The iconic and saddening image of a suffering <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabirds-are-damaging-their-health-by-eating-plastic/">seabird</a> with a plastic ring stuck around its neck has often been used as a call to action, but plastic pollution brings even subtler dangers in the form of microplastics - tiny pieces of plastic smaller than five centimeters. 



Now, a new study from researchers at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html">University of Basel</a> has taken aim at measuring the amount of microplastics that have found their way to the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, and where exactly these pollutants are sourced from.&nbsp;



"Microplastics (MP) have been found to be ubiquitous around the globe in different marine compartments and are considered as an emerging threat to marine biota possibly interfering with feeding, reproductive performance, and survival," wrote the study authors.



"Even the most remote places were found to be polluted by MP, including the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, one of the most isolated places on earth with relatively low human activity."



Over the course of two years (2018 and 2019), the researchers took 34 surface water samples and 79 subsurface water samples from the isolated Weddell region of Antarctica, filtering over eight million liters of seawater in the process.&nbsp;



“This is the first time a study of this scope has been conducted in Antarctica,” said study lead author Clara Leistenschneider.



Considering its remote location, the scientists were curious to investigate how much microplastic had managed to make its way into the Weddell Sea.&nbsp;



"Being difficult to access due to its year-round sea ice coverage, the Weddell Sea is one of the most remote regions in Antarctica, with particularly low levels of human activity. It plays an important ecological role for endemic species, migrating seabirds, and marine mammals," wrote the researchers.



The study revealed that microplastic concentrations were generally lower in the Weddell Sea compared to neighboring regions.&nbsp;



“It's also important to know which plastics appear, in order to identify their possible origin and in the best case to reduce microplastic emissions from these sources," said Leistenschneider.



The analysis showed that the majority of microplastics were sourced from paint and varnish. In fact, 47 percent were found to be plastics often used as binding agents in marine paint.&nbsp;



The Weddell Sea has seen increased tourism and an increase in scientific expeditions, and both are probable sources of an increase in microplastic contamination.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Developing alternative marine paint that is more durable and environmentally friendly would make it possible to reduce this source of microplastics and the harmful substances they contain," concluded Leistenschneider.



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



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By <a href="http://mailto:rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Looking for microplastics in the remote Weddell Sea

The iconic and saddening image of a suffering seabird with a plastic ring stuck around its neck has often been used as a call to action, but plastic pollution brings even subtler dangers in the form of microplastics - tiny pieces of plastic smaller than five centimeters.  Now, a new study from researchers at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel has taken aim at measuring the amount of microplastics that have found their way to the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, and where exactly...

Tropical Fish

Two cold spells, two years apart, in two subtropical regions, have given scientists clues about what happens when an extreme climate event strikes.

By tracking conditions before, during and after a 2008 cold spell in China and a 2010 cold spell in Florida, researchers found severe effects on plants and animals, but not all these effects were equal.

Tropical species suffered more than their temperate counterparts, which were able to resist and recover from the record low temperatures.

Complex Consequences

"Long-term ecological studies like these give us opportunities to understand the complex consequences of unanticipated events such as extreme cold snaps," said ecologist Evelyn Gaiser of Florida International University and principal investigator of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. "This short but extreme cold event mimicked the effects of a strong tropical storm or hurricane. The short-term consequences were different, but the long-term conclusions were similar."

In South Florida, tropical fish, mangroves, and American crocodile populations declined, while populations of their temperate counterparts remained unchanged or increased following the 2010 cold spell.

In China, the population of tropical butterflies in the Nanling National Nature Preserve dropped by 80 percent following the cold spell, allowing temperate butterflies to dominate the area for two years.

These findings have been shared in a new, special issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America.

"More frequent extreme weather is likely with climate change," said David Garrison, program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "These studies show that these extremes may be cold anomalies as well as warm ones."

Effects on species

Along with disrupting biodiversity, the 2010 cold spell affected Florida's fisheries.

Economically lucrative bonefish, snook and goliath grouper fisheries experienced mass mortalities, while others, including red drum and gray snapper, were not affected.

Some saw population increases after the cold spell passed, including redfish.

Non-native species proved to be less resistant to the cold spells than native species. Non-native bee populations in South Florida took nearly four years to recover, and some non-native fish have shown no meaningful population recovery to date.

The researchers stress the importance of using long-term data to understand how these species in the subtropics will react to and recover from extreme climate events and to predict what the future will look like for them.

Not all populations resist and recover equally, scientists say, and conservation plans that incorporate strategies for extreme climate events could help those that are most vulnerable.

Source:<a href="https://www.nsf.gov/"> NSF</a>

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Cold spells strike danger for subtropical species

Two cold spells, two years apart, in two subtropical regions,...

<div class="img-wrapper">
Tropical Storm Nicole was becoming extra-tropical yesterday when the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite passed over it from space. By Oct. 18, Nicole was a post-tropical storm and the National Hurricane Center, or NHC issued their final advisory on the system.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided an image of the storm. This showed that Nicole had become elongated from southwest to northeast and appeared more oval-shaped with the strongest thunderstorms east of the center.
Nicole is finally losing its tropical cyclone characteristics as it merges with a frontal system over the North Atlantic Ocean's chilly waters. Becoming extra-tropical means the storm moves closer to the north or south pole and out of the tropics and its primary energy source changes from the release of latent heat of condensation to baroclinic (the temperature contrast between warm and cold air masses) processes.
At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Oct. 18, the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Nicole was located near 47.1 degrees north latitude and 39.5 degrees west longitude, about 640 miles (1,030 km) east of Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the north-northeast near 31 mph (50 kph), and this motion is expected to continue through Wednesday night. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 kph) with higher gusts.
The post-tropical cyclone is expected to complete extratropical transition during the day on Oct. 18 and continue as a vigorous extratropical storm through Wednesday night, Oct. 19 or Thursday, Oct. 20 before it is absorbed by another extratropical low.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Nicole's effects would continue to be felt through rough surf. NHC said "Dangerous surf and riptide conditions are occurring in Bermuda, as well as along the east coast of the US from the Carolinas northward into Atlantic Canada. These swells will spread south of the Carolinas to the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Leeward Islands. The coasts of Europe and northwestern Africa will be affected in a few days' time."
Nicole is forecast to head north-northeast to the east of Greenland, before being absorbed by another cyclone.
--
Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>

</div>

NASA sees Tropical Storm Nicole go extra-tropical

Tropical Storm Nicole was becoming extra-tropical yesterday when the NASA-NOAA...

Rechargeable Battery

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">
Chemists at Oregon State University have discovered one or more organic compounds in a family that has traditionally been known as pollutants could offer a significant advance to make cheap, reliable batteries.
Such batteries might be of particular value to store electricity from some clean energy systems. The inability to easily and cheaply store energy from the wind and sun, which is highly variable and intermittent, has been a key constraint to wider use of those forms of energy.
Although pumped hydro systems or compressed air facilities comprise almost all of the alternative energy storage capacity of this type, they have limitations. There is a tremendous demand, scientists say, for energy storage solutions that are modular and particularly suited to community storage, "smart grid" and micro-grid uses.
A new advance, published in ACS Energy Letters, has shown that at least one, and probably more compounds are known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, can function as a potentially low-cost, long-lasting and high-performance cathode in "dual-ion" batteries.
Such batteries would contain a carbon electrode as the anode and solid PAH as the cathode, with no need for the rare or costly metal elements now usually used.
Traditionally thought of as pollutants, PAHs are usually products of combustion - anything from a campfire to an automobile exhaust or coal-burning power plant -- and pose significant concerns as toxins and carcinogens, often when inhaled.
But in this study, scientists found that at least one PAH compound called coronene, in a safe, crystallized solid form, makes a high-functioning electrode material with promising characteristics in dual-ion batteries.
"Prior to this work, PAHs were not considered stable when storing large anions," said Xiulei (David) Ji, an assistant professor of chemistry in the OSU College of Science, and recipient of a 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the most prestigious award for junior faculty.
"We found that coronene crystalline solid, a PAH, can lose electrons and provide a good capacity of anion storage while being structurally and chemically stable. Coronene had good performance as an electrode and the ability to have a very long cycle life or the number of charges and discharges it can handle."
Avoiding the use of metals in the electrodes is a huge advantage for dual-ion batteries and makes them much more sustainable, Ji said. Graphite cathodes can do this, but a serious challenge that has held them back for two decades is that they operate at levels hostile to the non-aqueous solvents in the electrolyte. The batteries based on coronene largely eliminate this problem, and would significantly improve the maintenance cost and sustainability of a stationary battery system.
The researchers in this study demonstrated the potential of coronene but also said that other PAH compounds as well may have similar potential.
This research opens the door to an entirely new concept in battery construction, they said, which might take what had once been an unwanted pollutant and turn it into a safe, valued product.
Primary collaborators on this project in OSU's Department of Chemistry included lead author and graduate student Ismael Rodriguez-Perez, and professors Michael Lerner and Rich Carter.
--
Credit: <a href="http://www.oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>
The research was supported by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.

</div>
&nbsp;


</div>
<div></div>

Chemists on the way to creating a better battery

Chemists at Oregon State University have discovered one or more...

Super Typhoon Haima continues to move toward the Philippines and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible image of the storm that revealed a clear eye.

On Oct. 18 at 12:10 a.m. EDT (0410 UTC) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible-light image of Super Typhoon Haima approaching the Philippines. The image showed a clear eye surrounded by powerful bands of thunderstorms. Feeder bands of thunderstorms wrapped into the low level center of circulation from the west and east.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA has posted many warnings. The Public storm warning signal #1 is in effect in the Luzon provinces of Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Cagayan including Calayan group of Islands, Batanes group of Islands, Isabela, Kalinga, Abra, Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, La Union, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Catanduanes and Polillo Islands.

On Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Supertyphoon Haima had maximum sustained winds near 161 mph (140 knots/259 kph). That makes Haima a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the strongest category on the scale. Typhoon-force winds extend up to 55 nautical miles from the center, while tropical storm-force winds extend up to 180 nautical miles from the center.

Haima was located near 15.7 degrees north latitude and 129.1 degrees east longitude, about 474 nautical miles east of Manila, Philippines. It was moving to the west at 17.2 mph (15 knots/22.2 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said that Haima is forecast to move to the west-northwest then northwest. It is forecast to clip the extreme north of Luzon Island and then head toward mainland China

---

Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank">NASA</a>

Super Typhoon Haima closes in on Philippines

Super Typhoon Haima continues to move toward the Philippines and...

As Tropical Storm Sarika moved over Hainan Island, China, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible picture of the storm as it made a direct hit.

On Oct. 18 at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0555 UTC) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible-light image of the storm. The image showed the center of circulation covered by clouds.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that infrared satellite imagery showed that the low-level circulation center is weakening rapidly and that the strongest thunderstorms within the tropical cyclone appear to be disorganized.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Oct. 18, Sarika was centered near 19.8 degrees north latitude and 109.7 degrees east longitude. That was about 189 nautical miles east-southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam. Sarika's maximum sustained winds dropped to 63 mph (55 knots/102 kph) and it was moving to the northwest at 11.5 mph (10 knots/18.5 kph).

Sarika is moving northwest and is forecast to cross the Gulf of Tonkin and make final landfall in northern Vietnam. A Severe Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from central to northeastern Vietnam.

---

Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank">NASA</a>

Tropical Storm Sarika moves over Hainan Island, China

As Tropical Storm Sarika moved over Hainan Island, China, NASA-NOAA's...

September 2016 was the warmest September in 136 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

September 2016's temperature was a razor-thin 0.004 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous warmest September in 2014. The margin is so narrow those two months are in a statistical tie. Last month was 0.91 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean September temperature from 1951-1980.

The record-warm September means 11 of the past 12 consecutive months dating back to October 2015 have set new monthly high-temperature records. Updates to the input data have meant that June 2016, previously reported to have been the warmest June on record, is, in GISS's updated analysis, the third warmest June behind 2015 and 1998 after receiving additional temperature readings from Antarctica. The late reports lowered the June 2016 anomaly by 0.05 degrees Celsius to 0.75.

“Monthly rankings are sensitive to updates in the record, and our latest update to mid-winter readings from the South Pole has changed the ranking for June,” said GISS director Gavin Schmidt. “We continue to stress that while monthly rankings are newsworthy, they are not nearly as important as long-term trends.”

The monthly analysis by the GISS team is assembled from publicly available data acquired by about 6,300 meteorological stations around the world, ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature, and Antarctic research stations. The modern global temperature record begins around 1880 because previous observations didn't cover enough of the planet. Monthly analyses are updated when additional data become available, and the results are subject to change.

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Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank">NASA</a>

September 2016 was the warmest month ever recorded

September 2016 was the warmest September in 136 years of...

Exxon is expanding its counter-attack against critics and is now seeking to quash a New York subpoena of the company's documents related to climate change.
Exxon said in a court filing Monday that it has already given New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman more than 1 million pages of documents. It said that it is increasingly clear that the attorney general's investigation is politically motivated.
The Irving, Texas, company asked a federal district court in Dallas to throw out the New York subpoena. It is fighting in the same court to quash a subpoena from Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey. Both officials say that the company deceived investors and the public by hiding what it knew about the link between burning fossil fuels and climate change.
Exxon said in a company release that Schneiderman and Healey "are incapable of impartial investigations and are attempting to silence political opponents who disagree on the appropriate policies to address climate change."
The environmental group 350.org accused Exxon Mobil Corp. of trying to, "distract from the real story here: that they lied about their knowledge of climate change for decades" and spent millions on campaigns to undermine climate science.
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Exxon tried to quash climate change documents subpoena

Exxon is expanding its counter-attack against critics and is now...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">In classic experiments on frogs, scientists found that the amphibians' urge to escape from dangerously hot water decreased significantly when the water temperature rose very gradually.</div>
<div class="img-wrapper"></div>
<div class="img-wrapper">In fact, sensitivity of many animals to increasing temperatures -- including humans -- is similarly affected by the rate of increase. Exactly why, however, has not been understood.</div>
Hoping to shed light on this phenomenon, UC Santa Barbara professor Craig Montell and graduate students Junjie Luo and Wei Shen developed fruit fly larvae as a model to reveal a mechanism through which the animal shows different behavioral responses to fast and slow rises in temperature.

The researchers discovered that a rapid 25-degree Fahrenheit temperature change caused a writhing response in fruit fly larvae. However, when the temperature was raised gradually, far fewer animals reacted, and for those that did, the average threshold temperature was significantly higher. The team's findings appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"We know a lot about how animals sense large and sudden increases in temperature," said Montell, the Patricia and Robert Duggan Professor of Neuroscience in UCSB's Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. "They respond to noxious heat by initiating an escape response. But how is it that animals are so much less sensitive to the same hot temperature when the change is really slow?"

The answer to that question turned out to have two parts. First, Montell and his team identified the thermosensory neurons in the brain responsible for sensing the rate of temperature change, which helped to define the underlying molecular mechanism.

"When there is a really rapid change in temperature, you want to protect the brain, particularly in fly larvae because they're cold-blooded and their body temperature equilibrates to the outside," explained Montell. "If their brains feel a rapid increase in temperature, that stimulates the writhing response."

Second, the researchers discovered that the fast response to rapidly increasing heat depended on a transient receptor potential (TRP) channel. The activation of the cellular temperature sensor, a protein called TRPA1, was not simply a function of the absolute temperature but rather depended on the rate of temperature change. If the temperature increase was rapid, TRPA1 turned on quickly and excited those thermosensory brain neurons. When the temperature increased slowly, TRPA1 was less active.

"There's a feedback mechanism that turns off this protein as quickly as it's turned on," Montell said. "When it's turned on quickly, it stimulates the pathway to cause the writhing response. But when the process occurs slowly, the on and off mechanisms cancel each other out."

The scientists posit that the ability to sense the rate of temperature change is a critical survival mechanism that allows an animal to quickly respond to and escape from a noxious thermal landscape before it is too late.

"We think similar mechanisms occur in other animals -- for example, the frog," Montell said. "It could be that related mechanisms affect temperature-sensitive TRP channels in humans as well. Ultimately, if a common mechanism is conserved across species, our findings may provide insight into how different animals adapt to the rate of temperature change."

--

Credit: <a href="http://www.ucsb.edu" target="_blank">UC Santa Barbara</a>

</div>
<div></div>

Study: Animals can easily adapt to gradually increasing temperatures

In classic experiments on frogs, scientists found that the amphibians'...

<div></div>
<div></div>
<div>A study published today in Ecology Letters adds to a growing body of work examining the relationship between harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and agricultural runoff. The article focuses on water chemistry, specifically the ratio of dissolved silica to dissolved inorganic nitrogen in 130 lakes connected to watersheds influencing nutrient concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The research is particularly timely as algae, agriculture and weather combined to create an above-average size "Dead Zone" in the Gulf in 2016. Starting at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the ratio of silica to inorganic nitrogen has shifted dramatically toward nitrogen in the last century in the Gulf of Mexico. Two possible explanations for the change in ratio are that dams and reservoirs may remove silica and that agriculture supplies so much nitrogen that the ratios are forced downward. This study shows that reservoirs do not remove silica whereas nitrogen increases greatly when landscapes are more than 60 percent agriculture.

Excess dissolved nitrogen, in coastal zones like the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie, fuels the growth of algae which in turn precipitates anoxic conditions, or dead zones. Prior to such nutrient loading, the ratio of dissolved silica to dissolved inorganic nitrogen was balanced in a way that allowed diatoms, which supply the oxygen in every fourth breath a person takes, to survive.

"It is easy to change a phytoplankton community just by altering the availability of a few important compounds such as dissolved silica or dissolved inorganic nitrogen," said co-author John Downing, director of the University of Minnesota Sea Grant College Program and the study's principal investigator. "In the Gulf we want to see diatoms, a type of phytoplankton that needs about equal amounts of dissolved silica and dissolved inorganic nitrogen. What we've created is a nitrate-rich condition that favors other, harmful types of phytoplankton."

Downing and colleagues from the University of Washington and Boston University found that increased nitrogen loss from agricultural fields sufficiently explains why the northern Gulf of Mexico waters are plagued by blooms of harmful algae. They also identified methods that may lead to better techniques for managing landscapes and the water they influence.

Downing and colleagues suggest that managing landscapes at watershed levels could significantly improve water quality, especially in wet years. They also point to reservoirs and similar water impoundments as areas where heavy nutrient loads could be diminished without affecting silica concentrations before the water reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

"We need to be vigilant about our land use and water quality," said Downing. "Climate change and increased storminess will likely exacerbate the skewed ratios we found and the extent of harmful blooms in coastal areas if we don't manage agricultural runoff more effectively. Harmful algae blooms cost the U.S. seafood, tourism and health industries over $80 million a year according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and we know we can do better."</div>
<div>--</div>
<div></div>
<div>Credit: <a href="http://www.minnesota.edu" target="_blank">University of Minnesota</a></div>

New insights into relationship between agriculture and dead zones

A study published today in Ecology Letters adds to a...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper"></div>
As torrential rain descends on the Pacific Northwest, new research published online in the journal Global Change Biology provides a glimpse of how salmon rivers might fare in a future with larger floods.

The study, led by Wild Salmon Center science director Dr. Matthew Sloat, in collaboration with US Forest Service researchers, examines new climate patterns in southeast Alaska and the effects on flooding and habitat in salmon watersheds. Climate projections for southeast Alaska suggest that the region, home to the largest remaining temperate rain forest in the world, will be even warmer and wetter in the future.

Salmon are absolutely central to the culture, economy, and ecosystems of southeast Alaska. Salmon fishing in the region generates about $1 billion annually. Salmon populations and their habitat are generally in good condition throughout the region, but local communities are concerned about the potential effect of a changing climate on these populations.

Sloat and colleagues looked at the impact future floods could have on salmon spawning. Salmon spawn in streams in the fall and eggs develop through the winter, so increased winter flooding could potentially scour their eggs from the streambed and impact the next generation of fish.

The researchers combined field measurements and model simulations to estimate the potential influence of future flood disturbance on the quality and extent of coho, chum, and pink salmon spawning habitat in over 800 southeast Alaska watersheds.

They found that as much as 16% of the spawning habitat for coho salmon could be lost by the 2080s. But losses were predicted to occur primarily in narrower, steeper streams that provide moderate-quality habitat and, to a lesser extent, in high quality low gradient floodplain habitats. Estimated effects were lower for pink and chum salmon, which spawn almost exclusively in low gradient floodplain streams.

Somewhat surprisingly, the study shows that the overall risk of flood impacts to salmon reproduction in southeast Alaska is probably much lower than was previously thought.

According to Sloat, one key factor in this finding is the relatively pristine condition of the area's rivers and floodplains. Intact floodplains can minimize future impacts to salmon populations because floodplains allow large floods to spread out over valley bottoms. Previous assessments had not accounted for valley and stream channel morphology when considering potential effects of floods.

"Flood plains essentially act as pressure release valves that can dissipate the energy of large floods," says Sloat. "In fact, most salmon prefer to spawn in stretches of river with intact floodplains, which is probably no coincidence because these features of the landscape help protect salmon eggs from flood events."

Sloat says that a clear message from this research project is that maintaining or reconnecting rivers and their floodplains may be critical for increasing the resilience of salmon in the face of a changing climate.

"Our results identify key parts of watersheds that, if protected, will continue to buffer salmon populations from flood disturbance in the future," he says.

The relationships between floodplains, climate change, and salmon habitat are applicable in other regions as well.

"We have been addressing this issue in southeast Alaska but the same tools can be used in the lower 48 and elsewhere," he says. "The real take-home message from this work is that protecting intact rivers, especially areas with functioning floodplains, is one of the key elements for sustaining salmon in the future."

</div>
<div></div>
<div>--</div>
<div></div>
<div>Credit: <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/" target="_blank">US Forest Service</a> and the <a href="http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/" target="_blank">Wild Salmon Center</a></div>

How will salmon survive under climate change?

As torrential rain descends on the Pacific Northwest, new research...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Many people know that tropical cyclones and hurricanes cause high winds and storm surges. But two of their other effects, heavy rainfall and inland flooding, can be just as dangerous and impact larger areas.</div>
<div class="img-wrapper"></div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Most recently, inland rainfall produced by Hurricane Matthew has caused record flooding in North Carolina, with the levels of some already swollen rivers and streams continuing to rise.</div>
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), more than 50 percent of the deaths associated with hurricanes from 1970 to 2004 were caused by fresh water flooding. And from 1981 to 2011, hurricane damage accounted for almost half--$417.9 billion--of the total monetary damage from all weather and climate disasters during that same time period (adjusted for inflation to 2011 dollars).

With the goal of providing basic information to help improve preparedness and mitigation efforts, new University of Iowa-led research published online in September in the Journal of Hydrology examined how accurate current forecasting systems are in predicting rainfall from North Atlantic tropical cyclones that reach land in the United States.

Comparing five state-of-the-art weather prediction models, researchers found current models can forecast both where and how much rainfall a tropical cyclone will produce up to two days in advance. However, the forecast's accuracy decreased significantly when the prediction window increased to five days. The researchers' findings were based on 15 North Atlantic hurricanes that came within at least 500 kilometers of the U.S. coastline from 2007 to 2012.

Gabriele Villarini, UI associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and corresponding author on the paper, says researchers honed in on predicting the impacts of tropical cyclones because that information is generally more useful than typical forecasts that predict how many storms are expected in a season.

"The more specific the information we can provide is, the more useful it will be. This is why we have been moving toward predicting U.S. landfalling tropical cyclone activity and the associated rainfall," he says.

Villarini, also an associate research engineer at the UI's renowned Iowa Flood Center, says while a 48-hour lead time is a good starting point in terms of warning, he will continue to conduct more research to improve these predictions.

"By improving our understanding of the processes that drive tropical cyclones and hurricanes, we will be better positioned to improve our ability to forecast these events and their impacts with longer and longer lead times," he says.

Gabriel Vecchi, head of the climate variations and predictability group at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab and another author on the paper, says decades of weather prediction data show that forecasts have improved--and will improve--as scientists learn more about hurricanes.

"We can't do anything about the past," he says. "The goal of this work is to provide better information in the future."

Vecchi, who has collaborated with Villarini on several research projects, says he values the expertise in flooding and hydrology that Villarini and the Iowa Flood Center bring to their partnership.

"This is one of these examples of interdisciplinary work that has been incredibly fruitful," he says.

The paper also was authored by Beda Luitel while he was a graduate student at the UI.

<hr />

Credit: <a href="http://www.noaa.gov" target="_blank">NOAA</a>

The Iowa Flood Center, IIHR­-Hydroscience and Engineering, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources funded the work.

</div>
<div>

&nbsp;

</div>

Predicting rainfall from tropical cyclones and hurricanes

Many people know that tropical cyclones and hurricanes cause high...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">At the southern end of the Earth, a NASA plane carrying a team of scientists and a sophisticated instrument suite to study ice is returning to surveying Antarctica. For the past eight years, Operation IceBridge has been on a mission to build a record of how polar ice is evolving in a changing environment.</div>
<div class="img-wrapper"></div>
<div class="img-wrapper">The information IceBridge has gathered in the Antarctic, which includes data on the thickness and shape of snow and ice, as well as the topography of the land and ocean floor beneath the ocean and the ice, has allowed scientists to determine that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be in irreversible decline. Researchers have also used IceBridge data to evaluate climate models of Antarctica and map of the bedrock underneath Antarctic ice.</div>
IceBridge completed the first research flight of its 2016 Antarctic campaign on October 14. The campaign will continue through November 19. This year, the mission is based in Punta Arenas, a city at the southern tip of Chile. From there, IceBridge is carrying 12-hour flights back and forth to Antarctica, covering most of the western section of the frozen continent - the region that is experiencing the fastest changes and is Antarctica's biggest contributor to sea level rise.

"We have a total of 46 flight lines to choose from this year," said John Sonntag, IceBridge mission scientist. "If we're lucky -the weather is very tricky in Antarctica- we'll fly around half of them, for a total of 300 flight hours."

IceBridge's flights will be mostly revisits of lines flown in previous years, to monitor how the ice has evolved since the last time the mission measured it. Still, there are some variations and additions to this year's plans. IceBridge intends to carry a new flight in the Bellingshausen Sea that will mimic some of the tracks that an upcoming NASA satellite mission -the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2- will follow in that area. The data collected during this flight will help calibrate ICESat-2's future measurements.

"This year, we'll mostly repeat our usual flight lines for sea ice, which have been proven to give us good coverage of the sea ice cover in the Weddell and Bellingshausen seas," said Nathan Kurtz, IceBridge's project scientist and a sea ice researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

For land ice, IceBridge has adjusted some of its planned flights to allow scientists to better understand rapidly changing areas that are still relatively unexplored, such as the Smith, Pope and Kohler glaciers and the Getz Ice Shelf. For flights elsewhere in Antarctica, the IceBridge team is also coordinating with a group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, who will also be conducting aerial surveys of West Antarctica in some of the areas that IceBridge studies.

"We're interested in knowing the differences between our radar and laser systems and theirs and making best use of finite flight time," said Joe MacGregor, IceBridge's deputy project scientist and a land ice researcher at Goddard. "If we fly portions of their flights, we'll be able to compare the data and collaborate in our efforts to understand the future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. If we fly in between their tracks, then the combination of our datasets and theirs can produce a more complete picture of a changing Antarctica."

Unlike in some previous years, when IceBridge flew on smaller planes with limited loads, this campaign's flights will again be conducted aboard NASA's DC-8 roomy airborne science laboratory, which allows the mission to carry its full instrument suite. The main instrument is a laser altimeter that records minute changes in the height of the ice surface from one year to the next. Accompanying the laser are three radars that analyze the elevation and layer composition of the snow and ice, as well as the shape of the land underneath, and a high-resolution camera system. The DC-8 also carries a gravimeter and magnetometer that measure small variations in gravity and the Earth's magnetic field to map the ocean cavity underneath Antarctica's ice edges, which is essential for improving our understanding of how the ice and ocean interact. For the first time in the Antarctic, IceBridge will also be using an infrared camera to measure the surface temperature of the ice.

A high-school teacher from Colorado, a handful of professors and students from Universidad de Magallanes, Chile, and several media teams, among other visitors, will be flying with IceBridge during the Antarctic campaign.

Operation IceBridge's mission is to collect data on changing polar land and sea ice and maintain continuity of measurements between ICESat missions. The original ICESat mission ended in 2009, and its successor, ICESat-2, is scheduled for launch in 2018. Operation IceBridge is currently funded until 2019. The planned overlap with ICESat-2 will help scientists validate the satellite's measurements. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia provided the laser altimeter and the infrared camera that are being used during IceBridge's 2016 Antarctic spring campaign. IceBridge's three radar instruments come from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at the University of Kansas, while NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, provided the Digital Mapping System, and the gravimeter and magnetometer onboard IceBridge are managed by Columbia University.

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Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/icebridge" target="_blank">Operation IceBridge</a>


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<div></div>

Operation IceBridge begins 8th year studying Antarctica

At the southern end of the Earth, a NASA plane...

A,View,Of,A,Meteor,Shower,And,The,Milky,Way

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> describes all of the exciting things that we can see in the night sky during the month of December 2021.



On December 6th through the 10th, look westward following sunset to see the Moon visiting Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter in turn. According to NASA, the Moon's crescent fills out as it appears higher in the sky each evening.



A recently discovered comet known as Comet Leonard will fly by this month, making its closest approach to Earth on December 12th.



NASA reports that in the first couple of weeks of December, Comet Leonard can be found in the east before sunrise, passing between Arcturus and the handle of the Big Dipper.&nbsp;



In addition, the annual Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on the 13th and 14th.&nbsp;



Video Credit: NASA JPL



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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

Skywatching in December 2021: planets, comet, and a meteor shower

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Mar Chiquita, South America’s largest salt lake. Mar Chiquita is a protected wilderness area in the northeast province of Córdoba, Argentina.



The lake is around 70 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide. It is fed by the Primero and Segundo rivers from the southwest, and by the Dulce river from the north.



Even though water flows in, there is no outlet for water to flow out of the lake. This makes Lake Mar Chiquita an endorheic lake that only loses water through evaporation.&nbsp;



According to ESA, the lake’s surface area, as well as its salinity, varies considerably between 2,000 and 6,000 square kilometers – although it is slowly shrinking in size due to evaporation.



Lake Mar Chiquita contains several small islands, including is El Médano, and is surrounded by salt marshes on its northern shore.



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Lake Mar Chiquita in Argentina

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes a dramatic increase in high tide flooding across the eastern coast of the United States.



While many people think of sea level rise as being a future issue, the effects are already visible in cities such as Annapolis, Boston, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Miami.



High tide flooding, also known as sunny day flooding, is becoming more common as a result of slightly higher sea levels combined with seawater that is expanding as the oceans become warmer.&nbsp;



Annapolis, Maryland, in particular, has seen a major increase in floods over the past few years. City engineers are collaborating with a team from the Naval Academy to analyze data from NOAA and NASA and develop flood mitigation strategies.



During the first weekend of November&nbsp; 2021, the city of Charleston was hit with unusually high tides and widespread flooding for days. The high tide in Charleston Harbor reached 8.51 feet, which is the 10th highest level in the last century.



Between 1953 and 2000, Charleston had an average of eight minor flooding events per year. Over the last decade, this number has jumped to more than 41 annual flooding events, according to the National Weather Service.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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

High tide flooding along the U.S. East Coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Tana River, which flows across 1,000 kilometers in Kenya from the Aberdare Mountains to the Indian Ocean.



According to ESA, the river is known for its extraordinary biodiversity and provides water for wild animals and agricultural purposes.



A recent study from the University of East Anglia revealed that wildlife on the Tana River Basin will struggle to survive the current rate of global warming.



On the other hand, if the world could meet the climate goals that were established at the Paris Agreement, however, many of these species could still be saved.



"This research provides the first assessment of the combined effects of development plans and climate change on biodiversity of the Tana River Basin, including identifying potential areas for restoration, and contributes to a greater understanding of biodiversity protection and adaptation options in Kenya," explained the study authors.&nbsp;



Climate and land use changes are the two biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide. The experts report that land degradation increases the vulnerability of biodiversity on the Tana River Basin. Here, 36 percent of the land has been converted for agriculture.&nbsp;



The researchers say that some ecosystem restoration may be necessary to best protect species in a changing climate.&nbsp;



"This research shows how many species within Kenya's Tana River Basin will be unable to survive if global temperatures continue to rise as they are on track to do," said study lead author Rhosanna Jenkins.



"But remaining within the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming well below 2°C, ideally at 1.5°C, would save many species. This is because large areas of the basin act as refugia from climate change."



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

Kenya's most important waterway, the Tana River

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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. 



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.



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 climate 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.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.



Kuala Lumpur is the country’s largest urban area. It is located in the Klang Valley at the confluence of the Kelang and Gombak rivers.&nbsp;



The Klang Valley is bordered by the Titiwangsa Mountains to the east, smaller mountain ranges to the north, and the Strait of Malacca to the west.



In Malay, Kuala Lumpur means "muddy estuary." The Golden Triangle, the city’s commercial quarter, is the site of the Petronas Twin Towers. These are the tallest twin towers in the world.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Kuala Lumpur in west-central Malaysia

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. This region is one of the most famous places on the planet for viewing wildlife.



The Galápagos Islands are home to many native plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the world, including giant tortoises and sea lions.&nbsp;



When Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835, his wildlife observations inspired the theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1959, the Ecuadorian government made the entire archipelago a national park to protect its unique diversity.&nbsp;



The archipelago is made up of 13 major islands and several smaller islands and islets across 60,000 square kilometers of ocean. According to ESA, repeated volcanic eruptions and ongoing seismic activity have helped form the rugged mountain landscape of the islands.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

The Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific

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Today's Video of the Day from the University of Miami (UM) <a href="https://www.rsmas.miami.edu/">Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science</a> explains why fish often take the risk of rubbing up against sharks. The researchers have discovered that this surprising behavior, which is referred to as chafing, is much more widespread than what was expected.&nbsp;



“While we don’t exactly know why it’s happening, we have a few theories. Shark skin is covered in small tooth-like scales called dermal denticles, which provide a rough sandpaper surface for the chafing fish,” said study co-author Professor Neil Hammerschlag.&nbsp;



“We suspect that chafing against shark skin might play a vital role in the removal of parasites or other skin irritants, thus improving fish health and fitness.”



Based on the analysis of underwater images, drone videos, and witness reports, the team documented 47 instances of fish rubbing themselves against the skin of a shark.&nbsp;



Taking place in 13 locations around the world, the chafing events varied in duration from eight seconds to over five minutes. The experts believe that chafing could play an important and underappreciated ecological role for aquatic animals.



“While chafing has been well documented between fish and inanimate objects, such as sand or rocky substrate, this shark-chaffing phenomenon appears to be the only scenario in nature where prey actively seek out and rubs up against a predator,” said study co-lead author Lacey Williams.



Video Credit: Great white and Leerie by Lacey Williams and Alex Anstett Great white and Pacific jack mackerel by Jesus Erick Higuera Rivas Silky shark and rainbow runner by Victor Bach Munoz Whale shark and silky sharks by Jonathan Green



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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

Why do fish rub up against sharks?

[sendtonews key="t3lPZj5h5P-1602904-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Glasgow, the site of the 2021 UN climate change conference Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> Glasgow, Scotland, the host of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, is positioned along both banks of the River Clyde.



The COP26 summit will take place in the city from October 31 to November 12. The conference brings together experts and world leaders to accelerate action toward critically important goals.



One highlight of this year's summit will be the much-anticipated documentary which covers an expedition to the Gorner Glacier in Switzerland. The research was led by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and Susanne Mecklenburg, Head of ESA’s Climate Office.



The Gorner Glacier is one of the biggest ice masses in the Alps. The scientists are studying its dramatic retreat in response to climate change.



"When we look at the Gorner Glacier now, we already see the past, not the present. What we see will not be here in a few years from now because it's already disappearing. The temperature changes that we are currently facing have already affected this glacier in a way that will never go back," said Parmitano.



"This is an incredibly sad story, but it must be the starting point for us to raise awareness and take responsibility in order to slow down climate change." Glasgow, the site of the 2021 UN climate change conference as shown above in video.



Image and 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

Glasgow, the site of the 2021 UN climate change conference

[sendtonews key="BeDtH0tTzm-1586894-12187" type="single"] Glasgow, the site of the 2021 UN...

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Spotting meltwater lakes with space lasers Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how the ICESat-2 mission has mapped meltwater lakes in Antarctica with remarkable accuracy.

Hundreds of meltwater lakes are hidden beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet where its base meets the continent’s bedrock.

Using the most advanced <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth&amp;cvid=d005fa5370374c73927b20780efec667&amp;aqs=edge..69i57j0l4j69i60j69i61j69i60j69i65.1870j0j9&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Earth</a>-observing laser instrument that has ever been launched by <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-will-soon-observe-thousands-of-exploding-stars/">NASA</a>, scientists have improved their maps of the hidden lake systems under the West Antarctic ice sheet. 

Spotting meltwater lakes with space lasers The new study provides critical insight for finding subglacial lakes from space. Furthermore, it is important for experts to be able to track these lake systems in order to predict the fate of the ice sheet. 

“The discovery of these interconnected systems of lakes at the ice-bed interface that are moving water around, with all these impacts on glaciology, microbiology, and oceanography - that was a big discovery from the ICESat mission,” said Professor Matthew Siegfried, the lead investigator in the new study. 

“ICESat-2 is like putting on your glasses after using ICESat, the data are such high precision that we can really start to map out the lake boundaries on the surface.”

Video Credit: NASA Goddard

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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

Spotting meltwater lakes with space lasers

Spotting meltwater lakes with space lasers Today's Video of the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> describes efforts to preserve the Chaco Canyon area of New Mexico, which is home to the 1,500-year-old ruins of a once thriving culture.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to ancient great houses built more than 1,000 years ago. Land surrounding the park has recently become a target for oil and gas drilling, raising concerns about how energy development may impact the cultural and natural resources in Chaco Canyon.

"It's a sacred ancestral site for many, if not all, of the Indigenous descendant communities in the region," said Professor Carrie Heitman. "With funding, conversation and dialogue with the National Park Service, we developed a research plan that would help address some of those concerns by trying to get better information into the hands of the land managers who are managing those parcels of land right around Chaco." 

"Our initial goal was to help them understand what we know about these ancestral and ancient places, and what we still don't yet know."

"We were afraid that in the process of leasing for oil and gas extraction, they will be destroying resources that we haven't even documented yet."

In an effort to share these concerns and help protect the ancient land of Chaco Canyon, Professor Heitman has co-edited a new book "The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship and Advocacy" with Professor Ruth Van Dyke of Binghamton University in New York.

"We're bringing together multiple perspectives on a complicated landscape that has both contemporary and ancient issues," Heitman said. "We're trying to share those perspectives and the concerns from this diverse range of stakeholders to help protect this landscape moving forward."

Video Produced by Mary Jane Bruce, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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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

Protecting the ancient landscape of Chaco Canyon

Today's Video of the Day from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln...

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The largest collection of Earth scientists on the planet Today's Video of the Day describes the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard#">NASA Goddard</a> Earth Sciences Division, which consists of 1,400 scientists who share a common goal of being the most trusted source of environmental information. This massive team designs missions to understand how the Earth works, and to predict how the planet will change in the future. 

For example, the Earth Sciences Division uses satellite data to track wildfires remotely. The experts also use the imagery to predict how these events will impact the Earth and its atmosphere. 

Satellites deliver about six million weather observations every six hours, and this data is extremely important for improving the accuracy of forecasts. 

Missions created by <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=048002c656784c2d8bca6103007414e1&amp;aqs=edge.0.69i59j0l8.942j0j4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA</a> Earth scientists can also monitor the planet's structure, vegetation, atmosphere, ocean, and changes in ice cover. Also in regards to the larger planets that is larger than nearby Venus, Earth is the biggest of the four planets closest to the Sun, all of which are made of rock and metal. The name Earth is at least 1,000 years old. All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.

Video Credit: NASA Goddard 

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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

The largest collection of Earth scientists on the planet

The largest collection of Earth scientists on the planet Today's...

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Earth from space: New York City Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features a Copernicus Sentinel-2 view of New York City, including the island of Manhattan and the Hudson, East and Harlem rivers.

New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States with a population of over 8 million people.

Like so many other cities, New York faces a high risk of flooding due to rising sea levels. Since 1993, the average sea level has risen by just over 3 millimeters worldwide every year.

A survey conducted last year suggests that nearly 40 percent of lower Manhattan will be at risk for destructive storm surges by the middle of this century. New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists in 1624. Also the settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was routed as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. Therefore the city was gained back by the Dutch in July 1673 and was renamed New Orange for one year and three month. The city of New York has been continuously named New York since November 1674.  New York City was also the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, and has been the largest U.S. city since 1790.

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

&nbsp;

Earth from space: New York City

Earth from space: New York City Today's Video of the...

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Beneficial bacteria protect crops from heat stress Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en">KAUST</a> reveals how bacteria can help protect crops from heat and drought.

The researchers tested the power of the beneficial bacteria SA187 that lives in the roots of tough, resilient desert shrubs.

The team coated wheat seeds with the bacteria and then planted them in the lab, along with seeds that were left untreated. 

When exposed to extreme heat, the untreated wheat plants suffered too much to survive. Meanwhile, the wheat <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hundreds-of-invasive-species-are-for-sale-as-garden-plants-in-the-u-s/">plants</a> that had been treated with SA187 were not damaged and continued to thrive.

Genetic analysis revealed that the bacteria produce metabolites that are converted into the hormone ethylene, which primes the plant's heat-resistance genes for action. 

"Essentially, the bacteria teach the plant how to use its own defense system," explained said study co-author Kirti Shekhawat. Therefore as shown on in video the Beneficial bacteria protect crops from heat stress.

Thousands of other bacteria have the potential to protect plants against threats ranging from drought to fungi, and the team is already testing some of these microbes on vegetables and other crops. 

"We have just scratched the surface of this hidden world of soil that we once dismissed as dead matter," said study lead author Heribert Hirt. "Beneficial bacteria could help transform an unsustainable agricultural system into a truly ecological one."

Video Credit: © 2021 KAUST; Anastasia Serin

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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

Beneficial bacteria protect crops from heat stress

Beneficial bacteria protect crops from heat stress Today's Video of...

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Meltwater is accelerating the movement of Greenland ice Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> reveals that bottomless sinkholes are funneling meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This results in increased water pressure that slightly detaches the ice and speeds up the rate at which it flows into the ocean. 

With a surface area that is about as big as the size of Mexico, Greenland’s ice is the largest contributor to global sea level rise.

For one particular sliding glacier in southwest Greenland, researchers concluded that the main contributor to its speed was how quickly the water pressure changed within cavities at the base of the ice where meltwater met bedrock.

“Even if the cavities are small, as long as the pressure is ramping up very fast, they will make the ice slide faster,” said Dr. Laurence C. Smith of Brown University. Therefore the Meltwater is accelerating the movement of Greenland ice.

This is the first time that direct observations have revealed how changes in the volume of water under the Greenland Ice Sheet drive the flow velocities of a glacier. The presence of ice-rafted sediments in deep-sea cores recovered from northwest Greenland, in the Fram Strait, and south of Greenland indicated the more or less continuous presence of either an ice sheet or ice sheets covering significant parts of Greenland for the last 18 million years. From about 11 million years ago to 10 million years ago, the Greenland<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-walruses-depend-on-sea-ice-that-is-vanishing/"> Ice</a> Sheet was greatly reduced in size. 

The Greenland Ice Sheet formed in the middle Miocene by coalescence of ice caps and glaciers. There was an intensification of glaciation during the Late Pliocene. Ice sheet formed in connection to the uplift of the West Greenland and East Greenland uplands. Also the western and eastern side of the mountains constitute passive continental margins that were uplifted in two phases, 10 and 5 million years ago, in the Miocene epoch.  Computer modelling shows that the uplift would have enabled glaciation by producing increased orographic precipitation and cooling the surface temperatures. The oldest known ice in the current ice sheet is as much as 1,000,000 years old. The ice cores also record human impact, such as lead from the Roman Empire.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

Video Credit: NASA Goddard 

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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

Meltwater is accelerating the movement of Greenland ice

Meltwater is accelerating the movement of Greenland ice Today's Video...

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How land subsidence contributes to sea level rise Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how land subsidence alters the shape of ocean basins and contributes to sea level rise. 

During the last ice age about 20,000 years ago, the northeastern region of the United States, <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/mistastin-lake-in-labrador-canada/">Canada,</a> and other regions were weighed down by ice sheets. When the ice melted and its weight was lifted, the land surface slowly rebounded. 

The resulting land movement, as well as subsidence related to human activities, play a significant role in sea level rise. For example, the Mississippi River Delta is essentially drowning as sinking ground is combined with higher sea levels, according to NASA. Also in substances can occur in various ways during an earthquake. Broad areas of land can subside drastically during an earthquake because of offset along fault lines. Land subsidence can also occur as a result of settling and compacting of unconsiderate sediment from the shaking of an earthquake. The blunder occur, absolute subsidence may occur in the hanging wall of normal faults. As the cumulative moisture deficit is reversed, which can last up to 25 years, the surface level around the tree will rise and expand laterally.

Video Credit: NASA Goddard 

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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

How land subsidence contributes to sea level rise

How land subsidence contributes to sea level rise Today's Video...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/video">NASA Goddard</a> describes how plants are struggling to keep pace with rising levels of carbon dioxide.

Plants are gradually losing their ability to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, according to the study. The experts found that 86 percent of land ecosystems are becoming less efficient in absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2).

Trees and other plants absorb CO2 as they photosynthesize. In a process known as the carbon fertilization effect, elevated levels of CO2 cause an increase in photosynthesis and plant growth. This helps to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, where it accelerates global warming.

But there are other factors, such as a lack of water and soil nutrients, that reduce the capacity of CO2 to boost plant growth.

“According to our data, what appears to be happening is that there’s both a moisture limitation as well as a nutrient limitation coming into play,” said study co-author Ben Poulter.

“In the tropics, there’s often just not enough nitrogen or phosphorus, to sustain photosynthesis, and in the high-latitude temperate and boreal regions, soil moisture is now more limiting than air temperature because of recent warming.”

Video Credit: NASA Goddard 

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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

Plants are struggling to keep up with rising CO2 levels

Today's Video of the Day from NASA Goddard describes how...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a> describes the strongest evidence yet that Greenland is more sensitive to climate change than what was previously expected. 

"Our study shows that Greenland is much more sensitive to natural climate warming than we used to think - and we already know that humanity's out-of-control warming of the planet hugely exceeds the natural rate," said UVM scientist Andrew Christ.

In 1966, the U.S. Army drilled down through nearly a mile of ice in northwestern Greenland. A massive sediment sample was recovered, but then lost in a freezer for decades. 

Two years ago, Christ examined the sediment under a microscope. He was stunned to see twigs and leaves instead of just sand and rock. In collaboration with an international team of researchers, Christ has been analyzing these fossil plants.

The findings suggest that most, or all, of Greenland was ice-free within the last few hundred thousand years.

The research confirms the troubling realization that Greenland's ice has melted off entirely during warm periods like the one we are experiencing today as a result of human-induced climate change.

With 20 feet of potential sea level rise frozen in the Greenland Ice Sheet, every coastal city in the world is at its mercy. 

"This is not a twenty-generation problem," said Paul Bierman, a geoscientist at UVM. "This is an urgent problem for the next 50 years."

"Greenland may seem far away, but it can quickly melt, pouring enough into the oceans that New York, Miami, Dhaka - pick your city - will go underwater."

Video Credit: UVM/Quincy Massey-Bierman

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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

Greenland ice is more sensitive to climate change than expected

Today's Video of the Day from the University of Vermont...

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Jaguars will soon be severely threatened Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland_University_of_Technology">Queensland University of Technology</a> describes how climate change may impact the jaguar, the dominant predator of Central and South America.

According to the research, jaguars in the Peruvian Amazon will be able to handle climate change in the short-term, but could become severely threatened as extreme weather events increasingly interfere with food resources.

“Estimates of jaguar numbers are difficult to achieve because the big cats are cryptic by nature, are not always uniquely identifiable, and their habitat can be hostile to humans,” explained study co-author Professor Kerrie Mengersen.

The investigation was focused on data from a 2016 expedition to the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, which covers 20,800 square kilometers in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon. 

Professor Kevin Burrage explained that the predicted outcomes for the jaguars were concerning in the long-term. 

“Our results imply that jaguars can cope with extreme drought and flood, but there is a very high probability that the population will crash if the conditions are repeated over short time periods. These scenarios are becoming more likely due to climate change,” said Professor Burrage.

“The declines may be further exacerbated by hunting of both jaguars and their prey, as well as loss of habitat through deforestation.”

Video Credit: QUT Media

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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

Jaguars will soon be severely threatened

Jaguars will soon be severely threatened Today's Video of the...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes a dramatic increase in high-tide flooding across the eastern coast of the United States.

While many people think of sea level rise as being a future issue, the effects are already visible in cities such as Annapolis, Boston, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Miami. 

High-tide flooding, also known as sunny day flooding, is becoming more common as a result of slightly higher sea levels combined with seawater that is expanding as the oceans become warmer. 

Annapolis, Maryland, in particular, has seen a major increase in floods over the past few years. City engineers are collaborating with a team from the Naval Academy to analyze data from NOAA and NASA and develop flood mitigation strategies.

Video Credit: NASA Goddard 

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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

High-tide flooding is increasing along the U.S. East Coast

Today's Video of the Day from NASA Goddard describes a...