The development of a big brain in humans and its connection to social bonding has been a hot topic of debate, and secrets found in fossil teeth may hold the answers.



Researchers have been studying the fossilized teeth of an early Homo from Georgia, dating back approximately 1.77 million years. The research was made possible by the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France.



The findings suggest that despite having a small brain and reaching adulthood at a similar pace to great apes, these early humans had a prolonged childhood. 



This could mean that the large brain of modern humans resulted from an extended childhood along with cultural transmission across generations instead of vice versa.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-childhood-big-brains">Long childhood, big brains</h2>



A team of researchers - including specialists from Switzerland's <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Zurich</a>, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and Georgia's National Museum - have challenged the theory that modern humans' extended childhood is directly linked to their large brains.



The team analyzed dental development in an early Homo that was almost an adult. The results suggest that though these early humans reached adulthood at a similar age as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/buronius-manfredschmidi-tiny-great-ape-species-lived-11-million-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">great apes</a>, their tooth development followed a longer timeline similar to modern humans.



This proposes the distinct possibility of a longer dependency on adults and an elongated childhood for these early humans.



Remarkably, the brain size of these early Homo specimens was only marginally larger than that of a chimpanzee. This made the researchers question the link between the prolonged development and cultural transmission across generations.



An extended childhood within a three-generation context might have allowed the immature members of the group to effectively assimilate growing amounts of knowledge. 



Eventually, this led to the development of larger brains and longer life spans, traits characteristic of modern humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dental-development-in-early-homo">Dental development in early Homo</h2>



An enduring assumption has been that humans' extended growth period is a consequence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-sizes-are-growing-possibly-lowering-dementia-risk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased brain volume</a> since a larger organ requires more energy resources to grow. But analysis of the fossil's dental growth has caused researchers to question this hypothesis.



The research team used synchrotron imaging to study the dental development of a near-adult fossil of early Homo from the Dmanisi site in Georgia, dated to around 1.77 million years ago. 



<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="CWxiqQg039-4024544-12187" type="single"]</div>



“Childhood and cognition do not fossilize, so we have to rely on indirect information. Teeth are ideal because they fossilize well and produce daily rings, in the same way that trees produce annual rings, which record their development,” noted study first author Christoph Zollikofer from the University of Zurich.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unexpected-findings-and-a-new-perspective">Unexpected findings and a new perspective</h2>



“Dental development is strongly correlated with the development of the rest of the body, including brain development," explained study co-author Paul Tafforeau, scientist at the ESRF.



"Access to the details of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/search-results/?search=fossil%20hominid&amp;start=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fossil</a> hominid's dental growth therefore provides a great deal of information about its general growth."



After almost two decades of research beginning in 2005, the initial results startled researchers. 



“We expected to find either dental development typical of early hominids, close to that of the great apes, or dental development close to that of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthal-genes-still-influence-modern-humans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modern humans</a>," said Tafforeau.



"When we obtained the first results, we couldn’t believe what we saw, because it was something different that implied faster molar crown growth than in any other fossil hominin or living great ape."



In the following years, the team conducted five series of experiments and completed four full analyses, employing various methods as dental synchrotron imaging technology advanced.



As the consistent results suggested significant implications for the "big brain - long childhood" hypothesis, the scientists needed to think creatively to interpret this fossil's findings.



“It's been a slow maturation, both technically and intellectually, to finally arrive at the hypothesis we are publishing today,” said Tafforeau.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-longer-childhood-evolution-s-early-experiment">Longer childhood: Evolution's early experiment?</h2>



The dental development of the studied fossil suggested that milk teeth were used longer than in great apes, implying that early Homo children were dependent on adult care for a longer duration.



This could be the first experiment evolution took towards a prolonged childhood. Despite having brains only slightly larger than australopithecines or great apes, early Homo are believed to have lived longer.



The survival of a very old individual with no teeth for several years indicates that the group sufficiently cared for him. This alludes to a three-generation structure, a key aspect of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-started-cumulative-culture-around-600000-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cultural transmission in humans</a>.



The new hypothesis begins with children's growth slowing down as cultural transmission increased. 



The accumulation of information from older to younger individuals had an advantageous effect on resource utilization and the development of complex behaviors, thus favoring a longer childhood. 



Once this mechanism was established, natural selection acted on cultural transmission, not just biological traits. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-brains-and-delayed-adulthood">Big brains and delayed adulthood</h2>



As the volume of transferrable information grew, evolution supported a larger brain and delayed adulthood, enabling a longer learning period in childhood and time to grow a bigger brain despite limited food resources.



The large brain of modern humans could be attributed to an extended childhood and a three-generation structure encouraging bio-cultural evolution. These mechanisms may have led to increased brain size, delayed adulthood, and longer lifespan. 



The study of this exceptional fossil could motivate researchers to rethink the evolutionary mechanisms that led to Homo sapiens.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08205-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



Image &amp; Video Credit: ESRF/Paul Tafforeau, Vincent Beyrand



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How did humans get big brains? Fossil teeth reveal new clues

The development of a big brain in humans and its connection to social bonding has been a hot topic of debate, and secrets found in fossil teeth may hold the answers. Researchers have been studying the fossilized teeth of an early Homo from Georgia, dating back approximately 1.77 million years. The research was made possible by the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France. The findings suggest that despite having a small brain and reaching adulthood at a similar pace to great apes, these early humans had a prolonged...

Feds Releasing Bull Trout Recovering Plan. Federal officials are releasing a plan to recover struggling bull trout populations in five Western states with the goal of lifting Endangered Species Act protections.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the draft plan for six recovery units spread over Idaho, western Montana, Washington, Oregon and a tiny portion of northern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wildfire-danger-will-continue-to-increase-in-california-and-nevada/">Nevada</a> will be released on Thursday with public comments being taken through July 20.
The agency proposes allowing the lifting of federal protections in the six recovery units individually when specific requirement are met. The agency said the recovery units contain distinct populations of bull trout with unique characteristics. Feds Releasing Bull Trout Recovering Plan
"We think the approach is tactical and appropriate," said Steve Duke, bull trout recovery planning coordinator for the agency. "We think it focuses on what still needs to be done, and it lets local agencies and those with managerial oversight focus on those areas without having to look at the larger distribution of bull trout."
Specifically, the agency identifies 111 core bull trout areas in the six recovery units. Duke said the plan doesn't dictate actions, but looks at ways to keep clean and cold water in streams.
The draft plan is the result of a settlement the agency made last year following a lawsuit by two environmental groups - the Alliance for the Wild <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=rockies&amp;cvid=fcfc7a11b08a4e1981a147878d79e6fe&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Rockies</a> and Friends of the Wild Swan.
Michael Garrity of Alliance for the Wild Rockies said he's concerned the agency is looking to define bull trout differently in different regions so federal protections could be removed in some areas while fish are still in trouble in other areas. He said his organization would be against that plan.
"We're optimistic they'll listen to us," Garrity said. "But we're optimistic because we've sued them on bull trout about a dozen times and won each time. If they don't follow the best available science, we won't hesitate to sue again."
Bull trout are a cold water species listed as threatened in the lower 48 in 1999. Both Garrity and Duke said maintaining cold and clean water is essential for bull trout.
Non-native brook trout are a problem because they can hybridize with bull trout. Other problems include isolated of populations. The plan also considers warming waters due to climate change that is forcing some populations, Duke said, into upper regions of river systems.
"We expect that to continue into the future," he said.
He said the presence of bull trout is often a sign of a healthy river system.
"They're a good indicator species for a variety of reason," Duke said.
He said that bull trout occupy about 60 percent of their former range, which he noted has remained steady since the fish received federal protection in 1999.
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Feds Releasing Bull Trout Recovering Plan

Feds Releasing Bull Trout Recovering Plan. Federal officials are releasing...

Study: Most Americans Could Eat Locally Grown Foods. New farmland-mapping research published today shows that up to 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes.

Professor Elliott Campbell Opens a New Window., with the University of California, Merced, School of Engineering, discusses the possibilities in a study entitled “The Large Potential of Local Croplands to Meet Food Demand in the United States Opens a New Window..” The research results are the cover story of the newest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the flagship journal for the Ecological Society of America, which boasts a membership of 10,000 scientists.

“Elliott Campbell's research is making an important contribution to the national conversation on local food systems,” influential author and UC Berkeley Professor Michael Pollan said. “That conversation has been hobbled by too much wishful thinking and not enough hard data — exactly what Campbell is bringing to the table.”

The popularity of “farm to table” has skyrocketed in the past few years as people become more interested in supporting local farmers and getting fresher food from sources they know and trust. Even large chain restaurants are making efforts to source supplies locally, knowing more customers care where their food comes from.

“Farmers markets are popping up in new places, food hubs are ensuring regional distribution, and the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill supports local production — for good reason, too,” Campbell said. “There are profound social and environmental benefits to eating locally.”

Local food potential has declined over time, which Campbell said was an expected finding, given limited land resources and growing populations and suburbanization.

The surprise, though, was how much potential still remains.

Most areas of the country could feed between 80 percent and 100 percent of their populations with food grown or raised within 50 miles. Campbell used data from a farmland-mapping project funded by the National Science Foundation and information about land productivity from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

With additional support from the University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/tule-fog-across-californias-central-valley/">California</a> Global Food Initiative, he found there is enough land to assure that eating locally doesn’t have to be a passing fad. Study: Most Americans Could Eat Locally Grown Foods

“These results are very timely with respect to increasing interests by the public in community-supported <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=agriculture&amp;cvid=72f8f888aaf8427c99c03a7ebd074546&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">agriculture</a>, as well as improving efficiencies in the food-energy-water nexus,” said Bruce Hamilton, program director for NSF, which supports a spectrum of emerging technologies Opens a New Window.that might help alleviate growing agricultural demands.

Campbell and his students looked at the farms within a local radius of every American city, then estimated how many calories those farms could produce. By comparing the potential calorie production to the population of each city, the researchers found the percentage of the population that could be supported entirely by food grown locally.

The researchers found surprising potential in major coastal cities. For example, New York City could feed only 5 percent of its population within 50 miles but as much as 30 percent within 100 miles. The greater Los Angeles area could feed as much as 50 percent within 100 miles.

Diet can also make a difference. For example, local food around San Diego can support 35 percent of the people based on the average U.S. diet, but as much as 51 percent of the population if people switched to plant-based diets.

Campbell’s maps suggest careful planning and policies are needed to protect farmland from suburbanization and encourage local farming for the future.

“One important aspect of food sustainability is recycling nutrients, water and energy. For example, if we used compost from cities to fertilize our farms, we would be less reliant on fossil-fuel-based fertilizers,” Campbell said. “But cities must be close to farms so we can ship compost economically and environmentally. Our maps provide the foundation for discovering how recycling could work.”

---

<a href="http://www.ucmerced.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ucmerced.edu/</a>

Study: Most Americans Could Eat Locally Grown Foods

Study: Most Americans Could Eat Locally Grown Foods. New farmland-mapping...

Appeals Court Sides With Environmental Protection Agency. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency complied with the law in deciding which areas of the country failed to meet federal limits on smog-forming pollution that can cause asthma and respiratory illness.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-sea-sponge-discovered-in-british-columbia/">Columbia</a> Circuit rejected challenges from states, industry and environmental groups that claimed the agency was being either too strict or too lenient in determining which areas satisfied federal ozone restrictions.
States including Mississippi, Indiana and Texas had challenged the EPA's finding that certain areas within their borders were violating the standard. A finding of noncompliance means states have to spend money to reduce ozone levels.
Connecticut and Delaware argued that the EPA should have designated more than a dozen eastern states in violation, saying their air quality was being hindered by other states.
But the court said the EPA's decisions had not violated the Constitution or any provisions of the Clean Air Act.
EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia said the agency is pleased with the decision and would continue to work with states "toward implementing ozone standards to protect public health as required by the Clean Air Act."
The Obama administration recently proposed even stricter emission limits on ozone of 65 to 70 parts per billion, below the existing standard of 75 that President George W. Bush put in place in 2008. The EPA has estimated that cutting ozone emissions to 70 parts per billion would cost industry about $3.9 billion in 2025. Appeals Court Sides With Environmental Protection Agency
Business groups say the latest proposal is unnecessary and would be the costliest regulation in history.
Ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is a powerful lung irritant that has been linked to a range of health problems. Smog is created when emissions from cars, power plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.
© 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.

Appeals Court Sides With Environmental Protection Agency

Appeals Court Sides With Environmental Protection Agency. A federal appeals...

Sudden Draining Of Glacial Lakes Explained. In 2008 scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington documented for the first time how the icy bottoms of lakes atop the Greenland Ice Sheet can crack open suddenly--draining the lakes completely within hours and sending torrents of water to the base of the ice sheet thousands of feet below. Now they have found a surprising mechanism that triggers the cracks.

Scientists had theorized that the sheer weight of the water in these glacial lakes applied pressure that eventually cracked the ice, but they could not explain why some lake bottoms cracked while others did not.

"Our discovery will help us predict more accurately how supraglacial lakes will affect ice sheet flow and sea level rise as the region warms in the future," said lead author Laura Stevens, a graduate student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MIT/WHOI) Joint Program in Oceanography.

The research was published June 4 in the journal Nature.

To find out what triggers sudden lake drainages, a research team, including Stevens and colleagues from WHOI, the University of Washington, MIT, and the University of Tasmania, deployed a network of 16 GPS units around North Lake, a 1.5-mile-long supraglacial lake in southwest <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/nearly-all-of-greenlands-glaciers-are-retreating/">Greenland</a>, where the scientists first documented large-scale cracks and lake drainages. They used these instruments to record movements of the ice before, during, and after three rapid lake drainages in the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Their study showed that in the 6 to 12 hours before the lake cracked and drained, the ice around the lake moved upward and slipped horizontally. The scientists say that meltwater had begun to drain through a nearby system of moulins (vertical conduits through the ice), which connected the surface to the base of the ice sheet 3,215 feet below. The accumulating water creates a bulge that floats the entire ice sheet, creating tension at the surface underneath the lake. The stress builds up until it is relieved by a sudden large crack in the ice below the lake.

"In some ways, ice behaves like Silly Putty--if you push up on it slowly, it will stretch; if you do it with enough force, it will crack," said Stevens. "Ordinarily, pressure at the ice sheet surface is directed into the lake basin, compressing the ice together. But, essentially, if you push up on the ice sheet and create a dome instead of a bowl, you get tension that stretches the ice surface apart. You change the stress state of the surface ice from compressional to tensional, which promotes crack formation."

Once the tension initiates the crack, the volume of water in the lake does play a critical role, surging into the opening, widening and extending it, and keeping it filled with water all the way to base of the thick ice sheet. These are called hydrofractures, and the scientists have documented how they can drain more than 11 billion gallons of water out of North Lake in about 90 minutes. At times, water flowed out of the lake bottom faster than the water goes over <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Niagara+Falls&amp;cvid=15cbb61b7a32421486caa0deb824ce4d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Niagara Falls</a>, the scientists estimated.

"You need both conditions--tension to initiate the crack and the large volume of water to amplify it--for hydrofractures to form," Stevens said. The key finding of this study is that without the former, even large supraglacial lakes will retain their water. Sudden Draining Of Glacial Lakes Explained

At the base of the ice sheet, the water that drains from the lake lubricates the interface between ice and rock, allowing the ice sheet to slide faster toward the coast. That in turn accelerates the outflow of ice from land to sea and causes sea levels to rise faster. So understanding the mechanisms that trigger the drainages will help scientists predict more precisely how supraglacial lakes will affect sea level rise as climate conditions shift in the future.

The GPS network also recorded the more sudden and momentous movements of the ice sheet surface at the time of the hydrofracture, showing that portions of the ice sheet bed beneath the lake can slip up to a foot and a half. That is equivalent to the movement caused by a magnitude-5.5 earthquake.

"It's just a different type of solid crystals--ice instead of rock--breaking due to stress," said Jeff McGuire, a co-author on the study and a seismologist at WHOI. The research team spanned scientific disciplines, including McGuire, a seismologist; Mark Behn, a geophysicist at WHOI who studies faults in Earth's crust; glaciologists Sarah Das of WHOI, and Ian Joughin and David Shean of the University of Washington; Tom Herring, a GPS expert at MIT, and Matt King, who studies geodesy, Antarctic ice sheets, and sea level at the University of Tasmania.

Thousands of supraglacial lakes form each spring and summer on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet as sunlight returns to the region. The heat melts snow and ice into water that pools in depressions in the ice sheet to form lakes. As the region becomes warmer, more lakes will likely form, leading to a first-order prediction of more hydrofractures, more lubrication, more ice sheet slippage, and faster-rising sea levels.

However, discovering the new trigger mechanism changes the equation, because the trigger is less likely to occur at lakes at higher elevations on the ice sheet--even though water volumes in those lakes can be large. Stevens explained that the ice sheet further inland is thicker and moves more slowly. The ice deeper down flows viscously, dampening impacts on the surface topography. That results in a flatter surface where fewer lake basins and crevasses form. Fewer crevasses mean less water leakage to the base, which reduces bulging that increases surface stresses.

---

<a href="http://www.whoi.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.whoi.edu/</a>

Sudden Draining Of Glacial Lakes Explained

Sudden Draining Of Glacial Lakes Explained. In 2008 scientists from...

Oil And Natural Gas Industries Turn Their Backs On Coal. Chemistry books say there are three fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas.
Lately you could get the impression that coal is the only one.
As a global agreement to rein in climate-warming carbon emissions draws closer, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/unhealthy-foods-spoil-the-benefits-of-a-mediterranean-diet/">oil</a> and gas companies are increasingly talking about coal as the problem and describing themselves as a crucial part of the solution, together with renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
"We stand ready to play our part," six major European oil and gas companies including Royal Dutch Shell and BP said in a recent letter to U.N. climate officials working on a major climate deal set to be adopted in Paris in December.
As they see it, their part includes gobbling up coal's market share in power generation. Natural gas plants - many oil companies also produce gas - release about half the CO2 emissions of coal-fired plants and lower levels of air pollution.
A coal-to-gas switch therefore "saves lives today and ensures a sustainable energy system tomorrow," Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told an energy conference in Paris on Tuesday.
He called natural gas a "clean-burning ally to renewables such as<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=solar&amp;cvid=55096ef6deda4df89f739854660084e8&amp;pglt=43&amp;FORM=ANNTA1&amp;PC=HCTS"> solar</a> and wind."
BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley had a similar message, saying "we need to explain more clearly that gas is not so much part of the problem as part of the solution," according to a speech posted on BP's website.
The coal industry has resisted counter-strikes against its fellow fossil fuels, opting instead to highlight new technologies that improve the efficiency of coal-fired power plants or capture their CO2 emissions.
Without such coal technologies, goals to reduce carbon emissions "to a satisfactory level will not be achieved," the World Coal Association said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
"Growing energy demand means that coal is a central part of the energy mix, with demand forecast to increase," the group said.
About 40 percent of the world's electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. Many are in energy-hungry economies like China and India where coal is an affordable and reliable option.
The split in the fossil fuel family represents a shift from the last time the world negotiated an international climate agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Back then, big oil and coal companies had more of a united front against international limits on emissions, said Jake Schmidt, a climate policy expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Now the oil and gas executives are trying to be part of the conversation, while "some of the coal industry is still saying `no'," Schmidt said.
However, many environmental advocacy groups are suspicious of the motives behind the oil-and-gas industry's attacks on coal and don't want any of them to influence climate policy.
They note that instead of heeding calls to let fossil fuels remain in the ground, oil and gas companies are pushing into new areas of exploration like the remote and ecologically sensitive Arctic.
Shell is gearing up for a controversial drilling campaign off Alaska this summer, while Norway's Statoil is expanding northward in the Barents Sea. Russia's Gazprom already is producing oil in the Arctic from an offshore platform in the Pechora Sea.
"You are seeing them demonizing the coal industry in order to benefit from it," said Jesse Bragg of Corporate Accountability International. "But the solution is not a different type of fossil fuel; it's transitioning away from fossil fuels."
© 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.

Oil And Natural Gas Industries Turn Their Backs On Coal

Oil And Natural Gas Industries Turn Their Backs On Coal....

California Oil Pipeline Spill Was Badly Corroded. A pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 101,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara last month occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness, according to federal regulators.
The preliminary findings released Wednesday by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration point to a possible cause of the May 19 spill that blackened popular beaches and created a 9-mile slick in the Pacific Ocean.
The agency said investigators found corrosion at the break site had degraded the pipe wall thickness to 1/16 of an inch, and that there was a 6-inch opening near the bottom of the pipe. Additionally, the report noted that the area that failed was close to three repairs made because of corrosion found in 2012 inspections.
The findings indicate 82 percent of the metal pipe wall had worn away.
"There is pipe that can survive 80 percent wall loss," said Richard Kuprewicz, president of Accufacts Inc., which investigates pipeline incidents. "When you're over 80 percent, there isn't room for error at that level."
The morning of the spill, operators in the company's Houston control center detected mechanical issues and shut down pumps on the line. The pumps were restarted about 20 minutes later and then failed, prompting another shutdown of the line.
Restarting the pumps could have led to a rupture, or a break in the line could have caused the pumps to fail, but Kuprewicz cautioned it's still too soon to determine what caused the failure.
In either case, a hole that size would have leaked at a high rate - even with the pumps off - and may not have been quickly detected by remote operators.
The agency documents said findings by metallurgists who examined the pipe wall thickness at the break site conflicted with the results of inspections conducted May 5 for operator Plains All <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shift-in-american-diets-could-greatly-benefit-the-environment/">American</a> Pipeline. Those inspections pinpointed a 45 percent loss of wall thickness in the area of the pipe break, meaning they concluded the pipe was in far better condition.
Government inspectors "noted general external corrosion of the pipe body during field examination of the failed pipe segment," the report said.
Investigators found "this thinning of the pipe wall is greater than the 45 percent metal loss which was indicated" by the recent Plains All American inspections.
The agency ordered the company to conduct additional research and possible repairs on the line, which has been shut down indefinitely. California Oil Pipeline Spill Was Badly Corroded
Plains All American said in a regulatory filing that there is no timeline to restart the line, which runs along the coast north of Santa Barbara. A company spokeswoman said there's no estimate yet of the cost of cleanup, which involves nearly 1,200 people.
The agency also ordered restrictions on a second stretch of pipeline, which the company had shut down May 19, restarted, then shut down again on Saturday.
That second line had similar insulation and welds to the line that spilled oil last month. It cannot be started until the company completes a series of steps, including testing.
The company said in a statement that it is committed to working with federal investigators "to understand the differences between these preliminary findings, to determine why the corrosion developed and to determine the cause of the incident."
Plains said it won't know the cause until the investigation, including the metallurgical analysis, is concluded.
The company has come under fire from California's U.S. senators, who issued a statement last week calling the response to the spill insufficient and demanding the pipeline company explain what it did, and when, after firefighters discovered the leak from the company's underground 24-inch pipe.
A commercial fisherman sued Plains in federal court Monday, alleging the environmental disaster would cause decades of harm to the shore. He is seeking class-action status and damages for business owners who have lost money because of the spill.
As of Tuesday, 36 sea lions, 9 dolphins and 87 birds in the area have died, officials said. Another 32 sea lions, 6 elephant seals and 58 birds were rescued and were being treated.
Popular state beaches and campgrounds polluted by the spill are closed until at least June 18.
Plains All American and its subsidiaries operate 17,800 miles of crude oil and natural gas pipelines across the country, according to federal regulators
The spill is also being investigated by federal, state and local prosecutors for possible violations of law.
© 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.

California Oil Pipeline Spill Was Badly Corroded

California Oil Pipeline Spill Was Badly Corroded. A pipeline rupture...

California Lawmakers Advance Aggressive Climate Change Plans. California lawmakers on Wednesday pushed through an ambitious climate change package to further reduce the state's carbon footprint and boost the use of renewable energy to 50 percent in 15 years.
The state Senate passed proposals to enact Gov. Jerry Brown's call to curb greenhouse gas emissions by setting what the administration calls the most aggressive benchmark in <a href="http://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/perennial-vegetables-to-grow-in-north-america/">North America</a> over the objection of Republicans who characterized such regulation as coastal elitism that would kill working-class jobs.
California aims to boost statewide renewable electricity use to 50 percent, have drivers use half as much gasoline and make buildings twice as efficient under the proposal by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. His bill, SB350, advanced to the Assembly on a 24-14 vote.
"California has demonstrated our global climate leadership over the last decade," de Leon said, adding, "These policies will further cement our leadership, further strengthen our economy while protect the health of our communities."
Senate Democrats also approved an overarching proposal to further reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
The goal is a mile marker on the way to cutting emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 that was set by Brown's predecessor, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
SB32 by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, passed the Senate on a 22-15 vote.
"It is a big number - science-based number, however," Pavley said, "what we have to do without reaching the tipping point regarding global climate change."
California, which already has an aggressive plan to combat global warming, currently is on track to meet a goal of cutting carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, partly by forcing companies to pay for their pollution.
The state's cap-and-trade program, launched nearly three years ago, offers one of the few real-world laboratories on how to reduce heat-trapping emissions. It expanded this year to levy fees on companies that produce gasoline and other fuels, prompting predictions that consumers will see a spike in prices to cover the costs.
Pavley's bill incorporates an executive order Brown issued in April to further emissions reductions - the equivalent of taking 36 million cars off the road, more than all the vehicles registered in California last year.
While the executive order lacked details, state officials have said it would require accelerated development of renewable energy and alternative fuel sources, and getting more electric cars and zero-emission heavy-duty trucks on the road. California Lawmakers Advance Aggressive Climate Change Plans
GOP members said the package would mean the government will pick economic winners and losers, raise utility and gasoline prices, and drive out good-paying jobs just so California can feel good about leading an environmental fight.
They also said there is inadequate oversight of the rule-setting process.
"This is really a stab in the dark, and it's unknown," said Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar. "Every new technology that has driven California has been when government got out of the way."
Democrats argued that it's not a choice between jobs and the environment. Rather, they say fostering clean-energy jobs will mean more people will drive electric vehicles and have solar panels on their homes.
Pavley, who authored the state's 2006 global warming law, said more than $30 billion in venture capital has flowed into California as a result of establishing a marketplace for the private sector to compete.
The California Assembly also moved Wednesday on two climate change bills that are narrower in scope.
One bill, AB1288, would allow the state Air Resources Board to continue conducting market-based regulations beyond its 2020 authority, while the other, AB645, called for the state to require at least half of all energy come from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2050.
---
Associated Press writer Julia Horowitz contributed to this report.
---
This story has been corrected to show that California imposes fees, not fines, on its cap-and-trade program.
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California Lawmakers Advance Aggressive Climate Change Plans

California Lawmakers Advance Aggressive Climate Change Plans. California lawmakers on...

California Oil Spill-Things to Know

Fishermen Sue Company Over California Oil Pipeline Spill. A commercial fisherman sued the owner of the oil pipeline that spilled thousands of gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara coast, alleging the environmental disaster would cause decades of harm to the shore and hurt many businesses.
Stace Cheverez said in the suit filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court that Plains All American Pipeline has a poor safety record and didn't have proper equipment to prevent a spill, such as valves that automatically would have shut down the pipeline if there was a leak.
The suit alleging negligence and liability under state and federal laws does not specify damages but said they will exceed $5 million. Fishermen Sue Company Over California Oil Pipeline Spill
A Plains spokeswoman said the company does not comment on legal matters, but it is addressing claims filed against it. Company officials have apologized for the spill and defended its safety record.
Cheverez is seeking class-action status for fishermen and other businesses losing income because of the May 19 spill that dumped at least 101,000 gallons of oil, fouled beaches and killed at least 140 marine mammals and birds.
Cheverez, who grew up on the beaches in Santa Barbara County diving for urchin and lobsters, said the spill will cause years of damage to the scenic coast and waters that "serve as the backbone of the local economy."
The spill has discouraged tourists from visiting, he said, noting that Refugio State Beach, where the oil spilled onto the beach, and another state park were closed for Memorial Day weekend and would be closed at least through June 18. One kayak touring company reported 25 cancellations after the spill, causing a $3,000 loss.
"Tourists come to these beaches to enjoy the unspoiled sand and water," the lawsuit said. "People support themselves and their families by harvesting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gill-development-and-water-temperatures-limit-fish-growth/">fish</a> and shellfish from these waters. All that has been damaged by this spill, and that damage will likely last for decades."
The cause of the spill from an underground pipe carrying crude from offshore rigs to inland refineries has not been determined and the damage has not been tallied. About 800 people were mopping up the mess left on beautiful beaches this week and 22 boats continued skimming oil from the waters.
The death toll through Tuesday included 36 sea lions, nine dolphins and 87 birds, officials said. Another 32 sea lions, six elephant seals and 58 birds were rescued and being treated.
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Fishermen Sue Company Over California Oil Pipeline Spill

Fishermen Sue Company Over California Oil Pipeline Spill. A commercial...

Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet. Hydraulic fracturing activities have not led to widespread harm to drinking water in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/severe-fire-threat-continues-in-the-western-united-states/">United States</a>, but the controversial drilling technique could affect drinking water if safeguards are not maintained, the government said Thursday.
A draft report released by the Environmental Protection Agency found several specific instances where poorly constructed drilling wells and improper wastewater management affected drinking water resources. But it also said the number of cases was small compared to the large number of wells that use hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet.
The assessment tracked water used throughout the fracking process, from acquiring the water to mixing chemicals at the well site and injecting so-called "fracking fluids" into wells, to collection of wastewater, wastewater treatment and disposal.
The report identified several vulnerabilities to drinking water resources, including fracking's effect on drought-stricken areas; inadequately cased or cemented wells resulting in below-ground migration of gases and liquids; inadequately treated wastewater discharged into drinking water resources; and spills of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=hydraulic&amp;cvid=af6b582af13044b3a1b2f339436ec840&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">hydraulic</a> fluids and wastewater.
Improved drilling techniques have led to a surge in fracking in recent years that has fueled a nationwide boom in production of oil and natural gas, as fracking wells sprout up from California to Pennsylvania. Fracking involves pumping huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rocks to allow oil and gas to flow.
Improved technology has allowed energy companies to gain access to huge stores of oil and natural gas underneath states from coast to coast but has raised widespread concerns that it might lead to groundwater contamination and even earthquakes. Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet.
EPA officials said the draft assessment will give state regulators, tribes, local communities and industry an important resource to identify how best to protect public health and drinking water resources.
---
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Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water

Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet. Hydraulic fracturing...

Beach Goo

Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches. A 4-mile stretch of beach in south Los Angeles County was closed Thursday after tar balls washed ashore - the latest Southern California coastline to shut down due to oily goo, authorities said.
The Long Beach Fire Department ordered the closure Wednesday night over concerns the material could cause skin irritation or other adverse health effects.
The closure was continued after authorities assessed the beach Thursday afternoon and determined tar balls were still washing up on shore.
"We ask that people stay off the beach and out of the water for now," agency spokesman Jake Heflin said.
By Thursday morning, crews scooped up about 55 gallons of the sticky substance from the shoreline about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, Heflin said. Tar was not readily apparent on the sand at midmorning, between low tide and high tides.
"Various amounts of `tar balls' continue to wash up on shore and create a public and environmental health concern," the Long Beach Fire Department said in a statement.
Clean-up operations were expected to continue, with volunteers and contractor Ocean Blue working at area beaches.
The U.S. Coast Guard will test samples to try to determine the source of the tar balls. The material did not appear related to oil and gas extraction operations in the area, Heflin said.
The beach is adjacent to the massive <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/loggerhead-turtles-warming-climate/">Long Beach</a>-Los Angeles port complex.
Tar balls also led to recent beach closures in nearby Manhattan Beach and farther northwest in Ventura County. Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches
Nothing has been ruled out, including last month's spill of thousands of gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara County coast, about 140 miles to the northwest. Two beaches there remain closed.
The city of Seal Beach also reported an increase Thursday in the number of tar balls found on the beach. The Coast Guard determined there was no need to close the beach and suggested letting the tar balls dissipate naturally, city officials said.
Public works employees will pick up the tar balls during daily beach cleaning operations.
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Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches

Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches. A 4-mile stretch of...

Hands hold Green Energy

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks. Sometimes it takes more to be good than just not being bad.
That's the logic behind a shift within the surging sustainable investing market. For years, the default way to invest responsibly was simply to ignore the companies and industries that some find distasteful, such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-industry-raising-prices/">tobacco</a> companies or casino operators. It's still the world's most popular approach, based on total dollars, but a more nuanced approach to sustainable investing is growing even more quickly. Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks
Instead of barring a list of industries from consideration, more mutual funds are taking into account how well companies do on environmental, social and governance issues. Does the company have a history of emitting a lot of carbon dioxide? Does it pay its executives excessively? Is its accounting trustworthy?
Managers of so-called ESG-integrated funds consider the answers alongside more traditional measures, such as how much profit a company makes and how quickly it's growing. Adding that layer of questioning is a way to reduce risk for long-term <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=investments&amp;cvid=7fa16295de1f4ff1bd58f3c86f13e87a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">investments</a>, proponents say, in part because companies that score well on ESG issues are less likely to blow up in scandals or face big regulatory fines.
Sustainable investing in general is surging. Assets in the category leapt to $21.4 trillion worldwide at the start of 2014 from $13.3 trillion two years earlier, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. It's growing faster than the overall market and represents 30.2 percent of all professionally managed assets, up from 21.5 percent in 2012.
Under the sustainable umbrella, ESG-integrated investing is providing some of the fastest growth. Its assets more than doubled from 2012 to 2014, hitting $12.9 trillion, and demand has been so strong that new ESG mutual funds are being rolled out seemingly every month.
Consider the Matthews Asia ESG fund, which launched on April 30. It focuses on Asian stocks and its lead manager, Vivek Tanneeru, says the region is ripe for an ESG approach given environmental concerns in the region and the rapid ascendance of many families out of poverty.
"We're not setting out to exclude anything," Tanneeru says. "We're looking for companies that do the right things."
Banks in India that target women and low-income customers are not only helping on social issues, for example, they're also delving into big, profitable markets. Tanneeru emphasizes that finding companies with strong financial prospects remains his priority, and that considering ESG issues comes later in the process.
That's because many of these ESG-integrated funds want investors to be able to depend on them as core holdings, rather than as just nice side investments.
"We aren't there just to love the environment," says Nicholas Kaiser, chief investment officer of Saturna Capital. "We certainly respect the environment, but the goal is the shareholder and his investment for the long term. The real goal is to reduce risk."
The influx of new funds means that many don't have a track record. But a recent study by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing found that investors interested in sustainable funds generally don't have to sacrifice returns.
After looking at the performance of 10,228 mutual funds over seven years, the institute found sustainable stock funds posted returns that were as good or better than the median traditional fund in nearly two thirds of time periods measured.
Saturna opened its Sustainable Equity fund and Sustainable Bond fund in late March after seeing demand rising for responsible investment through the Amana mutual funds that it manages. These funds screen out certain investments according to Islamic principles -- such as companies that charge interest or are involved in the liquor or pornography industries.
Kaiser says he's not sure about the exact percentage, but estimates that less than 20 percent of the Amana funds' investors are Muslim, showing the widespread hunger for responsible investments.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments also saw a wave of demand for responsible investments when the Threadneedle U.K. Social Bond fund launched in January 2014. The fund invests in bonds issued by organizations looking to help society and economic development, and U.S. investors were quickly calling to see if they could get in.
They couldn't, but the demand led to the launch of the Columbia U.S. Social Bond fund in March. The U.S. fund focuses on municipal bonds geared toward low-income communities, school systems and the environment, among other areas. Among its investments are bonds backing a low-income housing project in Bellemont, Louisiana, that also helps provide job-training and other services to its residents.
"There are plenty of investors out there who want to feel better about what they're doing, invest in a way they can feel good about," says James Dearborn, one of the fund's managers. "Sitting at my own dinner table with my teenage boys, they're very interested it. It makes me very happy."
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks. Sometimes it takes...

California Drought Showers to Flowers

California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home. Showering during California's drought is a guilt-free experience for homeowners Catarina Negrin and Noah Friedman.
The Berkeley couple - she runs a preschool, he's an architect - are early adopters of a home plumbing do-over that's becoming more popular during California's record four-year dry stretch.
California, like many states, long required all water used in homes to be piped out with the sewage, fearing health risks if water recycling is done clumsily.
Since 2010, however, the increasingly dry state has come around, and now even encourages the reuse of so-called gray water, which typically includes the gently-used runoff from bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs and washing machines.
As mandatory conservation kicked in statewide this month, forcing many of California's 38 million people to face giving up on greenery, these recycling systems have become attractive options in new homes, right along with granite countertops. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=9c98704d716c4143b753ad588d2b3a21&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a> Building Industry Association executive Robert Raymer rattles off the drought-conscious top builders that now routinely offer in-home water recycling.
And California's building codes are catching up as well, allowing owners of existing homes to create the simplest systems for the safest gray water without a permit.
So while others think about hauling buckets to catch stray drips from their sinks and tubs, Negrin and Friedman can relax: Each gallon they use in the shower means another for the butterflies that duck and bob over their vegetable garden, for the lemon tree shading the yard, and for two strutting backyard <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-chickens-cancer-therapies/">chickens</a> busily investigating it all.
"I love a lush garden, and so it seems like why not, right? I could have a lush garden if it doesn't go into the sewer system," Negrin said. "So, yes, "I'm going to take a shower."
Because pathogens swimming in untreated gray water can transmit disease if humans ingest them, most modern health and building codes have long made recycling it impractical. Many families did it anyway, without official oversight or permits. Greywater Action, a group that promotes household water recycling and trains families and installers on the do's and don'ts, estimates that more than a million Californians had illegal systems before plumbing codes were updated.
But interest in doing it the right way has soared since April 1, when Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a 25-percent cut in water use by cities and towns. Palo Alto gray-water system installer Sassan Golafshan saw his website crash within a day from the surge in traffic.
"There's huge interest," said Laura Allen, a co-founder of Greywater Action. Contractors "told us they're getting so many more calls than before."
Water savings could be significant. A 2009 study by the University of California at Los Angeles found that if everyone in the southern part of the state recycled the water that currently goes down drains from their showers and washing machines, there would be enough to satisfy Southern California's entire outdoor residential water use needs.
At the California Water Resources Board's recycled water unit, chief Randy Barnard is fielding many calls from homeowners desperate to save their beloved lawns and gardens. "If they've got a prize fruit tree they've been babying for years, they don't want to lose that tree," he said.
But for many, he has some bad news to share. Recycling water at home is not as easy as just hooking your shower up to the lawn sprinklers, and recycled water probably won't save the lawn.
"Just like there's no one sure way to fight the drought, there's no one sure way for gray-water treatment," the state gray-water chief said. "Everybody has to look at all the options and figure out what works for them."
Water from toilets is considered "black" water and sent straight to wastewater treatment plants. Many states also bar water from kitchen sinks, since homeowners may have contaminated it by washing raw meat.
In California, homeowners are now allowed to irrigate with untreated water straight from bathroom sinks, washing machines and bathtubs, as long as - among other requirements - the water lines run beneath soil or mulch, so as not to come in contact with people. That rules out using untreated gray water on lawns, which typically need above-ground spray heads or sprinklers.
Gray water can even go to vegetable gardens like Negrin's and Friedman's, as long as it doesn't touch root vegetables or any other plant part that's eaten. Tomatoes are fine, but forget about carrots.
The latest plumbing-code changes have enabled families to install these straightforward laundry-to-landscape systems without a permit, sending wash water into the yard with a valve to divert it back into the sewage system when needed. A handy homeowner can do it with no more than a couple hundred of dollars of piping and parts.
More complicated systems, involving automation, filters and pumps, can top out at $30,000, contractors said.
About 20 states now allow gray-water recycling, and around the country, Arizona has some of the friendliest laws. California still has more to do, Allen and other advocates say. Raymer, at the building trade group, hopes for more legal changes in the coming years to align state gray-water codes with the rules of hundreds of cities and towns.
---
AP Video journalist Haven Daley contributed to this report.
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California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home

California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home. Showering during California's...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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...