It's known as the "boring billion," a murky period in Earth's history between 1.8 billion and 800 million years ago, when life's complexity didn't extend much beyond single-celled organisms.



Apart from the occasional multicellular life form, most of the living species during that time period were simple, unicellular organisms that had minimal requirements for life. 



But don't mistake "boring" for insignificant. This epoch of evolution laid the foundation for the drama of complex multicellularity that would eventually lead to us.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-energy-fuel-for-evolution">Energy: Fuel for evolution</h2>



The boring billion period appears to mark a time when the evolution of complex life was delayed and conditions were so stable as to border on stagnant. 



Scientists state that oxygen levels at this time were drastically decreased and conditions were fairly harsh for most forms of life.



A new study by Michael Lynch of <a href="https://www.asu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arizona State University</a> has revealed that the transition from unicellular to multicellular life forms would have come at a cost.



Using the water flea, Daphnia, as a <a href="https://phys.org/tags/model+organism/">model organism</a>, the study shows that multicellular organisms require more than a tenfold increase in energy compared with the simpler, unicellular organisms characteristic of the boring billion period. 



"No one doubts that multicellularity can bring substantial advantages to the table, but the privilege of attaining such benefits comes at a steep investment cost," said Lynch, who directs the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fbiodesign.asu.edu%2Fmechanisms-of-evolution%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution</a> at ASU.



The study emphasizes the importance of respiration and other metabolic processes in navigating the transition to more complex life forms. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cost-of-complexity">Cost of complexity </h2>



Every organism, from the smallest bacterium to a human, is driven by energy. Having an entire body made of only one cell reduces the need for energy and nutrients to grow and reproduce. 



But multicellular organisms, like plants, animals, and fungi, have to maintain a multitude of cells in complex tissues, organs and structures. And this places a far higher energy demand on the organism.



As the cell count increases in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-life-and-environment-co-evolved-over-500-million-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multicellular organism</a>, so does the demand on ATP synthase, the molecular machinery in cells that manufactures ATP, the universal energy currency. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/multicelled-organisms_metazoan-daphnia_credit-Marek-Mis_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/multicelled-organisms_metazoan-daphnia_credit-Marek-Mis_1s.webp" alt="A new study shows that multicelled organisms like the metazoan daphnia (pictured) require a tenfold increase in energy compared with protists for their growth, maintenance and survival. The high cost of multicellular existence is offset by the many evolutionary advantages afforded to advanced organisms, from simpler forms like daphnia all the way up to vertebrate species, including humans. Credit: Marek Miś" class="wp-image-1950209"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A new study shows that multicelled organisms like the metazoan daphnia (pictured) require a tenfold increase in energy compared with protists for their growth, maintenance and survival. The high cost of multicellular existence is offset by the many evolutionary advantages afforded to advanced organisms, from simpler forms like daphnia all the way up to vertebrate species, including humans. Credit: Marek Miś</figcaption></figure>



Each new cell in a multicellular body is another mouth to feed in terms of energy, and the cost increases with the number of cells.



The findings of the Daphnia study show that metazoans - the group that includes multicellular creatures - need a lot more ATP synthase complexes in each cell than their simpler, unicellular counterparts.



In fact, for every increment in body mass, these organisms require 30 to 50 times more oxygen than simpler, unicellular creatures. This additional oxygen supports the complex needs for metabolism, cellular communication, and tissue maintenance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-size-comes-at-a-price">Size comes at a price</h2>



Growth isn't cheap, particularly for multicellular organisms. 



While larger, unicellular organisms, like some amoebas, become more efficient as they grow, multicellular organisms face unique challenges that require extra energy to sustain their larger sizes and more complex structures.



Given this steep energy price, why did multicellularity evolve at all? 



The answer seems to be that multicellular life offers evolutionary advantages, such as being able to consume unicellular organisms en masse, evade predators, and live in various environments.



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



To surmount the energetic challenges presented by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-snowball-earth-conditions-drove-evolution-complex-multicellular-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multicellularity</a>, organisms have developed remarkable adaptations to utilize their resources efficiently. 



One key adaptation is the division of labor between specialized cells, tissues, and organs; this specialization allows for optimized energy usage where cells perform distinct functions more efficiently than they would if they had to carry out all the different life activities.



For example, mitochondria within eukaryotic cells have evolved highly efficient pathways to generate ATP, thus maximizing the energy harvested from different substrates.



Furthermore, the development of vascular systems in plants and circulatory systems in animals allows for the effective distribution of energy resources, and ensures that all cells have access to the oxygen and nutrients necessary to produce energy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-of-the-boring-billion">Implications of the "boring billion"</h2>



Understanding the evolutionary narrative of the "boring billion" holds powerful implications for modern scientific research. 



This era not only reflects the energy-centric challenges of the past but also informs the fields of synthetic biology, evolutionary biology, and bioengineering.



By studying the metabolic pathways and energy efficiencies developed during this period, researchers can potentially design bio-inspired systems and organisms with enhanced functionalities and sustainability.



Furthermore, insights gained from this epoch's evolutionary innovations could pioneer future advancements in medical therapies, agriculture, and ecosystem management. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



This study primarily focuses on aerobic, animal-like organisms. But there's a vast and varied spectrum of life out there, including plants and fungi, and the researchers plan to extend their investigations to these life forms. 



Future insights could shed light on why <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biggest-known-space-cloud-of-life-building-complex-chemicals-discovered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multicellular life forms</a> took a considerable time to appear and diversify on our planet.



Multicellular life has high energy demands and this study suggests that the constraints of bioenergy could be a universal phenomenon that is applicable to any carbon-based, oxygen-breathing life, no matter where it exists in the universe.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2414742121" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



-----



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'Boring billion' wasn’t a dull period, it fueled a shift to complex life

It's known as the "boring billion," a murky period in Earth's history between 1.8 billion and 800 million years ago, when life's complexity didn't extend much beyond single-celled organisms. Apart from the occasional multicellular life form, most of the living species during that time period were simple, unicellular organisms that had minimal requirements for life. But don't mistake "boring" for insignificant. This epoch of evolution laid the foundation for the drama of complex multicellularity that would eventually lead to us. Energy: Fuel for evolution The boring billion...

<div>Haze plays a crucial role in warming of Chinese cities A new Yale-led study published in the journal Nature Communications sheds light on the surprising role that haze in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/two-child-policy-china/">China</a> plays in promoting the urban heat island effect [UHI], a process whereby city centers tend to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas.</div>
<div>

Scientists have always suspected that aerosol particles, or haze, played a role in amplifying UHI, said Xuhui Lee, a professor of meteorology at the Yale School of Forestry &amp; Environmental Studies [F&amp;ES] and senior author of the study. Now they have evidence that in China -- unlike the U.S. -- haze is a significant driver of UHI. Haze plays a crucial role in warming of Chinese cities

The study also highlights the paradoxical nature of haze, and the challenges scientists face in isolating its effects on climate change. Smaller aerosol particles that pose public health risks such as asthma actually cool surfaces and reduce UHI by blocking sunlight. But larger aerosol particles radiate heat in the form of long-wave radiation, thus increasing local temperatures.

"When people talk about aerosols, particle size matters a lot," Lee said.

Previous research by Lee and his colleagues showed that UHI in the U.S. and Canada appears to be driven by a lack of vegetation, especially trees, which are highly effective in dissipating heat through convection. But when they attempted to replicate their experiment in China, the model performed poorly.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>

At first they thought it was due to the structure of Chinese cities, where there is more vertical stacking as opposed to the sprawling nature of cities in the U.S. Instead, they found a strong correlation between the amount of haze and an increase in heat: cities with more haze pollution had an amplified urban heat island effect.

Even more surprising, they found the greatest UHI in midwestern and northwestern small to mid-sized cities, not in the massive cities located along China's east coast.

China's semiarid midwestern and northwestern cities have more large aerosol particles due to road dust and coal combustion that create a thick haze layer and result in a net warming of about one-degree Celsius. Lee even speculates that stir-fry cooking contributes to the UHI.

The study also reveals the ways in which local factors can affect the spatial patterning of UHI. For example, although many parts of the U.S. have air pollution problems that affect respiratory health, researchers couldn't find a correlation between UHI and haze in the U.S., possibly because aerosol particles here are too small to create a warming effect. Here, the highest UHI is found in wet climates -- especially southeastern cities such as Atlanta -- posing public health risks and management challenges for city administrators in the face of climate change.

There are several important implications of this research, Lee said. The first is that aerosol pollution must be reduced. "Cleaning up has a co-benefit," he said. "It helps improve human health, but it also helps to cool the local climate."

Second, researchers must improve the ability of models to quantify the effects of aerosols on climate change. According to Lee, most climate models don't actually calculate the long-wave radiation at the ground, or heat, produced by haze pollution. Other models only measure land surface properties, such as the effects of removing vegetation on local climate.

"That's one of the frontiers in climate change prediction," Lee says. "There's a whole gap in our theory and methodology, so we tried to quantify that, not just to describe with empirical evidence. We tried to propose a framework to close this knowledge gap."
###
Chang Cao, the first author of the study, is a visiting doctoral student from Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology, Nanjing China.

</div>

Haze plays a crucial role in warming of Chinese cities

Haze plays a crucial role in warming of Chinese cities...

<div>Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals. Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals. Also Contrary to a prevailing theory, coral larvae could not survive the five-thousand-kilometer trip across the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dust-asia-fertilizes-north-pacific/">Pacific Ocean</a> to replenish endangered corals in the eastern Pacific, according to new research. Researchers used a supercomputer to simulate billions of coral larvae traveling on ocean currents over a 14.5-year period. The simulations showed that even during extreme environmental events that speed ocean currents, like the 1997-1998 El Niño, coral larvae could not survive long enough to make the trip from coral reefs in the western and central Pacific to help corals in the east recover from environmental damage.</div>
<div>

"Our study uses computer simulations to allow us to answer questions about coral biology that we can't answer in the field," said Iliana Baums, associate professor of biology at Penn State University and a coauthor of the research paper. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>"The information we gain can help direct conservation efforts for these vital organisms. Without living corals, beaches would erode at an alarming rate -- there are already areas in the Caribbean that are losing a meter of beach a year due to reef loss. Reefs provide habitats for one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and they are extremely economically important for fisheries, coastal protection, tourism, the aquarium trade, and as sources for new pharmaceuticals. The reefs in the eastern Pacific that we study are particularly important because they survive in inhospitable conditions, and understanding how they do this could be critical when designing strategies for reef conservation as the climate continues to change."

The research, by an international team of scientists from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, Penn State University, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, the University of California Riverside, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, will be published by the journal Nature Communications on August 23, 2016.

[caption id="attachment_2411664" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2411664" src="http://cff1.greenatom.earth/uploads/2016/08/23051205/cff1.greenatom.earthuploads20160823051204media.eurekalert.orgmultimedia_prodpubweb122273_web-7e7dcae50fafc6caf2eb952462dcdecb2717e822-d9d8e2556ef63235c5e204bbede0d6cd31ac33b6-150x150.jpg" alt="coral releasing egg/sperm bundles" width="150" height="150" /> coral releasing egg/sperm bundles[/caption]

The study used a state-of-the-art numerical model run on Bristol University's BlueCrystal supercomputer to track the dispersal of simulated coral larvae from 636 reef locations in the Pacific. The supercomputer enabled the researchers to deal with the very large computational demands required to explicitly test, for the first time, a long-standing theory that El Niño events could promote long-distance dispersal of coral larvae across the Pacific Ocean. The researchers used the simulations to identify reefs that either are important sources of larvae to other reefs, or are very isolated from such sources and therefore potentially more vulnerable to disturbances. One such area is the Eastern Tropical Pacific, a large area stretching from Baja California in the north to the coastline of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in the south. Coral reefs in this region have been around for thousands of years despite living in particularly hostile environments for reef formation with limited suitable coastline, cool temperatures, and frequent disturbances. Eastern Tropical Pacific reefs are sparsely distributed and are also very isolated, both within the region itself and from the more diverse reefs of the central and western Pacific.

"We simulated the dispersal of over five billion model larvae from 636 reefs throughout the central and eastern Pacific from 1997 to 2011," said Sally Wood, postdoctoral research associate in coral reef ecosystem modeling in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol and a coauthor of the paper. "This time period crucially covered a range of oceanographic conditions -- ocean currents are highly variable over time -- including the extreme El Niño of 1997-1998. Contrary to the theory that eastward dispersal may happen during El Niño events, we found no such dispersal."

As is happening worldwide at the moment during the current El Niño event, the large El Niño in 1997-1998 wiped out a lot of the corals in the eastern Pacific. Usually corals recover from events like this through a combination of proliferation of survivors and colonization by larvae that are brought in sporadically by the currents from nearby unaffected reefs. However, the new research shows that coral reefs in the far eastern Pacific Ocean, separated from the nearest reefs by over 5,000 km of open ocean, could be on their own when it comes to recovery from mass mortality events such as happened in 1998.

Biologists have been interested in this region since Darwin, who regarded the deep ocean that separates the eastern and western Pacific as an impassable barrier. Several of the same species can be found on both sides of the barrier, suggesting that the barrier has at some point been breached, but it is not clear when or how frequently this has occurred, or in what direction. Genetics is commonly used to detect connections between populations by measuring the level of genetic relatedness, similar to a paternity test. Recent genetic data for corals indicate that eastern and western populations of some species have been isolated for at least the previous few generations -- possibly thousands of years in long-lived corals. "We compared these genetic data to the larvae dispersal data that we simulated," said Baums. "The two data sets lined up pretty well, suggesting that our simulations are doing a good job of capturing what is actually happening in nature." Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals

"Coral larvae are tiny and can survive for a maximum of about 120 days," said Baums. "The larvae travel mainly by ocean currents to establish new colonies, but because of their small size it is currently impossible to track them across the vast distances of the Pacific Ocean to know if healthy populations of corals in the western Pacific could help to rejuvenate decimated populations of corals in the eastern Pacific. For the first time, our computer simulations combined with genetic data allowed us to test whether the larvae could survive this journey." Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals
###
In addition to Baums and Wood, the research team included Claire B. Paris of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Andy Ridgwell of the University of California Riverside, William S. Kessler of NOAA's Pacific Marine Envirnomental Laboratory, and Erica J. Hendy of the University of Bristol. The research was supported by the National Environmental Research Council of the U.K., the U.S. National Science Foundation, NOAA, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the University of Bristol Alumni Foundation, a Worldwide Universities Network Mobility Grant.

CONTACT

Iliana Baums: <a href="mailto:baums@psu.edu">baums@psu.edu</a>, (+1) 814-867-0491 (office), 814-321-3593 (mobile)
Barbara Kennedy (PIO): <a href="mailto:science@psu.edu">science@psu.edu</a>, (+1) 814-863-4682

&nbsp;

</div>
<div></div>

Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals

Scientists are using supercomputers to save endangered corals. Scientists are...

<div>'Ice Flows' an interactive game demonstrating climate change in Antarctica Scientists and games developers have joined forces to help communicate the impact of climate change on the Antarctic Ice Sheet.</div>
<div>

The ice held in the Antarctic Ice Sheet has the potential to cause significant changes in sea level in the future, which will affect many people around the world. As a result, it is important that people have an awareness of the impact of a changing climate on the world's ice sheets, but this complex system is difficult to understand and predict.

Now the scientists and games developers have produced a free-to-use interactive game, "Ice Flows", to help demonstrate how the Antarctic Ice Sheet responds to climate change in an accessible way to children and game players of all ages.

The game, which can be played at <a href="http://www.iceflowsgame.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.iceflowsgame.com</a>, will be launched at the SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research) Open Science Conference in Kuala Lumpur on the 23rd August. It will be free to download from app stores.

The game is built on a simple representation of how ice flows in Antarctica and how it responds to changes in the environment - through changes in snowfall and ocean temperature. It allows players to impose climatic changes to control the extent of the ice sheet to guide penguins to fish; if they get it wrong, the penguin may meet its doom in the jaws of a leopard seal. 'Ice Flows' an interactive game demonstrating climate change in Antarctica shown in image above of the different colors.

The aim is to promote understanding of the complexity of the ice sheet system by enabling the player to carry out their own ice sheet model experiments, much like the scientists working on the research. The game has a number of levels representing how different parts of the Antarctic will respond to climate change.

The game development is funded as part of a research project 'Ice shelves in a warming world', investigating the Filchner Ice Shelf system in Antarctica, combining field measurements with numerical modelling of ice flow, ocean currents and the atmosphere. This region is potentially highly vulnerable to changes in ocean currents driven by a changing climate.

The game has been developed by Anne Le Brocq at the University of Exeter, in collaboration with games developers Inhouse Visuals and Questionable Quality, and the British Antarctic Survey, who are leading the research project. The project also involves researchers from the UK Met Office, National Oceanography Centre, University College London, the University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/reduced-meat-consumption-2050/">Oxford</a> and the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany.

Dr Anne Le Brocq, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of Exeter, said: "The response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to a changing climate is very complex and, as a result, is difficult to communicate in a clear and understandable way."

"The use of a game helps not only to visualise the system, but also to provide an immersive environment for the player to fully understand the behaviour of the ice sheet and how it responds to changes in the environment. Hopefully it's fun to play too!"

The game development was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.


</div>
<div></div>

'Ice Flows' an interactive game demonstrating climate change in Antarctica

'Ice Flows' an interactive game demonstrating climate change in Antarctica...

Storms earlier this year blew down more than a hundred acres of forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, killing more than 7 percent of the monarchs, experts reported Tuesday.Recent Mexico storms killed millions of monarch butterflies shown in image above.
Rain, cold and high winds from the storms caused the loss of 133 acres (54 hectares) of pine and fir trees in the forests west of Mexico City, more than four times the amount lost to illegal logging this year. It was the biggest storm-related loss since the winter of 2009-10, when unusually heavy rainstorms and mudslides caused the destruction of 262 acres (106 hectares) of trees.
This year's storm also appears to have frozen or killed about 6.2 million butterflies, almost 7.4 percent of the estimated 84 million butterflies that wintered in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/samalayuca-sand-dunes/">Mexico</a>, said Alejandro Del Mazo, the attorney general for environmental protection.
"Never had we observed such a combination of high winds, rain and freezing temperatures," monarch expert Lincoln Brower said of the storms, which struck March 8-9.
Two big storm losses within five years may suggest changes in the climatic conditions that have allowed the survival of patches of mountaintop forests. An additional 16 acres (6.5 hectares) of trees were lost to drought this year.
"This points up just how fragile these forests are, and how fragile the monarchs are, and it makes clear the importance of reforestation efforts," said Omar Vidal, director of the conservation group World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which carried out the forest survey along with experts from Mexico's National Autonomous University and the government.
The monarchs depend on finding relatively well-preserved forests, where millions of the orange-and-black butterflies hang in clumps from the boughs. The trees, and the clumping, help protect the butterflies from cold rains and steep drops in temperature.
That is why illegal logging in the 33,484-acre (13,551-hectare) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">nucleus</a> of the reserve is so damaging. Conservationists have tried to convince the largely impoverished farm and mountain communities which actually own most of the land that the forest is worth more to them in terms of tourism when left standing instead of being cut down.
In April, Mexico's government announced it would create a special national police squad to patrol nature reserves and fight environmental crimes. While the force has not yet formally deployed, illegal logging in the monarch reserve dropped this year, from almost 49.4 acres (20 hectares) in 2015 to about 29.6 acres (12 hectares).
Unlike in past years, when most logging was done in the farming communities, about three-quarters of the tree-cutting this year occurred on public lands in the reserve's core area - precisely the kind of terrain that environmental police could most effectively protect.
"This is why we insist that illegal logging in the reserve has to be eliminated, and that the destruction of (the butterfly's) milkweed habitat in the United States has to be stopped, so that the monarchs have the ability to better respond to these extreme climate events" like the March storms, Vidal said.
Brower criticized authorities' decision to quickly approve "salvage" logging of trees downed by the storms, suggesting it strengthened logging interests and disturbs the forest's chances for natural regrowth.
He wrote that the "decision to authorize the very extensive salvage logging was possibly the worst management mistake that could have been made."
Environmentalist and author Homero Aridjis said, "The negative impacts of this logging on the forest cover will become all too apparent when the monarchs begin arriving (usually in November) just as the 'salvaging' comes to an end. "
"The Mexican government should be taking measures to mitigate the probable effects of climate change on the reserve, instead of turning a blind eye to illegal logging, such as the virtual clear-cutting" of the forest on government-owned land, Aridjis wrote.
The damage comes after a rebound for the monarch. The area covered by the butterflies this winter was more than 3 1/2 times that of a year earlier. They clump so densely in the pine and fir forests that they are counted by the area they cover rather than by individual insects.
The number of monarchs making the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilometer) migration from the United States and Canada had been declining steadily before recovering in 2014. This winter was even better. In December, the butterflies covered 10 acres (about 4 hectares), compared to 2.8 acres (1.13 hectares) in 2014 and a record low of 1.66 acres (0.67 hectares) in 2013. That's still well become the 44 acres (18 hectares) the covered 20 years ago.
© 2016 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.

Recent Mexico storms killed millions of monarch butterflies

Storms earlier this year blew down more than a hundred...

Research reveals that large areas of logged forest in Southeast <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dna-study-central-and-south-asian-history/">Asia</a> can play an important role in conserving mammal diversity.Logged forests are safe havens for mammals

Mammals can be one of the hardest-hit groups by habitat loss, and a lot of research has been carried out to find the best ways to conserve mammal diversity.

Much of this research has focussed on very large-scale changes in land use and the impacts this will have on overall mammal diversity. However, many important decisions about land use are made at much more local scales, for example at the level of individual landowners.

Now, in a detailed study led by Imperial College London that looked at mammal diversity across different small-scale landscapes in Borneo, researchers have identified previously logged forests as an overlooked source of refuge for mammals.

These ‘selectively logged’ forests, where only certain tree species are removed, are often considered to be degraded and are frequently cleared to make way for plantations. The new results, published in the journal Ecological Applications, suggest they should be better protected.

The team recorded mammals using trap-and-release techniques and motion-sensing cameras over three years, creating an unprecedented 20,000 records of species in three land-use types: old-growth forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation. This is one of the most intensive studies of rainforest mammal diversity ever undertaken.

To their surprise, they found that mammal diversity for large mammals, like the clouded leopard and civets, was similar for both old-growth forests and logged forests. For small mammals, such as squirrels and rodents, the diversity was actually higher in logged forests.

Both sizes of mammals however suffered heavy losses of diversity in oil palm plantations. Most species discovered on the plantations likely spilled over from adjoining forests or riparian zones – strips of forests surrounding rivers to reduce the chance of flooding.

Lead researcher Dr Oliver Wearn, who completed the research for his PhD in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said that the surprise result that mammal diversity remains high in logged forests may be because of the way habitats are distributed.

“The logging process creates a greater variation in habitat types in a smaller area, from untouched areas on steep slopes to completely denuded areas of open grassland. Old-growth forests would likely have the same diversity if we looked at them on a much larger scale.”

Dr Wearn also stresses that while a greater diversity is recorded now in these logged forests, it cannot yet be certain that this diversity will remain in the future as the knock-on effects of habitat loss take effect on mammals and other rainforest species.

He added: “What we can say from this study is that protecting those large areas of forest that have already been logged could help conserve mammal species better than preserving fragmented pockets of forests inside oil palm landscapes.”

This study complements another recent study from Imperial, where researchers recommended rehabilitating logged forests as a way to prevent highly threatened species from becoming extinct.

“Where old growth forests remain, however, these are still the best habitats for mammals and other native species, and should be the absolute top priority for conservation,” said Dr Wearn.

---

<a href="http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Imperial College London</a>

Logged forests are safe havens for mammals

Research reveals that large areas of logged forest in Southeast...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical Depression 14W forms near Japan and appeared to be a small storm when<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA"> NASA's</a> Aqua satellite passed overhead early on Aug. 24.</div>
On Aug. 24 at 12:00 a.m. EDT (0400 UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed some isolated strong storms over around a weak low-level center. Persistent northerly vertical wind shear has prevented the tropical cyclone from intensifying. Also Tropical Depression 14W forms near Japan causing major damage.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) Tropical Depression 14W had maximum sustained winds near 28.7 mph (25 knots/46.3 kph). It was centered near 22.7 degrees north latitude and 147.0 degrees east longitude. That's about 340 nautical miles east-southeast of Iwo To Island, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nearly-complete-duck-billed-dinosaur-fossil/">Japan</a>. Tropical Depression 14W has tracked north-northeastward at 27.6 mph (24 knots/44.5 kph). Tropical Depression 14W is moving away from the Marianas Islands and watches or warnings have been dropped. Therefore the country is going to have long lasting flooding

For updates on forecasts for the Marianas and Guam, visit the National Weather Service of Guam website: <a href="http://www.prh.noaa.gov/guam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.prh.noaa.gov/guam/</a>.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects that the storm will move north, not strengthening much before it dissipates within 4 to 5 days.


</div>
<div></div>

Tropical Depression 14W forms near Japan

Tropical Depression 14W forms near Japan and appeared to be...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Typhoon Lionrock strengthens into a typhoon <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over Typhoon Lionrock as it strengthened to a typhoon east of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nearly-complete-duck-billed-dinosaur-fossil/">Japan'</a>s Ryukyu Islands. The chain of islands stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan.</div>
On Aug. 24 at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 UTC) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of strengthening Typhoon Lionrock. The VIIRS image revealed that the typhoon had developed an eye, and it was surrounded by powerful thunderstorms.

VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery and global observations of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Aug. 24 Lionrock had become a typhoon. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 75 mph (65 knots/120.4 kph). Lionrock was centered near 26.0 degrees north latitude and 133.3 degrees east longitude. That's about 297 nautical miles east of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Lionrock was moving to the southwest at ~7 mph (6 knots/11.1 kph). Also Typhoon Lionrock strengthens into a typhoon showing increasing strong winds and damaging the surrounding areas.

Lionrock is moving southwest before it is expected to turn around onto a northeasterly course.

Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Typhoon Lionrock strengthens into a typhoon

Typhoon Lionrock strengthens into a typhoon NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite...

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<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical Depression Kay is quickly fading into history The remaining traces of rainfall in weakening Tropical Depression Kay was in a small area when the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed overhead early on Aug. 23. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> view.</div>
The GPM core observatory satellite captured data as it passed above dissipating tropical storm Kay southwest of Baja on Aug. 22 at 8:41 p.m. EDT (Aug. 23 at 0041 UTC). Data captured by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument shows that precipitation was limited to a small area of rain west of the center of the dissipating tropical storm. DPR found that rain was falling at a maximum rate of about 58 mm (2.3 inches) per hour in this small stormy area. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Tropical Depression Kay is quickly fading into history

By 5 p.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Kay had been devoid of deep convection and thunderstorms for about 12 hours. At that time, Kay's center was about 710 miles (1,145 km) west of the southern tip of Baja California, <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/samalayuca-sand-dunes/">Mexico.</a>

Kay was then classified as a remnant low pressure system and faded into the hurricane history of the Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season.

In late August, a tropical disturbance formed 725 mi (1,165 km) east-southeast of Hurricane Javier and nearly 370 mi (595 km) south of the Baja California Peninsula. Moving slowly west, the disturbance began to develop a well-defined circulation, and was respectively upgraded into a tropical depression on August 28. Passing 10 mi (20 km) south of Clarion Island, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Kay. The cyclone's forward speed increased; subsequently, Kay reached its peak intensity. After maintaining its intensity for 18 hours, Kay rapidly weakened over cold water, and was downgraded into a depression at 0000 UTC September 2. Kay dissipated the next day several hundred miles west of the Baja California Peninsula


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Tropical Depression Kay is quickly fading into history

Tropical Depression Kay is quickly fading into history The remaining...

<div>Ocean acidification is killing baby cod Increasing ocean acidification could double the mortality of newly-hatched baby cod. This would put populations of this economically important fish species more and more under pressure if exploitation remains unchanged. For the first time ever, members of the German research network BIOACID have quantified mortality rates of cod in the western Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea under more acidified conditions which the fish may experience towards the end of the century. They integrated their results of two several-weeks long experiments in model calculations on stock dynamics. The various model scenarios showed that the recruitment could decrease to levels of one quarter to one twelfth of the recruitment of the last decades - a strong call for action for fisheries management.</div>
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As one of the most important commercial species in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/phytoplankton-blooms-persist-in-the-north-atlantic-ocean/">North Atlantic,</a> Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) has been under intense fishing pressure for decades, causing stocks to shrink or crash. In the online journal PLOS ONE, an international team of marine researchers draws attention to another important stressor triggered by climate change: ocean acidification. When additional carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere dissolves in the ocean, the water gets more acidified - with negative consequences for the behaviour, growth and development of fish larvae. Ocean acidification is killing baby cod

In two independent experiments, scientists found that the mortality of cod larvae in the critical phase between hatching and the development of the gills was twice as high at elevated carbon dioxide concentrations than at current conditions. The experiments were conducted in Sweden and Norway as part of the German research network BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification) and the EU BONUS project BIO-C3 („Biodiversity Changes - Causes, Consequences and Management Implications").

For the first experiment, fertilized eggs and larvae of cod caught in the Öresund were kept in the lab of the Sven Lovén Centre at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) for six weeks. Some were held in seawater at ambient carbon dioxide concentrations, others were exposed to CO2-conditions that are projected to occur by 2100. Temperature, light and food densities remained at natural conditions. The second experiment was conducted with cod offspring from the Barents Sea in the Centre for Marine Aquaculture Tromsø, NOFIMA (Norway).

"Even though the experiments were conducted in two consecutive years at different research stations under different conditions in relation for example to food or tank sizes and with two different stocks, their results are surprisingly similar", explains first author Martina Stiasny, PhD student in the research unit Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Fishes at GEOMAR and in the unit for Environmental, Resource and Ecological Economics at Kiel University. "The daily mortality rate for cod from the Öresund under current conditions was nine per cent compared to 20 per cent under increased CO2 concentrations. For the Barents Sea stock, we found mortality rates of seven and 13 per cent respectively."

The scientists integrated these increased mortality rates into model calculations, which were based on the stock data of the International Council of the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), to calculate the number of cod that will enter the fished population. According to the scenarios, ocean acidification could potentially decrease recruitment to levels one quarter to one twelfth of today's numbers.

"Our results show for the first time, how ocean acidification can add up to the fishing pressure on stocks of a commercially important fish species", Dr. Catriona Clemmesen, head of the GEOMAR working group Larval Fish Ecology, points out. "The repercussions of the anthropogenic climate change need to be included into stock projections and considered in the management of fish stocks. Only this will enable us to define realistic limits for fishing pressure and to avoid overfishing and depletion of fish stocks". To retain the stocks, fisheries ought to adjust to climate change, advises first author Martina Stiasny. "Ocean acidification cannot be completely avoided anymore. But the bigger the stocks are and the more responsibly and sustainably fishing activities are, the bigger the recruitment will remain. This will in the long run not only allow for larger fisheries, but also helps stocks to better adapt to climate change and other anthropogenic influences."

Original publication: Stiasny, M.H., Mittermayer, F.H., Sswat, M., Voss, R., Jutfelt, F., Chierici, M., Puvanendran, V., Mortensen, A., Reusch, T.B.H., Clemmesen, C.: PLOS ONE 2016: Ocean Acidification Effects on Atlantic Cod Larval Survival and Recruitment to the Fished Population, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155448

Links: <a href="http://www.geomar.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel</a>
<a href="http://www.eree.uni-kiel.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental, Resource and Ecological Economics at Kiel University</a>
<a href="http://www.bioacid.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification</a>
<a href="http://www.bio-c3.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biodiversity Changes - Causes, Consequences and Management Implications</a>
<a href="http://loven.gu.se/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sven Lovén Centre at the University of Gothenburg</a>
<a href="http://nofima.no/en/research-facilities/national-breeding-station-for-cod" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Centre for Marine Aquaculture Tromsø, NOFIMA</a>

BIOACID in brief: Under the umbrella of BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification), 10 institutions examine how marine ecosystems react to ocean acidification, how this affects the food web and the exchange of material and energy in the ocean and how the changes influence the socio-economic sector. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. A list of member institutions and further information can be found at <a href="http://www.bioacid.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.bioacid.de</a>.

BIO-C3 in brief: 13 partner institutes from eight European countries cooperate in the BIO-C3 project (Biodiversity Changes - Causes, Consequences and Management Implications) to address the importance of marine biodiversity and how it might be threatened in the Baltic by climate change. The project that runs from January 2014 to July 2017, is funded by the European Union as part of the BONUS - Science for a Better Future of the Baltic Sea Region - programme and the German Ministry of Education and Research with a total of 4 million Euros. It is coordinated at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany, assisted by DTU Aqua, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark. Further information: <a href="http://www.bio-c3.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.bio-c3.eu</a>

&nbsp;

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Ocean acidification is killing baby cod

Ocean acidification is killing baby cod Increasing ocean acidification could...

<div>Tropical Storm Gaston continues to intensify The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite provided scientists with a look at rainfall rates and cloud heights within Tropical Storm Gaston as it continued to intensify in the Atlantic Ocean.</div>
<div>

Tropical storm Gaston became the seventh named tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean after forming southwest of the Cape Verde Islands on Monday evening Aug. 22. Gaston's development followed closely behind Tropical Storm Fiona that formed in the same area southwest of the Cape Verde Islands on Aug. 17. Fiona is now fading quickly in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/phytoplankton-blooms-persist-in-the-north-atlantic-ocean/">Atlantic Ocean</a> southwest of Bermuda.

The GPM core observatory satellite had a very good view of forming tropical storm Gaston on Aug. 22 at 2:26 p.m. EDT (1826 UTC). At that time the forming tropical storm was starting to get organized with bands of showers moving around the center of the low's circulation. The GPM satellite had a fairly good view when it flew over newly formed Tropical Storm Gaston on Aug. 23 at 1:56 a.m. EDT (0556 UTC).

Measurements of precipitation with Gaston were derived from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. The GPM satellite had the best examination of rainfall around the tropical cyclone when it flew over the low's center on Aug. 22. The heaviest precipitation was found by GPM in an area of intense convective storms located well to the southwest of the low. DPR measured rain there falling at a rate of over 141 mm (5.6 inches) per hour.

GPM's Radar (DPR Ku Band) made measurements of the intensity of rainfall and heights of storms near the developing tropical storm. 3-D measurements by DPR found that some storm tops around the developing tropical storm were reaching altitudes above 14.7 km (9.1 miles). GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Aug. 24 the center of Tropical Storm Gaston was located 14.9 degrees north latitude and 38.6 degrees west longitude. That's about 975 miles (1,570 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands. The National Hurricane Center said that Gaston is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph. A turn toward the northwest is expected later today.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) discussion noted that microwave imagery showed Gaston's structure has improved since the passage of the GPM core satellite. Gaston has developed a well-defined low-level cloud ring and a mid-level microwave eye. However, Gaston's mid-level center is displaced about 25 nautical miles to the northeast of the low-level center. The University of Wisconsin CIMSS (wind) shear analyses indicated that 10 knots of southwesterly wind shear is affecting Gaston, which could explain the cyclone's tilted structure. The wind shear is expected to remain low enough during the next 24 hours to allow Gaston to strengthen to a hurricane later today.

For updated forecasts on Gaston, visit the National Hurricane Center website: <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nhc.noaa.gov</a>.


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Tropical Storm Gaston continues to intensify

Tropical Storm Gaston continues to intensify The Global Precipitation Measurement...

<div>Global warming could create substantial economic damage in agriculture, a new study conducted by a team of scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research finds. Around the globe, climate change threatens agricultural productivity, forcing up food prices. While financial gains and losses differ between consumers and producers across the regions, bottom line is that consumers in general will likely have to pay more for the same basket of food. As the additional expenditure for consumers outweighs producers' gains, increasing net economic losses will occur in the agriculture and food sector towards the end of the century. However, economic losses could be limited to 0.3 percent of global <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/damaging-air-pollution-agriculture/">GDP</a> - depending on agricultural trade policies.</div>
<div>

"Agriculture is very sensitive to climate change - even a small increase of global mean temperatures can have significant effects on regional crop yields, affecting both the profitability of agricultural production and the share of income spent on food", lead author Miodrag Stevanovi? says. "Our study quantifies economic impacts and analyses the role of international trade as an adaptation measure. We find that economic losses in agriculture could add up to the annual amount of roughly 0.8 percent of global GDP at the end of the century with a very restricted trade regime. As small as this percentage sounds, it actually translates to losses of 2.5 trillion US Dollars and is comparably higher for regions with limited agricultural resources with respect to growing agricultural demand, for example the Middle East, Africa and India. In contrast, further trade liberalization in agricultural commodities could reduce financial damage globally by 65 percent, to 0.3 percent of global GDP."

Trade can balance economic impacts on agriculture due to climate change

"Both global warming and free trade favor northern regions like Europe and the US, since producers' gains increase as trade patterns shift northwards. At the same time, southern regions like Africa or India could theoretically reduce climate-change-related damages by half through more liberalized food markets," co-author Alexander Popp explains. "Irrespective of our assumptions on global trade, climate change will result in reduced crop yields in many areas. At the same time, intensifying production or expanding cultivated land into previously untouched areas may come at a risk: it could lead to additional greenhouse gas emissions through tropical deforestation or increased fertilizer use". This could then further enhance climate change pressure on agriculture.

The researchers combined 19 different climate projections with simulations of crop growth to assess economic impacts of climate change in the agricultural sector. While the magnitude of damage varies with different assumptions on crop productivity response to climate change, CO2 plant fertilization effect or socio-economic projection, the study still highlights the important role of trade as a key measure to partly reduce climate change impacts. Modelling challenges such as adverse effects of extreme weather events still remain.

Risks of food shortages also call for poverty reduction measures

If food prices increase due to climate change impacts, households will not only have to spend more on their food consumption, but could also face risks of insufficient access to food and malnutrition. "The best way to avoid these risks is to limit climate change. However, for impacts that cannot be avoided, an open and diversified trade system can be an important adaptation option. It can account for changes in global patterns of agricultural productivity and thus allow for reducing production costs and enhancing food security," says Hermann Lotze-Campen, chair of PIK's research domain Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities. "As climate change will have an amplifying effect on the gap between developed and developing countries, reductions in trade barriers will have to be accompanied by measures for poverty reduction and social safety nets".

Article: Stevanović, M.; Popp, A.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Dietrich, J.P.; Müller, C.; Bonsch, M.; Schmitz, C.; Bodirsky, B.; Humpenöder, F.; Weindl, I.: The impact of high-end climate change on agricultural welfare. Science Advances.

Link to the article: <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/8/e1501452" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/8/e1501452</a>

For further information please contact: PIK press office Phone: +49 331 288 25 07 E-Mail: <a href="mailto:press@pik-potsdam.de">press@pik-potsdam.de</a> Twitter: @PIK_Climate <a href="http://www.pik-potsdam.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.pik-potsdam.de</a>

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Climate change threatens agricultural productivity around the world

Global warming could create substantial economic damage in agriculture, a...

<div>Global climate models don't work on a regional level One size does not always fit all, especially when it comes to global climate models, according to Penn State climate researchers. Global climate models don't work on a regional level</div>
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"The impacts of climate change rightfully concern policy makers and stakeholders who need to make decisions about how to cope with a changing climate," said Fuqing Zhang, professor of meteorology and director, Center for Advanced Data Assimilation and Predictability Techniques, Penn State. "They often rely upon climate model projections at regional and local scales in their decision making." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a>

Zhang and Michael Mann, Distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director, Earth System Science Center, were concerned that the direct use of climate model output at local or even regional scales could produce inaccurate information. They focused on two key climate variables, temperature and precipitation.

They found that projeGlobal climate models don't work on a regional level ctions of temperature changes with global climate models became increasingly uncertain at scales below roughly 600 horizontal miles, a distance equivalent to the combined widths of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. While climate models might provide useful information about the overall warming expected for, say, the Midwest, predicting the difference between the warming of Indianapolis and Pittsburgh might prove futile.

Regional changes in precipitation were even more challenging to predict, with estimates becoming highly uncertain at scales below roughly 1200 miles, equivalent to the combined width of all the states from the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/phytoplankton-blooms-persist-in-the-north-atlantic-ocean/">Atlantic Ocean</a> through New Jersey across Nebraska. The difference between changing rainfall totals in Philadelphia and Omaha due to global warming, for example, would be difficult to assess. The researchers report the results of their study in the August issue of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

"Policy makers and stakeholders use information from these models to inform their decisions," said Mann. "It is crucial they understand the limitation in the information the model projections can provide at local scales."

Climate models provide useful predictions of the overall warming of the globe and the largest-scale shifts in patterns of rainfall and drought, but are considerably more hard pressed to predict, for example, whether New York City will become wetter or drier, or to deal with the effects of mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountains on regional weather patterns.

"Climate models can meaningfully project the overall global increase in warmth, rises in sea level and very large-scale changes in rainfall patterns," said Zhang. "But they are uncertain about the potential significant ramifications on society in any specific location."

The researchers believe that further research may lead to a reduction in the uncertainties. They caution users of climate model projections to take into account the increased uncertainties in assessing local climate scenarios.

"Uncertainty is hardly a reason for inaction," said Mann. "Moreover, uncertainty can cut both ways, and we must be cognizant of the possibility that impacts in many regions could be considerably greater and more costly than climate model projections suggest."
###
Also working on this project was Wei Li, former post-doctoral fellow at Penn State now at NOAA/NWS/NCEP/Environmental Modeling Center, College Park, Md.

The National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research supported this work.

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Global climate models don't work on a regional level

Global climate models don't work on a regional level One...

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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