Rivers across the United States are under severe threat from extensive pollution and weakened protections, according to a a recent report led by the <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Rivers Association</a>.



The experts found that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-is-disrupting-the-seasonal-flow-of-rivers/">rivers</a> of New Mexico, including the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos - which are vital to over 85% of the state's population - stand out as the most endangered in the nation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-american-rivers-and-dangerous-pollution-nbsp">American rivers and dangerous pollution&nbsp;</h2>



Scientists attribute the vulnerability of seasonally flowing rivers to a loophole in the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/tmdl/Vision">2022 Clean Water Act</a> amendments, which fail to protect these rivers from the runoff of wastewater treatment plants, mines, and industrial sites.&nbsp;



As a result, American rivers that millions depend on for drinking water are at risk of becoming dangerously polluted, posing serious health risks and disrupting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/freshwater-ecosystems-filter-pollution/">ecosystems</a>. Among the rivers facing the gravest dangers are the Tijuana River in California and the Santa Cruz River in Arizona.&nbsp;



“All water is connected. We cannot allow pollution anywhere without risk to the rivers we rely on for our drinking water,” said Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of the American Rivers. “Our leaders must hold polluters accountable and strengthen the Clean Water Act to safeguard our health and communities.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-protection-for-seasonally-flowing-rivers-nbsp">No protection for seasonally flowing rivers&nbsp;</h2>



The Supreme Court's 2022 decision removed protections for rivers that only flow seasonally, primarily during periods of higher precipitation in the fall and winter. This decision disproportionately affects arid states like New Mexico, where rivers flow primarily during the rainy season or from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spring-heatwaves-deplete-the-water-supply-in-the-western-us/">snowmelt</a>.



“These rulings fly in the face of established science and ignore the value that small streams and wetlands have to their broader watersheds, communities, and economies, particularly in places with dry climates like New Mexico,” the report authors wrote.&nbsp;



These waterways not only supply clean <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strict-pfas-limits-will-make-drinking-water-safer-for-100-million-americans/">drinking water</a> and irrigation but also support rich cultural traditions and diverse habitats essential for fish and wildlife, thus playing a critical role in both the environment and the lives of nearly 87% of New Mexicans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-catastrophic-effects-of-river-pollution-nbsp">Catastrophic effects of river pollution&nbsp;</h2>



Furthermore, pollution in these endangered rivers can have broader, catastrophic effects, extending even to major rivers like the Rio Grande, which sustains around six million people and countless wildlife species. The pollution in the Tijuana River, which has been problematic for decades, exemplifies the transboundary nature of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-the-effects-of-pollutants-on-river-ecosystems/">river pollution</a>, affecting communities in both Mexico and the United States.



The situation is compounded by large-scale projects like the Yazoo Backwater Pumps in Mississippi, which threaten over 200,000 acres of waterfowl habitat by draining wetlands essential for migratory birds. Known as the 'Zombie Project,' this initiative, originally designed to control flooding, now represents a significant ecological misstep.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ongoing-rollback-of-the-clean-water-act">Ongoing rollback of the Clean Water Act</h2>



Additionally, the Santa Cruz River, once a vibrant desert oasis, faces renewed threats from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tackling-the-worlds-climate-driven-water-crisis/">water scarcity</a> and pollution after only recently beginning to recover.&nbsp;



The ongoing rollback of the Clean Water Act's protections poses further challenges to its revitalization, prompting American Rivers to urge the Biden administration and legislators to reinforce protections for these critical ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-impact-of-polluted-waterways-nbsp">Human impact of polluted waterways&nbsp;</h2>



A recent survey by the <a href="https://riversarelife.com/">Rivers are Life</a> coalition highlights the human impact, with 86% of respondents indicating that polluted waterways adversely affect their health. “I believe that addressing the pollution of waterways starts with awareness and education, and encouraging people to collectively take action,” said Chris Keefer, the co-founder of Rivers are Life.



“Our hope is that in learning about just how important rivers are to our communities globally, we can all take action to protect these vital waterways and recognize them as the lifeblood of our planet.”



This widespread call to action underscores the urgency of addressing river pollution not just as an environmental issue but as a critical component of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-environmental-and-public-health-benefits-of-solar-power/">public health</a> and community sustainability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-endangered-american-rivers-nbsp">Most endangered American rivers&nbsp;</h2>



1. Rivers of New Mexico



2. Big Sunflower and Yazoo Rivers, Mississippi



3. Duck River, Tennessee



4. Santa Cruz River, Arizona



5. Little Pee Dee River, South Carolina and North Carolina&nbsp;



6. Farmington River, Connecticut and Massachusetts



7. Trinity River, California



8. Kobuk River, Alaska



9. Tijuana River, California



10. Blackwater River, West Virginia&nbsp;



The full report from the American Rivers Association can be found <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report_NewMexico_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.



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Iconic American rivers are threatened by pollution

Rivers across the United States are under severe threat from extensive pollution and weakened protections, according to a a recent report led by the American Rivers Association. The experts found that the rivers of New Mexico, including the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan, and Pecos - which are vital to over 85% of the state's population - stand out as the most endangered in the nation. American rivers and dangerous pollution&nbsp; Scientists attribute the vulnerability of seasonally flowing rivers to a loophole in the 2022 Clean Water...

Scientists are predicting that climate change will eventually turn Antarctica green, as ice sheets continue to shrink and the conditions become suitable for plants to return. 

According to experts at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK), the last time atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO²) were as high as they are today was three million years ago during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-giants-study-reveals-shocking-decline-of-large-mammals-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pliocene period</a>.

Study lead author Matteo Willeit told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a> that the current amount of atmospheric CO2 is “unnatural,” and that rising CO2 levels are pushing the Earth's climate beyond conditions ever experienced by humans. 

He added that, at the current rate of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-trend-410-smonths/">global warming</a>, the average global sea level will rise by as much as two meters in the next 200 years.

The researchers used a new computer simulation for the study, which is the first to combine data on ocean-floor sediments with the analysis of historic ice volumes.

On Wednesday, a meeting was held by the <a href="https://www.rmets.org/">Royal Meteorological Society</a> and the <a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/">Grantham Institute for Climate Change</a> to discuss the climate of the Pliocene, which may provide insight into the pressures that the planet is facing today. 

The experts discussed sedimentary records and plant fossils from near Antarctica which show that summertime temperatures during the Pliocene were 14 degrees Celsius hotter than what we currently experience.

Martin Siegert, a professor at Imperial College, told reporters that there will likely be a “lag” before the full effects of global warming are felt. “If you put your oven on at home, and set it to 200C, the temperature doesn't get to that immediately. It takes a bit of time, and it's the same with the climate.” 

Professor Dame Jane Francis is the director of the British Antarctic Survey. She said that the remains of forests that once existed in Antarctica have been found, and that they likely date back the Pliocene.


“If our mission was to put that carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere and recreate the Cretaceous period, 100 million years ago - if that was our mission, we are doing a pretty good job,” said Professor Siegert. He is calling for global action to address the issue of rising CO2 levels and global warming. 

“The consequences of what we have done over 150 years will continue into the future, so it's up to us to do something,” said Professor Siegert. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>. 

--

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

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Global warming could turn Antarctica green, experts warn

Scientists are predicting that climate change will eventually turn Antarctica...

Striking images captured on the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/galapagos-islands-invasive-species/">Galapagos Islands</a> by photographer and naturalist Tui De Roy illustrate the impacts of global warming, as marine iguanas struggle to survive. Despite the resilient nature of the iguanas, the species is starving to death as their primary food source vanishes. 

“Marine iguanas live hard lives: all they need is tropical sun to keep warm, black lava to bask on, cold seas full of seaweed to feed on; that’s it, no frills,” said De Roy.

“This makes them the perfect subject to illustrate the otherworldly qualities of the volcanic Galapagos Islands. But they are also quite vulnerable: when the cold ocean currents are replaced by warm waters, the seaweed dies, and so do the iguanas.”

The renowned photographer grew up on the islands and has observed the iguanas for many years. She has witnessed thousands of iguanas die every time there is a sustained period of warm weather, or an El Nino event.

[caption id="attachment_1870831" align="aligncenter" width="627"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/iguanas.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870831 size-full" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/iguanas.jpg" alt="" width="627" height="402" /></a> Image Credit: Tui De Roy[/caption]

Many scientists predict that climate change will further intensify the El Niño effect, a period of unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Marine life are directly affected due to a lack of upwelling, which brings cold water to the surface.

[caption id="attachment_1870832" align="aligncenter" width="634"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/galapagos.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870832 size-full" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/galapagos.jpg" alt="" width="634" height="930" /></a> Image Credit: Tui De Roy[/caption]

The vulnerable iguanas in the Galapagos have been responding to a lack of food by literally shrinking their skeleton. 

“They have the ability to shrink their bodies - even their skeleton - by as much as 20 percent in overall length in order to resist starvation until the cold waters return,” explained De Roy. “But if the warm spell lasts more than 3-4 months, thousands of iguanas die.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shocking photos of Galapagos iguanas struggling to survive climate change

Striking images captured on the Galapagos Islands by photographer and...

One of the main arguments that climate change deniers use to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/battling-climate-change-misinformation/">refute the realities of human-driven global warming </a>is that the planet has gone through warm and cold phases before and that far too much attention has been paid to limiting anthropogenic emissions. 

While it is true that the Earth has gone through cold and warm periods in the past, CO2 levels were the primary driver of these changes and now greenhouse gases from industrial operations and human activities are rapidly shifting the climate to new extremes. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> developed a computer simulation that shows for the first time that global temperatures have never increased past two degrees Celsius in three million years. 

There is likely more CO2 in our atmosphere than ever before, according to the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances. 

The simulation analyzed millions of years of ocean floor sediment data, and the analysis revealed that a decrease in carbon emissions triggered the start of Earth’s glacial cycles. 

“It is a breakthrough that we can now show in computer simulations that changes in CO2 levels were a main driver of the ice ages, together with variations of how the Earth’s orbits around the sun, the so-called Milankovitch cycles,” said Matteo Willeit, the lead author of the study. “Our results imply a strong sensitivity of the Earth system to relatively small variations in atmospheric CO2.” 

The researchers say that unless CO2 emissions are drastically reduced, global temperatures will exceed two degrees in the next 50 years. 

“It seems we're now pushing our home planet beyond any climatic conditions experienced during the entire current geological period, the Quaternary,” said Willeit. “A period that started almost 3 million years ago and saw human civilization beginning only 11,000 years ago. So, the modern climate change we see is big, really big; even by standards of Earth history.”

The researchers used astronomical and geological data as well as algorithms to develop an effective simulation to reproduce the natural variations in climate over the past three million years. 

Several factors that can influence melting were taken into account for the simulation including CO2 levels, sediment distribution, and atmospheric dust. 

“The fact that the model can reproduce the main features of the observed climate history gives us confidence in our general understanding of how the climate system works,” Andrey Ganopolski, a co-author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:mailtoLkayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

CO2 levels are higher than ever before in 3 million years

One of the main arguments that climate change deniers use...

I recently spent a night at Gordon Hirabayashi Campground in the Coronado National Forest located outside of Tucson, Arizona.  The campground is lovely, nestled into an oak and juniper dry scrubland that puts into mind of parts of the Colorado Plateau far north of there.  Rather, Gordon Hirabayashi is part of a sky island in the form of Mount Lemmon that rises from the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cacti-birds-sonoran-desert/">Sonoran Desert</a>. The campground is located just off the 800+ mile Arizona Trail with a few other trails nearby as well.  Streams were flowing everywhere through the arid landscape of canyons and cliffs. The day was cool when my fiance Erin and I hiked along the Arizona Trail with our dogs, the air full of bird noise. 

The place certainly was lovely, but something bothered me.  I knew who Gordon Hirabayashi was but it would’ve been pretty easy to ignore the one small sign near the campground that told a short story about him.  According to the <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recarea/?recid=25648">US Forest Service website</a>, Hirabayashi was a senior studying at the University of Washington in 1942. Hirabayashi boldly challenged the constitutionality of Japanese internment camps and was sentenced to serve in the so-called Federal Honor Camp where the campground of his name sake is now.  Of course, Hirabayashi was but a small part of a much greater tragedy. Following Pearl Harbor, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes on the west coast, given only short notice to tend their affairs. Some lost their houses permanently and never returned.  For years, these people were kept imprisoned like Hirabayashi. 

Eventually, Hirabayashi’s case was overturned and it was found unconstitutional to imprison someone on the basis of race or ancestry. But it was too late to help the Japanese Americans that were imprisoned during World War II. At the campground, there is little to suggest much of this.  There are the decaying remains of concrete and stone structures, many with indeterminate functions, hidden under leaves, bound by tree roots. No interpretive sign tells what these structures, almost certainly built by prisoners, really are. The camp also held conscientious objectors and before Hirabayashi, criminals, and little of this history is told at the actual location.  

To be fair, there are other locations in the US where the federal government tells this disturbing chapter of our nation’s history.  <a href="https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm">Manzanar National Historic Site</a> in California is an old Japanese Internment camp maintained by the National Park Service.  In Washington DC, as part of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/japanese-american-memorial-to-patriotism-during-world-war-ii.htm">National Mall and Memorial Parks</a> also maintained by the National Park Service, there is a memorial statue of a crane tangled in barbed wire to represent the struggles of interned Japanese Americans.  For an instance that involved a gross overreach of federal power and the unjust imprisonment of 120,000 men, women and children, it’s still an easy event to forget in America.  Other tragedies perpetrated in the US are even easier to ignore.

<a href="https://www.wilderness.org/articles/article/13-parks-and-monuments-celebrate-black-history">Wilderness.org</a> lists 13 parks and monuments that celebrate black history.  Tellingly, only one of the monuments, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm">Harriet Tubman National Historic Park</a> in New York, celebrates and tells the courageous story of the Underground Railroad leader who shuttled so many slaves to freedom in the North.  Two other monuments indirectly talk about slavery – <a href="https://www.nps.gov/afbg/index.htm">African Burial Ground National Monument</a> is a 17th century graveyard of Africans, freed and slaves in New York, only recently discovered during construction in 1991.  <a href="https://www.nps.gov/reer/index.htm">Reconstruction Era National Monument</a> in South Carolina tells the history of African Americans recently freed and trying to make a new life from themselves in a devastated south, the monument includes a historic school building for recently freed children. Tellingly, all of these places were declared National Monuments under president Obama.  The rest of the parks and monuments on the wilderness list include monuments to the civil rights struggle and the achievements of a few African Americans and some parks not dedicated specifically to African American history at all but including it. Many of the parks dedicated to the civil rights struggle were also declared by president Obama.  There are no national monuments dedicated specifically to the history of slavery itself; meaning no plantation homes, nowhere to see auction blocks where men, women, children were torn apart, humiliated and abused for greed justified by racist views. Americans are much more comfortable with memorials for Martin Luther King than seeing the horror at the root of the African American experience.

Parks that don’t have to confront the history of slavery usually don’t. A handful of public lands are dedicated to issues connected to slavery but others talk of slave owners, ignoring the plight of their slaves or even their existence.      

Obviously, the history is a dark one that should be approached with respect, but it’s a reality that every American should come to terms with, whatever their race.  

<a href="https://www.nps.gov/sand/index.htm">Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Park</a> in Colorado, is the first park in the United States to contain the word ‘massacre’.  The park is a small first towards recognizing the systematic attempted genocide and cultural destruction of Native Americans.  The park is dedicated to one instance in 1864 when peaceful Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho, mainly women and children, were butchered by Colonel John Chivington’s Colorado volunteers, <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sand-creek-massacre">History</a> reports.  At the time, the event was celebrated in Denver, scalps paraded through town, coin purses made from Native American scrotums to memorialize the ‘battle’.  Much of the real ignoble history of the massacre of peaceful natives by American soldiers was suppressed by official silence and forced indoctrination by ‘education’ in schools for Native Americans.

We have a few official national monuments dedicated to remembering and learning from our dark past, but we need more.  We have no hauntingly complete and present Auschwitz to visit and smell the smoke of the terrible fires of hatred.                                        

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Memorializing tragedy and the darker side of American history

I recently spent a night at Gordon Hirabayashi Campground in...

Ticks do not necessarily flock to an unmowed lawn. When researchers discussed the solution of less frequent lawn mowing to improve the habitat for native bees, concerns were immediately raised about how this may allow ticks to thrive. The team set out to test the common assumption that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ticks-trapped-amber/">ticks</a> prefer long grass.

“The first thing people said was that letting the grass get longer would invite ticks,” said Susannah Lerman, a research ecologist with the <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/">USDA Forest Service</a> Northern Research Station. “It was clear that before we could make the case for promoting lawns as bee habitat, we had to understand the tick risk.”

The study was designed to evaluate whether less frequent lawn mowing in residential lawns across Springfield, Massachusetts, could promote floral resources to provide viable habitats for native bees. The experts surveyed for bees and blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, every three weeks. Ticks do not necessarily flock to an unmowed lawn

In 16 suburban lawns over the course of two summers, the team documented 111 bee species, which represents about one-quarter of all known bees in Massachusetts. However, a total of 144 tick drags in lawns of various lawn mowing frequencies and grass heights produced not a single tick.

“There are obvious limitations to this study in terms of establishing the risk of ticks,” said Lerman. “We sampled for a single species of tick, and our study was limited to 16 residential lawns in a single city. Still, our study has two significant takeaways: you do not necessarily invite ticks if you mow the lawn every other week instead of every week, and common assumptions about nature are always worth investigating; scientists may be surprised by what we find.”

Blacklegged ticks are known to carry Lyme disease, a tick-borne infection that is prevalent in the Northeast. Study co-author and research entomologist Vince D'Amico said that while blacklegged ticks are undoubtedly present in residential lawns, the grassy part of a property is probably too dry for the tick. 

“This species needs near 100 percent humidity for at least part of the day,” said D'Amico. “Where we have leaf litter, the ticks do very well.”

In the United States, an estimated 40 million acres of residential lawns managed in both public and private have the potential to become viable habitats for native bee species.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ticks do not necessarily flock to an unmowed lawn

Ticks do not necessarily flock to an unmowed lawn. When...

On the Hawaiian island of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/endangered-birds-found-oahu/">Oahu</a>, native birds have nearly been replaced by invasive bird species. A new study has revealed that local plants now depend almost entirely on invasive birds to disperse their seeds.

The findings suggest that ecological communities dominated by non-native species can be as dynamic and stable as native communities, and that invasive species are taking on important roles in these complex ecosystems. 

Previous studies have shown that interactions between plants and animals are extremely sensitive to invasive species or extinctions. Many of these networks, however, have only been investigated in native-dominated communities where invasive species are not present. The studies may have also failed to account for the coevolved interactions between plants and animals that have formed over long time spans.

[caption id="attachment_1870783" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Native-plants-on-Oahu-depend-on-non-native-birds-for-survival-.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870783" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Native-plants-on-Oahu-depend-on-non-native-birds-for-survival-.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="434" /></a> Oahu[/caption]

As human activities drive more and more species invasions and extinctions worldwide, the new ecological communities that are emerging are not well understood. Scientists do not know how these modified ecosystems compare to native communities.

To investigate, a research team led by Jefferson Vizentin-Bugoni analyzed the bird-based seed dispersal networks on Oahu Hawaii, where invasive bird species are now dominant. The scientists identified over 100,000 seeds collected from bird feces across Oahu and found that native plants are almost entirely dependent on invasive birds for seed dispersal. 

Furthermore, the researchers discovered that the newly developed networks on Oahu strongly resemble the stable structure of networks that are still dominated by native species across the globe. According to the experts, this indicates that ecological communities can arise over a short period of time, and can do so independently of the species involved. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Jeferson Vizentin-Bugoni

Native plants on Oahu depend on non-native birds for survival

On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, native birds have nearly...

President Trump stirred up controversy after making a bizarre statement against wind turbines during the <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?459408-1/president-trump-remarks-national-republican-congressional-committee-dinner">National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner</a> on Tuesday night.

“If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75% in value,” Trump said during a speech. “And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, OK?” 

The president’s claims are not true, and they caught the attention of Republican Senator Charles Grassley, who is a huge advocate for wind energy and the wind energy tax credit. 

On Wednesday, responding to reporters, the Iowa senator said that the comment was “idiotic,” according to the <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/">Des Moines Register</a>. 

Grassley was also one of 19 senators to sign a bipartisan appeal for more federal wind energy funding. 

In the appeal, Grassley along with Senator Jeff Merkley hailed wind energy as an “American Success Story.” Currently, wind energy employs more than 100,000 people, and Iowa has a leader in wind energy in the US. 

According to the <a href="https://www.iaenvironment.org/our-work/clean-energy/wind-energy">Iowa Environmental Council</a>, Iowa was the first state to generate over 30 percent of electricity through wind energy. 

“Pretty simple. I wish his staff would tell him I’m the father and now the grandfather of wind energy tax credits. I don’t think he knows it, or I don’t think he’d make those comments that aren’t quite appropriate,” Grassley said.

While studies have shown that the sound disturbances from wind turbines can be a source of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-living-near-wind-turbines-have-an-effect-your-health/">annoyance and stress </a>to residents who live nearby, there have not been any proven links between cancer or headaches.

Wind turbines do pose a risk to migrating birds and<a href="https://www.earth.com/search-results/?search=wind+turbine"> bird populations</a>, and research into these impacts, including possible links to human health impacts are crucial to the advancement of renewables in the United States. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Republican senator calls out Trump’s “idiotic” remarks on wind turbines

President Trump stirred up controversy after making a bizarre statement...

So far, 2019 has been a good year for an abundance of wildflowers.  So-called 'super blooms' have been reported in the hostile climates of <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160302-death-valley-super-bloom-wildflowers-weather/">Death Valley</a>, <a href="https://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/az.html">Phoenix</a>, and elsewhere.  According to the <a href="https://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/az.html">Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum</a>, there are some critical factors involved in how many wildflowers will bloom in any given spring.  

Desert wildflowers germinate in the fall.  A rain during the germination period is important for wildflowers in the spring.  This initial trigger rain is followed by an unusually wet winter season for a ‘super bloom’ to occur.  Spectacular blooms occur in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts about once every 10 years. Of course, perennial desert plants often flower with less rain the pickier perennials dependent on rain for germination.  Southern California has been the heart of this particular super bloom, much of the landscape being covered in a veritable sea of golden poppies.

Lake Elsinore, a Southern California town located on the shores of a lake by the same name, has been a popular destination for visitors.  Lake Elsinore is in an area long inhabited by Native Americans and until recently been a small town, now grown to a population of over <a href="https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk">60,000</a>.  News and social media have made this part of California especially popular.  Not only super blooms of wild flowers but also large numbers of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/orange-butterflies-southern-california/">painted lady butterflies</a> (Vanessa cardui) are being attracted by the flowers.  The butterfly migrates from Mexico into California in one generation and further north in the next, the generation after starting a southern migration.  In 2005, during a year of exceptionally good blooms, it was estimated that there were billions of butterflies flying over Southern California, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/southern-california-skies-fill-butterflies-thanks-painted-lady-migration-n982551">NBC News</a>.  Now, the city of Lake Elsinore is being crowded even more by people.  

[caption id="attachment_1870745" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Lake-Elsinore-California-USA.-March-21-2019.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870745" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Lake-Elsinore-California-USA.-March-21-2019.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="351" /></a> Super bloom in Lake Elsinore, California on March 21, 2019[/caption]

According to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-superbloom-poppies-2632104685.html">Ecowatch</a>, as many as 50,000 tourists visited Lake Elsinore to see the fields of poppies, nearly doubling the population.  Traffic leading to the best places to view the super blooms has been congested and slow. People trampled the flowers to get the best selfies in the fields of blooms.  Quickly, elation over natural beauty turned to discomfort caused by the massive influx of tourists. Photos captioned #superbloom by tourists were quickly followed by photos tagged #poppynightmare on social media.  The city of Lake Elsinore itself has taken to bemoaning the influx of visitors on its FaceBook page.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/18/super-bloom-lake-elsinore-poppies-flowers">The Guardian</a> reports that the situation got so bad that Walker Canyon, one of the more popular places to visit the poppy super bloom, was closed temporarily.  In the midst of the swarms of people, not only is the city becoming crowded and the roadways congested, the poppies themselves are being loved to death.  In the frenzy to see and photograph the super bloom, people are actually trampling the flowers under foot. The problem is spread across Southern California, not just Lake Elsinore.

<a href="http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=627">Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve</a>, a California State natural reserve, is another popular place to view the super bloom.  The official website encourages visitors to come and enjoy the fields blanketed in flowers but advises those that do to stay on official trails, not bring dogs and to not pick the flowers.  Commercial or student film and photography also requires a permit. What the rules don’t explicitly say is to not land a helicopter in a poppy field.

[caption id="attachment_1870746" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/super-bloom-in-death-valley.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870746" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/super-bloom-in-death-valley.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="373" /></a> Super bloom in Death Valley[/caption]

Recently, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/27/helicopter-lands-super-bloom-california">The Guardian</a> reports, a couple did just that.  A helicopter landed in an open field of poppies and a man and woman got out and started walking around, crushing even more of the flowers than their helicopter did.  As law enforcement officials approached, the two jumped into the helicopter and quickly flew away. This act, although not described in the rules on the official reserve website, is illegal and is now being investigated.  Officials are also on the lookout for people entering the reserve illegally by ducking through barbed wire fences. With the number of visitors now, it’s easy to worry about the poppies being trampled. All this havoc is despite early preparations in California.  

At Lake Elsinore, officials knew of the possibility of crowding and damage from tourists.  In 2017, tourists arrived in large groups to view that years stunning super bloom. Observing the weather over the winter, city officials tried to prepare, reports <a href="https://www.pe.com/2019/03/01/two-years-after-stunning-wildflower-superbloom-stopped-traffic-lake-elsinore-takes-precautions/">The Press-Enterprise</a>. More law enforcement officers were made to be present and more signs were put up to warn people off the poppy fields, yet the mess seemed almost unavoidable given the power of social media.  Walker Canyon is managed for wildlife and native plants, with a few trails, so the focus isn’t on tourism or recreation but conservation, which makes managing the huge number of visitors a challenge.  

Not only the plants and wildlife suffer, but the tourists endangered themselves and others as well.  People were pulling onto the shoulder of roads to illegally take selfies. Rattlesnakes come out of hibernation around this time and at least one super bloom visitor was bitten by a snake, another was injured scrambling over rocks to flee a snake.  Unfortunately, beautiful places often suffer from people ‘loving them to death’. 

California is a huge tourist destination and many popular hiking and camping destinations there and across the west are increasingly crowded, sometimes with people unaware of proper outdoor etiquette.  Huge numbers of visitors combine with other challenges to conservation, such as climate change which may be affecting iconic plants in places such as Joshua Tree National Park and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm">Saguaro National Park</a>.  The poppies and other flowering plants part of the super bloom may be affected as well.  It may seem to some like this recent super bloom repudiates the idea of a trend towards hotter drier weather, as but <a href="https://www.desertsun.com/story/desert-magazine/2017/05/05/dont-let-super-bloom-fool-you-climate-shifts-changing-local-landscape/310810001/">Desert Sun</a> reports, it’s just an anomaly.

Fewer young Joshua Trees are growing in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm">Joshua Tree National Park</a>, one of the places to see the spectacular super bloom, despite this year’s especially wet conditions.  Annual flowers are one thing; quickly growing plants depending on only one season of good moisture to thrive – for a year.  Joshua Trees and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/decline-saguaro/">cacti</a> are another thing – slow growing plants that can establish themselves in dry hot conditions but may have a hard time when young as the climate becomes increasingly hotter.  Fewer super blooms seem likely in the future as well, despite this one and the tourists will make it harder for the flowers to continue to bloom even in the rare conditions when they can in such numbers.   

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

As stunning super blooms spring up, tourists often get carried away

So far, 2019 has been a good year for an...

While many people are ramping up their efforts to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/students-protest-climate-change-inaction/">combat climate change</a>, there’s only so much that can be done at an individual level, especially when few incentives exist at the city, state, and national levels to encourage sustainability and lower greenhouse gas emissions. 

Businesses and communities have expressed interest in trying to lower emissions or prepare for the predicted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/economic-impact-climate-change/">impacts of climate change</a>, but some remain unsure of the best places to start. 

To help remedy this gap between climate change studies and action, in 2016 a federal advisory committee formed under President Obama began working on ways to make the National Climate Assessment more accessible for communities. 

The <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/">National Climate Assessment</a> is an interagency group that summarizes and reports on climate science and the impacts of climate change.

In 2017, the climate change panel was disbanded by President Trump, but the committee has now regrouped. 

The newly established Independent Advisory Committee on Applied Climate Assessment recently published a report detailing recommendations for how communities should proceed in preparing for climate change. 

The report was published in the journal Weather, Climate and Society which is backed by the <a href="https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/">American Meteorological Society</a>, a key supporter of the new committee. 

“We live in an era of climate change, and yet many of our systems, codes, and standards have not caught up,” said Daniel Zarrilli, New York City's chief climate policy advisor. “Integrating climate science into everyday decisions is not just smart planning, it's an urgent necessity," 

New York City is one of only a few cities that has a climate change panel, and this new report provides a helpful framework that cities and towns can use in establishing their own policy advisory committee and panel. 

“The point is to take what we know, make it usable for the communities, and increase their confidence in weighing the tradeoffs and opportunities that come with different strategies for adaptation and mitigation,” said Richard Moss, a visiting senior research scientist at Columbia's Earth Institute and chairman of the Independent Advisory Committee.

The panel helped launch a new network called the Science to Climate Action Network which includes experts from state, local and tribal settings. 

Having resources like the Science to Climate Action Network, local governments will have a better idea of where to turn for guidance on how to help mitigate the impacts of climate change such as sea level rise or wildfires. These impacts are being felt in increasing severity worldwide. 

The network will also help provide a platform where experts and communities can work together and collaborate, share projects in progress and weigh the pros and cons of enacting certain policies. 

“Many of the ideas come from decision-makers, community-based organizations, and climate experts who help users apply knowledge,” said Moss. “We're trying to produce something that adds value for those on the front lines of preparing their communities for climate change.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Federal climate panel disbanded by Trump has now regrouped

While many people are ramping up their efforts to combat...

Dating tree rings, also known as dendrochronology, has helped researchers understand past climates, precipitation, and other environmental factors that have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-tropical-belt-shifting/">impacted tree growth</a> through the years.

But now in a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.shh.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History</a> have used tree ring data to study early human activity and forest management practices in pre-colonial Brazil 400 years ago. 

It’s long been thought that forests in the Amazon Basin were “pristine” and that humans only sparsely inhabited the area until Europeans arrived in the 16th century. 

But archeological evidence provides proof to the contrary showing that before the arrival of Europeans, pre-Columbian societies were involved in widespread plant domestication, forest management, and landscape alteration. 

Today, the Amazon is home to many key tree species, but these forests are threatened due to climate change and human activities.

By studying these early instances of forest management, we have a better chance of preserving and managing our forests in the future considering the drastic changes that the world’s forests have undergone with the rise of industrialization. 

For the study, published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214128">PLOS ONE</a>, the researchers focused on a neotropical tree species, the Brazil nut tree, to show how human activities 400 years ago influenced tree growth and forest biodiversity. 

“The results of this study demonstrate that Brazil nut tree growth reflects human occupation intensity and management,” said Victor Caetano Andrade, the lead author of the study. “This is one more step to understanding the crucial interactions that led the Amazon forest to be the dynamic, humanized landscape it is today.” 

The team collected tree samples using a non-destructive method of removing small samples starting from the bark to the center of the tree in Central Amazonia near Manaus. 

The area surveyed has a rich density of Brazil nut trees, and the researchers analyzed tree ring data from the cores of 67 trees in total. 

After collecting the tree rings, the researchers compared the core data to historical data on human activity in the area dating back 400 years ago. 

What the tree ring data showed was that there was a distinct change in the forest region between pre- and post-colonization. After the Portuguese colonized the area, populations of the Mura indigenous people who had practiced forest management declined. 

This decline resulted in no new trees being planted in the area, and the researchers say this indicates a disruption in forest management.

[caption id="attachment_1870741" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/brazil-nut-fruit-and-tree-in-the-background.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870741" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/brazil-nut-fruit-and-tree-in-the-background.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="823" /></a> Brazil nut fruit and tree in the background. Image Credit: Victor L. Caetano Andrade[/caption]

The tree ring data shows a later period of renewed tree growth and the establishment of new trees after this pause which matches modern forest management practices in the 19th and 20th century. 

Not only does the study show that pre-colonial indigenous populations domesticated Brazil nut trees and managed forests and agricultural, but also that tree rings are like time capsules that can help researchers create clear pictures of past climates, weather extremes, and human activities. 

“Our findings shed light on how past histories of human-forest interactions can be revealed by the growth rings of trees in Amazonia,” said Caetano Andrade. “Future interdisciplinary analysis of these trees, including the use of genetics and isotopes, should enable more detailed investigations into how human forest management has changed in this part of the world, through pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial periods of human activity, with potential implications for conservation.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tree rings reveal pre-colonial forest management in the Amazon

Dating tree rings, also known as dendrochronology, has helped researchers...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University</a> has assessed the damage across the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/australia-save-great-barrier-reef/">Great Barrier Reef</a> (GBR) that was caused by global warming in recent years. The team found that the heat-induced stress has compromised the ability of the corals to recover.

“Dead corals don't make babies,” said study lead author Professor Terry Hughes. “The number of new corals settling on the Great Barrier Reef declined by 89 percent following the unprecedented loss of adult corals from global warming in 2016 and 2017.”

The researchers measured how many adult corals survived along the length of the GBR, and how many new corals were produced to replenish the reef in 2018. The loss of adult corals resulted in a crash in coral replenishment.

“The number of coral larvae that are produced each year, and where they travel to before settling on a reef, are vital components of the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef,” said study co-author Professor Andrew Baird. “Our study shows that reef resilience is now severely compromised by global warming.”

“The biggest decline in replenishment, a 93% drop compared to previous years, occurred in the dominant branching and table coral, Acropora. As adults these corals provide most of the three-dimensional coral habitat that support thousands of other species.”

[caption id="attachment_1870716" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Great-Barrier-Reef-is-struggling-to-recover-from-extreme-heat-stress.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870716" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Great-Barrier-Reef-is-struggling-to-recover-from-extreme-heat-stress.jpg" alt="Image Credit: ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies/ Gergely Torda" width="650" height="446" /></a> Recruitment tiles were deployed at 15 reefs along the Great Barrier Reef, Image Credit: ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies/ Gergely Torda[/caption]

Professor Baird explained that the mix of baby coral species has shifted, which will affect the mix of adults during a slow recovery over the next decade or more.

“The decline in coral recruitment matches the extent of mortality of the adult broodstock in different parts of the Reef,” said Professor Hughes. “Areas that lost the most corals had the greatest declines in replenishment.”

“We expect coral recruitment will gradually recover over the next five to ten years, as surviving corals grow and more of them reach sexual maturity, assuming of course that we don't see another mass bleaching event in the coming decade.”


Global warming has triggered four mass bleaching events across the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, 2002, 2016, and 2017. Experts are warning that the gap between coral bleaching events will continue to shrink as climate change intensifies.

“It's highly unlikely that we could escape a fifth or sixth event in the coming decade,” said co-author Professor Morgan Pratchett. “We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail - until now.”

“For example, when one part was damaged by a cyclone, the surrounding reefs provided the larvae for recovery. But now, the scale of severe damage from heat extremes in 2016 and 2017 was nearly 1500 km - vastly larger than a cyclone track.”

Professor Hughes concluded that the only way to fix this problem is “to tackle the root cause of global heating by reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero as quickly as possible.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

The Great Barrier Reef is struggling to recover from extreme heat stress

A new study from the ARC Centre of Excellence for...

The remains of six humans recovered from a cave in France are providing new clues into the lives of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-upright-posture-modern-humans/">Neanderthals</a> who lived in the region 120,000 years ago. Human teeth marks found on the bones indicate that climate change forced the Neanderthals to resort to cannibalism. 

According to researchers at the <a href="https://www.cnrs.fr/en/aboutcnrs/overview.htm">French National Centre for Scientific Research</a> (CNRS), global warming would have made the large animals hunted by Neanderthals scarce. The planet was in the midst of a major transition from an ice age to a much warmer climate.

The remains, which were initially found 20 years ago in the Moula-Guercy cave in France, showed signs that instruments were used to break open the bones to expose marrow. The skulls had also been smashed open, most likely for access to the brains. 

The analysis of the teeth collected for the study revealed that the hominids were suffering from prolonged periods of malnutrition. The study authors said their findings provide the “best evidence” of cannibalism at this time.

[caption id="attachment_1870728" align="aligncenter" width="631"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/bones-reveal-signs-of-cannibalism.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1870728 size-full" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/bones-reveal-signs-of-cannibalism.jpg" alt="" width="631" height="697" /></a> Recovered bones reveal signs of cannibalism, Image Credit: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences[/caption]

“The work at the Moula-Guercy cave allows us for the first time to demonstrate the existence of the practice of cannibalism by European Neanderthals,” said Dr. Alban Defleur.

The researchers believe that the six humans, including two adults, two teenagers, and two children, were killed out of necessity to feed the starving population.

“Cut marks are spread over 50 percent of the human remains and distributed over the entire skeleton from the cranium, jaws, and bones in the hand,” wrote the researchers. “Percussion marks are visible on all the skulls, all the long bones and other bones of adults and children.”

The experts theorize that the bodies were first dismembered and then stripped of their meat. There is also evidence on four of the bones that they had been used by the Neanderthals as tools.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-archaeological-science">Journal of Archaeological Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change may have forced Neanderthals to resort to cannibalism

The remains of six humans recovered from a cave in...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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



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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



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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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

[sendtonews key="fxH3eJHEkQ-2010196-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

[sendtonews key="Ccjk8KEMzv-2550719-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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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Aerial,Photo,Of,River,In,Amazon,Rainforest,Jungle,In,Peru

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center</a> describes how scientists are using autonomous sound sensors to monitor deforestation in the Amazon. By recording soundscapes, the experts can determine which animals are present through their distinct sounds.&nbsp;



Using this method, sounds can be used as scientific measurements to analyze the effects of deforestation. The researchers will gain a better understanding of how the acoustics of a forest can be used to measure its health.&nbsp;



"From space, parts of the Amazon rainforest that have previously been logged or burned may look lush and green, like a place buzzing with activity and full of sounds. But inside the rainforest, the animal life may tell a different story, of a harsh environment and a quieter soundscape," says NASA.



Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center&nbsp;



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

Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon through sounds

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