Scientists have long looked to oxygen when searching for signs of life beyond Earth. This gas sustains breathing and enables animals and plants to flourish. Now, researchers suggest that oxygen might also point to advanced technology. 



If an exoplanet’s atmosphere holds enough oxygen, it may not only support organisms but also help them spark fire, build structures, and craft machinery.



A study in Nature Astronomy presents this view, highlighting oxygen’s value as more than just a sign of biology. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-civilization-and-technology">Oxygen, civilization, and technology</h2>



Leading this research are <a href="https://www.pas.rochester.edu/people/faculty/frank_adam/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adam Frank</a>, the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester, and <a href="https://www-en.fisica.uniroma2.it/phone-directory/balbia_en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amedeo Balbi</a>, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy.



Together with their team, they set out to explore whether oxygen is a key factor in allowing extraterrestrial civilizations to emerge and thrive through the development of technology.



“We are ready to find signatures of life on alien worlds,” Frank says. “But how do the [oxygen] conditions on a planet tell us about the possibilities for intelligent, technology-producing life?” 



This question drives efforts to examine oxygen’s role beyond respiration and metabolism, especially in relation to large-scale industrial activities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-oxygen-matters-for-civilizations">Why oxygen matters for civilizations</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-cells-capable-of-photosynthesis-created-for-the-first-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Photosynthesis</a> on Earth accounts for the bulk of our oxygen on our planet, thanks to countless organisms that use sunlight to make food. 



Because this process produces so much oxygen, it has been considered a biosignature. A planet with significant oxygen levels hints that life may be present, but Frank and Balbi argue that oxygen also has a second function.



“<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02112-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In our paper</a>, we explore whether any atmospheric composition would be compatible with the presence of advanced technology,” Balbi says. “We found that the atmospheric requirements may be quite stringent.”



The link to technology comes from open-air combustion. Smelting metals, cooking food, and powering engines all rely on oxygen. 



Any alien civilization that forges metals would need a certain percentage of oxygen in its air to keep fires burning reliably. That percentage, according to Earth’s history, appears to be around 18 percent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fire-and-the-18-threshold">Fire and the 18% threshold</h2>



“You might be able to get biology -- you might even be able to get intelligent creatures -- in a world that doesn’t have oxygen,” Frank says, “but without a ready source of fire, you’re never going to develop higher technology because higher technology requires fuel and melting.” 



He calls attention to fire’s role in shaping tools, infrastructure, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-wellbeing-is-a-more-effective-focus-area-when-discussing-energy-solutions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy production</a>. Metalworking, for instance, depends on sustaining flames hot enough to melt ore and craft refined structures.



Frank and Balbi refer to this requirement as an “oxygen bottleneck.” A planet might host life forms of various kinds, yet remain stuck without the combustion needed to fuel industrial breakthroughs. 



“The presence of high degrees of oxygen in the atmosphere is like a bottleneck you have to get through in order to have a technological species,” Frank says. 



“You can have everything else work out, but if you don’t have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/it-took-200-million-years-for-earth-to-get-its-oxygen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oxygen in the atmosphere</a>, you’re not going to have a technological species.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-technology-create-technosignatures">Oxygen + technology create "technosignatures"</h2>



Frank thinks that exoplanets with oxygen levels at or above 18 percent should be at the top of our search list. 



“Targeting planets with high oxygen levels should be prioritized because the presence or absence of high oxygen levels in exoplanet atmospheres could be a major clue in finding potential technosignatures,” Frank says. 



Planets that exceed this level may have the capacity for factories, infrastructure, or communication networks.



Balbi notes that interpreting any possible signal of intelligent life will be challenging. 



“The implications of discovering intelligent, technological life on another planet would be huge,” adds Balbi. “Therefore, we need to be extremely cautious in interpreting possible detections. 



Their study suggests that astronomers should be skeptical of potential technosignatures from a planet with insufficient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-ancient-breath-study-links-atmospheric-oxygen-and-mantle-chemistry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">atmospheric oxygen</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-technosphere-vs-biotechnosphere">Technosphere vs. biotechnosphere</h2>



Frank and Balbi’s perspective also covers the idea of a technosphere, which is the collective output of an advanced civilization. 



Factories, vehicles, and power grids all fit under this label. They rely on resources provided by the planet’s biosphere but stretch beyond purely natural processes. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bronze-age-technology-is-a-modern-solution-for-clean-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Burning fuels in open air</a> has been central to every major industrial leap, from forging steel to generating electricity.



When these technologies reach a global scale, they form a biotechnosphere. This term applies to the interplay of living systems and technology -- essentially, how organisms and machines coexist. 



On Earth, that includes everything from smartphones to farms, all running side by side. A well-established biotechnosphere might produce clear signals in the atmosphere: waste gases, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mapping-2024s-record-heat-unveiling-earths-climate-danger-zones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unusual heat patterns</a>, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forever-chemicals-found-in-tap-and-bottled-water-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chemicals not normally found in nature</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-machines-and-ecosystems">Balancing machines and ecosystems</h2>



History shows that as technology expands, it can sometimes damage or alter environments. Factories might pump pollutants into the air, while deforestation removes habitats that produce oxygen. 



Yet there is an ongoing move toward cleaner energy and more efficient resource use. If any alien civilization follows a similar path, we might detect certain byproducts in the form of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2023-climate-change-report-record-high-temperatures-greenhouse-gases-sea-level-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">greenhouse gases</a> or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/banning-forever-chemicals-may-threaten-us-national-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">engineered molecules</a>.



Though the focus is on oxygen, other factors matter too, such as temperature and access to metals or fuels. A planet may need stable conditions for life to progress to a point where industry becomes possible.



That said, Frank and Balbi’s findings highlight how oxygen stands out among these factors, because it directly enables combustion processes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fire-and-progress-in-earth-s-past">Fire and progress in Earth’s past</h2>



Earth’s own development through advances in technology offers insight into how vital oxygen has been for technical achievements.



Once our atmosphere had enough of it, humans learned to manipulate fire for cooking and for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-wooden-structure-completely-rewrites-early-human-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">making stronger materials</a>. 



From simple smithing to modern manufacturing, every stage of growth involved open-air combustion.



“You can have everything else work out, but if you don’t have oxygen in the atmosphere, you’re not going to have a technological species,” Frank says. 



This idea underlines how a single factor -- oxygen -- can open or close the door to industrial progress, altering a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/decarbonizing-worlds-industrial-emissions-possible-with-current-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">planet’s entire future path</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-technology-and-next-steps">Oxygen, technology, and next steps</h2>



Observatories now in the works may soon gather data about exoplanet atmospheres in detail. Detecting a high oxygen content could mark a world that supports advanced living organisms. 



The next task is to look for proof of industry or technology, sometimes called technosignatures. These might appear as chemical emissions, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-radio-signal-reaches-earth-after-8-billion-years-frb-20220610a/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">radio signals</a>, or specific spectral lines.



If these two checks-- oxygen above 18 percent and evidence of artificial activity -- both yield results, we will have a strong indication that we share the universe with another technological civilization. 



That reality could reshape how we see ourselves and our place among the stars.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter-0">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



Understanding the significance of atmospheric oxygen can also inspire reflection on our home planet. Human industries <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-from-fossil-fuels-kills-5-million-people-each-year/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rely heavily on combustion</a>, from running cars to powering factories. This has changed Earth’s ecosystems. 



As we learn more about how oxygen in an atmosphere enables or limits technology, we might gain new ideas on how to manage our own balance between growth and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-calls-for-global-change-to-stop-biodiversity-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental health</a>.



Ultimately, Frank and Balbi’s argument shows that oxygen may do far more than keep living cells alive. It might be the clearest signal of whether a planet can support the technologies that shape modern societies. 



By recognizing the 18 percent threshold, scientists can refine their search for advanced life and possibly move closer to answering the age-old question: Are we alone, or is someone else using fire to reshape their world?



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02112-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Astronomy</a>.



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Oxygen levels on exoplanets reveal presence of alien technology

Scientists have long looked to oxygen when searching for signs of life beyond Earth. This gas sustains breathing and enables animals and plants to flourish. Now, researchers suggest that oxygen might also point to advanced technology. If an exoplanet’s atmosphere holds enough oxygen, it may not only support organisms but also help them spark fire, build structures, and craft machinery. A study in Nature Astronomy presents this view, highlighting oxygen’s value as more than just a sign of biology. Oxygen, civilization, and technology Leading this research are...

Global ecological disaster occurred 252 million years ago. There have been several mass extinctions in the history of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earth-could-be-powered-entirely-by-renewable-energy/">earth</a>. One of the largest known ecological disasters occurred around 252 million years ago at the boundary between the Permian and the Triassic. Almost all sea-dwelling species and two thirds of all reptiles and amphibians died out. Although there were also brief declines in diversity in the plant world, they recovered in the space of a few thousand years, which meant that similar conditions to before prevailed again.

Change in flora within a millennia

Researchers from the Institute and Museum of Paleontology at the University of Zurich have now discovered another previously unknown ecological crisis on a similar scale in the Lower Triassic. The team headed by Peter A. Hochuli and Hugo Bucher revealed that another event altered the vegetation fundamentally and for longer approximately 500,000 years after the major natural disaster at the boundary between the Permian and the Triassic.

The scientists studied sediments towering over 400 meters high from North-Eastern Greenland. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=carbon&amp;cvid=8059c74fb2d648349b4ca1846067da94&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Carbon</a> isotope curves suggest that the prevalent seed ferns and conifers were replaced by spore plants in the space of a few millennia. To this day, certain spore plants like ferns are still famous for their ability to survive hostile conditions better than more highly developed plants.

Catastrophic ecological upheaval changes plant world

Until now, it was assumed that the environment gradually recovered during the Lower Triassic 252.4 to 247.8 million years ago. "The drastic, simultaneous changes in flora and the composition of the carbon isotopes indicate that the actual upheaval in the vegetation didn't take place until the Lower Triassic, i.e. around 500,000 years later than previously assumed," explains Hochuli.

The researchers didn't just observe the mass death of vegetation in Greenland; they already discovered the first indications of this floral shift a few years ago in sediment samples from Pakistan. Moreover, the latest datings of volcanic ash by Australian scientists show that the most significant change in the plant world did not happen until a few millennia after the Permian/Triassic boundary. During this period, the indigenous glossopteris seed plant group died out, an event that had previously been dated back to the Permian. Thanks to these findings, the sediment sequences of the supercontinent Gondwana in the southern hemisphere now need to be reinterpreted.

Crisis probably triggered by volcanic eruptions

What caused this newly described natural disaster remains unclear. "However, we see a link between this previously unknown global event and the enormous volcanic eruptions we know from the Lower Triassic in what's now Siberia," explains Bucher, Director of UZH's Institute and Museum of Paleontology. Global ecological disaster occurred 252 million years ago

Literature: Peter A. Hochuli, Anna Sanson-Barrera, Elke Schneebeli-Hermann &amp; Hugo Bucher. Severest crisis overlooked - Worst disruption of terrestrial environments postdates the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Nature Scientific Reports. June 24, 2016. Doi: 10.1038/srep28372

--

<a href="http://www.uzh.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Zurich</a>

Global ecological disaster occurred 252 million years ago

Global ecological disaster occurred 252 million years ago. There have...

Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen officially settles emissions scandal lawsuits. Volkswagen will spend up to $15.3 billion to settle consumer lawsuits and government allegations that it cheated on emissions tests in what lawyers are calling the largest auto-related class-action settlement in U.S. history.
Up to $10 billion will go to 475,000 VW or Audi diesel owners, who thought they were buying high-performance, environmentally friendly cars but later learned the vehicles' emissions vastly exceeded U.S. pollution laws. VW agreed to either buy back or repair the vehicles, although it hasn't yet developed a fix for the problem. Owners will also receive payments of $5,100 to $10,000.
The emissions scandal settlement also includes $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation and another $2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles. The German automaker also settled claims with 44 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico for about $603 million. It still faces billions more in fines and penalties as well as possible criminal charges.
Volkswagen has admitted that the cars, equipped with 2-liter diesel engines, were programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn them off while on the road. Investigators determined that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans. The company got away with the scheme for seven years until independent researchers discovered the scheme and reported VW to the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Using the power of the Clean Air Act, we're getting VW's polluting vehicles off the road and we're reducing harmful pollution in our air - pollution that never should have been emitted in the first place," said Gina McCarthy, administrator of EPA. "It should send a very clear message that when you break the laws designed to protect public health in this country, there are serious consequences."
The settlement still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who has set a hearing for preliminary approval on July 26. Final approval is expected in October.
If the settlement is approved, owners who choose to have VW buy back their cars would get the National Automobile Dealers Association clean trade-in value from before the scandal became public on Sept. 18, 2015. That would be $12,500 to $44,000, depending on the model, age, mileage and options on their car, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Models covered by the settlement include the 2009-2015 Jetta and Audi A3, the 2010-2015 Golf, and the 2012-2015 Beetle and Passat, all with 2-liter diesel engines.
Owners can also have VW repair the cars for free - assuming it comes up with a fix. According to court documents filed Tuesday, there currently is no repair that can bring the cars into compliance with U.S. pollution regulations. When VW eventually proposes a repair, it must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. VW has to submit proposed fixes to the EPA between November 2016 and October 2017.
Any repair that regulators approve could hurt the cars' acceleration and fuel economy. The EPA said Tuesday that any fix VW develops won't bring the cars in full compliance with clean air laws. The $2.7 billion in environmental mitigation will go toward offsetting the increased pollution, the agency said. Volkswagen marketed the cars as more fuel efficient and better performing that those with regular gasoline engines. If it can't come up with a repair, VW could have to buy back most of the vehicles.
Volkswagen also will pay off customers' loans if they owe more than their car is worth due to rapid depreciation. Owners will have the option of having VW retire loans up to 130 percent of the cars' value before the scandal.
Owners can still decline Volkswagen's offer and sue the company on their own.
The company has to buy back or repair 85 percent of the vehicles by June 30, 2019, or pay even more money into an environmental trust fund. Volkswagen officially settles emissions scandal lawsuits
Elizabeth Cabraser, lead attorney for consumers who sued the company, said negotiations - which were sometimes heated - began in February. She said the agreement holds Volkswagen accountable to consumers and to the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=environment&amp;cvid=64f4d63334764949ada8f2ee8e66ee56&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">environment</a>.
"To be able to do something to repair harm to our environment is a tremendous opportunity," she said. "Sometimes money serves as a proxy for justice."
Lawyers are still working on settlements for another 80,000 vehicles with 3-liter diesel engines. Cabraser said plaintiffs are also pursuing a case against German auto supplier Bosch, which supplied engine control computers for VW diesels.
Volkswagen says the $10 billion consumer settlement assumes that it will buy back all of the cars. Volkswagen officially settles emissions scandal lawsuits
"We take our commitment to make things right very seriously and believe these agreements are a significant step forward," Volkswagen AG CEO Matthias Mueller said in a statement.
VW said in April that it has set aside $18.2 billion to cover the cost of the global scandal, which includes a total of 11 million vehicles worldwide. The scandal has hurt VW-brand sales in the U.S. In the first five months of 2015, before the scandal, Volkswagen sold 144,006 cars in the U.S. In the first five months of this year, the total fell 13 percent to 125,205.
Zandy Hartig, a Los Angeles actress who owns a diesel-powered 2013 Jetta SportWagen, plans to opt for the buyback. She would prefer to keep her car, but doesn't trust Volkswagen to come up with a fix that meets pollution standards.
"It's like having an extremely bad boyfriend that you're still in love with," Hartig said. "I thought I was doing a good thing and did my due diligence. I feel betrayed."
Volkswagen dealer Steve Kalafer of Flemington, New Jersey, says owners will likely welcome the buyback money but the brand's reputation has suffered so much some customers will never come back.
"This was not an honest mistake," he said.
Kalafer says dealerships and their employees are the "biggest losers" in the settlement. Depending on the month, his sales are down 20 percent to 50 percent compared with before and it's hard to keep technicians and salespeople on staff, he said.
The scandal erupted in September when U.S. regulators revealed that the German automaker had fitted many of its cars with software to fool emissions tests and had put dirty vehicles on the road. Car owners and the U.S. Department of Justice sued.
The company, which knew the EPA's testing routine, was finally caught by the International Council on Clean Transportation, which hired West Virginia University to test a VW in real roads conditions. The EPA has since changed its testing to include on-road tailpipe checks.
---
Krisher and Durbin reported from Detroit. Jason Keyser in Chicago and Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco contributed.
---
This story has been corrected to show that $2 billion of the settlement money will be spent on promotion of zero-emissions vehicles, not research.
© 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.

Volkswagen officially settles emissions scandal lawsuits

Volkswagen officially settles emissions scandal lawsuits. Volkswagen will spend up...

Spawning sockeye salmon, Lake Aleknagik, Alaska, USA

Oil pipelines carrying crude oil to ports in British Columbia may spell bad news for salmon. Oil pipelines carrying crude oil to ports in British Columbia may spell bad news for salmon, according to a new University of Guelph-led study.

Exposure to an oil sands product - diluted bitumen - impairs the swimming ability and changes the heart structures of young <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pacific-salmon-water-temperatures/">salmon</a>.

The research will be published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and is available online now. Oil pipelines carrying crude oil to ports in British Columbia may spell bad news for salmon

It's a timely finding, says U of G post-doctoral researcher and lead author Sarah Alderman. Oil pipelines affect health and fitness of salmon.

The National Energy Board (NEB) recently approved the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project; the federal government is expected to make a final decision by December.

The pipeline stretches from Edmonton to Burnaby B.C. The expansion would double the volume of oil sands products reaching the Pacific coast. It's just one of several trans-Canada pipelines on the NEB's review list.

"The Trans Mountain pipeline already carries diluted bitumen through the Fraser River Watershed and this is prime salmon habitat," Alderman said.

Working with colleagues at Simon Fraser University and the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=british+columbia&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=bfa8cb4c8a39402ca01ded3b4f01e739&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcV7JLaCA2lHOMI7gGhmWqA5MZPfqg2r6T6f9y1rzOk3%21wBtw4fSlgtToY5t87Hu2Du%21EG6LQPF2n7w7QFvP4L&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">British Columbia</a>, Alderman exposed fish to small amounts of diluted bitumen for up to four weeks.

She found that salmon exposed to the highest concentration of diluted bitumen suffered a 10 per cent reduction in swimming performance.

"This may not seem like much, but to a young salmon about to head out to the ocean, it's huge," Alderman said.

"These fish are swimming all-out for hours each day, traveling up to 1,000 kilometres to reach the Pacific, and they need a strong heart to do this."

The pipeline stretches from Edmonton to Burnaby B.C. The expansion would double the volume of oil sands products reaching the Pacific coast. It's just one of several trans-Canada pipelines on the NEB's review list. Oil pipelines affect health and fitness of salmon

"The Trans Mountain pipeline already carries diluted bitumen through the Fraser River Watershed and this is prime salmon habitat," Alderman said.

Working with colleagues at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, Alderman exposed fish to small amounts of diluted bitumen for up to four weeks.

She found that salmon exposed to the highest concentration of diluted bitumen suffered a 10 per cent reduction in swimming performance.

"This may not seem like much, but to a young salmon about to head out to the ocean, it's huge," Alderman said.

"These fish are swimming all-out for hours each day, traveling up to 1,000 kilometres to reach the Pacific, and they need a strong heart to do this."

The more diluted bitumen fish encounter, and the longer they are exposed to it, the greater the impact on their health and fitness, Alderman said.

"What our study really says is before you build any more pipelines through salmon habitat, you need to make sure that you're building pipelines to the highest possible standard, that you can quickly detect any leaks in the system, and that you have rapid and thorough spill response procedures."

Oil pipelines affect health and fitness of salmon

Oil pipelines carrying crude oil to ports in British Columbia...

Symbiotic relationships are harmed by ocean acidification. A common close partnership which sees baby fish sheltering from predators among the poisonous tentacles of jellyfish will be harmed under predicted ocean acidification, a new University of Adelaide study has found.

Published today in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1146" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>, the researchers say that modification of this baby fish-jellyfish symbiotic relationship is likely to lead to higher mortality among the affected fish species which include some of the common commercial fish. A well-known example of marine symbiosis is the relationship between anemones and clown-fish, popularised in the animated movie, Finding Nemo. Symbiotic relationships are harmed by ocean acidification

"These intricate, interdependent relationships between different species--symbioses--are common in both the marine and terrestrial environments," says study leader Associate Professor Ivan Nagelkerken, in the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute.

"But, apart from the well-known relationship between coral and microalgae and what happens during a bleaching event, little is known about how climate change and predicted ocean acidification will affect such relationships.

"This is the first study that demonstrates how climate change will disturb such a symbiotic relationship between two animals that interact closely for survival."

The juvenile fish of about 80 different species, including important commercial varieties such as pollock, jacks and trevallies, form symbiotic relationships with jellyfish.

The jellyfish blooms are an ideal protective habitat for the baby fish, which would otherwise be unprotected in the open oceans where they are at high risk of being eaten by bigger fish and other marine life. Only one species of fish has known immunity to the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=jellyfish&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=e345d63a3b2548af9eca7e273943dfd2&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcV7JLaCA2lHOMI7gGhmWqtsDwJs%21WtFWRnygFsYOEmnkVPF8vaN7kkYMOwxvohFplH5OH2XnF0fDPsJe%211AlX&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">jellyfish</a> venom. Somehow the baby fish avoid the poisonous tentacles of the jellyfish while swimming among them, while other species stay well away.

The relationship is not straightforward however - sometimes the jellyfish will eat the baby fish. Despite this, the survival odds of the baby fish seem to be increased when sheltering with the jellyfish.

The researchers studied the actions of juvenile fish in an aquarium under high CO2 conditions. Compared to the control group, they spent much less time with the jellyfish host (about three times less), while only 63% (compared to 86%) initiated any relationship at all.

The research is in collaboration with Associate Professor Kylie Pitt at Griffith University. "Shelter is not widely available in open water so juvenile fish rely on the jellyfish for protection against predators," says Associate Professor Pitt. "As shelter providers, the jellyfish could play a role in enhancing the populations of these fish species. Changing ocean conditions are likely to have significant negative impacts on this relationship and therefore, fish populations."
###
Media Contact:

Associate Professor Ivan Nagelkerken. Phone: +61 8 8313 4137, Mobile: +61 (0)477 320 551,<a href="mailto:ivan.nagelkerken@adelaide.edu.au">ivan.nagelkerken@adelaide.edu.au</a>

Robyn Mills, Media Officer. Phone: +61 8 8313 6341, Mobile: +61 (0)410 689 084,<a href="mailto:robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au">robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au</a>

Symbiotic relationships are harmed by ocean acidification

Symbiotic relationships are harmed by ocean acidification. A common close...

Impact of the changes to the ice sheet on global ocean circulation

Changes in Antarctic sea ice production impact global ocean circulation. The high sea ice production of Antarctic coastal polynyas is attributable to the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), which is a driving force for global ocean circulation. Sea ice production varies year to year as well as seasonally; however, there are various explanations for the factors that increase or decrease this production, such as wind, temperature, and surrounding ice conditions, which have not been understood till date.Changes in Antarctic sea ice production impact global ocean circulation

Dr Takeshi Tamura at National Institute of Polar Research, Japan, and his research team developed an algorithm for calculating sea ice production from satellite remote sensing data, and were the first in the world to succeed in mapping sea ice production in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. In this study, this algorithm was used to analyze long-term (1992-2013) sea ice production in the 13 main Antarctic coastal polynyas, and the average values (Figure 2) and annual variability of sea ice production were calculated. Furthermore, the sea ice production volume was verified by bio-logging the data of Elephant seals (Mirounga Lenonina).

These results show that sea ice production decreased in years when major events such as an ice shelf collapse or the collapse of a glacier occurred. The results also indicate that sea ice production increases in polynyas wherein off-shore first-year ice has decreased. Dr Tamura states that "With Antarctic coastal polynyas, changes to surrounding ice such as ice shelves and <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/operation-icebridge-monitors-glaciers-in-alaska/">glaciers</a>, fast ice, and off-shore first-year ice play a more important role in sea ice production than wind and temperature, such as what the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) does."

Furthermore, he comments that, "Antarctic coastal polynyas -- in which there is large annual variability in sea ice production -- are areas of the sea in which ice shelf fusion has accelerated in recent years. There is a possibility that these will have a large impact on changes to<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=antarctic&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=a3eab74eb143479492fbae3a1ad5dde0&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcV7JLaCA2lHOMI7gGhmWqTdrgJ8wQBDFCbUlusWiwVEkMrBOnU2dPd1XA4XiJXuNxP8%21xTP3*8qUxsVVUia*M&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS"> Antarctic</a> Bottom Water (AABW) in the future, and therefore monitoring is essential."
###
Source: National Institute of Polar Research, Japan

Changes in Antarctic sea ice production impact global ocean circulation

Impact of the changes to the ice sheet on global...

Science groups send letter to congress about climate change. Thirty-one of the country's top science organizations are telling Congress that global warming is a real problem and something needs to be done about it.
The groups, which represent millions of scientists, sent the letter Tuesday, saying the severity of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=e5c682771a564575a52de05c91d51823&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate change</a> is increasing and will worsen faster in coming decades.
Eighteen groups sent a similar letter in 2009. But Rush Holt, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/the-science-behind-big-80s-hair/">Science</a>, said the climate problem has increased and scientists are even more confident about the harm.
"There is strong evidence that ongoing climate change is having broad negative impacts on society, including the global economy, natural resources and human health," the letter states. It mentions extreme weather, water shortages, heat waves, wildfires, sea level rise, and disruption of ecosystems in the United States.
Those signing the letter include the world's largest scientific society, American Chemical Society, and groups that represent meteorologists, public health experts, biologists, Earth scientists, oceanographers, geologists, crop researchers, bug, fish and reptile experts, as well as mathematicians and statisticians. Science groups send letter to congress about climate change
Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe said the situation is like a doctor telling a patient he has cancer, with the patient saying he doesn't. The doctor then gets every oncologist in the hospital to tell the patient it is cancer, but is treatable. It's up to the patient.
"We told you everything we could," said Hayhoe. "We are like Pontius Pilate, metaphorically washing our hands."
© 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.

Science groups send letter to congress about climate change

Science groups send letter to congress about climate change. Thirty-one...

Crucial peatlands carbon-sink vulnerable to rising sea levels, research shows

Crucial peatlands <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/carbon-is-the-basis-for-all-life-on-our-planet/">carbon</a>-sink vulnerable to rising sea levels, research shows. Rising sea-levels linked to global warming could pose a significant threat to the effectiveness of the world's peatland areas as carbon sinks, a new study has shown.

The pioneering new study, carried out by Geographers at the University of Exeter, examined the impact that salt found in sea water has on how successfully peatland ecosystems accumulate carbon from the atmosphere. Crucial peatlands carbon-sink vulnerable to rising sea levels, research shows

The researchers studied an area of blanket bog - a peat bog that forms in cool regions susceptible to high rainfall - at Kentra Moss, in Northwest <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=scotland&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=9f9d96948a5a4f8ca0a6c3c6cd57560c&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcV7JLaCA2lHOMI7gGhmWqSFpD9bLTM0QIXFzmPsnTacxhwOhw5oQRKrfAaF390Jl0SWss7kvEZIfSY2dKFPB4&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Scotland.</a>

They discovered that the rate at which the peatland area accumulated carbon was significantly impacted as the concentration of salt rose. Rising sea levels threaten peatlands

The results indicate that rising sea levels, linked to predicted climate change, could pose a serious threat to the future security of the peatlands because they would inundate areas and deposit more salt, further inland.

The findings feature in respected scientific journal, Scientific Reports, on Wednesday, June 29, 2016.

Dr Angela Gallego-Sala, co-author of the paper and a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at Exeter said: "Peatland areas play a crucial role in taking carbon from our atmosphere and storing it".

"We know that rising sea levels through global warming can have catastrophic effects on many areas across the globe, and this study shows just how vulnerable some peatland areas are to the same phenomenon.

"The effects of global warming are already being observed, but the longer we wait to act, the quicker changes to our environment, which would have a devastating impact on many regions around the world, will take place."

Rain-fed peatlands are recognised as being a globally important environmental resource because they absorb and store carbon.

Their unique plant communities and their inherent wetness are known to help control their ability to act as carbon stores. However, this new research shows that there is a threshold concentration of salt above which, the plant communities are less successful at absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere.

Blanket bogs, such as the one used for the study, are distinctive peatland ecosystems occupying specific coastal, high-latitude areas, making them vulnerable to sea-level change.

The study, which arose from an undergraduate research project carried out by student Alex Whittle and Dr Gallego-Sala, looked at the age and density of carbon that was stored in core samples taken in three specific areas, starting next to the coastline and moving progressively inland.

The samples showed that as salt levels increased, the vegetation that colonise the bogs altered significantly, resulting in a sharp decline in carbon storage. The research suggests that if sea levels rise and blanket bogs receive more salt-water, so the rate at which carbon can be stored will sharply decline.

Alex Whittle, author of the paper and now a research student in the Department of Geography said: "This study highlights the global scale and geographical distribution of peatlands potentially vulnerable to sea-level change. We hope our work will increase awareness of this risk and thereby stimulate future research on this topic".

Dr Gallego-Sala added: "What started out as an undergraduate project has led to a ground-breaking new study, and produced some startling results. Peatland areas are vital for our ecosystems and hopefully this study will help give us a greater understanding of the threats that they are facing in the future."

Vulnerability of the peatland carbon sink to sea-level rise, by Alex Whittle and Angela Gallego-Sala, is published in Scientific Reports.

Rising sea levels threaten peatlands

Crucial peatlands carbon-sink vulnerable to rising sea levels, research shows...

Ocean acidification makes it harder for sea snails to escape from their sea star predators, according to a study from the University of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=eca5e46bc2af4ceeab26513c95f76f45&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNcV7JLaCA2lHOMI7gGhmWqR8js%214i8xM*eWrfAF0M2pxIfeVSk5lDyzbg%211Ucspj88SJ6hO5RN3ciR8CUnDoEj&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a>, Davis.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B, suggest that by disturbing predator-prey interactions, ocean acidification could spur cascading consequences for food web systems in shoreline ecosystems. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-biodiversity-has-remained-stable-for-over-500-million-years/">Ocean</a> acidification is changing the rules for predators

For instance, black turban snails graze on algae. If more snails are eaten by predators, algae densities could increase. Ocean acidification is changing the rules for predators

"Ocean acidification can affect individual marine organisms along the Pacific coast, by changing the chemistry of the seawater," said lead author Brittany Jellison, a Ph.D. student studying marine ecology at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.

"But it can also alter how species interact, such as by impairing the ability of prey to avoid predators," she said.

Sea star and snail interactions under ocean acidification

Jellison and colleagues from the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory collected ochre sea stars and black turban snails -- two common species along the Pacific coastline -- from tide pools on the Bodega Marine Reserve. In lab tanks, they explored interactions between the sea stars and snails under 16 different levels of seawater pH, or acidity, ranging from present levels to those expected for rocky intertidal pools by the year 2100.

The scientists found that lower pH levels, which indicate higher acidity, did not slow the snails' movements or reduce their ability to sense the predatory sea stars. However, the more acidic waters did impair the snails' escape response.

Tipping point

Usually, when a black turban snail senses an ochre sea star, it quickly crawls up and out of the tide pool to avoid it, as sea stars rarely leave the water to eat. But when pH levels fell to 7.1 or below, the snails failed to fully implement their escape response. Neither did the snails recover their escape response when the water's acidity fluctuated between normal and more acidic levels.

The pH levels that spur these behavioral changes already occur in tide pools and are expected to become more frequent in coming decades.

More research is needed to understand why the snails show a degraded escape response, or if they may adapt to more acidic ocean conditions in the future.

More CO2, more ocean acidification

One-third of carbon dioxide emitted by humans enters the oceans, making seawater more acidic, the study noted.

Rocky tide pools may operate as an indicator for future ocean conditions. They experience pH levels that are predicted for the open ocean later. Models project a 0.3-0.4 drop in the global average of ocean pH by 2100.

"Dozens of West Coast species display escape responses to sea stars," said senior author Brian Gaylord, a professor of evolution and ecology at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory and Jellison's faculty adviser. "We don't yet know the extent to which ocean acidification could alter these additional predator-prey interactions, but there is clear potential for broader disruption of links within shoreline food webs."
###
The study's co-authors, all affiliated with the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, include graduate student Aaron Ninokawa, Professor Tessa Hill of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Coastal Marine Science Institute, and professors Eric Sanford and Brian Gaylord of the Department of Evolution and Ecology.

The study was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, California Sea Grant and UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Ocean acidification is changing the rules for predators

Ocean acidification makes it harder for sea snails to escape...

Climate study finds direct correlation between humans and greening. A multinational team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute has found the first positive correlation between human activity and greening.

The research team, led by Jiafu Mao of the Ecosystem Simulation Science group in the Environmental Sciences Division, used new environmental data and strict statistical methods to discover a significant human-vegetation interaction in the northern extratropical latitudes, the section of the planet spanning 30 to 75 degrees north, roughly between the Tropic of Cancer and the North Frigid Zone above the Arctic Circle. Climate study finds direct correlation between humans and greening

"This is the first clear evidence of a discernible human fingerprint on physiological vegetation changes at the continental scale," Mao said.

With the absence of long-term observational records and suitable Earth system model (ESM) simulations, the human "touch" on northern latitude greening had not been previously identified. The team used two recently available 30-year-long leaf area index data sets, 19 ESM simulations and a formal "detection and attribution" statistical algorithm to positively attribute changes in vegetation activity in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere to anthropogenic forcings, or human-induced climate inputs such as well-mixed greenhouse gas emissions.

Leaf area index -- the ratio of leaf surface area to ground area -- is an indicator of vegetation growth and productivity derived from satellite imaging. The remote-sensing-based LAI datasets and ESM simulations showed a significant "greening" trend over the northern extratropical latitudes vegetated area between 1982 and 2011, indicating increased vegetative productivity.

When Mao and his colleagues accounted for internal climate variability and responses to natural forcings such as volcanic eruptions and incoming solar radiation, it was clear that the greening was inconsistent with simulations of purely natural factors and could only be explained by anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcings, particularly elevated carbon dioxide concentrations.

This anthropogenic greening effect has the potential to alter natural processes on a planetary scale. Continent-wide changes in vegetative productivity, such as those in the study, impact energy exchanges, water use and carbon budgets, accelerating or slowing the pace of climate change.

Accurate detection and attribution of changes in vegetation growth patterns are essential for strategic decision-making in ecosystem management, agricultural applications and sustainable development and conservation. This is the first time the detection and attribution algorithm has been applied to terrestrial ecosystem changes such as leaf area index trends, as it is typically used to study physical climate data such as extreme events and variations in temperature or precipitation.

Mao would like to see these long-term regional- and global-scale observational data sets used in similar studies as they become available. He says the detection and attribution algorithm could be applied to study broad-scale terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, and the framework developed for this study could be used to identify and correct potential errors in next-generation ESM simulations.
###
The study and its results are reported in the article "Human-induced greening of the northern extratropical land surface" in Nature Climate Change. Other ORNL participants and coauthors were Xiaoying Shi, Peter Thornton, Dan Ricciuto and Forrest Hoffman.

This study was supported by the DOE Office of Science.

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE's Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit <a href="http://science.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">science.energy.gov</a>.

Image: <a href="https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/news/images/greening_figure_copy.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/news/images/greening_figure_copy.jpg</a>

Caption: Earth system models simulate Northern Hemisphere greening. Figure shows the spatial distribution of leaf area index trends (m2/m2/30yr) in the growing season (April-October) during the period of 1982-2011 in the mean of satellite observations (top), Earth system model (ESM) simulations with natural forcings alone (lower left) and ESM simulations with combined anthropogenic and natural forcings (lower right).

Climate study finds direct correlation between humans and greening

Climate study finds direct correlation between humans and greening. A...

University of Delaware study shows temperature warming may have reached a tipping point

Adélie penguin population being decimated by climate change. Climate has influenced the distribution patterns of Adélie penguins across <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-ice-loss-sea-level/">Antarctica</a> for millions of years.

The geologic record shows that as glaciers expanded and covered Adélie breeding habitats with ice, penguin colonies were abandoned. When the glaciers melted during warming periods, this warming positively affected the Adélie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin">penguins</a>, allowing them to return to their rocky breeding grounds.

But now, University of Delaware scientists and colleagues report that this beneficial warming may have reached its tipping point.

In a paper published today (June 29) in Scientific Reports, the researchers project that approximately 30 percent of current Adélie colonies may be in decline by 2060 and approximately 60 percent may be in decline by 2099.

"It is only in recent decades that we know Adélie penguins population declines are associated with warming, which suggests that many regions of Antarctica have warmed too much and that further warming is no longer positive for the species," said the paper's lead author Megan Cimino, who earned her doctoral degree at UD in May.

Co-authors on the work include Matthew Oliver, principal investigator on the project and Patricia &amp; Charles Robertson Professor of Marine Science &amp; Policy in UD's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment; Heather J. Lynch, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University; and Vincent S. Saba, a research fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service.

Declining populations

The Adélie penguin is a species that breeds around the entire Antarctic continent. The species is experiencing population declines along the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), which is one of the most rapidly warming places on Earth, while Adélie populations in other areas around the continent where the climate is stable or even cooling remain steady or increasing.

The researchers' objective was to understand the effects of climate change on Antarctic Adélie penguin colonies. The study builds on previously published work by Oliver's research team to better understand Antarctica's shifting ecosystem by tracking penguins and their habitats. The current work used satellite data and global climate model projections to understand current and future population trends on a continental scale.

"Our study used massive amounts of data to run habitat suitability models. From other studies that used actual ground counts--people going and physically counting penguins-- and from high resolution satellite imagery, we have global estimates of Adélie penguin breeding locations, meaning where they are present and where they are absent, throughout the entire Southern Ocean. We also have estimates of population size and how their populations have changed over last few decades," explained Cimino, now a postdoctoral scholar at Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

"When we combined this data with satellite information and future climate projections on sea surface temperature and sea ice, we can look at past and future changes in Adélie penguin habitat suitability," Cimino said.

Funded through the NASA Biodiversity program, the study is based on satellite observations from 1981-2010 of sea surface temperature, sea ice and bare rock locations, and true presence-absence data of penguin population estimates from satellite imagery.

In particular, the researchers examined the number of years from 1981-2010 with novel or unusual climate during the Adélie penguin chick-rearing period from past satellite observations and used an ensemble of global climate models to make predictions about Adélie penguin habitat suitability from 2011-2099. The team validated the models with documented population trends.

The study results suggest that climate novelty, particularly warm sea surface temperature (SST), is detrimental to Adélie penguins. While the specific mechanisms for this relationship remain unknown, the study focuses attention on areas where climate change is likely to create a high frequency of unsuitable conditions during the 21st century.

Lynch noted that "One of the key advances over the last decade is our ability to find penguin colonies from space and, nearly as important, to determine which areas of Antarctica do not support penguin colonies. Having both true presence and absence across a species' global range is unique to this system, and opens up new avenues for modeling habitat suitability."

Refugia offer a glimmer of hope

According to Cimino, the southern WAP, associated islands and northern WAP regions, which are already experiencing population declines, are projected to experience the greatest frequency of novel climate this century due to warm SST. This suggests that warm sea surface temperatures may cause a decrease in the suitability of chick-rearing habitats at northerly latitudes.

"Matt and I have worked extensively at Palmer Station and we know that penguin colonies near there have declined by at least 80 percent since the 1970s. Within this region we saw the most novel climate years compared to the rest of the continent. This means the most years with warmer than normal sea surface temperature. These two things seem to be happening in the WAP at a higher rate than in other areas during the same time period," Cimino said.

By contrast, the study also suggests several refugia -- areas of relatively unaltered climate -- may exist in continental Antarctica beyond 2099, which would buffer a species-wide decline. Understanding how these refugia operate is critical to understanding the future of this species.

"The Cape Adare region of the Ross Sea is home to the earliest known penguin occupation and has the largest known Adélie penguin rookery in the world. Though the climate there is expected to warm a bit, it looks like it could be a refugia in the future, and if you look back over geologic time it was likely a refuge in the past," Cimino said.

The researchers reported that climate change impacts on penguins in the Antarctic will likely be highly site specific based on regional climate trends, and that a southward contraction in the range of Adélie penguins is likely over the next century.

"Studies like this are important because they focus our attention on areas where a species is most vulnerable to change," concluded Cimino. "The results can be used for management; they can have implications for other species that live in the area and for other ecosystem processes."

--

<a href="http://www.udel.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Delaware</a>

Adélie penguin population being decimated by climate change

University of Delaware study shows temperature warming may have reached...

New cameras are keeping an eye on Western wildfires. As the summer Western wildfire season heats up, a growing network of online cameras installed on forested mountaintops is changing the way crews fight fires by allowing early detection that triggers quicker, cheaper and more tactical suppression.
The network of roughly 20 high-definition cameras being installed around the Lake Tahoe region can pan, tilt and zoom into fires. They can rotate 360 degrees. And the cameras even have night vision to supplement human lookouts that only work during daylight hours.
"At night, it becomes real easy to see a fire. Just a few days ago, we could see a fire from northern Nevada into Oregon, about 100 miles away, and it wasn't hard to see at all," said Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory and a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
"We know from last year with lightning strikes, it can be just one or two trees on fire and it looks like a Roman candle," he said. New cameras are keeping an eye on Western wildfires
Scientists with the University of Nevada, Reno, who built the system, are trying to teach the cameras to recognize fire and smoke and send an alert.
At the command tower, dispatchers monitor and operate the cameras remotely. The feeds should help dispatchers make more efficient decisions when it comes to deploying resources.
The cameras will augment - not replace - human fire spotters who climb high towers armed with only a radio and binoculars, scanning the forest for faraway smoke, fire officials say.
They hope to install the internet-ready cameras throughout California and other Western states.
At a seismological meeting earlier this year, the cameras were credited with the discovery of six fires and provided early intelligence on more than two dozen fires last summer, Kent said.
© 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.

New cameras are keeping an eye on Western wildfires

New cameras are keeping an eye on Western wildfires. As...

Herbicides were widely used on federal lands. University of Montana researchers are giving the public its first look at the widespread use of herbicides on federal and tribal land in North America, and they urge land managers to better document it.

Herbicides originally were developed to suppress weeds in crop agriculture. Today, they also are widely used in natural areas or “wildlands” to control non-native plants, which have arrived from other regions and can cause considerable ecological and economic harm.

While the magnitude of herbicide usage is well-documented for croplands, this new study is the first to reveal the amount of herbicides sprayed on wildlands.

UM researchers Viktoria Wagner and Cara Nelson, along with ecologists Pedro Antunes of Algoma University and Michael Irvine of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, discovered that more than 1.2 million acres of U.S. federal and tribal wildlands were sprayed with about 200 tons of herbicide in 2010.

“The numbers are much less than those for croplands, but they are astonishing,” said Wagner, a former UM postdoctoral researcher who led the study. “Imagine: The wildland area sprayed by herbicides in that year is comparable to 930,630 football fields, and the amount of herbicides used equals the weight of 13 school buses.”

Wagner said this amount is a conservative estimate, however, because data were not available for U.S. Forest Service land. The researchers used a survey to reach governmental offices and agro-statistical companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“It involved a lot of emails and phone calls to get the data we wanted,” Wagner said, “but the effort was worthwhile.”

The study also exposed that glyphosate ranked as one of the most commonly used active ingredients.

“This finding was unexpected because glyphosate is a nonselective herbicide that harms grasses and herbs alike and thus has a higher potential to negatively affect desired native plants,” Wagner said.

The researchers link glyphosate’s wide popularity to its chemical properties, low price and low usage restrictions. Nelson, an associate professor in UM’s Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Science, said information about herbicide usage is critical for effective wildand management, and that study results indicate the need to improve methods of monitoring its use and effects.

“Well-designed studies on the efficacy and effects of herbicides on native plant communities, coupled with increased reporting of herbicide usage, would assist with developing best practices for effectively and safely using herbicides to manage non-native plants in wildlands,” Nelson said.

The study was supported by a grant of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Invasive Species Centre, and by a postdoctoral fellowship to Wagner from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. It is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12711/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12711/full</a>.

For more information on the research, email Wagner at <a href="mailto:viktoria.wagner@cfc.umt.edu">viktoria.wagner@cfc.umt.edu</a> or Nelson at <a href="mailto:cara.nelson@umontana.edu">cara.nelson@umontana.edu</a>.

Herbicides were widely used on federal lands

Herbicides were widely used on federal lands. University of Montana...

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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

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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

[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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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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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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How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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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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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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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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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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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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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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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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