Circadian rhythms are the natural, internal processes that regulate the sleep-wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. 



These rhythms, influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness, play a crucial role in various bodily functions ranging from sleep regulation to hormone release.



When these rhythms fall out of sync - due to factors such as artificial lighting, irregular schedules, or travel across time zones - people can experience disruptions in sleep, mood, and overall well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lights-reset-circadian-rhythms">Lights reset circadian rhythms</h2>



New research has revealed that the vibrant blue and orange hues seen at sunrise and sunset may hold the key to resetting these rhythms. 



By mimicking these natural light cycles, scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle have developed a novel LED light that emits alternating wavelengths of blue and orange. 



The LED device, designed to realign circadian rhythms, has been proven to significantly advance melatonin production. This could offer a promising solution for those suffering from sleep disorders and other health issues linked to circadian misalignment. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-improving-circadian-health">Improving circadian health</h2>



Published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms, the research represents a breakthrough in how humans can influence circadian rhythms. 



The findings hold significant promise for improving circadian health. Study co-author Jay Neitz is a professor of ophthalmology in the UW School of Medicine. 



“Our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercising-shift-internal-clock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">internal clock</a> tells us how our body's supposed to act during different times of day, but the clock has to be set. If our brain is not synced to the time of day, then it's not going to work right," said Professor Neitz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disrupted-circadian-rhythms">Disrupted circadian rhythms </h2>



The study suggests new strategies to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other health issues linked to disrupted circadian rhythms, offering hope for improving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-quality-is-determined-by-daily-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep quality</a>, mood stabilization, and overall mental health.



Circadian rhythms are naturally reset daily by the 24-hour solar light-dark cycles, which help regulate our biological processes in alignment with the environment. 



Professor Neitz noted that the light used in the LED device has alternating blue and orange wavelengths which stimulate the circuit that our brains use to reset our internal clocks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-melatonin">The role of melatonin </h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melatonin-keeps-fruits-and-vegetables-fresh-as-well-as-helping-you-sleep/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Melatonin</a>, the hormone responsible for sleep regulation and the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, is produced when light signals from the eyes stimulate specific areas of the brain to begin the winding-down process for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-sleep-patterns-affect-your-health-over-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep</a>.



This hormone plays a critical role in helping the body adjust to darkness, promoting relaxation, and ensuring restful sleep.



People spending more time under artificial light, especially in the evening, often experience delayed melatonin production, which can disrupt their sleep patterns and overall well-being. 



Prolonged exposure to artificial lighting can also interfere with the body’s ability to properly align with natural day-night cycles, contributing to sleep disturbances and fatigue.



To address this issue, the research team conducted a study comparing different types of artificial lights to measure their impact on melatonin production and their effectiveness in resetting circadian rhythms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-revolutionary-approach-to-lighting">A revolutionary approach to lighting</h2>



Unlike other commercial products that emphasize blue light to trigger melanopsin, this new LED light emits alternating blue and orange wavelengths, which stimulate a different circuit in the retina. 



“The light we developed does not involve the melanopsin photopigment. It stimulates a blue-yellow opponent circuit that operates through cone photoreceptors in the retina," explained Professor Neitz.



In an experiment, participants were exposed to three different light devices. The alternating blue-orange LED led to the most significant shift in melatonin production, advancing it by 1 hour and 20 minutes, compared to just 40 minutes for the blue LED and 2.8 minutes for white light.



“Even though our light looks white to the naked eye, we think your brain recognizes the alternating blue and orange wavelengths as the colors in the sky,” said Professor Neitz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lighting-the-way-forward">Lighting the way forward</h2>



The LED device has now been successfully commercialized through the University of Washington. The product is distributed by TUO, a Chicago-based company. This marks an important step toward bringing this technology to the public.



By harnessing the natural color palette of sunrise and sunset, this innovative lighting solution offers a new approach to resetting circadian rhythms, potentially transforming how we address <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/daylight-saving-time-changes-are-directly-linked-to-sleep-disorders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep disorders</a>, mood regulation, and overall health.



The technology holds the promise of improving well-being for those affected by modern lighting and lifestyle challenges, helping individuals reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07487304241262918" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Biological Rhythms</a>.



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Colors of sunset and sunrise reset our circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms are the natural, internal processes that regulate the sleep-wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. These rhythms, influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness, play a crucial role in various bodily functions ranging from sleep regulation to hormone release. When these rhythms fall out of sync - due to factors such as artificial lighting, irregular schedules, or travel across time zones - people can experience disruptions in sleep, mood, and overall well-being. Lights reset circadian rhythms New research has revealed that the vibrant...

Texas water plan: More toilet-to-tap. Texas would rely more on treated toilet water and pumping rainwater into aquifers to serve its booming population over the next half-century under the state's 2017 water plan approved Thursday.
Several years removed from a historic drought that brought more attention to funding water projects, Texas Water Development Board officials unanimously OK'd a $62.6 billion plan that outlines more than 5,500 varying strategies for solving the growing state's water woes.
"This is the best plan yet, in my view," board chairman Bech Bruun said before the vote in Austin. "The most comprehensive, detailed plan."Texas water plan: More toilet-to-tap
Texas' population is projected to grow by 73 percent from 29.5 million in 2020 to 51 million in 2070, according to the board's plan. Demand for water will follow - a projected increase of 17 percent by 2070.
<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/conservation-planning-in-the-amazon-should-be-redirected-to-freshwater-species/">Conservation</a> was the most frequently recommended strategy in the new plan, which also calls for supplies from treated toilet water to increase sevenfold - from 3.9 billion gallons to 28.3 billion gallons - by 2070.
Some Texas cities turned to toilet-to-tap reuse during 2011, the driest year ever in Texas. Big Spring in West Texas uses a direct potable reuse, meaning the treated effluent is put directly in the distribution system. In North Texas, Wichita Falls had a direct potable reuse project but is converting it to indirect potable reuse, meaning it will be filtered through an environmental buffer, such as a lake or an aquifer, before it goes into distribution.
And El Paso's advanced toilet-to-tap purification plant will be the largest direct water reuse project in the U.S. when it begins operating in 2018.
Capital costs for conservation projects went from $1 billion in the 2012 water plan to $4 billion in the new one. Strategies recommended to get water from aquifer storage and subsequent withdrawals increased 350 percent from the 2012 state water plan. The recommendation is for this water to result in 49.5 billion gallons in 2070.
Twenty-six new reservoirs are also part of the plan, most of those in the eastern half of the state.
The head of one environmental group said the 2017 plan is a "big improvement" from the last one.
"The last drought exposed the huge amount of water waste in the Texas economy, from leaking water mains and irrigation systems to profligate water use in industry," Environment Texas director Luke Metzger said. "This new water plan recognizes the powerful role that conservation and ending water waste plays in meeting our water needs."
Water providers estimated they will need about $36.1 billion in state assistance to build their projects. They can apply for loans from $2 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund, a move voters approved in 2013. That money, through interest earnings and revenue bonds, could grow to $27 billion over 50 years.
The state's water plan, done every five years, is based on recommendations from 16 regional water planning groups. It will be submitted to the state's top elected officials and lawmakers by January.
---
This story has been corrected to show that water provided estimated needing $36.1 billion in state assistance, not $36.1 million.
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Texas water plan: More toilet-to-tap

Texas water plan: More toilet-to-tap. Texas would rely more on...

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide levels reach record level in April 2016. The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped by the biggest amount on record last month, a rise amplified by El Nino, scientists say.

Carbon dioxide levels increased by 4.16 parts per million in April compared to a year earlier, according to readings at the National Oceanic and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earths-atmosphere-beyond-moon/">Atmospheric</a> Administration's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Until this year, the biggest increase was 3.7 ppm. Records go back to 1950.

April's carbon dioxide level of 407.42 was a record 2.59 ppm rise from March. Carbon dioxide levels are cyclical, peaking in May and then dropping until fall. That's on top of a steady 2.5 to 3 ppm yearly increase from the burning of fossil fuels, which means each year the world sets new record for levels of heat-trapping gas in the air.Carbon dioxide levels reach record level in April 2016

The increase "is the biggest we've ever seen," said NOAA global atmospheric monitoring director Jim Butler . "That's scary but it is amplified by El Nino, there's no question."

El Nino is a natural warming of part of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide and warms the globe a bit. In many places El Nino means more drought and fires, which release more carbon dioxide into the air and decreases carbon dioxide sucked up by plants, said NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans, who keeps track of greenhouse gases.

Butler said scientists need to watch measurements over the next several months or even a year to see how much of this large increase is an El Nino-driven blip that will go away as the weather phenomenon fades and is replaced by its cool flip side, La Nina.

It's not just that carbon dioxide levels are growing, but that they've been growing at a record faster pace over the past four years, even without El Nino, Tans said.

"The El Nino boost is on top of the large emissions from fossil fuels which continue at a high level," said Ralph Keeling , who directs the carbon dioxide program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

A recent study shows a slowing and even leveling of carbon dioxide spewed by the burning of fossil fuels. There's a five-to-10 year lag before those changes are noticeable in the atmosphere, so emissions are a better indicator of progress - or lack of it - in fighting global warming, said Corinne Le Quere who monitors emissions at the University of East Anglia in England.

The trouble is, even if emissions stop growing and plateau at the current amount, carbon dioxide levels in the air will continue to increase "because carbon dioxide doesn't disappear really" from the air, Tans said.

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Carbon dioxide levels reach record level in April 2016

Carbon dioxide levels reach record level in April 2016. The...

EPA tightens rules on PFOA chemical use. Federal regulators announced tightened limits Thursday for human exposure to an industrial chemical used for decades in such consumer products as non-stick pans, stain-resistant carpets and microwave popcorn bags.
The cancer-causing chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, has been found in the tap water of dozens of factory towns near industrial sites where it was manufactured. DuPont, 3M and other U.S. chemical companies voluntarily phased out the use of PFOA in recent years.EPA tightens rules on PFOA chemical use
Also at issue is the related chemical perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, used in firefighting foam.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued the stricter standards for the chemicals after years of pressure from public health experts and advocacy groups. The agency said the new limits were prompted by recent scientific studies linking <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">PFOA</a> and PFOS to testicular and kidney cancers, as well as birth defects and liver damage.
"EPA will continue sharing the latest science and information so that state and local officials can make informed decisions and take actions to protect public health," said Joel Beauvais, the EPA's deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Water. "This is an important part of our broader effort to support states and public water systems as we work together to strengthen the safety of America's drinking water."
Trace amounts of PFOA and PFOS can be detected in the blood of almost every <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/american-lobsters-and-sea-scallops-may-shift-as-temperatures-rise/">American</a> as the result of exposure through food and consumer products. But of specific concern to regulators is the risk posed to residents in the relatively small number of communities where higher levels of PFOA and PFOS have been found in public drinking water.
EPA now says long-term exposure to either chemical at concentrations above 70 parts per trillion could have adverse health impacts. That's significantly lower than the agency's prior advisory level based on short-term exposure of 400 parts per trillion.
Under the EPA's new guidance, water systems where concentrations of PFOA or PFOS are found above 70 parts per trillion are advised to promptly notify local residents and consult with their state drinking water agencies.
EPA said public notification is especially important for pregnant or nursing women because of the impact the chemicals can have on the development of fetuses and infants who are breastfed or drinking formula made with tap water.
In 2013, EPA ordered about 4,800 public water systems nationwide to test for PFOA. More than 100 cities and towns in 29 states had trace amounts of PFOA, but none exceeded 400 parts per trillion.
However, the new lower limit means that a handful of those communities will now qualify as having water with contamination levels above the advised threshold.
EPA's national survey also did not include many smaller communities located near sites where the chemicals were used for decades.
Hoosick Falls, New York, is located near a plastics plant and where the water supply system serves just 4,500 people, wasn't included in the testing. PFOA levels of 600 part per trillion were discovered in village wells in 2014 because residents demanded testing amid concerns about what they perceived as a high cancer rates.
More recently, testing turned up PFOA concentrations of about 100 parts per trillion in the drinking water of nearby Petersburgh, New York, and North Bennington, Vermont, which also had plastics plants. A second round of water testing in North Bennington recently yielded readings of up to 2,730 parts per trillion - nearly 40 times the EPA's new advisory limit.
---
Follow Michael Biesecker on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/mbieseck" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://twitter.com/mbieseck</a>
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EPA tightens rules on PFOA chemical use

EPA tightens rules on PFOA chemical use. Federal regulators announced...

GOP Congress Agenda

Native American archaeological site may delay oil pipeline construction. Discovery of a Native American archaeological site that may have cultural significance could further delay construction of a $3.8 billion oil pipeline if government officials require the route to be moved.
Houston-based Dakota Access LLC wants to build the pipeline - designed to carry a half-million barrels of oil a day - from northwest North Dakota to a storage facility in south-central Illinois. Construction has begun in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not authorized work to begin.
On Friday, Iowa State Archaeologist John Doershuk said his office had received information indicating a possible Native American site in northwest Iowa that, if confirmed, could result in relocation of the pipeline. He said details should start falling into place by next week, "as we confirm site characteristics and ownership/jurisdiction, as well as position relative to the planned pipeline construction activities."
Doershuk said in an email that those construction activities "may then be shifted, although the necessity of this course of action remains to be determined," he said.
Final approval for the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=iowa&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=ff7e62d1209f45ee947cff73b19e4d69&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLOMAjS%21RFp6jzZWJ7AkCsIYKL8eGEXIoI*zhTsEOwhxr43z8jRrKMt8zh2mEm1NE8ScrG*sngBWJfaLaMQlAT9Ka&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Iowa</a> section is pending because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must issue permits for the pipeline to cross the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/missouri-breaks-complex-fire-montana/">Missouri</a> and Mississippi rivers, hasn't issued its permits. A Corps spokesman said permits for the Iowa leg of the project are 60 to 120 days away.
Iowa was the last state to issue a permit for the pipeline, and the permit requires that Dakota Access prove it has all required federal and state permits before starting construction in Iowa.
Dakota Access is pressuring the Iowa Utilities Board to let it begin work at sites outside the jurisdiction of the Corps, but the board has declined to act quickly, saying it is reviewing comments from all sides before making a decision. Last week, the company said it had to start laying pipe this week in order to finish before winter and avoid disturbing farmland for a second growing season.
The Corps' main goal is to avoid impact to the environment and historically significant sites, and that often means working with the applicant to reroute the pipeline to avoid a sensitive area, said agency spokesman Ron Fournier, who serves a Corp district including Iowa and Illinois.
"If this is a significant Indian historical site that certainly could delay the permitting process if we have to get involved in realignments and avoid and minimize issues," Fournier said.
Dakota Access spokeswoman Vicki Granado said the company will continue to work with regulatory agencies "as we continue to move forward in preparation for the start of construction in Iowa."
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Native American archaeological site may delay oil pipeline construction

Native American archaeological site may delay oil pipeline construction. Discovery...

<div>

Coral reefs highlight threat to world's ecosystems. Fifty-nine finfish species have 'disappeared' from fishermen's catches in the world's most species rich and vulnerable marine region, new research has shown.

In the largest study of its kind, experts from <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=newcastle+university&amp;cvid=2e3a9d40a6f742d09c15159dc10070f6&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Newcastle University</a>, UK, have highlighted the impact that uncontrolled fishing in particular is having on coral reefs.

Drawing on the knowledge of local fishermen in the Philippines, the team were able to build a picture of how finfish populations have declined over the last 65 years.Coral reefs highlight threat to world's ecosystems

Recording 59 species that were once common and have now disappeared from catches, the team highlighted five finfish that are now fighting for survival -- the green bumphead parrotfish, the humphead wrasse, the African pompano, the giant grouper and the mangrove red snapper. Publishing their findings this week in the science journal PLOS ONE, the report coincides with Endangered Species Day and highlights the "urgent need for action".

Lead scientist Nick Polunin, Professor or Environmental Science at Newcastle University, explains: "Most of us still think that nature is unlimited in the oceans.""But our coral reefs are good sentinels of global ocean change, and like the canary in the coal mine, they're telling us there's not much time left for action.

"These losses we've recorded in the Philippines are reflective of unsustainable exploitation affecting this exceptionally species rich ecosystem and region but they mirror what is happening in ecosystems around the globe.

"In the forests of India and Bangladesh it's the tigers and in China it's the Giant Panda; here in the Philippines we are showing that marine species are also very vulnerable. The list of endangered species is growing and we're very close to the tipping point."

Coral reefs occupy less than one percent of the marine area but they are home to 25 percent of all known marine fish species.

The team focussed their study on five areas recognised for being the most species rich in this exceptionally species-rich region: Lanuza Bay, Danajon Bank, Verde Island Passage, Polillo Islands and Honda Bay.

Asking fishermen to recall their typical good days' catches over the last six decades, the team used key dates to help link the memories, such as the Japanese occupation of the 1950s, presidents of the 60s and 70s and also photographic evidence.

Conducting 2,655 interviews, 59 finfish names were reported to have gone missing from catches between the 1950s and 2014. Of the five species with highest frequency zero reported catches in all five areas, four are classed as vulnerable or endangered on the IUCN Red List. "Similar to the Newfoundland Cod, where we saw stocks crash due to overfishing, these reef finfish populations have been overexploited and they may never recover," explains Professor Polunin.

"The knock-on effects of losing these species are huge: loss of the big predators is likely to radically affect the structure of the whole system."

Professor Selina Stead, co-author and Professor of Marine Governance and Environmental Science at Newcastle University adds: "This paper provides clear evidence of the dramatic decline of once common reef fish, and the value of local knowledge in helping to build an accurate picture.

"Governments worldwide increasingly request evidence to support policy change and hopefully this paper will highlight the need for urgency for action.


</div>
<div></div>

Coral reefs highlight threat to world's ecosystems

Coral reefs highlight threat to world's ecosystems. Fifty-nine finfish species...

Feds: Plains All American Pipeline was negligent in oil spill. A pipeline company responsible for spilling more than 120,000 gallons of oil on the California coast failed to prevent corrosion in its pipes, detect the rupture or respond swiftly as crude streamed toward the ocean, federal regulators said Thursday.
Plains All American Pipeline operators working remotely in <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/earth-from-space-houston-texas/">Texas</a> had turned off an alarm that would have signaled a leak and, unaware of the ongoing spill, restarted the hemorrhaging line along the Santa Barbara County coast, compounding the problem and delaying the shutdown, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in its final investigation report.
"A number of preventable errors led to this incident and the company's failures in judgment, including inadequate assessment of this line, and faulty planning made matters worse," said agency Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez said. "What happened is completely unacceptable and we will hold the company accountable."
The report was issued on the one-year anniversary of the spill and just two days after Plains was indicted in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on 46 criminal counts, including four felonies of polluting state waters and three dozen misdemeanors of harming wildlife.
Beaches and campgrounds along the scenic coast nearby were closed two weeks shy of Memorial Day weekend as an oil plume spread nine miles into the Pacific Ocean. They remained closed for weeks in the aftermath as tar balls washed ashore more than 100 miles away in Los Angeles County and more than 220 birds, such as pelicans, and nearly 140 marine mammals, mostly sea lions, died.
The agency previously said severe corrosion led to a 6-inch gash in the pipe. The final report said the company failed to follow up after an inspection in 2012 indicated the pipe had deteriorated to less than half its thickness.
Robert Bea, an engineering professor at University of California, Berkeley, who has read the report, said regulators had allowed Plains to ignore federal guidelines for at least nine years as the company underestimated the risks of a breach from corrosion and exceeded the maximum allowable pressure given the weaknesses in the pipe.
The report said the spill occurred just before 11 a.m. on May 19, 2015, when operators in the Midland, Texas, control room restarted a pump and oil surged at high pressure through the 2-foot-wide pipe known as Line 901.
"Pressure ultimately was the final nail in the coffin when the pipeline just said, 'I give up,'" Bea said. "It was clearly run to failure."
Within three minutes of restarting, pressure plunged to 199 psi, triggering a low-pressure alarm that quickly reset when pressure climbed just above 200 psi, the report said. The alarm was set to be tripped at such a low pressure that it never sounded again as oil flowed out the pipe at just above 200 psi.
A leak detection system that also would have sounded alarms had been disabled by an operator who was dealing with another problem. Failing to detect the leak, the controller even restarted the line after the spill occurred.
Houston-based Plains has apologized for the spill, but said it wouldn't comment on the report because of ongoing investigations and pending lawsuits. It previously said the spill was an accident not a crime.
In addition to the state criminal charges, federal prosecutors are investigating the incident and the company could face fines for violating federal pipeline safety regulations.
Dominguez declined to discuss possible penalties Plains could face, but said her agency is focused on enforcement actions and would soon issue an industry advisory on lessons learned from the disaster.
The spill was the largest on the U.S. coast since the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion. While the Plains spill was just a fraction of the size of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons, it happened on hallowed ground for environmentalists.
A blowout on an offshore rig in the Santa Barbara channel in 1969 blackened the shores and gave rise to the environmental movement.
"As we know, no community is immune," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-California, who is working with lawmakers to pass a bill to improve pipeline safety. "And 46 years later, I found myself once again witnessing the devastation of an oil spill on the Central Coast."
The leak was discovered after firefighters responding to reports of a petroleum stench found oil spilling from a ravine onto Refugio State Beach, a pristine and popular park for swimming and camping.
Multiple class-action lawsuits from landowners, fishermen and business owners who say the spill crippled a thriving tourism industry are still pending. Some investors have filed suit alleging they were misled about the integrity of company pipelines.Feds: Plains All American Pipeline was negligent in oil spill
The report said the costs from the spill through the end of last year were estimated at $143 million, though the company reported in its annual report that it expects that figure to rise to $269 million.
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Feds: Plains All American Pipeline was negligent in oil spill

Feds: Plains All American Pipeline was negligent in oil spill....

New Mexico seeks help for Gold King Mine spill cleanup. The federal government and Colorado have made little progress in remedying damage from the release of millions of gallons of wastewater from a southern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=ae6e8b1b9ab841edbbfc14f7bb64da49&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfOBcxbQRbvDfQi*Dv3Rctz2Bd6*tsK*1kwi8mPVCUemILFfyl*eoNVyWSGrDZzYjFiMgJz3XdNu5wt3QscbAr*Z&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> Gold King Mine spill last year, <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/kilbourne-hole-maar-crater/">New Mexico</a>'s top prosecutor charged in a pair of scathing letters sent to officials this week.
The wastewater, which contained arsenic, copper, lead, mercury and other dangerous pollutants, rushed down a Colorado mountainside and eventually fouled rivers in three Western states, setting off a major response by government agencies and private groups. New Mexico seeks help for Gold King Mine spill cleanup
Attorney General Hector Balderas wrote to the head of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado officials as New Mexico's threat to sue the agency, the neighboring state and two mining companies remains on the table.
Balderas said New Mexico reached out to discuss independent monitoring and remedial measures in the wake of the spill, but he's concerned about the lack of progress.
New Mexico's requests have been disregarded and minimized, he said.
"I am disappointed by the continued unwillingness to respond to the New Mexico Environment Department's numerous attempts to resolve this matter diplomatically and outside of court," Balderas said. "The safe and peaceful livelihood of our citizens should override any political or scientific indifferences that we face."
The EPA didn't comment directly on the letter, but a spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the agency takes responsibility for the cleanup of the spill.
Erin Lamb, a spokeswoman for Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, declined to comment because of the possible litigation.
The EPA announced last month that it would reimburse states, tribes and local governments about $1 million for their costs after an EPA-led crew triggered the release of 3 million gallons of wastewater from the inactive Gold King Mine while doing preliminary cleanup work.
Most of the money is for the cost of responding to the spill, but requests for another $570,000 in expenses from the immediate aftermath are still being considered.
During the spill, water utilities briefly shut down their intake valves and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers as the bright yellow plume moved downstream.
The EPA said the water quality quickly returned to pre-spill levels, but some continue to warn about heavy metals collecting in the sediment and being stirred up each time rain or snowmelt results in runoff.
In his letters, Balderas said New Mexico's agricultural landscape was severely damaged by what he described as a catastrophe. He said meeting the state's repeated and reasonable demands for compensation and long-term monitoring would be a step toward justice.
"Following this tragic incident, our greatest concern should be ensuring that the people and the lands we live on are free from hazardous materials," he wrote.
According to the EPA, $2 million has been allocated to support the states' and tribes' monitoring plans. Another $628,000 will help to fund a real-time alert system that will monitor water quality.
Sampling locations also have been set up in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and on Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Navajo tribal lands as part of the EPA's monitoring program.
New Mexico has developed its own monitoring plan and the city of Farmington, which taps the Animas River for drinking water, has installed sensors to detect contamination.
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New Mexico seeks help for Gold King Mine spill cleanup

New Mexico seeks help for Gold King Mine spill cleanup....

Fate of primeval Bialowieza Forest hangs in the balance. It is the last remaining relic of an ancient forest that stretched for millennia across the lowlands of Europe and Russia, a shadowy, mossy woodland where bison and lynx roam beneath towering oak trees up to 600 years old.
Conservationists believe the fate of the Bialowieza Forest, which straddles Poland and Belarus, is more threatened that at any time since the communist era due to a new Polish government plan for extensive logging in parts of the forest. The plan has pitted the government against environmentalists and many scientists, who are fighting to save the UNESCO world heritage site.
Seven environmental groups, including Greenpeace and WWF, have lodged a complaint with the European Commission hoping to prevent the largescale felling of trees, which is due to begin within days. Bialowieza has been declared a Natura 2000 site, meaning it is a protected area under European law. EU officials say they are working with the Polish authorities to ensure that any new interventions in the forest are in line with their regulations, but it's not yet clear what the result will be.
The preservation of Bialowieza is such a sensitive matter that IKEA, which relies on Polish timber for 25 percent of its global furniture production, vowed years ago not to buy any wood from Bialowieza.
"This forest is a Polish treasure but it is also the world's treasure, and we could lose it," said Katarzyna Kosciesza from ClientEarth, one of the groups that filed the complaint. "The logging would really threaten it."
The forest plan is one of many controversial changes that have come with the election last year of a conservative populist party, Law and Justice. The new authorities have been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of eroding democracy and the rule of law.
The party's powerful leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says he's on a mission to remake the country from top to bottom in line with the party's conservative Catholic and patriotic ideology. Since taking power in November, Poland's government has moved quickly to push broad changes in everything from cultural institutions to horse breeding farms and forestry management.
The government argues they are fixing the country by removing the corrupt influences of former communists and pro-Europeans who have held power in recent years.
In the case of Bialowieza, government officials are blaming their predecessors for financial losses from the strict limits on logging. The environment minister, Jan Szyszko, also faulted them for getting the UNESCO world heritage designation, which brings some international oversight.
About 35 percent of the forest on the Polish side includes a national park and reserves, strictly protected zones that the government does not plan to touch. Officials argue the planned logging is not harmful because it will take part only in "managed" parts of the forest that have already been subject to logging in the past. But environmentalists say the logging plan is so extensive it would inevitably lead to the destruction of old-growth areas.
About half of the forest is still considered pristine, meaning those areas have never faced significant intervention since the forest's formation some 8,000 to 9,000 years ago after the end of the last ice age. That has left it with a complex diversity of species unknown in the second-growth forests elsewhere in Europe's lowlands.
That so much has survived is thanks to past Polish and Lithuanian monarchs and Russian czars, who kept it as a royal hunting preserve. Only in the last 100 years has it begun to face logging and human encroachment.
Szyszko last week dismissed 32 of 39 scientific experts on the State Council for Nature Conservation after they criticized the logging plan. They have since been replaced by people who mainly come from the forestry and hunting sectors that favor greater wood extraction. They council's new leader, Wanda Olech-Piasecka, also supports limited commercial hunting of bison, an endangered species.
Szyszko said the new council "will work effectively for the use of natural resources for the benefit of man, which is consistent with the concept of sustainable development."
The Environment Ministry argues the logging is needed to stop the spread of bark beetle, which has killed off 10 percent of the spruce trees in the park - 3 percent of the trees overall - in an outbreak that began in 2013.
However, scientists believe that is merely a pretext, and that what officials really want are the profits from felling such old-growth wood.
Scientists and environmentalists who oppose the logging plan say removing the dead wood upsets the ecosystem. The dead spruces host thousands of other species, worms and insects and fungi, which then become food for birds, while hollow dying trunks create nesting spaces. Among those who rely on the dead spruces are the pygmy owl, the smallest owl species in Europe, and the three-toed woodpecker, which has a precarious existence in Bialowieza.
Thanks to the bark beetle outbreak, the numbers of the three-toed woodpecker have doubled or possibly tripled, said Rafal Kowalczyk, director of the Mammal Research Institute with the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Scientists fighting the logging say the death of some spruce trees is making way for an increase of other species like hornbeam and lime and is part of the forest's natural adaptation to climate change, as conditions grow warmer and drier. They also say that it would be necessary to kill 80 percent of infected trees simply to slow the outbreak, which is not logistically possible.
Kowalczyk says the bark beetle outbreaks, which have long been a part of the forest cycle, have never threatened its existence before and won't now. Fate of primeval Bialowieza Forest hangs in the balance
"This forest has been shaped for thousands of years by nature," Kowalczyk added. "It is really unique and we should not turn it into a managed forest. There are many other managed forests but this relic of an ancient forest, with its high diversity, shows us what <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mangrove-forests-face-a-triple-threat-to-their-survival/">forests</a> looked like hundreds, even thousands, of years ago."
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Fate of primeval Bialowieza Forest hangs in the balance

Fate of primeval Bialowieza Forest hangs in the balance. It...

Explaining sea ice cover differences at<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hurricanes-are-getting-stronger-as-earth-gets-warmer/"> Earth'</a>s pole Why has the sea ice cover surrounding Antarctica been increasing slightly, in sharp contrast to the drastic loss of sea ice occurring in the Arctic Ocean? A new NASA-led study finds the geology of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are responsible.

A NASA/NOAA/university team led by Son Nghiem of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, used satellite radar, sea surface temperature, land form and bathymetry (ocean depth) data to study the physical processes and properties affecting Antarctic sea ice. They found that two persistent geological factors -- the topography of Antarctica and the depth of the ocean surrounding it -- are influencing winds and ocean currents, respectively, to drive the formation and evolution of Antarctica's sea ice cover and help sustain it.

"Our study provides strong evidence that the behavior of Antarctic sea ice is entirely consistent with the geophysical characteristics found in the southern polar region, which differ sharply from those present in the Arctic," said Nghiem.

Antarctic sea ice cover is dominated by first-year (seasonal) sea ice. Each year, the sea ice reaches its maximum extent around the frozen continent in September and retreats to about 17 percent of that extent in February. Since the late 1970s, its extent has been relatively stable, increasing just slightly; however, regional differences are observed.

[caption id="attachment_2391593" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2391593" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/05/23090915/antarctic-sea-ice-depth-2014_1big_nasa-150x150.jpg" alt="Location of the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front (white contour)" width="150" height="150" /> Location of the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front (white contour)[/caption]

Over the years, scientists have floated various hypotheses to explain the behavior of Antarctic sea ice, particularly in light of observed global temperature increases. Are changes in the ozone hole involved? Could fresh meltwater from Antarctic ice shelves be making the ocean surface less salty and more conducive to ice formation, since salt inhibits freezing? Are increases in the strength of Antarctic winds causing the ice to thicken? Something is protecting Antarctic sea ice, but a definitive answer has remained elusive.

To tackle this cryospheric conundrum, Nghiem and his team adopted a novel approach. They analyzed radar data from NASA's QuikScat satellite from 1999 to 2009 to trace the paths of Antarctic sea ice movements and map its different types. They focused on the 2008 growth season, a year of exceptional seasonal variability in Antarctic sea ice coverage.

Their analyses revealed that as sea ice forms and builds up early in the sea ice growth season, it gets pushed offshore and northward by winds, forming a protective shield of older, thicker ice that circulates around the continent. The persistent winds, which flow downslope off the continent and are shaped by Antarctica's topography, pile ice up against the massive ice shield, enhancing its thickness. This band of ice, which varies in width from roughly 62 to 620 miles (100 to 1,000 kilometers), encapsulates and protects younger, thinner ice in the ice pack behind it from being reduced by winds and waves.

The team also used QuikScat radar data to classify the different types of Antarctic sea ice. Older, thicker sea ice returns a stronger radar signal than younger, thinner ice does. They found the sea ice within the protective shield was older and rougher (due to longer exposure to wind and waves), and thicker (due to more ice growth and snow accumulation). As the sea ice cover expands and ice drifts away from the continent, areas of open water form behind it on the sea surface, creating "ice factories" conducive to rapid sea ice growth.

[caption id="attachment_2391592" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2391592" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2016/05/23090908/antarctic-sea-ice-depth-2009_2big_nasa-150x150.jpg" alt="Map of sea surface temperatures in Antarctica" width="150" height="150" /> Map of sea surface temperatures in Antarctica[/caption]

To address the question of how the Southern Ocean maintains this great sea ice shield, the team combined sea surface temperature data from multiple satellites with a recently available bathymetric chart of the depth of the world's oceans. Sea surface temperature data reveal that at the peak of ice growth season, the boundary of the ice shield remains behind a 30-degree Fahrenheit (-1 degree Celsius) temperature line surrounding Antarctica. This temperature line corresponds with the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front, a boundary that separates the circulation of cold and warm waters around Antarctica. The team theorized that the location of this front follows the underwater bathymetry.

When they plotted the bathymetric data against the ocean temperatures, the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Pronounced seafloor features strongly guide the ocean current and correspond closely with observed regional Antarctic sea ice patterns. For example, the current stays near Bouvet Island, located 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the nearest land, where three tectonic plates join to form seafloor ridges. Off the coast of East Antarctica, the -1 degree Celsius sea surface temperature lines closely bundle together as they cross the Kerguelen Plateau (a submerged microcontinent that broke out of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent), through a deep channel called the Fawn Trough. But those lines spread apart over adjacent deep ocean basins, where seafloor features are not pronounced. Off the West Antarctica coast, the deep, smooth seafloor loses its grip over the current, allowing sea ice extent to decrease and resulting in large year-to-year variations.

Study results are published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment. Other participating institutions include the Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering at UCLA; the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle; and the U.S. National/Naval Ice Center, NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Additional funding was provided by the National Science Foundation.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

QuikScat was built and is managed by JPL. For more information, visit:

<a href="http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/</a>

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nasa.gov/earth</a>

Explaining sea ice cover differences at Earth's pole

Explaining sea ice cover differences at Earth's pole Why has...

UN alarmed by 12th straight global monthly heat record. The United Nations has expressed alarm after scientists recorded the 12th straight <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=gobal&amp;cvid=8191859b3cee430eb198e0b4e1b1430f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">global</a> monthly heat record.
The data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released Thursday confirmed earlier readings taken by NASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency. They showed that Earth's average temperature in April was 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 20th-century average.
A spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization said Friday "what's particularly concerning is the margin at which these records are being broken. They are not being broken, they are being smashed and on a fairly consistent basis." UN alarmed by 12th straight global monthly heat record
Spokeswoman Clare Nullis told reporters in<a href="http://www.earth.com/image/the-rhone-river-flowing-into-lake-geneva/"> Geneva</a> that while the records set last year were already alarming, "the heat that we're seeing in 2016 makes 2015 pale by comparison."
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The United Nations (UN) is an <a title="Intergovernmental organization" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_organization">intergovernmental organization</a> that aims to maintain <a class="mw-redirect" title="International peace" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_peace">international peace</a> and <a title="International security" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_security">security</a>, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.The UN is <a title="Headquarters of the United Nations" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations">headquartered</a> on <a title="Extraterritoriality" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritoriality">international territory</a> in <a title="New York City" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City">New York City</a>, with its other main offices in <a title="United Nations Office at Geneva" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Office_at_Geneva">Geneva</a>, <a title="United Nations Office at Nairobi" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Office_at_Nairobi">Nairobi</a>, <a title="United Nations Office at Vienna" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Office_at_Vienna">Vienna</a> and <a title="The Hague" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hague">The Hague</a>.

UN alarmed by 12th straight global monthly heat record

UN alarmed by 12th straight global monthly heat record. The...

Relationship between healthy environment and healthy people is critical. The most worrying environmental threats facing the world today range from the rise in diseases transmitted from animals to humans to the increasing accumulation of toxic chemicals in food crops as a result of drought and high temperatures, according to a U.N. report released Friday.
The U.N. Environment Agency's Frontiers report also highlighted the threat to human health posed by the alarming amount of plastic waste in the oceans, and scientific evidence suggesting that losses and damage from climate change are inevitable, with "profound consequences" for ecosystems, people, assets and<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=economies&amp;cvid=800c4bf8c1e84a15b8d1afbf39e5cc93&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> economies</a>.
The report emphasizes "the critical relationship between a healthy environment and healthy people," and stresses the importance of combatting global warming by moving to a low-carbon future.
According to the report, the 20th century saw dramatic reductions in ecosystems and biodiversity - and equally dramatic increases in the numbers of people and domestic animals inhabiting the Earth.
This increased the opportunity for viruses, bacteria and other pathogenic agents to pass from wild and domestic animals through the environment to cause diseases in people, the report said.
These diseases - called "zoonotic" or "zoonoses" diseases - include Ebola, bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Rift Valley fever, West Nile virus and Zika virus, it said.
In the last two decades these emerging diseases have had direct costs of more than $100 billion, the report said, and "if these outbreaks had become human pandemics, the losses would have amounted to several trillion dollars." Relationship between healthy environment and healthy people is critical
According to the report, "around 60 per cent of all infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic as are 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases." And "on average, one new infectious disease emerges in humans every four months," it said.
While many zoonotic diseases originate in wildlife, livestock often serve as a bridge, the report said, citing the case of bird flu which first circulated in wild birds, then infected domestic poultry which in turn passed the virus to humans.
As for toxic chemicals in crops, normally plants convert nitrate into amino acids and protein but drought slows the conversion causing nitrates to accumulate and become toxic to animals, the report said.
Worldwide, over 80 plant species are known to cause poisoning from accumulation of nitrates and wheat, barley, maize, millet, sorghum and soybeans are among the crops most susceptible, it said.
"Acute nitrate poisoning in animals can lead to miscarriage, asphyxiation and death," the report said, and it can ruin the livelihoods of small farmers and herders.
Another toxin associated with climate change is hydrogen cyanide or prussic acid that can accumulate in plants such as cassava, flax, maize and sorghum, it said.
Mycotoxins, which are chemical by-products of the growth of mushrooms and other fungi, "can cause severe damage to the health of animals and humans, even at small concentration," the report said. And "mycotoxin-producing fungi infect many crops such as coffee, groundnut, maize, oilseeds, peanut, sorghum, tree nuts and wheat."
Aflatoxins, which are fungal toxins that can cause cancer and stunt fetal growth, are another emerging problem in crops, the report said.
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Relationship between healthy environment and healthy people is critical

Relationship between healthy environment and healthy people is critical. The...

<div>

Barium leaches directly from fracked rocks. HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth College researchers are shedding light on the early chemical reactions in the organic sediments that would ultimately become the Marcellus Shale, a major source of natural gas and petroleum.

The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703716300965" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">findings</a> appear in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. The research extends an earlier <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088329271530069X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> by the Dartmouth team. Both PDFs are available on request.

Water injected into shale formations in hydraulic fracturing returns with extraordinarily high total-dissolved-solids and high concentrations of the toxic metal barium. The hazardous wastewater is assumed to be partly due to chemicals introduced into injected freshwater when it mixes with highly saline brine naturally present in the rock. But in their earlier study, the researchers found that chemical reactions between injected freshwater and the fractured shale itself caused barium to leach directly from the fractured rock. Barium leaches directly from fracked rocks

In the new study, the researchers addressed the basic question of when, why and how the Marcellus Shale became enriched in barium in the first place. They studied in detail the chemistry, mineralogy and sulfur isotope composition of a two-inch thick core. It was a special sample as it contains about 5,000 micrograms of barium per gram of rock. Such samples are concentrated only at a few depth intervals in the Marcellus Shale. The sample provided the researchers with insight into how, when and where a barium bearing mineral (barite) altered into iron sulfide (pyrite) during the transformation of organic rich marine sediment into shale in Devonian times.

The researchers discovered barite grains being "bitten" by pyrite as the latter replaced the former through a complex set of reactions that could occur only at a very specific depth interval where both sulfate (barite) and sulfide (pyrite) are present. This interval is called the sulfate-methane transition zone, which has been identified in relatively recent sediments but not in 400 million year old sediments.

"Our new study provides insights into the generalized nature of barium mobilization as barite is dissolved in organic rich sediments and its redistribution in clay minerals," says senior author <a href="http://earthsciences.dartmouth.edu/people/mukul-sharma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mukul Sharma</a>, a professor of earth sciences.
###
Professor Mukul Sharma is available to comment at <a href="mailto:Mukul.Sharma@dartmouth.edu">Mukul.Sharma@dartmouth.edu</a>.

Broadcast studios: Dartmouth has TV and radio studios available for interviews. For more information, visit: <a href="http://communications.dartmouth.edu/media/broadcast-studios" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://communications. dartmouth. edu/ media/ broadcast-studios</a>.

</div>

Barium leaches directly from fracked rocks

Barium leaches directly from fracked rocks. HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth...

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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