View,Of,The,Device,Of,An,Oil,Drilling,Rig

Earth's surface bears the visible scars of human activities, from greenhouse gas emissions to deforestation. However, the impact of human intervention extends far beyond what meets the eye, reaching hundreds of meters to several kilometers beneath the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-model-reveals-the-evolution-of-the-earths-surface/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">planet's surface</a> into Earth's deep subsurface. 



This hidden realm, often overlooked, is now the subject of disturbing research by hydrology experts. Jennifer McIntosh, a professor in the University of Arizona's <a href="https://has.arizona.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences</a>, and her colleagues have delved into the ways humans influence Earth's deep subsurface. 



"We looked at how the rates of fluid production with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oil-and-gas-production-linked-to-77-billion-in-annual-health-care-costs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oil and gas</a> compare to natural background circulation of water and showed how humans have made a big impact on the circulation of fluids in the subsurface," McIntosh explained.



In a paper published in the journal Earth's Future, they shed light on the significant impact of human activities on the circulation of fluids in this subterranean zone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Deciphering the hidden world in motion beneath our feet</h2>



The study, led by Grant Ferguson, also from the UArizona, compared the rates of fluid production from oil and gas extraction to the natural background circulation of water. 



The findings reveal that human-induced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-internal-jet-stream-core/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fluid fluxes</a> surpass the natural flow, and they are projected to increase further with proposed strategies for combating climate change.



These strategies include geologic carbon sequestration, geothermal energy production, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fools-gold-may-be-a-valuable-source-of-lithium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lithium extraction</a> from underground mineral-rich brine. 



"Responsible management of the subsurface is central to any hope for a green transition, sustainable future and keeping warming below a few degrees," emphasizes Peter Reiners, a professor in the <a href="https://www.geo.arizona.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UArizona Department of Geosciences</a> and a co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-subsurface-fluid-fluxes">Earth's subsurface fluid fluxes</h2>



These fluxes transport water, gases, and other substances through the subsurface, influencing everything from groundwater resources to geothermal energy.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Types of subsurface fluid fluxes</h3>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Groundwater flow</h4>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/groundwater-depletion-is-accelerating-but-it-is-not-inevitable/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Groundwater flow</a> represents the movement of water through porous and fractured rock formations. This flow occurs due to pressure gradients and the force of gravity, allowing water to move from areas of high hydraulic head to areas of low hydraulic head. Groundwater flow plays a vital role in the hydrologic cycle, recharging aquifers and sustaining surface water bodies.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Hydrocarbon migration</h4>



Subsurface fluid fluxes also include the migration of hydrocarbons, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-of-orphaned-oil-and-gas-wells-litter-the-world-and-must-be-cleaned-up/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oil and natural gas</a>. These fluids originate from organic-rich source rocks and migrate through permeable rock layers until they encounter traps or seals. Understanding hydrocarbon migration is essential for oil and gas exploration and production.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Geothermal fluid circulation</h4>



In regions with high <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/underground-water-could-be-a-great-source-of-renewable-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">geothermal gradients</a>, subsurface fluids can circulate through fractures and permeable rock formations, absorbing heat from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-ancient-ocean-floor-surrounds-the-earths-core/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's interior</a>. This heated fluid can then rise to the surface, creating hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles. Geothermal fluid circulation is a key factor in the development of geothermal energy resources.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Importance of Earth's subsurface fluid fluxes</h2>



Subsurface fluid fluxes have far-reaching impacts on various aspects of our planet. They influence the availability and quality of groundwater resources, which are essential for human consumption, agriculture, and industrial activities. 



Additionally, these fluxes play a crucial role in the formation and distribution of mineral resources, such as ore deposits and petroleum accumulations.



Moreover, subsurface fluid fluxes contribute to the transport and cycling of chemical elements and compounds within the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unexpected-molten-rock-layer-discovered-under-earths-crust/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's crust</a>. 



This process has implications for geochemical cycles, rock-water interactions, and the evolution of subsurface environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Human intervention in Earth's fluid dynamics</h2>



In <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-chief-fossil-fuel-era-must-end-for-humanitys-survival/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oil and natural gas</a> production, saline water from the deep subsurface is extracted alongside the targeted resources. This ancient water, often millions of years old, acquires its salinity from the evaporation of ancient seawater or reactions with rocks and minerals. 



To maintain reservoir pressures and enhance oil recovery, near-surface water is added to the extracted saline water, and the blended mixture is reinjected into the subsurface, creating a continuous cycle of fluid production and reinjection.



Similar processes occur in lithium extraction, geothermal energy production, and geologic carbon sequestration, where leftover saline water is reinjected into the underground. 



"We show that the fluid injection rates or recharge rates from those oil and gas activities is greater than what naturally occurs," states McIntosh.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Rewriting Earth's history through subsurface geology</h2>



Using existing data from various sources, the research team found that current fluid movement rates induced by human activities surpass those that occurred before human intervention. 



As carbon capture, sequestration, and lithium extraction intensify, the researchers also predicted how these activities might be recorded in Earth's geological record.



Moreover, human activities have the potential to alter not only the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/the-geysers-the-worlds-largest-geothermal-field/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deep subsurface fluids</a> but also the microbes that inhabit those depths. 



Fluid movements can modify <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-in-the-extreme-microbial-activity-discovered-in-old-faithful/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbial environments</a> through changes in water chemistry or by introducing new microbial communities from Earth's surface to the underground. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/water-fracking-surged/">Hydraulic fracturing</a>, for example, can trigger sudden blooms of microbial activity in previously dormant deep rock formations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Earth's subsurface is still mostly a mystery</h2>



Despite the significance of these findings, many unknowns remain about Earth's deep subsurface and the extent of human impact on this hidden realm. 



"We need to use the deep subsurface as part of the solution for the climate crisis," emphasizes McIntosh. "Yet, we know more about the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lake-sediments-found-in-jezero-crater-hint-at-past-life-on-mars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surface of Mars</a> than we do about water, rocks and life deep beneath our feet."



Continued research and exploration of this enigmatic zone are crucial for understanding the full scope of human influence on our planet and developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/international-day-of-zero-waste-a-global-commitment-to-a-sustainable-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sustainable strategies</a> for addressing the climate crisis. 



While we strive to mitigate the visible effects of human activities on Earth's surface, we must not overlook the hidden impact that extends deep into the subsurface.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-what-lies-beneath">Protecting what lies beneath</h2>



As we continue to explore and utilize Earth's deep subsurface in our efforts to combat climate change, we must remain mindful of the hidden impact our actions have on this enigmatic realm. 



By studying the fluid dynamics, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-increases-threat-antimicrobial-resistance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbial communities</a>, and geological record beneath our feet, we can develop a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between human activities and the subterranean world. 



This knowledge will be crucial in guiding our strategies for a sustainable future, ensuring that our solutions do not create unforeseen consequences in the depths below. 



As we navigate the challenges of the climate crisis, we must approach the subsurface with a spirit of curiosity, responsibility, and respect, recognizing that the key to our success may lie in the mysteries that await us in Earth's hidden depths.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EF004496" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's Future</a>.



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Human activities also greatly harm Earth’s subsurface, not just the landmass

Earth's surface bears the visible scars of human activities, from greenhouse gas emissions to deforestation. However, the impact of human intervention extends far beyond what meets the eye, reaching hundreds of meters to several kilometers beneath the planet's surface into Earth's deep subsurface. This hidden realm, often overlooked, is now the subject of disturbing research by hydrology experts. Jennifer McIntosh, a professor in the University of Arizona's Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, and her colleagues have delved into the ways humans influence Earth's deep subsurface. "We...

For farmers in New South Wales, Australia, drought comes with the territory. Australia is one of the driest continents in the world, second only to Antarctica, and around <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/landforms/deserts">35 percent of Australia is desert</a>.

Climate change extremes in recent years have caused record-breaking droughts and severe heat waves resulting in some of the hottest and driest spells that farmers in New South Wales have ever experienced.

We’ve had droughts before,” Krystal Bullen, owner of 4,000 acres of land in the New South Wales town of Pilliga, told <a href="http://time.com/longform/australia-drought-photos/">Time</a>. “But nothing of this caliber.”

<a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/">Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology</a> announced that January 2019 was the hottest January in recorded history for the continent. The sweltering heat melted roads and killed off <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/severe-drought-australia-wildlife/">large populations of fish and wildlife</a>. 

Now, farmers in New South Wales are scrambling to feed their livestock and keep their livelihoods, but the drought is unrelenting. 

Nine out of ten of the warmest years for Australia have occurred after 2005, and it’s all due to climate change. 

“We are probably more challenged than we have ever been before. We’re going into drought quicker, harder, tougher,” Mark Howden, vice chair of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>, told Time.

The drought has made planting crops impossible, and there’s no feed for livestock to graze on. Krystal Bullen told Time that the Bullen Farm’s sheep stock dropped from 1,700 to just 500. 

Instead, feed needs to trucked in, but sheep and cattle are weak and vulnerable, unable to adapt to the extremes. 

Earlier in February, Queensland, Australia welcomed torrential rain storms after seven years of drought, but the flooding killed nearly <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/australia/cattle-crisis-australia-intl/index.html">500,000 cattle</a>. 

The livestock losses experienced in New South Wales and Queensland are a tragic consequence of the recent climate change extremes. Unfortunately for Australia and the rest of the world, these severe climate extremes are quickly becoming the norm, not the exception. 

--

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>

Australia battles drought: Livestock losses, no crops, and no rain

For farmers in New South Wales, Australia, drought comes with...

Ingredients in dog and cat foods now include some pretty exotic sounding meats.  Salmon is common in pet treats. Bison, deer and elk can all be found in different dog foods.  Even alligator, rabbit, and quail have found their way into dog bowls in the US. Many of these foods capitalize on the idealized image of a wolf and seem to use the idea that you’re feeding wildness in your canine companion.  One potential dog food ingredient goes a bit further, as the government of Botswana has proposed using elephant meat in pet foods. 

Botswana currently has the world’s largest population of wild African Elephants.  <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/22/botswana-may-lift-elephant-hunting-ban-turn-culled-animals-pet/">The Telegraph</a> reports that the nation has long been considered a refuge amidst the poaching in other African nations.  Today, Botswana boasts elephant populations as large as 130,000 individuals. President Mokgweetsi Masisi tasked a government subcommittee with reviewing a potential lift on an elephant trophy hunting ban put into place by the previous president in 2014.  Recently, the subcommittee advised lifting the ban. Included in the proposal is one to establish a facility to process and can elephant meat, including to use for pet food.

The proposal suggests the lift of the hunting ban as a way to jump start Botswana’s safari industry.  The ban didn’t cover hunting inside of private and registered game ranches where hunting is instead carefully regulated.  It seems the use of elephant meat as pet food and potentially other products is only a suggestion to justify the waste of killing animals for mere sport.  The idea is that if elephants are made into food products, they’re killed for a greater purpose than a mere trophy. Easy justifications like this one all too often allow consumers to ignore the impact of their own actions.  It turns out that elephant meat is just one of several potentially questionable ingredients in pet foods on the market today.

<a href="https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/7385-pet-food-premiumization-drives-packaging-market-growth">PetFoodIndustry</a> reported in August of last year on the growing premiumization of pet foods in the United States.  Dry dog food is still the largest portion of food sold in the US and abroad, but refrigerated and frozen foods are growing in popularity.  In the US, dry pet foods make up 31% of total packaging sales, while wet and treat packaging each make up 28 and 27%. This trend is in contrast to much of the rest of the world, where dry pet foods are much more popular.  

A report in <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/americas-fancy-pet-food-addiction-contributing-climate-change-180964363/">Smithsonian</a> notes that pet food sales have doubled since 2000.  <a href="https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/7385-pet-food-premiumization-drives-packaging-market-growth">PetFoodIndustry</a> suggests that this trend is part of a humanization of pets.  People seem to be more empathetic towards their pets than ever, which can’t be entirely bad.  However, buying high end foods for dogs and cats does have its consequences.

A study published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181301">PLOS One</a> by researcher Gregory Okin in 2017 showed that of the more than 163 million cats and dogs in the US, meat consumption creates a real impact.  Animals raised for food create <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/agriculture-reduce-non-co2-emissions/">greenhouse gases</a> and often create conflicts between ranchers and wild animals like bison or wolves. Grains and other foods used to feed livestock further increase the environmental impact of animal consumption whether you’re a human eating a steak or a dog with a bowl of kibble.  

<a href="http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/02/petfood_sustainability/">Some experts</a> have calculated that a medium sized dog can have the same annual environmental impact as an SUV.  Gregory Okin’s research shows that consumption of dog and cat food products are annually responsible for the creation of 64 ± 16 tons of CO2-equivalent methane and nitrous oxide, both greenhouse gases in the US.  

<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/americas-fancy-pet-food-addiction-contributing-climate-change-180964363/">Smithsonian</a> points to the growing trend of foods and treats to use prime cuts of meat instead of organ meats or other by-products of livestock production.  Americans are generally more particular about the food they consume than their animals are – don’t believe it? When’s the last time you saw a dog getting into a trash can?  By insisting on buying premium meat for our furred companions, we’re inadvertently contributing to more livestock being slaughtered for food while morsels like organs are perfectly acceptable for cats and dogs.  Some pet food producers are even trying out vegan pet foods as a solution.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jun/26/pet-food-is-an-environmental-disaster-are-vegan-dogs-the-answer">The Guardian</a> reported in June 2018 on a new vegan pet food called <a href="https://wildearth.com/">Wild Earth</a> then undergoing tests.  Wild Earth uses koji, a fungi the company claims contains a full protein and has a 3,000 year history of consumption by humans.  The company is also developing lab created meat that would culture animal cells for consumption without the need for slaughter. The same process is being researched for humans, but Wild Earth anticipates their lab cultured mouse meat for cats to reach the market first because of less-restrictions on animal foods.  Some pet nutritionists are suspicious of the vegan pet food, pointing out that although it’s possible to feed a dog vegetarian, it must be done very carefully. 

Cats on the other hand are obligate carnivores, eating very little besides meat.  A vegetarian diet for a feline might be very dangerous, indeed. With lab cultured meat, we enter uncharted territory and it’s extremely hard to anticipate the long reaching impacts at all.  Environmental impact of pets is largely a systematic one. 

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/18/americans-waste-food-fruit-vegetables-study">The Guardian</a> reported last year that Americans waste 15,000 tons of food each day. In 2014, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/19/meat-dairy-waste">The Guardian</a> was more specific, stating that households are wasting 570,000 tonnes [Sic] of fresh meat each year.  Globally this number equates to the meat of almost 12 billion animals wasted. These numbers make it clear that we don’t need another source of protein for our cats and dogs, whether it’s elephant meat or ancient fungi.  

In order to lessen the environmental impact of pet ownership, what we need is a system to use meat we already produce more effectively.  Whole categories of meat such as bone meal, organs, and other undesirable animal parts are eaten by people but would be eaten with few complaints by dogs and cats.  The problem is that often the meats are sourced in unethical and dangerous ways. As late as this month, <a href="https://pets.webmd.com/news/20180215/pet-alert-euthanasia-drug-found-wet-dog-food">WebMD</a> reported on FDA warnings that drugs used to euthanize animals have shown up in several brands of dog food.  Obviously meats with poisons in them are unacceptable as any type of food. 

The way we consume food is ever more complicated and the same is true for our pets.  The way forward is murky but it seems we already produce enough food; it’s a matter of making that system efficient at redirecting good food that’s less desirable to western consumers to animal food bowls.  There should be enough room for our companion animals as well as wild creatures if we work hard for it. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

What’s in your dog's food?

Ingredients in dog and cat foods now include some pretty...

A pesticide that is too toxic to be authorized for regular use was approved for “emergency” use last year by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA). 

Last week, the agency reported that it had authorized the distribution of sulfoxaflor across more than 16 million acres of crops where bees are prevalent, despite the fact that the EPA considers the insecticide to be “very highly toxic” to them. 


Sulfoxaflor was approved for use on sorghum and cotton crops in 18 states. In 12 of these states, 2018 was the fourth year in a row that the EPA signed off on the same “emergency.”

Last year, an independent office within the EPA - the Office of the Inspector General - found that the emergency grants for the toxic insecticide does not account for threats to human health or the environment.

Nathan Donley is a senior scientist with the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a>.

“Spraying 16 million acres of bee-attractive crops with a bee-killing pesticide in a time of global insect decline is beyond the pale, even for the Trump administration,” said Donley. “The EPA is routinely misusing the 'emergency' process to get sulfoxaflor approved because it's too toxic to make it through normal pesticide reviews.”


In the event that insects are causing widespread damage to crops, there is a loophole under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act that allows the EPA to authorize the temporary use of pesticides, even if they have not been approved for safety. Critics of this rule, including experts at the Center for Biological Diversity, argue that the EPA is abusing the privilege to continue the use of unapproved pesticides. 

“The EPA is far too eager to find loopholes to approve harmful pesticides when it should be focusing on keeping people and wildlife safe from those pesticides,” said Donley. “The routine abuse of emergency exemptions has to stop.”

Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland warned that nearly half of all insect species worldwide are in a state of rapid decline. The experts found that a major reduction in pesticide usage will be critical for preventing a catastrophic collapse. 

The Center for Biological Diversity has detailed how the EPA routinely takes advantage of its power in the report: <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/pesticides_reduction/pdfs/Poisonous_Process.pdf">Poisonous Process: How the EPA's Chronic Misuse of 'Emergency' Pesticide Exemptions Increases Risks to Wildlife</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>

Highly toxic pesticide was approved by EPA for use in 18 states

A pesticide that is too toxic to be authorized for...

A new study has examined the potential economic and environmental consequences of coral bleaching for 30 islands across the Caribbean. An interdisciplinary team of researchers found that island nations such as Cuba and Jamaica are less vulnerable to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/coral-bleaching-fish-diversity/">coral bleaching</a> than island territories like Saint Barthélemy.

A coral bleaching event that is extreme enough for corals to die impacts the entire reef ecosystem. This can have ripple effects for coastal communities that depend on reef ecosystems for food, tourism, and shoreline protection.

“This study brings together data on 35 biophysical, ecological, socioeconomic, and management variables from 30 islands and creates important advances in understanding climate change vulnerability in the Caribbean,” said study lead author Katherine Siegel, a graduate student at <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a>.

The research was focused on the Caribbean island chain that runs from the Bahamas in the north to Trinidad &amp; Tobago in the south. This region is socioeconomically diverse, with major differences in economic dependence on reefs.

The team classified an island’s vulnerability in three ways: exposure, or the likelihood of bleaching events; sensitivity, or the effect that bleaching is likely to have on the ecosystem and people; and the ability of the ecosystem and people to adapt to or recover from a bleaching event. The team based the analysis on more than 250 published datasets, survey results, and government reports.

“We were surprised to find that independent islands have lower social-ecological vulnerability than territories,” said Siegel. “Territories - such as the Dutch islands of Sint Maarten and Saba - tend to be left out of global assessments of climate change vulnerability, but our results suggest that they need to invest in improving their ability to adapt to environmental changes.”

While independent islands are more exposed to environmental conditions that can trigger bleaching events, the researchers found that they are less likely to experience negative socioeconomic consequences because they are less economically dependent on reefs. On the other hand, the French territory Saint Barthélemy has very low exposure to the conditions that cause bleaching, but is highly vulnerable. 

“Bleaching events have become more common and severe in recent decades, a trend that may only worsen as the world's oceans continue to warm.” said study co-author Sarah Lester. “It's essential that we develop a better understanding of how this disturbance impacts coral reef ecosystems and the people that rely on these ecosystems for their livelihood.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: UC Berkeley Photo by Katherine Siegel

The economic impacts of coral bleaching across the Caribbean islands

A new study has examined the potential economic and environmental...

A new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0347-y">Nature Climate Change</a> explains that future climate change could be cause an upset in the equilibrium and interactions within the natural food chain that links predators to herbivores. Researchers believe that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a> — specifically warming temperatures — could redistribute the power within the ecological relationship between predator and prey. 

A more stable climate and less seasonal changes in temperate areas could put immense pressure of predation whereas increased climate instability in the tropics due to climate change would cause a decline in predation pressure.

“The study describes the causes of this disruption and shows it can be explained by the components of climate that will change in future, especially temperature," said lead author <a href="https://bv.fapesp.br/en/pesquisador/2748/gustavo-quevedo-romero">Gustavo Quevedo Romero</a>, a professor at the <a href="https://www.ib.unicamp.br/en/node/15">University of Campinas's Biology Institute</a> (IB-UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil. “This reorganization of the forces of species interactions could have disastrous consequences for terrestrial ecosystems and for the ecosystem services they provide, such as biological control and nutrient cycling.”

Romero and colleagues based this new study on a 2017 study published in <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6339/742">Science</a> that measured bites on artificial caterpillars and found that the higher an ecosystem’s latitude, the lower the herbivore predation. The new study compared this data to present and future bioclimatic data based on climate models that predict climate change from carbon dioxide emissions.

“All the existing research on the role of global climate change with respect to biotic interactions has been theoretical, as far as I know. Our study is the first to investigate the link between biotic interactions and climate change at a global scale on the basis of empirical data,” Romero said. “Furthermore, it's the first time anyone has used niche modeling to study biotic interactions, as this method was developed to predict species distributions."

Romero and his team first withdrew a set of bioclimatic variables from the WorldClim 2 database, which contains 19 bioclimatic variables applied globally to a 1 km² resolution grid. They then used a structural equation modeling method to figure out the significance of the direct and indirect effects of latitude, elevation, and local climate, including precipitation and temperature, on predation pressure. Romero concluded that the predation data was directly linked to temperature variation.

“Generally, we found that by 2070, predation pressure may be significantly affected by temperature changes but may not be affected by precipitation changes," Romero said. “Temperature instability rather than warmer temperatures will reduce predation pressure. This impact will be exacerbated in tropical regions, where the climate is projected to become more unstable.”

Predation pressure will increase in temperate climates ranging from North America to Asia, and will decrease in biodiverse regions near the equator like equatorial Africa, Southeast Asia, tropical South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The team suggests that Brazil and Colombia will be the most affected by temperature-affected predation.

“The most important consequence is simple. If the current climate affects current predation pressure, then we can expect climate change to lead to a change in predation pressure,” Romero explained. “Climate change is reflected by not only changes in species distributions but also changes in the interactions among species. A decrease in predation pressure in the tropics could affect tropical crop yields, and in turn, this effect would increase risks to food security owing to a reduction in the efficiency of biological control in areas that are already more vulnerable due to climate change."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change could alter future predator-prey equilibria

A new study published in Nature Climate Change explains that...

An <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/iceberg-breaks-off-antarctica/">iceberg</a> twice the size of New York City is about to break off the Brunt Ice Shelf and the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144563/countdown-to-calving-at-brunt-ice-shelf">National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observatory</a> has started a countdown to the calving event. 

Landsat satellite imagery shows two cracks, the Halloween crack which first appeared in 2016 and another crack running perpendicular to the Halloween crack, accelerating northward at a rate of about four kilometers per year.

When the two cracks meet, the massive iceberg will be released from the ice shelf. 

The Brunt Ice Shelf is a 400-foot-thick ice sheet where recently the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operations/sites-and-facilities/facility/halley/">Halley Research Station </a>operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) had to be relocated due to the Halloween crack. 

What is unusual about this calving event is the way the second crack suddenly started speeding northward after remaining stable for 35 years. 

The Halloween crack is growing eastward from the McDonald Ice Rumples, and where the second crack meets the Halloween crack near the rumples will determine how the iceberg calves from the shelf. The rumples are formed by the way ice flows over the rising bedrock in that area. 

“The near-term future of Brunt Ice Shelf likely depends on where the existing rifts merge relative to the McDonald Ice Rumples,” said Joe MacGregor, a glaciologist at <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center</a>. “If they merge upstream (south) of the McDonald Ice Rumples, then it’s possible that the ice shelf will be destabilized.”

The cracks and potential calving event are raising concerns about the Halley Research Station which has already had to be relocated because of instabilities along the ice shelf. 

“The station is designed to be relocatable. In 2017 BAS successfully relocated the station’s eight modules 23km (14 miles) upstream of a previously dormant ice chasm,” a spokesperson from the British Antarctic Survey told <a href="https://www.newsweek.com">Newsweek</a>. “The frequency of relocation depends very much on how the ice behaves in the future. Our long-term ice monitoring project is designed to alert us of any significant change in the ice.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144563/countdown-to-calving-at-brunt-ice-shelf">NASA Earth Observatory</a>

Iceberg twice the size of New York City to break off Antarctica

An iceberg twice the size of New York City is...

It’s well known that cephalopods as a group are intelligent.  There are stories of octopus in captivity quietly moving into nearby tanks to eat all the fish before returning to their own tank before keepers arrived in the morning.  A <a href="https://youtu.be/1DoWdHOtlrk">YouTube video</a> shows an octopus pulling two pieces of coconut shell together and hiding inside.  After hiding, the octopus stacks the coconut shells together and carries them away, apparently planning for using them in the future.  Octopuses and other cephalopods are a paradox, dissimilar in many ways to other – long-lived and social – intelligent animals. 

In fact, a report from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/science/animal-intelligence-octopus-cephalopods.html">New York Times</a> points out that scientists don’t have a clear grasp on cephalopod intelligence, they just know that the octopus is a very smart animal.  Despite the intelligence of octopus and other cephalopods, humans have a long history of eating them.

While climate change and overfishing is diminishing the populations of many wild animals in the ocean, cephalopod populations seem to have been rising recently.  Research from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> suggests that cephalopods may become and increasingly important sustainable seafood now and in the future.  

With short life spans, cephalopods reproduce and grow quickly and they’re adaptable to changing water temperatures.  Indeed, as other marine animals suffer from overfishing and warming oceans, cephalopods are filling in the gaps and growing in population, according to a recent report from a biologist published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/octopus-and-squid-populations-are-booming-heres-why-59830">The Conversation</a>. Another report from 2014 cited 4.8 million tons of cephalopods caught annually, although the number may be much larger due to under reporting in some countries.  Despite the trend of growth in cephalopods, the animals can change population numbers for better or worse rather quickly. 

Because of their short life spans, cephalopods can increase in numbers very quickly but can also drop in numbers very quickly.  Overall cephalopods seem quick to rebound with another generation but it would be easy to kill off most of a population with overfishing before realizing the extent of the damage.  For this reason as well as the predicted popularity of squid and octopus plates in the future, octopus farming is a growing trend. Until recently, raising cephalopods in captivity has been nearly impossible to accomplish. 

For a long time, other seafood has been raised in farms, from fish to oysters, raised in captivity and fed a formulated diet.  According to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">USDA</a>, the US traded in 27,929,000 pounds of fresh or frozen aquaculture raised trout in 2017 alone.  According to <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/aquaculture/us-aquaculture">NOAA</a>, the US produced 37 million pounds of aquaculture oysters for a total of $192 million in 2016.  10 million pounds of clams raised in the US in 2016 made $138 million in profit. The total value for all US marine and freshwater aquaculture in 2016 was estimated to be $1.5 billion, making up 21% of US seafood and fisheries products by value.  Clearly aquaculture is profitable. With many wild fish being over harvested at alarming rates, many feel that aquaculture is the way of the future. 

<a href="https://www.thebalance.com/the-benefits-of-aquaculture-1301626">The Balance</a> reports that there are many benefits to aquaculture in general.  Aquaculture can create a more steady supply of food. Fish and other animals raised in captivity aren’t as dependent on natural conditions or seasons for their growth and health as wild caught fish.  Some studies suggest that aquaculture is more sustainable as well and allows wild populations to potentially rebound. 

But as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/octopus-farms-environmental-effect/">we’ve reported</a>, the downsides to captive raised fish (and other animals) is pollution from food and waste. Still, the benefits for many seem to outweigh these downsides.  Cephalopods are quite different from most of the organisms raised in aquaculture today, so how well an industry of raising octopus and squid will do is still a bit uncertain.  

In 2013, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/octopus-chronicles/first-octopus-farms-get-growing/">Scientific American</a> reported on the first octopus farm, Mayab Mollusks, on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.  According to a first-hand account in <a href="https://www.southernfoodways.org/lunch-at-the-octopus-farm-pulled-pork-and-hot-sauce-at-the-yucatan-table/">Southern Foodways Alliance</a> by Richard Schweid who worked for a time at Mayab Mollusks, the farm was still working towards being profitable in 2016.  <a href="https://www.kanaloaoctopus.com/about-us">Kanaloa Octopus Farm</a> in Hawaii is another startup octopus aquaculture business.  So far, Kanaloa seems to be focused on researching the viability and methods for octopus aquaculture as well as being a place for tourists to see captive octopuses.   

400 million pounds of octopus were bought and sold globally in 2016 and that number is only rising in the US and globally.  Demand for octopus is projected to only continue rising in the near future. Aquaculture seems like a natural way to meet the huge demand for octopus meat and create a sustainable source of food.  Unfortunately for the cephalopods themselves, the growing trend in their population that I mentioned earlier has now reversed. What was seen as an increase in octopus populations a few years ago is now a drop in wild populations.  Global catches of octopus in the 1970s were around 99,000 tons per year but now are only 44,000 tons, according to <a href="https://newfoodeconomy.org/case-against-octopus-farming-cephalopod-aquaculture/">The New Food Economy</a>.  With wild octopus declining perhaps from fishing, aquaculture not yet viable for the animals seems even more important.  

Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as finding a way to farm octopuses. In an analysis of octopus fisheries, Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental studies at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a>, criticized the idea of farming octopus.  Octopuses are carnivores and in order to feed them, even more fish and other animals would have to converted into octopus feed.  Catching more fish for farmed octopus not only hurts the populations of fish caught but would actually harm the wild octopuses themselves by leaving them with less natural prey.  About one third of the fish caught globally are used to create food for other animals, about half of that goes to aquaculture itself. Some of the fisheries used to create animal food are already in decline.  

Faced with the increased rarity of an animal we like to eat, humans traditionally eat it down to the last individual.  Dodos died this way. Mammoths potentially were hunted out too. Passenger pigeons were once a cheap source of food sold by the pickled barrel.  We can recognize intelligence in octopus but as a species we don’t seem to show actual restraint. Instead of simply giving up a food, we do our best to endlessly manipulate our world so we can continue business as usual.  The octopus is just another victim to this way of thinking. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Why octopus farming is no simple solution to overfishing

It’s well known that cephalopods as a group are intelligent....

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health and development, according to the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance">World Health Organization</a> (WHO). Once easily treatable infections are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics and research has shown that the environment plays a major role in the spread of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-environment/">antibiotic-resistant bacteria</a>. 

Now, a new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.ru.nl/english/">Radboud University</a> is the first to review the increase in antibiotic levels in global freshwater sources over the past 20 years and assess the environmental risks posed by contaminated watersheds. 

The study was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. 

“Generally, it's seen as a problem for the health sector, as resistant bacteria can be spread within hospitals or through livestock,” said Rik Oldenkamp, the lead author of the study. “But there's little awareness of the role of the environment in this problem, even though it becomes increasingly clear that the environment functions as a source of resistance for various pathogens.”

The researchers focused on two popular drugs, an antibiotic called ciprofloxacin and an anti-epileptic called carbamazepine.

[caption id="attachment_1868362" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/freshwater-map.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868362" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/freshwater-map.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="573" /></a> Environmental risks of ciprofloxacin in fresh water, Image Credit: R. Oldenkamp et al, Environmental Research Letters[/caption]

Socio-economic and demographic information, as well access to wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical consumption, and available freshwater resources, were used to build on past models which allowed the researchers to more accurately model environmental risks by ecoregion. 

“Our model shows a particular need for new data in these types of areas,” said Oldenkamp. “The model is really a starting point for creating an insight into the environmental risks posed by pharmaceuticals all over the world.” 

The researchers found that in 2015, the environmental risks posed by the two drugs were ten to 20 times higher compared to 1995. Ciprofloxacin, in particular, is being used so much that contaminate levels could cause serious damage to the ecosystem. 

“The concentrations of this antibiotic can be harmful for bacteria in the water, and these bacteria in turn play an important role in various nutrient cycles,” said Oldenkamp. “Antibiotics can also have a negative impact on the effectiveness of bacteria colonies used in wastewater treatment.”

The results highlight how limited global data is on pharmaceutical use and antibiotic contamination levels in freshwater resources, according to Oldenkamp who says that data is key to understanding the scope of freshwater antibiotic concentrations. 

“Getting an accurate picture of the environmental risks of pharmaceuticals around the world depends on the availability of data, which is limited,” said Oldenkamp. “It's true that there are models, such as the ePiE model, which can give detailed predictions of pharmaceutical concentrations in the environment, but these are often only applicable to places where we already have a lot of information, such as rivers in Europe.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antibiotic contamination in freshwater poses huge environmental risk

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/us-carbon-emissions-increased-2018/">Carbon emissions</a> from human activities could soon match carbon levels from 56 million years ago during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the last major greenhouse warming event when the poles were ice-free, and many species went extinct. 

A new study, published in the <a href="https://sites.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union’s</a> journal Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, shows that current atmospheric carbon emissions are increasing at a rate ten times higher than what occurred during the PETM. 

Philip Gingerich, a paleoclimate researcher at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>, authored the study and was able to relate carbon emissions during the PETM to current annual rates. 

If carbon emissions continue to climb, the results suggest that the Earth’s climate will match the PETM by 2159. 

“You and I won't be here in 2159, but that's only about four generations away,” said Gingerich. “When you start to think about your children and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren, you're about there.”

The PETM was a period of significant warming and researchers are not sure what drove the release of thousands of gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere.

Temperatures during the PETM where around 13 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average global temperatures today, and during this time many deep ocean organisms went extinct, animals on land migrated or adapted, and the shift in emissions altered global climate for thousands of years. 

Researchers theorize that around 3,000 to 7,000 gigatons of carbon accumulated in the atmosphere over 3,000 to 20,000 years. 

The PETM serves as an excellent model for studying the impacts of climate change and projecting potential climate change due to increases in carbon emissions today. 

However, limited understanding of the PETM and average carbon emission estimates made pinning down yearly emission rates 56 million years ago impossible.  

Gingerich was able to overcome this challenge by using a mathematical model to compare current carbon emissions to those seen during the PETM over the same time scale. 

The results of the study show that carbon emission rates today are nine to ten times higher compared to the PETM. 

Gingerich also projected future emissions and found that a future PETM event, where atmospheric carbon accumulations match the PETM minimum of 3,000 gigatons, could happen as soon as 2159. 

“To me, it really brought home how rapidly and how great the consequences are of the carbon we're producing as a people,” said Gingerich. 

Unless emissions are mitigated, these results and many other climate studies all point to a drastically different future climate compared to what we are used to. As more and more carbon emissions accumulate in the atmosphere, the longer it will take for the Earth to cool back down. 

“It's not just about 100 years from now; it's going to take significant periods of time for that carbon dioxide to make its way back into the Earth's crust,” said Larisa DeSantis, a paleontologist at <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a> who was not involved with the study. “It's not a short-term event. We're really committing ourselves to many thousands of years of a warmer world if we don't take action quickly.”

--

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>

CO2 emissions nearing levels not experienced in 56 million years

Carbon emissions from human activities could soon match carbon levels...

A new study from researchers at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, has found that it is likely a 66 million-year-old asteroid or comet impact in the Caribbean Sea reignited volcanic eruptions in India. However, it remains unclear if and how these two events contributed to the mass extinction of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-dinosaurs-global-tsunami/">dinosaurs</a> and other prehistoric life forms.

The data, published February 21st in Science, shows how massive lava flows have erupted and and affected Earth’s atmosphere and life on the planet throughout history.

Using a method called argon-argon dating, researchers were able to pinpoint the volcanic eruptions in India to a specific date — a date that coincides with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the K-Pg boundary). The eruptions, which spanned over a million years, spurted lava over 500 kilometers of the Indian continent, creating what we now know as the Deccan Traps flood basalts.

"Now that we have dated Deccan Traps lava flows in more and different locations, we see that the transition seems to be the same everywhere. I would say, with pretty high confidence, that the eruptions occurred within 50,000 years, and maybe 30,000 years, of the impact, which means they were synchronous within the margin of error," said senior author Paul Renne, a professor-in-residence of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley, and director of the <a href="http://www.bgc.org/">Berkeley Geochronology Center</a>. "That is an important validation of the hypothesis that the impact renewed lava flows."

The new dates also show that three-quarters of the total lava erupted after the impact, which contrasts previous beliefs that 80% of the lava erupted before the impact.

It was previously thought that if most of the lava erupted before the impact, then the volcanic gases could have caused global warming within the last 400,000 years of the Cretaceous Period, thus increasing the temperatures and forcing species to evolve to survive within the warming climate. Then, confronted by global cooling, either from volcanic dust or climate cooling gases, species would be ill prepared and would end up going extinct.

However, the new data proves that this probably didn’t happen.

"This changes our perspective on the role of the Deccan Traps in the K-Pg extinction," said first author Courtney Sprain, a former UC Berkeley doctoral student and current postdoc at the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a>. "Either the Deccan eruptions did not play a role — which we think unlikely — or a lot of climate-modifying gases were erupted during the lowest volume pulse of the eruptions."

Climate-altering gases frequently leak out of underground magma chambers, as is happening right now with Mt. Etna and Popocatepetl. Eruptions aren’t necessarily needed to transmit gases into the atmosphere.

"We are suggesting that it is very likely that a lot of the gases that come from magma systems precede eruptions; they don't necessarily correlate with eruptions," Renne said. This theory therefore suggests that the K-Pg extinction, the beginning symptoms of climate change took place before the peak in volcanic eruptions across the entire Indian continent.

It’s still unclear which gasses were emitted from the Deccan Traps, however Renne and Sprain hope to discover more about the sequence, scale, and effects of the eruptions from the Traps, which are young enough to contain this information.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Courtney Sprain

Volcanic eruptions played a mysterious role in the dinosaur extinction

A new study from researchers at the University of California,...

A memo issued by the White House last week outlines plans for a 12-member climate change panel to review the potential threats of climate to national security. 

The panel will review recent reports that found that rising sea levels, coastal flooding and weather extremes caused by increases in CO2 emissions pose a specific risk to military installations. 

The memo comes after multiple reports issued by government agencies including the <a href="https://www.reed.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Sec%20335%20RTC%20on%20Effects%20of%20a%20Changing%20Climate%20to%20DOD2.pdf">Department of Defense</a> and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/military-bases-climate-change/">Pentagon</a> highlighted the impacts of global <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 

President Trump himself has publicly denied the findings of the latest installment of the <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/">National Climate Assessment</a>, a federal report published in November of last year that involved more 13 federal agencies and over 300 scientists. 

The White House memo, which was first acquired by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/white-house-readies-panel-to-assess-if-climate-change-poses-a-national-security-threat/2019/02/19/ccc8b29e-3396-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?">Washington Post</a>, suggests that these reports need to be further examined to ensure their credibility, even though they are the result of thorough research and exhaustive peer-review.

The memo states that the reports “have not undergone a rigorous independent and adversarial peer review to examine the certainties and uncertainties of climate science, as well as implications for national security.”

Critics of the administration’s blind eye to the realities of climate change are quick to combat and refute these claims. 

“At every turn here they have tried to basically bury the science behind climate change,” Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/climate/climate-national-security-threat.html">New York Times</a>. “It is simply not debatable from a scientific standpoint. Climate change will lead to instability in parts of the world that are fairly predictable.”

One of the more galling discoveries to come to light with the new panel is that it’s spearheaded by William Happer, a notorious advocate fossil fuels who has been outspoken about his belief that carbon emissions are not harmful to the planet.

Happer, a physicist, has no background in climate science and told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/">CNBC</a> in 2014 that the “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.”

--

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>

White House panel to assess global warming threat to national security

A memo issued by the White House last week outlines...

The Bramble Cay melomys has been officially declared as “extinct” by the Australian government. Experts believe that this small rodent is the first mammal that has been wiped out as a result of human-induced <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 

The rat-like rodent, Melomys rubicola, lived on the isolated island of Bramble Cay in northern Australia. First discovered in the 1800s, the melomys was considered to be the Great Barrier Reef's only endemic mammal species.

It is believed that 2009 was the last time anyone spotted a Bramble Cay melomys. Scientists from Queensland, who had previously concluded that the melomys was gone, said the extinction was “almost certainly” due to extreme habitat loss.

[caption id="attachment_1868305" align="aligncenter" width="633"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bramble-cay.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1868305" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bramble-cay.jpg" alt="" width="633" height="332" /></a> Bramble Cay melomys, Image Credit: QLD Government[/caption]

The researchers explained that the low-lying island has been exposed to “repeated episodes of seawater inundation.” As a result, the leafy plants used by the rodents for shelter declined by 97 percent between 2004 and 2014. A survey conducted in 2014 found no trace of the animals. 

After the decision to change the status of the melomys to extinct was announced on Tuesday, Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch told <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/">The Herald</a> that it shows that “we are living the real effects of climate change right now. How many more species do we have to lose for the federal government to take action?”


According to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a>, the Bramble Cay melomys is survived by the grassland melomys and two other melomys species. 

The current time period is often referred to as the Anthropocene, the Earth's six major mass extinction event. Scientists have discovered that thousands of species are currently in a state of decline, many of which are not even listed as endangered. 

--

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>

Human-induced climate change has claimed its first mammal

The Bramble Cay melomys has been officially declared as “extinct”...

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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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/">NTU Singapore</a> reveals that some plants can remove toxic heavy metals from soil.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed samples of various tropical plant species to test for levels of heavy metals and metalloids. The study showed that there are existing plants with high levels of these contaminants, which means that these species are great candidates for drawing pollutants out of the soil.&nbsp;



Among the plants examined in the study, 12 species had accumulated several types of heavy metals and metalloids. These plants are widely available, including species that are native to Singapore.



“In a small nation like Singapore, land may be repurposed to support new development plans, so it is important that we have a green and sustainable way to remediate land that is contaminated," said Professor Lam Yeng Ming.



"We set out to uncover how to better make use of tropical plants to do phytoremediation and through advanced characterization techniques, we showed how some of these tropical plant species can be an environmentally friendly and literally a 'green' way to remove contaminants in soil."&nbsp;



"Phytoremediation also has benefits of cost effectiveness, simplicity of management, aesthetic advantages, and long-term applicability and sustainability. The strategy prevents erosion and metal leaching by stabilizing or accumulating heavy metals, so that helps reduce the risk of contaminant spread.”



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes why herbicides are not as effective in killing weeds anymore. In the 20th century, chemical companies developed thousands of herbicides. The most commonly used herbicide was glyphosate, which was introduced in 1974.



Over the past few decades, dozens of species of weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Depending on the site of action, the part of the plant that an herbicide interacts with, weeds may even be resistant to herbicides that have not been developed yet.&nbsp;



With increasing resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides, weeds are - once again - becoming a major concern for farmers.&nbsp;



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) describes a dust storm on Mars that was nearly twice the size of the United States. As the storm covered the southern hemisphere of the planet, some of NASA’s explorers had to delay their normal activities.



NASA’s Insight lander put itself in a "safe mode" for 11 days to conserve battery power because solar power was disrupted by the dust. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter postponed flights until conditions improved.



"A fleet of NASA orbiters monitor Martian dust storms like this one and serve as lifelines to Earth by relaying data from the rovers and lander on the ground back to the team. This includes the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, and Odyssey," reports JPL.



"Dust storms like this recent one start close to the ground and are spread by wind as they rise – warming the cold Martian atmosphere."



The images in the video were captured by NASA’s Curiosity as the dust rolled in. A fleet of orbiters monitored the dust storm from above, relaying data from Mars’ explorers back to scientists on Earth.



Video &amp; Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS



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



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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

[sendtonews key="u0TYxxqfF7-2186404-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA’s...