pause in warming since 1998, Blunden said.
It doesn't matter if a month or a year is No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 5 hottest on record, said University of Georgia climate scientist Marshall Shepherd.
"The records are getting attention but I worry the public will grow weary of reports of new records each month," Shepherd said in an email. "I am more concerned about how the Earth is starting to respond to the changes and the implications for my children."
---
Online:
NOAA on July records: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507</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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Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet's hottest month...

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming. Comprehensive analysis of ocean surface temperature data shows a cooling trend preceding the Industrial Revolution

Prior to the advent of human-caused global warming in the 19th century, the surface layer of Earth’s oceans had undergone 1,800 years of a steady cooling trend, according to a new study. During the latter half of this global ocean cooling period, the trend was most likely driven by large and frequent volcanic eruptions.1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming

An international team of researchers reported these findings in the August 17, 2015 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. The study also indicates that the coolest temperatures occurred during the Little Ice Age—a period that spanned the 16th through 18th centuries and was known for cooler average temperatures over land.

The concurrence of cooling events on both land and sea suggests that a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-window-to-avoid-dangerous-global-warming-is-narrowing/">global</a> cooling phenomenon was erased by subsequent human-caused global warming.

“Today, the Earth is warming about 20 times faster than it cooled during the past 1,800 years,” said Michael Evans, second author of the study and an associate professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Geology and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC). “This study truly highlights the profound effects we are having on our climate today.”

Compared to the atmosphere, the oceans can absorb much more heat and trap it for longer periods of time. Thus the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=ocean&amp;cvid=62049be582284d8ab101b0a5aaaea521&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">ocean</a> can buffer short-term changes in global temperature. But when events such as volcanic eruptions cluster together in a relatively short period of time, the temperature changes can become prolonged.

“Volcanic eruptions have a short-term cooling effect on the atmosphere, but our results showed that when volcanic eruptions occurred more frequently, there was long-term ocean cooling,” said lead author Helen McGregor, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “With this research, we now have new insight into the century-scale global sea-surface temperature variations that came before man-made greenhouse gas forcing.”

The scientists are the first to combine 57 previously published marine surface temperature reconstructions that cover all of the world’s oceans, from near-polar to tropical regions. The team compiled the data within 200-year brackets to observe long-term trends, and then compared the findings to land-based reconstructions, which revealed similar cooling trends.

“No matter how we divided the data set, the cooling trend stands out as a robust signal,” McGregor said.

To investigate the cause of the cooling trend, the researchers turned to climate models. They examined how sea-surface temperatures reacted to various “forcing” factors, such as changes in solar output, Earth’s orbit, land use, volcanic activity and greenhouse gases. Only volcanic events resulted in a cooling trend that matched the team’s real-world observations.

Understanding how forcing factors changed ocean temperatures in the past can open a window into future climate change.

“Model simulations by others have shown us that the oceans can impart a substantial delay in the warming of the surface climate,” said Evans, who is also the lead of the Ocean2k working group of the Past Global Changes (PAGES) program. “With much of the heat from global warming entering our oceans, recent ocean surface warming may foreshadow additional future warming, in the same way ocean cooling appeared as a long-term response to large and frequent volcanic events in recent centuries.”

“We are still learning how the oceans mediate climate variations,” Evans added. “Further work combining both observations and simulations of ocean climate will refine our understanding of the ocean's role in climate change.”

---

<a href="http://www.umd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Maryland</a>

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming....

EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger. More than two weeks after the Gold King mine spill fouled waterways in several Western states, officials expressed concern Thursday over the long-term effects of contaminated river bottoms as the federal agency that triggered the accident downplayed the dangers.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers released more than 3 million gallons of contaminated water Aug. 5 while investigating an inactive mine site near Silverton, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=fec366068ea545b38cdc7720af0ddf39&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a>. The spill prompted the shutdown of public drinking-water systems and left rivers in the regiadoon tinged a disturbing yellow-orange color that has since faded.EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger
The EPA said in recent days that poisons including lead and thallium have been detected in river sediment samples collected from the Animas River, which travels from Colorado into northern New Mexico, joining the San Juan River before emptying into Lake Powell along the Utah-Arizona border.
In Colorado, contaminants exceeding drinking-water standards were found in seven private wells out of more than 100 tested, according to the EPA. Details on what contaminants were found and at what concentrations were not disclosed. Officials said Thursday that they would continue to investigate the wells, but noted that it was not clear if the spill was to blame.
EPA officials have repeatedly said sediment contamination was returning to pre-spill levels and no longer threatens recreational river users on the upper Animas or water treatment plants.
But state health officials were more cautious as they attempted to nail down the potential for long-term damage to private drinking wells and aquatic life, from the heavy metals and other contaminants that dropped out of the passing plume.
Experts warn that sediments could be stirred up from river bottoms by storms or during the annual spring runoff, when snow at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains melts.
The sediment contains thallium, a naturally occurring metal that can cause hair loss and kidney or liver problems, as well as lead, which can delay mental development in children.
"We are concerned about this particular sediment load given how the various constituents in the sediment may continue to affect the stream," Colorado health officials said in a statement released by Jan Stapleman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and the Environment.
The officials added that there was "ongoing potential for those (private) wells to be affected as the sediment migrates into the groundwater table." It could take years to gather enough data to accurately gauge the extent of problems for fish and other aquatic life, they said.
In Utah, scientists from the state Department of Environmental Quality said tests to date suggested the water in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/men-marijuana-higher-sperm-counts/">San Juan</a> River presents little health risk to users. Agency officials said they were turning to a long-term monitoring strategy focusing on sediment and what, if any, steps can be taken to deal with it.
In the interim, Utah health officials warned river visitors not to drink the water and to minimize contact with dirt and sand.
In New Mexico, environmental regulators monitoring the sediment said the threat it posed was an "open question" that required long-term investigation.
After tumbling from the heights of Colorado's Rockies, the Animas slows as it enters New Mexico, allowing more sediment to drop out of the water column and onto the river bottom, said Bruce Yurdin, a water quality expert with the New Mexico Environment Department.
Contaminants can be taken up by insects living on the bottom, which are then consumed by fish and ultimately by people fishing on the popular waterway.
Yet it could be difficult to distinguish problems caused by the EPA's spill from the long history of contamination flowing from upstream mines, Yurdin said.
Thirty-eight private water wells have been sampled in New Mexico, according to the EPA. Results of those tests were not provided.
Arizona wildlife officials planned to test the tissue of fish from Lake Powell for potential contaminants.
Despite repeated requests from The Associated Press, the EPA has not released further information on the pre-spill contamination levels in the Animas and San Juan rivers, which would shed light on how much things have changed.
EPA spokeswoman Lisa McClain-Vanderpool said the agency planned to release more information on sediments soon.
Navajo President Russell Begaye visited Silverton over the weekend and poured water over sediment settling on the banks of the river. He watched as yellowish sediment flowed over the rocks and downstream.
"These are things I'm concerned about, is what happens when the rain comes," Begaye said in a video posted on his office's Facebook page.
Tribal spokesman Mihio Manus said the president was considering lifting an advisory Saturday against using the San Juan River for irrigation. The EPA planned to end water deliveries for agriculture to the reservation on Friday.
The Interior Department, which is conducting an independent review of the spill at the EPA's request, said Thursday that it expects to deliver a final report by late October.
The probe will be overseen by Interior's Bureau of Reclamation.
---
Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.
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EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger

EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger. More than two...

Tar Sands Battle

Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah. On a remote <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/great-salt-lake-in-northern-utah/">Utah</a> ridge covered in sagebrush, pines and wild grasses, a Canadian company is about to embark on something never before done commercially in the United States: digging sticky, black, tar-soaked sand from the ground and extracting the petroleum.
The impending opening of the nation's first tar sands mine has become another front in the battle across the West between preservationists and the energy industry.
U.S. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oil&amp;cvid=a230c5a104fd45e99b37113784c7bfb8&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Oil</a> Sands has invested nearly $100 million over the last decade to acquire rights to about 50 square miles, obtain permits and develop what it says is a brand-new, non-toxic method of separating out the oil with the use of an orange-peel extract similar to what's in citrus-scented household soaps and detergents.Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah
"We're dedicated to having the world's most environmentally responsible oil sands project ever built," CEO Cameron Todd said in a boast that has failed to reassure protesters.


[caption id="attachment_2383959" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142530/tar-sands-mine-utah_3big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383959" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142530/tar-sands-mine-utah_3big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, holds sticky, black, tar-soaked sand " width="150" height="150" /></a> Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, holds sticky, black, tar-soaked sand[/caption]
Across the rolling green hills of the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah, about 165 miles from Salt Lake City, the company plans this fall to begin digging the first in a series of pits, each the size of a football stadium, and start unsticking oil from the sand that crumbles in your hand like a brownie.
Tar sands, also called bitumen, are naturally occurring deposits of petroleum. Unlike the oil that flows out of wells, the hydrocarbons in tar sands must first be separated from the dirt by mixing the stuff with hot water and solvent. The oil is then sold to refineries for eventual use as fuel or an industrial ingredient.
Oil production from tar sands has been going on for years in Canada and Venezuela. The Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline that has been blocked by the Obama administration is supposed to carry tar sands oil.
While tar sands mining involves higher operating costs than traditional drilling, it can be highly profitable, especially when crude prices are high. But whether U.S. Oil Sands can make any money on this project remains to be seen.


[caption id="attachment_2383960" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142532/tar-sands-mine-utah-protestors_2big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383960" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142532/tar-sands-mine-utah-protestors_2big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Chipmunk mask-wearing protesters sit outside the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands operation, in the Book Cliffs, in eastern Utah. " width="150" height="150" /></a> Chipmunk mask-wearing protesters sit outside the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands operation, in the Book Cliffs, in eastern Utah.[/caption]
What looked like a shortage of oil when the company began raising money has now become a glut, in part because energy companies have learned to extract petroleum from formations long thought out of reach.
By the company's own estimate, it will make little to nothing at crude oil's current price of $48 per barrel, down from a peak of $147 in 2008. As of Tuesday, U.S. Oil Sands stock was trading at just 12 cents.
Protesters have tried to thwart the mine's construction for two summers in a row and have gotten arrested for chaining themselves to equipment. They argue that the project is an eyesore and that it could contaminate nearby springs and ruin habitat for deer, beaver and bears.
The mine sits on a cleared swath of land enclosed by barbed wire, with modular buildings, bulldozers, large metal posts and rails and a massive metal cylinder with a cone-shaped bottom where the tar sand mixing will be done.
Demonstrators who have been camping out all summer near the site gathered outside the front gate on a recent day to show their opposition. Some wore chipmunk masks. Other banged drums. Some held signs with messages such as "Dirty Energy Kills."


[caption id="attachment_2383958" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142528/tar-sands-mine-utah_4big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383958" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142528/tar-sands-mine-utah_4big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Construction takes place at the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands" width="150" height="150" /></a> Construction takes place at the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands[/caption]
"It's heartbreaking to see what they've been doing out here," said Melanie Martin of the Tar Sands Resistance Movement. "It's impossible to reclaim and rehabilitate the land once they do what they are planning to do with it. The land is not going to come back for millennia."
Opponents also worry the mine will spur more projects in this pristine area that attracts hikers, campers and hunters. A 45-mile, $86 million highway as smooth as an autobahn has been built out to the mine. And the state has given approval for three other tar sands operations in the same corner of Utah.
Instead of relying on the usual industrial-strength hydrocarbon solvent, U.S. Oil Sands says it will employ the biodegradable citrus extract that is in grease-cutting household products.
Utah officials who recently approved the mine also imposed a key requirement environmentalists considered a victory: The company must monitor water and air quality.


[caption id="attachment_2383955" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142520/tar-sands-mine-utah_1big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383955" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142520/tar-sands-mine-utah_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, looks at the sticky, black, tar-soaked sand " width="150" height="150" /></a> Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, looks at the sticky, black, tar-soaked sand[/caption]
And instead of leaving open pits, ponds of mining debris and barren land, U.S. Oil Sands says it will fill in the holes with the clean leftover sand and plant grass and other vegetation.
U.S. Oil Sands estimates there are 180 million barrels of oil close to the surface on the land it is leasing. It plans to begin turning out 2,000 barrels per day later this year - a puny share of the 9.3 million the U.S. produces daily - and take it by truck to refineries. It says the mine will create about 50 full-time jobs when opened.
"This is a breakthrough in technology," Todd said by telephone from Calgary. "If we're able to demonstrate to the investment world that this is possible, there are many, many places where this could be done."
Alex Beeker, an industry research analyst, said he doesn't expect the mine to set off an explosion of tar sands mining in the U.S., where the prospects are basically limited to Utah. "But if U.S. Oil Sands starts to do very well, you're going to see more operators try to mimic what they're doing," he said.
---
Associated Press Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey contributed to this report from New York.
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Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah

Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set...

Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine. Internal documents released late Friday show managers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were aware of the potential for a catastrophic "blowout" at an abandoned Gold King mine that could release "large volumes" of wastewater laced with toxic heavy metals.
<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=EPA&amp;cvid=24c5289c519d466385a20f925b206a75&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">EPA</a> released the documents following weeks of prodding from The Associated Press and other media organizations. EPA and contract workers accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater on Aug. 5 as they inspected the idled Gold King Mine near Silverton, <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/cameron-peak-fire-is-now-the-largest-in-colorados-recorded-history/">Colorado.</a>
Among the documents is a June 2014 work order for a planned cleanup that noted that the old mine had not been accessible since 1995, when the entrance partially collapsed. The plan appears to have been produced by Environmental Restoration, a private contractor working for EPA.Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine
"This condition has likely caused impounding of water behind the collapse," the report says. "ln addition, other collapses within the workings may have occurred creating additional water impounding conditions. Conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause a release of large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine, which contain concentrated heavy metals."
A subsequent May 2015 action plan for the mine also notes the potential for a blowout.
There are at least three ongoing investigations into exactly how EPA triggered the disaster, which tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with lead, arsenic and other contaminates. EPA says its water testing has shown contamination levels have since fallen back to pre-spill levels, though experts warn the heavy metals have likely sunk and mixed with bottom sediments that could someday be stirred back up.
The documents, which the agency released about 10:30 p.m. eastern time, do not include any account of what happened immediately before or after the spill. The wastewater flowed into a tributary of the Animas and San Juan rivers, turning them a sickly yellow.
Elected officials in affected states and elsewhere have been highly critical of the EPA's initial response. Among the unanswered questions is why it took the agency nearly a day to inform local officials in downstream communities that rely on the rivers for drinking water.
Much of the text in the documents released Friday was redacted by EPA officials. Among the items blacked out is the line in a 2013 safety plan for the Gold King job that specifies whether workers were required to have phones that could work at the remote site, which is more than 11,000 feet up a mountain.
EPA did not immediately respond Friday night to questions from the AP. In the wake of the spill, it has typically taken days to get any detailed response from the agency, if at all.
On its website, contractor Environmental Restoration posted a brief statement last week confirming its employees were present at the mine when the spill occurred. The company declined to provide more detail, saying that to do so would violate "contractual confidentiality obligations."
The EPA has not yet provided a copy of its contact with the firm. On the March 2015 cost estimate for the work released Friday, the agency blacked out all the dollar figures.
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Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine

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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



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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;



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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

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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

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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

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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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from 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

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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...