For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were becoming progressively fresher - a shift that helped lock deep heat away and nurture expansive winter sea ice.



However, new observations show the opposite is now happening. An international team led by the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a> reported a sudden rise in surface <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salinity-is-rising-in-coastal-areas-and-hurting-farmlands/">salinity</a> south of 50° latitude. This shift coincided with the steepest drop in Antarctic sea-ice extent ever recorded.



The analysis combines European satellite data with readings from autonomous floats that profile the water column. The result reveals an unanticipated pivot in the Southern Ocean’s salt balance sometime after 2015.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-excessive-salt-melts-sea-ice">Excessive salt melts sea ice</h2>



Cold, fresh surface water normally overlies warmer, saltier layers at depth, creating strong density “stratification” that traps heat below. When the surface grows saltier, that barrier weakens. Heat then mixes upward, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarcticas-melting-ice-shelves-threaten-global-sea-levels/">melting sea ice</a> from beneath and preventing extensive winter growth.



“Saltier surface water allows deep ocean heat to rise more easily, melting sea ice from below," said lead author Alessandro Silvano, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton. "It's a dangerous feedback loop: less ice leads to more heat, which leads to even less ice.” 



Since 2015, the continent has shed sea ice equivalent to the area of Greenland. Researchers call it the largest environmental shift detected anywhere on Earth in recent decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-hole-returns-after-decades">Sea ice hole returns after decades</h2>



One striking symptom is the re-opening of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-hole-polynya-the-size-of-switzerland-appeared-in-the-antarctica-sea-ice/">Maud Rise polynya</a> - a yawning hole in the Weddell Sea ice cover. It spans nearly four times the size of Wales and last appeared in the late 1970s.



“The return of the Maud Rise polynya signals just how unusual the current conditions are,” Silvano said. “If this salty, low-ice state continues, it could permanently reshape the Southern Ocean - and with it, the planet.”



Reduced Antarctic ice darkens the ocean, absorbing more sunlight and already feeding back into the global climate system. This, as Silvano put it, will give rise to “stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-antarctic-sea-ice-loss-is-causing-severe-storms-around-the-world/">storms</a>, warmer oceans, and shrinking habitats for Antarctic wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-predictions-fall-short">Old predictions fall short</h2>



Climate models had projected eventual Antarctic sea-ice loss under greenhouse forcing. However, many scientists believed that enhanced snowfall and increased melt from continental ice sheets would keep surface waters fresh for decades, delaying large declines. The new evidence challenges that assumption.



“While scientists expected that human-driven climate change would eventually lead to Antarctic sea ice decline, the timing and nature of this shift remained uncertain,” said co-author Aditya Narayanan, a physical oceanographer at the University of Southampton.



“Previous projections emphasized enhanced surface freshening and stronger ocean stratification, which could have supported sustained sea ice cover. Instead, a rapid reduction in sea ice - an important reflector of solar radiation - has occurred, potentially accelerating global warming.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eyes-on-the-southern-ocean">Eyes on the Southern Ocean</h2>



Because this turnaround was detected only after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/satellites-reveal-a-sudden-drop-in-global-freshwater-levels/">satellites</a> began tracking sea-surface salinity in detail, researchers worry that other rapid transitions might be missed without constant observation.



“The new findings suggest that our current understanding may be insufficient to accurately predict future changes,” said senior author Alberto Naveira Garabato, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of Southampton.



“It makes the need for continuous satellite and in-situ monitoring all the more pressing, so we can better understand the drivers of recent and future shifts in the ice-ocean system.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-loss-changes-the-planet">Sea ice loss changes the planet</h2>



Antarctic sea ice acts as a reflective shield, bouncing sunlight back to space and modulating heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere.



Its precipitous decline could amplify warming worldwide, disturb wind patterns, and alter the formation of the deep water masses that power global ocean circulation.



Saltier surface layers may also influence how much carbon the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/">Southern Ocean</a> can absorb, potentially weakening one of Earth’s most important climate buffers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-salt-reinforce-sea-ice-loss">Heat and salt reinforce sea ice loss</h2>



The study leaves open questions about what triggered the sudden salinity jump. Possibilities include shifts in wind patterns, changes in precipitation, or increased intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf.



Whatever the cause, the new feedback between salt and sea ice could lock the region into a self-reinforcing cycle of warming and ice loss.



Scientists stress that only sustained measurements - combining satellites, autonomous floats, and ship-based surveys - will reveal whether the Southern Ocean snaps back to its former fresher state or continues toward an unfamiliar, saltier future.



For now, the message is clear: Antarctica’s floating fringe, once thought relatively resistant to near-term change, is undergoing a rapid transformation that matters far beyond the frozen continent.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500440122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Antarctic sea ice collapse linked to a sudden surge in ocean salt

For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were becoming progressively fresher - a shift that helped lock deep heat away and nurture expansive winter sea ice. However, new observations show the opposite is now happening. An international team led by the University of Southampton reported a sudden rise in surface salinity south of 50° latitude. This shift coincided with the steepest drop in Antarctic sea-ice extent ever recorded. The analysis combines European satellite data with readings from autonomous floats that profile the water column. The...

Predicting the weather is an unenviable task - meteorologists often feel the brunt of the public’s disdain when a forecast just isn’t quite right - snow when it should be sunny, or dry when they’re hunkered down for a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-variability-is-driving-more-intense-thunderstorms/">thunderstorm</a>. 

The weatherman may need to watch out, because a new study suggests that he may become obsolete, set to be replaced with forecasting by machine learning and artificial intelligence. 

Study first author Lei Han, a professor at <a href="http://eweb.ouc.edu.cn/">Ocean University of China</a>, stresses the importance of his team’s work. 

“Accurate weather forecasting is critical in protecting socioeconomic conditions in many areas such as transportation, agriculture and water resources management,” said Professor Han.

Traditionally, meteorologists have used a narrow band of data, known as numerical weather prediction (NWP), that relies on various measurements of humidity, air pressure and observations. Without being informed by an understanding of atmospheric dynamics and physics, these models are prone to under or over-forecasting. 

The researchers have created a new forecasting method based on inspiration from medical imaging software called U-net. This new software, CU-net (or correction U-Net), is getting progressively better at predicting weather patterns. 

Rather than using purely localized data to predict the weather of a single locale, CU-net takes data from adjacent blocks and layers them on top of each other. The artificial intelligence then gets to work predicting what weather patterns may occur at the location, refining the variables of temperature, humidity, wind-speed, and wind direction to come up with what the researchers believe is a more accurate forecast. 

“The confidence gained from this research can directly lead to innovative diagnostics for weather and climate variability, as we have never been able to imagine before the era of AI," explained study co-author Haonan Chen from the University of Colorado.

These advances in technology allow meteorologists to make large-scale predictions about weather patterns. According to Dr. Chen, artificial intelligence will be a game changer in Earth system research.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/376">Advances in Atmospheric Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Artificial intelligence will be a game changer in weather forecasting

Predicting the weather is an unenviable task - meteorologists often...

More than 350 cities in the United States are considered “legacy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cities-have-their-own-unique-collection-of-bacteria-and-viruses/">cities</a>” - industrial hubs whose heyday has long since passed, changing demographics and economic circumstances leaving much of the infrastructure to decay. Rather than let these buildings crumble on their own, many communities are instead choosing to make these communal green spaces to benefit the city at large. 

The race to make these abandoned urban spaces “green” are seen by many as a way to reintroduce biodiversity to areas that have been ecologically impoverished for too long. Now, new research shows just how these green spaces can help one of our most important pollinators - bees.

The research, conducted by conservation biologists at the <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>, looked at small plots of vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio over a period of three years. The plots varied in type, ranging from vacant lots to lightly maintained lawns to small flowering prairies. 

Unsurprisingly, the scientists found that more contiguous green spaces were home to the most productive bee colonies. They also found that areas with more native plants had a greater variety of bee and wasp species, making a bigger contribution to urban biodiversity compared to spaces that were heavily managed. 

“This work has shown that some proportion of the bees and wasp community will respond to larger patches of green space being reinstituted in the landscape, even if they are not the natural habitat that was there pre-development. And I think that’s really exciting," said study co-author Dr. Mary M. Gardiner.

Bees are not just important for ecological reasons - they also provide direct economic benefits to human citydwellers. Cleveland alone has over 200 community farms and gardens.

“Both urban and rural farms require pollinators for efficient crop productivity because bee visitations can enhance crop quality and quantity," explained study lead author Katherine J. Turo.

Hopefully, greening initiatives will offer refuge for bees and wasps in the midst of habitat loss and climate change. These are, in Turo’s words, huge issues that aren’t going away anytime soon. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.org/publications/conservation-biology/">Conservation Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Green spaces provide a refuge for urban pollinators

More than 350 cities in the United States are considered...

If you’re like me, you have fond memories of waking up in the early hours to watch meteor showers as a child. In our increasingly digital world, there’s something special about sitting out in the wee hours when everyone is asleep and watching a silently beautiful natural phenomena. The Perseid meteor shower, one of the classic stargazing events of the Northern Hemisphere, is coming up.

The meteor shower is actually caused by the Earth passing through the debris left in the wake of the Swift-Tuttle Comet. As the particles fall into the Earth’s gravitational field and plummet toward our planet, the friction from our atmosphere causes them to burn up, creating quite a show. 

As many as 60 to 100 “shooting stars” per hour will be visible to naked eye over Britain and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, although some will be observable a bit south of the equator. The meteor shower is set to peak in the early morning hours of August 11 through the 13. During these days, there will be no moon to obscure the meteors. 

The best way to see the showers is to find a sky as wide as possible, obscured by few buildings, trees or objects. The showers are best seen between midnight and dawn, this is when the part of Earth you’re on is facing into the meteor shower. However, if you want to take your chances looking for an “Earth grazer” meteor - a long, slow meteor shooting horizontally across the sky - try before midnight. 

Find a dark place to watch the shower too - the darker the sky, the more meteors are visible; it doesn’t help to watch a sky so full of light pollution that no meteors can be seen. If you miss the peak days, remember that showers such as the Perseids can last for weeks, you can see some from late July to days after the 13.

Wherever you are, it’s always nice to pull out a lawn chair and sit with a hot thermos of coffee, tea or cocoa and watch the showers with someone special. The Perseids only come around once a year.       

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The Perseid meteor shower peaks tomorrow

If you’re like me, you have fond memories of waking...

The effects of the climate crisis have become more widespread and severe much sooner than expected, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-cats-can-teach-us-about-human-genetic-diseases/">human</a> activities are "unequivocally" to blame, according to the latest report from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC</a>. The assessment represents the most comprehensive study to date from the UN climate panel.

The research suggests that recent warming is not only unprecedented over the past two thousand years - but possibly over the past hundred thousand years. 

The researchers say that weather extremes which were once considered rare, or even unprecedented, have become common. Furthermore, we are now permanently locked into major impacts of the climate crisis, regardless of whether future global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The heat wave that killed hundreds of people and more than a billion animals this summer in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest would have been "virtually impossible" without the impacts of human-caused climate change, according to a recent study from the <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/">World Weather Attribution</a>. The scientists said that the climate crisis has increased the likelihood of an extreme heat wave in this particular region by more than 150 times.

The IPCC report points out that severe heat waves which used to happen only once every 50 years are now happening about once a decade, as a direct result of global warming. 

The research is based on more than 14,000 scientific studies. The analysis has produced a despairing picture of the future that humans are creating for our planet. 

Severe droughts are happening 1.7 times as often, fire seasons are getting longer and more intense, and tropical storms are getting stronger. Furthermore, rainfall and snowfall extremes are becoming less predictable.

"There is no uncertainty language in this sentence, because there is no uncertainty that global warming is caused by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels," said co-author Friederike Otto, a climatologist at the University of Oxford.

On the bright side, we still have an opportunity to prevent many of the worst impacts of climate change. For example, by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we could keep global warming below 1.5°C. This would limit sea level rise to just a couple feet over the next century. 

On the other hand, the IPCC report shows that exceeding the 1.5°C global warming target could ultimately lead to 20 feet or more of global sea level rise.

The researchers say that unless immediate, rapid and large-scale action is taken to reduce emissions, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold within 20 years.

“We are now committed to some aspects of climate change, some of which are irreversible for hundreds to thousands of years,” said IPCC co-author Tamsin Edwards of King’s College London. “But the more we limit warming, the more we can avoid or slow down those changes.”

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans are "unequivocally" to blame for the climate crisis

The effects of the climate crisis have become more widespread...

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an overabundance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strong-ocean-currents-push-red-crabs-far-out-of-their-range/">crabs</a>. A long-term study by researchers at <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">UC Santa Cruz</a> in California's Elkhorn Slough revealed that an excessive number of crabs causes tidal creek banks to become more vulnerable to erosion.

The experts report that coastal salt marshes are threatened by erosion that is associated with rising seas, pounding waves, and tidal flows. These vulnerabilities are made worse by superabundant crabs, which are found at their highest densities along the estuary’s tidal creeks.

The striped shore crab can be found all along the West Coast of North America. The study highlights the dual role of these crabs as both consumers of salt marsh vegetation and as ecosystem engineers.

“Their burrowing weakens the creekbank edges, so that whole chunks of marsh will sometimes calve off, and by lowering biomass they are reducing the ability of marsh plants to prevent erosion,” said study lead author Kathryn Beheshti.

The researchers analyzed the effects of crabs on the vegetation and sediments along eroding creekbank edges over the course of five years. They found that reducing crab abundance led to increased growth of salt marsh vegetation and enhanced sediment density.

“Field experiments that span multiple seasons and years are rare,” said study co-author Kerstin Wasson. “This work demonstrates the value of long-term studies by showing that burrows, which weaken the stability of tidal creek banks, persist despite the near absence of the crabs that build them.”

According to study co-author Professor Brent Hughes, the crabs were most abundant in spring and summer, when the pickleweed marshes are at peak production. “This synchrony suggests that the effect of crabs as consumers is more punctuated than their more chronic effect as engineers."

Elkhorn Slough is one of the largest estuaries in California. It has been substantially altered by human activities, and erosion is steadily eating away at the marsh. “It’s a big issue, because when the marsh erodes away along the tidal creeks it’s a permanent loss,” explained Beheshti.

Study co-author Professor Christine Angelini of the University of Florida said that salt marshes in the southeastern United States appear to be a harbinger of what’s to come for marshes along the Pacific coast, with sea-level rise amplifying the effects of what would otherwise be considered an innocuous crab.

The researchers are calling for similar long-term studies to be conducted in other West Coast marsh systems to investigate whether the impacts of crabs are widespread. “It’d be great for contextualizing our findings,” said Beheshti. 

“We’d like to know if Elkhorn Slough is the canary in the coal mine, signaling yet another pathway for accelerated marsh edge loss for one of California's rarest coastal habitats.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21508925">Ecosphere</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Superabundant crabs threaten the resilience of salt marshes

The resilience of salt marshes can be compromised by an...

Record-breaking weather events, both hot and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warm-river-habitats-are-important-for-cold-water-fish/">cold</a>, may actually share the same underlying mechanism. An international research team has looked into three extreme events from the past winter to identify the forces that are driving such swings in the weather. 

"By studying these record-breaking cold spells, we can see the ’big picture‘ of extreme weather events.” said study co-author Zhe Han, a scientist in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>. 

“Though the events can be different, they might share similar underlying mechanisms that are related to the global warming. Along with the warming, the Arctic amplification and intensified ocean thermal anomalies may interact with the atmospheric circulation, such as the polar vortex and sudden stratospheric warming, to cause the occurrence of extreme cold or hot events."

On July 9, 2021, the highest temperature on Earth was recorded at 130 degrees Fahrenheit in Death Valley, California. This record was broken just months after record-low temperatures were recorded across Asia and the United States. 

“The overarching problem to solve is why extreme weather events have more frequently occurred in a warming climate during recent decades and if the Arctic warming amplification plays a leading driving role,” said first author Professor Xiangdong Zhang of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

“The extreme events of the 2020-21 winter provide a unique opportunity to examine what physical processes or mechanisms drive these events.”

The study was focused on two record-setting cold air outbreaks in China from late December 2020 to mid-January 2021. During this time, Beijing and Tiajin experienced their lowest temperatures in 54 years.

The researchers also examined the historic cold spell that struck the United States in the Midwest and the South. In Austin, Texas, the temperature dropped its lowest in almost a century at eight degrees Fahrenheit.

The team used both observational data and simulated models to investigate out how sea and atmospheric events may have driven the extreme weather of the 2020-21 winter compared to the last 42 winters.

“Even though global warming and loss of Arctic Sea ice occurs every year, such extreme weather events that we investigate are intermittent - they do not occur every year,” said study co-author James Overland, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. 

“This is because they are caused by a combination of new global warming and extreme, but naturally occurring, precursor weather conditions in the jet stream and polar vortex.”

Zhang explained that abrupt temperature increases in an upper layer of the atmosphere, called sudden stratospheric warming, can drastically alter how the polar vortex and jet stream behave and interact. The weather that results can become even more extreme with fluctuations in ocean temperatures and Arctic sea ice.

“The simultaneous occurrence of anomalous ocean thermal conditions in three ocean basins and the interaction of atmospheric dynamics drove hemispheric-scale, systematic changes in the atmospheric circulation, or weather pattern, to an extremely anomalous state.”

The researchers found that all three events were linked to a sudden stratospheric warming event, but the downstream effects were different in each one. 

In the first event in East Asia, cold polar air steered the midlatitude jet stream southward. During the second event, the polar vortex split, deepening a region of low pressure and circulating with cooler Arctic air. In North America, the polar vortex was also split, but in this case the lower atmosphere settled deeper over the south.

“When attributing the factors responsible for an extreme event, we should have a broad point of view to catch the big picture,” said study co-author Professor Timo Vihma from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. “It may consist of complex interactions of several factors acting far from each other in the hemispherical scale.”

Study co-author Annette Rinke, senior scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, explained that extreme winter weather events are often driven by "remote" factors.

“The study shows that anomalies in ocean temperatures in addition to the large-scale atmospheric circulation can play a key role in extreme weather events,” said Rinke.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/376">Advances in Atmospheric Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Extreme weather events may share the same mechanism

Record-breaking weather events, both hot and cold, may actually share...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a>, experts report that mountain lions moved less and downsized their territory during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-antibodies-persist-for-at-least-nine-months/">COVID-19</a> pandemic. The research contradicts the idea that carnivores roam wild in the absence of people. 

“We saw a potential silver lining with COVID, which obviously has been generally a negative thing for everyone,” said study lead author Professor John Benson. “We saw an opportunity to get a better sense of how human disturbance and human activities influence animal behavior.”

During 43 days of lockdowns from late March to early May 2020, mountain lions around the Los Angeles area were monitored with GPS trackers. At this time, most of the parks were closed to the public - including those favored by mountain lions. 

The researchers found that the reclusive animals moved around less and occupied smaller territories compared to before the pandemic.

“There was this popular perception that animals were going to start running free, expanding their home ranges, moving greater distances, colonizing cities, coming into areas where they didn’t used to be,” said Professor Benson. “But that goes against theory - the theory that animals should move as efficiently as possible."

“It actually makes sense that when you don’t have to dodge around as many humans, you could use the landscape more efficiently. Without humans, you don’t have to take a circuitous route to get from one place to another.”

The study was focused on 12 mountain lions that had previously been collared with GPS trackers by Jeff Sikich and Seth Riley of the National Park Service. The team found that the mountain lions were generally traveling shorter distances by up to one third compared to their pre-pandemic activity. 

That matters, said Professor Benson, because it helps quantify just how much energy mountain lions in Greater Los Angeles are expanding to avoid people - energy they need to hunt for prey and search for mates. 

“Any additional stressor - like needing to modify your movement patterns, which could come with a cost of finding prey, getting enough to eat, mating, whatever it is - could be the stressor that tilts the balance toward the extinction process,” explained Professor Benson.

One of the mountain lions, surrounded by busy freeways on three sides, was found to occupy what may be the smallest home range ever recorded for an adult male of about eight square miles. This is a fraction of the roughly 150 square miles that most mountain lions call home. 

According to Professor Benson, the case study illustrates a paradox that makes sense in the light of theory: a carnivore, already confined to an artificially small range by human disturbance, choosing to occupy an even smaller range when that disturbance abates.

Avoiding people is necessary and good to some extent, said Benson, given that “bad things usually happen when we get annoyed by mountain lions.” Yet the energy they expend to do so might ironically increase human-wildlife conflict if high energy demands are leading them to seek additional food sources, he noted. 

“This idea of coexistence - that if they stay out of our way, everyone’s happy - maybe it’s not that rosy if it causes them to burn more energy and then potentially makes them more likely to actually attack livestock or pets. This is not something we documented or investigated with our current study, but it would be an interesting hypothesis to test with future research."

“Does it have unintended consequences that we can’t control? I think that may be a good thing to look at and re-evaluate.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26888319">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mountain lions downsized their territory during the pandemic

In a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, experts...

An abrupt increase in extreme precipitation across the northeastern United States is part of a larger trend, according to a new study from <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a>. 

States from West Virginia to Maine have experienced heavier rain and snowfall since 1996. The experts found that this excess precipitation has coincided with warming sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. 

Extreme precipitation in the Northeast is typically caused by tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, and extratropical cyclones like Nor’easters.

The new study has linked the last 25 years of extreme precipitation in the Northeast to greenhouse gases from human activity and a warming Atlantic Ocean.

“Our previous work has shown that Northeast extreme precipitation has increased dramatically over the past 25 years, but this study is among the first to demonstrate that this rise is partially due to anthropogenic climate change,” said study lead author Huanping Huang.

In an earlier study, the Dartmouth team found that the Northeast has experienced a 53 percent increase in extreme precipitation since 1996, and that the primary driver of the increase is heavier rainfall from tropical cyclones. 

The researchers linked this weather phenomenon to a warmer atmosphere - which can hold more water - and to a warmer Atlantic Ocean - which drives stronger and more frequent hurricanes. 

“Our results demonstrate that multidecadal variability in Atlantic sea surface temperatures, an important driver of warming in the Atlantic, alongside anthropogenic greenhouse gases and aerosols, also contributed to the increase in Northeast extreme precipitation after 1996,” explained Huang.

The warming of the North Atlantic Ocean since the 1990s is tied to both natural variability and an increase in greenhouse gases. This warming is also tied to a decrease in aerosols, which pollute the air and reflect sunlight, creating a cooling effect. 

“Our analysis illustrates that decreased aerosols and increased greenhouse gases from human activity have contributed to both the rise in Northeast extreme precipitation and North Atlantic sea surface temperatures,” said study co-author Professor Jonathan Winter. 

“Our research team has been exploring this dramatic increase in extreme precipitation for several years now, and this study confirms that humans are in fact, partially responsible for the increase in heavy rain events that we have been experiencing over the past two and a half decades.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/weather-and-climate-extremes">Weather and Climate Extremes</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Extreme precipitation in the Northeast linked to human activity

An abrupt increase in extreme precipitation across the northeastern United...

Across generations, humans adapt to a changing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cattle-are-becoming-less-adapted-to-their-environment/">environment</a> by passing down knowledge. Corn plants have their own strategy for adaptation, using "jumping genes" to maintain genetic diversity. 

Jumping genes, which are known as transposons, were discovered in the 1940s by Nobel Prize-winning <a href="https://www.cshl.edu/">Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</a> (CSHL) geneticist Barbara McClintock.

In a new study, CSHL Professor Doreen Ware and colleagues have published genome sequences from 26 different strains of corn.

The researchers analyzed the genetic diversity found in the genomes of these modern corn plants, including transposons and genes that regulate desired crop traits. This genetic diversity was established as corn plants were bred in different climates throughout the world. 

“Humans have brains. Our main adaptive component is our ability to transfer culture and knowledge, right? And that’s how we deal with our environment. A plant’s strategy is to have a fluid genome. They have a very intimate relationship with these transposons, where they use them to bring in new genetic diversity so that they can deal with these events because they can’t run away. They’re not going to go into the house, and they’re not going to move water to them," explained Professor Ware.

The CSHL team mapped the first corn genome in 2009, and has continued the research ever since. Recent technology made it possible for the experts to locate and study both important crop genes and the nearby regions that regulate their use. 

"We had little access to the regulatory architecture of corn before," said Professor Ware. The most recent analysis reveals how the corn genome was shuffled over time. 

“These genomes provide us a footprint of that life history. Different strains have experienced different environments. For example, some came from tropical environments, others experienced particular diseases, and all those selective pressures leave a footprint of that history," said Professor Ware.

More than 366 million metric tons of corn was grown in the United States from 2018 to 2019. With the new detailed maps of the corn genome, scientists are now equipped to develop crops for a rapidly changing climate. 

“The Midwest is not going to have the same temperature profile twenty years from now," said Professor Ware. "The genomes provide broader insights into corn genetics, and this, in turn, can be used to start optimizing corn to grow in future environments."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</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

Corn plants use jumping genes to adapt to their environment

Across generations, humans adapt to a changing environment by passing...

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may have been gradually losing stability over the past one hundred years, according to a new study by Niklas Boers from the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a>.

The results of this study are as concerning as they are surprising. The AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, is responsible for much of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-alter-photosynthesis-and-plant-growth/">temperatures</a> in Europe and has an important influence on the overall global climate. 

Until now, the collapse of this ocean system had seemed unlikely. If it’s the new reality, there could be dire consequences. 

“The Atlantic Meridional Overturning really is one of our planet’s key circulation systems,” said Boers. “We already know from some computer simulations and from data from Earth’s past, so-called paleoclimate proxy records, that the AMOC can exhibit - in addition to the currently attained strong mode - an alternative, substantially weaker mode of operation. This bi-stability implies that abrupt transitions between the two circulation modes are in principle possible.”

The AMOC redistributes heat and it’s predicted that if it collapses, there could be major changes to weather patterns. According to Britain's <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/">Met Office</a>, a collapse of the AMOC would increase cooling of the Northern Hemisphere, cause an overall drop in precipitation over Europe and North America, and lead to a shift in monsoons in South America and Africa, 

“The difference is crucial. Because the loss of dynamical stability would imply that the AMOC has approached its critical threshold beyond which an abrupt and potentially irreversible transition to the weak mode could occur,” said Boers.

Previous research has shown that the AMOC is weaker than it’s been at any point in the last thousand years. It’s been unclear whether this weakness is due to a slowing in pace or a loss of stability. Unfortunately, the research suggests that it’s the latter. According to Boers, the culprit seems to be warming.   

“Most evidence suggests that the recent AMOC weakening is caused directly by the warming of the northern Atlantic ocean. But according to our understanding, this would be unlikely to lead to an abrupt state transition." 

"Stability loss that could result in such a transition would be expected following the inflow of substantial amounts of freshwater into the North Atlantic in response to melting of the Greenland ice sheet, melting Arctic sea ice and an overall enhanced precipitation and river runoff,”

Direct observation of the AMOC for the last 100 years is non-existent. However, scientists can look at salinity patterns in the Atlantic to look at temperatures and overall climate. Unfortunately, this evidence suggests that indeed AMOC may be close to collapse. 

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

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By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Atlantic Ocean currents may soon change for the worse

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may have been gradually...

Experts in the field of risk analysis feel that too much attention is paid to preparing for Hollywood-style cataclysmic volcanic eruptions while the potential effects of minor eruptions could be more damaging if they occur in areas of sensitive infrastructure. 

A team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge’s <a href="https://www.cser.ac.uk/">Centre for the Study of Existential Risk</a> (<a href="https://www.cser.ac.uk/">CSER</a>) have identified seven potential hotspots where small, active <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-are-volcanoes-in-indonesia-so-dangerous/">volcanoes</a> are clustered together in the vicinity of key infrastructure such as communications or transport hubs. 

In the report, published today in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, the experts state that eruptions within these “pinch points” could cause domino effects with catastrophic consequences.

“Even a minor eruption in one of the areas we identify could erupt enough ash or generate large enough tremors to disrupt networks that are central to global supply chains and financial systems,” said study lead author Dr Lara Mani.

According to Dr. Mani and colleagues, even smaller eruptions measuring up to 6 on the “volcanic explosivity scale” have the power to cause ash clouds, landslides and mudflows that could impact on transport systems, crop production and international communications. Minor eruptions could also put food security at risk and potentially disable communication.

The team refers to the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland as an example. After a magnitude 4 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, wind blew plumes of ash towards mainland Europe. This led to the closure of European airspace at a cost of US$5 billion to the global economy. 

By comparison, in 1991, a magnitude 6 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines caused less than a fifth of the economic damage produced by Eyjafjallajökull because of the volcano’s distance from vital infrastructure. 

The pinch point regions identified in the study include volcanic groups in Taiwan, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Indonesian archipelago, the North Atlantic, and the northwestern United States. 

The Luzon volcanic arc, for example, stretches from Taiwan through the Philippines to the island of Luzon. Even minor eruptions in these smaller volcanoes could disrupt shipping in the South China Sea and disturb major undersea cabling that connects China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. In addition, Taiwan is one of the largest producers of electronic chips, without which the global tech industry would be paralyzed.

The researchers conclude that more attention needs to be focused on preparations for the less spectacular - but potentially more devastating - consequences of minor eruptions in these hotspot areas.

“It’s time to change how we view extreme volcanic risk,” said Dr. Mani. “We need to move away from thinking in terms of colossal eruptions destroying the world, as portrayed in Hollywood films. The more probable scenarios involve lower-magnitude eruptions interacting with our societal vulnerabilities and cascading us towards catastrophe.”

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By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Minor volcanic eruptions could be the ones to watch out for

Experts in the field of risk analysis feel that too...

It’s already widely known that trees and forests sequester carbon, but this is not the only influence that forests have on the climate. According to new research, forests increase cloud cover by up to 15 percent compared to non-forested areas, creating a cooling effect.

"Forests provide a multitude of essential services to human society. These include the capture, storage and regulation of water flows, the improvement of air and water quality, the supply of timber, energy and erosion control, the provision of habitat for biodiversity and livelihoods for humans," wrote the study authors. 

"There is a particular service that forests have that has come to prominent attention in recent years, and it relates to their interactions with the climate system and their climate change mitigation potential."

In an effort to examine more closely how forests affect the climate, the experts looked at global satellite images. 

“Earth observations are increasingly showing that trees and forests are impacting climate by affecting biophysical surface properties,” said study co-author Dr. Alessandro Cescatti of the European Commission Joint Research Centre.

The researchers found that the cooling trend doesn’t quite hold for boreal forests in the winter. Forested boreal areas actually showed less cloud cover than non-forested areas in the winter, yet showed more cloud cover in the summer by five percent. The increase in cloud cover is greatest in evergreen needle forests. 

Low-level cloud cover, like that enhanced by forests, creates another cooling effect besides carbon sequestration. Looking at global cloud cover would not be possible without satellite imagery. 

“Without global cloud and land-cover type observations from satellites this study would not have been possible on a global scale," said Martin Stengel of the Climate Change Initiative Cloud Project, who was not involved in the research. "The authors of this study appreciated the high-spatial resolution of the initiative’s products.”

“Studies like this one, based on robust satellite observations, are fundamental to characterize the complexity of the climate system and provide benchmarks for climate model developments," said Dr. Cescatti.

The scientists noted that their findings should be additional motivation for reforestation. Forests shouldn’t be considered only for their ability to sequester carbon but the many other benefits they give, including a boost in cloud cover. 

"To avoid the more dire consequences of climate change, humankind not only needs to stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but the excess carbon that has already been emitted must also be removed," wrote the researchers.

"Currently, the most realistic technique to effectively capture carbon (among what are known as negative emission technologies or NETs) is to have it sequestered by trees."

"However, to reach the necessary mitigation targets this effectively requires expanding the land covered by forests by means of ambitious forest restoration or afforestation programs."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. 

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By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Forests create cloud cover that cools the climate

It’s already widely known that trees and forests sequester carbon,...

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

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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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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