Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals.



A research team led by Hans Sanderson of <a href="http://Aarhus University https://g.co/kgs/wGFv7P9">Aarhus University</a> tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166445X24003485?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaternium conditioners</a> that make hair feel smooth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoos-tame-frizz">How shampoos tame frizz</h2>



Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166248108701168" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positively charged polymers</a> so those long molecules wrap around each fiber and neutralize static, leaving a sleek finish.



The most common sub‑group, polyquaterniums, numbers more than 25,000 variations. Together they support a <a href="https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/polyquaternium-market-107659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">market valued</a> at about $0.12 billion in 2024 and projected to grow steadily over the next decade.



Each molecule is huge by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ocean-animals-connect-countries-and-continents/">chemical</a> standards, so toxicology screens once assumed they were harmless to wildlife because they cannot slip through cell membranes. Sanderson’s team asked whether sticking on the outside of a creature could matter just as much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-harms-tiny-aquatic-animals">Shampoo harms tiny aquatic animals </h2>



Freshwater ponds and lakes are full of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">daphnia</a>, tiny crustaceans <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shampoo-animals.jpg">sometimes called water fleas</a>. They filter algae and bacteria, purify water, and form a primary food source for many small fish.



Because daphnia propel themselves with rhythmic strokes of their antennae, any extra drag can slow them down. 



The Aarhus experiments showed that a film of conditioner polymers glued to the animals’ shells, halving their swimming speed and hindering feeding.



“We have conducted the first study in the world to investigate this. The substances do not penetrate the animals’ cells, but rather stick to the surface of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-2025-plastic-pollution-is-choking-our-planet/">animal</a>,” explained Sanderson. 



“This physically affects the animal, making it unable to move as well, and it impairs its ability to ingest food,” continued Sanderson.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-s-charge-makes-animals-vulnerable">Shampoo's charge makes animals vulnerable</h2>



The researchers ran complementary tests on two standard laboratory species, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daphnia magna</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/483833-Ceriodaphnia-dubia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ceriodaphnia dubia</a>, using three <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaterniums</a> of different designs. 



The team found toxicity thresholds as low as 0.05 mg per liter for the most highly charged polymer, while the same molecule with a lower charge was 400‑fold less toxic.



The pattern was consistent regardless of molecular weight. That result shifts regulatory focus from size to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/charge-density" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">charge density</a>, a parameter rarely documented on shampoo labels.



Organic matter in natural water, such as dissolved humic acids, partially blunts the polymers’ stickiness. Yet even moderate concentrations still impaired reproduction and growth during 21‑day chronic tests with both daphnia species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoo-chemicals-move-to-animals">How shampoo chemicals move to animals</h2>



Wastewater plants intentionally add the same <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01223" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cationic polymers</a> as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/flocculant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flocculant</a> to clump particles together for easier removal. Ironically, what helps strip other pollutants out of sewage can persist in the resulting sludge or treated effluent.



If facilities discharge more than the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-impacting-marine-life-more-than-we-realized/">ecosystem</a> can buffer, sensitive invertebrates pay the price. Because daphnia sit near the base of the food web, their decline can ripple upward and reduce fish recruitment.



Laboratory work measured polymer levels that killed half a daphnia population within 48 hours at phone‑screen brightness‑level concentrations. Field monitoring remains limited, so nobody knows how often small streams approach those doses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-call-for-smarter-safety-tests">Call for smarter safety tests</h2>



European agencies already demand hazard labels for chemicals that penetrate cells, but large polymers still slip through many guidelines. 



The European Commission is reviewing <a href="https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/chemicals/chemicals-legislation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymer assessment rules</a> under its CLP and <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/reach-regulation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">REACH regulations</a>, with updates expected this year.



The researchers argue that future protocols must mimic real‑world water containing organic carbon, rather than the ultra‑clean test media used today. 



They also recommend including movement and feeding endpoints, not just mortality, when assessing ecological risk.



Softening agents may never fully disappear from consumer goods. However, incremental tweaks, lower charge density, biodegradable side chains, or safer alternatives like amino‑based conditioners could cut harm dramatically. 



Manufacturers have incentives to act before formal limits arrive, because production lines adapt faster than legislation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reducing-shampoo-s-harm-to-animals">Reducing shampoo’s harm to animals</h2>



Reading an ingredient list will often reveal polyquaterniums by number, for example polyquaternium‑10 or ‑7. Lower single‑digit numbers usually carry higher charge density, although the label alone cannot quantify risk.



Choosing rinse‑off products certified for low aquatic toxicity is one stopgap, though Sanderson notes that even ecolabel formulations sometimes rely on the same chemistry. 



Reducing dosage helps too; a quarter‑sized blob of shampoo cleans most medium‑length hair, and conditioner is unnecessary every wash for many people.



Small behavior shifts add up because each bottle skipped prevents thousands of gallons of rinse water from picking up extra polymers over its retail life. 



Until wastewater infrastructure and regulations catch up, prevention at the source remains the surest shield for freshwater communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-a-balanced-bathroom-shelf">Toward a balanced bathroom shelf</h2>



The story of sticky hair conditioners underscores a broader lesson in polymer safety. Size alone cannot protect wildlife if surface charge lets molecules hijack essential behaviors like swimming and feeding. 



Daphnia, though invisible from a shower stall, signal the health of entire lakes and streams. When their numbers fall, algae blooms can surge, water clarity drops, and fish lose a key snack.



Scientists now have lab tools to screen thousands of conditioning agents quickly, ranking them by how strongly they glue onto living surfaces. 



Policy makers can use that knowledge to set practical discharge limits, while industry chemists re‑engineer formulas for performance without collateral damage.



Every shampoo rinse cycle connects personal routine to planetary processes, affecting animals too. Balancing clean hair with clean water and protecting animals is no longer guesswork; the data are in view, and the solutions are within reach.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aquatic Toxicology</a>.



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Chemicals in shampoos and soaps are infiltrating rivers and killing aquatic life

Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals. A research team led by Hans Sanderson of Aarhus University tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called polyquaternium conditioners that make hair feel smooth. How shampoos tame frizz Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add positively charged polymers so those long molecules wrap around...

In a new study, experts report that a boost in the number of pink pigeons in recent decades will not be enough to save the species from a high risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rosewood-trees-in-southeast-asia-face-the-risk-of-extinction/">extinction</a>.&nbsp;



An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> worked with organizations in Mauritius to investigate the impacts of what ultimately became a genetic "bottleneck" across the island nation's endemic population of pink pigeons. Across Mauritius, there was a rapid collapse in the number of pink pigeons in the late 1980s. This decline worsened until there were only 12 birds surviving in the wild.



Since then, conservation efforts by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the Government of Mauritius’ National Parks and Conservation Service paid off. The number of wild pink pigeons reached around 500 birds.



The experts analyzed genetic samples that were collected from 175 pink pigeons over nearly two decades, as conservation efforts took place. Based on the analysis of the DNA, the experts found some disappointing news.&nbsp;



The researchers discovered that, despite an increase in population, the pink pigeon now has a high genetic load of bad mutations. They explained that these mutations put the birds at considerable risk of extinction in the wild within 100 years without continued conservation actions.



“By studying the genome of a recovered species that was once critically endangered, we can learn how to help other species to bounce back from a population collapse,” said study co-lead author Professor Cock van Oosterhout.



“During the pigeon’s population bottleneck, the gene pool lost a lot of variation, and many bad mutations increased in frequency. This genetic load still poses a severe threat, even though the population has recovered in numbers.”



“The problem is that all individuals are somehow related to each other. They are the descendants of the few ancestors that managed to survive the bottleneck. Hence, it becomes virtually impossible to stop inbreeding, and this exposes these bad mutations. In turn, this can increase the mortality rate, and it could cause the population to collapse again.”



The researchers warn that "genetic rescue" is needed to recover lost genetic variation caused by inbreeding and to reduce the effects of the harmful mutations. This could be achieved by releasing captive-bred birds from UK and EU zoos, they said.



“A captive population of pink pigeons in the Gerald Durrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary in Mauritius, jointly managed by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the National Parks and Conservation Service, was established in the 1970s," said Professor Jim Groombridge from the University of Kent.



“This was used to breed birds for release into the wild, which boosted population numbers. The team also restored habitat by controlling introduced species and provided supplementary food as part of a field programme of intensive conservation management, which further increased the free-living population.”



“We didn’t know how many bad mutations the population carried initially, before the bottleneck,” said co-author Dr. Hernan Morales from University of Copenhagen. “We first had to simulate the ancestral population to find out how many bad mutations could have evolved. We then checked this data with data on inbreeding depression data from zoo populations of the pink pigeon.”



The researchers compared pedigree and fitness data to that of more than 1,000 birds at the Jersey Zoo. The analysis showed that the pink pigeon carried a high genetic load of 15 lethal equivalents.&nbsp;



“The computer simulations clearly show that just boosting numbers isn’t enough,” said Dr. Morales. “The population also needs ‘genetic rescue’ from more genetically diverse birds bred in European zoos. These birds are not as closely related, and they can help to reduce the level of inbreeding. However, there is a risk that we could introduce other bad mutations from the zoo population into the wild.”



According to study co-author Sam Speak, the team is now analyzing the genome of the pink pigeon from zoo populations in the UK, trying to locate these bad mutations. "We can do this now using bioinformatics tools developed for studying human genetics and the genomes of other model bird species such as the chicken."



“By using conservation genomics, future reintroduction programmes can avoid releasing individuals with high genetic load," said Speak. "This would help reduce inbreeding and improve the long-term recovery of threatened species such as the pink pigeon.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15231739">Conservation Biology</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Pink pigeons need a "genetic rescue" to survive extinction

In a new study, experts report that a boost in...

Our school textbooks teach us that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-grow-plants-in-lunar-soil-for-the-first-time/">plants</a> make their own food using water from the soil, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and energy from sunlight. This process, known as photosynthesis, would thus be limited by the availability of these three resources. But it seems that plant growth is not as simple as this. For trees, growth can also be limited by the rate at which new cells can form in the trunks and branches, a process that is affected by temperature.&nbsp;



Understanding the factors that limit the growth of the world’s forests will become more critical as the effects of global warming take hold. Will increased atmospheric carbon dioxide help trees to grow? Or will extremes in temperature and precipitation restrict this growth? Until now, the question of whether plant growth is limited by the rate of photosynthesis or by the environmental conditions that affect cell growth was not adequately answered, despite its fundamental nature.



A new study led by <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> researchers, along with an international team of collaborators, has now attempted to answer this question. They have measured and compared the rates of photosynthesis and woody growth in forest trees at sites in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. Their results, published today in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abm4875">Science</a>, suggest that we need to rethink the way we forecast forest growth in a changing climate, and that forests in the future may not be able to absorb as much carbon from the atmosphere as we hoped.



“A tree growing is like a horse and cart system moving forward down the road,” said Professor William Anderegg, who is the principal investigator of the study. “But we basically don’t know if photosynthesis is the horse most often, or if it’s cell expansion and division. This has been a longstanding and difficult question in the field. And it matters immensely for understanding how trees will respond to climate change.”



The scientists distinguish between a tree’s carbon source and its carbon sink. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the carbon source – the tree uses this during photosynthesis to make food for its own use. Some of the carbon-based food is then used to grow new wood cells, and to enlarge existing ones. The tree’s wood is thus its carbon sink.&nbsp;



If the growth of trees is source-limited, then the amount of carbon dioxide available in the air is what would determine the rate of photosynthesis, and tree growth would be relatively easy to predict in a mathematical model. In this case, rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would be a good thing and forests would be expected to expand and proliferate.&nbsp;



However, if tree growth is sink-limited then they can only grow as fast as their cells can divide and mature. Many environmental factors can impact cell growth rate, including temperature, the supply of water and nutrients, and the rate of photosynthesis. In this case, modeling potential tree growth in future would have to take into account the impacts of these different factors.&nbsp;



In order to find out whether tree growth is limited by source or sink factors, the researchers compared the rates of photosynthesis and cell growth at forest sites on different continents. Measuring cell growth (sink) rates was done by sampling the growth rings of the trees.&nbsp;



“Extracting wood cores from tree stems and measuring the width of each ring on these cores essentially lets us reconstruct past tree growth,” said study lead author Antoine Cabon.&nbsp;



Measuring carbon sources was more difficult. Source data was measured with 78 eddy covariance towers, 30 feet tall or more, that record carbon dioxide concentrations and wind speeds in three dimensions at the top of forest canopies. “Based on these measurements and some other calculations, we can estimate the total forest photosynthesis of a forest stand," explained Cabon.



The researchers expected to find that the processes of photosynthesis and cell growth were coupled – that when photosynthesis increased (or decreased), a corresponding increase (or decrease) would be seen in cell growth. They did not find this. Trees did not necessarily add more growth when the photosynthetic rate increased.



“Strong coupling between photosynthesis and tree growth would be expected in the case where tree growth is source-limited,” said Cabon. “The fact that we mostly observe a decoupling is our principal argument to conclude that tree growth is not source-limited.”



Although the decoupling of these two processes was recorded in environments across the globe, there were instances where it was weaker. The researchers were interested in what conditions led to stronger or weaker decoupling. Fruit-bearing and flowering trees, for example, exhibited different source-sink relationships to those of conifers. Greater diversity in a forest increased coupling, whereas dense leaf canopies decreased it.



Finally, coupling between photosynthesis and growth increased in warm and wet environments, while in cold, dry conditions the processes were decoupled and tree growth was more limited by the rate of cell growth.&nbsp;



According to Cabon, this last finding suggests that the source vs. sink issue depends on the tree’s environment and climate. “This means that climate change may reshape the distribution of source and sink limitations of the world’s forests," he said.&nbsp;



The key finding from this study is that vegetation models, which use mathematical equations and plant characteristics to estimate future forest growth, may need to be updated. “Virtually all these models assume that tree growth is source-limited,” said Cabon.



For example, he explained, current vegetation models predict that forests will thrive with higher atmospheric carbon dioxide. “The fact that tree growth is often sink-limited means that for many forests this may not actually happen.”



That has additional implications: forests absorb and store about a quarter of our current carbon dioxide emissions. If the growth of forests slows down, their ability to take in carbon and mitigate the effects of climate change may be significantly reduced.



---



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

We still have much to learn about tree growth

Our school textbooks teach us that plants make their own...

What are the impacts of reforestation or converting other lands to new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hotter-drier-deadlier-how-much-can-forests-tolerate/">forests</a>? We know that such a move can help sequester carbon, but what is the impact on the water cycle? A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a> attempts to answer this question.&nbsp;



Martin Herold from the <a href="https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/">GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences</a> contributed to the study, which was led by Anne Hoek van Dijke from Wageningen University &amp; Research.&nbsp;



“Restoration and planting more trees is seen as a viable solution for enhancing carbon storage and the biodiverse functioning of ecosystems," said Herold. "With innovative data and analysis, our interdisciplinary analysis highlights that the hydrological effects are important for how and where such nature-based solutions are more suitable to achieve towards more climate-smart and sustainable future landscapes."



The scientists looked at a global model which focused on 900 million hectares of land where trees could grow given local climatic conditions. The change in evaporation given new tree cover was calculated across these locations. The researchers estimated the amount of water that would evaporate and that which would go to streams.&nbsp;



“These models include a vegetation parameter for forest and non-forest conditions that was calibrated to a range of different evaporation and streamflow measurements," said van Dijke. "Afterwards, we calculated where, and to what extent, the increased evaporation would return to the land surface as increased precipitation.”



The results show that increases in water evaporation vary depending on the local climate. In the tropics, water evaporation can increase by 250 liters of water per square meter of land. In other areas, the increase is a more modest 10 liters.&nbsp;



Around 70 percent of this water is rained back down on land, while 30 percent is precipitated over oceans. Worldwide, this means that reforestation could lead to a loss of water availability.&nbsp;



On the local scale, the impact is more complex. In some watersheds, reforestation leads to a decrease in stream flow. In others, such as the Amazon, the increase in rainflow is enough that the streamflow reduction is nearly zero.&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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

Reforestation may reduce water availability in some places

What are the impacts of reforestation or converting other lands...

Genes contain all the instructions living organisms need to survive, grow and reproduce. While identifying genes is becoming a rather simple scientific procedure, learning what are the functions of these genes is a more complicated matter. A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> has now discovered the functions of hundreds of genes in algae, many of which are also present in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-grow-plants-in-lunar-soil-for-the-first-time/">plants</a>, where they play similar roles.&nbsp;



The findings could help scientists genetically engineer algae for biofuel production and develop agricultural crops which can better withstand the effects of climate change.



“Plant and algae genetics are understudied. These organisms make the foods, fuels, materials, and medicines that modern society relies on, but we have a poor understanding of how they work, which makes engineering them a difficult task,” said study senior author Robert Jinkerson, an assistant professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UC Riverside. “A common way to learn more about biology is to mutate genes and then see how that affects the organism. By breaking the biology we can see how it works.”



Professor Jinkerson and his colleagues used a variety of algal mutants and automated tools in order to perform experiments that generated millions of data points. By analyzing this vast dataset, the scientists learned the functional role of hundreds of poorly characterized genes and discovered new functions of previously known genes.&nbsp;



Several of the genes found in algae have counterparts in plants with similar roles, including photosynthesis, heat stress response, DNA damage response, or response to toxic chemicals and predators.



Better understanding how these genes function in algae could help engineer plants that are more resilient to heat or cold stress, have improved photosynthesis capacities, and grow well even in some contaminated soils. Such features which will be increasingly important as climate change advances and threatens the world’s food supply. Moreover, a deeper knowledge of algal genetics will also improve engineering strategies making them produce more biofuels.



“The data and knowledge generated in this study is already being leveraged to engineer algae to make more biofuels and to improve environmental stress tolerance in crops,” concluded Professor Jinkerson.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-022-01052-9">Nature Genetics</a>.&nbsp;



----



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

Algae genetics could help engineer more resilient plants

Genes contain all the instructions living organisms need to survive,...

A nationwide study monitored <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vegetable-consumption-before-pregnancy-lowers-risk-of-preterm-birth/">pregnant</a> women for chemical exposure over 12 years. Disturbingly, the research showed an increased exposure to harmful chemicals, including those from plastics and pesticides. Many of these chemicals were meant to replace other chemicals which are banned. Ironically, some of these replacements are as dangerous as the originals.&nbsp;



The scientists tested the women for 103 chemicals using a urine sample. Chemicals from pesticides, plastics, and replacements for BPA were among those that were tested for.&nbsp;



Overall, 171 women tested were from California, Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New York and Puerto Rico. Over 80 percent of the chemicals were detected in at least one of the women, and more than one third of the chemicals were found in most of the women. Some of the chemicals were also detected at higher than historic levels.



Study senior author Dr. Tracey J. Woodruff is the director of the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California, San Francisco</a> (UCSF) Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and co-director of the UCSF EaRTH Center.



“This is the first time we’ve been able to measure the amounts of chemicals in such a large and diverse group of pregnant women – not just identify chemicals,” said Dr. Woodruff. “Our findings make clear that the number and scope of chemicals in pregnant women are increasing during a very vulnerable time of development for both the pregnant person and the fetus.”



Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that non-white women had higher exposures to chemicals. Women with lower education, were single parents or exposed to tobacco also had higher exposure levels. Latinas, in particular, had high levels of exposure to parabens, phthalates and bisphenols.&nbsp;



“While pesticides and replacement chemicals were prevalent in all women, we were surprised to find that Latinas had substantially higher levels of parabens, phthalates and bisphenols,” said study first author Dr. Jessie Buckley. “This could be the result of higher exposures to products with chemicals, such as processed foods or personal care products."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.



---



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

Chemical exposure is increasing among pregnant women

A nationwide study monitored pregnant women for chemical exposure over...

Scientists have made an incredible discovery. For the first time in history, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a> have grown plants in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lunar-soil-could-be-the-basis-of-moon-life-support-system/">soil</a> taken from the Moon. The experts have also learned how plants respond to lunar soil on biological and genetic levels.&nbsp;



After trying for 11 years, the researchers finally acquired just 12 grams of lunar soil. They filled tiny pots with a few Arabidopsis plant seeds, added nutrients, and exposed them to light. Much to their surprise, the seeds began to sprout. Through this experiment, the scientists have been able to gather further information.



The researchers noticed that plants grown in lunar soil were smaller and grew more slowly. There was also more variation in their sizes.&nbsp;



The experts used the Arabidopsis plant because its genetic code has been fully mapped. This means that the researchers could learn whether growing in lunar soil affected plants genetically.&nbsp;



“At the genetic level, the plants were pulling out the tools typically used to cope with stressors, such as salt and metals or oxidative stress, so we can infer that the plants perceive the lunar soil environment as stressful,” said study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul.



The experiment also revealed that plant growth may be affected by where the soil was gathered. It appears that plants grow better in less mature soil, which hasn’t been exposed to as much cosmic wind as mature soil.



The ability to grow a plant in Moon soil has significant implications for space travel and possible off-planet colonization.&nbsp;



“For future, longer space missions, we may use the Moon as a hub or launching pad. It makes sense that we would want to use the soil that’s already there to grow plants,” said study co-author Rob Ferl. “So, what happens when you grow plants in lunar soil, something that is totally outside of a plant’s evolutionary experience? What would plants do in a lunar greenhouse? Could we have lunar farmers?”



Furthermore, the research is vital for the Artemis Program, led by NASA, which aims to return humans to the Moon. Ferl believes the findings will help inform that mission.&nbsp;



This breakthrough is fantastic in its own right. We can be sure the scientific community will continue to build upon these findings.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio/">Communications Biology</a>.



---



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

Scientists grow plants in lunar soil for the first time

Scientists have made an incredible discovery. For the first time...

Working outdoors during extreme heat is a growing concern for Southwestern cities like Las Vegas, where summer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-in-vegetation-are-a-key-driver-of-global-temperatures/">temperatures</a> are rising each year. However, the risks of working outdoors in extreme heat are not distributed evenly. Female workers are facing disproportionate impacts, and more experienced outdoor workers are at higher risk than those with fewer years on the job.&nbsp;



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a>, scientists have investigated how extreme heat is impacting the workforce in three of the hottest cities in North America – Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The results share important findings for policymakers and employers across the US.&nbsp;



Heat index data combines temperature and humidity as a measure of how people feel the heat. To assess the relationship between extreme heat and workplace heat-related illness, the study compared occupational injuries and illnesses from 2011-2018 with heat index data.&nbsp;



This type of analysis has not been completed in the past, which allowed the research team to identify interesting social implications.&nbsp;



The experts found a significant increase in heat index at two of the three locations (Phoenix and Las Vegas) during the study period. In these locations, average heat index values for June to August increased from “extreme caution” in 2012 to “danger” by 2018. Over the same period, the number of nonfatal heat-related workplace injuries and illnesses increased steadily, climbing above the national average in 2018.&nbsp;



“Our data indicate that the increases in heat are happening alongside increases in the number of nonfatal occupational injuries across these three states,” said lead author Erick Bandala. “Every year we are seeing increased heat waves and higher temperatures, and all of the people who work outside in the streets or in gardens or agriculture are exposed to this.”&nbsp;



Next, the team wanted to learn about the number of male and female workers affected. At the beginning of the study in 2011, 26 to 50 percent of the people affected were female. By 2018, 42 to 86 percent of the people affected were female.&nbsp;



This could be a result of more women entering the outdoor workforce, or, it could be related to the vulnerability of women to certain heat-related effects, like hyponatremia -- a condition that develops when too much plain water is consumed under high heat conditions and sodium levels in blood get too low.&nbsp;



“As the number of female workers exposed to extreme temperatures increases, there is an increasing need to consider the effect of gender and use different approaches to recommend prevention measures as hormonal factors and cycles that can be exacerbated during exposure to extreme heat,” said study co-author Dr. Kebret Kebede, an associate professor of Biology at Nevada State College.



The researchers also examined the length of an employee’s service and found that those who had more than five years of experience were at greater risk than those with less than one year. This may be due to a reduced perception of risk, or could be a cumulative effect of years of chronic heat exposure.



In severe cases, heat-related illness or injury can cause extensive damage to all tissues and organs, disrupting the central nervous system, blood-clotting mechanisms, and liver and kidney functions. In these cases, lengthy recoveries are keeping many outdoor workers away from work for more than 30 days.&nbsp;



“These lengthy recovery times are a significant problem for workers and their families, many of whom are living day-to-day,” said Bandala. “When we have these extreme heat conditions coming every year and a lot of people working outside, we need to know what are the consequences of these problems, and we need the people to know about the risk so that they take proper precautions.”



The team hopes that their results will be useful to policymakers to protect outdoor workers by adopting regulation to address heat illness. The need for public policy is clear to alleviate health and the economic impacts of rising temperatures.&nbsp;



The experts also hope that the information will inform outdoor workers to stay safe during extreme heat, and employers who rely on a healthy workforce to keep their businesses operating. In the future, the team hopes to continue research to better support people who are most vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13762-022-04180-1">study</a> is published in the International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.



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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

Extreme heat poses extreme risks for outdoor workers

Working outdoors during extreme heat is a growing concern for...

Previous studies of violent coastal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-exposes-coastal-cities-to-more-deadly-storms/">storms</a> have tended to focus exclusively on the extensive damage caused to beaches, dunes, properties, and surrounding infrastructure. However, new research led by the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a> (UNSW) has found that extreme weather events could actually help protect beaches from the impact of sea level rise, by bringing in new sand from deep waters or nearby beaches.



“We know that extreme storms cause major coastal erosion and damage to beachfront properties. For the first time we looked not just above water, where the impacts of extreme storms are easy to see, but also deep down below the water as well,” said study lead author Mitchell Harley, an expert in continental shelf dynamics at UNSW.



“What we found was that hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of sand were entering these beach systems during these events – that’s similar to the scale of what engineers use to nourish a beach artificially. This could potentially be enough to offset some of the impacts of sea level rises caused by climate change, such as retreating coastlines, and by several decades in the long-term. It’s a new way of looking at extreme storms.”



These findings emerged after Dr. Harley’s team examined three coastlines across Australia, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, which were all subjected to a series of extreme storms or extended storm clusters, followed by periods of beach recovery. High-resolution measurements of the beaches and seabed have revealed that sediment gains from the storms were sufficient to theoretically offset decades of projected shoreline retreat.



How much a coastline may change due to sea level rise is a crucial question facing coastline managers, as they plan to protect coastlines from the escalating impacts of climate change. To estimate this, scientists have previously used the Bruun rule, which states that, for a given meter of sea-level rise, the coastline is expected to retreat between 20 and 100 meters, depending on the steepness of the coast.



“The Bruun rule however has been criticized for its simplicity, as it doesn’t take into account the many complex factors about how individual beaches respond to sea-level rise,” said study co-author Geerd Masselink, a professor of Coastal Geomorphology at the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a>.&nbsp; “This includes the presence of sand stored in deeper water immediately off the coast – and its potential to be mobilized during extreme weather events.”



For the moment, there are so few measurements of the seabed immediately off the coastlines that it is difficult to tell how much sand could be mobilized in the future.&nbsp;



“We’re only scraping the surface here. We need to repeat these types of monitoring measurements for more storms and different types of coastal settings under various conditions. Only then, will we be able to get a clearer understanding of how much sand is stored off the coast that could potentially help buffer the impacts of sea level rise – and a clearer picture of what our beaches could look like in the year 2100 and beyond,” concluded Dr. Harley.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00437-2">Nature Communications</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

Major storms nourish beaches with enormous loads of sand

Previous studies of violent coastal storms have tended to focus...

A new report from the <a href="https://www.unccd.int/">United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification</a> (UNCCD) has argued that humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing the increasingly high number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-have-a-memory-of-drought/">droughts</a> and the severity of their impacts worldwide. The experts found that, since 2000, the number and duration of droughts has increased by 29 percent, and took the largest human toll among all natural disasters. If mitigation actions are not done “urgently, using every tool we have,” droughts may end up affecting over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.



“The facts and figures of this publication all point in the same direction: an upward trajectory in the duration of droughts and the severity of impacts, not only affecting human societies, but also the ecological systems upon which the survival of all life depends, including that of our own species,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD.



The report revealed that from 1970 to 2019, weather, climate, and water hazards accounted for over 50 percent of all natural disasters and 45 percent of disaster-related casualties, most of them in developing countries. From 1998 to 2017, droughts caused global economic losses of nearly $124 billion. This year, over 2.3 billion people face water stress and 160 million children are exposed to severe and extended droughts.



According to the scientists, unless action is significantly stepped up, by the end of this decade an estimated 700 million people may be displaced by droughts, while by mid-century 4.8 to 5.7 billion people will live in water-scarce areas for at least one month per year.



“We are at a crossroads,” said Thiaw.&nbsp;“We need to steer toward the solutions rather than continuing with destructive actions, believing that marginal change can heal systemic failure. One of the best, most comprehensive solutions is land restoration, which addresses many of the underlying factors of degraded water cycles and the loss of soil fertility. We must build and rebuild our landscapes better, mimicking nature wherever possible and creating functional ecological systems.”



Beyond these restoration efforts, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift from “reactive” and “crisis-based” drought management approaches to “proactive” and “risk-based” ones, involving political and institutional communication, cooperation, and coordination. “We all must live up to our responsibility to ensure the health of present and future generations, wholeheartedly and without delay,” concluded Thiaw.



Further details about this report can be found on UNCCD’s <a href="https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases/world-crossroads-drought-management-29-generation-and-worsening-says-un">website</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

The world is at a crossroads in managing severe droughts

A new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat...

If we knew the carbon footprint of our favorite restaurant meal, would we choose a different dinner? This is what Ann-Katrin Betz and colleagues at <a href="https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/startseite/">Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg</a> set out to investigate in a recent study. The researchers gave would-be diners menus that specified each meal’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-carbon-sinks-may-be-appearing-in-the-arctic/">carbon</a> footprint, or menus that gave high-, medium-, and low-emission options, and then asked them to choose their dinner.



Previous research has shown that people’s food choices substantially affect their personal carbon footprint. However, most studies examining factors that influence environmentally relevant food choices have focused on grocery purchases.



In the current study, Betz and colleagues used an online survey of 256 volunteers to explore how restaurant menu design might influence diners’ awareness of the climate-related impacts of their dinner choices. They created nine hypothetical menus in order to test two different design approaches: dishes described along with each one’s carbon label indicating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with its production, and dishes given with options that were high-, medium- or low-emission alternatives.&nbsp;



One example of a modifiable dish was a couscous salad that could be ordered with beef (high emission), shawarma (poultry; medium emission), or falafel (low emission). On six of the menus, the main dishes were presented with different default options – the side dish was associated either with the highest, or with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp;



The researchers asked each volunteer to choose exactly one meal that they would order from each of the nine different menus. This appears to be the first published study to simultaneously explore the effects of default options and carbon labels on food choice.



After statistical analysis, the findings showed that participants selected more climate-friendly dishes when carbon emission labels were present, as well as when defaults consisted of low- rather than high-emission options. These findings are in line with results from earlier studies that explored the two approaches separately.



The results of the study, published today in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000028">PLOS Climate</a>, suggest that the design of restaurant menus has a considerable effect on the carbon footprint of dining out. Restaurant owners could use carbon labels for each dish, and could also use the most climate-friendly component as the default option in modifiable dishes with variable components, as both these options could reduce the carbon footprint of their business.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers emphasize that more research is needed to inform such strategies, including investigations into interactions between the two approaches, the impact of personal habits – such as vegetarianism – on menu choices, and menu choices in real-world settings.



“If we want more climate-friendly restaurant visits, highlighting dish components on a menu can really be an important parameter because it communicates what is normal and recommended," said the study authors. "It may also be one of the easiest things restaurant owners can do.”



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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

Restaurant menus could guide more climate-friendly diets

If we knew the carbon footprint of our favorite restaurant...

A shallow inland sea with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-combine-different-strategies-to-survive-the-cold/">animals</a> and plants very different from those found today covered much of Wyoming 95 million years ago, according to a new study. It has long been known that during this time in history, temperatures were warmer than they are today. However, no study directly attempted to measure the temperature, until now.&nbsp;



Researchers at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> analyzed oyster shell fossils to calculate the temperature of the Mesozoic Wyoming sea. The temperature was a calculation taken for the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, one of Earth’s hottest points in the last few hundred million years.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"These data indicate that the North American interior during the peak of the Cretaceous greenhouse was as warm as the hottest conditions in the modern-day tropics - imagine the climate of Bali, Indonesia, in places like Utah or Wyoming," said study lead author Matt Jones, a former University of Michigan postdoctoral researcher now at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.



The researchers found that during the mid-Cretaceous, temperatures in the Western Interior Seaway ranged from 28 to 34 degrees Celsius (or 82 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit). This is as warm as the warmest known waters on Earth today and is comparable to Bali.



The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during this time period are still debated, but some scientists estimate there could have been more than 1,000 parts per million (ppm). We are still below that number now, with levels around 420 ppm, but experts worry that we could see similar levels by the end of the century unless we change our energy consumption habits.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"These new findings help resolve temperatures in North America during a peak greenhouse warmth interval in the geologic past, which in turn may help us better predict just how warm Earth may be in the future under projected higher atmospheric CO2 conditions," said study co-author Professor Sierra Petersen.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology">Geology</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

Wyoming once had a hot, tropical climate

A shallow inland sea with animals and plants very different...

Ice shelves are floating extensions of glaciers that are key to maintaining the Earth's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-affect-the-timing-of-plankton-blooms/">climate</a>. If Greenland’s second largest ice shelf breaks up, it would need a significantly cooler climate in the future to recover - if it could even recover at all. This is the result of a new study led by Henning Åkesson at <a href="https://www.su.se/cmlink/stockholm-university">Stockholm University</a>.



The Petermann ice shelf is one of the last remaining in northern Greenland. In 2010 and 2012, Manhattan-sized icebergs broke off, causing Petermann to lose 40 percent of its floating ice. In 2018, a new crack was discovered in the middle of the shelf, which has caused great concern among climate scientists.&nbsp;



Ice shelves limit sea level rise caused by global warming because they reduce the mass loss from polar ice sheets, and it is more important now than ever before to prevent them from breaking up. 



"Glacier retreat is projected to continue over the coming decades to centuries due to sustained climate warming," wrote the study authors. "Nonetheless, the Paris Agreement aims to reduce emissions enough to limit future warming to 2 °C higher than in Earth’s pre-industrial climate. This could eventually permit a return to a colder climate, reminiscent of that of the pre-industrial period."



Even if the climate stopped warming today, it would still be difficult to rebuild Petermann after falling apart. “If Petermann’s ice shelf is lost, we would have to go ‘back in time’ towards a cooler climate reminiscent of the period before the industrial revolution to regrow Petermann," said Åkesson.



This study raises major concerns about the larger ice shelves in Antarctica. It is likely that if these were to break up, they could also be difficult to build back.



“This is just the first step, but chances are that our findings are not unique for Petermann Glacier and Greenland.” said Åkesson. “If they are not, near-future warming of the polar oceans may push the ice shelves protecting Earth’s ice sheets into a new retreated high-discharge state which may be exceedingly difficult to recover from.”



The scientists emphasize that we need to identify exactly how ice shelves break up, and how much more warming they can withstand before they fall apart.



"Given the difficulty to regrow ice shelves once they have collapsed, the rationale to avoid ice-shelf breakup in the first place should be clearer than ever," wrote the study authors.



"Future research needs to pin down the exact mechanisms and thresholds of ice-shelf breakup, and to what extent ice shelves in Antarctica exhibit the same behaviour as Petermann Glacier Ice Shelf in Greenland.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</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

Ice shelves will struggle to recover from global warming

Ice shelves are floating extensions of glaciers that are key...

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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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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

[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

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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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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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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Closeup,Of,Fresh,Green,The,Napier,Bush,Grass,As,Animal

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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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