Corals act more like us humans than one might think. These aquatic structures host an array of marine life while also depending on their microenvironment to survive and grow. Just like humans take multivitamins to stay healthy, corals rely on essential nutrients to thrive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multivitamins-for-corals">Multivitamins for corals</h2>



Enter the researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). They've been busy in the lab, testing an innovative concept: nutrient-infused tiles aimed at supercharging the immune system of corals. It's like a daily multivitamin, but for corals. 



The goal? They aim to prevent coral bleaching, and to help corals to weather the stress of shifting ocean temperatures and to bounce back from harsh climate events such as hurricanes.



"We are studying how corals react when grown on substrates that have been infused with essential metal micronutrients, like manganese, zinc, and iron," explained Colleen Hansel, a senior scientist and marine chemist at <a href="https://www.whoi.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WHOI</a>.



There's an urgency to this work, as rapidly warming waters and an active hurricane season make field trials difficult.



However, hope is not lost. Preliminary data harvested from a year’s worth of lab experiments suggests that corals which received a nutrient boost early on were more resilient and resistant to heat stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-reef-brought-to-life">A reef brought to life</h2>



Armed with this data, the team's next plan is to take these nutrient-infused tiles and embed them in an artificial reef. 



Designed by experts at the University of the Virgin Islands (<a href="https://www.uvi.edu/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UVI</a>), this 20 sq. meter (216 sq. ft.) concrete setup will offer a safe home to juvenile corals that need multivitamins.



It also doubles as a settling spot for coral larvae, while the nutrient-rich tiles ensure vitamins are dispersed into the surrounding waters. This not only promotes coral growth, but also prepares them for environmental stressors.



"The artificial reef we're building is going in next to a natural reef that has been severely impacted by marine heat waves and extreme storm events," explained Marilyn Brandt, a coral disease ecologist at the UVI.



This man-made marvel won't just fend off storm surges and erosion, it will also create a habitat for corals struggling to adapt to climate change effects. The ultimate goal of the reef's establishment is to help restore the natural reefs in the area.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-monitoring-corals-and-multivitamin-tiles">Monitoring corals and multivitamin tiles</h2>



To ensure the ongoing success of this cutting-edge approach, continuous monitoring and adaptation are integral. Scientists plan to deploy advanced monitoring systems that will track <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-barrier-reef-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral health</a> metrics in real-time. 



This will include assessments of coral growth rates, color changes indicative of stress, and local water conditions. Such data will allow researchers to alter their strategies promptly, adjusting nutrient concentrations or tile placements as necessary to optimize coral resilience.



A dynamic interplay between technology and ecological understanding will ultimately support these living structures in adapting to ever-changing marine environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-community-engagement-and-education">Community engagement and education</h2>



Beyond laboratory experiments and scientific endeavors, community engagement plays a pivotal role in coral conservation. Educational initiatives aim to involve local communities and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/60-percent-global-coral-reefs-face-bleaching-rising-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raise awareness</a> about the importance of coral ecosystems. 



Workshops, seminars, and hands-on restoration activities promote a sense of stewardship among residents and visitors alike. By incorporating traditional knowledge and local insights, these programs ensure a holistic approach to coral reef preservation.



As communities learn and participate in restoration efforts, they contribute to a sustainable model that may serve as a blueprint for similar conservation projects globally.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-the-ecosystem">Balancing the ecosystem</h2>



Of course, in the grand scheme of the ocean world, balance is key. While the "multivitamin" tiles will help corals, researchers are cautious that they don't end up favoring a specific coral type or promote the intrusion of unwanted species.



As a result, Brandt, Hansel, and their colleagues are keen to examine this while generating a diverse environment beneficial to the reef ecosystem.



"We need to be sure an artificial reef looks and sounds as similar to a natural reef as possible," said Hansel. "That doesn't consist of just coral, but also sponges, anemones, and other biogeochemical components of the reef ecosystem."



Thus, it's evident that these nutrient-infused tiles, created with dedication and an innovative spirit, could provide a vital lifeline for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-illuminates-fish-interactions-in-coral-reefs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral reefs</a> in these changing times.



Could this be the answer to coral resilience? As with much in science, time and rigorous testing will tell. For now, let's look forward to more revealing studies on this exciting development.



-----



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'Multivitamins' could save coral reefs from climate destruction

Corals act more like us humans than one might think. These aquatic structures host an array of marine life while also depending on their microenvironment to survive and grow. Just like humans take multivitamins to stay healthy, corals rely on essential nutrients to thrive. Multivitamins for corals Enter the researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). They've been busy in the lab, testing an innovative concept: nutrient-infused tiles aimed at supercharging the immune system of corals. It's like a daily multivitamin, but for corals. The goal?...

President Barack Obama is painting a doomsday scenario for the Arctic and beyond if global warming isn't dealt with fast: entire nations submerged underwater, cities abandoned and refugees fleeing in droves as conflict breaks out across the globe.
It's a harrowing image of a future that Obama insists is inevitable unless the world follows his and America's lead by making sweeping cuts to greenhouse gases. Lest his sense of urgency get lost, Obama was to drive the message home on Tuesday by hiking a melting glacier in Alaska.
Obama is counting on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/group-of-alaskan-islands-may-belong-to-a-single-massive-volcano/">Alaska's</a> exquisite but deteriorating landscape to elicit a sense of urgency that his previous calls to action on climate change have not. He opened his three-day trip to the nation's largest state on Monday with a speech to an Arctic climate summit, calling global warming an escalating crisis already disturbing Alaskans' way of life.
"We will condemn our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair," Obama said. Alluding ironically to the threat of rising seas, he castigated leaders who deny climate change as "increasingly alone - on their own shrinking island."
As he traverses Alaska this week, Obama will become the first sitting president to visit the Alaska Arctic. Amid concerns that the U.S. has ceded influence to Russia in strategic Arctic waters, the White House announced Tuesday that it would ask Congress to speed up construction of new icebreakers. The U.S. currently has two working icebreakers, compared to Russia's 40.
On his first day in Alaska, Obama offered no new policy prescriptions or federal efforts to slow global warming, but said the U.S. is doing its part by working to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade. Obama set that target as the U.S. commitment to a major global climate treaty to be finalized in December, and has urged fellow leaders to make similarly ambitious pledges as works to secure a cornerstone of his environmental legacy.
Yet by turning to Alaska's majestic mountains and stirring coastlines to make his point on climate, Obama also brought fresh attention to deep and persistent divisions in the U.S. over how to balance the nation's energy and environmental needs.
Heavily dependent on energy revenues, Alaska is suffering economically due to the recent plunge in oil prices, a blow made all the more poignant by the fact that the cost of energy here is exceedingly high. Alaska leaders of all political stripes have implored Obama to open up more of the state to drilling to help alleviate a $3.5 billion budget deficit that has triggered steep cuts to state services - a critical lifeline for poor and rural Alaskans.
"For a population as small as we are, it's pretty significant," Alaska Gov. Bill Walker told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew with Obama to Anchorage.
Yet even Obama, who has elevated global warming as a rallying point in his second term, has a complicated record on energy that has muddied his clarion call on climate.
The president has struggled to explain how his dire warnings square with steps he's taken to expand energy production, even at the risk of higher emissions. Environmental groups took particular offense at the administration's move to allow expanded drilling by Royal Dutch Shell off Alaska's northwest coast - just a few weeks before Obama came to Alaska to preach on climate change.
Obama has defended those decisions by arguing that some fossil fuel development is a necessity as the U.S. undergoes a longer-term shift to clean, renewable fuels that don't cause the planet to get warmer. But that explanation rang hollow for environmental groups, who called the Shell decision a stain on his climate legacy.
"The timing of President Obama's trip to Alaska and the Arctic could not be more ironic, given that his administration just approved dangerous drilling plans that put the region's well-being in serious jeopardy," said Michael Brune, the Sierra Club's executive director.
On a presidential trip more about powerful visuals than words, the high point was to come Tuesday when Obama flies by helicopter to Seward to hike the famed Exit Glacier, a sprawling expanse of ice in Kenai Fjords National Park that's liquefying under warmer temperatures.
Some 700 square miles in the Kenai Mountains are blanketed by glacier ice, remnants of the Ice Age, when roughly a third of the Earth was covered with sheets of ice. One of nearly 40 glaciers springing out from Harding Icefield, Exit Glacier has been receding for decades at an alarming rate of 43 feet a year, according to the National Park Service. Obama Takes Hardest Stance Yet On Global Warming
After hiking the glacier, Obama planned to put his survival skills to the test while taping an episode of the NBC reality TV show "Running Wild with Bear Grylls." Then the president was to board a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to tour the national park before returning late Tuesday to Anchorage.
---
Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP</a>
© 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.

Obama Takes Hardest Stance Yet On Global Warming

President Barack Obama is painting a doomsday scenario for the...

Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive. Scientists demonstrate that a key organism in the ocean's foodweb will start reproducing at high speed as carbon dioxide levels rise, with no way to stop when nutrients become scarce

Imagine being in a car with the gas pedal stuck to the floor, heading toward a cliff's edge. Metaphorically speaking, that's what climate change will do to the key group of ocean bacteria known as Trichodesmium, scientists have discovered.

Trichodesmium (called "Tricho" for short by researchers) is one of the few organisms in the ocean that can "fix" atmospheric nitrogen gas, making it available to other organisms. It is crucial because all life -- from algae to whales -- needs nitrogen to grow. Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive

A new study from USC and the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that changing conditions due to climate change could send Tricho into overdrive with no way to stop -- reproducing faster and generating lots more nitrogen. Without the ability to slow down, however, Tricho has the potential to gobble up all its available resources, which could trigger die-offs of the microorganism and the higher organisms that depend on it.

By breeding hundreds of generations of the bacteria over the course of nearly five years in high-carbon dioxide ocean conditions predicted for the year 2100, researchers found that increased ocean acidification evolved Tricho to work harder, producing 50 percent more nitrogen, and grow faster.

The problem is that these amped-up bacteria can't turn it off even when they are placed in conditions with less carbon dioxide. Further, the adaptation can't be reversed over time -- something not seen before by evolutionary biologists, and worrisome to marine biologists, according to David Hutchins, lead author of the study.

"Losing the ability to regulate your growth rate is not a healthy thing," said Hutchins, professor at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "The last thing you want is to be stuck with these high growth rates when there aren't enough nutrients to go around. It's a losing strategy in the struggle to survive."

Tricho needs phosphorous and iron, which also exist in the ocean in limited supply. With no way to regulate its growth, the turbo-boosted Tricho could burn through all of its available nutrients too quickly and abruptly die off, which would be catastrophic for all other life forms in the ocean that need the nitrogen it would have produced to survive.

Some models predict that increasing ocean acidification will exacerbate the problem of nutrient scarcity by increasing stratification of the ocean -- locking key nutrients away from the organisms that need them to survive.

Hutchins is collaborating with Eric Webb of USC Dornsife and Mak Saito of WHOI to gain a better understanding of what the future ocean will look like, as it continues to be shaped by climate change. They were shocked by the discovery of an evolutionary change that appears to be permanent -- something Hutchins described as "unprecedented."

"Tricho has been studied for ages. Nobody expected that it could do something so bizarre," he said. "The evolutionary <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sick-endangered-orca-whale/">biologists</a> are interested in it just to study this as a basic evolutionary principle."

The team is now studying the DNA of Tricho to try to find out how and why the irreversible evolution occurs. Earlier this year, research led by Webb found that Tricho's DNA inexplicably contains elements that are usually only seen in higher life forms.

"Our results in this and the aforementioned study are truly surprising. Furthermore, they are giving us an improved, view of how global climate change will impact Trichodesmium and the vital supplies of new nitrogen it provides to the rest of the marine food web in the future." Webb said.

---

<a href="http://www.usc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Southern California</a>

Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive

Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive. Scientists...

Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive. Scientists demonstrate that a key organism in the ocean's foodweb will start reproducing at high speed as carbon dioxide levels rise, with no way to stop when nutrients become scarce

Imagine being in a car with the gas pedal stuck to the floor, heading toward a cliff's edge. Metaphorically speaking, that's what climate change will do to the key group of ocean bacteria known as Trichodesmium, scientists have discovered.

Trichodesmium (called "Tricho" for short by researchers) is one of the few organisms in the ocean that can "fix" atmospheric nitrogen gas, making it available to other organisms. It is crucial because all life -- from algae to whales -- needs nitrogen to grow.

A new study from USC and the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that changing conditions due to climate change could send Tricho into overdrive with no way to stop -- reproducing faster and generating lots more nitrogen. Without the ability to slow down, however, Tricho has the potential to gobble up all its available resources, which could trigger die-offs of the microorganism and the higher organisms that depend on it.

By breeding hundreds of generations of the bacteria over the course of nearly five years in high-carbon dioxide ocean conditions predicted for the year 2100, researchers found that increased ocean acidification evolved Tricho to work harder, producing 50 percent more nitrogen, and grow faster.

The problem is that these amped-up bacteria can't turn it off even when they are placed in conditions with less carbon dioxide. Further, the adaptation can't be reversed over time -- something not seen before by evolutionary biologists, and worrisome to marine biologists, according to David Hutchins, lead author of the study.

"Losing the ability to regulate your growth rate is not a healthy thing," said Hutchins, professor at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "The last thing you want is to be stuck with these high growth rates when there aren't enough nutrients to go around. It's a losing strategy in the struggle to survive."

Tricho needs phosphorous and iron, which also exist in the ocean in limited supply. With no way to regulate its growth, the turbo-boosted Tricho could burn through all of its available nutrients too quickly and abruptly die off, which would be catastrophic for all other life forms in the ocean that need the nitrogen it would have produced to survive. Climate Change Will Force Ocean Bacteria Into Irreversible Overdrive

Some models predict that increasing ocean acidification will exacerbate the problem of nutrient scarcity by increasing stratification of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-icebergs-affect-seawater-and-ocean-currents-far-from-the-continent/">ocean</a> -- locking key nutrients away from the organisms that need them to survive.

Hutchins is collaborating with Eric Webb of USC Dornsife and Mak Saito of WHOI to gain a better understanding of what the future ocean will look like, as it continues to be shaped by climate change. They were shocked by the discovery of an evolutionary change that appears to be permanent -- something Hutchins described as "unprecedented."

"Tricho has been studied for ages. Nobody expected that it could do something so bizarre," he said. "The evolutionary biologists are interested in it just to study this as a basic evolutionary principle."

The team is now studying the DNA of Tricho to try to find out how and why the irreversible evolution occurs. Earlier this year, research led by Webb found that Tricho's DNA inexplicably contains elements that are usually only seen in higher life forms.

"Our results in this and the aforementioned study are truly surprising. Furthermore, they are giving us an improved, view of how global climate change will impact Trichodesmium and the vital supplies of new nitrogen it provides to the rest of the marine food web in the future." Webb said.

---

<a href="http://www.usc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Southern California</a>

Olympic organizers promised Tuesday to introduce viral testing in the polluted waters in Rio de Janeiro where about 1,400 athletes will compete in next year's games.
The IOC and Brazilian organizers had repeatedly insisted that only bacterial testing was required despite an independent five-month analysis by The Associated Press showing dangerously high levels of viruses from human sewage at all Rio Olympic water venues.
Acknowledging that viral water testing was now necessary, local organizing committee head Carlos Nuzman told the AP that his team was still studying how best to carry out the analysis and what pathogens to search for.
"The viral tests, we will do and we will repeat this because the most important (thing) for us is the health of the athletes," Nuzman said in an interview in London. "We are working with our medical department and looking for this."
If the tests come back positive for viruses, organizers will assess the best way of cleaning up the water rather than abandoning any venues, such as Guanabara Bay, which is the venue for sailing and wind surfing.
Nuzman said he did not know when organizers would be ready to start the testing but indicated it could be by the end of the year.
"We are working daily, on a daily basis to create the test," he said.
Nuzman's comments came as a German sailor who fell ill after competing in a pre-Olympic test event in the filthy waters off Rio said he was recovering from his skin infections.
Erik Heil believes he was infected while competing in a regatta in Marina da Gloria, where he says untreated sewage is allowed to flow into the water. Olympic Organizers To Introduce Viral Testing In Polluted Waters In Rio
Heil needed daily hospital treatment for multiple infections on his legs and hip. The Berlin hospital where he was treated said he had contracted MRSA, a type of bacteria resistant to many antibiotics.
Rio organizers now face a challenge of finding a lab with the equipment and trained professionals who can carry out viral testing of water. Fewer than five such labs exist in Brazil, including just one in Rio de Janeiro at the federal Health Ministry's Oswald Cruz Foundation research center.
The AP's viral testing is being carried out by scientist Fernando Spilki, a board member of the Brazilian Society for Virology and editor of its scientific journal, who is the coordinator of the environmental quality program at Feevale University in southern Brazil.
The AP's testing includes measuring the levels of human adenovirus types 2, 5 and 41 - which are considered "markers" for human sewage pollution of water in Brazil because they're the types most typically found in wastewater in the tropical nation.
The AP is also testing for rotavirus - globally, the biggest cause of gastroenteritis - and enterovirus, the most common cause of upper respiratory infections globally. Additionally, the AP tests include bacterial testing for fecal coliforms.
---
Brooks and AP writer Stephen Wade in Rio de Janeiro, and Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.
---
Rob Harris can be followed at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RobHarris" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.twitter.com/RobHarris</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports</a>
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Olympic Organizers To Introduce Viral Testing In Polluted Waters In Rio

Olympic organizers promised Tuesday to introduce viral testing in the...

NASA to Study Arctic Climate Change Ecosystem Impacts. As part of a broad effort to study the environmental and societal effects of Arctic climate change, NASA has begun a multi-year field campaign to investigate ecological impacts of the rapidly changing climate in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/group-of-alaskan-islands-may-belong-to-a-single-massive-volcano/">Alaska</a> and northwestern Canada, such as the thawing of permafrost, wildfires and changes to wildlife habitats.

The Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) will bring together on-the-ground research in Alaska and northwestern Canada with data collected by NASA airborne instruments, satellites and other agency programs, including the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), and upcoming Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) missions. NASA to Study Arctic Climate Change Ecosystem Impacts

Over the next decade, scientists from NASA and other public and private organizations will investigate questions about the formidable region that spans about 2.5 million square miles (6.4 million square kilometers).

"Boreal forests and tundra are critical for understanding the ecological impacts of Earth's changing climate," said Jack Kaye, associate director for research in NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington. "These ecosystems hold a third of the carbon stored on land -- in trees, shrubs and the frozen ground of the permafrost. That's a lot of potential greenhouse gases in play. We need to better understand these ecosystems, and how a warming climate will affect forests, wildlife and communities both regionally and globally."

ABoVE includes three project phases and two seasons of intensive airborne surveys. The research activities will be coordinated with other U.S. and Canadian partner organizations. The 21 projects selected for the first phase will investigate topics such as the impacts of wildfire on ecosystems and insect outbreaks on forest health.

"The region is rapidly changing, and we've already seen a lot of that from field measurements and remote sensing," said Scott Goetz, ABoVE science team lead and deputy director at Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. "It's an area that's warming with climate change, and there's a lot of potential for permafrost degradation, especially with these massive fires burning off the organic soil layer."

The field campaign will provide an opportunity to study how Arctic ecosystems respond to the scorching fires on a regional scale. More than 5 million acres in Alaska and 9.7 million acres in Canada have burned so far this year, making 2015 the second most devastating fire year on record for Alaska, with the most intensive three-week period of burning on record, according to Charles Miller, deputy science team lead for ABoVE at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

ABoVE researchers will survey Alaska's interior forests to better determine how much carbon is stored in these remote regions. They'll investigate the extent and thawing rate of permafrost -- soils that have been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years, locking in carbon-rich plant and organic matter.

"Warming air temperatures can thaw permafrost, which acts like unplugging a deep freezer," said Peter Griffith, ABoVE chief support scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The vegetation and carbon previously frozen in the soil start to rot and decay -- like food in an unplugged freezer -- releasing methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This increase in greenhouse gases further warms air temperatures, perpetuating the cycle by causing more thawing and more greenhouse gas release."

The ABoVE projects also will study impacts on the wildlife of Alaska and northern Canada, including habitat and migration changes for raptors, songbirds, Dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolves and brown bears.

The socio-ecological impacts of climate change will be a significant focus of the campaign. The Dall sheep study, for example, will examine the effects of their changing habitat on subsistence hunting and tourism. Another research group will work with village residents in the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta of western Alaska to track changes in vegetation, permafrost, fire and lakes.

"More societal impacts of change will be investigated in future projects, with another call for projects scheduled for 12 to 18 months from now," Griffith said. "What's happening in the Arctic is not staying in the Arctic. It certainly matters to the people who live there, but the consequences are far reaching."

The ABoVE field campaign's research agenda was developed through workshops that brought together scientific experts from across the United States and Canada, and builds on ongoing NASA projects including the JPL-managed Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) and Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) airborne missions.

For more information about the ABoVE campaign, visit:

<a href="http://above.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://above.nasa.gov/</a>

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information on NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nasa.gov/earth</a>

NASA to Study Arctic Climate Change Ecosystem Impacts

NASA to Study Arctic Climate Change Ecosystem Impacts. As part...

Olympic organizers promised Tuesday to introduce viral testing in the polluted waters in Rio de Janeiro where about 1,400 athletes will compete in next year's games.
The IOC and Brazilian organizers had repeatedly insisted that only bacterial testing was required despite an independent five-month analysis by The Associated Press showing dangerously high levels of viruses from human sewage at all Rio Olympic water venues.
Acknowledging that viral water testing was now necessary, local organizing committee head Carlos Nuzman told the AP that his team was still studying how best to carry out the analysis and what pathogens to search for.
"The viral tests, we will do and we will repeat this because the most important (thing) for us is the health of the athletes," Nuzman said in an interview in London. "We are working with our medical department and looking for this."
If the tests come back positive for viruses, organizers will assess the best way of cleaning up the water rather than abandoning any venues, such as Guanabara Bay, which is the venue for sailing and wind surfing.
Nuzman said he did not know when organizers would be ready to start the testing but indicated it could be by the end of the year.
"We are working daily, on a daily basis to create the test," he said.
Nuzman's comments came as a German sailor who fell ill after competing in a pre-Olympic test event in the filthy waters off Rio said he was recovering from his skin infections.
Erik Heil believes he was infected while competing in a regatta in Marina da Gloria, where he says untreated sewage is allowed to flow into the water.
Heil needed daily hospital treatment for multiple infections on his legs and hip. The Berlin hospital where he was treated said he had contracted MRSA, a type of bacteria resistant to many antibiotics.
Rio organizers now face a challenge of finding a lab with the equipment and trained professionals who can carry out viral testing of water. Fewer than five such labs exist in Brazil, including just one in Rio de Janeiro at the federal Health Ministry's Oswald Cruz Foundation research center.
The AP's viral testing is being carried out by scientist Fernando Spilki, a board member of the Brazilian Society for Virology and editor of its scientific journal, who is the coordinator of the environmental quality program at Feevale University in southern Brazil.
The AP's testing includes measuring the levels of human adenovirus types 2, 5 and 41 - which are considered "markers" for human sewage pollution of water in Brazil because they're the types most typically found in wastewater in the tropical nation.
The AP is also testing for rotavirus - globally, the biggest cause of gastroenteritis - and enterovirus, the most common cause of upper respiratory infections globally. Additionally, the AP tests include bacterial testing for fecal coliforms.
---
Brooks and AP writer Stephen Wade in Rio de Janeiro, and Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.
---
Rob Harris can be followed at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RobHarris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.twitter.com/RobHarris</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports</a>
© 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.

Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time. The president of Shell Oil Co. said exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's northwest coast is going well despite stormy weather last week that caused the company to halt operations for a few days.
And in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press Marvin Odum said he expects further protests against the company's plans for Arctic drilling like the ones in Seattle and Portland where activists in kayaks tried to block Shell vessels.
Arctic offshore drilling is bitterly opposed by environmental groups that say a spill cannot be cleaned in ice-choked waters and that industrial activity will harm polar bears, walrus and ice seals already harmed by diminished sea ice.
In Seattle, Shell faced protests on the water by "kayaktivists" upset over the company staging equipment in the city. In Portland, Oregon, Greenpeace USA protesters hung from the St. Johns Bridge to delay a Shell support vessel, from heading to the Arctic.
"I think the right assumptions for me to make are, it's not going to go away," Odum said. "We saw quite a bit of very public opposition when we were in the Pacific Northwest."
Odum said he's "110 percent ready" to work with people who want to find ways to improve drilling.
"I do have an issue with those that oppose who use illegal means or put the safety of themselves or the safety of anybody associated with this operation at risk," he said.
Odum said good progress is being made on the first well off Alaska's northwest coast.
"We had a few days in the last week where we couldn't operate because of the weather," he said. "Now we're coming out of that and it looks like we're moving into a time period of good weather."
President Barack Obama this week is in Alaska rallying support for measures to combat climate change, such as limits on carbon emissions.
Odum is staying in the same hotel as the president - the Hotel Captain Cook.
While environmentalists praise the president for curbing greenhouse gases, they pillory him for granting Shell permission to drill in the Chukchi Sea for the first time in 24 years.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Chukchi and Beaufort seas hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Oil will continue to be needed as the United States transitions to more renewable energy, Odum said.
"Oil will be required for a long time," Odum said. "Let's take a really close look at developing our own resources, control how it's done and get all the benefits that go along with it." Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time
Shell in two years of exploratory drilling and with up to six wells hopes to confirm a vast reservoir of oil. If it's found, Shell could apply for production permits and move oil by undersea pipe to the Alaska shore and then overland across northern Alaska to the trans-<a href="http://www.earth.com/image/dust-streams-over-the-gulf-of-alaska/">Alaska</a> pipeline. That could take more than a decade.
Odum is confident exploration can be done safely, and the overriding factor dictating whether Shell completes an exploratory well this year will be safety.
Shell is operating under strict Arctic rules put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Arctic offshore drilling has been scrutinized in the courts in lawsuits brought by drilling opponents, Odum said.
"It's probably fair to say, this is the most scrutinized, analyzed project - oil and gas project - probably anywhere in the world. I'm actually sure of that," he said.
All the scrutiny, along with Shell's own internal review, have gone into safety considerations. It's in the company's best interest, he said.
"We can't afford to have a problem here," Odum said.
© 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.

Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time

Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very...

Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time. The president of Shell Oil Co. said exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's northwest coast is going well despite stormy weather last week that caused the company to halt operations for a few days.
And in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press Marvin Odum said he expects further protests against the company's plans for Arctic drilling like the ones in Seattle and Portland where activists in kayaks tried to block Shell vessels.
<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-icebergs-affect-seawater-and-ocean-currents-far-from-the-continent/">Arctic</a> offshore drilling is bitterly opposed by environmental groups that say a spill cannot be cleaned in ice-choked waters and that industrial activity will harm polar bears, walrus and ice seals already harmed by diminished sea ice.
In Seattle, Shell faced protests on the water by "kayaktivists" upset over the company staging equipment in the city. In Portland, Oregon, Greenpeace USA protesters hung from the St. Johns Bridge to delay a Shell support vessel, from heading to the Arctic.
"I think the right assumptions for me to make are, it's not going to go away," Odum said. "We saw quite a bit of very public opposition when we were in the Pacific Northwest."
Odum said he's "110 percent ready" to work with people who want to find ways to improve drilling.
"I do have an issue with those that oppose who use illegal means or put the safety of themselves or the safety of anybody associated with this operation at risk," he said.
Odum said good progress is being made on the first well off Alaska's <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=pacific&amp;cvid=faf7d6ec872040de81efcec843997ca8&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">northwest</a> coast.
"We had a few days in the last week where we couldn't operate because of the weather," he said. "Now we're coming out of that and it looks like we're moving into a time period of good weather."
President Barack Obama this week is in Alaska rallying support for measures to combat climate change, such as limits on carbon emissions.
Odum is staying in the same hotel as the president - the Hotel Captain Cook.
While environmentalists praise the president for curbing greenhouse gases, they pillory him for granting Shell permission to drill in the Chukchi Sea for the first time in 24 years.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Chukchi and Beaufort seas hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Oil will continue to be needed as the United States transitions to more renewable energy, Odum said.
"Oil will be required for a long time," Odum said. "Let's take a really close look at developing our own resources, control how it's done and get all the benefits that go along with it."
Shell in two years of exploratory drilling and with up to six wells hopes to confirm a vast reservoir of oil. If it's found, Shell could apply for production permits and move oil by undersea pipe to the Alaska shore and then overland across northern Alaska to the trans-Alaska pipeline. That could take more than a decade.
Odum is confident exploration can be done safely, and the overriding factor dictating whether Shell completes an exploratory well this year will be safety.
Shell is operating under strict Arctic rules put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Arctic offshore drilling has been scrutinized in the courts in lawsuits brought by drilling opponents, Odum said.
"It's probably fair to say, this is the most scrutinized, analyzed project - oil and gas project - probably anywhere in the world. I'm actually sure of that," he said.
All the scrutiny, along with Shell's own internal review, have gone into safety considerations. It's in the company's best interest, he said.
"We can't afford to have a problem here," Odum said.
© 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.

As part of a broad effort to study the environmental and societal effects of Arctic climate change, NASA has begun a multi-year field campaign to investigate ecological impacts of the rapidly changing climate in Alaska and northwestern Canada, such as the thawing of permafrost, wildfires and changes to wildlife habitats.

The Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) will bring together on-the-ground research in Alaska and northwestern Canada with data collected by NASA airborne instruments, satellites and other agency programs, including the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), and upcoming Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) missions.

Over the next decade, scientists from NASA and other public and private organizations will investigate questions about the formidable region that spans about 2.5 million square miles (6.4 million square kilometers).

"Boreal forests and tundra are critical for understanding the ecological impacts of Earth's changing climate," said Jack Kaye, associate director for research in NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington. "These ecosystems hold a third of the carbon stored on land -- in trees, shrubs and the frozen ground of the permafrost. That's a lot of potential greenhouse gases in play. We need to better understand these ecosystems, and how a warming climate will affect forests, wildlife and communities both regionally and globally."

ABoVE includes three project phases and two seasons of intensive airborne surveys. The research activities will be coordinated with other U.S. and Canadian partner organizations. The 21 projects selected for the first phase will investigate topics such as the impacts of wildfire on ecosystems and insect outbreaks on forest health.

"The region is rapidly changing, and we've already seen a lot of that from field measurements and remote sensing," said Scott Goetz, ABoVE science team lead and deputy director at Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. "It's an area that's warming with climate change, and there's a lot of potential for permafrost degradation, especially with these massive fires burning off the organic soil layer."

The field campaign will provide an opportunity to study how Arctic ecosystems respond to the scorching fires on a regional scale. More than 5 million acres in Alaska and 9.7 million acres in Canada have burned so far this year, making 2015 the second most devastating fire year on record for Alaska, with the most intensive three-week period of burning on record, according to Charles Miller, deputy science team lead for ABoVE at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

ABoVE researchers will survey Alaska's interior forests to better determine how much carbon is stored in these remote regions. They'll investigate the extent and thawing rate of permafrost -- soils that have been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years, locking in carbon-rich plant and organic matter.

"Warming air temperatures can thaw permafrost, which acts like unplugging a deep freezer," said Peter Griffith, ABoVE chief support scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "The vegetation and carbon previously frozen in the soil start to rot and decay -- like food in an unplugged freezer -- releasing methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This increase in greenhouse gases further warms air temperatures, perpetuating the cycle by causing more thawing and more greenhouse gas release."

The ABoVE projects also will study impacts on the wildlife of Alaska and northern Canada, including habitat and migration changes for raptors, songbirds, Dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolves and brown bears.

The socio-ecological impacts of climate change will be a significant focus of the campaign. The Dall sheep study, for example, will examine the effects of their changing habitat on subsistence hunting and tourism. Another research group will work with village residents in the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta of western Alaska to track changes in vegetation, permafrost, fire and lakes.

"More societal impacts of change will be investigated in future projects, with another call for projects scheduled for 12 to 18 months from now," Griffith said. "What's happening in the Arctic is not staying in the Arctic. It certainly matters to the people who live there, but the consequences are far reaching."

The ABoVE field campaign's research agenda was developed through workshops that brought together scientific experts from across the United States and Canada, and builds on ongoing NASA projects including the JPL-managed Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) and Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) airborne missions.

For more information about the ABoVE campaign, visit:

<a href="http://above.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://above.nasa.gov/</a>

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information on NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.nasa.gov/earth</a>

As part of a broad effort to study the environmental...

Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time. The president of Shell Oil Co. said exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's northwest coast is going well despite stormy weather last week that caused the company to halt operations for a few days.
And in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press Marvin Odum said he expects further protests against the company's plans for Arctic drilling like the ones in Seattle and Portland where activists in kayaks tried to block Shell vessels.
Arctic offshore drilling is bitterly opposed by environmental groups that say a spill cannot be cleaned in ice-choked waters and that industrial activity will harm polar bears, walrus and ice seals already harmed by diminished sea ice. Shell President: Oil Drilling Will Be Necessary For A Very Long Time
In Seattle, Shell faced protests on the water by "kayaktivists" upset over the company staging equipment in the city. In Portland, Oregon, Greenpeace USA protesters hung from the St. Johns Bridge to delay a Shell support vessel, from heading to the Arctic.
"I think the right assumptions for me to make are, it's not going to go away," Odum said. "We saw quite a bit of very public opposition when we were in the Pacific Northwest."
Odum said he's "110 percent ready" to work with people who want to find ways to improve drilling.
"I do have an issue with those that oppose who use illegal means or put the safety of themselves or the safety of anybody associated with this operation at risk," he said.
Odum said good progress is being made on the first well off Alaska's northwest coast.
"We had a few days in the last week where we couldn't operate because of the weather," he said. "Now we're coming out of that and it looks like we're moving into a time period of good weather."
President Barack Obama this week is in Alaska rallying support for measures to combat <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=9b86354c02ca45f9ab266b835b3ff354&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate</a> change, such as limits on carbon emissions.
Odum is staying in the same hotel as the president - the Hotel Captain Cook.
While environmentalists praise the president for curbing greenhouse gases, they pillory him for granting Shell permission to drill in the Chukchi Sea for the first time in 24 years.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Chukchi and Beaufort seas hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Oil will continue to be needed as the United States transitions to more renewable energy, Odum said.
"Oil will be required for a long time," Odum said. "Let's take a really close look at developing our own resources, control how it's done and get all the benefits that go along with it."
Shell in two years of exploratory drilling and with up to six wells hopes to confirm a vast reservoir of oil. If it's found, Shell could apply for production permits and move oil by undersea pipe to the Alaska shore and then overland across northern Alaska to the trans-<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=alaska&amp;cvid=219f9c904b334f669251ad7fb8fa315b&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Alaska</a> pipeline. That could take more than a decade.
Odum is confident exploration can be done safely, and the overriding factor dictating whether Shell completes an exploratory well this year will be safety.
Shell is operating under strict Arctic rules put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Arctic offshore drilling has been scrutinized in the courts in lawsuits brought by drilling opponents, Odum said.
"It's probably fair to say, this is the most scrutinized, analyzed project - <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-soils-are-collapsing-under-rising-temperatures/">oil</a> and gas project - probably anywhere in the world. I'm actually sure of that," he said.
All the scrutiny, along with Shell's own internal review, have gone into safety considerations. It's in the company's best interest, he said.
"We can't afford to have a problem here," Odum said.
© 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.

Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System. A massive wastewater spill from an old gold mine in Colorado has prompted state officials to expand the list of downstream users they will warn after such accidents.
Last month, Colorado health officials notified only agencies inside the state after 3 million gallons of water tainted with heavy metals gushed out of the Gold King mine near Silverton and eventually reached the Animas, San Juan and Colorado rivers in New Mexico and Utah.
In the future, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will warn downstream states as well, department spokesman Mark Salley said.
Colorado officials didn't know the magnitude of the spill when they issued their warnings, he said.
Officials in New Mexico were unhappy because they say the federal Environmental Protection Agency didn't alerted them when an EPA-supervised crew inadvertently triggered the spill about 70 miles from the New Mexico border.
The crew was trying to enter the mine as part of a cleanup operation and breached a debris pile that was holding back the water.
New Mexico officials first heard about the spill nearly 24 hours after it happened from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, not the EPA, said Chris Sanchez, a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez.
The Southern Ute reservation straddles the Animas River in Colorado, and tribal officials had been alerted by the Colorado health department.
New Mexico officials contacted the <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/gentoo-penguins-are-not-one-species-but-four/">EPA</a> after hearing from the Southern Utes, Sanchez said.
"The EPA to this day has not been able to answer why the agency never contacted the state of New Mexico," Sanchez said in an email to The Associated Press.
EPA spokesman David Gray said he spoke to<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=new+mexico&amp;cvid=8209ebae9db64ad1ae5f652b46b57e00&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> New Mexico's</a> Environment Department about the spill at midday Aug. 6, a day after it occurred. Gray, who works in the EPA's Dallas regional office, said that was shortly after he learned about it.
New Mexico is part of a Dallas-based EPA region; Colorado is part of a separate region with headquarters in Denver.
The EPA has come under sharp criticism for causing the spill and for its handling of the aftermath. At least four congressional committee hearings are scheduled, starting Sept. 9. Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System
The EPA's inspector general is investigating. The Interior Department, which is separate from the EPA, is also investigating, with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said the agency accepts responsibility for the spill, calling it tragic and unfortunate.
The EPA has said water quality is returning to pre-spill levels. Colorado health officials said it is safe to eat trout from the Animas River.
---
Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP</a>
© 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.

Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System

Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System....

Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System. A massive wastewater spill from an old gold mine in Colorado has prompted state officials to expand the list of downstream users they will warn after such accidents.
Last month, Colorado health officials notified only agencies inside the state after 3 million gallons of water tainted with heavy metals gushed out of the Gold King mine near Silverton and eventually reached the Animas, San Juan and Colorado rivers in New Mexico and Utah.
In the future, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will warn downstream states as well, department spokesman Mark Salley said.
Colorado officials didn't know the magnitude of the spill when they issued their warnings, he said.
Officials in New Mexico were unhappy because they say the federal Environmental Protection Agency didn't alerted them when an EPA-supervised crew inadvertently triggered the spill about 70 miles from the New Mexico border.
The crew was trying to enter the mine as part of a cleanup operation and breached a debris pile that was holding back the water.
New Mexico officials first heard about the spill nearly 24 hours after it happened from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, not the EPA, said Chris Sanchez, a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez.
The Southern Ute reservation straddles the Animas River in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/cameron-peak-fire-is-now-the-largest-in-colorados-recorded-history/">Colorado</a>, and tribal officials had been alerted by the Colorado health department.
New Mexico officials contacted the EPA after hearing from the Southern Utes, Sanchez said.
"The EPA to this day has not been able to answer why the agency never contacted the state of New Mexico," Sanchez said in an email to The Associated Press.
EPA spokesman David Gray said he spoke to New Mexico's Environment Department about the spill at midday Aug. 6, a day after it occurred. Gray, who works in the EPA's Dallas regional office, said that was shortly after he learned about it.
New Mexico is part of a Dallas-based EPA region; Colorado is part of a separate region with headquarters in Denver.
The EPA has come under sharp criticism for causing the spill and for its handling of the aftermath. At least four congressional committee hearings are scheduled, starting Sept. 9.
The EPA's inspector general is investigating. The Interior Department, which is separate from the EPA, is also investigating, with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said the agency accepts responsibility for the spill, calling it tragic and unfortunate. Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Sparks Changes In Warning System
The EPA has said water quality is returning to pre-spill levels. Colorado health officials said it is safe to eat trout from the Animas River.
---
Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP</a>
© 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.

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



---



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



---



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



---



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...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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