The world is rapidly investing in renewable energy to combat climate change. Solar panels, wind farms, and hydroelectric plants are spreading across landscapes once dominated by coal plants and oil rigs. 



These changes give the impression of an inevitable transition away from fossil fuels. Yet a new study from <a href="https://www.psu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penn State</a> suggests that this shift might not be as straightforward as it seems.



Professor Ryan Thombs, a rural sociology researcher, examined more than two decades of U.S. energy data. His findings challenge a common belief: that building more renewable energy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tapping-into-the-natural-power-of-plants-for-renewable-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sources</a> will naturally lead to a decrease in fossil fuel production. 



The research, published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, paints a more complex picture of energy use in the United States.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-renewable-growth-and-fossil-fuel-use">Renewable growth and fossil fuel use</h2>



Thombs analyzed fuel production data from 33 U.S. states that produce fossil <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-honors-success-in-clean-energy-and-wildlife-recovery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fuels</a>. His dataset spanned from 1997 to 2020, covering coal, natural gas, crude oil, and various renewable sources including wind, solar, hydro, and biofuels. 



The United States, as the world’s second-largest energy producer and greenhouse gas emitter, offers a crucial case study for understanding global energy transitions.



When Thombs looked at how renewable energy production varied alongside fossil fuel output, he found no significant link. States that ramped up renewables didn’t necessarily reduce their fossil fuel production. 



This suggests that renewable growth alone does not push out fossil fuel use. Instead, the study shows that over 96% of the differences in fossil fuel production between states can be explained by fixed factors unique to each state.



These factors include the amount of fossil fuel deposits underground, the strength of local fossil fuel industries, and historical patterns of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-is-accelerating-beyond-control-as-co2-levels-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy development</a>. In short, geography and legacy infrastructure matter more than many policy assumptions suggest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-renewables-won-t-displace-fossil-fuels">Renewables won't displace fossil fuels</h2>



The disconnect between policy expectations and real-world outcomes is important. Many environmental strategies assume that increasing renewable energy will automatically shrink fossil fuel production. Thombs argues this assumption needs reevaluation.



“Policies could include ones that directly limit fossil fuel production through carbon taxes, setting production caps on fossil fuels and keeping fossil fuel <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/report-earth-is-headed-for-an-irreversible-climate-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reserves</a> in the ground,” he said.



Such policies would directly address fossil fuel use rather than relying on indirect market competition. Without these measures, fossil fuel-rich states may continue extracting oil, coal, and gas - even as they expand their renewable portfolios.



This is particularly true in states where both types of energy resources exist side by side. Instead of displacing fossil fuels, renewables may simply be added to the mix. This outcome weakens efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet climate targets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-fuels-still-dominate-global-emissions">Fossil fuels still dominate global emissions</h2>



Climate science leaves little doubt about the consequences of continued fossil fuel use. According to the United Nations, fossil fuels are responsible for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. 



Reducing reliance on these sources is essential for limiting global temperature rise and avoiding the most severe climate impacts.



In recent years, renewable energy has grown rapidly and now leads new energy generation projects in many parts of the world. This expansion creates a sense of momentum. 



Yet, Thombs’ research warns against overconfidence. He notes that assuming renewable growth alone can reduce fossil fuel use may result in weak or incomplete policies.



“However, many policies to this point assume that growth in renewable energy corresponds with a proportional decrease in fossil fuels,” he said. 



“If it doesn’t, then we may need to implement additional policies to reduce fossil fuel production directly rather than hope that deploying renewables will crowd out fossil fuels.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-renewables-fail-to-replace-fossil-fuels">Renewables fail to replace fossil fuels</h2>



To ensure that his conclusions held up, Thombs used three different statistical modeling techniques. He worked with state-level data on per capita production of both fossil fuels and renewables. This included geothermal, wind, solar thermal, photovoltaic, hydroelectric, biofuels, and waste-based sources.



Despite the diversity in energy types and methods of analysis, the results remained consistent. The growth of renewables did not correlate with a decline in fossil fuel output. 



The findings suggest that entrenched patterns of fossil fuel use won’t simply shift with market changes alone.



The study also indicates that states with large fossil fuel reserves have deeply rooted advantages in continuing extraction. These advantages, tied to geology and existing infrastructure, make it hard for renewables to replace fossil fuels unless laws or regulations intervene.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stronger-regulations-are-needed">Stronger regulations are needed</h2>



Thombs acknowledges the study has some boundaries. The analysis applies specifically to the U.S. and only covers the years from 1997 to 2020. 



Global energy dynamics or more recent data might produce different results. Still, the findings offer a useful starting point for thinking about energy policy in similar industrialized nations.



“It's possible that renewables will substitute fossil fuels as the broader political economy transforms, especially if state regulations are implemented,” he said. 



“However, the findings do demonstrate that any such transition will be hindered by the close proximity of renewable and fossil fuel resources in many fossil-fuel-dependent states.”



This dual presence of resources can trap states in a mixed-energy status. Without stronger policies that directly curb fossil fuel use, these states may maintain both systems rather than phasing one out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-future-energy-strategies">Implications for future energy strategies</h2>



Thombs’ work points toward a broader conclusion: the U.S. needs a layered approach to energy transition. Investing in renewables remains important, but it cannot stand alone. Policymakers should also create legal and economic barriers to fossil fuel extraction if they want to see real change.



This could involve setting caps on fossil fuel production, taxing carbon emissions, or legally designating certain reserves to remain untapped. Each strategy comes with political and economic trade-offs, but the study suggests such moves are necessary.



The energy transition won’t happen just because renewables get cheaper or more abundant. Real reductions in fossil fuel use will likely depend on active decisions to limit their production. Only then can renewables take center stage - not just as additions, but as true replacements.



The study is published in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-025-01013-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences</a>. 



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Renewables alone may not cut U.S. fossil fuel use

The world is rapidly investing in renewable energy to combat climate change. Solar panels, wind farms, and hydroelectric plants are spreading across landscapes once dominated by coal plants and oil rigs. These changes give the impression of an inevitable transition away from fossil fuels. Yet a new study from Penn State suggests that this shift might not be as straightforward as it seems. Professor Ryan Thombs, a rural sociology researcher, examined more than two decades of U.S. energy data. His findings challenge a common belief: that building...

With a growing world population and decreases in agricultural production due to geopolitical conflicts, food security is becoming an increasingly critical issue. Now, a research team led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has uncovered another way to increase <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-grass-could-protect-crops-against-deadly-pathogens/">crop</a> production. The researchers found that removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) gases from the air benefited crop production.



“Nitrogen oxides are invisible to humans, but new satellites have been able to map them with incredibly high precision. Since we can also measure crop production from space, this opened up the chance to rapidly improve our knowledge of how these gases affect agriculture in different regions," explained study lead author David Lobell.



Nitrogen oxide gases are a common air pollutant released by cars and industrial equipment. NOx gases directly damage plant cells. Moreover, they generate air particulates, which prevent crops from receiving light, and ozone, a toxin that reduces yields.&nbsp;



These effects are far from benign. The researchers believe that cutting nitrogen oxide emissions in half would significantly improve crop yield. According to their estimates, winter crop yield in China would increase by 25 percent, and summer crop yield would increase by 15 percent. Summer and winter crop yields would both increase by 10 percent in Western Europe, and summer crops in India would rise by about 8 percent, while winter crops would rise about 6 percent.



The researchers mentioned that North and South America have very low NOx exposure and did not report any difference in crop production in these regions. It’s not lost on the experts that their findings relate to the struggle against climate change.&nbsp;



“The actions you would take to reduce NOx, such as vehicle electrification, overlap closely with the types of energy transformations needed to slow climate change and improve local air quality for human health," said study co-author Jennifer Burney.



The researchers hope to learn more about how nitrogen dioxide affects crops during the different growing seasons. They also look forward to exploring how other pollutants affect crop yield. Furthermore, they want to look at the relationship between nitrogen dioxide and climate to better understand why it affects regions differently.



“It’s really exciting how many different things can be measured from satellites now, much of it coming from new European satellites," said study co-author Stefania Di Tommaso. “As the data keep improving, it really drives us to be more ambitious and creative as scientists in the types of questions we ask.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Reducing nitrogen oxide pollution could boost crop yields

With a growing world population and decreases in agricultural production...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/">University of Nottingham</a> has found that plant species adapt to the altitude where they grow by “sensing” the oxygen levels that surround them. By analyzing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-release-a-variety-of-biological-particles-into-the-air/">plants</a> growing at both low- and high-altitude locations, the experts identified how oxygen-sensing controls the pathway of chlorophyl synthesis, permitting plants to match the levels of a toxic chemical to surrounding oxygen levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Altitude is an essential part of plant ecology. At least 30 percent of plant species diversity is currently contained in the mountains. Moreover, since climate change is leading to the displacement of a large variety of wild species and crops to higher altitudes, it is essential to understand the mechanisms that allow plants to live at such heights, where oxygen levels are low.



“Altitude is a key component of ecology with different altitudes subjecting plants to changing environments, some components of which are fixed by altitude and others that are not,” said study lead author Michael Holdsworth, a professor of Crop Science at the University of Nottingham.&nbsp;



“For life at high altitude, it was previously considered that plants need to adapt to many variables, including high UV light and lower temperatures usually present at high altitude, but this study is the first time that perception of atmospheric oxygen levels has been shown to be a key determinant of altitude adaptation in plants.”



Professor Holdsworth and his colleagues discovered that atmospheric oxygen level is the key determinant of altitude perception. “We define the molecular pathway through which oxygen-sensing results in an adapted phenotype and we find that distinct species of flowering plants are adapted to absolute altitude through conserved oxygen-sensing control of chlorophyll synthesis and hypoxia gene expression. Showing that this mechanism works in diverse species provides a new paradigm for plant ecology,” Professor Holdsworth explained.&nbsp;



This better understanding of the genetic changes that plants go through at various heights could lead to new approaches to help plant breeders enhance the ability of crops to grow at higher attitudes – a feature which will become increasingly important as climate change advances.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04740-y">Nature</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plants adapt to altitude by sensing oxygen levels

A new study led by the University of Nottingham has...

After years of field and laboratory work, and the collection and analysis of thousands of samples of feces, scientists have been able to develop a detailed reconstruction of chimpanzee (Pan troglodites) population structure and historical patterns of isolation, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/assisted-migrations-could-help-species-survive-climate-change/">migration</a> and connection across the species’ range. Apart from giving support to the existence of four separate subspecies of chimps, the method can also be used to identify any illegally traded, confiscated or orphaned chimp to its place of origin, within about 100 kilometers.&nbsp;



Study first author Claudia Fontsere is an expert at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint center of CSIC and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain.



“Chimpanzees are an endangered species with massive population declines in recent years,” said Fontsere. “Our efforts to describe the current genomic diversity of this species are an attempt to provide a fine-scale map of connectivity between populations that can be of service to conservationists as a baseline and guide to build upon their conservation efforts.”&nbsp;



The research was conducted under the auspices of the Pan African Program (PanAf) that coordinated the sampling of thousands of chimpanzee fecal samples at 48 locations across the species’ range. This was followed by years of effort to develop successful methods to retrieve and enrich the portions of the host DNA (hDNA) of interest, and then to analyze and compare the results for the 828 individual chimps involved.&nbsp;



Previously, only 59 whole chimpanzee genomes had been sequenced and this gave limited information about geographical differences. And, although large datasets from thousands of geo-referenced fecal samples do exist, the genetic analysis used on these samples only focused on very small fragments of the entire genome, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms on a few autosomal, sex-linked, or mtDNA markers.&nbsp;



In the current study, the researchers focused on the entire genetic sequence of chromosome 21, which is the smallest contiguous nuclear sequence in the chimpanzee genome. Using this chromosome provided a wealth of genomic sequence data that was helpful for inferring chimpanzee population structure and relationships between subspecies. Since the fossil record and the existence of ancient DNA are limited for chimpanzees, the analysis of population genetics for this species is restricted to the use of modern DNA.



“Since we are using sequencing of a whole chromosome with thousands of independent markers, compared to few microsatellite markers, we have a much broader view of the genome [that] is needed to refine and describe the very complex evolutionary history of chimpanzees,” said study co-lead author Tomas Marques-Bonet, principal investigator from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE).&nbsp;



“Impressively, we are doing it with non-invasive samples, which, in a sense, are the best of all worlds - a valuable source of genomic DNA but collected in a way that animals never need to be contacted or disturbed beyond researchers existing in their habitat.”



The findings support the existence of four distinct subspecies of chimpanzees. These subspecies are often geographically separated by the presence of large rivers, such as the Ubangi River, which would have been a barrier to gene transfer most of the time, but not always. During peak glacial periods, lower river levels may have allowed migrations between the groups, thus introducing new genetic variations.



“We were able to show, using different analyses that look at very old and more recent variation, that the history of chimpanzees is complex, much like that of our own species,” said co-lead author Mimi Arandjelovic, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.



“Chimpanzee subspecies were indeed separated in the past but have since also experienced genetic exchange between populations. This nicely explains why different studies aiming at reconstructing different ancestral periods have come to different conclusions about the evolutionary history of chimpanzees.”



By using genetic sequences on chromosome 21, the researchers were able to discover many new variations in the genes, in comparison with previously published chimpanzee whole genomes. They hypothesize that these rare variations likely emerged recently (during the past few hundreds to thousands of years), and are probably specific to particular geographic locations. The experts thus used the rare variant data from 434 samples of sufficient quality, in 38 locations, to develop a strategy to deduce the genetic origin of fecal samples.&nbsp;



“Just by our sampling method, we have discovered around 50 percent more, and new, genetic variants on chromosome 21 than previous studies,” said Fontsere. “Our dataset has been key in understanding recent and past gene flow between populations where previous sampling gaps impeded their study. Also, it has allowed us to describe if populations have been isolated recently or whether there was a historical event that did so.&nbsp;By characterizing the genomic singularities of each community or population, we also created a map that links genomic information to geographic location so that we were able to devise a strategy to infer the geographic location of chimpanzee individuals.”



This catalog of genomic diversity in wild chimp populations has important conservation applications. It can help ensure that confiscated chimpanzees from the illegal pet trade are placed into sanctuaries in their countries of origin, as mandated by international standards. In addition, the sequencing of confiscated chimps or wildlife products, such as trophies or bushmeat, can identify hotspots of poaching to which the relevant authorities can be directed. This is particularly useful when dealing with endangered species that need to be protected urgently.&nbsp;



The authors of the study state that retrieving useful hDNA from fecal samples is challenging for many reasons. The samples usually contain only small amounts of rather poor quality DNA, and can be contaminated with the DNA from dietary organisms. In this study, some 100 fecal samples contained DNA that was very similar to that of chimpanzees, but that came from other primate species. The researchers concluded that this was due either to chimpanzees including these primate species in their diets, or due to the erroneous collection of the feces of other primate species by the field workers.&nbsp;



Despite these challenges, the use of feces has the advantage that many samples may be collected with negligible disturbance or interference to the animals. The researchers now feel that the methods they’ve developed for chimpanzees can be used with other great apes and primates. Their findings in chimpanzees confirm that fecal samples, although more complex than blood samples, are a good source of host DNA for any species



The PanAf continues to analyze data collected over eight years from 18 countries across Africa, at over 40 temporary and long-term research and conservation sites. The goal is to understand the evolutionary and ecological drivers of chimpanzee cultural and behavioral diversity.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(22)00062-3">Cell Genomics</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Genetic catalog of chimpanzees will help conservation efforts

After years of field and laboratory work, and the collection...

In the event of a deadly pandemic or global catastrophe, one way to save humankind is a safe refuge. To ensure a portion of the human population can stay alive, safe refuge can take place on an island, or in extremely remote places like&nbsp; the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-moon-volcanoes-may-provide-astronauts-with-drinking-water/">moon</a> or under water.&nbsp;



In a new study published by the <a href="https://www.sra.org/">Society for Risk Analysis</a>, experts say the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that a refuge may not need to be geographically isolated or in an exotic location. The authors explore how and why both China and Western Australia served as successful refuges during the first two years of the pandemic. A pandemic refuge is a place with low medical risk where a pathogen has not spread significantly.



Seth Baum, a geographer and executive director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute in Washington, D.C., and Vanessa Adams, a geographer at the University of Tasmania, conducted a case study of China and Western Australia. These locations were selected as they are both political jurisdictions that share their borders with others yet managed to keep COVID-19 infections low. From March 2020 to January 2022, China’s estimated cases per 100,000 people were 1,358 compared to 98,556 in the United States and 142,365 in India. Western Australia’s official cases were 48.8.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Previously, research showed that good candidates for a refuge are on island nations like Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, largely based on their success in keeping COVID-19 infections low.&nbsp;



However, the study suggests that geographic isolation on islands is not a prerequisite for refuge.&nbsp; “China is a very clear case in point,” said Baum. “It has succeeded despite having the world’s longest land border.”&nbsp;



Both the differences and similarities were examined between China and Western Australia. China is authoritarian, collectivist, and heavily populated in the most populous region of the world. Western Australia is democratic, individualist, and sparsely populated in one of the most remote regions of the world.&nbsp;



However, the similarities between the two jurisdictions are important. For example, both have a high degree of centralization and a high capacity for self-isolation -- China via its authoritarian government, and Western Australia via its social isolation and strong economy. Both also have strong in-group cohesion and have been highly motivated to avoid pathogen spread.&nbsp;



“This is encouraging because it suggests that pandemic refuges can provide a high degree of economic support for outside populations during pandemics, an important element for achieving the global objective of refuges – the continuity of civilization,” said Baum.&nbsp;



“Pandemic refuges are a risk management policy concept worthy of serious consideration, alongside other public health measures such as vaccines and physical distancing," said Adams.



---



By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A pandemic refuge can exist in an unlikely place

In the event of a deadly pandemic or global catastrophe,...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> has revealed that wildlife living in urban environments have picked up some of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-cravings-linked-to-microbial-activity-in-the-gut/">gut microbes</a> of humans, which are not present in their rural-dwelling relatives. These findings suggest that urbanization affects both humans and wildlife in parallel ways, with wildlife living in cities acquiring some of the bacteria that predominate in the gut microbiome of urban-living humans.



Since gut microbiomes tend to reflect the evolutionary history of their host organisms, they are usually similar between hosts of the same species. As the evolutionary distance between host species increases, so does the dissimilarity between gut microbiomes. However, close contact between wildlife and humans can disrupt such relationships, leading to mismatches between host and microbiota evolutionary history and possibly contributing to various diseases.&nbsp;



“With the influence of humans on ecosystems becoming more pronounced globally, there is a need to better understand the effects of urbanization on global wildlife microbiota,” said study lead author Brian A. Dillard, a PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell. “Others have shown that urbanization can alter the composition of gut microbiota in diverse species of wildlife, leading to differences between wildlife living in urban and rural settings, but we did not know whether urbanization has similar effects on the microbiota across host species.”



In order to explore this, Dillard and his colleagues compared the gut microbiota of both urban and rural populations of three animal species – crested anoles (a species of lizards), coyotes, and white-crowned sparrows – with the gut microbiota of urban and rural populations of humans. Their analysis revealed significant differences in gut microbiota within the same species of animal from different locations.&nbsp;



For instance, the anole gut microbiota profiles changed in a manner reflecting their distance from the most urban areas to the most rural, with the urban-dwelling anoles having a microbiota that was more closely related to the microbiota of humans than was the microbiota of anoles living in rural areas. Moreover, a group of microbes common to urban-living humans (Bacteroides) – that is considered an established indicator of urbanization in humans - was similarly abundant in the gut microbiota of urban wildlife.



“The observation that these bacterial lineages found in humans increased in prevalence in urban wildlife is consistent with bacterial spillover from humans into wildlife in cities,” said study senior author Andrew H. Moeller, an assistant professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell.&nbsp;



“Interspecies transmission of microbes can lead to deleterious effects for the recipient host, although that is not always the case. We still don’t know what effects, if any, the microbes identified are having on urban wildlife. What is clear is that wildlife microbiomes are more similar to human microbiomes in urban environments than they are in rural environments. We also know that changing the microbiome can affect health, so it will be important to investigate what the consequences are for wildlife hosts.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/76381">eLife</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans pass on gut microbes to urban wildlife

A new study led by Cornell University has revealed that...

Paleobotanist David Greenwood has collected fossil plants from southern Australia for decades. Along with climate scientists and other paleobotanists, Greenwood has started to recreate the ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-thrive-under-environmental-stress/">environment</a>.&nbsp;



The fossil ecosystem examined by the team existed 55 to 40 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch. This was a time when Earth was much warmer - with tropical weather and palm trees at the poles. Dry continents like Australia were much wetter and lusher. The researchers can understand a lot about rainfall and temperature patterns on ancient Earth by looking at plants.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“For example, if a plant has large leaves and it is left out in the sun and doesn’t get enough water, it starts to shrivel up and die because of excess evaporation,” said study co-author Tammo Reichgelt of the <a href="https://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>. “Plants with large leaves also lose heat to its surroundings."



"Finding a large fossil leaf therefore means that most likely this plant was not growing in an environment that was too dry or too cold for excess evaporation or sensible heat loss to happen. These and other morphological features can be linked to the environment that we can quantify. We can compare fossils to modern floras around the world and find the closest analogy.”



The research suggests that the Earth was quite sensitive to CO2, with the poles amplifying the warming effect, a phenomenon that is poorly represented in climate models.&nbsp;



“Southern Australia seems to have been largely forested, with primary productivity similar to seasonal forests, not unlike those here in New England today,” said Reichgelt. “In the Northern Hemisphere summer today, there is a big change in the carbon cycle, because lots of carbon dioxide gets drawn down due to primary productivity in the enormous expanse of forests that exists in a large belt around 40 to 60 degrees north."&nbsp;



"In the Southern Hemisphere, no such landmass exists at those same latitudes today. But Australia during the Eocene occupied 40 degrees to 60 degrees south. And as a result, there would be a highly productive large landmass during the Southern Hemisphere summer, drawing down carbon, more so than what Australia is doing today since it is largely arid.”



The researchers hope that their study will further the understanding of how our planet warms and improve climate change models for the future.&nbsp;



The research was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/25724525">Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hotter ancient Earth had palm trees at the poles

Paleobotanist David Greenwood has collected fossil plants from southern Australia...

Environmental measures can support agriculture <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-biodiversity-affect-species-interactions/">biodiversity</a> and wild bee populations. However, new research has revealed that the effectiveness of such strategies depends on various factors.&nbsp;



The research team found that when assessing the effectiveness of measures such as organic or conventional farming, biodiversity benefits should be evaluated differently. The results show that it could be misleading to make across the board comparisons of different conservation efforts.



For the investigation, ten agricultural landscapes were studied. The landscapes contained three winter wheat fields, one organic field, one conventional field with flower strips, and one conventional field without flower strips. The abundance of wild bees was recorded for two years at each site.



After comparing the data, the experts concluded that conventional fields with strips of flowers might attract many more bees than organic fields. However, this does not capture the full story.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"When we looked more closely, this did not give us a complete picture because it did not take into account that flower strips only cover about five percent of conventional fields which has significantly fewer bees overall than the organic farmland," explained Professor Teja Tscharntke, Department of Agroecology at Göttingen University.&nbsp;



"In short, organic farming, which typically has more wild plants than conventional fields, is actually more successful than conventional fields with flower strips in promoting bees," added Dr. Péter Batáry of the Centre for Organic Research.



Fields of grain in organic farming yield only half the harvest of conventional farming. When the loss in wheat yield is taken into account, a ten-hectare area of organic farmland should be compared to five hectares of conventional farmland plus five hectares of flower strips. This would lead to 3.5 times more bees but the same yield. Therefore, organic farming would not be the best way to support wild bees.



This research demonstrates the importance of using different benchmarks and criteria when evaluating agri-environmental measures.



"It is only when we take into account the area along with the yield together with the type of farming that we can achieve a balanced understanding of the ecological and economic effectiveness of environmental measures," said the study authors.



The research was conducted by agroecologists from the University of Göttingen, Germany and the Centre for Ecological Research in Vácrátót, Hungary.



---



By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Environmental measures for saving bees cannot be compared

Environmental measures can support agriculture biodiversity and wild bee populations....

With many links between climate change and cardiovascular health, experts say a new specialty of "climate cardiology" is needed to protect patients and the future planet. Greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/we-must-do-more-than-slash-emissions-to-keep-our-climate-safe/">emissions</a> are the highest they have ever been as a result of human activities. This has prompted a rise in global temperatures and associated climate impacts, such as an increased severity of cardiovascular risk factors.&nbsp;



Major sources of greenhouse gas emissions include fossil fuel burning, agriculture, deforestation and meat production. Globally, the healthcare sector is responsible for nearly 4.5 percent of emissions, as well as nearly 3 percent of fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5). In the US, alone, the healthcare sector emits nearly 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.



Climate change leads to more frequent extreme weather events, air pollution, ecosystem collapse, and declines in global food production. All of these factors have direct effects on cardiovascular health, as well as indirect effects through other social determinants of health and the capacity of health systems to manage climate hazards, explained the authors.



<ul><li>In 2019 high temperatures were responsible for 93,000 cardiovascular deaths worldwide</li><li>Extreme weather events are linked to trauma, stress, and depression - all risk factors for coronary heart disease</li><li>Desertification, increased atmospheric CO2, and ocean warming and acidification affect nutritious food supplies:diets low in fresh produce, whole grains, and seafood are responsible for over 3 million cardiovascular deaths annually worldwide</li><li>Climate change may prompt the forced migrations of hundreds of millions of people, often to places ill prepared to provide cardiovascular health services</li><li>Air pollution from fossil fuel burning, industrial emissions, and landscape fires are responsible for nearly 1 in 5 (3.54 million) cardiovascular deaths globally</li></ul>



However, there are opportunities to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the global toll of cardiovascular disease. The authors suggest this can be done by transitioning to plant-based diets and restructuring food subsidies. Red meat, which contains high levels of saturated fat, is a major risk factor for heart disease, and is responsible for 738,000 cardiovascular deaths in 2019.



A shift to active transport is another opportunity, as walking and cycling promote physical activity while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce stress, an expansion of green spaces in residential areas would also help absorb atmospheric CO2.&nbsp;



Transitioning our economy away from coal, oil, and gas towards solar and wind power, geothermal energy, and hydroelectricity would save more than 20 million deaths over the next 30 years.



“The window is closing to prevent the worst effects of climate change. The healthcare sector must take urgent action to prevent the climate crisis from undermining cardiovascular health,” warned the study authors.



The carbon footprint of healthcare systems can be reduced by promoting telemedicine, local ambulatory and self care and by cutting down on overprescribing, and unnecessary interventions. The authors emphasize that investing in disaster planning and early warning systems could help health systems prepare for waves of illness associated with climate change impacts. Medical education could also incorporate environmental health and sustainable practices in healthcare.&nbsp;



The research is published in the open access journal <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/">BMJ Global Health</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Links between climate and heart disease must be addressed

With many links between climate change and cardiovascular health, experts...

Group,Of,Friends,Wearing,Protection,Mask,At,The,Restaurant,-

In almost two and a half years after the beginning of the Covid-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-world-is-still-unprepared-for-the-next-pandemic/">pandemic</a>, scientists have not yet managed to fully explain how features of the coronavirus turn some gatherings into superspreading events, while others do not lead to such a widespread transmission of the virus.&nbsp;



In a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0089347">Physics of Fluids</a>, scientists from Canada and the United States have created a model connecting current biological knowledge about Covid-19 superspreading events with how such events have occurred in the real world to shed more light on this strange phenomenon. The analysis revealed that 80 percent of infections occurring at superspreading events arose from only four percent of those who carried the virus in those locations, called index cases.



By using real-world occupancy data from over 100,000 restaurants across 10 major US cities, the researchers examined several features ranging from viral loads to the occupancy and ventilation of social contact settings. They found that the main feature driving the high variability in superspreading events was the number of viral particles found in index cases, followed by the overall occupancy of the settings.



“While there are uncertainties and unknowns, it appears it is rather hard to prevent a superspreading event if the person carrying high viral load happens to be in a crowded place,” said study lead author Swetaprovo Chaudhuri, an expert in turbulent reacting flows and propulsion at the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a>.



Professor Chaudhuri and his colleagues also discovered that the variability between infection events was significantly higher than expected – a situation called overdispersion, which, in this case, indicates a strong heterogeneity in individual infectivity.&nbsp;



“It is now well known that Covid-19 is airborne, and that is probably the dominant pathway of transmission. This paper connects indoor airborne transmission to the evolution of the infection distribution on a population scale and shows the physics of airborne transmission is consistent with the mathematics of overdispersion,” explained Professor Chaudhuri.&nbsp;



“To mitigate such superspreading events, vaccination, ventilation, filtration, mask wearing, reduced occupancy – all are required. However, putting them in place is not enough; knowing what size, type, and parameters can mitigate risk to certain acceptable levels is important,” he concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What do we know about Covid-19 superspreading events?

In almost two and a half years after the beginning...

Cities are noisy, busy places that burst with activity. And wherever that activity is associated with the use of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electricity-may-be-the-cheapest-energy-source-by-2050/">electricity</a>, the flow of current through electrical cables and wires induces magnetic fields. So the patterns of induced magnetism in a city reflect the characteristics of the power network, as well as the usage of electricity by the city’s industries, businesses and residents.&nbsp;



In a recent study of the magnetic fields of two United States cities, researchers from the U.S. and Germany investigated the kinds of information that can be extracted from magnetic field sensors in various parts of a city. They collected magnetic field data continuously during a four-week period, using synchronized measurements with a network of sensitive magnetometers which were placed at locations such as elevators in high-rise apartment blocks, subways, bridges and sidewalks.&nbsp;



“A city is viewed as a physical system akin to a distant astronomical object that can be studied using a variety of multispectral techniques,” said Vincent Dumont, from <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a>. “In short, our project was inspired by our desire to apply what we learned practicing fundamental physics research to the study of cities.”



The researchers compared the magnetic footprint of two very different U.S. cities, Berkeley, California, and the Brooklyn borough of New York City. They propose that examining a city's magnetic footprint can be used to monitor the health of that city, specifically in terms of optimizing its efficient use of energy and as a possible early warning system for trouble with pollution. Magnetic field activity from various sources in the city can provide insight into what is going on during a 24-hour period.



In the results of the study, published today in the <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0088264">Journal of Applied Physics</a>, the researchers found that Berkeley reaches an almost zero level of magnetic field activity during the night, while Brooklyn’s magnetic activity continues throughout the day and night.&nbsp;



“Again, not too surprisingly, we discovered that ‘New York never sleeps,’ or more seriously, that there are indeed a number of magnetic signatures specific to each city,” said Dumont.&nbsp;



“This work builds on our earlier experiments conducted around the city of Berkeley, in the San Francisco Bay Area,” he explained. “We identified the dominant sources of magnetic signals – which, not too surprisingly, turned out to be the trains of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, and learned to glean weaker signals from this dominant background.”



In recent years, the approach of studying cities by their magnetic ‘noise,’ as measured by magnetic field sensors, has become more popular and has been pursued in particular by the Center for Urban Science and Progress in New York. The researchers hope their network magnetometry and smart data analysis combination can become a valuable tool for future multidisciplinary studies in urban science.&nbsp;



“We hope this line of research will be picked up and further developed both by the members of our team as well as others, hopefully within cities around the world,” said Dumont.



Techniques using data from magnetic field sensors are particularly useful for fundamental physics research, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory experiment for the detection of gravitational waves or the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic Physical Searches collaboration for dark matter searches.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A city’s unique magnetic signature can reveal its state of health

Cities are noisy, busy places that burst with activity. And...

Normally, ocean fjord waters are stratified into distinct layers, one stacked on top of the next. During storms, these layers can be mixed, which can cause the floor of a fjord to become oxygenated. Storms can also cause a release in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/impacts-of-methane-emissions-are-greatly-underestimated/">methane</a> from fjords.&nbsp;



Now, research from the <a href="https://www.gu.se/en">University of Gothenburg</a> estimates that the amount of methane emissions from fjords is more than the total emissions from all of the deep ocean waters globally combined. This is interesting because fjords cover only 0.13 percent of earth’s oceans compared to the 84 percent covered by deep oceans.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It’s been known for some time that many fjords have anoxic environments closest to the bottom and that methane forms in the bottom sediment. Usually, only a small portion of this gas ever reaches the atmosphere because it gets broken down as it ascends through the more oxygen-rich waters closer to the surface. But in our research, we recorded large emissions of methane when the water in the fjord was mixed during storm events, for example,” said Stefano Bonaglia, a researcher in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.



Monitoring methane is increasingly important as global climate change continues to impact us all. Scientists estimate that methane accounts for 30 percent of the greenhouse effect. Although oceans naturally release some methane, human activity has increased eutrophication and created anoxic environments on ocean floors. All of this is especially true in fjords and drives their high methane releases.&nbsp;



“This is because in fjords, carbon-rich sediment is deposited from marine plants and animals as well as from materials entering the fjords from the surrounding land via streams that flow into them," explained Bonaglia.&nbsp;



"As fjords are relatively protected from ocean currents, the water tends to remain stratified in layers at different temperatures and with different concentrations of salt and oxygen. The layers closest to the fjord floor are anoxic regions where methane gas forms as the material in the sediment decomposes,”&nbsp;



Although the current research was carried out in Sweden, the same effects have been seen in fjords in Canada. The researchers hope that by understanding this effect, greenhouse gases will be budgeted and accounted for more accurately in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/23782242">Limnology and Oceanography Letters</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Large amounts of methane are released from fjords

Normally, ocean fjord waters are stratified into distinct layers, one...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2111312119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> has provided a globally consistent dataset which identifies opportunities for land-based carbon removal to address the current climate crisis, while building an actionable framework to facilitate climate-smart restoration land management strategies.&nbsp;



“From <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-are-more-resilient-and-productive/">forests</a> to soils, terrestrial ecosystems store enormous amounts of carbon globally, and are capable of storing even more,” said study lead author Wayne Walker, Carbon Program Director at <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/">Woodwell Climate Research Center</a>. “But realizing the untapped potential of land to aid in addressing the climate crisis means understanding how much storage space is available, where in the world that space is located, and what actions can be taken in those places to take advantage of the opportunity they offer as rapidly as possible. This study provides the data and conceptual framework for doing that.”



The team used a series of new geospatial maps which improve our understanding of the global gap between the current and the potential carbon storage on land. Dr. Walker and his colleagues quantified the unrealized potential carbon storage of both above- and below-ground woody biomass and soil organic carbon.&nbsp;



Through this method they identified 287 petagrams of untapped carbon storage, with 78 percent of it located in woody biomass, and the remaining 22 percent in soils - across temperate, tropical, and boreal climate regions. There is thus a massive potential for expanding land-based carbon capture through the restoration, maintenance, and improved management of forests.



“Forest stewardship represents the greatest opportunity for realizing carbon removal and storage in the near term, and the urgency of the climate crisis demands that we prioritize these efforts,” said study co-author Peter Ellis, Global Director of Natural Climate Solutions Science at <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/">The Nature Conservancy</a>. “Our research shows that after safeguarding lands required for food production and human habitation, improved management of forests and other woody systems - particularly degraded forests across the global tropics - offers tremendous climate mitigation potential.”&nbsp;



As scientists work with stakeholders to prioritize and design forest restoration efforts, it is imperative for them to consider the spatially explicit predicted climate conditions, costs, and implications for local human wellbeing these activities have, and to construct globally consistent frameworks to efficiently address current gaps and inform landscape-level planning.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;

Forests will be our allies in the fight against climate change

A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&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> Staff Writer 



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.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today's Video of the Day from <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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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...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes how Earth is unique in our solar system for its ability to sustain liquid water on its surface. But now, the water cycle is shifting as the climate warms, and scientists must find ways to predict how these changes will affect water availability.



Overall, 96 percent of Earth's water is saltwater, and nearly all of freshwater is found in ice and groundwater. These sources of water are linked as it passes through solid, liquid and gas phases.



In a warmer climate, the water cycle will be transformed. It will be easier for water to evaporate and form clouds, and storms will become more frequent and intense. Some regions will get too much water, while others will be left without enough water. In addition, soil moisture will be lost - which threatens food security.



Scientists are using satellite data from over the last 40 years to track changes that are happening in the water cycle. This will ultimately help us prepare for extreme events and better manage our water resources, according to ESA.



Video 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.

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> features images of Saturn from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The photographs capture the start of the mysterious "spoke season" on Saturn - when unexplained features appear on its rings. 



According to NASA, both the cause of the spokes and their seasonal variability have yet to be fully explained by planetary scientists.



"Like Earth, Saturn is tilted on its axis and therefore has four seasons, though because of Saturn's much larger orbit, each season lasts approximately seven Earth years. Equinox occurs when the rings are tilted edge-on to the Sun," explains NASA.



"The spokes disappear when it is near summer or winter solstice on Saturn. (When the Sun appears to reach either its highest or lowest latitude in the northern or southern hemisphere of a planet.) As the autumnal equinox of Saturn's northern hemisphere on May 6, 2025, draws near, the spokes are expected to become increasingly prominent and observable."



Experts believe that the spokes may be a product of the planet's variable magnetic field. When magnetic fields interact with solar wind, an electrically charged environment is created. This phenomenon is visible on Earth as the northern lights.&nbsp;



"Scientists think that the smallest, dust-sized icy ring particles can become charged as well, which temporarily levitates those particles above the rest of the larger icy particles and boulders in the rings," says NASA.



The spokes were first observed in the early 1980s by NASA's Voyager mission. Depending on the angle of the rings, the spokes can appear dark or light.



"Thanks to Hubble's OPAL program, which is building an archive of data on the outer solar system planets, we will have longer dedicated time to study Saturn’s spokes this season than ever before," said NASA senior planetary scientist Amy Simon, head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program.



"Despite years of excellent observations by the Cassini mission, the precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season."



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.

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/">NTU Singapore</a> reveals that some plants can remove toxic heavy metals from soil.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed samples of various tropical plant species to test for levels of heavy metals and metalloids. The study showed that there are existing plants with high levels of these contaminants, which means that these species are great candidates for drawing pollutants out of the soil.&nbsp;



Among the plants examined in the study, 12 species had accumulated several types of heavy metals and metalloids. These plants are widely available, including species that are native to Singapore.



“In a small nation like Singapore, land may be repurposed to support new development plans, so it is important that we have a green and sustainable way to remediate land that is contaminated," said Professor Lam Yeng Ming.



"We set out to uncover how to better make use of tropical plants to do phytoremediation and through advanced characterization techniques, we showed how some of these tropical plant species can be an environmentally friendly and literally a 'green' way to remove contaminants in soil."&nbsp;



"Phytoremediation also has benefits of cost effectiveness, simplicity of management, aesthetic advantages, and long-term applicability and sustainability. The strategy prevents erosion and metal leaching by stabilizing or accumulating heavy metals, so that helps reduce the risk of contaminant spread.”



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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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.

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes why herbicides are not as effective in killing weeds anymore. In the 20th century, chemical companies developed thousands of herbicides. The most commonly used herbicide was glyphosate, which was introduced in 1974.



Over the past few decades, dozens of species of weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Depending on the site of action, the part of the plant that an herbicide interacts with, weeds may even be resistant to herbicides that have not been developed yet.&nbsp;



With increasing resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides, weeds are - once again - becoming a major concern for farmers.&nbsp;



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.

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) describes a dust storm on Mars that was nearly twice the size of the United States. As the storm covered the southern hemisphere of the planet, some of NASA’s explorers had to delay their normal activities.



NASA’s Insight lander put itself in a "safe mode" for 11 days to conserve battery power because solar power was disrupted by the dust. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter postponed flights until conditions improved.



"A fleet of NASA orbiters monitor Martian dust storms like this one and serve as lifelines to Earth by relaying data from the rovers and lander on the ground back to the team. This includes the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, and Odyssey," reports JPL.



"Dust storms like this recent one start close to the ground and are spread by wind as they rise – warming the cold Martian atmosphere."



The images in the video were captured by NASA’s Curiosity as the dust rolled in. A fleet of orbiters monitored the dust storm from above, relaying data from Mars’ explorers back to scientists on Earth.



Video &amp; Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS



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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.

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



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.

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency </a>&nbsp;features the Kangerlussuaq Glacier, one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. The glacier is located on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.



As human-induced climate change continues to drive up temperatures, global ice loss is accelerating at an alarming rate. ESA reports that, over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from the Greenland ice sheet. This is enough to cover the UK with meltwater 15 meters deep.



Based on satellite imagery, researchers determined that Kangerlussuaq entered a new phase of rapid retreat and acceleration in 2017. In their study, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00123/full">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>,&nbsp; the experts report that the glacier's ice front is now at its most retreated position since the early 20th century.



"Given Kangerlussuaq’s previous impacts on both the magnitude and pattern of ice sheet wide mass loss, we predict that its new phase of retreat, acceleration and thinning will markedly enhance the south-east region’s contribution to increasing discharge from the ice sheet," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"More broadly, accurate forecasting of the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level rise will require a deeper understanding of, and responses to, these non-linear ice dynamic processes."



Video 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.

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the complex relationship between ocean and climate. ESA's Climate Change Initiative will help us understand how oceans influence the climate and how climate change is impacting the oceans.&nbsp;



"Earth’s oceans are huge heat stores, soaking up 93% of the excess heat from human activity over the past 70 years. Ocean currents redistribute heat around the planet, from the Equator to the poles. Where this ocean heat goes influences weather patterns and regional climate," explains ESA.



"As well as absorbing heat, oceans are a natural carbon sink, absorbing a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This has led to the acidification of ocean water, threating marine life."



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide soaked up by the ocean depends on specific variables, including phytoplankton, temperatures, waves, salinity, and ice cover. Satellites can be used to measure these variables from space.



"From their unique vantage point, satellites provide key information for understanding the complexities of our planet and monitoring environmental issues," says ESA.



Video 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.

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the importance of monitoring the shape of the sea surface, which is constantly changing. These observations have many applications, such as ship routing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-modem-ocean-is-a-tough-place-for-whales-to-survive/">ocean</a> current forecasting, and debris tracking.



"A project supported by the Discovery element of ESA’s Basic Activities recently investigated a new technique to measure sea surface topography very precisely," reports ESA.



"The technique involves looking at satellite navigation (GNSS) signals that have been reflected off of the sea surface at very low angles. At these so-called grazing angles, waves and surface roughness have very little impact on the reflection process; the sea surface acts as a very smooth mirror."



Estel Cardellach is the principal investigator at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia, who first submitted the idea for the project.



“In a mirror-like reflection the phase of the signal can be tracked – it is continuous," said Cardellach. "Different surface heights result in different phase measurements. It gives a very precise measurement of the surface altitude at a few centimetres’ precision.”



The researchers developed a GNSS receiver and set up an experiment in the Balaeric Islands to collect signals from the receiver that were reflected off the sea surface. Ultimately, these signals will provide improved measurements of the shape of the sea surface.



Image/ Video 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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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