Honey bees, the diligent workers of fields and gardens, face three major threats - nutritional stress, viral infections, and pesticide exposure. 



In a new study conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researchers have intricately dissected this interconnected network of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-bees-face-a-multitude-of-complex-stressors-in-the-field/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stressors</a>. Their discovery? Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-honey-bees-stress-and-nutrition">Honey bees, stress, and nutrition</h2>



“Multiple stressors are often bad for survival,” said graduate student&nbsp;Edward Hsieh, who led the research Professor&nbsp;Adam Dolezal.



“However, it is always context-dependent, and you have to be aware of all these factors when you’re trying to make broad statements about how interactive effects affect honey bees.”



According to Hsieh, most scientific studies focus on just one or two factors at a time. Some may explore the mashup of poor nutrition and pesticide exposure, while others may investigate the union of pesticides and viral infections.



Yet, none have explored how all three stressors together may impact honey bee populations.



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



Even understanding how bees respond to all of the agricultural chemicals they encounter is a complicated task, said Professor Dolezal.



“Some insecticides will work better against some insects than others, but they tend to be more lethal than fungicides or herbicides. Some fungicides, however, are known to make insecticides more toxic to insects," explained Professor Dolezal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exposing-bees-to-chemicals-and-viruses">Exposing bees to chemicals and viruses</h2>



For the investigation, caged bees were exposed to different combinations of dietary, viral, and chemical treatments.



The agricultural pesticides used were chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate; lambda-cyhalothrin, a pyrethroid; and thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid.



The bees were also exposed to the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, one of several <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-bees-spread-viruses-to-bumblebees-in-the-spring/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">viruses</a> implicated in the global decline of honey bee colonies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-honey-bee-nutrition">The role of honey bee nutrition</h2>



The experiments led to some surprising results. For example, if <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-bees-spread-viruses-to-bumblebees-in-the-spring/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bees</a> were fed artificial pollen and exposed to the virus and pesticide, they died in large numbers. However, when the artificial pollen was replaced with natural pollen, the results were very different.



On the natural pollen diet, virus-exposed bees still faced higher mortality. But if they were also exposed to a mixture of chlorpyrifos and a fungicide, surprisingly fewer of them died.



According to Professor Dolezal, it's as if the bees have an inherent ability to deal with stress, but only if they have the nutritional resources to do so.



The researchers emphasized that this doesn't mean that chemical exposures are harmless. The findings do not advocate careless use of pesticides. It all depends on the chemical - different pesticides have different molecular targets and exert different effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-quality-habitats">High-quality habitats</h2>



The study confirms that creating and maintaining high-quality prairie habitats near agricultural sites can enhance bee resilience.



These habitats are not an “ecological trap,” enticing bees with flowers only to poison them with agricultural chemicals.



According to Dolezal, the study showed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-can-sniff-out-lung-cancer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bees</a> are quite resilient even to the interaction of pesticides and viruses if they have good nutrition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetic-diversity-provides-a-buffer">Genetic diversity provides a buffer</h2>



In the quest to enhance bee resilience, genetic diversity emerges as a critical factor. The research indicates that colonies with a greater diversity of worker genotypes tend to exhibit more adaptable responses to stressors. 



This diversity can buffer against the impact of various threats, providing a genetic toolbox that helps honey bee populations withstand nutritional deficiencies, infections, and pesticide exposures. 



By maintaining or even bolstering this genetic diversity, either through selective breeding or preservation of natural wild populations, researchers and conservationists can potentially enhance the adaptability and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/winter-poses-a-challenge-to-the-survival-of-honey-bees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survival</a> of bees amidst increasing environmental challenges.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-agricultural-practices">Implications for agricultural practices</h2>



The insights gained from this study have profound implications for agricultural practices. 



Farmers and land managers can adopt bee-friendly approaches, which involve minimizing pesticide applications, selecting compounds with the least potential harm to bees, and timing applications to avoid periods of high bee activity.



Furthermore, incorporating diverse floral resources in agricultural areas can provide essential nutritional supplements to bees.



These sustainable practices not only safeguard bee populations but also benefit agricultural productivity by ensuring the continued provision of pollination services critical for many crops. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nutrition-and-honey-bee-resilience">Nutrition and honey bee resilience</h2>



One thing stands clear – while good nutrition can boost honey bee resilience, it is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for pesticide use. In almost all cases, pesticides (alone or in conjunction with viruses) are harmful to bees.



But in our battle to increase bee resilience, high-quality habitats play a significant role. As Hsieh pointed out, it's gratifying to know that we can help the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-need-a-balanced-diet-for-optimal-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bees</a> out, at least a little, by providing them a good habitat.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969724052756?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science of The Total Environment</a>.



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Good nutrition is key to honey bee survival

Honey bees, the diligent workers of fields and gardens, face three major threats - nutritional stress, viral infections, and pesticide exposure. In a new study conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researchers have intricately dissected this interconnected network of stressors. Their discovery? Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience. Honey bees, stress, and nutrition “Multiple stressors are often bad for survival,” said graduate student&nbsp;Edward Hsieh, who led the research Professor&nbsp;Adam Dolezal. “However, it is always context-dependent, and you have to be aware of all these factors when...

In 2012, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/meltwater-is-accelerating-the-movement-of-greenland-ice/">Greenland</a> Ice Sheet experienced intense surface melting which exceeded anything than had been seen in the satellite record in decades. Researchers at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> recently set out to investigate the long-term impacts of the extreme melt season of 2012, and found that the event ultimately reduced the ice sheet's ability to store future meltwater.

"When you have these extreme, one-off melt years, it's not just adding more to Greenland's contribution to sea-level rise in that year - it's also creating these persistent structural changes in the ice sheet itself," said lead study author Riley Culberg. "This continental-scale picture helps us understand what kind of melt and snow conditions allowed this layer to form."

The extreme melt season was caused by unusually warm temperatures which were compounded by high atmospheric pressure over Greenland. This weather event was likely caused or intensified by climate change.

The Stanford team used a new approach to ice-penetrating radar data, revealing that extreme melt in 2012 left behind an adjacent layer of refrozen ice inside the snowpack, including near the middle of the ice sheet where surface melting is usually minimal. The formation of this melt layer has greatly reduced the storage capacity of the ice sheet. 

Ice sheets that have not experienced extreme melt can store meltwater in the upper 150 feet, which prevents it from running off into the ocean. According to the study, the melt layer that formed after 2012 reduced meltwater storage capacity in some parts of the Greenland Ice Sheet to only about 15 feet.

"Normally we'd say the ice sheet would just shrug off weather - ice sheets tend to be big, calm, slow things," said study senior author Professor Dustin Schroeder. "This is really one of the first cases where you can say, shockingly, in some ways, these slow, calm ice sheets care a lot about a single extreme event in a particularly warm year."

Melting ice sheets and glaciers are the biggest contributors to sea-level rise, yet are also the most complex elements to account for in climate model projections. 

On the Greenland Ice Sheet, meltwater that can no longer be stored may drain down to the ice bed, creating slippery conditions that speed up the ice and release chunks into the ocean - pushing up the sea level. 

Greenland currently experiences change much more rapidly than the South Pole, but lessons from Greenland may still be applied to Antarctica when the seasons shift, said Professor Schroeder.

"I think now there's no question that when you're trying to project into the future, a warming Antarctic will have all these processes," explained Professor Schroeder. "If we don't use Greenland now to better understand this stuff, our capacity to understand how a warmer world will be is not a hopeful proposition."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Extreme melt seasons change the behavior of ice sheets

In 2012, the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced intense surface melting...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk/">John Innes Centre</a> explains why some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alpine-plants-are-gradually-losing-their-protective-snow-cover/">plants</a> grow tall, yet have relatives that stay close to the ground. The researchers set out to investigate the various growth habits of plants, including differences that exist even among closely related species. 

For example, plants belonging to the Brassica family include a widely variable assortment of heights, ranging from the compressed rosette growth of cabbages to tall crops such as oilseed rape.

The experts have identified the genes that control changes in growth habits. Using genetic analysis, microscopy, and a technique called ChIP sequencing, the team linked compact growth to two different types of genes, ATH1 and DELLA, which work in tandem.

When both types of genes are turned off, compact growth is converted to elongated growth. On the other hand, when the genes are active, either can stop the activity of well-known genes that normally promote elongated growth.

"It is well known that the way plants grow depends heavily on the environment. At the same time, each species of plant keeps its recognizable shape. We know a little about how responses to the environment are integrated with the genetic mechanisms that give plants their basic, characteristic shape, or morphology. Thanks to this study, we now understand how responses to the environment can be modified in specific parts of the plant to produce their characteristic shape," explained study co-author Professor Robert Sablowski.

"It was exciting to see that a relatively small number of genetic changes can convert the plant's growth habit from one like cabbage to one like oilseed rape. It remains to be seen whether comparable changes explain the differences in growth habit we see in nature."

Previous research has shown that there is a similar mechanism of two genes that work together to control the growth habits of rice, which indicates this may be a common tool that controls plant architecture.

Genes that control plant height are important in agriculture. DELLA genes have been used extensively in crop breeding to improve yields.

By understanding the genes that regulate how tall a plant grows, experts can develop more reliable ways to improve the shape of crop plants. Going forward, the researchers are planning to explore how ATH1 is regulated.

"If we can alter the location or time when ATH1 is active, this could lead to useful ways to modify plant height and shape," said study first author Dr. Mahwish Ejaz.

"We have shown that ATH1 and DELLA genes prevent stem growth in part by stopping the activity of genes that cause stems to elongate in response to light. But this is not the whole story - there are many other genes and processes that ATH1 and DELLAs regulate to change the growth habit, most of which remain unstudied."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What makes plants change their growth habits?

A new study from the John Innes Centre explains why...

The world is losing millions of hectares of forest to deforestation each year. According to the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/">United Nations</a> (UN), almost two billion hectares of forest are also impacted by land degradation, which affects the well-being of 3.2 billion people.

“Every year, seven million hectares of natural forests are converted to other land uses such as large-scale commercial agriculture, and other economic activities," said Liu Zhenmin, head of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

"And while the rate of deforestation has slowed over the past decade, tree cover loss has continued unabated in the tropics - largely due to human and natural causes."

The UN reports that nearly a third of emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19 are linked to land-use changes, such as deforestation.

Last month, during a virtual event to commemorate the International Day of Forests, Zhenmin said that recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic should lead to stronger action to safeguard the world’s forests. He pointed out how natural resources have helped to protect health and well-being during the global crisis. 

Green spaces, parks, and forests became much-needed refuges during times of social distancing. Furthermore, healthy forests act as natural buffers against zoonotic diseases, lowering the risk of future pandemics. 

“Yet, despite their obvious importance, forests continue to be under threat," said Liu. He noted that while COVID-19 has been “a harsh wake-up call," it also presents a unique opportunity to recover better and stronger.

Qu Dongyu is the Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He emphasized that restoring forests, and managing them sustainably, benefits both people and the planet.   

This investment will also contribute to economic recovery from the pandemic, Dongyu added, as forest restoration activities create green jobs, generate incomes, improve human health, and increase human security.

Individual countries have already made commitments under the <a href="https://www.bonnchallenge.org/">Bonn Challenge</a>, which is a global goal to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.

According to WWF, every forest in the world today is affected by human disturbance - either directly by destruction or indirectly by the impacts of climate change. 

Forest restoration involves improving soils, protecting wildlife habitats and corridors, managing land sustainably, and - of course - planting trees.

To learn more about how you can get involved in the restoration of forests, visit <a href="https://trees.org/">Trees.org</a> as the nonprofit agency celebrates Earth Month 2021.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth Day Initiative: Forest Restoration

The world is losing millions of hectares of forest to...

There is no universal approach to building personal well-being, according to new study from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a>. The researchers have conducted the largest ever meta-analysis of well-being studies from around the world.

The analysis involved more than 400 clinical trials and over 50,000 participants. The individuals were divided into three main groups characterized by general good health, physical illness, or mental illness. 

The results of the study indicate that while it is possible to build the well-being of all individuals, there is no single solution that fits everyone. 

"During stressful and uncertain periods in our lives, pro-actively working on our mental health is crucial to help mitigate the risk of mental and physical illness," said study co-author Joep Van Agteren of the SAHMRI Wellbeing and Resilience Centre.

"Our research suggests there are numerous psychological approaches people should experiment with to determine what works for them."

Across all three groups, techniques such as meditation and conscious breathing, as well as practicing mindfulness, were found to be effective.  

Positive psychological interventions, such as keeping a gratitude journal and performing small acts of kindness, were found to successfully build well-being when used simultaneously. However, these interventions were not found to be effective on their own.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) proved to be beneficial for many people with mental illness, while acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was most useful for those in generally good health.

Study co-author Matthew Iasiello noted that all of the interventions share a common need for consistent and prolonged practice in order to successfully improve well-being.

"Just trying something once or twice isn't enough to have a measurable impact. Regardless of what method people are trying out, they need to stick at it for weeks and months at a time for it to have a real effect," said Iasiello.

Dr. Michael Kyrios is a clinical psychologist in the Órama Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University. He said the study shows that in addition to seeking out professional help when distressed, there are many practical steps people can take to improve their well-being and prevent mental health problems.

"Implementing such interventions can be done safely for individuals on their own or in a group format, either in person or online," said Dr. Kyrios. "It is therefore potentially a cost-effective addition to current referral pathways and treatment methods."

According to the researchers, the results highlight the need for a change of tactics in how society cares for people's well-being, whether they are living with a mental illness or not.

"We need to take everyone's well-being seriously and ensure we're taking the necessary steps to improve mental and physical health so we can prevent future complications for ourselves and keep healthcare costs down," said Dr. Kyrios.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behaviour</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

There's no universal way to achieve personal well-being

There is no universal approach to building personal well-being, according...

The cost of wind energy will drop by nearly 50 percent within the next three decades, according to a study led by the <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Berkeley Lab</a>. The experts report that cost reductions will be driven by technological and commercial advancements, including bigger and more efficient turbines, as well as lower capital and operating costs.

The researchers surveyed 140 wind experts on three wind applications - onshore wind, fixed-bottom offshore wind, and floating offshore wind. For all three types of wind energy, the anticipated future costs are half what experts predicted in a similar study in 2015. 

"Wind has experienced accelerated cost reductions in recent years, both onshore and offshore, making previous cost forecasts obsolete. The energy sector needs a current assessment," said Ryan Wiser, senior scientist at Berkeley Lab. 

"Our 'expert elicitation' survey complements other methods for evaluating cost-reduction potential by shedding light on how cost reductions might be realized and by clarifying the important uncertainties in these estimates."

In January, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aiming to maximize offshore wind potential. He has identified wind power as a key component of the nation's renewed efforts to combat climate change. 

The results of the survey indicate that across the three wind applications studied, there will be cost reductions of 17 to 35 percent by 2035, and reductions of 37 to 49 percent by 2050, compared to costs in 2019.

According to the researchers, there is substantial room for continued improvement, and costs could drop even lower. The experts predict a 10 percent chance that cost reductions could reach up to 53 percent by 2035 and as high as 64 percent by 2050. At the same time, there are some uncertainties involved with the projections.

"All else being equal, these trends will enable wind to play a larger role in global energy supply than previously thought while facilitating energy-sector decarbonization," said study co-author Joachim Seel. 

"Analysts, investors, planners, and policymakers should avoid outdated assumptions and forecasts." At the same time, as documented in the study, uncertainties in the magnitude of future cost reduction are significant, illustrating the importance of embedding uncertainty considerations in modeling and in policy, planning, investment, and research decisions.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nenergy/">Nature Energy</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wind energy costs could drop by more than half by mid-century

The cost of wind energy will drop by nearly 50...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> has demonstrated that dogs can sniff out coronavirus with remarkable accuracy. Specially trained detection dogs were found to correctly identify <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-has-worsened-covid-19-outcomes/">COVID-positive</a> urine and saliva samples 96 percent of the time. 

Study senior author Cynthia Otto is the director of the <a href="https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/centers-laboratories/center/penn-vet-working-dog-center">Penn Vet Working Dog Center</a> in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

"This is not a simple thing we're asking the dogs to do," said Otto. "Dogs have to be specific about detecting the odor of the infection, but they also have to generalize across the background odors of different people: men and women, adults and children, people of different ethnicities and geographies."

While dogs are capable of doing this, the researchers found that training for coronavirus detection must proceed with great consideration and with many samples. 

"Future training of dogs and investigation into biological, chemical and electronic detectors should focus on increasing the number of relevant and novel samples," noted the researchers.

The findings from this study are being used for another investigation by the team. In "the T-shirt study," dogs are trained to distinguish between the odors of COVID-positive, -negative, and -vaccinated individuals based on volatile organic compounds left behind on a T-shirt worn overnight.

"We are collecting many more samples in that study - hundreds or more - than we did in this first one, and are hopeful that will get the dogs closer to what they might encounter in a community setting," said Otto, who has had years of experience training medical-detection dogs, including those that can identify ovarian cancer. 

For the current study, eight Labrador retrievers and a Belgian Malinois were used that had not done medical-detection work before. 

After three weeks of training all nine dogs could identify SARS-CoV-2 positive samples with an average of 96 percent accuracy. The ability of the dogs to avoid false negatives, however, was not as reliable. The researchers believe this may have been simply due to the strict criteria of the study. 

Beyond confirming that dogs can detect a specific SARS-CoV-2 odor, the experts identified mistakes that can be avoided in the future. For example, they found that training should entail large numbers of diverse samples and that dogs should not be trained repeatedly on the samples from any single individual.

"That's something we can carry forward not only in our COVID training but in our cancer work and any other medical detection efforts we do," said Otto. "We want to make sure that we have all the steps in place to ensure quality, reproducibility, validity, and safety for when we operationalize our dogs and have them start screening in community settings."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dogs can sniff out coronavirus with 96 percent accuracy

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania has demonstrated...

In a new study from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>, experts have used machine learning to autonomously detect heavy air pollution, city block by city block. The new technique could be a godsend for finding sources of hazardous aerosols, and for clarifying the effects of air pollution on human health.

"Before now, researchers trying to measure the distribution of air pollutants throughout a city would either try to use the limited number of existing monitors or drive sensors around a city in vehicles, but setting up sensor networks is time-consuming and costly, and the only thing that driving a sensor around really tells you is that roads are big sources of pollutants," explained study co-author Professor Mike Bergin. "Being able to find local hotspots of air pollution using satellite images is hugely advantageous."

The researchers are specifically interested in tiny airborne particles called PM2.5. These particles are so small that they can travel deep into the lungs, posing a major threat to human health. 

The 2015 Global Burden of Disease study reported that PM2.5 was annually responsible for about 4.2 million deaths and 103.1 million years of life lost or lived with disability. 

In a previous study, the Duke team demonstrated that machine learning could be combined with satellite imagery and weather data to measure particle pollution on a small scale.

"When predictions are made first with the weather, and then satellite data is added later to fine-tune them, it allows the algorithm to take full advantage of the information in satellite imagery," explained study lead author Tongshu Zheng.

Through a trial focused on Beijing, the researchers have now refined their methods. They have used machine learning to automatically find hotspots of air pollution with a resolution of 300 meters, which is about the length of a New York City block.

"These hotspots are notoriously difficult to find in maps of PM levels because some days the air is just really bad across the entire city, and it is really difficult to tell if there are true differences between them or if there's just a problem with the image contrast," said Professor David Carlson. "It's a big advantage to be able to find a specific neighborhood that tends to stay higher or lower than everywhere else, because it can help us answer questions about health disparities and environmental fairness."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing">Remote Sensing</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Machine learning used to locate sources of heavy pollution

In a new study from Duke University, experts have used...

A new study from <a href="https://en.uit.no/">UiT The Arctic University of Norway</a> has revealed that the loss of the Arctic sea ice has triggered more extreme snowfall further south across Europe.

In France, an above-average warm spell at the end of March was followed by days of extreme frost. French winemakers lit thousands of small fires to save their vines, but this year's losses are still expected to be 90 percent above average. 

The natural disaster, which has impacted vineyards from Bordeaux to Champagne, illustrates the unpredictability of global warming.

"Climate change doesn't always manifest in the most obvious ways," said study co-author Professor Alun Hubbard. "It's easy to extrapolate models to show that winters are getting warmer and to forecast a virtually snow-free future in Europe, but our most recent study shows that is too simplistic. We should beware of making broad sweeping statements about the impacts of climate change." 

The UiT study, led by Dr. Hanna Bailey at the University of Oulu, has uncovered a climatic paradox. The experts report that a massive 50 percent reduction in Arctic sea ice cover has increased open-water and winter evaporation, triggering more extreme snowfall to the south.

In particular, the researchers found that long-term decline of Arctic sea ice since the late 1970s had a direct connection to a 2018 winter storm known as the "Beast from the East." Large parts of the European continent were impacted, and extreme snowfall caused an estimated £1bn a day in losses.

According to the findings, atmospheric vapor traveling south from the Arctic carried a unique geochemical fingerprint, revealing that its source was the warm, open-water surface of the Barents Sea region of the Arctic Ocean. 

The study revealed that open-water conditions in the Barents Sea supplied up to 88 percent of the fresh snow that fell over Europe during the 2018 storm.

"What we're finding is that sea-ice is effectively a lid on the ocean. And with its long-term reduction across the Arctic, we're seeing increasing amounts of moisture enter the atmosphere during winter, which directly impacts our weather further south, causing extreme heavy snowfalls," said Dr. Bailey. "It might seem counter-intuitive, but nature is complex and what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic."

The analysis of long-term trends since 1979 showed that for every square meter of winter sea-ice lost from the Barents Sea, there was a corresponding 70 kg increase in the evaporation, moisture, and snow falling over Europe.

It is predicted that the Barents Sea will likely become ice-free within the next six decades. The lack of sea ice could become a significant driver of increased winter precipitation in Europe.

"This study illustrates that the abrupt changes being witnessed across the Arctic now, really are affecting the entire planet." said Professor Hubbard.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ice-free parts of Arctic are driving extreme snowfall in Europe

A new study from UiT The Arctic University of Norway...

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> (WCS) has published a new method for counting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-elephants-only-inhabit-a-small-part-of-their-potential-range/">African</a> forest elephants. These elephants were recently recognized by the IUCN as being a critically endangered species that is distinct from African savannah elephants. 

"The more accurately we can count forest elephants, the more we can measure whether conservation efforts are successful," said study lead author Alice Laguardia.

"We are hopeful that the results of this study will help governments and conservation partners protect this Critically Endangered species throughout its range."

The research is part of a larger initiative to conduct the first nationwide census for more than 30 years in Gabon, a country along the Atlantic coast of Central Africa.

Scientists typically use aerial surveys to count savannah elephants, but forest elephants cannot be detected so easily. To determine the best method to count them, the team compared the use of traditional methodologies with spatial capture-recapture (SCR) techniques. 

"We compare DNA- and camera trap based-spatial capture-recapture approaches to the widely-used, dung-based line transect distance sampling (LTDS) method to assess their performance when applied to three relatively large populations of forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis," explained the study authors.

The study showed that a method using camera traps for SCR and DNA sampling was the most accurate and least expensive way to count forest elephants.

Camera trap surveys were more precise on smaller scales but more expensive. The experts recommend that the use of both SCR methods, and their development, continue. 

The researchers said that future findings and improvements should be compiled across studies to ensure their robust evolution as an option for monitoring the African forest elephant across its range and inform strategies and action for its conservation.

In recent years, forest elephants have been severely impacted by ivory poachers. A WCS census that was released in 2014 showed that forest elephants declined by 65 percent between 2002 and 2013. Through the new study, researchers can gain a better understanding of how many forest elephants remain and where they reside. 

Gabon is considered the most important country for forest elephant conservation. Despite accounting for less than 15 percent of the species' range, Gabon is thought to harbor more than 50 percent of the remaining forest elephant population.

Lee White is the Gabonese Minister of Water, Forests, the Seas, the Environment, charged with Climate Change &amp; Land Use Planning. 

"As long as ivory is a precious commodity, elephants will be at risk," said White. "In Africa there is a clear link between environmental governance, peace and security. Countries that have lost their elephant populations have all too often descended into civil strife. Through the results of this study we hope to obtain a clear picture of the trend of poaching and elephant populations in all of Gabon."

Ted Schmitt is the director of conservation at Vulcan Inc., a Seattle company that funded the research.

"Vulcan recognizes the significant role of accurate population data for conservation management and policy decisions," said Schmitt.

"By providing timely census data, we can fill critical knowledge gaps and enable prioritization of conservation resources. We are pleased to be part of this effort with Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of Gabon to help preserve this important species."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-ecology-and-conservation">Global Ecology and Conservation</a>.

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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

Counting critically endangered forest elephants

A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society...

Experts at <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> have created a comprehensive guide to help plant scientists communicate their work to the world. 

Professor Gustavo MacIntosh predicts that plant science will play an increasingly important role in the world, but many people lack an understanding of plants - both their biology and their critical place in the functioning of human society. 

Climate change and population growth will increasingly threaten the global food supply. Without progress in the field of plant science, crop production will not be able to keep pace with such major changes.

It isn't an overstatement to say that populations around the world will go hungry if plant science stagnates, said Professor MacIntosh.

"At the end of the day, either you eat plants or you eat food that ate plants. "Plants are the basis for the food we have."

According to Professor MacIntosh, plant scientists are not doing enough to raise awareness of the discipline among the general population, which could slow the rate of progress in the future. To address this issue, he collaborated with about 30 other scientists for more than two years to assemble a guide for communicating about plant science. 

The 28-page guide identifies challenges to communicating the importance of plant science to a wide audience and provides some strategies for doing so. 

"We want people to be convinced that we need more outreach efforts, and we want this guide to make sure those outreach efforts are effective," said Professor MacIntosh.

The work stresses the importance of humanizing plant science to make it accessible to a wide range of audiences. Professor MacIntosh said scientists and nonscientists seem to be growing farther apart for various reasons, but everyone benefits when more diverse voices enter the conversation.

The guide is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/24754455">Plant Direct</a>.

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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

Plant science is becoming increasingly critical to society

Experts at Iowa State University have created a comprehensive guide...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a> have developed a cost-effective technique that could provide millions of people with safe drinking water. The technology relies on inexpensive, sustainable materials and <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/smart-device-brings-sunlight-underground/">sunlight</a>.

Freshwater makes up less than three percent of the world's water resources, and is becoming even scarcer due to factors such as climate change and pollution. There are already 1.42 billion people who live in areas of high water vulnerability with limited access to drinking water.

A team led by Professor Haolan Xu has refined a technique that uses highly efficient solar evaporation to transform seawater, brackish water, or contaminated water into freshwater. The improved method can produce enough daily fresh drinking water for a family of four from just one square meter of source water.

"In recent years, there has been a lot of attention on using solar evaporation to create fresh drinking water, but previous techniques have been too inefficient to be practically useful," said Professor Xu.

"We have overcome those inefficiencies, and our technology can now deliver enough fresh water to support many practical needs at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies like reverse osmosis."

The system is centered around a highly efficient photothermal structure that is placed on the surface of a water source to convert sunlight to heat. This focuses energy precisely on the surface to rapidly evaporate the uppermost portion of the liquid.

Similar technology has been created by other researchers, but energy loss has been a major hurdle. 

"Previously many of the experimental photothermal evaporators were basically two dimensional; they were just a flat surface, and they could lose 10 to 20 percent of solar energy to the bulk water and the surrounding environment," said Professor Xu.

"We have developed a technique that not only prevents any loss of solar energy, but actually draws additional energy from the bulk water and surrounding environment, meaning the system operates at 100 per cent efficiency for the solar input and draws up to another 170 per cent energy from the water and environment."

Beyond its efficiency, the system is built from low-cost, sustainable materials that are easy to obtain. 

"One of the main aims with our research was to deliver for practical applications, so the materials we used were just sourced from the hardware store or supermarket," said Professor Xu.

"The only exception is the photothermal materials, but even there we are using a very simple and cost-effective process, and the real advances we have made are with the system design and energy nexus optimisation, not the materials."

The new technology could be used where other desalination and purification systems would be too expensive and impractical.

"For instance, in remote communities with small populations, the infrastructure cost of systems like reverse osmosis is simply too great to ever justify, but our technique could deliver a very low cost alterative that would be easy to set up and basically free to run," said Professor Xu.

"Also, because it is so simple and requires virtually no maintenance, there is no technical expertise needed to keep it running and upkeep costs are minimal."

"This technology really has the potential to provide a long-term clean water solution to people and communities who can't afford other options, and these are the places such solutions are most needed."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2367198x">Solar RRL</a>.

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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

Sunlight may provide millions with safe drinking water

Experts at the University of South Australia have developed a...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html">University of Basel</a> shows that global warming is drastically changing trends in snow cover across the Alps, which will have a major impact on alpine plants. 

"Snow cover protects alpine plants from frost and the growing season begins after the snowmelt. Changes in the snowmelt have a very strong influence on this period," explained study lead author Dr. Maria Vorkauf. 

The team examined how the date of snowmelt has changed across the Alps in recent decades and what further changes can be expected by 2100.

"The growing season of alpine plants above the climatic treeline is closely tied to snowmelt dates," wrote the researchers.

"Therefore, the mostly long-lived alpine perennials only have about three months for their seasonal development, but there is a high local variability due to the complex topography and substantial snow redistribution by wind in winter. Most of an alpine plant’s growth occurs during the first few snow-free weeks."

The experts report that by the end of this century, it will be a rare occurrence to see continuous snow cover for 30 days at an altitude below 1,600 meters.

The study showed that snow cover has been melting earlier by an average of  2.8 days per decade since the 1960s. According to the researchers, this trend corresponds with rising temperatures and cannot be offset by higher amounts of snowfall. 

"As soon as the three-week running mean of daily air temperatures exceeds 5 °C, snow melts relatively quickly," explained Dr. Vorkauf. "At high elevations in particular, temperature is much more important than the depth of the snow cover."

Based on measurements of snowmelt between 1958 and 2019, the researchers developed a computer model to forecast the future development of alpine snow cover. The data was combined with the latest climate scenarios for Switzerland.

The computer simulations revealed that by 2100, snow cover at an elevation of 2,500 meters could disappear one month earlier than today.

In the coming decades, early snowmelt could extend the growing season of alpine plants by about a third. Previous studies have shown that when alpine plants get an earlier start to the growing season, they produce fewer flowers and have a lower survival rate due to the higher risk of frost. 

"Some species such as the Alpine sedge, which is typical of alpine grasslands, will grow and flower earlier because of the early snowmelt," said Dr. Vorkauf.

The researchers concluded that an earlier snowmelt by up to one month will affect hydropower production, winter tourism in the Swiss Alps, and will expose alpine plants and soils to a higher frost risk with additional consequences on biogeochemical cycles.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10584">Climatic Change</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Alpine plants are gradually losing their protective snow cover

A new study from the University of Basel shows that...

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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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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