For decades, space engineers have imagined shipping steel, glass, and concrete to other worlds so that future explorers can build homes on Mars and even further from Earth.



A new study led by Robin Wordsworth at <a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/">Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> turns that idea on its head. Rather than launching heavy construction kits, the team shows that habitats can, quite literally, grow themselves.



“If you have a habitat that is composed of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-inspired-solutions-new-bioplastic-dissolves-rapidly-in-water/">bioplastic</a>, and it grows algae within it, that algae could produce more bioplastic,” Wordsworth said. “So you start to have a closed-loop system that can sustain itself and even grow through time.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turning-algae-into-architecture"><a></a>Turning algae into architecture</h2>



At the heart of the concept is Dunaliella tertiolecta, a type of hardy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-algae-in-lake-erie-may-be-hiding-toxic-deadly-compounds/">green algae</a> already used on Earth for aquaculture and biofuel research.



The researchers conducted a series of lab tests where they 3-D printed dome-shaped chambers using polylactic acid (PLA), a common bioplastic fermented from plant sugars.



The walls were only a millimeter thick, but strong enough to hold liquid water even when the outside pressure fell to Mars-like levels of about 600 pascals - more than a hundred times lower than on Earth.



Inside these tiny “greenhouses,” the algae were bathed in carbon-dioxide-rich air, fed with artificial sunlight, and left to do what algae do best: photosynthesize, grow, and multiply.



After ten days, cell counts in low-pressure chambers nearly matched those in cultures grown at normal Earth pressure. This confirmed that life could flourish despite the thin atmosphere.



Light management was another hurdle. Mars receives plenty of visible sunlight, but its surface is bombarded by harmful ultraviolet rays. 



Tests showed that a single millimeter of PLA blocks all UV-C radiation and much of UV-A and UV-B while still letting through the red and blue wavelengths that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/revealing-the-secrets-of-photosynthesis-through-pep/">photosynthesis</a> requires. In short, the plastic skin both protects and nourishes its green tenants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-self-growing-habitats-on-mars">Self-growing habitats on Mars</h2>



If the algae thrive, the cycle becomes self-amplifying. Researchers can convert extra biomass into fresh PLA, then print or mold it into new habitat walls.



A simple mass-balance analysis in the study suggests that with realistic conversion efficiencies, a foot-deep algae cultivation pond beneath each habitat could produce more than enough bioplastic to meet repair needs. 



This includes material to address routine weathering. Surplus production could even allow the living area to double every couple of years.



In theory, a single lander packed with starter cultures, nutrients, and a modest 3-D printer might seed an entire settlement that grows like coral over time. Operating at low pressure, the domes place far less stress on their walls than habitats built for full Earth pressure.



The team calculated that a one-millimeter PLA shell can comfortably withstand the loads. Reinforcement could come from additional biological materials, such as bacterial cellulose aerogels, which also provide insulation and help maintain plant-friendly temperatures between 10-30 °C (50-86 °F).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-algae-domes-for-deep-space">Algae domes for deep space</h2>



Although the experiments targeted Mars, similar biomaterial bubbles could help researchers design life-support systems for the Moon, free-floating space stations, or even harsh environments on Earth.



Wordsworth notes that a later phase of the project will test whether the same strategy can function in a complete vacuum. This is essential for lunar use and will test whether the algae-PLA loop can run without outside resources after kickoff.



“The concept of biomaterial habitats is fundamentally interesting and can support humans living in space,” he said. The progress in off-world <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-urgent-plea-sustainable-climate-solutions-save-earth-humanity/">sustainability</a> almost invariably “has spinoff benefits for sustainability technology here on Earth as well.”



One immediate benefit is the potential use of the domes as low-energy bioreactors. Unlike conventional indoor farms that rely on electric lamps, algae inside translucent shells harvest natural sunlight. That eliminates a major power drain - a critical advantage on distant worlds where every watt matters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surviving-mars-extremes">Surviving Mars’ extremes</h2>



Of course, challenges remain. Mars swings through dramatic temperature cycles, and liquid water will freeze solid without extra heating or insulation. 



Perchlorate salts in Martian dust are toxic to many organisms, so engineers will need robust filtration or genetically tuned microbes.



Gas exchange will also need to be balanced. PLA walls allow carbon dioxide to seep in and oxygen to seep out, but water vapor escapes the same way, risking desiccation unless clever humidity controls are included.



Shielding human occupants from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-cosmic-rays-from-supernova-sparked-rapid-earth-evolution/">cosmic radiation</a> also demands thicker or layered shells, perhaps combining PLA with locally mined regolith.



Finally, the team is keen to move from flask-scale proofs to pilot-scale structures that people can walk into. The future domes could pair the algae chambers with silica-aerogel skylights. This technology, developed by Wordsworth’s group, captures sunlight while trapping heat to create temperate oases on an otherwise frigid plain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bioplastic-homes-grown-by-algae">Bioplastic homes grown by algae</h2>



The broader message of the study is that biology can be both passenger and partner in humanity’s push beyond Earth.



If algae build walls and microbes recycle plastic, habitats could grow and repair themselves instead of being shipped from Earth. Instead, they become living, self-healing ecosystems.



That vision aligns with <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>’s growing interest in in-situ resource utilization and with wider efforts to craft sustainable, circular economies at home.



In other words, the green slime that clings to your fish tank might one day help roof the first Martian village - and teach us a few lessons about building lighter, cleaner, and smarter back on the pale blue dot.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp4985">Science Advances</a>.



-----



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Bioplastic bubbles made with algae could sustain life on Mars

For decades, space engineers have imagined shipping steel, glass, and concrete to other worlds so that future explorers can build homes on Mars and even further from Earth. A new study led by Robin Wordsworth at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences turns that idea on its head. Rather than launching heavy construction kits, the team shows that habitats can, quite literally, grow themselves. “If you have a habitat that is composed of bioplastic, and it grows algae within it, that algae could produce more bioplastic,”...

Oysters that are exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-heatwaves-will-intensify-due-to-thinning-ocean-layer/">heat</a> and low oxygen conditions early in life are more vulnerable to the same stressors later on, according to a new study from the <a href="https://serc.si.edu/">Smithsonian Environmental Research Center</a> (SERC).

The experts found that in response to repeated  environmental stress, oysters invest more energy in growing their shells than in growing their tissues. As a result, they have larger shells that are less meaty.

"What we all of course want to eat at the raw bar is the oyster tissue," said study lead author Sarah Donelan. "Customers and restaurants might be less pleased if there's less tissue in what looks to be a large oyster."

In the Chesapeake Bay, oysters live mostly in shallow tributaries where oxygen levels can swing drastically during the hot summer months. The researchers explained that these oxygen levels can shift from perfectly healthy in the daytime to near zero at night. To save energy, some oysters react by focusing more on their shell growth. 

Low oxygen was found to have the strongest negative impact on growth. The experts also discovered that early exposure to low oxygen and heat stress led to a drastically sharper decline in tissue growth when the oysters were exposed to these conditions again later in life. 

"Low oxygen and warming waters are a real double whammy for marine organisms," said SERC senior scientist Denise Breitburg. "Warmer water holds less oxygen and causes oxygen to decline faster. At the same time, cold-blooded animals like oysters and finfish require more oxygen at warmer temperatures."

The researchers designed an experiment to investigate whether exposure to threats could shape oysters later in life. Nightly swings of low oxygen were used to put pressure on the shellfish.

"If it's always bad, they can evolve over time to cope with those poor conditions," said Donelan. "But especially for (immobile) organisms like oysters, these fluctuations can be very stressful."

The study was focused on 3,600 young oysters around the age of three months old. The animals were exposed to four possible scenarios, including warmer water, swings of low oxygen, both conditions, or neither condition. 

When the oysters were given a break after 18 days, they were all about the same size regardless of their environments. At this point, there were no significant differences in shell or tissue size among the individuals. 

Two months later, when half of the oysters were returned to the experimental tanks, some effects started to show that may have been dormant.

The oysters that had suffered from both low oxygen and hotter water in the first phase of the experiment started showing signs of strain. Oysters that were facing the challenging conditions for the second time grew their shells more than their tissue. They had half the tissue-versus-shell growth ratio that was observed in oysters who escaped the early double exposure.

The findings raise a new question: why would the oysters not be toughened up by early exposure? Donelan suspects the combination of warming and low oxygen leaves a scar that does not easily heal. "I think that there's likely a physiological change that's irreversible."

The key, said Donelan, is to protect oysters while they are still young. Oysters that were not exposed to the warm water and low oxygen conditions early in life fared much better when they faced the same stressors later on.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19395582">Ecological Applications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Oysters respond to stress by growing less meat on their shells

Oysters that are exposed to heat and low oxygen conditions...

Plants set their circadian clock in the evening to make sure they have enough energy to make it through the night, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>. The experts identified a metabolic signal that the plants use to set their "bedtime alarm." 

The researchers believe that the newly identified metabolic signal informs the plant on how much sugar is available at dusk so the plant can adjust its metabolism to survive the night. 

Plants use sunlight to produce sugar through photosynthesis, and the sugar is stored up for energy during nighttime hours. It is critical for plants to be able to anticipate the duration of these dark hours so that they do not run out of energy. 

Predicting sunrise and estimating the duration of the night depends on the circadian rhythm, which is a 24-hour cycle that is part of the body's internal clock.

"We think this metabolic signal is acting rather like setting an alarm clock before bedtime to ensure the plant's survival," said Dr. Mike Haydon.

"Plants must coordinate photosynthetic metabolism with the daily environment and adapt rhythmic physiology and development to match carbon availability."

To investigate how sugars alter the circadian clock, the researchers modified the sugar supply of some seedlings and measured their gene expression. They zeroed in on a set of genes regulated by the chemical compound superoxide, which is associated with metabolic activity. 

Most of these genes are active in the evening, including those that regulate the circadian clock. When the experts inhibited the production of superoxide, the evening effects of sugar on the circadian clock genes were also inhibited.

"Distinguishing the effects of light and sugars in photosynthetic cells is challenging," said Professor Ian Graham. "Our data suggest a new role for superoxide as a rhythmic sugar-related signal which acts in the evening and affects circadian gene expression and growth."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plants set a "bedtime alarm" that helps them survive the night

Plants set their circadian clock in the evening to make...

Coral Reef Fiji Pacific Panarama

Half a trillion corals counted in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists at the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a> have conducted the first investigation into how many corals there are in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/benefits-of-sea-otters-in-the-north-pacific-greatly-outweigh-costs/">Pacific</a> Ocean, as well as their risk of extinction. Prior to this study, the global number of individual coral colonies was a mystery.

"In the Pacific, we estimate there are roughly half a trillion corals," said study lead author Dr. Andy Dietzel. "This is about the same number of trees in the Amazon, or birds in the world."

The findings are critically important for the conservation of coral reefs, which are severely threatened by climate change.Half a trillion corals counted in the Pacific Ocean

"We need to know the abundance of a species to assess its risk of extinction," explained Dr. Dietzel. "However, there is very little data on most of Earth's wild animal and plant species - not just corals."

Dr Dietzel said that each of the eight most common coral species in the region have a population size greater than the 7.8 billion people on Earth.

While local losses can be devastating to coral reefs, the results of the new study suggest that the global extinction risk of most species is lower than what was previously thought.

With broad geographic ranges and huge population sizes, the extinctions of many types of corals will unfold over a much longer timeframe than expected.

The analysis shows that 12 of the 80 species considered by the IUCN to have an elevated extinction risk have estimated population sizes of more than one billion colonies, noted Professor Sean Connolly.

"As an example, the finger-coral, Porites nigrescens, ranks amongst the ten most abundant species we examined. It's also not considered to be highly susceptible to coral bleaching - yet it is currently listed by IUCN as vulnerable to global extinction," said Professor Connolly.

On the other hand, Professor Michael Bode pointed out that one third of the species examined that had the lowest population numbers are listed by the IUCN as being of Least Concern.

According to Professor Terry Hughes, the study results have major implications for managing and restoring coral reefs.

"We counted an average of 30 corals per square metre of reef habitat. This translates into tens of billions of corals on the Great Barrier Reef--even after recent losses from climate extremes," said Professor Hughes.

"Coral restoration is not the solution to climate change. You would have to grow about 250 million adult corals to increase coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef by just one percent."

Professor Hughes said the study highlights the opportunity for action to mitigate the threats to reef species - and well before climate change causes global extinctions - to make an eventual recovery of reef coral assemblages possible.

"The challenge now is to protect wild populations of corals, because we could never replace more than a tiny percentage of them. Prevention is better than cure."

"Given the huge size of these coral populations, it is very unlikely that they face imminent extinction. There is still time to protect them from anthropogenic heating, but only if we act quickly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Half a trillion corals counted in the Pacific Ocean

Half a trillion corals counted in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists...

Shops,And,Passenger,Ships,On,The,Banks,Of,The,Royal

Looking into the past, researchers can see that human populations have not always collapsed in the face of climate change. In fact, a new study from <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis</a> reveals that during the early Bronze Age, people in the central plains of China responded quite successfully to long-term <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glass-bottles-have-an-unexpectedly-large-environmental-impact/">environmental</a> changes.

The experts found that when a new climate emerged, humans turned to innovation, including advancement in agriculture and increasingly complex social structures. Such innovations set the stage for a dramatic increase in the human population around 3,900 to 3,500 years ago.

"In China, especially, there has been a relatively simplistic view of the effects of climate," said Professor Tristram R. Kidder. "Our work shows that we need to have a nuanced appreciation of human resilience as we consider the effects of climate and its effects on human societies."

"We have remarkable capacity to adapt. But part of the lesson here is that our social, political and technological systems have to be flexible. People in the past were able to overcome climate adversity because they were willing to change."

The researchers set out to quantify the types of demographic and subsistence changes that took place over the course of thousands of years in the central plains of China. 

Based on pollen data from a lake sediment core collected in Henan Province, the experts determined that a warm and wet climate about 9,000 to 4,000 years ago shifted to a cool and dry climate during the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition.

The team used radiocarbon dating and archaeological data to analyze what people were growing and eating during periods of significant population surges and declines throughout the time when the climate was stable and when it shifted. 

The researchers discovered that as resources began to fluctuate and become more limited in drier conditions, people expanded the number of plants they cultivated for food. They embraced new diversity, including foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, wheat, soybean and rice.

The time when the climate was changing is also marked by innovations in water management approaches for irrigation and new metal tools.

"Certainly, by 4,000 years ago, which is when we see this change in the overall environmental condition, this is a society with complicated political, social and economic institutions," said Professor Kidder. 

"And what I think we are seeing is the capacity of these institutions to buffer and to deal with the climatic variation. When we talk about changes in subsistence strategies, these changes didn't happen automatically. These are human choices."

According to study co-author Michael Storozum, the fact that climate change does not always equal collapse is an important point in both a prehistoric and modern context.

"Humans have been heavily modifying their environments for thousands of years, often in the pursuit of increasing food production which grants societies a higher degree of social resilience," said Storozum.

"As more environmental scientists and archaeologists work together, I expect that our understanding of what makes a society resilient to climate change in prehistoric and historical times will grow as well."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans can overcome climate change by being flexible

Looking into the past, researchers can see that human populations...

Experts at <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">CU Boulder</a> report that evidence found inside the Chicxulub impact crater has confirmed that an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago. The discovery of asteroid dust at the impact site finally solves a long-standing debate about how the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-teenage-dinosaurs-wiped-out-many-smaller-species/">dinosaurs</a> were wiped out, and shuts down the theory that the extinction event was caused by volcanic eruptions.

In the 1980s, scientists found asteroid dust in the geologic layer that marks the extinction of the dinosaurs. The findings indicated that dust from the vaporized asteroid encircled the entire planet, blocking out the sun and triggering a devastating "impact winter." Over time, the dust fell out of the atmosphere and rained down onto the Earth. 

In the 1990s, the 125-mile-wide Chicxulub impact crater was discovered beneath the Gulf of Mexico. The crater turned out to be the same age as the rock layer. 

According to the researchers, the new study seals the deal by finding asteroid dust with a matching chemical fingerprint within the crater at the precise geological location that marks the time of the extinction. Study lead author Professor Steven Goderis said that the circle is now finally complete

The report is the latest in a series of studies based on the 2016 International Ocean Discovery Program mission. During this expedition, nearly 3,000 feet of rock core was collected from the crater buried under the seafloor. 

A telltale signature of asteroid dust is iridium, which is present at elevated levels in certain types of asteroids. An iridium spike in the geologic layer found all over the world is how the asteroid theory was proposed in the first place. In the new study, researchers found a similar spike in a section of rock pulled from the crater. 

"We are now at the level of coincidence that geologically doesn't happen without causation," said study co-author Professor Sean Gulick. "It puts to bed any doubts that the iridium anomaly [in the geologic layer] is not related to the Chicxulub crater."

The researchers estimate that the asteroid dust circulated in the atmosphere for no longer than a couple of decades. This helps to determine how long the dinosaur extinction took, said Professor Gulick.

"If you're actually going to put a clock on extinction 66 million years ago, you could easily make an argument that it all happened within a couple of decades, which is basically how long it takes for everything to starve to death."

In collaboration with experts at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and Bureau of Economic Geology, the researchers plan to return to the crater this summer. The goal is to begin surveying sites at the center of the crater, where the scientists will plan a future drilling effort to recover more asteroid material.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Asteroid dust solves the mystery of what killed the dinosaurs

Experts at CU Boulder report that evidence found inside the...

Forest ecosystems that are prone to wildfires are losing their capacity to store <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-poop-stores-1-65-billion-tons-of-carbon-annually/">carbon</a>,  according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>. The team analyzed ten years of data and found that repeated fires are driving long-term changes to tree communities and causing population declines.

The study revealed that savannah ecosystems and regions with extreme wet or dry conditions are the most sensitive to changes in fire frequency. On the other hand, trees in regions with moderate climates are more resistant. Repeated fires were also found to cause less damage to trees with protective features such as thicker bark.

The experts determined that the impact of a single fire is very different from the effects of repeated fires over several decades. The researchers found that after 50 years, regions with the most extreme annual fires had 72 percent less wood and 63 percent fewer trees compared to areas that had not burned. 

These types of changes to a forest community can reduce the forest's long-term ability to store carbon.

"Planting trees in areas where trees grow rapidly is widely promoted as a way to mitigate climate change. But to be sustainable, plans must consider the possibility of changes in fire frequency and intensity over the longer term," said study first author Dr. Adam Pellegrini.

"Our study shows that although wetter regions are better for tree growth, they're also more vulnerable to fire. That will influence the areas we should manage to try and mitigate climate change."

Previous studies have established that repeated fires reduce levels of soil nutrients such as nitrogen. In the current study, the experts report that lower nutrient availability promotes slower-growing tree species that have adaptations to help them survive with less nutrients. 

However, tree that grow more slowly limit nutrient cycling in the soil. This decreases the ability of a forest to recover after wildfires, which burn five percent of the Earth's surface every year. The carbon dioxide that is released is equivalent to 20 percent of annual fossil fuel emissions.

The majority of the CO2 emitted during wildfires used to be recaptured as trees bounced back, but repeated fires do not always allow time for this process.

"As fire frequency and intensity increases because of climate change, the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems are going to change in so many ways because of changes in tree composition," said Dr. Pellegrini.

"More fire-tolerant tree species are generally slower growing, reducing the productivity of the forest. As climate change causes wildfires to become more intense and droughts more severe, it could hamper the ability of forests to recover - reducing their capacity for carbon storage."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20457758">Ecology and Evolution</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Repeated fires reduce the ability of forests to store carbon

Forest ecosystems that are prone to wildfires are losing their...

A rare Australian bee species has been spotted for the first time in 100 years. According to a new study from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a>, the bees have likely persisted all these years, but are under increasing pressure from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-mangrove-forests-have-higher-carbon-storage-capacity/">forest</a> degradation and wildfires. 

Only six individuals of this species have ever been found, and the last documented sighting was in 1923.

"This is concerning because it is the only Australian species in the Pharohylaeus genus and nothing was known of its biology," said study co-author James Dorey.

Based on the lack of any sightings in recent decades, bee experts Dr. Tobias Smith and Olivia Davies set out to determine whether the bees had become extinct. For the investigation, the team sampled 225 general and 20 targeted sites across New South Wales and Queensland.

The results of the analysis suggest that highly fragmented habitat and potential host specialization may explain the rarity of the Australian bee, which is known as Pharohylaeus lactiferus.

"Three populations of P. lactiferous were found by sampling bees visiting their favored plant species along much of the Australian east coast, suggesting population isolation," said Dorey.

The research team also analyzed bee and vegetation recordings from the Atlas of Living Australia, which lists 500 bee species in NSW and 657 in Queensland. 

The experts warn that habitat loss and fragmentation of Australia's rainforests, along with wildfires and climate change, are likely to put extinction pressure on this and other invertebrate species.

The study authors report that Australia has already cleared more than 40 percent of its forests and woodlands since European colonization, leaving much of the remainder fragmented and degraded.

"My geographical analyses used to explore habitat destruction in the Wet Tropics and Central Mackay Coast bioregions indicate susceptibility of Queensland rainforests and P. lactiferus populations to bushfires, particularly in the context of a fragmented landscape," said Dorey.

The researchers discovered that the species is even more vulnerable due to their preference for specific floral specimens that are not found in the forested areas where the bees were spotted.

"Collections indicate possible floral and habitat specialization with specimens only visiting firewheel trees, Stenocarpus sinuatus, and Illawarra flame trees, Brachychiton acerifolius, to the exclusion of other available floral resources," said Dorey.

"Future research should aim to increase our understanding of the biology, ecology and population genetics of P. lactiferus."

"If we are to understand and protect these wonderful Australian species, we really need to increase biomonitoring and conservation efforts, along with funding for the museum curation and digitisation of their collections and other initiatives."

The study is published in the <a href="https://jhr.pensoft.net/">Journal of Hymenoptera Research</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Australian bee spotted for the first time in nearly 100 years

A rare Australian bee species has been spotted for the...

Bearded seals are loud, but they may not be loud enough to handle the interference of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-sanitizes-more-than-40-million-tons-of-human-waste-a-year/">human</a> activities, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>. Ambient noise is increasing in the Arctic, and the researchers found that this threatens the reproductive success of bearded seals.

"As Arctic sea ice declines, industrial activities and associated anthropogenic noise are likely to increase," explained the study authors. "Documenting how seals respond to noise and identifying naturally occurring behavioral thresholds would indicate either their resilience or vulnerability to changing soundscapes." 

"We investigated whether male bearded seals modified call amplitudes in response to changing ambient noise levels.

During mating season, male bearded seals make extremely loud calls to attract a mate. Even their vocalizations that are considered quiet can be as noisy as a chainsaw. 

The seals have to crank out calls that are loud enough to be heard over their competitors. Prior to this study, the response of seals to elevated noise was not yet known, despite the fact that they rely on sounds to successfully mate and reproduce.

The experts set out to gain a better understanding of how resilient bearded seals can be to changes in ambient underwater noise. 

"We wanted to know whether bearded seals would call louder when their habitat grew noisy from natural sound sources," said study lead author Michelle Fournet. 

"The goal was to determine if there was a 'noise threshold' beyond which seals either couldn't-or wouldn't-call any louder in order to heard. By identifying this naturally occurring threshold, we can make conservation recommendations about how loud is too loud for human activities.'

Under the ice near Utqiagvik, Alaska in the springtime, the sea is flooded with the vocalizations of male bearded seals, and the collective noise is described as "otherworldly." 

In the rapidly changing Arctic, noise from industrial activities is predicted to dramatically increase in the next 15 years. As a result, bearded seals will have to change their calling behavior if they are going to be heard above the noise generated by ships and commercial activities, but the researchers found that there is only so much they can do. 

The team listened to thousands of bearded seal vocalizations that were recorded over two years in Arctic Alaska. Each call was carefully measured and compared to the concurrent ambient noise conditions. 

The study revealed that bearded seals grow louder as underwater noise levels increase. However, the experts found an upper limit to this behavior. 

When ambient noise gets too high, bearded seals are no longer able to compensate enough by turning up the volume. The distance that their calls can be heard decreases alongside the increase in ambient noise. 

"Given that these are reproductive calls, it is likely that the seals are already calling as close to as loudly as possible-the males very much want to be heard by the females," said Fournet. "So, it is unsurprising that there is an upper limit. I'm grateful that we have been able to identify that limit so we can make responsible management choices moving forward."

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

Bearded seals may not be loud enough to survive noise pollution

Bearded seals are loud, but they may not be loud...

A new study from the <a href="https://ncar.ucar.edu/">National Center for Atmospheric Research</a> (NCAR) reports that thunderstorms in Alaska will triple in the coming decades, along with an increased risk of widespread flash flooding, landslides, and lightning-induced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-and-pollinator-connections-become-stronger-after-wildfires/">wildfires</a>. 

The study found that rising temperatures will lead to less sea ice and more open water during warmer months that will serve as an abundant source of moisture for the atmosphere. When combined with heat, this moisture could turbocharge summertime storms.

"Alaska can expect three times as many storms, and those storms will be more intense," said study co-author and NCAR scientist Andreas Prein. "It will be a very different regime of rainfall."

The thunderstorms will extend throughout Alaska, affecting far northern regions that currently do not typically experience this type of weather. In southern regions, the storms are expected to become far more frequent, with peak rainfall rates increasing by more than a third.

"We suspect that the increasing number of thunderstorms might have significant impacts, such as amplifying spring floods or causing more wildfire ignitions," said study lead author Basile Poujol. "Further studies are necessary to determine whether these impacts are likely to occur and, if so, their potential effects on ecosystems and society."

At the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, Alaska will become about 11 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit warmer by the end of the century. The state has already been hit hard by climate change. The impacts include longer wildfire seasons and record heat waves, as well as landslides and sinkholes caused by melting permafrost. If thunderstorms become more common in Alaska, it will represent a major shift in the state's climate.

Prein said the effects of increased storms in Alaska could be particularly severe because the landscape will be reshaped by melting permafrost and the northerly migration of boreal forests.

"The potential for flash flooding and landslides is definitely increasing, and the Arctic is becoming way more flammable. It's hard to grasp what the ecological changes will be in the future."

The scientists used advanced computer models and a specialized algorithm to predict future weather conditions and to track the sources of moisture in the atmosphere. They noted that the impacts in Alaska could be significantly lessened if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/382">Climate Dynamics</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Storms in Alaska will become much more frequent and severe

A new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research...

Rapid warming in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-permafrost-is-releasing-even-more-co2-than-expected/">Arctic</a> threatens the survival of marine mammals that depend on sea ice, particularly polar bears and narwhals, according to a new report from <a href="https://www.biologists.com/">The Company of Biologists</a>. 

Study co-authors Anthony Pagano and Terrie Williams explained that polar bears and narwhals are especially vulnerable to sea ice deterioration due to their unique hunting behaviors and diet, as well as their physiological adaptations for slow-aerobic exercise. The experts said that these intrinsic characteristics limit the ability of the animals to respond to extrinsic threats associated with environmental change in a warming Arctic.

In a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification, the Arctic is currently warming at more than double the rate of the rest of the planet. As a result, the extent and volume of Arctic sea ice is rapidly declining.

"In addition to direct environmental impacts, the continued decline in Arctic sea ice may indirectly affect wild animals through increased anthropogenic activity in the Arctic including shipping, fisheries and resource extraction activity," said the researchers.

Pagano and Williams measured the energetic cost of movement for narwhals and polar bears and found that major ice loss translated into a large increase in energy consumption. This higher energy demand - combined with the loss of access to seals, the polar bear's main food source - leaves them vulnerable to starvation.

"A polar bear would need to consume approximately 1.5 caribou, 37 Arctic char, 74 snow geese, 216 snow goose eggs (i.e. 54 nests with 4 eggs per clutch) or 3 million crowberries to equal the digestible energy available in the blubber of one adult ringed seal," explained the study authors. In other words, there are few resources on land within the polar bears' range that can compensate for losing access to seals. 

"In assessing how sea ice loss may differentially affect polar bears that hunt on the ice surface and narwhals that hunt at extreme depths below, we found that major ice loss translated into elevated locomotor costs that range from 3- to 4-fold greater than expected for both species," wrote the study authors. 

"For polar bears this instigates an energy imbalance from the combined effects of reduced caloric intake and increased energy expenditure. For narwhals, high locomotor costs during diving increase the risk of ice entrapment due to the unreliability of breathing holes."

Beyond the risk of becoming trapped beneath the ice, narwhals swim at a slow pace that makes them vulnerable to attacks by killer whales in open water.

The experts concluded that the physiological constraints of polar bears and narwhals, coupled with their reliance on sea ice, make these two marine mammals "sentinels of climate change within the Arctic marine ecosystem that may foreshadow rapid changes to the marine ecosystem."

The study is published in the <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shrinking Arctic sea ice threatens polar bears and narwhals

Rapid warming in the Arctic threatens the survival of marine...

Mangrove forests have a greater capacity to store <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-poop-stores-1-65-billion-tons-of-carbon-annually/">carbon</a> when they are diverse, according to a new study published by the <a href="https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/">British Ecological Society</a>. While analyzing mangrove forests in Hainan Island, China, the researchers discovered that species diversity in mangrove forests improves both biomass production and soil carbon storage. 

Worldwide, there are 70 different species of mangroves and 26 of them can be found in the study area. The research is the first intensive field study of its kind to confirm the positive effect of biodiversity on mangrove biomass and carbon storage. 

The eastern side of Hainan Island was found to have the highest mangrove diversity and  biomass, along with an average carbon storage of 537 tons per hectare. This carbon storage capacity is extremely high compared to the average across the entire island of 328 tons per hectare, and also compared to the global mangrove forest average of 386 tons per hectare.

Areas with higher levels of precipitation and soil nitrogen content were found to have greater mangrove biomass and carbon storage capacity as well. This indicates that mangrove diversity and carbon storage potential are both influenced by soil fertility and climate factors.

"Our findings suggest that mangrove forests with greater diversity also have higher carbon storage capacities and conservation potential. Thus, mangrove biodiversity conservation is crucial for ensuring mangrove forests are able to mitigate climate change," said study co-author Dr. Guanghui Lin. 

"We can increase mangrove diversity through restoration and conservation projects, especially those that promote local native species."

Mangrove forests are made up of trees, shrubs and other woody plants growing in the tidal zones of tropical coastlines. This coastal vegetation provides numerous ecological services including water purification, coastal protection, and carbon storage.

"Worldwide, particularly in developing countries such as China, mangroves have been lost or degraded over the last several decades," said study co-author Professor Xiaoshan. "Restoration of mangrove forests and their habitats are urgently needed not only for preservation of biodiversity but also to increase carbon storage potentials."

In addition, increasing mangrove species diversity will help to improve the resilience of the ecosystems to disturbances like climate change and extreme weather. As a result,  mangrove forests can continue to serve as specialized habitats that support hundreds of species.

The mangrove species found on Hainan Island ranged from 30-meter tall trees, such as Sonneratia and Bruguerria, to shrubs of only a few meters such as Avicennia marina. The researchers surveyed mangrove biodiversity and carbon storage along the entire coastline of Hainan Island, which contains nearly 20 percent of China's mangrove forest area.

The study was limited in that it was restricted to a single, isolated island. The experts are currently expanding their research to include the rest of China and other countries with mangrove forests around the world. "This will allow us to test the relationship between plant species diversity and mangrove carbon storage found in this study," said Dr. Lin.

According to the researchers, their findings highlight the importance of conserving mangrove biodiversity as a nature-based solution to mitigate climate change.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652435">Functional Ecology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Diverse mangrove forests have higher carbon storage capacity

Mangrove forests have a greater capacity to store carbon when...

Climate change and invasive species are two of the biggest drivers of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/promoting-biodiversity-increases-ecosystem-resilience/">biodiversity</a> loss worldwide. In a new study from <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a>, experts report that rapid evolution can help species adapt to new competition, and that these evolutionary changes affect the way that animals handle climate stress. 

"Our results demonstrate that interactions with competitors, including invasive species, can shape a species' evolution in response to climatic change," said study co-author Professor Seth Rudman.

Evolution is typically thought of as a slow process that takes place over generations, but studies in recent years have shown that plants and animals can make rapid adjustments in response to changes in their environment. Rapid evolution is critical for species to survive climate warming and the increasing issue of non-native species invasions.

Fruit flies reproduce very quickly, which allows scientists to observe genetic changes across several generations in a matter of months. For the current study, the researchers focused on two species of fruit flies: Drosophila melanogaster, which is native to North American orchards; and Zaprionus indianus, which has recently started to invade North America.

The researchers first investigated whether the native flies could evolve rapidly in response to exposure to the invasive flies over the course of a summer season. Next, the team examined how adaptation in the summer may affect the native species' ability to handle the colder fall conditions.

"A cool thing about the way we conducted this study is that while most experiments that look at rapid evolution use controlled lab systems, we used an outdoor experimental orchard that mimics the natural habitat of our focal species," said study lead author Tess Grainger. "This gives our experiment a sense of realism and makes our findings more applicable to understanding natural systems."

The study revealed that the native fruit flies adapted to the presence of the invasive species in a matter of just a few months. This rapid evolution influenced how the flies evolved when cold weather arrived. 

In the fall, the fruit flies which had been exposed to the invasive species evolved to be larger, lay fewer eggs, and develop faster than flies that were not exposed. These findings have laid the groundwork for studying other threatened species that are more elusive.

"In the era of global environmental change in which species are increasingly faced with new climates and new competitors, these dynamics are becoming essential to understand and predict," said Grainger.

"As biodiversity changes, as climate changes and invaders become more common, what can rapid evolution do to affect outcomes of those things over the next century or two? It may be that rapid evolution will help biodiversity be maintained in the face of these changes," said Professor Rudman.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Invasive species are driving rapid evolution

Climate change and invasive species are two of the biggest...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency </a>&nbsp;features the Kangerlussuaq Glacier, one of the largest tidewater outlet glaciers in Greenland. The glacier is located on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.



As human-induced climate change continues to drive up temperatures, global ice loss is accelerating at an alarming rate. ESA reports that, over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from the Greenland ice sheet. This is enough to cover the UK with meltwater 15 meters deep.



Based on satellite imagery, researchers determined that Kangerlussuaq entered a new phase of rapid retreat and acceleration in 2017. In their study, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00123/full">Frontiers in Earth Science</a>,&nbsp; the experts report that the glacier's ice front is now at its most retreated position since the early 20th century.



"Given Kangerlussuaq’s previous impacts on both the magnitude and pattern of ice sheet wide mass loss, we predict that its new phase of retreat, acceleration and thinning will markedly enhance the south-east region’s contribution to increasing discharge from the ice sheet," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"More broadly, accurate forecasting of the ice sheet’s contribution to sea level rise will require a deeper understanding of, and responses to, these non-linear ice dynamic processes."



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the complex relationship between ocean and climate. ESA's Climate Change Initiative will help us understand how oceans influence the climate and how climate change is impacting the oceans.&nbsp;



"Earth’s oceans are huge heat stores, soaking up 93% of the excess heat from human activity over the past 70 years. Ocean currents redistribute heat around the planet, from the Equator to the poles. Where this ocean heat goes influences weather patterns and regional climate," explains ESA.



"As well as absorbing heat, oceans are a natural carbon sink, absorbing a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This has led to the acidification of ocean water, threating marine life."



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide soaked up by the ocean depends on specific variables, including phytoplankton, temperatures, waves, salinity, and ice cover. Satellites can be used to measure these variables from space.



"From their unique vantage point, satellites provide key information for understanding the complexities of our planet and monitoring environmental issues," says ESA.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the importance of monitoring the shape of the sea surface, which is constantly changing. These observations have many applications, such as ship routing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-modem-ocean-is-a-tough-place-for-whales-to-survive/">ocean</a> current forecasting, and debris tracking.



"A project supported by the Discovery element of ESA’s Basic Activities recently investigated a new technique to measure sea surface topography very precisely," reports ESA.



"The technique involves looking at satellite navigation (GNSS) signals that have been reflected off of the sea surface at very low angles. At these so-called grazing angles, waves and surface roughness have very little impact on the reflection process; the sea surface acts as a very smooth mirror."



Estel Cardellach is the principal investigator at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia, who first submitted the idea for the project.



“In a mirror-like reflection the phase of the signal can be tracked – it is continuous," said Cardellach. "Different surface heights result in different phase measurements. It gives a very precise measurement of the surface altitude at a few centimetres’ precision.”



The researchers developed a GNSS receiver and set up an experiment in the Balaeric Islands to collect signals from the receiver that were reflected off the sea surface. Ultimately, these signals will provide improved measurements of the shape of the sea surface.



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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