An asteroid impact on Mars 11 million years ago sent fragments of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these pieces eventually crashed into Earth, making its way to Purdue University and becoming known as the Lafayette Meteorite.&nbsp;



This rare find has been instrumental in unlocking secrets of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/manganese-discovery-ancient-mars-earth-like-water-lake-habitable/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mars</a>’ watery past, with new research recently published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2443" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geochemical Perspective Letters</a> that provides insight into the timing and nature of Mars’ ancient water activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-mars-watery-past">Tracing Mars’ watery past</h2>



Scientists have long known that the Lafayette Meteorite interacted with liquid water on Mars, but the exact timing of this event was uncertain.&nbsp;



Dr. Marissa Tremblay, an assistant professor at Purdue University’s <a href="https://www.eaps.purdue.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences</a> (EAPS), led an international research team to determine the age of the water-altered minerals in the meteorite, pinpointing it to 742 million years ago.



“Dating these minerals can therefore tell us when there was liquid water at or near the surface of Mars in the planet's geologic past,” Tremblay explained.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that while liquid water wasn’t abundant on the surface at this time, it likely came from melting subsurface ice, or permafrost, caused by intermittent volcanic activity - a phenomenon still observed on Mars today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-a-moment-in-mars-geological-timeline">Preserving a moment in Mars’ geological timeline</h2>



The study not only identified when water interacted with the meteorite but also established that the dating was unaffected by events after the meteorite left Mars.&nbsp;



“The age could have been affected by the impact that ejected the Lafayette Meteorite from Mars, the heating it experienced during the 11 million years it was floating in space, or the heating when it fell to Earth,” Tremblay said.&nbsp;



However, the team confirmed that none of these factors altered the age, validating the timeline of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-lost-most-of-its-water-but-where-did-it-go/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a> interaction.



Study co-author and Purdue EAPS researcher Ryan Ickert applied heavy isotope analysis to further verify that previous data on the meteorite’s water-rock interaction had likely been skewed by other geological processes.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This meteorite uniquely has evidence that it has reacted with water. The exact date of this was controversial, and our publication dates when water was present,” said Ickert.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mysterious-journey-of-the-meteorite">Mysterious journey of the meteorite </h2>



The Lafayette Meteorite’s journey to Purdue is something of a mystery. It was found in a university drawer in 1931, though how it got there remains unknown.&nbsp;



In previous research, Tremblay and her team used crop disease markers from organic contaminants found on the meteorite to narrow down when it might have fallen to Earth.



Once the meteorite was ejected from Mars, it endured constant cosmic ray bombardment in space, which produced certain isotopes, offering clues to its time of impact on Earth.&nbsp;



“Many meteoroids are produced by impacts on Mars and other planetary bodies, but only a handful will eventually fall to Earth,” Tremblay said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planetary-time-capsules">Planetary time capsules</h2>



Meteorites like Lafayette serve as planetary time capsules, offering invaluable data on the geological and environmental history of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-meteorites-can-be-traced-to-three-asteroid-families/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">home worlds</a>. With their dense structure, metallic content, and magnetic properties, meteorites are often distinguishable from Earth rocks.&nbsp;



“We can identify meteorites by studying what minerals are present in them, their mineral relationships, and by checking for a fusion crust formed during entry into Earth’s atmosphere,” Tremblay explained.&nbsp;



By analyzing these traits and their chemical signatures, scientists can often determine a meteorite’s planetary origin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-history-of-meteorites">Complex history of meteorites</h2>



This research marks a significant milestone for the team, which included scientists from institutions across the globe, such as the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center (SUERC), the University of St. Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Bristol, and London’s <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural History Museum</a>.&nbsp;



“Before moving to Purdue, Ryan and I were both based at SUERC, where the argon-argon isotopic analyses of the alteration minerals in Lafayette took place,” Tremblay said.&nbsp;



Their partners at SUERC and the Natural History Museum have long contributed to studying Lafayette’s complex history.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dating-minerals-in-meteorites">Dating minerals in meteorites</h2>



Dating the water-altered minerals in Lafayette, and others in its class of Martian meteorites called nakhlites, has been a central focus in planetary science, as they uniquely capture moments when liquid water was present on Mars.&nbsp;



Due to complex alterations over time, previous attempts to date these minerals were plagued with uncertainties.&nbsp;



However, the team has now developed a robust dating method that could be applied to other meteorites, enhancing our understanding of when water might have been present on Mars and other planetary bodies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-planetary-science">The future of planetary science</h2>



Thanks to the Stahura Undergraduate Meteorite Fund, Tremblay and Ickert’s research on the Lafayette Meteorite will continue, with the involvement of undergraduate students in Purdue EAPS.&nbsp;



This opportunity allows students to engage in real-world planetary science, helping to reveal the intricate histories of meteoritic samples.



Tremblay and her team’s work on the Lafayette Meteorite highlights its scientific significance, revealing a complex history that ties it to Mars’ geological past.&nbsp;



Their findings not only deepen our understanding of Mars but also set a precedent for future studies that might unveil even more about the red planet’s climate history, water activity, and potential for supporting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-mars-rocks-contain-signs-of-life-scientists-call-to-bring-them-back-to-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.



-----

Meteorite that struck Mars reveals when the planet had liquid water

An asteroid impact on Mars 11 million years ago sent fragments of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these pieces eventually crashed into Earth, making its way to Purdue University and becoming known as the Lafayette Meteorite.&nbsp; This rare find has been instrumental in unlocking secrets of Mars’ watery past, with new research recently published in the journal Geochemical Perspective Letters that provides insight into the timing and nature of Mars’ ancient water activity. Tracing Mars’ watery past Scientists have long known that the Lafayette...

Coho and chinook salmon have increasingly similar survival rates

The biodiversity of two Northern Pacific salmon species may be at risk due to changes in ocean conditions at the equator, reports a study by the University of California, Davis.

In the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug. 3, researchers tracked the survival of Chinook and coho salmon from hatcheries in North America between 1980 and 2006.

Before the 1990s, ocean survival rates of Chinook and coho salmon varied separately from each other. However, the researchers were surprised to find that survival rates of the two species have since become increasingly similar.

"Two species that historically have had different responses and seem to be very different in their coastal-wide patterns now appear to be more synchronized," said lead author Patrick Kilduff, a postdoctoral scholar under Louis Botsford in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the time of the study. "When salmon populations are synchronized, it's either good for everyone or bad for everyone--similar to the stock market."

From an economic perspective, it means that when catch of one species is low, catch of the other also will tend to be low.

This synchronous response to ocean conditions represents a loss in biological diversity that cannot be addressed directly by freshwater management actions, the study said.

It's not yet well understood what is causing the increasing similarity, but the researchers said it could reflect a change in coastal ocean food-web linkages or perhaps a change in the salmon species themselves.

EL NINO AND SALMON SURVIVAL

Historically, many Pacific salmon species were thought to be influenced by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), an El Nino-associated eastern Pacific warming pattern. As the nature of El Niños has changed, another ocean indicator, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) has grown increasingly important, but its impact on salmon was not well-understood.

This new study found that coho and Chinook salmon survival rates along the West Coast are more strongly connected to the NPGO than to the PDO.

"Changes in equatorial conditions lead to more of the large-scale Pacific Ocean variability being explained by North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, and it's influencing the survival of salmon from Vancouver Island south to California," Kilduff said.

---

<a href="http://www.ucdavis.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of California - Davis</a>

Ocean Changes Are Affecting Salmon Biodiversity And Survival

Coho and chinook salmon have increasingly similar survival rates The...

President Barack Obama unveiled the final regulations in his plan that will cut carbon dioxide emissions nationwide 32 percent by 2030. Obama touted it as a bold step to slow climate change, while opponents said it was federal overreach that will raise prices for electricity consumers. Here's what you need to know about the impact of the new plan on the states:
WHAT CHANGED IN THE PLAN?
Sixteen states will have more stringent carbon dioxide reduction targets than those that were in the original proposal last year. There are two main reasons, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Janet McCabe: Renewable sources such as wind and solar are getting cheaper and easier to build, and the EPA considered that states in some cases could easily source clean power from neighbors if they didn't have the capacity to generate it themselves. Also, the states' ongoing efforts to reduce energy demand won't be included in their baseline measurements.
"In the proposal we looked at each state in isolation," said McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA's office of air and radiation. "In the final rule we have opened it up so we could look at capacity for renewables and natural gas across the region."
Thirty-one states' targets were loosened, but the tougher goals for the others make the overall plan more ambitious than the original proposal.
WHAT DO THE STATES THINK?
The Republican-led states that disliked the original proposal still hate it and are threatening lawsuits to block it. Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas are the other states among the 16 that will have to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions the most, compared to the original proposal. Some, like Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, had sticker shock upon seeing the new regulations.
"The final rule released today is twice as bad for Kansas as the proposed rule released last summer," Brownback said.
In some of the states that rely less on coal-fired electricity, such as sun-soaked Nevada and hydroelectric rich Oregon, officials expressed their support and said they were well-positioned to comply.
"Nevada has been ahead of this curve for a long time," said Jennifer Taylor, executive director of the nonpartisan Clean Energy Project.
Leaders in other states such as Montana, which had supported the original proposal, expressed dismay at the tougher standards. "It looks as though the Obama administration has moved the goal post on us," said Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana.
WHAT'S NEXT?
States have until 2018 to submit their final emission reduction plans to the EPA. After that, the reductions begin in gradual step-down phases beginning in 2022 through 2029, with the final targets to be met in 2030.
WHAT HAPPENS IF A STATE DOESN'T TURN IN A PLAN?
Some state officials who oppose the rule have said they are considering not submitting a plan at all to the EPA. Any state that doesn't file a plan, or submits one that is unworkable under the federal rule, will be forced to use a federal model, McCabe said.
WHICH STATES ARE EXEMPT?
Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii. Vermont does not have fossil-fuel power plants. Alaska and Hawaii are isolated from the rest of the nation's electrical grid, leaving EPA officials without the data they used to set goals for the other states. EPA officials prefer to call Alaska and Hawaii deferments rather than exemptions.
© 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.

How Does Obama's New Climate Change Plan Impact States?

President Barack Obama unveiled the final regulations in his plan...

Delta Smelt Endangered By California Drought. California's historic drought could wipe out a tiny, endangered fish that's played an outsized role in the state's water wars.
The delta smelt lives in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the West Coast's largest estuary that supplies water to <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Central+Valley&amp;cvid=58903a0fd303478490f5f8327fcd32bc&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Central Valley</a> farms and millions of Southern California residents.
The silvery, finger-sized fish has been in trouble for years, but the four-year drought is helping to push the smelt to the brink of extinction. And it threatens several other native fish species, including the longfin smelt, green sturgeon and winter-run Chinook salmon. Delta Smelt Endangered By California Drought
In July, a key index of delta smelt abundance hit zero for the first time since the survey began in 1959. Researchers found a handful of smelt, but the number was too small to register on the population gauge.
"The delta smelt is basically on its last legs right now. We'll be lucky if it survives the coming year," said Peter Moyle, a fish biologist at the University of California, Davis who has been studying the fish for four decades.
On a recent fish survey, Moyle and three other researchers trawled the turbid waters of the sprawling estuary that once teemed with the delta smelt.
They pulled a net out of the water and emptied dozens of fish into a plastic bin on their research boat. They logged and tossed back 13 species, including carp, crappie, catfish and striped bass - but no delta smelt.
Delta smelt populations have been declining for decades due to invasive predators, pollution, habitat loss and increased water exports to farms and cities. The drought has worsened conditions by reducing freshwater flows and raising water temperatures.
"The drought has basically made all the things that were bad for smelt worse," Moyle said.
The delta smelt has been at the center of vicious water fights between farmers, fishermen, cities and environmentalists ever since it was listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1993. It was listed as an endangered under state law in 2010.
The government regularly cuts water exports from the delta to protect the smelt and other threatened fish from being sucked into the giant pumps that send water south.
Scientists and environmentalists say the sensitive fish needs protection because it's a key indicator of the delta's health, but farmers say too much precious water has been wasted on the fish - water that could be used to grow crops and fill reservoirs.
Stanislaus County almond grower Jim Jasper, who relies on delta water to irrigate his orchards, was a part of a lawsuit that challenged the U.S. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gill-development-and-water-temperatures-limit-fish-growth/">Fish</a> and Wildlife Service over delta smelt protections. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected their appeal earlier this year, leaving the water restrictions in place.
Last year, Jasper pulled out 400 acres of almond trees - about one-fifth of his orchards - because he couldn't get enough water to irrigate them, reducing his almond production and forcing him to cut employee work hours.
Standing next to the irrigation canal that delivers water from the delta, Jasper said endangered species protections have worsened the agricultural impacts of the drought.
"The delta smelt continues to wrack a lot of havoc on today's farming community," said Jasper, who runs Steward &amp; Jasper Orchards, the Newman, California-based almond company his father co-founded in 1948. "If it became extinct would anybody's lives change? I really don't think so."
The UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory in Byron may be the last place where you can still find large numbers of delta smelt.
The hatchery was recently awarded a $10 million federal grant to continue its work breeding the smelt in captivity for scientific research and to ensure its survival if the species vanishes from the wild.
"One of our most important projects is to maintain a refuge population of this species," said Tien-Chieh Hung, the lab's director. "We may be the place that holds the most delta smelt in the world."
While the lab could eventually release its carefully bred smelt into the delta, there's no guarantee they could survive in the wild and there would be no point if their native habitat can no longer support them.
That's why researchers say it's better to protect the smelt now before they disappear from the delta.
"If you're saving the smelt," Moyle said, "you're saving the habitat for other species in the delta as well."
© 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.

Delta Smelt Endangered By California Drought

Delta Smelt Endangered By California Drought. California's historic drought could...

How Does Obama's New Climate Change Plan Impact States?. President Barack Obama unveiled the final regulations in his plan that will cut carbon dioxide emissions nationwide 32 percent by 2030. Obama touted it as a bold step to slow climate change, while opponents said it was <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/alaska-federal-public-lands-trump/">federal</a> overreach that will raise prices for electricity consumers. Here's what you need to know about the impact of the new plan on the states:
WHAT CHANGED IN THE PLAN?
Sixteen states will have more stringent carbon dioxide reduction targets than those that were in the original proposal last year. There are two main reasons, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Janet McCabe: Renewable sources such as wind and solar are getting cheaper and easier to build, and the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=epa&amp;cvid=9d55c2dfdb54406c8e2dade61f8080fd&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">EPA</a> considered that states in some cases could easily source clean power from neighbors if they didn't have the capacity to generate it themselves. Also, the states' ongoing efforts to reduce energy demand won't be included in their baseline measurements. How Does Obama's New Climate Change Plan Impact States?
"In the proposal we looked at each state in isolation," said McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA's office of air and radiation. "In the final rule we have opened it up so we could look at capacity for renewables and natural gas across the region."
Thirty-one states' targets were loosened, but the tougher goals for the others make the overall plan more ambitious than the original proposal.
WHAT DO THE STATES THINK?
The Republican-led states that disliked the original proposal still hate it and are threatening lawsuits to block it. Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas are the other states among the 16 that will have to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions the most, compared to the original proposal. Some, like Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, had sticker shock upon seeing the new regulations.
"The final rule released today is twice as bad for Kansas as the proposed rule released last summer," Brownback said.
In some of the states that rely less on coal-fired electricity, such as sun-soaked Nevada and hydroelectric rich Oregon, officials expressed their support and said they were well-positioned to comply.
"Nevada has been ahead of this curve for a long time," said Jennifer Taylor, executive director of the nonpartisan Clean Energy Project.
Leaders in other states such as Montana, which had supported the original proposal, expressed dismay at the tougher standards. "It looks as though the Obama administration has moved the goal post on us," said Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana.
WHAT'S NEXT?
States have until 2018 to submit their final emission reduction plans to the EPA. After that, the reductions begin in gradual step-down phases beginning in 2022 through 2029, with the final targets to be met in 2030.
WHAT HAPPENS IF A STATE DOESN'T TURN IN A PLAN?
Some state officials who oppose the rule have said they are considering not submitting a plan at all to the EPA. Any state that doesn't file a plan, or submits one that is unworkable under the federal rule, will be forced to use a federal model, McCabe said.
WHICH STATES ARE EXEMPT?
Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii. Vermont does not have fossil-fuel power plants. Alaska and Hawaii are isolated from the rest of the nation's electrical grid, leaving EPA officials without the data they used to set goals for the other states. EPA officials prefer to call Alaska and Hawaii deferments rather than exemptions.
© 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.

How Does Obama's New Climate Change Plan Impact States?. President...

Toxic Algae Bloom

Toxic Algae Bloom Spreads From California To Alaska. A vast toxic algae bloom off the West Coast is denser, more widespread and deeper than scientists feared even weeks ago, according to surveyors aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel.
This coastal ribbon of microscopic algae, up to 40 miles wide and 650 feet deep in places, is flourishing amid unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures. It now stretches from at least California to Alaska and has shut down lucrative fisheries. Shellfish managers on Tuesday doubled the area off Washington's coast that is closed to Dungeness crab fishing, after finding elevated levels of marine toxins in tested crab meat. Toxic Algae Bloom Spreads From California To Alaska
So-called "red tides" are cyclical and have happened many times before, but ocean researchers say this one is much larger and persisting much longer, with higher levels of neurotoxins bringing severe consequences for the Pacific seafood industry, coastal tourism and marine ecosystems.
Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the area now closed to crab fishing includes more than half the state's 157-mile-long coast, and likely will bring a premature end to this year's coastal crab season.
"We think it's just sitting and lingering out there," said Anthony Odell, a University of Washington research analyst who is part of a NOAA-led team surveying the harmful algae bloom, which was first detected in May. "It's farther offshore, but it's still there."
The survey data should provide a clearer picture of what is causing the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/toxic-algal-blooms-will-become-more-frequent-off-the-u-s-west-coast/">bloom</a> which is brownish in color, unlike the blue and green algae found in polluted freshwater lakes. Marine detectives already have a suspect: a large patch of water running as much as 3 degrees centigrade warmer than normal in the northeast Pacific Ocean, nicknamed "the blob."
"The question on everyone's mind is whether this is related to global climate change. The simple answer is that it could be, but at this point it's hard to separate the variations in these cycles," said Donald Boesch, professor of marine science at the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=maryland&amp;cvid=3aabd5a6b0cb4b3eb9fcef31fa4a03b8&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Maryland</a> who is not involved in the survey. "Maybe the cycles are more extreme in the changing climate."
"There's no question that we're seeing more algal blooms more often, in more places, when they do occur, they're lasting longer and often over greater geographical areas. We're seeing more events than documented decades ago," said Pat Glibert, professor at Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Odell recently completed the first leg of the survey, mostly in California waters. On Wednesday, researchers plan to continue monitoring the sea between Newport, Oregon, and Seattle. The vessel will then go to Vancouver Island, wrapping up in early September. Another research ship is taking samples off Alaska.
The brownish bloom was particularly thick off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, and Odell said it was unusually dominated by one type of algae called Pseudo-nitzschia, which can produce the neurotoxin domoic acid.
"It's an indication of an imbalance," said Vera Trainer, a research oceanographer with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "Too much of any one thing is not healthy for anybody to eat."
Trainer said this bloom is the worst she's seen in 20 years of studying them. Harmful algal blooms have usually been limited to one area of the ocean or another, and have disappeared after a few weeks. This one has grown for months, waxing and waning but never going away.
"It's been incredibly thick, almost all the same organism. Looks like a layer of hay," said Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz.
The current bloom also involves some of the highest concentrations of domoic acid yet observed in Monterey Bay and other areas of the West Coast.
"It's really working its way into the food web and we're definitely seeing the impacts of that," Kudela said, noting that sea lions are getting sick and pelicans are being exposed. And now that the Pacific is experiencing its periodic ocean warming known as El Nino, it may come back even stronger next year, he said.
Domoic acid is harmful to people, fish and marine life. It accumulates in anchovies, sardines and other small fish as well as shellfish that eat the algae. Marine mammals and fish-eating birds in turn can get sick from eating the contaminated fish. In people, it can trigger amnesic shellfish poisoning, which can cause permanent loss of short-term memory in severe cases.
State health officials stress that seafood bought in stores is still safe to eat because it is regularly tested. While there have been no reports of human illnesses linked to this year's bloom, authorities aren't taking chances in fisheries with dangerous toxin levels.
California public health officials have warned against eating recreationally harvested mussels and claims, or any anchovy, sardines or crabs caught in waters off Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara counties. Other shellfish harvests are shut down along Oregon's coast.
The most recent samples showed the highest-ever recorded concentrations of domoic acid in the internal organs of Dungeness crab, Ayres said.
"This is really unprecedented territory for us," said Ayres.
© 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.

Toxic Algae Bloom Spreads From California To Alaska

Toxic Algae Bloom Spreads From California To Alaska. A vast...

EPSON DSC picture

Amazon Fire Risk Differs Across East-West Divide. Scientists at <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=7872fda91dbf45df883556df6fafeaa5&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA</a> and the University of California, Irvine, project fire risk for South America's Amazon Basin in 2015 to fall along an east-west divide. According to their model, based on multiple satellite datasets, the forests of the western Amazon will experience average or below-average fire risk, while those in the eastern Amazon will see above-average risk.

Amazon fire season for the region, which spans portions of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru, begins in May, peaks in September and ends in January. The underlying pattern in this year's fire forecast is driven by the fact that the western Amazon is more heavily influence by sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, and the eastern Amazon's fire severity risk correlates to sea surface temperature changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Currently, Pacific sea surface temperatures have risen as an El Niño event develops, a climate phenomenon that alters rainfall patterns around the globe.

[caption id="attachment_2383402" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/04132310/amazon-fire-season_1big_nasa-copy.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383402" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/04132310/amazon-fire-season_1big_nasa-copy-150x150.jpg" alt="Fire season severity forecast " width="150" height="150" /></a> Fire season severity forecast[/caption]

"As we're building towards a moderate to strong El Niño, that places even more fire risk across portions of the central and eastern Amazon that are more sensitive to El Niño than to changes in the Atlantic," said Doug Morton, co-investigator on the project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The fire severity forecast model, developed by Yang Chen and Jim Randerson at the University of California, Irvine, along with NASA scientists, was first published in 2011 in the journal Science. To develop the model, they compared historic fire data from NASA's Terra satellite with sea surface temperature data in the tropical Pacific and North Atlantic oceans from buoys and satellite images compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Amazon Fire Risk Differs Across East-West Divide

Conditions at the end of the rainy season are used to forecast fire activity during the dry season. Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and tropical Pacific oceans three to six months before the peak of fire season are strongly correlated with total fire activity. In general, warmer ocean temperatures at the end of the Amazon's wet season lead to reductions in rainfall and soil moisture at the beginning of the dry season. Drier conditions in the Amazon lead to more severe fires during the late dry season. But each ocean affects different regions of the Amazon.

"This year, only the El Niño [in the Pacific] is playing a major role. That's why the east-west contrast is more distinctive," said Chen.

[caption id="attachment_2383400" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/04132307/amazon-fire-season_2big_nasa-copy.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383400" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/04132307/amazon-fire-season_2big_nasa-copy-150x150.jpg" alt="Blue colors show above average ground and surface water and red colors show below average ground and surface water" width="150" height="150" /></a> Blue colors show above average ground and surface water and red colors show below average ground and surface water[/caption]

Sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are warmer than normal – El Niño conditions – which suppress rainfall in the eastern Amazon. The three regions at highest risk are Brazil states Maranhão, Mato Grosso and Pará. Meanwhile, sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic are average or cooler than average, keeping higher amounts of rainfall in the south and southwestern Amazon.

To check their model forecast, as the dry season has gotten underway, the researchers have compared their initial forecast with observations coming in from NASA's precipitation satellite missions' multisatellite datasets, as well as groundwater data from the joint NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.

This year's fire risk comes on the heels of a severe drought in eastern and southeastern Brazil, where the satellite data showed a continued reduction in rainfall and a drawdown of groundwater associated with lower than normal precipitation. The amount of groundwater present is a good indicator of fire risk, said Morton, because the signal persists longer and holds the "memory" of water in the soil that is the main source of moisture for trees and vegetation. When ground and soil water are depleted, the region dries out and fire risk goes up.

Each year since 2012, Chen, Randerson and Morton, with the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, have issued an <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon+river&amp;cvid=6576a65f590e4f89af07b8141c5c592f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Amazon</a> fire forecast for the east, west and southern parts of the basin. With the exception of 2013, their forecasts based on climate conditions have been fairly accurate, said Chen. They are currently investigating the climate conditions that led to overestimating fires – and other researchers to overestimate hurricanes – in 2013.

Increasingly, scientists and agencies in Peru and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/forest-degradation-is-more-destructive-than-deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon/">Brazil</a> are incorporating this type of fire risk assessment into their regional planning for disaster responses. The forecasts provide an indication of the climate component of fire risk. However, fire risk may be underestimated in some frontier regions of Peru and Brazil where humans are likely to set intentional fires for clearing land for agriculture or deforestation.

This year, if the Pacific El Niño continues to strengthen, the team expects to see fire risk increase in the central Amazon, and they may issue a fire forecast for the northern Amazon basin for the first time.

"The seasonality of fires in northern Amazonia is different," Morton said. Peak fire activity in the northern Amazon occurs in February and March, so sea surface temperatures three months earlier in October and November have the most influence on rainfall and fire risk. The last time strong El Niño conditions persisted that long was 1997.

"There were enormous fires in the ’97-’98 El Niño in Roraima," said Morton. "That was part of what put fires in the Amazon on the scientific map."

"If the El Niño continues to strengthen, that's a region that we will be watching," Morton said, adding that the link between El Niño conditions and fires in the Brazilian state of Roraima has been seen before in the historic record going back to 2000, as weaker El Niño events in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007 led to large increases in fire activity. "Roraima’s increase in fire risk during El Niño events is so consistent that you don't need our model to know that the region will experience significant fire risk in 2015-2016."

---

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>

Amazon Fire Risk Differs Across East-West Divide

Amazon Fire Risk Differs Across East-West Divide. Scientists at NASA...

New study traces the fate of carbon stored in thawing Arctic soils

As temperatures rise, some of the organic carbon stored in Arctic permafrost meets an unexpected fate--burial at sea. As many as 2.2 million metric tons of organic carbon per year are swept along by a single river system into Arctic Ocean sediment, according to a new study an international team of researchers published today in Nature. This process locks away carbon dioxide (CO2) - a greenhouse gas - and helps stabilize the earth's CO2 levels over time, and it may help scientists better predict how the natural carbon cycle will interplay with the surge of CO2 emissions due to human activities.

"The erosion of permafrost carbon is very significant," says Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Associate Scientist Valier Galy, a co-author of the study. "Over thousands of years, this process is locking CO2 away from the atmosphere in a way that amounts to fairly large carbon stocks. If we can understand how this process works, we can predict how it will respond as the climate changes."

Permafrost--frozen ground found in the Arctic and in some alpine regions--is known to hold billions of tons of organic material. Amid concerns about rising Arctic temperatures and their impact on permafrost, many researchers have directed their efforts to studying the permafrost carbon cycle--the processes through which carbon circulates between the atmosphere, the soil and plants (the biosphere), and the sea. Yet how this cycle works and how it responds to the warming, changing climate remains poorly understood.

Galy and his colleagues from Durham University, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, the NERC Radiocarbon Facility, Stockholm University, and the Universite Paris-Sud set out to characterize the carbon cycle in one particular piece of the Arctic landscape--northern Canada's Mackenzie River, the largest river flowing into the Arctic Ocean from North America and that ocean's greatest source of sediment. The researchers hypothesized that the Mackenzie's muddy water might erode soils along its path, some from places where permafrost is melting, and wash that biosphere-derived material and the organic carbon within it into the ocean, preventing the degradation of organic carbon and associated release of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The researchers collected samples at various depths and locations along the river system, lowering a specially-designed device to take samples of the water and suspended sediments carried by the river. To take into consideration the river's seasonal variation--its flow increases sharply during the spring, when warm temperatures melt the snowpack and raise water levels, and drops during the frozen winter months--they sampled it during different seasons across three years starting in 2009.

Then the researchers sifted through the samples to isolate the carbon they contained. They used the presence of one specific isotope of carbon that decays over time, carbon-14, to determine how old the carbon was. This was important because it revealed the carbon's origin- rock or biosphere.

"The carbon that comes from the rocks has been there for hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of years," Galy says. "The other carbon can come from a tree that fell into the river two days before we sampled or from the permafrost and be thousands years old."

The carbon from rocks has been stored away from the atmosphere for a long time, and exists in a form that makes it less likely to react with its environment and enter the atmosphere. But the newer, biosphere-based carbon is more labile and likely to react, potentially entering the atmosphere and raising CO2 levels.

"If you bury the biosphere-based carbon, you have an actual carbon sink--you're taking carbon that could be out in the atmosphere and locking it away," Galy says.

The researchers compared what they found along the river to a sediment core obtained from the Arctic Ocean seabed at the Mackenzie delta, tracing the rock and biosphere carbon to the sediment deposits there. They found that a significant amount of the biosphere carbon--more than that carried by all the major Eurasian Arctic rivers combined--is swept into storage offshore. Using carbon-14 they further determined that this biosphere-derived carbon is up to 9000 years old, a clearly indication of its permafrost origin.

"That carbon is not returning to the atmosphere for a long time," says Robert Hilton, associate professor at Durham University who worked on the study. "Over geological timescales, warming conditions lead to the sequestration of that carbon at sea."

This sequestration likely kept naturally-occurring CO2 levels in check. But the researchers emphasize that this natural process is 10 to 20 times too slow to keep pace with CO2 emissions from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels.

"River transfer is not going to solve the problem--it's not going to make the CO2 we inject into the atmosphere go away," Galy says. But the findings do reveal a more complex picture of the relationships between warming temperatures, thawing permafrost and carbon emission--a picture that Galy and his international colleagues hope to further investigate with future studies.

---

<a href="http://www.whoi.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a>

Study Tracks The Fate Of Melting Arctic Permafrost

New study traces the fate of carbon stored in thawing...

Study Tracks The Fate Of Melting Arctic Permafrost. New study traces the fate of carbon stored in thawing Arctic soils

As temperatures rise, some of the organic carbon stored in Arctic permafrost meets an unexpected fate--burial at sea. As many as 2.2 million metric tons of organic carbon per year are swept along by a single river system into Arctic Ocean sediment, according to a new study an international team of researchers published today in Nature. This process locks away carbon dioxide (CO2) - a greenhouse gas - and helps stabilize the earth's CO2 levels over time, and it may help scientists better predict how the natural carbon cycle will interplay with the surge of CO2 emissions due to human activities.

"The erosion of permafrost carbon is very significant," says Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Associate Scientist Valier Galy, a co-author of the study. "Over thousands of years, this process is locking CO2 away from the atmosphere in a way that amounts to fairly large carbon stocks. If we can understand how this process works, we can predict how it will respond as the climate changes."Study Tracks The Fate Of Melting Arctic Permafrost

Permafrost--frozen ground found in the Arctic and in some alpine regions--is known to hold billions of tons of organic material. Amid concerns about rising Arctic temperatures and their impact on permafrost, many researchers have directed their efforts to studying the permafrost carbon cycle--the processes through which carbon circulates between the atmosphere, the soil and plants (the biosphere), and the sea. Yet how this cycle works and how it responds to the warming, changing climate remains poorly understood.

Galy and his colleagues from Durham University, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, the NERC Radiocarbon Facility, Stockholm University, and the Universite Paris-Sud set out to characterize the carbon cycle in one particular piece of the Arctic landscape--northern Canada's Mackenzie River, the largest river flowing into the Arctic Ocean from North America and that ocean's greatest source of sediment. The researchers hypothesized that the Mackenzie's muddy water might erode soils along its path, some from places where permafrost is melting, and wash that biosphere-derived material and the organic carbon within it into the ocean, preventing the degradation of organic carbon and associated release of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The researchers collected samples at various depths and locations along the river system, lowering a specially-designed device to take samples of the water and suspended sediments carried by the river. To take into consideration the river's seasonal variation--its flow increases sharply during the spring, when warm temperatures melt the snowpack and raise water levels, and drops during the frozen winter months--they sampled it during different seasons across three years starting in 2009.

Then the researchers sifted through the samples to isolate the carbon they contained. They used the presence of one specific isotope of carbon that decays over time, carbon-14, to determine how old the carbon was. This was important because it revealed the carbon's origin- rock or biosphere.

"The carbon that comes from the rocks has been there for hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of years," Galy says. "The other <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=carbon&amp;cvid=a66e1c1f72e94a3cb4b72dac1fbbea18&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">carbon</a> can come from a tree that fell into the river two days before we sampled or from the permafrost and be thousands years old."

The carbon from rocks has been stored away from the atmosphere for a long time, and exists in a form that makes it less likely to react with its environment and enter the atmosphere. But the newer, biosphere-based carbon is more labile and likely to react, potentially entering the atmosphere and raising CO2 levels.

"If you bury the biosphere-based carbon, you have an actual carbon sink--you're taking carbon that could be out in the atmosphere and locking it away," Galy says.

The researchers compared what they found along the river to a sediment core obtained from the Arctic Ocean seabed at the Mackenzie delta, tracing the rock and biosphere carbon to the sediment deposits there. They found that a significant amount of the biosphere carbon--more than that carried by all the major Eurasian Arctic rivers combined--is swept into storage offshore. Using carbon-14 they further determined that this biosphere-derived carbon is up to 9000 years old, a clearly indication of its permafrost origin.

"That carbon is not returning to the atmosphere for a long time," says Robert Hilton, associate professor at Durham University who worked on the study. "Over geological timescales, warming conditions lead to the sequestration of that carbon at sea."

This sequestration likely kept naturally-occurring CO2 levels in check. But the researchers emphasize that this natural process is 10 to 20 times too slow to keep pace with CO2 emissions from human activities, such as the burning of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossil-fuels-lower-energy-return/">fossil fuels.</a>

"River transfer is not going to solve the problem--it's not going to make the CO2 we inject into the atmosphere go away," Galy says. But the findings do reveal a more complex picture of the relationships between warming temperatures, thawing permafrost and carbon emission--a picture that Galy and his international colleagues hope to further investigate with future studies.

---

<a href="http://www.whoi.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a>

Study Tracks The Fate Of Melting Arctic Permafrost. New study...

Adult Corals Give Their Offspring Skills Necessary To Survive. A new study from scientists at the University of Hawai'i - Mānoa's (UHM) Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) reveals that preconditioning adult corals to increased temperature and ocean acidification resulted in offspring that may be better able to handle those future environmental stressors. This rapid trans-generational acclimatization may be able to "buy time" for corals in the race against climate change.

Hollie Putnam, lead author of the Journal of Experimental Biology-featured study and HIMB assistant researcher; and Ruth Gates, co-author and HIMB senior researcher, exposed two groups of parental corals to either ambient ocean conditions or IPCC-predicted future ocean conditions - warmer and more acidic water. As expected, the harsher future conditions negatively affected the health of the parental coral - lowering photosynthesis and production to consumption ratios. Surprisingly, however, the offspring of parents who were exposed to future conditions appeared healthier when re-exposed to the harsher environment.

"By preconditioning the corals while the offspring are being brooded it may be possible to increase the offspring's potential to perform under stressful environmental conditions," said Putnam.

Corals have been suffering huge losses in diversity and abundance on reefs worldwide due to local stressors such as overfishing, coastal development, pollution, and sedimentation, for example. Further, global stressors such as increased temperature result in coral bleaching - a breakdown in the symbiosis between the cnidarian host and the symbiotic algae - which can cause mass coral mortality. Additionally, corals exposed to ocean acidification can struggle to build their skeletons and reefs are undergoing bioerosion and dissolution.

"Together these local and global stressors are placing an unprecedented strain on coral reef ecosystems. It has even been predicted that some corals may go extinct and the reefs will not provide the same biological diversity and provisioning - goods and services valued at hundreds of billions of dollars annually," said Putnam. Adult Corals Give Their Offspring Skills Necessary To Survive

It is thought genetic adaption is the primary option for corals to respond to climate change. With the rapid rate of environmental change, however, genetic adaptation may not be able to keep pace. Putnam and Gates were interested in the potential for other more rapid response mechanisms like the acclimatization provided when adults provision their offspring based on their environmental experience. The researchers think epigenetics, or a change in the quantity and product of a gene without a change in DNA sequence, may be one such acclimatory mechanism that allows the organism to rapidly adjust to environmental change. Epigenetics and parental effects, they say, may help to buffer corals against the rapidly changing climate.

"Our work suggests that when we consider multiple life stages in connection and their environmental history, corals have resources to respond to climate change that we have not yet considered fully," said Putnam. "This may be good news for corals of the future."

In a new series of experiments, the researchers are expanding their analysis to more coral life stages by tracking the coral larvae from preconditioning in their parents until they settle and grow into juveniles. Their goal is to assess the "grandchildren" after 3-4 years, when the first offspring become reproductive. They are also comparing the response to temperature and ocean acidification simultaneously and separately to determine if one factor is more influential than another.

---

<a href="http://manoa.hawaii.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Hawaii Manoa</a>

Adult Corals Give Their Offspring Skills Necessary To Survive

Adult Corals Give Their Offspring Skills Necessary To Survive. A...

NOAA researchers cite the heavy rains that pounded the middle of the country in July as reason for this summer's enlarged gulf dead zone.

The low-oxygen "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico has grown larger than normal, NOAA scientists say. At last count, the hypoxic blob covered 6,474 square miles.

A dead zone is an area of low to no oxygen water that can kill marine life, should fish or other marine mammals find themselves trapped in depleted waters. While fish and mammals can usually avoid dead zones, slow-moving shellfish and crustaceans are more vulnerable to suffocation.

Last year's dead zone measured 5,052 square miles. The latest measurements reveal a growing dead zone that is both bigger than average and larger than NOAA's yearly prediction.

Of the more than 550 dead zones found in lakes and oceans around the world, the Gulf's is the second-largest manmade hypoxic zone. The suffocating water is the result of oxygen-depleting phytoplankton blooms encouraged by high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous -- agricultural and sewage treatment runoff delivered by the mighty Mississippi River.

As phytoplankton die and sink to the bottom, bacteria feast upon them, sucking more oxygen from the water. The oxygen-deprived water remains in place until storms churn up the water layers and help replenish the dead zone with fresh oxygen.

NOAA researchers cite the heavy rains that pounded the middle of the country in July as reason for this summer's enlarged dead zone. The latest numbers are the result of a survey undertaken by NOAA scientists.

"An average area was expected because the Mississippi River discharge levels and associated nutrient data from May indicated an average delivery of nutrients during this critical month which stimulates the fuel for the mid-summer dead zone," Nancy Rabalais, executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/080415-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-above-average.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a press release</a>.

Rabalais led the recent scientific survey that mapped the fish-killing blob in the Gulf.

"Since the models are based largely on the May nitrogen loads from the Mississippi River, the heavy rains that came in June with additional nitrogen and even higher river discharges in July are the possible explanations for the larger size," she said.

In addition to rainfall totals, wind, temperature and currents affect the size and movement of the Gulf's dead zone.

"It would have been even larger without winds out of the west pushing some of the low-oxygen water back to the east," <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/08/2015_gulf_dead_zone_larger_tha.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rabalais told The Times-Picayune</a>.

Previous research has shown that hypoxic conditions in the Gulf result in habitat loss, species displacement and diminished reproductive abilities for many fish.

---

Credit: UPI

2015 Gulf Dead Zone Bigger Than Normal

NOAA researchers cite the heavy rains that pounded the middle...

2015 Gulf Dead Zone Bigger Than Normal. NOAA researchers cite the heavy rains that pounded the middle of the country in July as reason for this summer's enlarged gulf dead zone.

The low-oxygen "dead zone" in the Gulf of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/experts-track-the-flow-of-nutrients-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/">Mexico</a> has grown larger than normal, NOAA scientists say. At last count, the hypoxic blob covered 6,474 square miles.

A dead zone is an area of low to no oxygen water that can kill marine life, should fish or other marine mammals find themselves trapped in depleted waters. While fish and mammals can usually avoid dead zones, slow-moving shellfish and crustaceans are more vulnerable to suffocation.2015 Gulf Dead Zone Bigger Than Normal

Last year's dead zone measured 5,052 square miles. The latest measurements reveal a growing dead zone that is both bigger than average and larger than NOAA's yearly prediction.

Of the more than 550 dead zones found in lakes and oceans around the world, the Gulf's is the second-largest manmade hypoxic zone. The suffocating water is the result of oxygen-depleting phytoplankton blooms encouraged by high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous -- agricultural and sewage treatment runoff delivered by the mighty Mississippi River.

As phytoplankton die and sink to the bottom, bacteria feast upon them, sucking more oxygen from the water. The oxygen-deprived water remains in place until storms churn up the water layers and help replenish the dead zone with fresh oxygen.

NOAA researchers cite the heavy rains that pounded the middle of the country in July as reason for this summer's enlarged dead zone. The latest numbers are the result of a survey undertaken by NOAA scientists.

"An average area was expected because the Mississippi River discharge levels and associated nutrient data from May indicated an average delivery of nutrients during this critical month which stimulates the fuel for the mid-summer dead zone," Nancy Rabalais, executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/080415-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-above-average.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a press release</a>.

Rabalais led the recent scientific survey that mapped the fish-killing blob in the Gulf.

"Since the models are based largely on the May nitrogen loads from the Mississippi River, the heavy rains that came in June with additional nitrogen and even higher river discharges in July are the possible explanations for the larger size," she said.

In addition to rainfall totals, wind, temperature and currents affect the size and movement of the Gulf's dead zone.

"It would have been even larger without winds out of the west pushing some of the low-oxygen water back to the east," <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/08/2015_gulf_dead_zone_larger_tha.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rabalais told The Times-Picayune</a>.

Previous research has shown that hypoxic conditions in the Gulf result in habitat loss, species displacement and diminished reproductive abilities for many fish.

---

Credit: UPI

2015 Gulf Dead Zone Bigger Than Normal. NOAA researchers cite...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



---



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...