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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Meteorite that struck Mars reveals when the planet had liquid water

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

Greenland ice melt is rapidly increasing sea level rise. In the most detailed picture to date, information from ESA’s CryoSat satellite reveals how melting ice in Greenland has recently contributed twice as much to sea level rise as the prior two decades.

Between 2011 and 2014, Greenland lost around one trillion tonnes of ice. This corresponds to a 0.75 mm contribution to global sea-level rise each year – about twice the average of the preceding two decades.

The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters today, combines data from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/understanding-earths-climate-system-through-the-cryosphere/">CryoSat</a> mission with a regional climate model to map changes in Greenland ice-sheet mass. It is the most detailed recent picture of ice loss from Greenland.

CryoSat carries a radar altimeter that can measure the surface height variation of ice in fine detail, allowing scientists to record changes in its volume with unprecedented accuracy.

The study demonstrates how the satellite has allowed researchers to map the complex regional pattern of imbalance.

“CryoSat’s radar really brings into focus our view of the ice sheet, revealing which glaciers are exhibiting the greatest signs of change,” explained lead author Dr Mal McMillan from the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at the University of Leeds.

“This helps us to study Greenland’s individual outlet glaciers, which in turn allows us to better understand the contribution they have made to global sea-level rise.”

The study also shows large variations in the amount of ice loss from year to year, with the highest losses occurring in 2012 when summer temperatures hit record highs. This demonstrates Greenland’s sensitivity to sudden changes in the surrounding environment.

“These significant results clearly demonstrate CryoSat’s unique capability of recording cryospheric changes, and it is essential that it is maintained in future,” said CryoSat Mission Manager Tommaso Parrinello.

CryoSat’s measurement of Greenland ice losses are in close agreement with those computed from NASA’s GRACE mission, which carries sensors that are specially designed to weigh changes at the scale of the entire ice sheet.

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<a href="http://www.esa.int" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Space Agency</a>

Greenland ice melt is rapidly increasing sea level rise

Greenland ice melt is rapidly increasing sea level rise. In...

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<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=d5a17ea28cd6420aa1e75f7a83f33081&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA</a> studies a strengthening Tropical Storm Darby. Tropical Storm Darby has been increasing in intensity since yesterday and is expected to become a hurricane. NASA provided a visible look at the structure of the storm and peered through it to determine surface wind speed.

On July 12 at 21:45 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA-DOD's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Hurricane Celia and Tropical Storm Darby in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Celia is located to the northwest of Darby. As of today, July 13, Celia has weakened to a tropical storm. NASA studies a strengthening Tropical Storm Darby

VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery and global observations of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans.

On July 12, RapidScat saw Darby's strongest winds (red) southwest of the center at 27 meters per second (60.4 mph/97.2 kph). Since that time, the National Hurricane Center noticed that Darby had been rapidly intensifying with a 30 knot wind increase over 24 hours. RapidScat is a scatterometer instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station. It measures surface wind speeds and direction over open waters of oceans.

On July 13 at t 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Darby was located near latitude 15.3 North, longitude 111.5 West. That's about 540 miles (870 km) west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Darby was moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 kph) and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said this general motion is expected for the next couple of days.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts. RapidScat imagery shows tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 998 millibars.

The NHC expects Darby to become a hurricane later today.


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NASA studies a strengthening Tropical Storm Darby

NASA studies a strengthening Tropical Storm Darby. Tropical Storm Darby...

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El Nino and climate change played a key role in Pacific Marine Heatwave. The largest <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/noumea-in-the-south-pacific-archipelago-of-new-caledonia/">pacific</a> marine heatwave on record was at least in part caused by El Niño climate patterns. And unusually warm water events in that ocean could potentially become more frequent with rising levels of greenhouse gases.

That's the findings of a new study by researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They linked the 2014-2015 marine heatwave - often referred to as the "warm blob" - to weather patterns that started in late 2013. The heatwave caused marine animals to stray far outside of their normal habitats, disrupting ecosystems and leading to massive die-offs of seabirds, whales and sea lions.

The study, which was published July 11 in journal Nature <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=c17b564cd2624539abe70705b32ab9a9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Climate Change</a>, was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.El Nino and climate change played a key role in Pacific Marine Heatwave

"We had two and a half years of consistent warming, which translated to a record harmful algal bloom in 2015 and prolonged stress on the ecosystem," said Emanuele Di Lorenzo, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "What we do in the study is ask whether this type of activity is going to become more frequent with greenhouse gases rising."

The researchers traced the origin of the marine heat wave to a few months during late 2013 and early 2014, when a ridge of high pressure led to much weaker winds that normally bring cold Artic air over the North Pacific. That allowed ocean temperatures to rise a few degrees above average.

Then, in mid-2014 the tropical weather pattern El Niño intensified the warming throughout the Pacific. The warm temperatures lingered through the end of the year, and by 2015 the region of warm water had expanded to the West Coast, where algal blooms closed fisheries for clams and Dungeness crab.

"The bottom line is that El Niño had a hand in this even though we're talking about very long-distance influences," said Nate Mantua, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center and a coauthor of the study.

The researchers used climate model simulations to show the connection between increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and the impact on the ocean water temperatures. The study found that these extreme weather events could become more frequent and pronounced as the climate warms.

"This multi-year event caused extensive impacts on marine life," Di Lorenzo said. "For example, some salmon populations have life cycles of three years, so the marine heatwave has brought a poor feeding, growth and survival environment in the ocean for multiple generations. Events like this contribute to reducing species diversity."

And the effects of the "warm blob" could linger.

"Some of these effects are still ongoing and not fully understood because of the prolonged character of the ocean heatwave," Di Lorenzo said. "Whether these multi-year climate extremes will become more frequent under greenhouse forcing is a key question for scientists, resource managers and society."
###
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. OCE 1356924 and OCE 1419292. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

CITATION: Emanuele Di Lorenzo and Nathan Mantua, "Multi-year persistence of the 2014/15 North Pacific marine heatwave," (Nature Climate Change, July 2016).

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El Nino and climate change played a key role in Pacific Marine Heatwave

El Nino and climate change played a key role in...

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NASA studies Tropical Cyclone Celia's winds and rainfall rates. Tropical Cyclone Celia continued to generate heavy rains as it moved through the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NASA's RapidScat analyzed surface wind speeds while the GPM core satellite measured rainfall rates occurring within the storm.

RapidScat is a scatterometer instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station. It measures surface wind speeds and direction over open waters of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-worlds-oceans-have-become-less-resilient-to-climate-change/">oceans</a> On July 12 RapidScat saw strongest sustained surface winds (red) occurring east of the center of Hurricane Celia. Those winds were in excess of 30 meters per second (67.1 mph/108 kph). Images from RapidScat data are made into images at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California where the mission is managed.NASA studies Tropical Cyclone Celia's winds and rainfall rates

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory satellite twice flew almost directly above hurricane Celia in the eastern<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=pacific&amp;cvid=408abefede5b40c781c499b048a29805&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> Pacific Ocean</a> on July 12, 2016. The first time was on July 12, 2016 at 0011 UTC (July 11 at 8:11 p.m. EDT) and the second view was on July 12, 2016 at 1326 UTC (9:26 a.m. EDT). With both passes GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) clearly showed the location of rainfall around hurricane Celia's well defined eye. The hurricane had maintained intensity during this period with sustained maximum wind speeds estimated at 80 knots (92.8 mph). With the first pass GMI measured rain in the southwestern side of Celia's eye wall falling at a rate of close to 33 mm (1.3 inches) per hour. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

On July 13 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) Celia weakened to a tropical storm. It was centered about 1,410 miles (2,270 km) west of the southern tip of Baja California. Celia was located near latitude 18.3 north and longitude 131.2 west. Celia was moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph) and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts. Additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours. The estimated minimum central pressure is 987 millibars.

Celia is moving in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands but is predicted to weaken to tropical depression intensity in a few days as it moves into the central Pacific.


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NASA studies Tropical Cyclone Celia's winds and rainfall rates

NASA studies Tropical Cyclone Celia's winds and rainfall rates. Tropical...

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New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environmentTrying to think green when buying a car? Whether your new fuel-efficient engine helps or hurts the warming planet depends on where you live and what you're putting in the tank.

New cars aim to deliver high performance with maximum fuel efficiency, making them easier on both the environment and the wallet. To do this, auto manufacturers are adopting a smaller, more fuel-efficient engine type, called <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/beer-alternative-gasoline/">gasoline</a> direct-injection (GDI) -- between model years 2009 to 2015, the percentage of new vehicles sold with GDI engines jumped from five to 46 per cent.New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

But new research out of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering shows that GDI isn't necessarily the greener choice. Although GDI engines emit lower levels of CO2, they emit more <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=black+carbon&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=de786289d6464a1386675f629858ca1c&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemE0kynwwk6Fnnbj3SyzISruy5kKK5BIIeprDlELyGy1R%21T0y*OXLEvkEj125rFL2QS&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">black carbon</a> -- the climate-warming particle commonly known as soot -- and toxic volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and toluene.New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

"The whole motivation for creating these engines in the first place was fuel efficiency. But what we haven't considered are the other climate-related emissions," says Greg Evans, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering &amp; Applied Chemistry and director of the Southern Ontario Centre for Atmospheric Aerosol Research. "If a vehicle emits a small amount of soot, it can completely negate the lower amount of CO2 that it's emitting."

Evans, Dr. Naomi Zimmerman (ChemE PhD 1T5) and Professor Jim Wallace (MIE), director of the Engine Research &amp; Development Lab at the University of Toronto, first studied the chemical composition of emissions from GDI engines. They found that GDI emissions ranked in the 73rd percentile of all vehicles studied for black carbon, and in the 80 to 90th percentile for volatile organic compounds.

They then examined the climate trade-offs between reductions in CO2 emissions and increases in black carbon to determine whether this new engine type confers a net climate benefit. They found that whether GDI engines are the 'greener' choice depends on several factors, including fuel composition, temperature and lifetime of the vehicle.

Their work appeared in two papers in the journal Environmental Science &amp; Technology.

"We found that in some cases, you need up to a 20 per cent improvement in fuel economy in order to offset black carbon emissions," says Zimmerman, lead author on the studies. "Offsetting the black carbon might be realistic in a place like California, where fuel composition is more strictly regulated and seasonal temperatures fluctuate less, but is harder to achieve in Canada."

Evans and Zimmerman also compared conventional gasoline engine types, called port fuel injection or PFI, with GDI engines. They found that replacing an older PFI engine from 2005 with a new GDI engine from 2015 meant an 11 per cent improvement in fuel economy, but swapping a 2010 PFI engine with a 2015 GDI engine only saw a one per cent improvement in fuel economy.

"All the complex interactions show that because of the well intentioned desire to mitigate climate warming, the technology is changing quickly and we are not properly considering all the trade-offs and side effects," says Evans. "As engine designs improve, the balance between all these factors could change again."

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New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environment

New fuel-efficient engine may harm the environmentTrying to think green...

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In Antarctic waters that would kill a person within minutes happily dwells a tiny, single-celled organism known as Euplotes focardii. In a new study, researchers from Italy's University of Camerino examine the genes and proteins behind this organism's remarkable ability to cope with its extreme environment, which is not only unthinkably cold, but also saturated with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earth-oxygen-boring-billion/">oxygen</a> at a level that would be very stressful for most organisms. The team's findings reveal new insights about how--and how quickly--life can adapt to a changing climate. Euplotes focardii thrives in frigid Antarctic waters.

The researchers compared the genes expressed by Euplotes focardii to those expressed by a cousin species that thrives in moderate temperatures. A majority of the genes expressed only by Euplotes focardii coded for proteins that help to defend the organism against oxidative stress, a toxic buildup that results when cells interact with oxygen. The organism also was found to produce proteins that protect other proteins from oxidative and cold stress.

These protective proteins are likely an important feature the organisms evolved to adapt to the Antarctic oxygen-rich environment, and will likely serve them well as climate change alters ocean chemistry, the researchers said. The study also revealed that Euplotes focardii uses an unusually flexible process when decoding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">RNA,</a> possibly indicating an ability to evolve more quickly than other organisms.

Cristina Miceli will present this research on Thursday, July 14 from 5:00-5:30 p.m. during the Evolution and Population Biology session in Palms Ballroom Canary 2 as part of The Allied Genetics Conference, Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida.


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Euplotes focardii thrives in frigid Antarctic waters

In Antarctic waters that would kill a person within minutes...

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders. If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study.
The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sierra-nevada-mountains-taller/">Sierra</a> Club compiled public statements from the leaders of the 195 nations recognized by the State Department. An advance copy of the group's report, released Tuesday, was provided to The Associated Press. Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders
In contrast to public statements by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee calling climate change a "con job" and a "myth," the leader of every U.S. ally urges action to reduce climate-warming carbon emissions, including Great Britain, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=germany&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=c03896b002c6427f8e4200299a043fd5&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfMa*3koim6WmYuhKqzXqmtQcqWeep9LndzAkppBympsf02zOxDVYGFEZC%21WLVI65OKScucUYvh3w9F1mnfYt2tX&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Germany,</a> France, Japan and Canada.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, head of the Earth's most populous country and the No. 1 global emitter of carbon, has called for eventually phasing out dirty coal-fired power plants and is leading an ambitious national effort to build massive arrays of solar panels and wind turbines.
The regime of reclusive North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signed on to the Paris accord last year and is implementing a 10-year push to plant new forests as part of a "national effort to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
Even the leaders of nations economically dependent on oil production also accept the reality that the world's climate is warming, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman.
"Being highly vulnerable to climate change and actions and plans to address it, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be engaged in several actions to address climate change and make its development more sustainable," the Saudi state said in a statement issued last year.
Trump, meanwhile, has pledged to "renegotiate" U.S. commitments under the Paris accord and has suggested that the science of climate change is part of a plot to weaken the American economy.
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump tweeted in 2012.
He has also cited cold winter weather as evidence the world is not really warming.
"The entire country is FREEZING - we desperately need a heavy dose of global warming, and fast! Ice caps size reaches all time high," Trump tweeted during a 2014 blizzard.
While Trump's climate-change denial has become orthodoxy within the Republican Party, it is at odds with the overwhelming consensus of the world's scientific community and rejects reams of data about how the Earth's climate is changing.
According to NASA, 97 percent of the climate scientists agree that the world is getting hotter and that man-made carbon emissions are to blame. Ten of the warmest years in history have occurred in the past 12. Studies show the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass, while the world's oceans have risen on average nearly 7 inches in the last century.
Despite his public stance, there is evidence that Trump the businessman may be hedging his bets. Earlier this year, the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Ireland cited the threat of sea level rise in a permit application to build a nearly two-mile-long stone wall between it and the Atlantic Ocean.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not respond to requests for comment.
John Coequyt, the Sierra Club's director for global climate policy, said Trump's failure to acknowledge basic climate science would leave him isolated on the world stage as president, adding, "Trump's climate science denial would make him a global laughingstock if it wasn't so dangerous."
---
Follow Associated Press environmental writer Michael Biesecker at <a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck">http://Twitter.com/mbieseck</a>
---
Read the full Sierra Club report at <a href="http://bit.ly/29Bgb1C">http://bit.ly/29Bgb1C</a>
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy andTerms of Use.

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders

Trump's climate change denial is at odds with world leaders....

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Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury. Shorebirds breeding in Alaska are being exposed to mercury at levels that could put their populations at risk, according to new research from The Condor: Ornithological Applications.

Thanks to atmospheric circulation and other factors, the mercury that we deposit into the environment tends to accumulate in the Arctic. Mercury exposure can reduce birds' reproductive success and sometimes even be lethal. Shorebirds may be particularly vulnerable because they forage in aquatic environments where mercury is converted into methylmercury, its most dangerous form. Marie Perkins of the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) and her colleagues investigated the level of mercury in Alaska's shorebirds and found that some birds breeding near Barrow, at the state's northern end, have mercury concentrations upwards of two micrograms per gram of blood.

"These species already face a lot of tough new challenges, from climate change to disappearing stop-over habitat, so throwing a neurotoxin in the mix that can reduce reproductive success is likely to harm their populations," according to Dan Cristol of the College of William &amp; Mary, an expert on mercury in birds who was not involved with the new study. "The mercury concentrations reported in this paper are likely to reduce reproduction, but not catastrophically, based on what we know from other species. What may be even worse, though, is that these mercury levels probably spike when they leave the breeding grounds and start burning their reserve fuel, making their already arduous continent-jumping trips even harder."

To assess the birds' mercury exposure, Perkins and her colleagues collected blood and feathers from nine shorebird species breeding and staging for their southward migration at sites throughout Alaska. In addition to the troubling results from birds breeding near Barrow, they found that mercury levels depended on a species' foraging habits--shorebird species that foraged in upland areas, away from methylmercury-rich wetlands, had the lowest blood mercury concentrations.

More work is needed to determine how much mercury various shorebird species can handle before they suffer adverse effects. "These results have encouraged me to expand my research on mercury exposure in Arctic shorebirds," says Perkins. "I am currently pursuing my PhD at McGill University, where I am working in collaboration with BRI and the Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network to closely examine mercury exposure in multiple shorebird species breeding across the North American Arctic."
###
"Mercury exposure and risk in breeding and staging Alaskan shorebirds" will be available July 13, 2016, at <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-16-36.1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-16-36.1</a> (issue URL <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.aoucospubs.org/toc/cond/118/3</a>).

About the journal: The Condor: Ornithological Applications is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology. It began in 1899 as the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Club

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Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury

Shorebirds in Alaska are being exposed to mercury. Shorebirds breeding...

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NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia. Tropical Storm Celia continues to weaken in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and NASA data showed that the strongest winds and storms were pushed north of the center of the storm.

Hurricane Celia had weakened to a tropical storm with winds of about 45 knots (52 mph) when the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-is-bringing-major-changes-to-the-arctic/">Global</a> Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite flew over on July 14, 2016 at 0001 UTC (July 13 at 8:01 p.m. EDT). GPM found that convective storms were mainly located to the north and northeast of the Celia's center of circulation. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) found that rain was falling at over 164 mm (6.4 inches) per hour within the small area of a feeder band spiraling into the northeastern side of the center of circulation. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia

With this orbit GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) made 3-D measurements of Celia's cloud tops and found that they were mainly shallow. A few cloud tops in the most powerful storms were measured by DPR reaching altitudes of over 11 km (6.8 miles).

NASA's RapidScat instrument measured the surface winds around Tropical Storm Celia on July 11 between 0900 and 1000 UTC (5 and 6 a.m. EDT) and found the strongest winds north of the center of circulation near 30 meters per second (67 mph/108 kph).

The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station measures Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction over open waters. Surface wind speed is always lower than speeds at higher altitude. RapidScat is an important tool for meteorologists, because it shows forecasters the location of the strongest winds in different quadrants of an area of low pressure or tropical cyclone as they are not always equally distributed.

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On July 14 at 11:11 UTC (7:11 a.m. EDT) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed that Celia continued to maintain a small area of deep convection and coldest cloud top temperatures north of the center of circulation. The National Hurricane Center noted that "the area of cold cloud tops has become separated from the low-level center due to some southwesterly (wind) shear." Those cloud top temperatures are as cold as minus 63 Fahrenheit/minus 53 Celsius.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 13 the center of Tropical Storm Celia was located near 20.8 north latitude and 136.7 west longitude. That's about 1,195 miles (1,920 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Celia is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph) and the National Hurricane Center said that a turn toward the west is expected on Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Weakening is forecast, and Celia is likely to become a tropical depression early Friday, and degenerate into a remnant low by Friday night. July 15. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1000 millibars.

The National Hurricane Center said Celia is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone in 24 to 36 hours. After that time, the cyclone will be moving over slightly warmer sea surface temperatures but moderate to strong westerly shear should prevent regeneration.

Once Celia passes west of 140W, warnings on this system will be issued by NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Celia is expected to pass north of Hawaii and may bring rain to the northern islands on July 18 and 19.


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NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia

NASA finds wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Celia. Tropical Storm...

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<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/climate-change-alter-wildflowers/">Climate</a> experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons. Work by University of Exeter experts to predict the weather in India could help millions of people prepare for the devastating effects of the country's summer monsoons.

Climatologists from the University of Exeter have identified a location in central India where they can predict excess <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=monsoon&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=c1d7fb5783b54f5c88987f04bc58a6bc&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemEhc2NvNdoI6DkJU%21MuWGFD10Tz*A1qZZzypZO%21VK*IwypazSGDPZo5OBMZ9NrXv1m&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">monsoon</a> rainfall or drought, which have an enormous impact on the national and global economy.

The new study, which concentrates on a region at Central North East India, could allow government and policymakers to make more informed decisions which will give better protection to communities, farmers and businesses. It will enable them to make policy which will mitigate the impact of extreme and unusual weather.Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons

By comparing the results of mathematical models with human observations, they have proved it is possible to provide an improved forecast of the Indian Summer Monsoon in Central North East India.

The Indian Summer Monsoon has a major impact on agriculture, and therefore the economy, in India, and is responsible for 80 percent of the country's annual rainfall. Farmers rely on this seasonal rain to grow essential crops. Flooding also threatens life. A strong monsoon in 2005 killed more than 1,000 people.

Having more accurate forecasts means farmers can choose the crops and plans which are likely to be most successful. It can also help farmers and policymakers plan how to store the excess water.

The Indian Summer Monsoon is influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which causes extreme weather in different parts of the world.

The ENSO is mainly caused by fluctuations in sea surface temperature around central to east tropical Pacific Ocean. There are two opposite phases, El Niño and La Niña. During La Niña, that sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean is colder, for El Niño, the temperature is warmer. During El Niño there is usually less monsoon rainfall and for La Niña there is more rainfall.

Dr Indrani Roy, Dr Renata Tedeschi and Professor Matthew Collins from the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences studied 23 different mathematical models designed to predict information about the climate. They compared them with human observations about the climate and found that models are able to make accurate predictions about the monsoon rain in Central North East India.

The team found that data from tropical Pacific Ocean could help them predict the behaviour of the Summer Monsoon in Central North East India. The models did not allow the team to make the same predictions for other regions in India.

Dr Roy, the lead author of the study, said: "India is one of the most populated countries in the world, and the monsoon rains have not only a significant impact on the national but also the global economy.

"Our findings will improve prediction skills which will contribute to better business performance, economic prosperity and wealth creation. It can directly affect the ability of the sub-continent to anticipate and adapt to changes."

ENSO Teleconnections to the Indian Summer Monsoon in Observations and Models by Indrani Roy, Renata Tedeschi and Matthew Collins is published in the International Journal of Climatology.


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Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons

Climate experts help predict impact of Indian monsoons. Work by...

Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills. Railroads hauling crude oil would be required to develop comprehensive plans for dealing with a significant oil spill, including providing detailed information to state and tribal authorities, under a rule proposed Wednesday by the Department of Transportation.
The proposal also includes a new testing method for shippers to determine the volatility of oil shipments.
Oil is often transported in trains with as many as 100 tank cars at a time. At least 27 oil trains have derailed in the U.S. and <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/lake-st-clair-of-the-u-s-and-canada/">Canada</a> in the last decade, often leading to fiery explosions and extensive environmental damage. Local authorities have complained in the past that they've been unable to obtain information or there have been delays in obtaining information from railroads.
Last month, a Union Pacific Railroad oil train derailed in the scenic Columbia River Gorge along the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon">Oregon</a>-Washington border. The derailment released 42,000 gallons of crude oil and sparked a massive fire that burned for 14 hours. Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills
The proposed rule would "hold industry accountable to plan and prepare for the worst-case scenario," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.
The Association of American Railroads said in a statement that it is reviewing the 217-page proposal, and that railroads already have response plans in place.
The rule would require railroads to position teams that can respond with equipment and manpower within 12 hours to an oil train derailment. But the department also asks for industry and public comments on whether a maximum 6 hours to respond would be more appropriate in areas where there is high volume of oil train traffic or that are environmentally sensitive.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., praised the proposal, saying it would "ensure that personnel are trained and available, that equipment is in place to respond to a spill, and that procedures are established before a spill occurs." He said he will urge the department to include ethanol shipments in addition to crude oil in the proposal.
Like crude oil, ethanol is also sometimes shipped in trains with with large numbers of tank cars that, if derailed, can spill their contents and ignite fierce fires that spread to other cars.
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Follow Joan Lowy at twitter.com/AP-Joan-Lowy. Her work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy</a>
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Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills

Feds: Railroads must have a plan for oil spills. Railroads...

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Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. UBC biologists are digging under vineyards to see if the Okanagan's grape industry is affecting soil quality.

Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. Miranda Hart, an associate professor of biology at UBC's Okanagan campus, her PhD candidate Taylor Holland, along with Agriculture <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/lake-st-clair-of-the-u-s-and-canada/">Canada</a> research scientist Pat Bowen, has spent the better part of three years studying soil samples from more than 15 vineyards throughout the Okanagan.

Specifically, they were looking at soils in vineyards and neighboring natural--or uncultivated--habitats. With samples from both areas, the scientists compared the bacterial and fungal communities between these habitats, hoping to determine what's happening to the soil under the wine-producing grapes.

They determined there was a definite difference in soil communities between the natural valley soil and the vineyard soil.

"Soil biodiversity may be an important part of terroir, which is everything to a grape grower, so they have a vested interest in ensuring we preserve soil biodiversity," says Hart "This baseline study shows us that BC wine growing regions are different in terms of the organisms that live in the soil."

All agricultural activity will affect the soil, some more than others, Hart explains. But in order to know how the soil is being changed, researchers wanted to compare samples with natural, uncultivated areas alongside processed areas.

"We have to take care of the microbes in the soil," she says. "The biodiversity of soil microbes is essential if we are to feed our growing population."

While Hart points out there is a limited understanding of how agriculture practices change soil biodiversity, it is important to understand what the soil would be like if left in its natural state, so growers are aware of how they may be changing it.

The samples they tested showed that bacterial and fungal communities responded differently to viticulture: bacteria had a higher biodiversity in vineyards, compared to fungi which had higher biodiversity in unmanaged areas.

These results indicate that viticulture practices influence key environmental factors that control soil microbial communities and possibly affect nutrient availability and other services provided by natural soil communities, says Holland. Microbes are big part of the soil for grape growers; what happens underground can influence the vine growth and fruit development and downstream wine assets, he explains.

"Improved knowledge of how management choices affect microbial communities and their influences on crop performance would benefit the design of efficient and sustainable production systems," Holland adds. "As we move towards more natural practices, hopefully we can reduce these differences."

Bowen, who works at the Summerland research centre, says knowing what's happening in the soil is a vital part of agriculture for several reasons.

"Microbial communities also play an important role in stabilizing vineyard ecosystems which can reduce the need for pesticides and other resource inputs," Bowen adds.
###
Hart's research, funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant, and other funds provided by the BC Wine Grape Council and Agriculture &amp; Agri-Food Canada, was recently published in Applied Soil Ecology.

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Study: Vineyards harm soil quality

Study: Vineyards harm soil quality. UBC biologists are digging under...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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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

[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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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...