Gold is everywhere - in our phones, computers, medical devices, and satellites. But getting it out of the ground or from discarded electronics usually means dealing with cyanide, mercury, and a lot of toxic waste. 



That’s been the trade-off: valuable metal at a steep environmental cost. But now, researchers at <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> in Australia are showing there’s a better way.



The Flinders team, working across green chemistry, engineering, and physics, has developed a safer, more sustainable method to recover gold. 



The method works not only on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-largest-iron-ore-deposits-reveal-a-1-3-billion-year-old-secret/">ore</a>, but also on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electronic-waste-is-growing-five-times-faster-than-recycling/">electronic waste</a> and even scientific byproducts. Instead of relying on mercury or cyanide, the technique uses materials that are widely available and far less toxic.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extracting-gold-from-e-waste">Extracting gold from e-waste</h2>



At the heart of the method is trichloroisocyanuric acid - a common disinfectant used in pool and water treatment. When mixed with salt water, it becomes a powerful gold extractor. 



Once the gold is dissolved, it’s captured by a sulfur-rich polymer developed by the Flinders team. The polymer binds selectively to gold, even in complex mixtures full of other metals.



Then comes the clever part: the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/everyday-polymers-that-are-considered-safe-release-harmful-toxins/">polymer</a> can be broken down to release the gold and be recycled for future use. This makes the entire process cleaner, safer, and more circular.



“The study featured many innovations including a new and recyclable leaching reagent derived from a compound used to disinfect water,” said Professor Justin Chalker, who leads the Chalker Lab.



“The team also developed an entirely new way to make the polymer sorbent, or the material that binds the gold after extraction into water, using light to initiate the key reaction.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-safer-option-for-small-scale-miners">A safer option for small-scale miners</h2>



The method has already been tested on a wide range of materials, including e-waste, ore concentrates, and mixed-metal scrap. And it's not just a lab experiment. The researchers are planning to scale it up, working with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gold-mining-causes-long-lasting-damage-in-the-amazon-rainforest/">mining</a> companies and recycling facilities to put it into real-world use.



“The aim is to provide effective gold recovery methods that support the many uses of gold, while lessening the impact on the environment and human health,” said Professor Chalker.



This is especially important in small-scale and artisanal mines around the world, where mercury is still widely used to extract gold. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mercury-pollution-in-the-amazon-is-recorded-in-tree-rings/">Mercury pollution</a> from gold mining is one of the leading sources of contamination globally. The team worked with experts in the United States and Peru to test the new method on gold ore, with the goal of offering safer alternatives to these communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gold-from-a-mound-of-e-waste">Gold from a mound of e-waste </h2>



The researchers aren’t just solving a technical problem. They’re trying to make sure the solution actually fits into real systems -economic, environmental, and social.



“We are especially grateful to our engineering, mining, and philanthropic partners for supporting translation of laboratory discoveries to larger scale demonstrations of the gold recovery techniques,” noted Professor Chalker.



Dr. Max Mann, one of the study's lead authors, highlighted the scale of the problem. “This paper shows that interdisciplinary collaborations are needed to address the world's big problems managing the growing stockpiles of e-waste.”



Dr. Thomas Nicholls noted that the newly developed gold sorbent is made using a sustainable approach in which UV light is used to make the sulfur-rich polymer. He explained that recycling the polymer after the gold has been recovered further increases the green credentials of this method.



“We dived into a mound of e-waste and climbed out with a block of gold! I hope this research inspires impactful solutions to pressing global challenges," said Dr. Harshal Patel.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-path-forward-for-gold-recovery">A path forward for gold recovery</h2>



The work out of Flinders University is more than just a chemistry breakthrough. It’s a potential roadmap for how science can rethink an entire process - replacing toxic practices with something smarter, cleaner, and just as effective.



Dr. Lynn Lisboa connected the project to the bigger picture. “With the ever-growing technological and societal demand for gold, it is increasingly important to develop safe and versatile methods to purify gold from varying sources," she said.



If the new extraction method continues to succeed at larger scales, it could help rewrite how the world mines, recycles, and values one of its most sought-after elements.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01586-w">Nature Sustainability</a>.



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Turning trash into treasure: Scientists are safely extracting gold from e-waste

Gold is everywhere - in our phones, computers, medical devices, and satellites. But getting it out of the ground or from discarded electronics usually means dealing with cyanide, mercury, and a lot of toxic waste. That’s been the trade-off: valuable metal at a steep environmental cost. But now, researchers at Flinders University in Australia are showing there’s a better way. The Flinders team, working across green chemistry, engineering, and physics, has developed a safer, more sustainable method to recover gold. The method works not only on ore,...

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals, and fish are left with fewer habitats as the <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/intervention-is-needed-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef/">reef</a> structure vanishes. In a new study, scientists have determined that populations of small, medium, and large corals have all declined across the Great Barrier Reef in the last three decades.

Study lead author Dr. Andy Dietzel is an expert at the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a> (CoralCoE). He said that while numerous studies have investigated changes in the structure of other species' populations over centuries, not much is known about the historical changes that have taken place in coral populations.

"We measured changes in colony sizes because population studies are important for understanding demography and the corals' capacity to breed," said Dr. Dietzel.

The researchers examined coral communities across the Great Barrier Reef between 1995 and 2017, and found a drastic depletion of coral populations.

"We found the number of small, medium and large corals on the Great Barrier Reef has declined by more than 50 percent since the 1990s," said study co-author Professor Terry Hughes.

"The decline occurred in both shallow and deeper water, and across virtually all species - but especially in branching and table-shaped corals. These were the worst affected by record-breaking temperatures that triggered mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017."

According to Dr. Dietzel, one of the major implications of coral size is its effect on survival and breeding.

"A vibrant coral population has millions of small, baby corals, as well as many large ones - the big mamas who produce most of the larvae," said Dr. Dietzel. "Our results show the ability of the Great Barrier Reef to recover - its resilience - is compromised compared to the past, because there are fewer babies, and fewer large breeding adults."

The study authors said that better data on the demographic trends of corals is urgently needed.

"If we want to understand how coral populations are changing and whether or not they can recover between disturbances, we need more detailed demographic data: on recruitment, on reproduction and on colony size structure," said Dr. Dietzel.

"We used to think the Great Barrier Reef is protected by its sheer size - but our results show that even the world's largest and relatively well-protected reef system is increasingly compromised and in decline," said Professor Hughes.

Climate change is driving an increase in the frequency of marine heatwaves, and the study showed steep coral declines in the Northern and Central Great Barrier Reef after two mass coral bleaching events struck the region in 2016 and 2017. In early 2020, the southern part of the reef was exposed to record-breaking temperatures.

The researchers conclude that "there is no time to lose." If we want to save the corals that remain, greenhouse gas emissions must be drastically decreased as quickly as possible.

The study is published in the <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

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals,...

In a special report from <a href="https://www.monash.edu/">Monash University</a>, experts warn that without limiting greenhouse gas <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-emissions-from-fire-are-controlled-by-soil-composition/">emissions</a>, the threat of severe wildfires will continue to drastically increase worldwide. On the other hand, if immediate action is taken to limit global warming, wildfire exposure could be reduced by up to 80 percent worldwide by the end of this century.

The researchers analyzed relevant studies published over the last 20 years. They found that climate change is the primary driving force behind the three essential conditions for wildfires - fuel, oxygen, and an ignition source. For example, the combination of more frequent drought, inconsistent rainfall, and hotter temperatures results in more flammable vegetation.

The report noted that the global average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires accounted for about 22 percent of the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels between 1997 to 2016. 

Future projections indicate that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, wildfire exposure could increase to over 74 percent of the global land mass by the year 2100. According to the researchers, however,  limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius would help to avoid an increase in wildfire exposure of 60 to 80 percent.

"The world has already observed many devastating effects of human-induced climate change," wrote the study authors. "A vivid manifestation is the several large wildfires that have occurred recently - in some cases, fires of unprecedented scale and duration - including wildfires in Australia in 2019 to 2020, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in 2019 and 2020, the western United States in 2018 and 2020, and British Columbia in 2017 and 2018."

"Robust projections indicate that the risk of wildfires will continue to increase in most areas of the world as climate change worsens, and that the fires will increase excess mortality and morbidity from burns, wildfire smoke, and mental health effects."

The physical consequences of wildfire exposure include eye irritation, corneal abrasions, and respiratory impacts. The psychological effects include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and insomnia. 

Since August of this year, wildfires have burned more than 7 million acres in the western United States. More than 30 people have been killed and tens of thousands of victims have lost their homes. 

While the wildfires are fueled by climate change, they are also contributing to it. "Substantial greenhouse-gas emissions and forest loss from wildfires are likely to accelerate climate change further and possibly lead to a reinforcing feedback loop," wrote the researchers. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.nejm.org/">New England Journal of Medicine</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wildfire exposure could be drastically lowered by reducing emissions

In a special report from Monash University, experts warn that...

In order to calculate the true value of nature, we must focus on how much people benefit from it, according to researchers at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>. For example, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fully-stocking-u-s-forests-could-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-20-percent/">forests</a> provide so many different benefits, even just as a refuge to connect with nature, but these benefits are not the same for everyone. 

"Context matters," said study lead author Lisa Mandle, who is the lead scientist at the Stanford Natural Capital Project. "If we want to protect the critical natural assets we all depend on, we need actionable policies that incorporate people's diverse needs. It shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all approach when we're talking about people and nature."

Worldwide, there is a growing movement to invest in nature in an effort to protect invaluable resources and improve climate resilience. For policies and management decisions to account for nature, however, the researchers say the science behind them needs to be more inclusive and people-centric.

The experts also emphasize the need for a focus on equity. For some people, a forest has deep cultural significance, while for others it is a source of timber. When all of these benefits are not considered, many people who depend on nature will be left out of important management decisions.

"If you don't know who specifically would benefit from which ecosystems, how can you prioritize where and how to conserve?" said study co-author Taylor Ricketts, director of University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Environment. "We want to make sure the benefits of ecosystems are shared equitably, so that we don't make existing racial and social inequality even worse."

"People need to see themselves - their values and needs - supported in conservation efforts. Often, research will try to assign an overall dollar value to nature without thinking about who will benefitting from it," said Mandle. "That's like saying you have $50 of food in your pantry, but you don't know what kind of food it is or who will be eating. You can't plan your meal without knowing what you have and what your diners need."

The researchers are calling for the scientific community to help build an understanding around who is benefitting from nature in the communities they are hoping to serve. They emphasize direct engagement with people, so that science and policy can be better equipped to meet societal needs, increase equity, and protect vital resources.

"This is a call for us all to do a better job. We can better deliver the information needed to move towards a more sustainable and equitable future," said Mandle. "And that's what we're all working toward."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain">Nature Sustainability</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Identifying the benefits of nature can help protect it

In order to calculate the true value of nature, we...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a>, experts have determined that carnivores living near people are eating so much human <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-more-accurately-recall-the-location-of-high-calorie-foods/">food</a> that it has become a threat to their ecosystems. The researchers found that more than half of the diets of these animals come from human sources, and the consequences could put North America's carnivore-dominated ecosystems at risk.

The study is the most comprehensive of its kind to evaluate how major carnivores like gray wolves, coyotes, and bobcats have changed their diets in response to people.

The researchers analyzed the diets of seven predators across the Great Lakes region. Bone and fur samples of more than 700 species were collected from diverse sites, ranging from remote national parks to metropolitan areas like Albany, New York. The study revealed that the closer the carnivores lived to cities and farms, the more human food they ate.

Evolution shaped predators to compete for different resources, but having a common food source will put new species in conflict with each other. The ecological balance between different carnivores, and between predators and prey, could be completely disrupted. 

The amount of food eaten by the animals varied by location to a great degree. In the most human-altered habitats, an average more than 25 percent of the carnivores' diets came from human sources, and some species indulged more than others. Bobcats, for example, ate a relatively small amount of human food. 

"But what you see is that the sort of generalist species that you might expect - coyotes, foxes, fishers, martens - in human-dominated landscapes, they're getting upwards of 50 percent of their diet from human foods," said study lead author Phil Manlick. "That's a relatively shocking number, I think."

The study revealed that relying on human food sources increased how much carnivores overlapped in their competition for food. Heavy reliance on human food could also make the carnivores vulnerable to human attacks near towns, or change how and when they hunt traditional prey.

Considering the geographic extent of the study and the large number of species involved, the trend of human-sourced food in carnivore diets is widespread, and the consequences are not yet clear.

"When you change the landscape so dramatically in terms of one of the most important attributes of a species - their food - that has unknown consequences for the overall community structure," said Professor Jon Pauli. "And so I think the onus is now on us as ecologists and conservation biologists to begin to understand these novel ecosystems and begin to predict who are the winners and who are the losers."

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

Carnivores that eat human foods are altering their ecosystems

In a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, experts...

Fires are becoming more frequent and more intense in the North American boreal <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/african-forest-elephants-are-running-out-of-fruit/">forest</a>, and experts are urgently working to estimate how much carbon is being released as a result. Researchers at <a href="https://nau.edu/">Northern Arizona University</a> have found that the carbon stored in soil organic matter underground is the most important predictor of how much carbon will be released in a fire.

The study suggests that carbon emissions from fire are primarily determined by the amount of fuel available, rather than by the weather conditions. 

The team studied the diverse composition of the Western Boreal forest conditions by analyzing field data from 417 burn sites in Canada and Alaska. The research revealed that the biggest predictor of how much carbon would combust was the amount of carbon that was stored in the soils, and that soil moisture was also a good indicator of carbon release.

"In these northern forests, soil, not trees, can account for up to 90 percent of carbon emissions, so we expected that these organic soils would be a significant driver," said study  lead author Xanthe Walker. "But we were surprised that fire weather and the time of year a fire starts proved to be poor indicators of carbon combustion. It's really about the fuels that are there when a fire starts."

This discovery is particularly important considering that the Fire Weather Index, which measures weather conditions, is one of the main tools that is used to model carbon emissions in boreal forests.

"When we think of climate change and wildfires, we often instinctively think of extreme weather conditions," said study co-author Marc-André Parisien. "But our study shows that vegetation also matters - a lot! Predicting future vegetation is a tough nut to crack, but this study emphasizes the need to keep chipping away at it."

The vegetation patterns that were uncovered in the study were very complex. The researchers found that factors such as soil moisture and tree species composition interact to predict combustion amounts. For example, highly flammable black spruce was generally a predictor of carbon combustion, and the presence of this species increased with site moisture.

Climate change alters the species composition of a forest. As fires become more frequent, black spruce trees will gradually be replaced by deciduous trees and jack pine, which grow in soils that are shallow and release less carbon during fires, according to the study authors. 

"We really need to move beyond the misconception of the boreal forest as a monotonous stretch of forest," said study co-author Professor Sander Veraverbeke. "While only a few tree species occur in the boreal forest, its diversity in ecosystem structure, forest age, topography, peatland occurrence and permafrost conditions is enormous, and our paper shows that these features dictate the carbon emissions from boreal fires. The good news is that we can map aspects of this fine-scale ecosystem variation with current tools from NASA and other space agencies. Now we need to do this at the continental scale."

"We are figuring out that fire-vegetation feedbacks a lot stronger than we thought they were just a few years ago," said Parisien. "Of course, we'll never be able to manage all of vast boreal biome - nor should we want to - but this helps us know what targeted actions, such as fire management or modifying forest vegetation, we can take to limit carbon loss."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate">Nature Climate Change</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Carbon emissions from fire are controlled by soil composition

Fires are becoming more frequent and more intense in the...

For the last seven years, the University of California system has been working to reduce carbon emissions from campuses as part of the Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Each campus is looking for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions through various measures, such as increasing their energy efficiency. 

Researchers at <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">UC Santa Barbara</a> and UCLA have turned their attention to campus food, which represents some of the largest indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the colleges. 

"Food is a huge part of our climate impact," said study co-author Professor David Cleveland. He noted that despite the fact that the food system contributes about 30 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, few climate change mitigation policies address the issue. 

The experts are exploring the opportunity to lower indirect emissions by reducing food waste and shifting UC campus food away from animal products toward more plant-based meals.

"It's low-hanging fruit," said Professor Cleveland. "It doesn't involve changing our energy grid or converting from natural gas, which are huge infrastructure investments. Changing the food system is relatively quite inexpensive."

He explained that the key to understanding food's carbon emissions lies in examining the amount of energy and resources that go into producing it, and the greenhouse gases that are emitted as a result of those practices.

"The fundamental thing is that animals eat plants," said Professor Cleveland. The plants are converted to become part of the animal and the nutrition it provides. "However, there are a lot of nutrients and energy spent just keeping the animal alive and doing that conversion."

For example, large quantities of water, grain, and soil nutrients are needed to produce a single pound of meat - not to mention the energy required for processing and distribution."It's much more efficient and less impactful to eat plants directly."

The study was focused on potential changes in campus food across 10 institutions and 280,000 students involved in the UC system.

By implementing changes such as moving away from animal products, the researchers found that food emissions could be reduced by 42 to 55 percent. This is equivalent to about 9 percent of UC's overall reduction target, according to the researchers.

Professor Cleveland noted that relatively small changes, like replacing a fraction of red meat with plant-based alternatives, can steer choices to foods that are not only lower impact on the environment but also healthier and often lower cost.

"We don't have to go vegetarian or vegan, but we could be moving toward diets that are more climate friendly. We can do it right now on our campuses. And we can have all these co-benefits because it's very easy to have climate-friendly food that is also healthier, delicious and more socially equitable than more climate-damaging food."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tcpo20/current">Climate Policy</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Healthier campus food could reduce carbon emissions

For the last seven years, the University of California system...

An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has estimated how much meltwater lakes, which form at glacier margins, accelerate ice loss. The researchers found that these bodies of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/conservation-planning-in-the-amazon-should-be-redirected-to-freshwater-species/">water</a> cause glaciers to retreat much farther and faster compared to glaciers that terminate on land. 

According to the researchers, the effects of glacial lakes are not represented in current ice sheet models. This means that predictions of ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers are underestimated. 

"An ice cube in a bowl of water is going to melt much more quickly than an ice cube sitting on a table, and the effect proglacial lakes have on glacier ice is roughly the same," said study lead author Dr. Jenna Sutherland.

"The simulations show that the influence of a proglacial lake on a glacier predominantly takes place over decades to centuries rather than over millennia, meaning the glacier recedes much faster than it ever could from climatic changes alone."

Many mountain glaciers now terminate in meltwater lakes, which are formed as water becomes trapped behind ridges of glacier debris. The size and number of glacial lakes have drastically increased in recent years as a result of climate change. However, their impacts on glacial retreat have not been entirely clear. 

Based on computer simulations, the researchers determined that the presence of meltwater causes glaciers to shrink more than four times faster, and accelerates ice flow by up to eight times compared to other glaciers that terminate on land in the same climate. According to the experts, one land-terminating glacier in particular took 1,000 years to recede to the extent that a nearby lake-terminating glacier reached in 100 years.

"Our findings suggest that simulations of past, contemporary or future glaciers ignore the effects of ice-contact lakes and will likely mis-represent the timing and rate of recession, especially the changes to the timing and rate that will occur once a proglacial lake forms," said study co-author co-author Dr Jonathan Carrivick. "These effects need to be included in all future models and simulations if we are to have an accurate global picture of glacial ice loss."

The research was focused on the effects of a meltwater lake on the Pukaki Glacier in New Zealand, but the experts said the findings can be applied to all lake-terminating glaciers.

"This study is also critical because the timing of ice retreat is often used to determine the synchrony, or lack thereof, in climate events globally," said study co-author James Shulmeister. "Major inferences have been made about the roles of phenomena like oceanic circulation in affecting the global climate system from glacial retreat timings. If the timings are wrong, the relationship between these processes may need to be re-examined."

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical 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

Meltwater lakes cause glaciers to retreat much more rapidly

An international team of researchers led by the University of...

Shrinking ice levels in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/unexpected-region-of-east-antarctica-is-rapidly-melting/">Antarctica</a>, along with future sea level rise, have been underestimated. In a new study from <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a>, researchers found that existing models do not account for climate variability, which has a significant influence on the Antarctic ice sheet. 

"We know ice sheets are melting as global temperatures increase, but uncertainties remain about how much and how fast that will happen," said study co-author Professor Chris Forest. "Our findings shed new light on one area of uncertainty, suggesting climate variability has a significant impact on melting ice sheets and sea level rise."

Before accounting for climate variability, the experts found that models projected roughly 10.6 to 14.9 inches of sea level rise by the end of this century. When climate variability was incorporated into the models, those forecasts increased by as much as 4.3 inches. 

"That increase alone is comparable to the amount of sea level rise we have seen over the last few decades," said Professor Forest. "Every bit adds on to the storm surge, which we expect to see during hurricanes and other severe weather events, and the results can be devastating."

It requires thousands of simulations to project how the Antarctic ice sheet will evolve under future climate conditions. Scientists use the average temperature that is derived from all of those results. 

However, the process smooths out peaks caused by climate variability and reduces the average number of days above temperature thresholds that can impact the ice sheet melt, creating a bias in the results, the scientists said.

"If we include variability in the simulations, we are going to have more warm days and more sunshine, and therefore when the daily temperature gets above a certain threshold it will melt the ice," said Professor Forest. "If we're just running with average conditions, we're not seeing these extremes happening on yearly or decadal timescales."

To study the effects of climate variability, the scientists incorporated relevant atmospheric and oceanic data into a three-dimensional Antarctic ice sheet model. The analysis showed that atmospheric variations had a great impact on the ice sheet with immediate effects. Variability in ocean temperatures were found to have a smaller, yet significant, impact. 

The results of previous studies suggest that warming oceans could cause large chunks to break away, exposing massive ice cliffs that would collapse under their own weight.

According to the experts, model simulations which did not include the effects of climate variability delayed the retreat of the ice sheet by up to 20 years and underestimated future sea level rise.

"This additional ice melt will impact the hurricane storm surges across the globe. Additionally, for years, the IPCC reports have been looking at sea level rise without considering this additional variability and have been underestimating what the impact may be," said Professor Forest. "It's important to better understand these processes contributing to the additional ice loss because the ice sheets are melting much faster than we expected."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/382">Climate Dynamics</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antarctica is melting faster than models predict due to climate variability

Shrinking ice levels in Antarctica, along with future sea level...

During the early months of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/what-if-humans-are-spreading-covid-19-to-other-mammals/">COVID-19</a>, exposure to environmental noise dropped by nearly half, according to researchers at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>. The team analyzed data from the Apple Hearing Study, a partnership with Apple designed to track noise exposure and its impact on hearing health.

The noise exposure data was collected by volunteer Apple Watch users in Florida, New York, California, and Texas. The data included more than a half million daily noise levels measured before and during the pandemic.

When local governments announced stay-at-home orders in March and April, the daily average sound levels dropped by approximately three decibels compared to January and February.

"That is a huge reduction in terms of exposure and it could have a great effect on people's overall health outcomes over time," said study co-author Professor Rick Neitzel. "The analysis demonstrates the utility of everyday use of digital devices in evaluating daily behaviors and exposures."

The four states represented in the study issued different guidelines in response to the pandemic, which showed through the data.

"California and New York both had really drastic reductions in sound that happened very quickly, whereas Florida and Texas had somewhat less of a reduction," said Professor Neitzel.

At first, the largest drop in noise exposure occurred on the weekends. Nearly 100 percent of the participants reduced their time spent above the 75 dBA threshold between Friday and Sunday. This is a sound level that is roughly as loud as an alarm clock.

"But after the lockdowns, when people stopped physically going to work, the pattern became more opaque," said Professor Neitzel. "People's daily routines were disrupted and we no longer saw a large distinction in exposures between the traditional five working days versus the weekend."

The findings will help researchers gain a better understanding of what personal noise exposures are like for Americans of various ages and locations, or for those who have or do not have hearing loss.

"These are questions we've had for years and now we're starting to have data that will allow us to answer them," said Professor Neitzel. "We're thankful to the participants who contributed unprecedented amounts of data. This is data that never existed or was even possible before."

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

Noise exposure dropped by nearly half during COVID-19 shutdown

During the early months of the COVID-19, exposure to environmental...

As the world is transformed by climate change, identifying new assemblages of species is critical for protecting them from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mammal-extinctions-are-driven-almost-exclusively-by-humans-not-climate-change/">extinction</a>. In a new study led by John Pandolfi and Dr. Timothy Staples of the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a>, scientists looked at how the assemblages of plankton species have changed over the past 66 million years across the world's oceans.

The researchers have used the findings of their study to develop the first-ever method for detecting new communities of species in all types of ecosystems.

"A novel ecological community is one with combinations of species that are different to any past observations from that site," said Professor Pandolfi. "These different species combinations can be due to new species arriving in the community, existing species leaving, or species becoming rarer or more common."

"We found that when novel communities formed, existing species were twice as likely to disappear from the community permanently, representing a 'local' extinction. Species in the novel community were also more likely to be new arrivals that had never been observed in the community before."

One place where new assemblages have appeared is across communities of coral reefs in the Caribbean. Two types of branching coral that once dominated the region are now rare, and new coral species have emerged in their place. 

Branching corals were lost due to the impacts of overfishing, changes in water quality, and climate change. The transformation of reef assemblages leads to different inhabitants and functions. 

"The challenge is to manage at risk or vulnerable areas like this where novel communities exist, or where they're in the process of forming," said Professor Pandolfi.

"To do this we need to understand the changes in species composition we see in novel communities, as well as what is driving these changes. To achieve these goals, we need to be able to reliably identify when a novel community has emerged."

The study has produced the first standardized, quantitative methodology for determining the existence of novel ecological communities based on a database of marine plankton over millions of years.

"We came up with a measure of novelty that can be used with community data from any time scale, organism or ecosystem, so comparative approaches to the study of novelty are now possible," said Dr. Staples. "In this study, we applied our methodology to the past 66 million years, but it would work just as well on much shorter time frames."

Using a global set of microfossil data from deep sea drilling cores, the researchers examined the marine plankton record. Professor Pandolfi said that while novelty was rare, extinction was an important component. Furthermore, after novel communities emerged, subsequent communities were more likely to transform into new assemblages.

"Novelty begets novelty," said Professor Pandolfi. "And the likelihood of extinction was higher when novel communities emerged." He said the pressures that cause communities to become novel in the first place need to be relieved. "Otherwise we may end up with cascading novelty, where the emergence of novel communities drives further novelty, including the loss of existing, native, species."

According to Professor Pandolfi, this means when a novel community is identified it needs attention and effective preventive management. He noted that future studies need to identify novel communities within vulnerable ecosystems, such as the Great Barrier Reef. "At the end of the day that's where we want to go to test this."

"Modern novel ecological communities may need to be managed effectively to prevent the propagation of subsequent novel communities, because of the associated risk of increased extinction," said Professor Pandolfi. "We can't just throw in the towel and let those ecosystems degrade, we need to arrest this progression."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New species assemblages cause local extinctions

As the world is transformed by climate change, identifying new...

Rising levels of nitrous oxide will accelerate global warming. A steady increase in nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions could sabotage the climate targets of the Paris Agreement, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>. Nitrous oxide, a powerful heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/studying-carbon-cycling-in-one-of-the-driest-places-on-earth/">carbon</a> dioxide (CO2), can persist in the atmosphere for more than 100 years.

The increasing use of nitrogen fertilizers in food production is one of the primary drivers of rising N2O emissions. The goal of the current study was to produce the most comprehensive assessment to date of all global sources and sinks of N2O. 

The comprehensive analysis revealed that N2O emissions are growing faster than any emissions scenario by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has accounted for. This finding is consistent with greenhouse gas scenarios that will drive average global temperatures to well above 3°C from pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement aims to limit warming to less than 1.5 or two degrees Celsius.

The research team, which included scientists from 48 research institutions in 14 countries, identified a shocking trend that could drastically accelerate the rate of global warming. Levels of atmospheric N2O are now 20 percent higher compared to pre-industrial levels, and the fastest growth is directly tied to human activities.

Study co-lead author Professor Hanqin Tian is the director of the International Center for Climate and Global Change Research at Auburn University's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.

"The dominant driver of the increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide comes from agriculture, and the growing demand for food and feed for animals will further increase global nitrous oxide emissions," said Professor Tian. "There is a conflict between the way we are feeding people and stabilizing the climate."

Concerns have been growing over the last four decades about chemical compounds like N2O that are known to destroy the ozone layer. Within those four decades, human-induced N2O emissions - dominated by the agricultural industry - increased by 30 percent to 7.3 teragrams of nitrogen per year.

"This study presents the most comprehensive and detailed picture to date, of N2O emissions and their impact on climate," said study co-lead author Dr. Parvadha Suntharalingam of UEA's School of Environmental Sciences.

"This new analysis identifies the factors driving the steadily increasing atmospheric levels of N2O, and highlights the urgent need to develop effective mitigation strategies if we are to limit global warming and meet climate goals."

The study found that the largest contributors to global N2O emissions are found in East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and South America. The highest growth rates were identified in emerging economies, such as Brazil and India, where crop production and livestock numbers have increased.

Meanwhile, N2O emissions in Europe have decreased in the agriculture and chemical industries. Agriculture in many Western European countries is shifting toward more efficient usage of fertilizer to reduce environmental impacts, and new policies have limited the use of nitrogen fertilizer.

"This new analysis calls for a full-scale rethink in the ways we use and abuse nitrogen fertilizers globally and urges us to adopt more sustainable practices in the way we produce food, including the reduction of food waste," said study co-lead author Dr. Josep "Pep" Canadell, who is the executive director of the Global Carbon Project."These findings underscore the urgency and opportunities to mitigate nitrous oxide emissions worldwide to avoid the worst of climate impacts."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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

Rising levels of nitrous oxide will accelerate global warming

Rising levels of nitrous oxide will accelerate global warming. A...

More than 75 percent of threatened species lack adequate protection. A new study from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> has revealed that if governments fail to honor their commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the consequences could be devastating.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Sean Maxwell and Professor James Watson reviewed national area-based <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/conservation-planning-in-the-amazon-should-be-redirected-to-freshwater-species/">conservation</a> efforts, including protected areas. 

The researchers found that 78 percent of known threatened species and more than half of all important ecosystems remain without adequate protection on both land and sea. Furthermore, seven of the world's most productive fisheries have no formal protected area coverage.

The global nature conservation treaty was established in 2010, when nearly every nation agreed that areas which are important for biodiversity and ecosystem services must cover at least 17 percent of land and 10 percent of ocean by 2020. 

"We reviewed progress toward this target by overlaying maps of protected areas on natural ecosystems, threatened species, carbon services on land and sea and fisheries productivity in the world's oceans," said Dr. Maxwell. 

"We found some welcome progress - particularly in the marine realm - since global environmental targets were agreed. But terrestrial protected area expansion needed to be double what it was in the past decade in order to achieve 17 percent coverage for land and freshwater environments."

"There are also alarming shortfalls in ecological representation and management effectiveness, and measurable biodiversity outcomes persist in area-based conservation efforts."

The researchers also investigated how effective protected area management has been based on the 2010 targets.

"We know that adequately funding protected areas are one of our best tools for reducing threats to biodiversity," said Dr Maxwell. "Yet the current financial shortfall for area-based conservation likely exceeds the multi-billion dollar mark, and as much as 90 per cent have inadequate or below optimum on-site staff capacity."

Professor Watson said the next round of conservation targets, which were meant to be set this year, is fundamental to the future of global biodiversity.

"It is obvious that governments have dramatically underinvested in protected areas and been weak in legally protecting them," said Professor Watson.

"For biodiversity to have any chance to survive climate change, nations must invest more resources in consolidating area-based conservation efforts and ensuring biodiversity conservation is a far stronger part of managed land and seas.

"There are significant opportunities to better recognise and support conservation by indigenous peoples, local communities and private actors, and we now need to embrace new models for land stewardship that rewards good behaviour by farmers, developers and miners."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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

More than 75 percent of threatened species lack adequate protection

More than 75 percent of threatened species lack adequate protection....

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



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"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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