Imagine a world where robotic insects take over the critical task of pollination, freeing farmers from relying on the whims of nature or resorting to manually pollinating crops with paintbrushes. 



These high-tech marvels, inspired by nature’s own pollinators, promise to revolutionize agriculture by boosting efficiency and reducing environmental impact. 



Scientists at MIT are diligently working to reinvent artificial pollination, which will bring us closer to this sensational reality.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-pioneers-of-giant-transformations">Small pioneers of giant transformations</h2>



These tiny mechanical marvels that are smaller than the size of a paperclip are expected to expedite <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insect-apocalypse-australasia-is-facing-a-hidden-pollination-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pollination</a>, thereby boosting crop yields while minimizing traditional agriculture's harmful effects on the environment.



Inspired by bees, these robotic insects could soon swarm out of mechanical hives to perform precise pollination, mimicking the efficiency and agility of their natural counterparts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-inception-of-robotic-insects">The inception of robotic insects</h2>



<a href="https://www.mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIT</a> researchers drew inspiration from bees to design these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-robotic-fish-developed-to-collect-microplastics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">miniature robots</a>. 



Kevin Chen, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), head of the Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory within the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), and the senior author of an open-access paper on the new design, leads this innovative project.



Chen and his team recognized that earlier versions of robotic insects lacked the endurance, speed, and maneuverability of natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-are-not-just-attracted-to-plants-by-scent-but-also-by-humidity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pollinators</a>. 



This led them to redesign the robots, mimicking the anatomy and flight mechanics of bees to achieve greater efficiency and precision.



The research team, including co-lead authors Suhan Kim and Yi-Hsuan Hsiao, EECS graduate students, collaborated with Zhijian Ren and summer visiting student Jiashu Huang to produce their findings, which were published in Science Robotics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-evolution-of-robotic-insects">The evolution of robotic insects</h2>



The latest robotic insects represent a significant leap in design. 



The revamped bots can hover for about 1,000 seconds - over 100 times longer than their predecessors.



Weighing less than a paperclip, these robots achieve remarkable speeds, perform acrobatic stunts like double flips, and track trajectories as intricate as spelling "M-I-T."



The design improvements include more sophisticated transmissions that connect the wings to soft actuators, or artificial muscles, which minimize mechanical strain while increasing precision and agility. 



Each unit now features a single wing pointing outward, which reduces interference between wings and creates space for future enhancements, such as tiny batteries or sensors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-overcoming-challenges">Overcoming challenges </h2>



Initial designs, with four units and eight wings, faced issues where the wings interfered with each other’s lift forces. 



"But there is no <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-insect-decline-what-are-the-causes-and-consequences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">insect</a> that has eight wings. In our old design, the performance of each individual unit was always better than the assembled robot," Chen remarked.



The team halved the number of wings and reconfigured their alignment, significantly improving flight performance.



Fabricating the wing hinges was another challenge. 



These 2-centimeter-long, 200-micron-wide components required a multistep laser-cutting process to ensure precision. 



"If you have even a tiny alignment issue during the fabrication process, the wing hinge will be slanted instead of rectangular, which affects the wing kinematics," Chen explained.



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



The latest design breakthroughs bring the team closer to practical applications like assisted pollination.



“The amount of flight we demonstrated in this paper is probably longer than the entire amount of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hummingbird-wings-the-future-of-robotic-flight/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flight</a> our field has been able to accumulate with these robotic insects,” Chen shared.



Future goals include achieving flight durations in excess of 10,000 seconds and enhancing the robots’ precision to land and take off from flower centers.



In the long term, the team envisions equipping the robots with sensors, batteries, and computing capabilities for autonomous navigation outside the lab.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-glimpse-into-the-future">A glimpse into the future</h2>



As Kevin Chen and his team continue to push the boundaries of robotic insect design, the promise of swarming, battery-powered pollinators edges closer to reality. 



With each iteration, these miniature marvels become more efficient, agile, and precise, bringing them one step closer to deployment in real-world environments.



They could bring revolutionary change in modern agriculture by making it possible to produce fruits and vegetables within controlled environments such as multilevel warehouses with robotic insects to remove the shackles of seasonality, climatic variability, and the decline of natural pollinators on crop production.



It is envisioned that such a shift would bring a surge in crop yield while opening doors to a greener, more responsible means of farm operation through pesticide-free and non-water hogging systems.



A whole vision of an army of robot pollinators marching across farms symbolizes technology with the science of biomimicry redefining everything related to the food sector. 



These robots may, one day, help solve some of the world's most pressing problems in food security and environmental conservation.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adp4256" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Robotics</a>.



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Robotic insects may be the future of farming and plant pollination

Imagine a world where robotic insects take over the critical task of pollination, freeing farmers from relying on the whims of nature or resorting to manually pollinating crops with paintbrushes. These high-tech marvels, inspired by nature’s own pollinators, promise to revolutionize agriculture by boosting efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Scientists at MIT are diligently working to reinvent artificial pollination, which will bring us closer to this sensational reality. Small pioneers of giant transformations These tiny mechanical marvels that are smaller than the size of a paperclip are...

Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines. The Obama administration is proposing new regulations Thursday designed to reduce the impact of coal mining on the nation's streams.
Current federal regulation designed to protect streams near coal mines date back to 1983. The proposed regulations, long anticipated, would maintain the buffer zone that prevents coal mining from within 100 feet of streams to prevent debris from being dumped into the water. But they will set clearer guidelines for companies to follow. Current federal regulation designed to protect streams near coal mines date back to 1983.
A summary obtained by the Associated Press said the regulations would update reclamation practices that require companies to restore streams and return mined areas to a condition capable of supporting the land uses available before mining activities. Companies also would have to replant native trees and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=vegation&amp;cvid=1b5c9942b1d54b32ada0a50ceacc3c5d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">vegetation</a>.
Mine operators often already undertake such restoration work. The proposed rule acknowledges those advancements and seeks greater consistency from companies to expedite forest recovery.
The Obama administration has made clear for a while that it intended to develop a new rule that keeps pace with current science and modern mining practices. Some Republican lawmakers and industry groups have voiced fears that the proposed regulatory changes would force some mining operations to close, leading to job loss and higher utility costs in states where surface mining is most common, namely West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The administration is maintaining that the costs of the proposed rule is projected to have a minimal impact on the coal industry overall. Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines
Leading up to the release of the proposed rule later Thursday, Republicans sought to undercut the legitimacy of process that the Office of Surface <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/potential-impacts-of-deep-seabed-mining-are-not-yet-understood/">Mining</a> Reclamation and Enforcement undertook in developing it. A House committee posted letters from nine states withdrawing from an environmental review process that coincided with the rule's development because, as one West Virginia official put it, a "lack of fundamental engagement."
President George W. Bush sought to relax the existing regulations shortly leaving office. The regulatory change allowed excess spoils to be place in streams, but added new requirements designed to reduce the adverse environmental impact. A federal court tossed the rule after environmental groups sued, and the 1983 version was reinstated.
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Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines

Obama Proposes New Rule To Protect Streams Near Coal Mines....

California Drought

The House on Thursday passed GOP-led legislation designed to bring more water to California's farm belt amid a severe and lengthy drought.
Similar legislation has failed in the last two congressional sessions, and the White House and Democrats remain opposed.
The four-year California drought has forced communities to cut water use. Some rural areas have been particularly hurt as the state's water distribution systems curtailed the amount of water for agriculture. The bill is designed to take more water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before it flows into the ocean. It also seeks to speed up studies for a handful of new or expanded dams.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 245-176. Opponents said that diverting more water to farms will take water from other California communities and harm the state's salmon fishing industry. Only five Democrats voted for the bill.
Republicans have blamed some of the cutbacks on environmental regulations designed to protect salmon populations and the threatened Delta smelt, a three-inch-long fish that is disappearing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. At times over the years, state and federal officials have reduced the amount of water pumped from the Delta to prevent smelt from getting sucked into the pumps.
The bill authored by Republican Rep. David Valadao required that federal regulators maintain certain pumping levels unless the secretary of the Interior Department certifies that level would harm the long-term survival of the Delta smelt and no other alternatives to protect the smelt are available. The 170-page bill also sets deadlines for the completion of feasibility studies to build or enlarge five dams in the state and ends efforts to build up salmon populations in the San Joaquin River.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said that people would lose their livelihoods if lawmakers didn't act, and consumers would have to rely more on food from countries that don't have the same labor and environmental laws.
"We designed the bill to move as much water down south to our farms and to our cities as possible without making any fundamental changes to the environmental law," McCarthy said.
Republicans focused on how more water flowing out to the ocean should be captured for agriculture. Democrats said that would upset the balance of the delta, harming both the environment and the quality of the drinking water.
"If that fresh water doesn't run through and run out to the ocean, the salt water runs back in. I have two major cities in my district that rely on that for a source of water," said Democratic Rep Mike Thompson. "If this bill were to pass, their water supply is in jeopardy. You can't drink salt water. It just doesn't work."
The White House said it strongly opposes the bill and argued that dictating operational decisions for the state's water distribution systems could limit water supplies. Other provisions would likely result in the resumption of costly litigation, said a statement from the White House Office of Management and Budget.
"Much of the bill contains provisions that have little connection to the ongoing drought," the statement said.
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US House Passes Another Bill To Help Stem California Drought

The House on Thursday passed GOP-led legislation designed to bring...

Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water. In their annual, detailed physical of Earth's climate, scientists say the world is in increasingly hot and rising water.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society's annual state of the climate report, released Thursday, delves into the details of already reported record-smashing warmth globally in 2014, giving special attention to the world's oceans.
<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=NOAA&amp;cvid=6c942ade05c34f1fa128b7ea6168776f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NOAA</a> climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report, said the seas last year "were just ridiculous." Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water
The report said ocean surface temperatures were the warmest in 135 years of records, with the seas holding record levels of heat energy down to 2,300 feet below the surface. <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/clear-blue-waters-highlight-the-caribbean-sea/">Sea</a> level also hit modern highs, partly because warmer water expands. Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water
About 93 percent of the man-made heat energy from the burning of fossil fuels went into the world's oceans, said NOAA oceanographer Greg Johnson. And that heat energy trapped in the ocean affects all sorts of weather, including providing more fuel for tropical cyclones, said Tom Karl, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
All sorts of warming events shifted into overdrive, especially in the Pacific. In addition to a brewing El Nino - where weather worldwide is changed by warm water in parts of the central Pacific - there was a warming of the northeast Pacific nicknamed "The Blob" and a larger scale warming called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which often coincides with faster warming of the planet, Johnson said.
Johnson said subtropical fish not normally seen that far north were appearing off the coast of an unusually warm Alaska.
More than 400 scientists wrote the peer-reviewed 292-page study, the 25th year that the climate checkup was conducted. Its highlights include:
-Four different measuring systems concluded that 2014 was hottest year on record on Earth's surface. However, because of margins of error, there's a chance it could only be second hottest.
-Many places, such as Europe, not only had record heat on average, but record patches of extreme heat.
-There were 91 tropical cyclones worldwide in 2014, slightly more than the 30-year average of 82.
-Permafrost in Alaska measuring sites thawed, as temperatures at 65 feet underground set record highs for the second year in a row.
-Glaciers worldwide continued to shrink, but not at a record pace.
-Arctic sea ice, while not at a record setting low last year, is still declining over the long-term.
-However, Antarctic sea ice hit record high levels for the third straight year; different factors aside from temperature have been a cause, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden.
Jeff Severinghaus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who wasn't part of the report, said if this is Earth's annual checkup, "the doctor is saying `you are gravely ill.'"
---
Online:
NOAA's State of the Climate: <a href="http://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2014-state-climate-highlights" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2014-state-climate-highlights</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water

Scientists: Earth's Climate In Hot And Rising Water. In their...

Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights. Ranchers in New Mexico, California and Washington state have challenged a new Obama administration rule giving federal agencies authority to protect some streams and wetlands.
The Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation announced it has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/minnesota-stricter-emissions-standards/">Minnesota</a> on behalf of the ranchers over the recent expansion of the Clean Water Act.
The rule came in response to calls from the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=us+supreme+court&amp;cvid=be7780b6700a45c0904345024bd0b766&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">U.S. Supreme</a> Court and Congress for the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify which smaller waterways are protected under the law. Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights
The foundation argues the rule is unconstitutional because it sets no limit on the reach of the Clean Water Act.
"We are suing to block the administration's breathtaking attempt to control practically every pond, stream, and ditch in the country," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Reed Hopper.
EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The agency said in a statement that the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Clean Water Rule because protection for many of the nation's streams and wetlands had been confusing, complex and time-consuming as a result of past Supreme Court decisions.
"The agencies developed a rule that ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more precisely defined, more predictably determined, and easier for businesses and industry to understand," the EPA said.
Minnesota-based Pierce Investment Co. also is named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit that seeks to throw out the new rule.
The company owns property in Marshall County, Minnesota, that the Corps of Engineers claims is subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.
In June, 13 states led by North Dakota filed a lawsuit over the same rule change.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the "Waters of the U.S." rule by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers is a power grab that is "unnecessary and unlawful and will do nothing to increase water quality."
That lawsuit, filed in federal court in Bismarck, also asks for the rule to be thrown out.
Nine other states later joined the lawsuit.
---
Follow Russell Contreras at <a href="http://twitter.com/russcontreras" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/russcontreras</a>
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Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights

Ranchers Sue Feds Over State Water Rights. Ranchers in New...

Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming. A study of an Alaska polar bear population in summer concludes the bear's biology will not help stave off starvation in the face of global warming.
The study of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears by university, federal and private researchers over three years concludes they have no special ability to minimize energy loss during increasing periods of fasting brought on by <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=cd165a8ab6cf4a029c787c6b55acd97d&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate</a> warming, less sea ice and fewer hunting days. Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming
The research rejects the idea that polar bears can avoid harmful declines in body condition in a sort of "walking <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-ground-squirrels-recycle-their-own-nutrients-during-hibernation/">hibernation,</a>" as suggested by 1970s research.
Co-author, Steve Amstrup, a retired U.S. Geological Survey polar bear researcher now affiliated with Montana-based Polar Bears International, said the "walking hibernation" theory arose with observations of bears at Canada's Hudson Bay.
The paper published Thursday in the journal Science instead concludes that polar bears have no such ability to conserve energy and react like all other mammals when faced with limited food.
"We haven't known until now whether bears really reduce their metabolism in summer, which, if they did, may have offered a limited buffer from some of the negative effects of ice loss," said lead author John Whiteman of the University of Wyoming.
Fasting is a way of life for many animals. For polar bears, fasting can last eight months.
Their main prey is ringed seals. Hunting is most successful from April to July when seals use sea ice for rearing pups and molting.
In months following, ringed seals spend most of their time in water. Some polar bears retreat to land, where feeding opportunities are limited, or stay on sea ice that in recent years has retreated far north of the shallow, biologically abundant outer continental shelf.
Using helicopters launched from a Coast Guard icebreaker, researchers sampled bears on summer sea ice.
"This paper gives us the first solid understanding of polar bear metabolism in summer, especially out on the sea ice over deep water far from shore, where bears have never been sampled before," Whiteman said.
The study found that activity and temperature patterns recorded for polar bears in summer were not comparable to patterns for hibernating bears in winter dens. The patterns were typical of food-deprived mammals rather than hibernating mammals, Amstrup said.
Karyn Rode, U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist in Anchorage who was part of a polar bear fasting study published in 2012, said the new study confirms that "walking hibernation" does not accurately describe polar bears' energetic status in the summer.
"It's definitely a different line of evidence that further supports that they can't conserve energy when they're fasting," Rode said.
Additional studies are coming out, but scientists say it's already clear what needs to be done.
"We already know the answer to the question, `What do we need to do to save polar bears from extinction?" Amstrup said. "All of the studies in the world won't help us there. If we don't deal with greenhouse gas emissions, those of us who have been studying polar bears for our whole lives will be nothing more than polar bear historians."
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Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming

Scientists: Polar Bears Can't Stave Off Starvation From Global Warming....

Silhouette of oil platform in sea against moody sky at sunset

Unused Oil And Gas Wells Becoming A Big Problem. Five years after the Obama administration promised to move swiftly to permanently plug unused oil and gas wells in the Gulf of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=mexico&amp;cvid=7b266c382ce24b508c97e74476b994cd&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Mexico,</a> even more shafts are lingering for longer periods with only temporary sealing, an Associated Press investigation shows.
It is not clear how many incompletely sealed wells may have leaked - they generally are not monitored as carefully as active wells - but they contain fewer barriers to pent-up petroleum and rupture more easily. The threat to the environment increases with time. Unused Oil And Gas Wells Becoming A Big Problem
In July 2010, during the BP <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/life-in-deep-ocean-sediments-can-survive-boiling-hot-temperatures/">oil</a> spill, the AP reported that the Gulf was littered with more than 27,000 unused wells, including 14 percent left with just temporary seals. Unused Oil And Gas Wells Becoming A Big Problem
The AP's new analysis of federal data shows that the neglect of long-idle wells has intensified since 2010, despite the federal push after the BP accident:
-Twenty-five percent more wells have now stayed temporarily sealed for more than a year, jumping from 2,855 to 3,576.
-Wells sealed temporarily for more than a year make up 86 percent of all temporarily sealed shafts, up from 78 percent.
-The number of wells equipped with temporary barriers for more than five years has risen from 1,631 to 1,895 - a 16 percent increase.
"I think there are signs of progress, but, my God, we got a long way to go," said Bob Bea, an emeritus engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, when told of the AP findings. Bea, who advised the government on safety after the BP spill, said he'd give "a poor grade" to efforts to seal wells since then.
In the aftermath of the BP spill, federal officials rolled out a program to push companies to permanently seal wells "in a timely manner." That effort, known as the "Idle Iron" program, is beset by loopholes that essentially allow companies to delay permanent closure indefinitely, the AP found.
The government allows wells to remain temporarily sealed when companies say they intend to reuse them. However, the rules let oil companies dodge either temporary or permanent sealing on active leases simply by filing plans to make use of the well eventually. Such wells are not considered idle. Other wells without any conceivable use must be plugged after five years, but temporary sealing is then acceptable until the lease expires. Some leases have lasted for almost 70 years.
The AP analysis in May shows that 1,065 wells have been left with temporary sealing for at least a decade, up from 1,009 wells in 2010 - a rise of 6 percent.
Such wells are subject to corrosion and intense pressure at depths down to almost two miles below the water's surface. Shafts penetrate as far as six miles into the seabed.
"The older it is, probably the more attention needs to be given to monitoring and maintaining it," said John Rogers Smith, a retired professor at Louisiana State University who also used to do engineering work for offshore wells in the oil industry. "Are ... people really paying attention to something that's sitting there doing nothing for five-plus years?"
Permanent sealing installs multiple plugs, including one very near the mouth of the well. Permanent closing also cuts off all hardware 15 feet below the seafloor, blocking any ready oil pathway to the water. But these jobs cost more and take more time than temporary sealing, which also entails multiple seals but allows a smaller uppermost plug to be set 1,000 feet down from the mouth of the well. Temporary sealing keeps piping in place that can channel a leak up to the seabed.
Companies often seal wells temporarily to allow time to work up plans to fix a drilling problem or damage from a storm. Some owners, though, temporarily close wells for economic reasons: to wait for higher oil prices or better drilling technology.
Roger Anderson, an oil geophysicist at Columbia University, said some reasons to keep a well temporarily sealed are legitimate. But at a minimum, he said wells in this temporary condition since the 1950s should be permanently sealed, since they were drilled before many improvements in well design.
In mid-May, according to a federal well database, there were three Gulf wells on U.S. leases kept in temporary sealing since the 1950s and another 17 since the 1960s.
Leaks in such wells are likely to occur in small volumes that could easily go unnoticed. But federal reports have for years warned that such releases are harmful to the environment. And state and federal regulators have acknowledged that even drained wells can re-pressurize, and some sealed wells eventually leak.
The BP leak, the worst-ever in offshore U.S. waters, occurred at a well that the company was in the process of temporarily closing. The accident killed 11 workers and spilled up to 172 million gallons of oil. Federal officials defend their well safety efforts since then, and there have more permanent closures. There were 25,928 permanently sealed wells in mid-May, up 10 percent from 23,468 at the end of the BP spill, according to the AP analysis of federal data.
Michael Saucier, who oversees federal efforts to close idle wells, said in a statement that he intends that "wells with no future use be properly abandoned."
"From the data available," he said, "it is evident that we are accomplishing this goal."
Saucier's agency, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, released data to the AP saying that as of February, only 1,120 wells remained targets of its Idle Iron program to permanently plug wells. There were 3,233 in October 2010 - a two-thirds decrease. The number of oil platforms considered idle has dropped from 617 to 266.
However, wells on active leases can remain temporarily sealed for decades under this program, as long there are plans for reuse.
Asked about the rules, federal regulators suggested that some permanent sealing jobs would be unwise, because cutters and explosives used to fully sever and bury wells may pose danger to nearby active wells. They said unsafe wells can be ordered to undergo permanent sealing if necessary.
Fieldwood Energy LLC and subsidiaries - Fieldwood Energy Offshore LLC and Fieldwood SD Offshore LLC - have 711 temporarily abandoned Gulf wells, more than any other companies, according to the AP analysis. Those wells also include more such wells inactive for over five years than anyone else - 419 - including seven dating to the 1960s.
Mike Dane, a vice president of the private Houston-based Fieldwood Energy, said in a statement that temporary seals act as "vital barriers necessary to ensure a well is safely abandoned," even without permanent abandonment. He acknowledged that it's "generally more practical" to wait for full permanent closure until the associated oil platform is removed.
Oil platforms often remain in place until leases expire. Even then, the rules let companies take another year to fully seal wells.
The pressure on the Gulf is apt to keep increasing. The overall number of wells has increased by 5 percent since 2010: from 50,784 to 53,481. The number of temporarily abandoned wells has risen by 11 percent, from 3,669 to 4,081.
---
The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/investigate@ap.org" target="-blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">investigate@ap.org</a>
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Unused Oil And Gas Wells Becoming A Big Problem

Unused Oil And Gas Wells Becoming A Big Problem. Five...

528069.TIF

Arctic Sea Ice Has Increased Since 2013. Measurements from ESA’s CryoSat satellite show that the volume of Arctic sea ice increased by a third following the unusually cool summer of 2013. This new finding suggests that ice in the northern hemisphere is more sensitive to changes in summer melting than it is to winter cooling.

Scientists at University College London (UCL) and the University of Leeds in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=UK&amp;cvid=9fd5a8aeb6764a0b9004b0ecf4caeaf2&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">UK</a> used 88 million sea-ice thickness measurements taken by CryoSat between 2010 and 2014.

The study, published today in Nature Geoscience, shows a 14% reduction in the volume of summer sea ice between 2010 and 2012, but the volume of ice jumped by 41% in 2013, when the summer was 5% cooler than the previous year.

[caption id="attachment_2383011" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121938/arctic-sea-ice-autumn_1big_esa.png"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383011" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121938/arctic-sea-ice-autumn_1big_esa-150x150.png" alt="Changes in autumn ice" width="150" height="150" /></a> Changes in autumn ice[/caption]

Lead author Rachel Tilling, from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) at UCL, said, “The summer of 2013 was much cooler than recent years, with temperatures typical of those seen in the late 1990s.

“This allowed thick sea ice to persist northwest of Greenland because there were fewer days when it could melt. Although models have suggested that the volume of Arctic sea ice is in long-term decline, we know now that it can recover by a significant amount if the melting season is cut short.”

Launched in 2010, CryoSat measures the height of ice – both of that floating in the polar oceans and of the vast ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica. This information is essential for working out the thickness of the ice and how it is changing and, ultimately, how the volume of Earth’s ice is being affected by the climate.

The volume of Arctic ice has been steadily falling since the late 1970s, but was difficult to assess accurately before CryoSat.

[caption id="attachment_2383010" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121935/arctic-sea-ice-spring_1big_esa.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383010" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121935/arctic-sea-ice-spring_1big_esa-150x150.jpg" alt="Spring average" width="150" height="150" /></a> Spring average[/caption]

Rachel added, “Until CryoSat was launched, it was tricky to measure the volume of Arctic sea ice as the pack drifts and measurements could not be taken across the whole region.

“Together with maps of sea-ice extent, our measurements of sea-ice thickness now complete the picture because they reveal what’s going on below the water, where most of the action happens.”

The team say although the first five years of CryoSat measurements have revealed important information on the state of Arctic sea ice, the record is still short to establish a long-term trend.

Professor Andrew Shepherd, Director of CPOM, said, “Understanding what controls the amount of Arctic sea ice takes us one step closer to making reliable predictions of how long it will last, which is important because it is a key component of Earth’s climate system.

“Although the jump in volume means that the region is unlikely to be ice free this summer, we still expect temperatures to rise in the future, and so the events of 2013 will have simply wound the clock back a few years on the long-term pattern of decline.

[caption id="attachment_2383009" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121929/cryosat_10big_esa.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383009" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/07/20121929/cryosat_10big_esa-150x150.jpg" alt="Cryosat satellite" width="150" height="150" /></a> Cryosat satellite[/caption]

“Our goal is to make sure we do not lose this unique capability to monitor Arctic sea ice when the mission ends.”

The team now plans to use CryoSat’s measurements of changing sea-ice thickness to help improve the models that are used to predict future climate change, and also to assist maritime activities in the Arctic region, which can be dangerous and costly to navigate.

Tommaso Parrinello, ESA’s CryoSat Manager, said, “CryoSat has been in orbit for over five years now and still continues to demonstrate excellence by delivering the precise data that scientists need to advance polar science – we remain very proud of our satellite.”

---

<a href="http://www.esa.int" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Space Agency</a>

Arctic Sea Ice Has Increased Since 2013

Arctic Sea Ice Has Increased Since 2013. Measurements from ESA’s...

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response

Update: Vatican Climate Meetings. The latest developments at the Vatican's meeting of mayors on fighting climate change and human trafficking. All times local.
---
12:15 p.m.
The mayor of Stockholm says climate negotiators at Paris talks later this year must "exclude fossil fuels" as an option and focus on long-term sustainable energy sources. Update: Vatican Climate Meetings
Mayor Karin Wanngaard says she had "great expectations" for the outcome but also was fully aware of the challenges. Stockholm is one of the world's leaders in using renewable energy sources: 75 percent of the city's public transport network runs on renewable energy. Wanngaard's goal is to make the Swedish capital fossil fuel-free by 2040.
"Climate negotiators must dare to push boundaries and exclude fossil fuels as an option and reward solutions that are long-term sustainable and recyclable," she told a Vatican conference on climate Tuesday.
---
11:55 a.m.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced new greenhouse gas emissions targets for the Big Apple at a Vatican summit aimed at keeping up the pressure on national leaders ahead of climate talks in Paris later this year.
De Blasio is a founding member of an alliance of cities around the world that have committed to reducing their emissions by 80 percent by 2050 or sooner.
At the Vatican conference Tuesday, De Blasio said New York was taking an interim step, committing to reducing its emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
"The Paris summit is just months away," De Blasio said. "We need to see it as the finish line of a sprint, and take every local action we can in the coming months to maximize the chance that our national governments will act boldly."
---
11:25 a.m.
The governor of California is denouncing global warming deniers who are "bamboozling" the public with propaganda and putting "troglodytes" into office rather than environmentally responsible leaders.
Gov. Jerry Brown was one of the keynote speakers Tuesday at a conference of eco-friendly mayors at the Vatican. California has enacted the toughest greenhouse gas emissions standards in North America.
To rousing applause, Brown denounced the "fierce opposition and blind inertia" in the U.S. by climate skeptics who he says are seeking to "falsify the scientific record" and convince politicians, scientists and the general public that global warming isn't happening.
Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, urged the mayors to not be complacent in opposing them. He said climate deniers are spending "billions on trying to keep from office people such as yourselves and elect troglodytes and other deniers of the obvious science."
The mayors are expected to sign a Vatican declaration urging world leaders to take bold action at Paris climate talks this December.
---
11:00 a.m.
Environmentally friendly mayors from around the world are gathering at the Vatican for a two-day conference rallying momentum ahead of Paris climate negotiations later this year.
Pope Francis is expected to address the meeting later Tuesday. He's a new hero to the environmental movement, thanks to his recent encyclical denouncing the world's fossil fuel-based economy that he says exploits the poor and destroys the Earth.
The mayors are expected to sign a declaration at the end of the day demanding that their national leaders approve a "bold climate agreement" at Paris talks in December that keeps global warming at a safe limit for humanity.
© 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.

Update: Vatican Climate Meetings

Update: Vatican Climate Meetings. The latest developments at the Vatican's...

Desert woman thirsty dehydrated in Death Valley

Earth dialed the heat up in June 2015, smashing warm temperature records for both the month and the first half of the year.
Off-the-charts heat is "getting to be a monthly thing," said Jessica Blunden, a climate scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June was the fourth month of 2015 that set a record, she said.
"There is almost no way that 2015 isn't going to be the warmest on record," she added.
NOAA calculated that the world's average temperature in June hit 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit (16.33 Celsius), breaking the old record set last year by 0.22 degrees (.12 degrees Celsius). Usually temperature records are broken by one or two one-hundredths of a degree, not nearly a quarter of a degree, Blunden said.
And the picture is even more dramatic when the half-year is considered.
The first six months of 2015 were one-sixth of a degree warmer than the old record, set in 2010, averaging 57.83 degrees (14.35 Celsius).
The old record for the first half of the year was set in 2010, the last time there was an El Nino - a warming of the central Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide. But in 2010, the El Nino petered out. This year, forecasters are predicting this El Nino will get stronger, not weaker.
"If that happens, it's just going to go off the charts," Blunden said.
June was warm nearly all over the world, with exceptional heat in Spain, Austria, parts of Asia, Australia and South America. Southern Pakistan had a June heat wave that killed more than 1,200 people - which, according to an international database, would be the eighth deadliest in the world since 1900. In May, a heat wave in India claimed more than 2,000 lives and ranked as the fifth deadliest on record. Earth dialed the heat up in June 2015, smashing warm temperature records for both the month and the first half of the year.
May and March also broke monthly heat records, which go back 136 years. Initially NOAA figured February 2015 was only the second hottest February on record, but new data came in that made it too the hottest, Blunden said. Earth has broken monthly heat records 25 times since the year 2000, but hasn't broken a monthly cold record since 1916.
"This is what anthropogenic global warming looks like, just hotter and hotter," said Jonathan Overpeck, co-director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona.
---
Online:
NOAA June global analysis: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201506" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201506</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
---
This story has been corrected with new data showing June was the fourth record-setting month of 2015, not the third.
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June 2015: Hottest Month On Record

Earth dialed the heat up in June 2015, smashing warm...

Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures. Eruptions of ash at five volcanoes shrouded the skies over parts of the Indonesian archipelago Wednesday, forcing three airports to close.
Mount Raung on Java island blasted ash and debris up to 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) into the air after rumbling for several weeks, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plan-manage-wild-horses/">government</a> volcanologist Surono said. Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures
Ash erupted also from Gamalama and Dukono mountains on the Moluccas islands chain, Sinabung volcano on Sumatra island and Mount Karangetang on Siau<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=e7b1f990737d417eb76b70a2fb4d9b90&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> island,</a> darkening the skies, Surono said.
A total of more than 13,000 people have been evacuated due to the volcanic eruptions since last month, mostly from around the slopes of Sinabung in Tanah Karo District, added Surono, who uses a single name.
"Our evaluation showed there is no extraordinary natural phenomenon that triggered simultaneous eruptions of the five volcanoes," Surono said, adding that all the eruptions are natural and normal occurrences in a nation with about 130 active v<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/geysers-do-not-forecast-explosive-volcanic-activity-in-yellowstone/">olcanoes</a>.
Transport Ministry spokesman Julius Adravida Barata said Jember and Banyuwangi airports closed late Tuesday and Bali's international airport was closed for several hours on Wednesday, disrupting flights. Media reports said 37 flights to and from Bali's Ngurah Rai airport were cancelled.
An eruption of Raung early this month sparked chaos as the airport in the tourist hotspot of Bali and four other airports in the region were shutdown, stranding thousands of holiday-goers. Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures
Last week, the ministry closed Sultan Babullah airport in North Maluku's Ternate town after eruptions at Gamalama and Dukono sent volcanic ash up to 1,700 meters (5,570 feet) into the sky.
Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood-prone plains, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures
---
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Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures

Volcanic Eruptions in Indonesia Force Airport Closures. Eruptions of ash...

Outrage In Thailand Over Proposed Coal Power Plant. Plans to build an 800-megawatt coal power plant near some of Thailand's most popular beaches have sparked protests and a hunger strike by activists who say officials aren't considering its impact on the pristine environment that makes the area an international tourist destination.
More than 100 members of the Save Andaman from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/europe-coal/">Coal</a> Network this week staged a march and sit-in outside the prime minister's office in the nation's capital against plans to build the plant near southern Thailand's Andaman coast about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok.
The tranquil Krabi province and its islands are famed for picturesque limestone cliffs and white sand beaches, one of which was the centerpiece of the Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Beach."
"If this power plant happens, southern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=thailand&amp;cvid=bf335198eba8471a90fda8fad66baea6&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Thailand</a> will lose a lot," said Krabi resident Akradej Chakjinda, who has fasted since July 10 in protest. Outrage In Thailand Over Proposed Coal Power Plant
Protesters say the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, or EGAT, is pushing ahead with a bidding process for the plant and a seaport that would receive overseas shipments of coal before an environmental impact assessment has been completed. Plans to launch the bidding process were delayed until next month, which EGAT says is unrelated to the ongoing protests.
The coal plant is part of a critical energy infrastructure that will provide Thailand with energy security as natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand dry up within 10 years, EGAT says.
The state power authority has said it envisions building nine coal power plants in the south over the next two decades.
It had planned to begin the bidding process on this one in advance of the environmental review to save time, a government official said.
"I want to emphasize that this is totally legal and we will not sign any contract with the constructor who wins the bid process until we pass" the environmental assessment, Anuchart Palakawong Na Autthaya, head of environmental management for the project, told The Nation newspaper Monday.
Krabi remains Thailand's second-largest area of sea grass beds, which provide a feeding ground for the near extinct dugongs, a manatee-like marine mammal. It is also one of Thailand's major tourist draws. Tourism to the provinces along the Andaman coast generated more than 376 billion baht ($11 billion) in 2015, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Krabi and some of the islands off its coast are known as Thailand's most beautiful beaches, including Koh Phi Phi, which rose to international prominence after being featured in DiCaprio's film.
The Save Andaman from Coal Network, a loose collaboration of environmental, agricultural, tourist and other groups from southern provinces, began demonstrations July 10 but say their demands - which include a 3-year waiting period to see if the province can produce 100 percent renewable energy - have been ignored.
"I've seen the beauty of the Andaman Sea," said Daodin Patavatto, a Buddhist monk joining the protests. "The Andaman is not for one small group of people. It's for everyone."
----
Follow Ted Andersen on Twitter at (at)ted-d-andersen
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Outrage In Thailand Over Proposed Coal Power Plant

Outrage In Thailand Over Proposed Coal Power Plant. Plans to...

Arctic OffShore Drilling

Shell Granted Conditional Permits for Alaska Drilling. The Obama administration has given Royal Dutch Shell PLC approval to begin limited exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's northwest coast.
The two permits issued Wednesday clear the way for drilling in Chukchi Sea, but with conditions.
Shell can only drill the top sections of wells because the company doesn't have on site the critical emergency response equipment to cap the well in case of a leak. That equipment is aboard a ship headed to<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=portland&amp;cvid=2c612c94abc54468be5728c0e9d023d3&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> Portland</a>, Oregon, for repairs. Shell Granted Conditional Permits for Alaska Drilling
The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement that Shell could submit an amended application for deeper drilling when the capping stack can be deployed within 24 hours.
"Without question, activities conducted offshore Alaska must be held to the highest safety, environmental protection and emergency response standards," said the bureau's director, Brian Salerno.
The department had given a conditional OK in May to Shell's drilling plan, pending the company's ability to obtain all necessary permits from state and federal agencies.
Some environmental groups worry the Arctic's remoteness and rugged conditions will hamper cleanup efforts in the event of a spill, risking devastation of a fragile ecosystem.
Proponents say drilling can be conducted safely with existing technologies and that future production decades from now will help sustain the country's energy needs and limit reliance on imports.
Shell and other companies hope to tap into one of the country's last great petroleum reserves. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic offshore reserves in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas at 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
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Shell Granted Conditional Permits for Alaska Drilling

Shell Granted Conditional Permits for Alaska Drilling. The Obama administration...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" 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.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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" 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.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...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" 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.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[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



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

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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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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"

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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...