The Mediterranean has long been a crossroads of trade and tourism, yet its deepest pocket, the Calypso Deep, seemed beyond the reach of day-to-day pollution. 



That hope ended earlier this year when researchers reported plastic bags, glass shards, and crumpled cans resting 16,770 feet beneath the waves in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionian_Sea" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ionian Sea</a>.



Their survey logged 167 items on the trench floor - 148 confirmed pieces of marine litter and 19 more that almost certainly came from people. 



By any measure, it is one of the densest concentrations of trash ever recorded in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-ocean-buffet-big-fish-are-surprisingly-reliant-on-the-twilight-zone/">dark zone</a> of the ocean.



The discovery arrives as global attention continues to focus on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprise-study-some-scientists-call-for-halting-ocean-plastic-cleanup-efforts/">plastic waste</a>. 



Videos of snagged sea turtles and bottle-strewn beaches have already ignited public concern, but those images barely hint at what sinks far below the reach of sunlight.



Now evidence from Calypso Deep shows that even the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/calypso" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mediterranean’s farthest recesses</a> are filling up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calypso-deep-is-full-of-plastic-waste">Calypso Deep is full of plastic waste</h2>



The team used the submersible <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSV_Limiting_Factor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Limiting Factor</a> to reach the bottom of a kidney-shaped trench roughly 12.4 miles long and 3.1 miles across. 



During a 43-minute trek near the seafloor of the Calypso Deep, cameras captured thousands of objects per square mile, mostly plastic waste discarded by humans.



A single straight-line pass of 2,130 feet was enough to confirm that human trash blankets large stretches of the basin. Most pieces were flexible plastics; glass, metal, and paper rounded out the list. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_study-map_UBarcelona_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_study-map_UBarcelona_1s.webp" alt="(A) General location of the Calypso Deep (box) in the Ionian Sea. PP: Peloponnese Peninsula. (B) Close up and general bathymetry of Calypso Deep (box) and surrounding area. For depth ranges, see color scale. (C) Detailed bathymetry of Calypso Deep with depth contours in meters. The position of the deepest point is indicated by the white dot, while the dive area is indicated by the red dot. Credit: University of Barcelona" class="wp-image-1976573"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(A) General location of the Calypso Deep (box) in the Ionian Sea. PP: Peloponnese Peninsula. (B) Close up and general bathymetry of Calypso Deep (box) and surrounding area. For depth ranges, see color scale. (C) Detailed bathymetry of Calypso Deep with depth contours in meters. The position of the deepest point is indicated by the white dot, while the dive area is indicated by the red dot. Click image to enlarge. Credit: University of Barcelona</figcaption></figure>



Even without animals caught on camera, the piles raise alarms because deep-sea communities recover slowly from disturbance.



Calypso Deep lies about 37 miles west of the Peloponnese coast inside the Hellenic Trench, a zone of steep, stepped walls prone to earthquakes. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-waste-rides-currents">Plastic waste rides currents</h2>



Weak currents, usually under 0.8 inches per second and rarely reaching 7 inches per second, let debris settle instead of sweeping it away.



“It comes from various sources, both terrestrial and marine. It could have arrived by various routes, including long-distance transport by ocean currents or direct dumping,” explains <a href="https://web.ub.edu/en/web/directori/?accio=SEL&amp;id=v759w8s35bo5v72r&amp;lang=ca" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miquel Canals</a>, professor at the Department of Earth and Ocean Dynamics at the University of Barcelona.



“Some light waste, such as plastics, comes from the coast and escapes to Calypso Deep, just about 37 miles away. Certain plastics, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-bag-bans-have-drastically-reduced-ocean-pollution/">like bags</a>, drift just above the seabed until they are partially or completely buried or break down into smaller fragments," Canals continued.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_litter-photos_UBarcelona_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_litter-photos_UBarcelona_1s.webp" alt="Examples of identified litter items with category attribution per material type (cf. Table 2). (A) Plastic bag, J3. (B) Plastic heavy-duty sack, J36. (C) Plastic sheet, J67. (D) Plastic food container made of hard plastic, J225. (E) Plastic heavy-duty sack, J36. (F) Plastic bag, J3 (G) Cups and lids of hard plastic, J227. (H) Plastic rope &gt; 1 cm in diameter, J49. (I) Paper cartons/Tetrapak (non-milk), J151. (J) Metal drink can, J175. (K) Glass bottle. Note sediment shadow with side scouring downwards of the bottle J200. (L) Plastic drink bottle. Credit: University of Barcelona" class="wp-image-1976569"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Examples of identified litter items with category attribution per material type. (A) Plastic bag, J3. (B) Plastic heavy-duty sack, J36. (C) Plastic sheet, J67. (D) Plastic food container made of hard plastic, J225. (E) Plastic heavy-duty sack, J36. (F) Plastic bag, J3 (G) Cups and lids of hard plastic, J227. (H) Plastic rope > 1 cm in diameter, J49. (I) Paper cartons/Tetrapak (non-milk), J151. (J) Metal drink can, J175. (K) Glass bottle. Note sediment shadow with side scouring downwards of the bottle J200. (L) Plastic drink bottle. Click image to enlarge. Credit: University of Barcelona</figcaption></figure>



Rivers, wind, and ship traffic all feed the stream of refuse heading offshore. As algae and other organisms cling to floating polymers, the added weight turns buoyant scraps into sinking hazards. The trench’s closed shape then locks the pieces in place.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calypso-deep-as-a-plastic-graveyard">Calypso Deep as a plastic graveyard</h2>



Surface eddies often corral floating trash into the trench. When these eddies form over the Calypso Trench, some debris slowly falls to the bottom, aided by degradation and ballasting processes that increase its density. 



Surface currents can also carry debris northward from the Adriatic Sea through the Strait of Otranto and from waters off northwestern Greece. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_3D-model_UBarcelona_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/marine-trash_Calypso-Deep-region_Mediterranean_3D-model_UBarcelona_1s.webp" alt="(A) 3D model generated from a subset of video frames by reference to a litter item of known size shown in B. The white dashed line in A represents the camera frames along the Deep Submergence Vehicle (DSV) Limiting Factor moving path, whereas the red dashed line represents the frames counted between two items identified on the seabed. (B) Accumulation of litter items in the inner Calypso Deep with a litter item of known size (12 cm) used as a reference for 3D model generation. Credit: University of Barcelona" class="wp-image-1976567"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(A) 3D model generated from a subset of video frames by reference to a litter item of known size shown in B. The white dashed line in A represents the camera frames along the Deep Submergence Vehicle (DSV) Limiting Factor moving path, whereas the red dashed line represents the frames counted between two items identified on the seabed. (B) Accumulation of litter items in the inner Calypso Deep with a litter item of known size (12 cm) used as a reference for 3D model generation. Click image to enlarge. Credit: University of Barcelona</figcaption></figure>



The same circular flows that drive marine life cycles are now channeling waste into permanent graveyards at the very bottom of Earth's deepest bodies of water.



<a href="https://web.ub.edu/ca/web/actualitat/w/a-sea-of-rubbish-ocean-floor-landfills-?" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earlier work in 2021</a> showed the Strait of Messina carrying the world’s heaviest load of undersea garbage, confirming that the Mediterranean is especially at risk.



“We have also found evidence of boats dumping bags of rubbish, indicated by piles of assorted waste followed by an almost straight furrow," said Canals, expressing his frustration.



That is why the bottom of the Calypso Deep is littered with humans' plastic waste, and also why the problem will do nothing but continue to worsen.



"Unfortunately, when it comes to the Mediterranean, it is fair to say that ‘not a single inch of it is clean.’”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-do-we-go-from-here">Where do we go from here?</h2>



Unlike beaches and coastlines, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/99-percent-of-the-deep-ocean-floor-has-still-never-been-seen-by-humans/">ocean floor</a> remains largely out of sight, making it difficult to build social and political momentum for its conservation. 



Yet what settles at the bottom can influence marine life, food webs, fisheries, climate feedback loops, and even geological stability.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-mediterranean-nearly-lost-all-of-its-water-6-million-years-ago/">The Mediterranean</a> is an enclosed sea, surrounded by humanity, with intense maritime traffic and widespread fishing activity.



“Scientists, communicators, journalists, influencers - everyone with a platform - must work together. The problem is vast, even if it is not directly visible, and we cannot ignore it," Canals implored.



The trail of refuse from shorelines to Calypso Deep underlines a plain truth: plastics and other debris do not vanish once tossed aside. They ride currents, sink in stages, and ultimately collect in the planet’s most secluded hollows. 



The evidence provided by this research should galvanize global efforts - especially in the Mediterranean - to curb dumping, particularly of plastics, in line with the pending <a href="https://www.globalplasticlaws.org/un-global-plastics-treaty" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UN Global Plastics Treaty</a>.



From the North Atlantic’s first recorded litter in 1975 to the record densities documented across the Mediterranean today, the pattern remains the same - human waste reaches everywhere water flows.



We must do more, we must do better, and we must do it now.



-----



Thanks to the leaders of this research team - Miquel Canals of the <a href="https://web.ub.edu/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Barcelona</a>, Georg Hanke of the European Commission’s <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/joint-research-centre_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joint Research Centre</a>, François Galgani of <a href="https://www.ifremer.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IFREMER</a>, and Victor Vescovo of <a href="https://caladanoceanic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Caladan Oceanic</a>



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25000852">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a>.



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Scientists make disturbing discovery on the deepest parts of the seafloor: 'Not a single inch of it is clean'

The Mediterranean has long been a crossroads of trade and tourism, yet its deepest pocket, the Calypso Deep, seemed beyond the reach of day-to-day pollution. That hope ended earlier this year when researchers reported plastic bags, glass shards, and crumpled cans resting 16,770 feet beneath the waves in the Ionian Sea. Their survey logged 167 items on the trench floor - 148 confirmed pieces of marine litter and 19 more that almost certainly came from people. By any measure, it is one of the densest concentrations of...

Since the 1950s, Acropora corals have shifted from being very abundant to becoming rare in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/studying-carbon-cycling-in-one-of-the-driest-places-on-earth/">Caribbean</a> region of the North Atlantic Ocean. In a new study published by <a href="https://plos.org/">PLOS</a>, scientists have discovered a coral reef in Belize where Acropora corals appear to be thriving, despite their widespread destruction in surrounding reefs that have endured the same pressures. 

A team of scientists led by Lisa Greer from Washington and Lee University set out to gain a better understanding of the resilience and lifespan of the remaining Acropora reefs in the western Caribbean, which is critical for protecting them. 

The experts evaluated one of the region's largest surviving populations of Acropora cervicornis to determine whether it was recently established or if it was a long-lived, stable population.

The research was focused on 232 samples of premodern and recently dead A. cervicornis coral skeleton material that the experts collected at three sites across the Coral Gardens Reef in Belize. The team used a new genetic-aging technique to identify key sites where samples could be obtained while minimizing damage to the living coral.

The study revealed that the coral samples dated back to 1910 or 1915, and lived until at least November 2019.

The researchers also determined that Coral Gardens Reef has been home to consistent and sustained living Acropora corals throughout the 1980s and up to at least 2019, but they could not exclude the possibility of short gaps in the presence of A. cervicornis prior to 1980. 

However, the radiometric ages and continuous coral growth patterns found at the sample sites strongly suggest that Acropora corals have been growing and thriving at Coral Gardens for over 100 years.

The experts are not yet sure why this particular site in Belize seems to be a refuge for Acropora corals, considering that it has been subject to the same temperature changes and tropical storm activity as nearby reefs - where coral populations have been devastated. A breakthrough on this topic could be key to future efforts to grow, conserve, and re-establish Caribbean reefs by identifying sites similar to Coral Gardens Reef.

"Now that we have identified an exceptional refuge for Caribbean Staghorn corals, we hope to better determine, in collaboration with reef scientists with many additional interests and expertise, the sources for success at Coral Gardens," wrote the researchers.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Acropora corals are thriving in Belize yet vanishing from nearby reefs

Since the 1950s, Acropora corals have shifted from being very...

Air quality improvements in China could make it harder to control <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-fires-are-changing-and-the-climate-impacts-could-be-devastating/">climate</a> change, according to a new study from the <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/">Carnegie Institution for Science</a>. The scientists report that a decline in aerosol emissions such as sulphur dioxide has an impact on radiative forcing and ultimately promotes global warming. 

"Economic growth and industrialisation in China over the recent decades has been supported by increasing consumption of energy from coal, making China the world's largest emitter of major air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and black carbon," said study lead author Dr. Yixuan Zheng.

"These pollutants have significant impacts on air quality and public health, so China put stringent measures in place to reduce them. The measures were effective, and aerosol pollution in China was substantially alleviated after 2013, with notable public health benefits."

Sulphate aerosols are the dominant cooling agents in the atmosphere. These and other aerosols scatter and absorb incoming solar radiation and interact with clouds, which affects the climate locally and globally.

Dr Zheng noted that sulphate aerosol was estimated to cool the earth by an average of half a degree centigrade in 2010, which is equivalent to 76 percent of all of the climate cooling produced by anthropogenic aerosols. "Black carbon, on the other hand, absorbs heat in the atmosphere and warms the Earth. So, understanding the effect reduction in these materials could have on warming is essential for future climate mitigation strategies."

To investigate the climate influence of China's clean air strategy, the researchers analyzed the radiative and climate effects of the reductions in aerosol emissions from 2006 to 2017. The team simulated future atmospheric changes using a climate model based on the assumption that these reductions in aerosols continue.

The study revealed that China's air pollution control policies between 2006 and 2017 will result in more than 0.1 °C warming over the northern hemisphere. 

"From 2006 to 2017, China's carbon dioxide emissions grew by around 54 percent, along with around 70 percent reductions in sulphur dioxide emissions, a 30 percent reduction in black carbon emissions, and a 40 percent reduction in organic carbon emissions," said study co-author Professor Steven J. Davis.

"The decoupling of carbon dioxide and aerosol emissions is mainly caused by installing end-of-pipe control devices, which reduce aerosol emissions but not carbon dioxide. Such decoupling exacerbated the global warming effects of China's carbon dioxide emissions."

"Cleaning up aerosol emissions has tremendous health benefits, but unmasks some global warming," said study co-author Professor Ken Caldeira. "While this may seem like a climate setback, we need healthy people to help tackle the climate problem, and if we are to have more resources to allocate to better energy systems, we need to be spending less on the health damage caused by our aerosols. Helping people to become healthier can be a win for the climate system, even if it does directly lead to some warming."

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

A drop in China's aerosol emissions brings about a rise in global warming

Air quality improvements in China could make it harder to...

The dynamics of Arctic fires are changing, and there will be consequences for the global <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/the-batagaika-crater-holds-secrets-of-earths-past-climate/">climate</a>, according to a new study. The researchers have identified two new features driving fire activity in the Arctic: "zombie fires" and the burning of fire-resistant vegetation.

The 2020 Arctic wildfire season began two months early, and the fires spread so far north that some even bordered sea ice cover. Study co-author Dr. Merritt Turetsky is a fire and permafrost ecologist at the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Boulder</a>.

"It's not just the amount of burned area that is alarming," said Dr. Turetsky. "There are other trends we noticed in the satellite data that tell us how the Arctic fire regime is changing and what this spells for our climate future."

The scientists identified two new features of Arctic fires, including the prevalence of holdover fires, or zombie fires. In the Arctic, flames from a previous season can smolder in peat underground over the winter, and then re-ignite on the surface as soon as warm weather arrives in the spring.

"We know little about the consequences of holdover fires in the Arctic, except that they represent momentum in the climate system and can mean that severe fires in one year set the stage for more burning the next summer," said Dr. Turetsky.

The researchers also noted that there are fires across tundra that was historically resistant to fire. As tundra in the far north becomes hotter and drier, fires are igniting in unexpected places, such as in grass, moss, and even in surface peats. Even wet landscapes like marshes are becoming more susceptible to burning.

Satellite and remote sensing tools have allowed the UC Boulder team to track Russian Arctic fires in real time. Fire activity stood out as particularly extreme in 2019 and 2020, when flames erupted well above the Arctic Circle - a region that does not usually experience large wildfires.

"Arctic fires are burning earlier and farther north, in landscapes previously thought to be fire resistant," said study lead author Dr. Jessica McCarty.

More than half of the fires detected in Siberia this year were north of the Arctic Circle on permafrost that locks in enormous amounts of carbon from ancient biomass. This could have serious implications for climate change, as current models do not account for the rapid thaw of these environments and the methane and other greenhouse gases that they release.

"Nearly all of this year's fires inside the Arctic Circle have occurred on continuous permafrost, with over half of these burning on ancient carbon-rich peat soils," said study co-author Dr. Thomas Smith. "The record high temperatures and associated fires have the potential to turn this important carbon sink into a carbon source, driving further global heating."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo">Nature Geoscience</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Arctic fires are changing, and the climate impacts could be devastating

The dynamics of Arctic fires are changing, and there will...

A new study from <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/">UC Boulder</a> has produced the first evidence that coral reefs are highly sensitive to how quickly a target fishing level is reached. The researchers found that when fishing is increased too rapidly, it can cause entire <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-corals-found-deep-in-the-great-barrier-reef/">reef</a> ecosystems to collapse. 

Many fisheries set target fishing levels in an effort to maximize harvest while maintaining long-term sustainability. It would seem that target fishing levels should be approached as quickly as possible. 

However, the results of the study suggest that fishing levels should be reached more slowly to protect reef communities. "The ecosystem depends on the pace at which the environment is changing, not just the magnitude," explained study lead author Mike Gil.

In previous studies, Gil determined that fish look to each other to assess the risk of venturing out to eat algae from a patch of reef. With more fish at a location, it appears safer and additional fish are likely to join the feast. 

This type of feedback loop also works in the other direction. If there are not many fish at a location on the reef, other fish are deterred because it does not seem safe. 

"This feedback makes the ecosystem more prone to collapse under fishing pressure but also more prone to recovery as fishing is reduced. Social fish essentially cause the ecosystem to be much more sensitive, overall, and to be hypersensitive to exactly how quickly we remove fish," said Gil.

The researchers used extensive datasets on reef fish behavior as well as artificial intelligence to track exactly what each fish did and saw every second. 

"We've shown that an animal that maybe a lot of folks would assume is kind of dumb is, in fact, embedded in a social network and is highly influenced by its neighbors, just like humans," said Gil.

Even fish of different species were found to pay close attention to each other, looking for clues as to when it was safe to wander out into dangerous parts of the reef. The fish also stay longer and eat more in these exposed areas when there are larger numbers of fish around.

The new details on how fast fish can be sustainably harvested can inform local and regional scale management decisions that deal with fishing quotas.

Beyond the pressures of fishing, reefs also face other human-induced environmental changes such as nutrient pollution and ocean warming, which has severely damaged reefs worldwide.

"Coral reefs are incredibly tough, resilient ecosystems, but they are not so tough in the face of many challenges happening simultaneously," said Gil.

"As ecologists, we're trying to understand why we see what we see when we step into nature. And if we understand how these ecosystems function, we can effectively manage them and keep them around for future generations."

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

Fishing levels can destroy or save coral reef ecosystems

A new study from UC Boulder has produced the first...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.stir.ac.uk/">University of Stirling</a> have led an international study to investigate how climate change has impacted Central Africa's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/extreme-rainfall-patterns-disrupt-rainforest-food-webs/">rainforests</a>, as well as the unique elephants that dwell in them. 

The study revealed that a substantial decline in the body condition of the forest elephants has coincided with a drop in the productivity of fruit trees in the Lopé National Park in Gabon. 

The research team determined that fruit production had declined by 81 percent between 1986 and 2018. This correlated with an 11-percent drop in the physical condition of forest elephants since 2008.

On average, elephants and other animals would have been able to find ripe fruit on one in every 10 trees in the 1980s, but have to search more than 50 trees today.

"Large animals like forest elephants are already under severe pressure in Central Africa due to hunting, habitat loss and habitat degradation. If important protected areas like Lopé National Park in Gabon can no longer support them because there is not enough food, then we may see further population declines, jeopardizing their survival in the long-term," said study co-lead author Dr. Robin Whytock.

"We know that large bodied animals, like elephants, are disproportionately important for the healthy functioning of ecosystems and their loss could result in broad changes to forest systems and even reduce the amount of carbon stored there."

The climate of central Africa has become hotter and drier since the 1980s, with the average temperature increasing by almost 10 degrees Celsius. This climate shift is most likely responsible for the decline in rainforest fruit production. For example, some fruit tree species in Lopé National Park are dependent on cooler temperatures to trigger flowering. 

"The massive collapse in fruiting among more than 70 tree species studied at Lopé National Park, Gabon may be due to species missing the environmental cue to bear fruit, because of increased temperatures and less rainfall," said study co-lead author Dr. Emma Bush.

"Less fruit in the ecosystem will have huge impacts on forest dynamics such as seed dispersal, plant reproduction and food availability for wildlife such as forest elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas."

The research is part of a 37-year, ongoing collaboration between the University and the Government of Gabon. The study has generated a unique dataset that allows researchers to monitor how the rainforests and wildlife of the Congo Basin are responding to climate change.

Study co-author Lee White is Gabon's Minister of Water, Forest, Sea and Environment, and an honorary professor at the University of Stirling.

"Long-term ecological research such as ours is unfortunately extremely rare in the tropics, and it is possible that similar processes are underway, but undetected, throughout the tropical rainforests of our planet," said Professor White. 

"It is alarming that climate change may be resulting in forest elephants going hungry, and we need to seriously consider whether this is forcing elephants out of the forests to approach rural villages in search of food, resulting in an increase in crop raiding."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

African forest elephants are running out of fruit

Researchers at the University of Stirling have led an international...

Biologists at the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> are describing how cichlid fish changed their shape after a river in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-amazon-is-rapidly-approaching-a-tipping-point/">Amazon</a> was dammed. By studying fish in this context, experts can gain a better understanding of how living organisms, in general, may adapt to major human-induced environmental changes.

In 1984, a dam was closed in the Tocantins River in Brazil. The modification rapidly transformed this clear, flowing river into a deep, murky reservoir. The researchers theorized that fish would exhibit changes in body shape as they shifted their habitats and foraging behavior to adapt to the drastically different surroundings. 

"The once-historic rapids and streams that characterized the system have disappeared from the surrounding area, which in turn has affected the abundance and variety of food sources available to native fishes," wrote the study authors.

The team analyzed museum collections of cichlid fish from before the dam was closed and compared the characteristics of these fish with specimens collected by fishermen 34 years later.

Study co-lead author Craig Albertson said that cichlid fish are known for their ability to alter, in as little as a single season, aspects of their body shape to match feeding conditions and other environmental shifts. 

The researchers evaluated changes in six native species of cichlid fish, ranging from large carnivores to small omnivores. The fish represented distinct local groups with body shapes that match their ecological roles.

"Our overarching hypothesis is that the damming of the Tocantins and subsequent formation of the Tucuruí reservoir has induced shifts in habitat and foraging behavior and that the anatomy of resident cichlid populations has change in ways that allow them to adapt to this novel environmental conditions. This study represents a first step toward assessing this hypothesis," explained Albertson.

"Was anything surprising? Yes! While we expected to see changes in generalist species - those that are already predisposed toward living in a variety of habitats - we were surprised to see shape changes in the specialists as well," said study co-lead author Chase Gilbert. 

"Evolving to specialize on a particular prey-type or habitat, can provide a competitive advantage in the near term, but it can also be an evolutionary dead end in the face of major environmental changes."

According to the researchers, not only are these specialist species still found in the area, but they seem to be just as capable of changing body shape as the generalists.

Albertson said that changes across all species were associated with functionally relevant aspects of anatomy, such as the head, fin, and body shape. He noted that the parts of the body that changed over time are exactly those most likely to allow them to survive in their new environment.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17524571">Evolutionary Applications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cichlid fish transform their shape to handle environmental changes

Biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are describing how...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) have turned their attention to one of the driest regions on the planet to study the complex dynamics of carbon cycling. The team conducted field work in the Namib Desert, which stretches more than 1,200 miles along the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-temperatures-in-the-atlantic-can-be-used-to-forecast-droughts-in-the-amazon/">Atlantic</a> coast, to investigate what controls the release of carbon dioxide from soils.

The study ultimately revealed that subtle differences in surface topography and erosion have a strong influence on the behavior of microorganisms in the soil, which affects carbon cycling. Even in the driest places, there were signs of life influencing carbon cycling.

Study lead author Heather Throop is an associate professor in the ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Life Sciences.

"The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects our climate, so understanding what affects the release of carbon from soils is important for predicting how climate will change in the future." said Professor Throop.

The research was focused on six separate sites in the desert that varied in annual precipitation. At each site, the team worked continuously day and night for 48 hours to collect data. The scientists analyzed the landscape structure and the local plants to select the best representative areas to sample. 

Next, the researchers simulated rainfall and used gas analyzers to measure carbon dioxide release from soils. This allowed the experts to gain a better idea of how carbon cycling responded as soils dried after the simulated rain.

"It's really an incredible amount of data to collect manually," said Professor Throop. "And having a crew of dedicated and enthusiastic students made this work possible. Often for remote field work like this we just get a snapshot of what is happening at one or two sites or at a few points in time. It was exciting to be able to collect the data continuously for a few days and at six different sites."

The ASU team collaborated with students from the University of Namibia and the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Study co-author Vimbai Marufu is a graduate student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.

"The ability of technology to record soil carbon was outstanding," said Marufu. "What I treasure the most from the experience is what it means to work on an interdisciplinary team and the unexplainable satisfaction of being close to nature."

With a recent grant from the National Science Foundation to ASU, students from the United States will continue to conduct research in the desert with Namibian researchers. 

"We hope to use this work to help us in understanding how deserts respond to a changing climate," said Professor Throop. "How biological processes function in the extreme dry of the Namib Desert will gives us clues about how relatively wet deserts will behave under drier conditions."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789401797887">Planet and Soil</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

Studying carbon cycling in one of the driest places on Earth

Researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) have turned their attention...

An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> recently conducted the largest-ever analysis of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/invasive-beetle-turns-its-attention-to-guams-endangered-cycad-trees/">tree</a> ring data in the Russian Arctic. The study has revealed that Arctic air pollution is much worse than what was previously realized.

The researchers combined measurements of tree ring width and wood chemistry from living and dead trees with soil characteristics and computer modeling. They found that decades of nickel and copper mining has not only damaged local ecosystems, but has also affected the global carbon cycle.

The devastating impacts of air pollution near the industrial Siberian city of Norilsk can be seen in the annual growth rings of trees in the boreal forest, where a mass die-off has spread up to 100 kilometers.

Norilsk, the world's northernmost city, is one of the most polluted places in the world as a result of intensive mining that dates back to the 1930s. Heavy emissions have destroyed around 24,000 square kilometres of boreal forest since the 1960s. Today, the surviving trees in the higher elevations are suffering as well. 

The researchers have shown how the amount of pollution spewed into the atmosphere by mines is at least partially responsible for the phenomenon of "Arctic dimming," which is usually caused by volcanic eruptions.

"Using the information stored in thousands of tree rings, we can see the effects of Norilsk's uncontrolled environmental disaster over the past nine decades," said study lead author Professor Ulf Büntgen. "While the problem of sulphur emissions and forest dieback has been successfully addressed in much of Europe, for Siberia, we haven't been able to see what the impact has been, largely due to a lack of long-term monitoring data."

The researchers assessed the extent of Norilsk's devastating environmental impacts, which peaked in the 1960s.

"We can see that the trees near Norilsk started to die off massively in the 1960s due to rising pollution levels," said Professor Büntgen. "Since atmospheric pollution in the Arctic accumulates due to large-scale circulation patterns, we expanded our study far beyond the direct effects of Norilsk's industrial sector and found that trees across the high-northern latitudes are suffering as well."

The researchers also found that tree growth has been drastically stunted since the 1970s by Arctic dimming, a phenomenon in which the sun is partially blocked by particles in the atmosphere. This reduction in sunlight slows the process of evaporation and interferes with the hydrological cycle.

Even though global warming should be boosting the rate of boreal tree growth, air pollution has prevented this from happening. The researchers found that the pollution levels in the atmosphere have diminished the trees' ability to turn sunlight into energy through photosynthesis.

"What surprised us is just how widespread the effects of industrial pollution are - the scale of the damage shows just how vulnerable and sensitive the boreal forest is," said Professor Büntgen. "Given the ecological importance of this biome, the pollution levels across the high-northern latitudes could have an enormous impact on the entire global carbon cycle."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14610248">Ecology 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

Tree rings reveal the shocking extent of Arctic air pollution

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

Extreme marine heatwaves like the 2015 Pacific "blob" are much more likely to occur now than before man-made global <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/global-warming-is-turning-the-arctic-green/">warming</a> began, according to a new study published by the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>.

"Anthropogenic climate change is causing not only more episodes of historically high air temperatures but also more frequent spells of unusually increased ocean temperatures," wrote the study authors. "Marine heatwaves, defined as periods of anonymously high regional surface ocean temperatures, have also become common in recent decades." 

Marine heatwaves can cause irreparable damage to underwater ecosystems. In the last several decades, extremely high localized ocean temperatures have been recorded in every ocean.

The longest and largest of these events, often known as "the blob," pushed temperatures in the North Pacific up by more than 2.5 degrees Celsius between 2013 and 2015.

Just like many similar events in recent years, the blob severely impacted marine ecosystems and the economic systems they support. Despite the extent of the damage, however, very few studies have explored the link between global warming and the frequency and severity of marine heatwaves.

To investigate, a research team led by Charlotte Laufkötter analyzed seven of the most recent and most damaging marine heatwaves. They used computer models to predict how likely it would be for each to occur during preindustrial and modern climate conditions. 

The study revealed that the frequency of marine heatwaves has already increased more than 10-fold because of anthropogenic global warming. 

Under 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming above preindustrial temperatures, marine heatwaves which typically occurred once in hundreds to thousands of years can be expected to occur every 10 to 100 years. However, if global warming reaches three degrees Celsius, extreme marine heatwaves like the blob could strike once per decade, or even annually. 

The findings highlight the urgent need for countries worldwide to reach ambitious climate targets in an effort to mitigate the risks of

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

Severe marine heatwaves are becoming much more common

Extreme marine heatwaves like the 2015 Pacific "blob" are much...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> reveals that reduced noise pollution during <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-will-be-a-seasonal-virus-after-herd-immunity-is-reached/">COVID-19</a> restrictions gave some bird communities the opportunity to improve their songs. 

When scientists evaluated the birdsong of white-crowned sparrows in the San Francisco Bay area, they discovered that the birds were performing higher quality songs after the lockdown.

"Anthropogenic noise pollution (ANP) is a globally invasive phenomenon impacting natural systems, but most research has occurred at local scales with few species," wrote the researchers. 

"We investigated continental‐scale breeding season associations with ANP for 322 bird species to test whether small‐scale predictions related to breeding habitat, migratory behavior, body mass and vocal traits are consistent at broad spatial extents for an extensive group of species."

The study was focused on the difference in bird songs before and after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in both urban and rural environments.

The findings strongly suggest that previously reported regional changes, which resulted in lower quality songs, were the direct result of increased anthropogenic noise pollution. The interference of noise can compromise the male birds' ability to defend their territories, and the long-term consequences on reproductive success are largely unknown. 

A research team led by Elizabeth Derryberry has been monitoring urban and rural populations of white-crowned sparrows in the San Francisco Bay area for years. The scientists previously showed that as urban noise levels have increased in the region - primarily due to rising levels of traffic - the sparrows have begun singing songs that are characterized by higher minimum frequencies. This strategy allows the birds to communicate across greater distances, but results in a lower quality vocal performance. 

In the current study, the experts set out to see how birds may have adapted their songs with a drop in traffic and noise levels during the statewide COVID-19 shelter-in-place order. They compared birdsong data from April to June 2015 to recordings made at the same sites from April to May 2020. 

The scientists discovered that sparrows in the most recent group showed reductions in vocal minimum frequencies that led to higher quality vocal performance.

The study authors noted that these changes were much more notable for birds in urban areas, which likely gave these birds much greater capacity to compete for breeding territories. 

According to the researchers, the results reveal how quickly birds can adapt to changing environments and suggest that lasting remediation might lead to other promising outcomes, including higher species diversity.

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

Birds emerged from COVID-19 shutdown with better songs

A new study from the American Association for the Advancement...

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>.

---

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...

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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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