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,...

A new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a> is one of the first of its kind to investigate how plants and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/not-enough-is-known-about-how-rainfall-affects-tropical-animals/">animals</a> in the Andes will respond to both human activities and the impacts of climate change. The researchers found that high-elevation biodiversity hotspots will be substantially reduced over the next three decades without urgent intervention.

Global warming is forcing many plants and animals to seek higher ground to find cooler habitats. However, there is only so far up that species can migrate. 

In the Andes, many tropical species thrive in communities that sit above the treeline yet below the permanently frozen mountaintops. These high altitude biodiversity hotspots are known as páramos, or sky islands. 

The most diverse species found in the páramos are relatives of the sunflower in the genus Espeletia. Beyond supporting an abundance of species, human populations rely on these ecosystems as well. 

"Páramos are one of the fastest evolving biodiversity hotspots on earth and they are one of the most threatened," said study co-lead author Dr. Andrés Cortés of the <a href="https://www.devex.com/organizations/colombian-corporation-for-agricultural-research-corpoica-corporacion-colombiana-de-investigacion-agropecuaria-26033">Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research</a>. "Páramos are also the main water supplier of wetland ecosystems and densely populated areas, hence, disregarding the future of the Páramos may jeopardize overall food and water safety in the northern Andes."

Over millions of years, the high-altitude plants that inhabit the sky islands have adapted to extreme fluctuations in temperature, water availability, and sunlight exposure. There are now over 3,000 plant species throughout the South American páramos, which have become the fastest growing ecosystems in the world. However, scientists are investigating whether these species can evolve quickly enough to keep pace with climate change.

Dr. Cortés and his team focused their investigation on Espeletia because it is one of the most diverse and successful plant genera endemic to the páramos. The researchers used the most advanced computer modeling available to predict what the distribution of 28 species of Espeletia will look like in 2050.

After accounting for other factors - such as nature reserves, agriculture and mining, and surrounding forests - the team found that some páramos were particularly vulnerable to climate change and that there are limited opportunities for alpine sunflowers to migrate or adapt.

Further research is needed to investigate the vulnerability of additional species. Regardless, the findings highlight the importance of protecting the páramos.

"We hope that our findings might assist future conservation efforts, such as promoting more sustainable land uses by empowering local communities and developing ecotourism, which are also essential to relieve human impact on tropical-alpine plant diversity in the northern Andes," said the researchers. 

"In the most pessimistic scenario, if Espeletia and Páramos were lost forever, science would lose an underexplored laboratory to study evolution happening at incredible rates -- it would be just as if The Galápagos Islands disappeared."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</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

Biodiversity hotspots are shrinking in the Andes mountains

A new study published by Frontiers is one of the...

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-temperatures-in-the-atlantic-can-be-used-to-forecast-droughts-in-the-amazon/">Amazon</a> is now closer to an irreversible tipping point than any other time in the last 100,000 years, according to Professor Mark Bush of the <a href="https://www.fit.edu/">Florida Institute of Technology</a>. Beyond this threshold, the Amazon will begin to permanently transition from lush forests to grasslands with few trees.

The transformation of the world's most valuable rainforest has been fueled by land use changes associated with human activities such as deforestation. The study reveals that the primary force pushing the Amazon toward its tipping point is unregulated fires.

To track the evolution of fires and vegetation in the Amazon over time, Professor Bush analyzed fossil pollen and charcoal recovered from lake sediments dating back thousands of years. He found that fires were practically non-existent in Amazonia prior to the arrival of humans.

Earlier humans that inhabited the Amazon in the last 10,000 years caused only small-scale disturbances that the forest was able to recover from. Modern forest fires, however, are intensified by various effects of anthropogenic climate change like drought and rising temperatures.

The combination of more intense fires and deforestation could ultimately create conditions where vast areas of rainforest will transition into savanna in a matter of decades. 

"The immense biodiversity of the rainforest is at risk from fire," said Professor Bush. He emphasizes that while no individual government can control climate change, fire can be regulated through policy. 

Almost all of the fires in the Amazon are set intentionally and have become much more frequent in the last two years due to policy changes.

According to his analysis, Professor Bush predicts the Amazon will reach a tipping point when temperatures rise by another 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The Earth is set to reach these temperatures by the end of this century as a result of global warming, but the hotter, drier landscapes that are created by fires in the Amazon accelerate this heat and therefore push the rainforest closer to a tipping point.

"Warming alone could induce the tipping point by mid-century, but if the present policies that turn a blind eye to forest destruction aren't stopped, we could reach the tipping point much sooner," said Professor Bush.

"Beyond the loss of wildlife, the cascading effects of losing Amazonian rainforest would alter rainfall across the hemisphere. This is not a remote problem, but one of global importance and critical significance to food security that should concern us all."

The study is published in the <a href="https://annals.mobot.org/">Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden</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

The Amazon is rapidly approaching a tipping point

The Amazon is now closer to an irreversible tipping point...

A dangerous combination of droughts and heatwaves has substantially increased across the United States over the past 50 years, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>. The regions that have been affected most by dry-hot <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fruit-flies-reveal-why-we-sleep-more-in-cold-weather/">weather</a> extremes are located in the West and parts of the Northeast and Southeast.

The researchers also found that the areas experiencing more frequent droughts and heatwaves are becoming more and more connected. As a result, the larger impacted regions are placing enormous strain on relief efforts.

Study senior author Mojtaba Sadegh is a professor of Civil Engineering at Boise State University.

"Episodes of extreme dryness and heat are the recipe for large forest fires," said Sadegh. "These extremes are intensifying and extending at unprecedented spatial scales, allowing current wildfires to burn across the entire U.S. west coast." 

Up until now, climate risk analyses were not usually designed to focus on shifts in more than one climate parameter at the same time because coinciding severe weather events were rare. Climate change has already begun to increase the frequency of concurrent extreme events.

"Traditionally, probability of multiple extremes co-occurring was quite low, so many of the traditional risk assessment frameworks were focused on separate hazards," said Sadegh. "However, since climate change has escalated the probability of multiple extremes happening simultaneously, a paradigm shift is required to address these emerging threats."

To investigate how the frequency of concurrent droughts and heatwaves has evolved over time in the United States, the researchers analyzed simultaneous drought and heat extremes using 122 years of climate data based on ground observations. 

In the 1930s, a megadrought combined with poor farming practices led to the Dust Bowl. Concurrent droughts and heatwaves were primarily driven by a lack of precipitation at the time of the Dust Bowl, according to the study, but are now primarily driven by excess heat. 

The experts noted that the findings may be used to bolster risk assessment frameworks and inform climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

"This study, and the 2020 fires that have burned and are burning the entire West Coast, show us that our infrastructure design frameworks may not be appropriate anymore in a warming climate," said Sadegh. 

"Our agriculture system is too vulnerable to dry-hot events, our housing codes are not proper for an era of megafires, and our wildlife is too fragmented and too stressed to tolerate a future of increasing extremes."

"We need to recognize the power of Mother Nature, and we need to respect it. We need to listen! The more we play deaf, the more Mother Nature will raise her voice."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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

Droughts and heatwaves are coinciding more often

A dangerous combination of droughts and heatwaves has substantially increased across...

The measures taken to manage beaches in Hawaii will not sufficiently protect them from rising sea levels and coastal erosion. According to a new study from the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii at Mānoa</a>, up to 40 percent of Oahu's beaches could be lost in the next three decades if policies are not changed. 

The study was led by graduate researcher Kammie Tavares from the Coastal Geology Group in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

"By assessing computer models of the beach migration caused by 9.8 inches (0.25 meters) of sea level rise, an amount with a high probability of occurring before mid-century, we found that emergency permit applications for shoreline hardening to protect beachfront property will substantially increase," said Tavares.

As sea levels rise, beaches must migrate toward land so that they are not inundated. This beach migration, also known as shoreline retreat, causes coastal erosion of private and public beachfront property. 

When the shoreline is modified or "hardened" by barriers such as seawalls, this interferes with the beach's natural ability to migrate. Coastal erosion is then accelerated on neighboring properties, and the beach will gradually drown under the rising sea. 

"In another study published in 2018, we showed that accelerated erosion on neighboring properties, called flanking, usually leads to additional shoreline hardening, and condemns entire beaches," said co-author Dr. Chip Fletcher.

"It is clear that management decisions made today, and during the careers of most of today's natural resource managers, will be critical in determining if future generations will inherent a healthy shoreline, or one that has been ruined by seawalls, and other types of shoreline hardening."

The researchers set out to identify areas of Oahu's shoreline that would be most vulnerable to erosion under three scenarios of sea level rise, all of which are predicted to occur before or shortly after mid-century.

For each location, the team assessed the risk of shoreline hardening and beach loss, and created a potential timeline for the increase in erosion. 

The most threatened properties fall into an "administrative erosion hazard zone," an area likely to experience erosion hazards and qualify for the emergency permitting process to harden the shoreline.

"We determined that almost 30 percent of all present-day sandy shoreline on Oahu is already hardened, with another 3.5 percent found to be so threatened that those areas qualify for an emergency permit today," said study co-author Dr. Tiffany Anderson.

"Our modeling indicates that, as sea level rises about 10 inches by mid-century, an additional nearly eight percent of sandy shoreline will be at risk of hardening - meaning at that point, nearly 40% of Oahu's sandy beaches could be lost in favor of hardened shorelines."

The global mean sea level has been rising for decades and is accelerating, which means that further coastal erosion is inevitable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected continued sea level rise for many centuries, even if greenhouse gas emissions are completely eliminated. 

"Despite these facts, we continue to see shoreline hardening as the preferred policy choice, largely because management agencies have failed to develop assisted transition plans for beachfront landowners who are caught in a tightening vice because of accelerating sea level rise," said Dr. Fletcher. "In fact, directly to the contrary, beachfront lands continue to be sold to unwitting buyers with no appreciation for the expensive and frustrating situation they are entering into."

"Because coastal zone management laws continue to allow hardship variances in this era of rising sea level, despite widespread knowledge that seawalls kill beaches under these conditions, the same legal system designed to protect public trust lands, is responsible for destroying them."

"Government agencies must develop creative and socially equitable programs to rescue beachfront owners and free the sandy ecosystem so that it can migrate landward as it must in an era of rising seas. It is urgent that options are developed soon for beachfront landowners and resource managers to avoid further destructive management decisions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</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

Oahu could lose 40 percent of its beaches to coastal erosion

The measures taken to manage beaches in Hawaii will not...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a>, experts describe how better conservation planning could improve the lives of humans while still protecting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/latin-america-contains-a-third-of-the-worlds-biodiversity/">biodiversity</a>.

Study lead author Jaramar Villarreal-Rosas is a PhD candidate in UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She said the benefits people receive from ecosystems, also known as ecosystem services, are under increasing threat worldwide due to the negative impacts of human activities.

"There's been a substantial decrease in the quality and quantity of freshwater from wetland ecosystems in the Americas since European settlement, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services," said Villarreal-Rosas. "The same data shows that, at the same time, pollination services - from insects and birds - are declining in Europe and Central Asia." 

According to Villarreal-Rosas, these are critical services that we tend to take for granted - the food we eat, the air we breathe, or the sense of relaxation after a walk in a park. "And to date, landscape planning decisions have largely been made without fully considering the multiple benefits people obtain from nature."

The research team analyzed 326 published studies that applied systematic conservation planning for ecosystem services worldwide. The experts investigated the extent to which the papers correctly integrated the benefits people receive from ecosystems, and whether the research had accounted for multiple values and connections to land.

The analysis revealed that only two percent of the conservation plans considered all of the aspects of ecosystem services that benefit people and acknowledged different values of the land.

"This means we're largely making planning decisions that may put ecosystem services at risk, and in turn, people's livelihoods and lifestyles may be greatly affected," said Villarreal-Rosas.

"Conservation plans are falling short of maximizing benefits for both people and nature. There is an urgent need to develop efficient and effective planning strategies to protect and restore ecosystem services for multiple stakeholders."

Study senior author Professor Jonathan Rhodes said the research team did just that, outlining a formal process that governments and policy makers can use when putting together their conservation plans.

"Solutions must explicitly include benefits to different people in space, time and socioeconomic status," said Professor Rhodes."People have different values and connections to land and these should be acknowledged to ensure planning decisions have positive outcomes for multiple people."

"Through the principles we've outlined in this study, we're hoping to not only improve ecosystem services globally, but to increase efficiency, transparency and equity in decision making processes."

"We see conservation planning shifting towards holistic approaches, where both the diversity of people and nature is valued, respected, and protected.

Professor Rhodes noted that making these changes is essential to achieve international policy agendas such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</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

Conservation plans could benefit both nature and people

In a new study from the University of Queensland, experts...

Tree-planting projects have the potential to offset harmful carbon emissions in the United States, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/">USDA Forest Service</a>. The findings suggest that planting <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/invasive-beetle-turns-its-attention-to-guams-endangered-cycad-trees/">trees</a> on understocked forest land could substantially increase the country's overall carbon sequestration capacity. 

The researchers found that the carbon sequestration capacity of U.S. forests would be increased by as much as 20 percent by fully stocking trees in both non-stocked and partially forests. The areas of particular interest include Florida, the Northeast, and western states.

Study lead author Grant Domke is an expert at the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station.

"Targeted tree planting on existing productive forestland has the potential to enhance the capacity of forests to provide a multitude of ecosystem services," said Domke. 

"Our analysis suggests that concentrating plantings on productive areas with the fewest trees has greater potential for enhanced carbon sequestration capacity than distributing the same number of trees over larger areas." 

The researchers analyzed data from more than 130,000 forested plots in the Forest Inventory &amp; Analysis Program. They determined that planting trees to fully stock damaged forests could drastically boost the overall amount of carbon sequestered by forests in the U.S.

Each year, forests and harvested wood products offset the equivalent of more than 14 percent of economy-wide carbon dioxide emissions. However, almost 33 million hectares of productive forestland are now understocked due to many different factors, including harvesting and natural disturbances.

"It is always worthwhile to plant a tree, they have a myriad of benefits wherever they are, but this study delivers sound science on which we can base tree planting efforts on forestland," said Domke.

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

Fully stocking U.S. forests could reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent

Tree-planting projects have the potential to offset harmful carbon emissions...

This year's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-arctic-is-transitioning-into-an-entirely-different-climate/">Arctic</a> sea ice minimum was the second lowest on record, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a>. The 2020 minimum extent, which was reached around September 15, measured 1.44 million square miles. This is only the second time on record that Arctic sea ice has fallen below 1.5 million square miles.

According to measurements by NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, the 2020 sea ice minimum is nearly a million square miles lower than the average minimum between 1981 and 2000.

Throughout the winter season, sea ice covers most of the Arctic Ocean and its neighboring seas. Fluctuations in Arctic ice cover are natural, but the extent of summer sea ice impacts local ecosystems, local and global weather patterns, and ocean circulation.

Dr. Steven Amstrup is the chief scientist at <a href="https://polarbearsinternational.org/">Polar Bears International</a>, a science-based organization dedicated to polar bears and Arctic sea ice.

“The more we warm the world, the more frequent ‘bad’ ice years like this one will become, until they are all bad years and the polar bears are gone," said Dr. Amstrup.

"Warming and sea ice decline don’t mean that every year will be warmer and have less ice than the previous, but rather that the long-term trend is for an ever-increasing frequency of hotter years with less ice - ultimately ending in an ice-free Arctic.”

The minimum extent of Arctic sea ice has dropped dramatically over the last two decades, with the lowest extent was recorded in 2012. This year, a Siberian heat wave triggered early melting, and Arctic temperatures persisted at 14 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average.

"It was just really warm in the Arctic this year, and the melt seasons have been starting earlier and earlier," said Nathan Kurtz, a sea ice scientist at NASA Goddard. "The earlier the melt season starts, the more ice you generally lose."

Mark Serreze, director of NSIDC, described the cascading effects which occur throughout the Arctic. Warmer ocean temperatures diminish the thicker multi-year ice, and also result in thinner ice to start the spring melt season. Early melting creates more open areas of water, which absorbs heat from the Sun and increases water temperatures.

"As the sea ice cover extent declines, what we're seeing is we're continuing to lose that multiyear ice," said Serreze. "The ice is shrinking in the summer, but it's also getting thinner. You're losing extent, and you're losing the thick ice as well. It's a double whammy."

The second-lowest extent of sea ice on record is just one of many signs of a warming climate in the north, said Serreze, pointing to the Siberian heat waves, forest fires, hotter-than-average temperatures over the Central Arctic, and the thawing permafrost that led to a Russian fuel spill.

Dr. Zachary Labe is a climate scientist and postdoctoral researcher in Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science.

"The Arctic is yelling at us to pay attention, with troubling signs from heat waves to massive sea ice loss," said Dr. Labe. "This year’s sea ice minimum is part of a highly disturbing downward trend – one that will continue until the summer sea ice is gone unless we slow global warming by systematically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

Image Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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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

Arctic sea ice reached its second lowest extent this year

This year's Arctic sea ice minimum was the second lowest...

Taking the time to appreciate <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/killer-bees-are-aggressive-by-nurture-not-just-by-nature/">nature</a>, and to feel amazed and inspired by it, has extraordinary mental health benefits. Researchers at <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">UC San Francisco</a> (UCSF) made the simple suggestion to a group of volunteers to experience "awe" as they took 15-minute walks, and the advice paid off. 

During eight weeks of awe walks, individuals reported having improved emotional well-being and less stress in their daily lives. 

A series of selfies taken by the participants on their weekly walks revealed a noticeable shift in their perspective as they increasingly focused on their surroundings rather than themselves. This transformation was reflected in the images - the smiles on the volunteers' faces grew measurably broader as the nature walks progressed.

According to the experts, a regular dose of awe is a simple way to boost healthy emotions such as compassion and gratitude.

The research was a collaborative effort by experts at the UCSF Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) and the Memory and Aging Center (MAC), which is directed by Dr. Virginia Sturm.

"Negative emotions, particularly loneliness, have well-documented negative effects on the health of older adults, particularly those over age 75," said Dr. Sturm. "What we show here is that a very simple intervention - essentially a reminder to occasionally shift our energy and attention outward instead of inward - can lead to significant improvements in emotional well-being."

The study was initiated by a call from GBHI for research proposals to identify low-cost interventions to improve brain health. Dr. Sturm said she immediately began to think about how to improve emotional well-being in older adults, and partnered with UC Berkeley psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner to develop a simple intervention.

"Awe is a positive emotion triggered by awareness of something vastly larger than the self and not immediately understandable - such as nature, art, music, or being caught up in a collective act such as a ceremony, concert or political march," said Dr. Keltner. "Experiencing awe can contribute to a host of benefits including an expanded sense of time and enhanced feelings of generosity, well-being, and humility."

The research was focused on 52 older adults who were asked to take at least one 15-minute walk each week for eight weeks. Half of the participants also received a brief intervention, during which the experts described awe and suggested trying to experience this emotion during the weekly walks.

The volunteers completed surveys after each walk. The analysis of the surveys showed that people in the "awe group" increasingly experienced awe as the study period progressed, indicating some benefit of practice.

The responses to open-ended survey questions revealed a growing sense of wonder and appreciation for nature among individuals in the awe group. One participant reflected on "the beautiful fall colors and the absence of them amidst the evergreen forest... how the leaves were no longer crunchy underfoot because of the rain and how the walk was more spongy now... the wonder that a small child feels as they explore their expanding world." 

By contrast, participants in the control group were more inwardly focused, with one individual writing: "I thought about our vacation in Hawaii coming up this next Thursday. Thought about all the things I had to do before we leave." 

The volunteers were instructed to take selfies at the beginning, middle, and end of each walk. When the team analyzed these photos, they discovered a parallel, visible shift in how participants portrayed themselves over the course of the study. Individuals in the awe group increasingly made themselves smaller in their photos to focus more on the landscapes around them. At the same time, the smiles on their faces grew noticeably more intense.

"One of the key features of awe is that it promotes what we call 'small self,' a healthy sense of proportion between your own self and the bigger picture of the world around you," said Dr. Sturm. "To be honest, we had decided to do this particular analysis of participants' selfies on a lark - I never really expected we'd be able to document awe's ability to create an emotionally healthy small self literally on camera!"

Throughout the eight-week study, the participants reported on their emotional state daily. This portion of the experiment revealed that those in the awe group experienced significantly more positive, prosocial emotions such as compassion and gratitude.

"I find it remarkable that the simplest intervention in the world - just a three-minute conversation at the beginning of the study suggesting that participants practice feeling awe on their weekly walks - was able to drive significant shifts in their daily emotional experience," said Dr. Sturm. "This suggests promoting the experience of awe could be an extremely low-cost tool for improving the emotional health of older adults through a simple shift in mindset."

"Experiencing awe is such a simple practice - just taking a moment to look out the window or pausing to consider the technological marvels that surround us - and we now show it can have measurable effects on our emotional well-being. A little more joy and a little more connectedness with the world around us is something all of us could use these days."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/emo">Emotion</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

Experiencing awe in nature has a powerful effect on emotional well-being

Taking the time to appreciate nature, and to feel amazed...

Experts at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) have found that large volcanic eruptions can help predict seasonal <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/not-enough-is-known-about-how-rainfall-affects-tropical-animals/">rainfall</a> in India. While volcanic activity and monsoon season may seem to be completely unrelated, the team reports that there is a strong coupling between the monsoon over large parts of South and Southeast Asia and El Niño events triggered by eruptions.

Rainfall during the summer monsoon season is critically important for India's agricultural industry, which supports about one billion people.

The study was focused on data from meteorological observations, climate records, computer model simulations, and geological archives such as tree-rings and ice cores representing thousands of years of Earth's history.

The experts discovered that when the natural climate variability of El Niño coincides with the monsoon season, it is easier to anticipate the strength of seasonal rainfall across southern India. 

Study co-author Dr. R. Krishnan is the executive director of the Center for Climate Change Research at Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology.

"The tiny particles and gases that a large volcano blasts into the air enter into the stratosphere and remain there for a few years. While the volcanic matter in the stratosphere to some extent blocks sunshine from reaching the Earth's surface, the reduced solar forcing increases the probability of an El Niño event in the next year," explained Dr. Krishnan. 

"This is because less sunshine means less warmth and hence a change of temperature differences between the Northern and Southern hemisphere, which in turn affects the atmospheric large-scale circulation and precipitation dynamics." 

"Advanced data analysis now reveals that large volcanic eruptions are more likely to promote the coincidence of warm El Niño events over the Pacific and Indian monsoon droughts - or, in contrast, cool La Niña events over the Pacific and Indian monsoon excess."

Study co-author Norbert Marwan said that the synchronization between the tropical Pacific Ocean and Indian monsoon is changing over time, which is partially driven by global warming - making monsoon predictions even less accurate.

"This in fact confirms a hypothesis that our colleagues Maraun and Kurths launched 15 years ago. The new findings now suggest a novel, additional path for monsoon predictions that are crucial for agricultural planning in India," said Marwan.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</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

How volcanic activity helps predict the Indian monsoon

Experts at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)...

The Komodo dragon may completely vanish unless urgent action is taken to mitigate <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dams-will-prevent-some-river-fish-from-surviving-climate-change/">climate</a> change, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a>. These giant lizards already have restricted habitats, which are further threatened by global warming and sea level rise. 

"Climate change is likely to cause a sharp decline in the availability of habitat for Komodo dragons, severely reducing their abundance in a matter of decades," said study lead author Dr. Alice Jones. "Our models predict local extinction on three of the five island habitats where Komodo dragons are found today."

The Komodo dragon, which is the world's largest lizard species, has existed on Earth for more than a million years. Today, there are only an estimated 4,000 individuals remaining in the wild in southeast Indonesia.

"Current-day conservation strategies are not enough to avoid species decline in the face of climate change. This is because climate change will compound the negative effects of already small, isolated populations," said Dr. Jones.

"Interventions such as establishing new reserves in areas that are predicted to sustain high-quality habitats in the future, despite global warming, could work to lessen the effects of climate change on Komodo dragons."

The study is based on many years of fieldwork on the ecology and conservation status of Komodo dragons.

"Using this data and knowledge in conservation models has provided a rare opportunity to understand climate change impacts on Indonesia's exceptional but highly vulnerable biodiversity," said co-author Dr. Tim Jessop.

For their investigation, the researchers closely collaborated with the Komodo National Park and the Eastern Lesser Sunda Central Bureau for Conservation of Natural Resources.

Study co-author Deni Purwandana is the coordinator of the Komodo Survival Program. He said that the severity and extent of human impacts on Komodo dragon populations are only just being realized.

"Having an insight into future impacts of climate change provides new possibilities to work with conservation agencies and local communities to find on-ground solutions that will limit climate and other threats to Komodo dragons and their habitats," said Purwandana.

According to the researchers, climate-change-informed decisions should be a common part of conservation practice.

"Our conservation models show that Komodo dragons on two protected large islands are less vulnerable to climate change. However, even these island habitats might not provide an adequate insurance policy for the survival of the species," said Professor Damien Fordham.

"Conservation managers in coming decades may need to consider translocating animals to sites where Komodo dragons have not been found for many decades. This scenario can be tested easily using our approach."

"Our research shows that without taking immediate action to mitigate climatic change, we risk committing many range restricted species like Komodo dragons to extinction."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20457758">Ecology and Evolution</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

Komodo dragons are severely threatened by climate change

The Komodo dragon may completely vanish unless urgent action is...

A study from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> describes a new early-warning method for predicting droughts in the Amazon rainforest up to 18 months in advance. The experts have confirmed that sea surface temperatures in the adjacent tropical <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/unraveling-the-mysteries-of-the-ocean/">oceans</a> can be used to forecast droughts in the central Amazon basin.

Weather extremes in tropical South America can cause enormous damage to ecosystems and threaten the livelihoods of millions of people. The ability to predict when droughts will strike can help to mitigate some of these impacts. 

Study lead author Dr. Niklas Boers is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

"The fact that changes in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans impact rainfall patterns in the tropical parts of South America is long known," said Dr. Boers. "What we did was use a new complex network approach which made it possible to discriminate between areas in the oceans which have negative or positive effects on rainfall in tropical South America." 

The study revealed that monitoring two specific regions in the Atlantic Ocean will reliably forecast droughts in South America. These two areas, which are north and south of each other, sometimes go out of phase - one ocean region warms up while the other cools down. When this occurs, the Amazon is likely to experience a severe drought within one to 1.5 years.

Sea surface temperature anomalies in the two relevant areas of the Atlantic shift the so-called trade winds north or south. This changes the overall moisture budget for the Amazon, which cause severe droughts in the rainforest.

"For the first time, we can accurately predict drought in the tropical regions of South America as far as 18 months in advance. The two crucial factors in this research are the selection of the precise, relevant locations in the Atlantic Ocean, and the observation that the correlation between the southern and the northern ocean regions can be used for prediction," said Dr. Boers.

There are numerous indigenous tribes in the Amazon whose way of life is already threatened by land removal and deforestation. In addition, farmers with cattle and fisheries throughout the Amazon depend on rainfall to keep lakes and rivers high enough for transport. An early warning system will give people the opportunity to prepare for drought conditions.

Unfortunately, there is no way to protect the forest itself from damaging droughts, which are increasing in frequency and duration. During two separate "droughts of a century" in 2005 and 2010, the Amazon rainforest was transformed from being a carbon sink to becoming a carbon source for months at a time. 

Climate models predict the Amazon will eventually reach a tipping point due to global warming and deforestation. At this time, the rainforest will permanently transition into a savanna.

"It is really the combined effect of the two which is the problem. I am not expecting the Amazon to be there more or less like today at the end of my life," said Dr. Boers.

The research is part of the TiPES project, an EU Horizon 2020 funded climate science project investigating tipping points in the Earth system.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</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

Ocean temperatures in the Atlantic can be used to forecast droughts in the Amazon

A study from the University of Copenhagen describes a new...

Researchers who have been studying the prevalence of plastic pollution in marine ecosystems are shocked and concerned. The experts measured the extent of plastic pollution washed up on coastlines around the world, and found that the amount of manpower and resources needed to manage this amount of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/removing-plastic-waste-from-aldabra-atoll-would-cost-4-68-million-dollars/">waste</a> is barely even feasible.

The research highlights the accelerating pace with which plastic litter is entering Earth's waterways annually, and the experts acknowledge that it will be very difficult to keep up with this pace.

Study senior author Chelsea Rochman is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology &amp; Evolutionary Biology at the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a>. 

"Unless growth in plastic production and use is halted, a fundamental transformation of the plastic economy to a framework based on recycling is essential, where end-of-life plastic products are valued rather than becoming waste," said Professor Rochman.

According to study lead author Stephanie Borrelle, even if governments around the world meet their ambitious global commitments, and other countries join those efforts to curb plastic pollution, worldwide annual emissions to rivers, lakes and oceans could be as much as 53 million metric tons by the year 2030.

"That's far beyond the 8 million metric tons amount that was declared unacceptable in 2015," said Borrelle. The team analyzed the level of effort needed to achieve a global reduction target for plastic pollution of less than 8 million metric tons (MT).

The experts initially determined that 24 to 34 million MT of plastic currently enters aquatic ecosystems every year. Next, they modeled future scenarios based on existing mitigation strategies: reducing production of plastic waste, improving management of plastic waste, and continuous recovery from the environment.

The study revealed that even with parallel efforts in all three of these areas, the level of effort required for each is enormous, including a 25 to 40 percent reduction in the overall production of plastic. Waste collection and management would have to be stepped up by at least 60 percent of all economies, while 40 percent of annual plastic emissions would need to be recovered through cleanup efforts.

"To put that last number into people power, the cleanup alone would require at least 1 billion people participating in Ocean Conservancy's annual International Coastal Cleanup," said Borrelle. "This would be a Herculean task given this is 660 times the effort of the 2019 cleanup."

The researchers emphasized that even if the prescribed effort is realized, the world remains locked in an unacceptable plastic future.

"The global community must coordinate a fundamental transformation of the plastics economy, one that reduces the amount of virgin plastic production, and reimagines how we make use and dispose of plastic materials," said Professor Rochman.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC).

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

Plastic pollution is outpacing ways to manage it

Researchers who have been studying the prevalence of plastic pollution...

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

[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



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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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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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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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