Colorful,Parrotfish,Feeding,On,A,Tropical,Coral,Reef

Coral reefs are among the most dazzling ecosystems on Earth. When viewed from above, they display intricate structures and colors. But many reefs also show curious rings of bare sand encircling them. These circles, called grazing halos, appear in satellite images as pale outlines around patches of coral.



The origin of grazing halos has long puzzled scientists. Why do they form in some places and not others? Why do they vary in size? And most importantly - do they reveal something about the health of the reef?



A new study published in The American Naturalist suggests a surprising answer. It’s not just fear that creates these halos - it’s also the way <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breaks-in-ancient-coral-growth-reveal-earths-climate-past/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral</a> shelter is arranged.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-landscape-of-fear">The landscape of fear</h2>



One widely accepted theory to explain grazing halos involves fear. Fish like parrotfish and other herbivores leave the safety of coral to feed on algae or seagrass. 



However, they do not venture far because predators like sharks lurk in the open. To avoid becoming prey, these fish tend to graze close to shelter.



Their grazing creates visible halos - rings where the vegetation has been eaten. The behavior aligns with what ecologists call the “landscape of fear.” 



According to this idea, prey animals avoid open areas and concentrate activity near shelter, altering how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-may-be-more-resilient-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystems</a> look.



But this explanation has gaps. Some reefs that are full of predators lack halos. Others, where predator populations have collapsed due to overfishing, still show clear halos. 



Something else must be shaping these patterns - something embedded in the landscape itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reef-shelter-layout-and-halo-formation">Reef shelter layout and halo formation</h2>



The new study points to the layout of coral shelters as a missing piece. The researchers examined how the spatial distribution of reef <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-may-not-adapt-quickly-enough-to-survive-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">structures</a> influences halo formation. Do halos behave differently when coral is clustered tightly versus scattered widely?



The team used Heron Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to test their ideas. This site is a hub for reef science and faces ongoing threats from climate change - coral bleaching, storm damage, and ocean acidification all pose serious risks.



The study explored how coral shelter layout affects where herbivores graze. Clusters of coral provide tightly packed shelter. 



Scattered coral creates more distance between safe zones. The team predicted that these differences would shape how halos appear - or disappear - across the seascape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-models-predict-halo-shapes-on-reefs">Models predict halo shapes on reefs</h2>



To explore this, the researchers built two mathematical models. The first was geometric. It examined how simple circular shapes - representing coral patches - overlap on the seafloor. This helped predict how much vegetation should remain depending on how the shelters are arranged.



Study lead author Theresa Ong is an assistant professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth.



“If the shelter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-could-vanish-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">habitat</a> is tightly packed in one space, then there’s not much room for nervous prey to explore and less vegetation to eat. But if shelter is more evenly distributed, the halos carve out more empty space in the landscape and their distinctive patterns disappear into one another as they overlap," noted Professor Ong.



The geometric model revealed that clustered coral leads to clearer, more distinct halos. Scattered coral causes the rings to overlap and blur, making them harder to detect. This may explain why halos vary across reefs - even when predator presence remains constant.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grazing-patterns-change-over-time">Grazing patterns change over time</h2>



Geometry only tells part of the story. Grazing patterns change over time as vegetation regrows and fish populations fluctuate. So, the team developed a second model - one that added time and movement into the equation.



The dynamic model showed two scenarios. When coral patches are dispersed, fish must travel further to feed. This can lead to overgrazing - vegetation disappears, fish numbers drop, vegetation returns, and the cycle begins again. Halos may vanish and reappear in a rhythmic pattern.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/coral-reef_grazing-halos_great-barrier-reef_credit-Google-Earth_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/coral-reef_grazing-halos_great-barrier-reef_credit-Google-Earth_1s.webp" alt="Overview view of Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and close-up view of a selected reef region (box in overview) where macroalgae cover is dense and coral halos (vegetation-free space surrounding coral patch reefs) are prevalent. Example 1X-scale plots (47 × 47 m) are indicated by arrows to illustrate increasing dispersion in coral patch distributions. Credit: Google Earth Pro" class="wp-image-1968578"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Overview view of Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and close-up view of a selected reef region (box in overview) where macroalgae cover is dense and coral halos (vegetation-free space surrounding coral patch reefs) are prevalent. Example 1X-scale plots (47 × 47 m) are indicated by arrows to illustrate increasing dispersion in coral patch distributions. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Google Earth Pro</figcaption></figure>



When coral is clustered, grazing remains more localized and consistent. This leads to more stable halo patterns. 



The models suggest that both stable and cyclic halos can exist on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restored-coral-reefs-can-bounce-back-in-just-four-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">healthy reefs</a> - and both tell stories about how the ecosystem is functioning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-changes-are-alarming">Not all changes are alarming</h2>



A major insight from the study is that halo patterns - whether stable or oscillating - are not in themselves signs of reef health or decline. What matters more is how those patterns change over time.



“Oscillating halos are not necessarily a sign of overfishing or poor reef health,” said Ong. “What’s more concerning is if static halos suddenly start cycling or if cyclic halos suddenly become static, which could indicate a major shift in system health and resilience.”



In other words – it’s not the presence or size of the halo that reveals the truth, but whether its behavior shifts in ways that suggest underlying ecological change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-satellites-for-reef-surveillance">Using satellites for reef surveillance</h2>



Studying coral reefs directly is expensive and difficult. That’s where satellite imagery offers a powerful advantage. Researchers can quickly scan large areas and assess general patterns - even from space.



“There are a lot of endemic species on reefs, especially on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-barrier-reef-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Great Barrier Reef</a>, which we could easily lose due to the compounding effects of climate change and overfishing,” noted Professor Ong.



“So gaining a better understanding of how halo patterns reflect reef community dynamics may be useful in reef conservation efforts.”



Halos might become an early warning system. Their changes could alert scientists to shifts in predator numbers, herbivore behavior, or coral shelter integrity - all of which influence reef resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-halo-dynamics-beyond-reefs">Halo dynamics beyond reefs</h2>



The models developed by the team aren’t limited to coral reefs. They apply to any system where grazing happens near shelter. 



Think of cattle grazing near trees, or deer feeding near forest edges. The same logic - of safety shaping movement - plays out across ecosystems.



Still, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-could-vanish-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral reefs</a> are especially fragile. Climate change is heating the oceans, acidifying waters, and disrupting food webs. Even subtle changes in reef structure can lead to major ecological shifts.



From overlapping rings of sand to predictive models and satellite imagery - this work reveals that coral reefs are writing their own story in patterns we can now begin to understand. We just have to learn how to read the halos.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/735688" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The American Naturalist</a>.



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What 'grazing halos' and parrotfish reveal about coral reef health

Coral reefs are among the most dazzling ecosystems on Earth. When viewed from above, they display intricate structures and colors. But many reefs also show curious rings of bare sand encircling them. These circles, called grazing halos, appear in satellite images as pale outlines around patches of coral. The origin of grazing halos has long puzzled scientists. Why do they form in some places and not others? Why do they vary in size? And most importantly - do they reveal something about the health of the reef?...

A new study published by <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/">Wiley</a> suggests that artificial light at night disrupts communication and navigation among migratory birds. The researchers found that migratory thrushes were using flight calls much more frequently over brightly lit urban areas.

"Migratory birds are subject to many pressures during their life cycle and many are declining as a consequence," noted the study authors. 

"Evidence from North America shows that for species that migrate at night, bright artificial light sources associated with urban areas can disrupt natural movement patterns, leading to direct and indirect fitness consequences."

The researchers set out to measure how nocturnally migrating thrushes in the UK respond to artificial light at night.

"We used passive acoustic recorders deployed across a gradient of artificial lighting to record the flight calls of three thrush species, with an expectation of greater call rates over brightly lit areas. We trained a convolutional neural network automatically to locate and identify thrush calls in the audio recordings," explained the researchers.

The data revealed that the nighttime call rates of migratory thrushes were up to five times higher over the brightest urban areas compared with darker villages.

The results add to a growing collection of research exposing the dangerous and disruptive consequences of light pollution for birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and even humans.

Study co-author Dr. Simon Gillings is the Head of Population Ecology and Modeling at the <a href="https://www.bto.org/">British Trust for Ornithology</a>.

"We harnessed the respective strengths of citizen science, passive acoustic monitoring, and machine learning to gather evidence of the impact of artificial light at night on migratory birds," said Dr. Gillings. 

"Finding that even modest urban areas without high-rise buildings can influence migration highlights the need for improved management of urban lighting."

According to the researchers, their results confirm that monitoring flight calls can provide valuable information on the timing of nocturnal migration, but that the effects of artificial lighting must be taken into account in any comparisons of abundance across sites.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1474919x">Ibis</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Light pollution disrupts flight calling behavior of thrushes

A new study published by Wiley suggests that artificial light...

Savanna is taking over parts of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-carbon-loss-in-brazilian-amazon-tied-to-degradation/">Amazon</a> rainforest as a result of recurring forest fires, according to a new study published in the journal Ecosystems. The researchers, led by Bernardo Monteiro Flores of <a href="https://ufsc.br/">UFSC</a>, investigated the impacts of wildfires on vegetation and soil quality over the last four decades. 

The study revealed that the future of the rainforest is greatly threatened by fire activity, even in well-conserved areas that are unaffected by deforestation.

“The edges of the Amazon Rainforest have long been considered the most vulnerable parts owing to expansion of the agricultural frontier. This degradation of the forest along the so-called ‘deforestation arc’ (a curve that hugs the southeastern edge of the forest) continues to occur and is extremely troubling," Flores told <a href="https://agencia.fapesp.br/">Agência FAPESP</a>.

"However, our study detected the appearance of savannas in the heart of the Amazon a long way away from the agricultural frontier." 

The research was focused on an area of floodplains surrounding the middle Negro River near Barcelos, where areas of white-sand savanna are expanding. The experts blame this expansion on the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires associated with climate change. 

“We mapped 40 years of forest fires using satellite images, and collected detailed information in the field to see whether the burned forest areas were changing,” said Flores. 

“When we analyzed tree species richness and soil properties at different times in the past, we found that forest fires had killed practically all trees so that the clayey topsoil could be eroded by annual flooding and become increasingly sandy.”

The researchers also determined that, as burned floodplain forest recovers, there is a major shift throughout the vegetation in which native herbaceous cover expands, forest trees disappear, and white-sand savanna tree species become dominant.

According to Flores, white-sand savannas are part of the Amazon ecosystem, covering about 11 percent of the biome. The seeds of savanna plants are distributed by water, fish, and birds, and are more likely to germinate when they reach a burned area with degraded soil than forest species.

“Our research shows native savanna cover is expanding and may continue expanding in the Amazon. Not along the ‘deforestation arc,' where exotic grasses are spreading, but in remote areas throughout the basin where white-sand savannas already exist,” said Flores.

The researchers emphasized that the Amazon floodplain forest is far less resilient than upland terra firma forest - burning more easily and degrading more quickly.  

“Floodplain forest is the ‘Achilles heel’ of the Amazon,” said study co-author Professor Milena Holmgren. “We have field evidence that if the climate becomes drier in the Amazon and wildfires become more severe and frequent, floodplain forest will be the first to collapse.”

A drier climate and more frequent fires have already arrived in the Amazon. The researchers found that during the severe 2015-16 El Niño event, wildfires in the middle Negro area burned down an area seven times larger than the total area destroyed by fire in the preceding 40 years.

“The additional loss of floodplain forest could result in huge emissions of carbon stored in trees, soil and peatlands, as well as reducing supplies of resources used by local people, such as fish and forest products," said Flores.

"The new discoveries reinforce the urgency of defending remote forest areas. For example, a fire management program should be implemented to reduce the spread of wildfires during the dry season."

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10021-021-00607-x">Ecosystems</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fires are transforming the Amazon rainforest into savanna

Savanna is taking over parts of the Amazon rainforest as...

In a new study led by <a href="https://en.ru.is/">Reykjavik University</a>, scientists have found microplastics in the remote and pristine area of Europe's largest ice cap, the Vatnajokull <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/himalayan-rock-glaciers-are-far-more-important-than-expected/">glacier</a> in Iceland.

It is not yet understood how microplastics may affect the melting and deformation of glaciers. This means they could potentially influence future meltwater and sea level rise. 

Microplastics have never been found in the vicinity of the Vatnajökull glacier before. The team used optical microscopy and μ-Raman spectroscopy to detect and identify various sizes and types of plastic particles. 

So far, most studies on microplastics have been focused on ocean pollution, and little research has been conducted to investigate plastic in the Earth's polar ice caps. Microplastic particles have been found in the Italian Alps, the Ecuadorian Andes, and in icebergs at Svalbard. 

Study first author Dr. Hlynur Stefansson is an associate professor at the RU Department of Engineering. She said that it is of vital importance to understand the distribution of microplastic, as well as its short and long term effects on ice dynamics.

The findings of the study confirm that microplastic particles are carried and distributed through the atmosphere. 

"We do not understand well enough the pathways for microplastic particles in our environment. Is the plastic carried by snow and rain? We need to know more about the causes," said Dr. Stefansson.

She noted the the samples the team collected are from a very remote and pristine location in Vatnajokull glacier, with no easy access, so it is unlikely the site was directly polluted by human activities.

"We also need to know much more about the short and long-term effects of microplastic on the dynamics of the ice and if they contribute to the melting of glaciers. If that is the case, it will play a critical role in future meltwater contribution to the oceans and rising sea levels."

Dr. Stefansson explained that the plastic particles degrade very slowly in the cold glacier environment, and can accumulate and persist in the glaciers for a very long time. 

"Eventually, however, they will be released from the ice, contributing to pollution in rivers and the marine environment. It is therefore very important to map and understand the presence and dispersal of microplastics in glaciers on a global scale."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability">Sustainability</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Microplastics found in the remote Vatnajokull glacier

In a new study led by Reykjavik University, scientists have...

Sea <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loggerhead-turtles-migrate-using-a-secret-thermal-corridor/">turtles</a> are making a comeback in the Cayman Islands after they were nearly wiped out two decades ago, according to a study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. 

The experts report that loggerhead and green turtle nest numbers increased dramatically from 1998 to 2019, while hawksbill turtle nest numbers remain low.

In 1999, there were only 39 sea turtle nests counted across the Cayman Islands. By 2019, the number of nests had jumped to 675.

The gradual recovery of sea turtles can be attributed to captive breeding and stricter regulations. However, the population numbers are still far below historical levels and the turtles face ongoing threats such as illegal hunting.

"Our findings demonstrate a remarkable recovery for sea turtle populations that were once thought to be locally extinct," said Dr. Janice Blumenthal. "A combination of factors is thought to have led to this conservation success story."

"It is likely that a captive breeding operation by the Cayman Turtle Farm (now the Cayman Turtle Centre) drove the increase in Grand Cayman's green turtle population in the early years of monitoring."

Dr. Blumenthal noted that the most important factor for loggerhead turtles was the restrictions placed on a legal turtle fishery in 2008.

"For both species, the recovery was assisted by protection efforts by the Cayman Islands Department of Environment on nesting beaches, including patrols by conservation officers to reduce illegal hunting," explained Dr. Jane Hardwick.

"However, our study finds that illegal take is an ongoing threat, with a minimum of 24 turtles taken from 2015-19, many of which were nesting females."

"Artificial lighting on nesting beaches, which can direct hatchlings away from the sea, increased over the period of our study."

"Additionally, as highly migratory endangered species, sea turtles are influenced by threats and conservation efforts outside of the Cayman Islands, showing a need for international co-operation in sea turtle management."

Before the Cayman Islands were settled by humans, millions of turtles migrated to the islands for nesting. But by the beginning of the 19th century, human overexploitation had driven the massive nesting populations to the brink of extinction.

The current study shows that, despite reaching critically low levels, nesting populations of green and loggerhead turtles have increased significantly.

Cayman Islands authorities are using data collected through monitoring the nests to target management efforts. Under the National Conservation Law of the Cayman Islands, "turtle-friendly lighting" initiatives and a greater level of habitat protection for key areas have been proposed.

"I was fortunate to have been involved in establishing the turtle monitoring programme with the Department of Environment in the Cayman Islands back in 1998 and it is fantastic to see how protection and awareness has resulted in an increase in nesting turtles," said Professor Brendan Godley.

"The wonderful team and leadership of the Department of Environment have been instrumental in driving the monitoring and conservation."

Gina Ebanks-Petrieb is the director of the <a href="https://doe.ky/"> Cayman Islands Department of Environment</a>.

"We are extremely grateful to the many volunteers, interns, property owners, businesses, organizations and members of the public who have assisted with sea turtle conservation efforts over the past two decades," said Ebanks-Petrieb.

"Sea turtles are a national symbol of the Cayman Islands and our community has come together to demonstrate our commitment to their protection. This research gives us essential information for strategically targeted management efforts to secure future survival of these populations."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sea turtles are making a comeback in the Cayman Islands

Sea turtles are making a comeback in the Cayman Islands...

Exposure to air <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-in-childhood-linked-to-mental-dysfunction/">pollution</a> during childhood increases the risk of high blood pressure, according to the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a>. The report is based on the results of 14 air pollution studies from around the world.

Study lead study author Dr. Yao Lu is an expert in the Clinical Research Center at the Third Xiangya Hospital at Central South University in Changsha, China, and a professor in the Department of Life Science and Medicine at King's College London. 

"Our analysis is the first to closely examine previous research to assess both the quality and magnitude of the associations between air pollution and blood pressure values among children and adolescents," explained Dr. Lu.

"The findings provide evidence of a positive association between short- and long-term exposure to certain environmental air pollutants and blood pressure in children and adolescents."

While it has been established that high blood pressure during childhood is a risk factor for hypertension and heart disease later in life, studies on air pollution and blood pressure in adolescents have produced inconsistent conclusions. The current analysis included data for more than 350,000 children.

The research - which included health outcomes of people in the United States, China, and Europe - looked at both long-term and short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, measured as PM2.5 and PM10.

According to the results, long-term exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and nitrogen dioxide were all associated with elevated systolic blood pressure levels in children. Short-term exposure to PM10 was also significantly associated with higher systolic numbers among young people. 

Furthermore, higher diastolic blood pressure levels were associated with long-term exposure to PM2.5 and PM10.

"To reduce the impact of environmental pollution on blood pressure in children and adolescents, efforts should be made to reduce their exposure to environmental pollutants," said Dr. Lu. 

"Additionally, it is also very important to routinely measure blood pressure in children and adolescents, which can help us identify individuals with elevated blood pressure early."

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/jaha">Journal of the American Heart Association</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Childhood exposure to air pollution linked to high blood pressure

Exposure to air pollution during childhood increases the risk of...

A new study from the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> has revealed that a tropical rainforest in southeast China contained a remarkable level of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-supports-healthier-seafood/">biodiversity</a> during the Middle Miocene 14.7 million years ago. 

The experts analyzed material preserved in amber and sedimentary rocks to describe the wildlife of the ancient seasonal rainforest in Fujian Province.

"During the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum, global temperatures were similar to predicted temperatures for the coming century," explained the researchers. "Limited megathermal paleoclimatic and fossil data are known from this period, despite its potential as an analog for future climate conditions."

Led by Professor Bo Wang and Professor Gongle Shi, an international team of experts collected approximately 25,000 fossil-containing amber samples and about 5,000 fossil plants to study Zhangpu biota.

The leaves of 78 different broadleaf trees show that tropical seasonal rainforests once extended farther north than today, which provides new insight into what changes could take place as a result of future warming.

The amber from Zhangpu contains diverse, well-preserved fossils of arthropods, fungi, snails, flowering plants, and even feathers.

According to the researchers, the arthropod fossils include more than 250 families of spiders, mites, and millipedes, and at least 200 families of insects in 20 orders. This extremely high diversity makes the Zhangpu collection one of the four richest records preserved in amber in the world. 

The insects contained in Zhangpu amber include many ants, bees, lacewings, stick insects, termites, and grasshoppers that are today restricted to tropical Southeast Asia and New Guinea.

"The most unexpected finding is that the high diversity of ants and springtails all belong to living genera," said Professor Wang. "In addition, the vast majority of previously identified insects in Zhangpu amber, such as bark lice, grasshoppers, beetles, and bees, also belong to living genera."

The results suggest that Asian rainforest insect communities have remained stable since the middle Miocene, at least 15 million years ago.

"Our results not only highlight the role of tropical rainforests acting as evolutionary museums for biodiversity at the generic level but also suggest that the MMCO probably strongly shaped the East Asian biota via the northern expansion of the megathermal rainforest biome," wrote the study authors. "The Zhangpu biota provides an ideal snapshot for biodiversity redistribution during global warming."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Extraordinary biodiversity found in ancient Asian rainforest

A new study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has...

In a breakthrough study from the <a href="https://www.egu.eu/">European Geosciences Union</a>, scientists have discovered that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-have-become-increasingly-toxic-to-insects/">insects</a> like the non-biting midge grow larger up north. Based on this evidence, the researchers have developed a new way to examine past temperatures and climates.

Scientists use many proxies to reconstruct Earth's ancient climates, including pollen, diatoms, geochemical isotopes, and fossils. One previous study used chironomids to reconstruct climate during the past 11,000 years by comparing fossil insects to modern midges. 

"This (technique) is pretty good, but it has a major drawback: the further back in time you go, the less applicable what we know about the coverage of modern animals becomes," said study co-author Viktor Baranov, a palaeontologist at Lüdwig Maximilians-University in Munich. 

For example, explained Baranov, the small dragonflies of today may not share a similar range with the meter-long dragonflies of the Cretaceous that lived around 100 million years ago.

The experts have now developed a technique using the size of fossil midge bodies and wings to reconstruct temperatures all the way back to the start of the Cretaceous about 145 million years ago. 

Baranov said the team wanted to add a proxy that can be useful for fossils that are found in settings where other proxies are not. The findings revealed that the relation of insect body size to latitude appears to be a promising new proxy for studying ancient temperatures.

According to Baranov, he found the possibility of using insects for palaeoclimate work deep in the geologic past to be alluring, and started looking at literature to see if it could be feasible. 

"I noticed that some workers wrote down in very old papers anecdotal evidence - it appears that the Afrotropical representative of this genus living in the Congo seems to be considerably smaller than close relatives from France."

Baranov explained that the omnipresence of insects makes them a good candidate to reveal global patterns. He said the collection in Munich alone has about two million specimens of chironomids, from Antarctica to the Arctic, from Australia to England.

The study was focused on more than 6,000 specimens that lived at some point between 245 million years ago and today. The experts  measured body and wing lengths and found that, in Northern Hemisphere chironomids, both became larger in the northward part of their range. Just like polar bears, the midges got bigger with colder temperatures.

"The average midge becomes one millimeter longer per every five degrees of latitude," said Baranov. "That was very exciting for me to learn. Because it means there seems to be a very strong signal, at least in this group."

The results show the potential of using invertebrate fossils for quantitative analyses to reconstruct temperatures over millions of years, said Baranov.

In addition, the temperature-size relationship may be useful in predicting what could happen to modern insect populations facing climate change. 

"I'm also working on the insect decline and drivers of the modern insect extinctions," said Baranov. "It appears that increasing temperatures influence insect size, and that's impacting their ability to fly around."

The research was presented at the <a href="https://www.egu.eu/">European Geosciences Union</a> (EGU) General Assembly 2021.

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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

Past temperatures are revealed by the size of insects

In a breakthrough study from the European Geosciences Union, scientists...

Earth's permafrost became less susceptible to thawing about 400,000 years ago, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>. This indicates that more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-greening-will-not-slow-local-climate-changes/">carbon</a> is stored in the frozen ground than what was anticipated.

"The stability of the last 400,000 years may actually work against us, in that it has allowed carbon to steadily accumulate in permafrost over this time," said study co-author Professor David McGee. 

"Melting now might lead to substantially greater releases of carbon to the atmosphere than in the past."

In the Northern Hemisphere, nine million square miles of land contains a permafrost layer made up of soil, sediment, and rocks that have been frozen solid for years. Within this permafrost, a massive amount of carbon is stored in the form of decayed plant and animal material.

It is estimated that Earth's permafrost holds more than 1,400 gigatons of carbon, which could potentially be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane as temperature continue to rise. Scientists are trying to understand more about the stability of permafrost in order to predict how it will impact future global warming. 

In collaboration with experts at Boston College, the MIT team analyzed cave deposits in locations across western Canada to reconstruct the history of permafrost over the last 1.5 million years. The study revealed that between 1.5 million and 400,000 years ago, permafrost was prone to thawing, even in high Arctic latitudes. 

However, the results also showed that the planet's permafrost shifted to a more stable state in the last 400,000 years, and permafrost thaw has been since limited to sub-Arctic regions. In this state, the permafrost has retained most of the carbon that it has accumulated, with no opportunity to release it. 

The investigation was focused on 74 samples of stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones from caves in the southern Canadian Rockies, Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories, and the northern Yukon.

The experts found that cave deposits collected from the Yukon and the farthest northern sites did not contain any samples younger than 400,000 years old. This indicates that permafrost thaw has not occurred in those sites since then.

"There may have been some shallow thaw, but in terms of the entire rock above the cave being thawed, that hasn't occurred for the last 400,000 years, and was much more common prior to that."

McGee said that seeing evidence of a much less stable Arctic prior to 400,000 years ago suggests that the Arctic can be a very different place. "It raises questions for me about what caused the Arctic to shift into this more stable condition, and what can cause it to shift out of it."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Permafrost could release much more carbon than expected

Earth's permafrost became less susceptible to thawing about 400,000 years...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a>, experts have discovered that fish have been swallowing microplastics since the 1950s. The researchers examined the guts of freshwater fish preserved in museum collections, and found that concentrations of microplastics have dramatically increased over time.

"For the last 10 or 15 years it's kind of been in the public consciousness that there's a problem with plastic in the water. But really, organisms have probably been exposed to plastic litter since plastic was invented, and we don't know what that historical context looks like," said study co-author Professor Tim Hoellein of Loyola University Chicago. "Looking at museum specimens is essentially a way we can go back in time."

Study co-author Caleb McMahan is an ichthyologist at the Field Museum who cares for two million fish specimens, most of which are preserved in alcohol and stored in jars in the museum's underground Collections Resource Center. 

McMahan explained that these specimens are more than just dead fish - they are a snapshot of life on Earth. "We can never go back to that time period, in that place."

The study was focused on four common fish species that the museum had chronological records of dating back to 1900: largemouth bass, channel catfish, sand shiners, and round gobies. 

"We would take these jars full of fish and find specimens that were sort of average, not the biggest or the smallest, and then we used scalpels and tweezers to dissect out the digestive tracts," said study lead author Loren Hou. "We tried to get at least five specimens per decade."

To find microplastics inside of the fish, the team treated their digestive tracts with hydrogen peroxide. 

"It bubbles and fizzes and breaks up all the organic matter, but plastic is resistant to the process," explained Hou. "It just looks like a yellow stain, you don't see it until you put it under the microscope."

"We look at the shape of these little pieces. If the edges are frayed, it's often organic material, but if it's really smooth, then it's most likely microplastic." 

To determine where the microplastics came from, the researchers teamed up with collaborators at the University of Toronto to examine the samples using Raman spectroscopy, a technique that uses light to analyze the chemical signature of a sample.

The amount of microplastics present in the fish guts was found to drastically increase over time. There were no plastic particles before mid-century, yet these concentrations skyrocketed in the 1950s - when manufacturing was industrialized.

"We found that the load of microplastics in the guts of these fishes have basically gone up with the levels of plastic production," said McMahan. "It's the same pattern of what they're finding in marine sediments, it follows the general trend that plastic is everywhere."

One of the major sources of plastic particles found in the fish guts was fabric. 

"Microplastics can come from larger objects being fragmented, but they're often from clothing," said Hou.

"It's plastic on your back, and that's just not the way that we've been thinking about it," said Hoellein. "So even just thinking about it is a step forward in addressing our purchases and our responsibility."

While it is not clear how ingesting microplastics affected the fish in this study, the outcome was probably not great. 

"When you look at the effects of microplastic ingestion, especially long term effects, for organisms such as fish, it causes digestive tract changes, and it also causes increased stress in these organisms," said Hou.

The researchers hope the stark findings will serve as a wake-up call. "The entire purpose of our work is to contribute to solutions," said Hoellein. "We have some evidence that public education and policies can change our relationship to plastic. It's not just bad news, there's an application that I think should give everyone a collective reason for hope."

The researchers noted that the study highlights the importance of natural history collections in museums. 

"Loren and I both love the Field Museum but don't always think about it in terms of its day-to-day scientific operations," said Hoellein. "It's an incredible resource of the natural world, not just as it exists now but as it existed in the past. It's fun for me to think of the museum collection sort of like the voice of those long dead organisms that are still telling us something about the state of the world today."

"You can't do this kind of work without these collections," said McMahan. "We need older specimens, we need the recent ones, and we're going to need what we collect in the next 100 years."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19395582">Ecological Applications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Microplastics have been abundant in fish guts since the 1950s

In a new study from the Field Museum, experts have...

The combination of lamb grazing and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/investment-in-solar-energy-is-urgently-needed-to-meet-climate-targets/">solar</a> energy production increases the overall productivity of land, according to a study from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>.

The research is the first of its kind to investigate livestock production under agrivoltaic systems, which optimize land's potential by using it for both solar energy and agricultural production.

For the investigation, the researchers compared lamb growth and land productivity in pastures with solar panels and traditional open grassland. 

In the solar pastures, the experts found higher quality food for lamb grazing. They also noted that lambs gained similar amounts of weight in both types of pastures. 

Solar panels are valuable in terms of energy production, which increases the productivity of the land. The solar panels also provided the lambs with shade, allowing them to preserve energy. Furthermore, lamb grazing alleviates the need to manage plant growth under the solar panels with herbicides or regular mowing.

Overall, the return from grazing was $1,046 per hectare per year in open pastures and $1,029 per hectare per year in pastures with solar panels.

"The results from the study support the benefits of agrivoltaics as a sustainable agricultural system," said study lead author Alyssa Andrew.

Solar photovoltaic installation has increased by an average of 48 percent per year in the United States over the past decade. The researchers noted that current solar capacity is expected to double again over the next five years.

Previous studies have shown that grasslands and croplands in temperate regions are the best places to install solar panels for maximum energy production. However, photovoltaic systems require large areas of land, which can reduce the amount of land available for agricultural use.

Agrivoltaics could eliminate this competition by using the same land for energy production and agricultural use. Some crops, especially those that like shade, can be more productive in combination with solar panels.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lamb grazing and solar energy increase land productivity

The combination of lamb grazing and solar energy production increases...

The contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to global <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/how-land-subsidence-contributes-to-sea-level-rise/">sea level</a> rise will be much greater than what was previously predicted, according to experts at <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a>. 

Based on their analysis of a "water expulsion mechanism," the researchers estimate that sea level rise associated with global warming will be at least 20 percent higher than expected. 

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits on solid bedrock that rebounds upward as the ice melts and the weight of the ice sheet decreases. When the bedrock lifts up from below the sea level, it drives sea level rise.

The new study has revealed that if the Antarctic ice sheet totally collapsed, the sea level would rise an additional meter compared to current estimates within 1,000 years.

"The magnitude of the effect shocked us," said study co-lead author Dr. Linda Pan. "Previous studies that had considered the mechanism dismissed it as inconsequential."

"If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed, the most widely cited estimate of the resulting global mean sea level rise that would result is 3.2 meters," said study co-lead author Evelyn Powell. "What we've shown is that the water expulsion mechanism will add an additional meter, or 30 percent, to the total."

The researchers found that by the end of this century, global sea level rise associated with the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would increase 20 percent as a result of the water expulsion mechanism.

"Every published projection of sea level rise due to melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet that has been based on climate modeling, whether the projection extends to the end of this century or longer into the future, is going to have to be revised upward because of their work," said study senior author Professor Jerry X. Mitrovica. "Every single one."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet will drive more sea level rise than expected

The contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to global...

The Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it stored over the last decade, and degradation is the biggest driver, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. 

The researchers found that parts of the forest that were degraded but not destroyed accounted for three times more carbon loss than deforestation.

More than 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil. The Exeter team used satellite monitoring to measure carbon storage from 2010 to 2019.

The experts report that large areas of rainforest were degraded or demolished as a result of climate change and human activity, which led to carbon loss.

In 2019, deforestation wiped out 3.9 million hectares compared to about one million hectares per year in 2017 and 2018. This increase in deforestation was likely due to weakened environmental protection in Brazil.

"The Brazilian Amazon as a whole has lost some of its biomass, and therefore released carbon," said Professor Stephen Sitch. "We all know the importance of Amazon deforestation for global climate change."

"Yet our study shows how emissions from associated forest degradation processes can be even larger."

"Degradation is a pervasive threat to future forest integrity and requires urgent research attention."

Degradation results from tree loss associated with felling and forest fires. Tree mortality is also caused by droughts and other extreme weather events. 

To pinpoint land degradation, the research team used the satellite vegetation index L-VOD developed by scientists at INRAE, CEA and the CNRS. This index, combined with a new technique for monitoring deforestation, allowed the team to evaluate changes in forest carbon stocks.

Even though deforestation rates were 30 percent higher in 2019, carbon losses were greater in 2015 - when extreme El Niño droughts led to increased tree mortality and wildfires. This finding highlights the dramatic impact that degradation can have on overall biomass and carbon storage in the rainforest.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most carbon loss in Brazilian Amazon tied to degradation

The Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it stored...

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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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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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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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Saturn,-,High,Resolution,3d,Images,Presents,Planets,Of,The

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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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