Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals.



A research team led by Hans Sanderson of <a href="http://Aarhus University https://g.co/kgs/wGFv7P9">Aarhus University</a> tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166445X24003485?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaternium conditioners</a> that make hair feel smooth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoos-tame-frizz">How shampoos tame frizz</h2>



Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166248108701168" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positively charged polymers</a> so those long molecules wrap around each fiber and neutralize static, leaving a sleek finish.



The most common sub‑group, polyquaterniums, numbers more than 25,000 variations. Together they support a <a href="https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/polyquaternium-market-107659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">market valued</a> at about $0.12 billion in 2024 and projected to grow steadily over the next decade.



Each molecule is huge by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ocean-animals-connect-countries-and-continents/">chemical</a> standards, so toxicology screens once assumed they were harmless to wildlife because they cannot slip through cell membranes. Sanderson’s team asked whether sticking on the outside of a creature could matter just as much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-harms-tiny-aquatic-animals">Shampoo harms tiny aquatic animals </h2>



Freshwater ponds and lakes are full of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">daphnia</a>, tiny crustaceans <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shampoo-animals.jpg">sometimes called water fleas</a>. They filter algae and bacteria, purify water, and form a primary food source for many small fish.



Because daphnia propel themselves with rhythmic strokes of their antennae, any extra drag can slow them down. 



The Aarhus experiments showed that a film of conditioner polymers glued to the animals’ shells, halving their swimming speed and hindering feeding.



“We have conducted the first study in the world to investigate this. The substances do not penetrate the animals’ cells, but rather stick to the surface of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-2025-plastic-pollution-is-choking-our-planet/">animal</a>,” explained Sanderson. 



“This physically affects the animal, making it unable to move as well, and it impairs its ability to ingest food,” continued Sanderson.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-s-charge-makes-animals-vulnerable">Shampoo's charge makes animals vulnerable</h2>



The researchers ran complementary tests on two standard laboratory species, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daphnia magna</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/483833-Ceriodaphnia-dubia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ceriodaphnia dubia</a>, using three <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaterniums</a> of different designs. 



The team found toxicity thresholds as low as 0.05 mg per liter for the most highly charged polymer, while the same molecule with a lower charge was 400‑fold less toxic.



The pattern was consistent regardless of molecular weight. That result shifts regulatory focus from size to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/charge-density" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">charge density</a>, a parameter rarely documented on shampoo labels.



Organic matter in natural water, such as dissolved humic acids, partially blunts the polymers’ stickiness. Yet even moderate concentrations still impaired reproduction and growth during 21‑day chronic tests with both daphnia species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoo-chemicals-move-to-animals">How shampoo chemicals move to animals</h2>



Wastewater plants intentionally add the same <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01223" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cationic polymers</a> as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/flocculant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flocculant</a> to clump particles together for easier removal. Ironically, what helps strip other pollutants out of sewage can persist in the resulting sludge or treated effluent.



If facilities discharge more than the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-impacting-marine-life-more-than-we-realized/">ecosystem</a> can buffer, sensitive invertebrates pay the price. Because daphnia sit near the base of the food web, their decline can ripple upward and reduce fish recruitment.



Laboratory work measured polymer levels that killed half a daphnia population within 48 hours at phone‑screen brightness‑level concentrations. Field monitoring remains limited, so nobody knows how often small streams approach those doses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-call-for-smarter-safety-tests">Call for smarter safety tests</h2>



European agencies already demand hazard labels for chemicals that penetrate cells, but large polymers still slip through many guidelines. 



The European Commission is reviewing <a href="https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/chemicals/chemicals-legislation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymer assessment rules</a> under its CLP and <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/reach-regulation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">REACH regulations</a>, with updates expected this year.



The researchers argue that future protocols must mimic real‑world water containing organic carbon, rather than the ultra‑clean test media used today. 



They also recommend including movement and feeding endpoints, not just mortality, when assessing ecological risk.



Softening agents may never fully disappear from consumer goods. However, incremental tweaks, lower charge density, biodegradable side chains, or safer alternatives like amino‑based conditioners could cut harm dramatically. 



Manufacturers have incentives to act before formal limits arrive, because production lines adapt faster than legislation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reducing-shampoo-s-harm-to-animals">Reducing shampoo’s harm to animals</h2>



Reading an ingredient list will often reveal polyquaterniums by number, for example polyquaternium‑10 or ‑7. Lower single‑digit numbers usually carry higher charge density, although the label alone cannot quantify risk.



Choosing rinse‑off products certified for low aquatic toxicity is one stopgap, though Sanderson notes that even ecolabel formulations sometimes rely on the same chemistry. 



Reducing dosage helps too; a quarter‑sized blob of shampoo cleans most medium‑length hair, and conditioner is unnecessary every wash for many people.



Small behavior shifts add up because each bottle skipped prevents thousands of gallons of rinse water from picking up extra polymers over its retail life. 



Until wastewater infrastructure and regulations catch up, prevention at the source remains the surest shield for freshwater communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-a-balanced-bathroom-shelf">Toward a balanced bathroom shelf</h2>



The story of sticky hair conditioners underscores a broader lesson in polymer safety. Size alone cannot protect wildlife if surface charge lets molecules hijack essential behaviors like swimming and feeding. 



Daphnia, though invisible from a shower stall, signal the health of entire lakes and streams. When their numbers fall, algae blooms can surge, water clarity drops, and fish lose a key snack.



Scientists now have lab tools to screen thousands of conditioning agents quickly, ranking them by how strongly they glue onto living surfaces. 



Policy makers can use that knowledge to set practical discharge limits, while industry chemists re‑engineer formulas for performance without collateral damage.



Every shampoo rinse cycle connects personal routine to planetary processes, affecting animals too. Balancing clean hair with clean water and protecting animals is no longer guesswork; the data are in view, and the solutions are within reach.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aquatic Toxicology</a>.



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Chemicals in shampoos and soaps are infiltrating rivers and killing aquatic life

Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals. A research team led by Hans Sanderson of Aarhus University tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called polyquaternium conditioners that make hair feel smooth. How shampoos tame frizz Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add positively charged polymers so those long molecules wrap around...

Plastic waste has been discovered in the most remote regions of the world, including the deepest parts of the ocean and raining down on isolated mountain tops like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-spread-wind/">Pyrenees Mountains in southern France.</a>  

Now, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado have been added to the list of places impacted by microplastic pollution. 

Greg Wetherbee, a researcher with the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">US Geological Survey</a>, collected rainwater samples from Rocky Mountain National Park to study nitrogen pollution.  

The samples contained microplastics ranging from colored fibers to plastic shards and beads. The discovery of microplastic pollution in such a remote area, 10,000 feet above sea level, was a surprise to Wetherbee and his team.  

The researchers published their findings in a study called <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2019/1048/ofr20191048.pdf">“It is raining plastic.”</a> 

“I think the most important result that we can share with the American public is that there’s more plastic out there than meets the eye,” Wetherbee told the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/12/raining-plastic-colorado-usgs-microplastics">Guardian</a>. “It’s in the rain, it’s in the snow. It’s a part of our environment now.” 

Microplastics travel via wind, rain, and snow, and research has found that microplastics can spread hundreds of miles, making it difficult to trace the source of the pollution. 

For Wetherbee, plastic pollution in the Rocky Mountains raises more questions than answers. 

“We need to find out how much is depositing, where it’s depositing, and how does this material affect the eco-system,” Wetherbee told <a href="https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/scientist-studying-nitrogen-inadvertently-finds-microplastics-in-rocky-mountain-natl-park-rainwater">Denver Channel 7.</a> “Does it get into micro-organisms? Does it get into larger levels of the food chain. What larger organisms? Does it matter? And what effect does it have on the eco-system.” 

The study also emphasizes that better sampling and quantifying methods are needed if researchers are ever to model the accumulation of microplastics in the environment. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/BGSmith

Microplastics are raining down on the Rocky Mountains

Plastic waste has been discovered in the most remote regions...

<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> has released satellite images Rapid Arctic warming caused an enormous glacier to disappear in 30 years which reveal the shocking 30-year transition of the Okjökull (Ok) Glacier, which lost its status as a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/memorial-death-okjokull-glacier/">glacier</a> in 2014. By this time, the glacier had shrunk down to less than seven percent of its original 5.8 square miles.

The Ok glacier has now ceased all movement and has transitioned into what experts refer to as dead ice. The NASA pictures show how unprecedented warming in the Arctic completely transformed the enormous glacier in just three decades.

Images taken in 1986 captured the glacier when it still covered a huge mountainside in western Iceland. By 2019, however, an image shows that only a tiny patch of ice remains. 

Experts at NASA explained that the heatwave which struck Europe this year is accelerating melting across the region.Rapid Arctic warming caused an enormous glacier to disappear in 30 years

"Notice the areas of blue meltwater, which are likely associated with a mass of warm air that hit Iceland as it moved from mainland Europe to Greenland in late July," NASA said in a statement.

On August 18, Iceland will host an official ceremony to commemorate the loss of its famous Okjökull Glacier, which is the first of many glacial casualties expected from global warming. 

[caption id="attachment_1876570" align="aligncenter" width="536"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ok-glacier.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1876570" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ok-glacier.jpg" alt="" width="536" height="389" /></a> Okjökull (Ok) Glacier in September 1986, Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory[/caption]

The glacier will be memorialized on a plaque that is inscribed with “a letter to the future” composed by famous author Andri Snaer Magnason.

“Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years, all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,” Magnason wrote in the tribute.

Cymene Howe is an associate professor of Anthropology at Rice University who helped produce the 2018 documentary “Not Ok."

“This will be the first monument to a glacier lost to climate change anywhere in the world,” said Howe. “By marking Ok’s passing, we hope to draw attention to what is being lost as Earth’s glaciers expire. These bodies of ice are the largest freshwater reserves on the planet and frozen within them are histories of the atmosphere. They are also often important cultural forms that are full of significance.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Rapid Arctic warming caused an enormous glacier to disappear in 30 years

NASA has released satellite images Rapid Arctic warming caused an...

Trees play an important role in keeping the air clean by filtering out particulates and absorbing greenhouse gases, including about 25 percent of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. However, scientists have long speculated that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-tree-growth/">trees</a> and plants will eventually reach a breaking point where they can no longer remove CO2 from the air.

An international research team led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has determined that trees will likely continue to absorb carbon dioxide at beneficial rates through the end of the century. Beyond that point, the ability of trees to store pollutant gases is not yet clear.

Study lead author César Terrer is a postdoctoral scholar in Earth System Science at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences. 

"Keeping fossil fuels in the ground is the best way to limit further warming," said Terrer. "But stopping deforestation and preserving forests so they can grow more is our next-best solution."

Along with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, carbon dioxide provides the nourishment that trees need to grow. But as the atmospheric levels of CO2 continue to rise, trees will need more nitrogen and phosphorus to balance their diet. The uncertainty of how much additional CO2 trees will be able to take up - despite the limitations of these other nutrients - makes it difficult to accurately predict future global warming patterns.

"Planting or restoring trees is like putting money in the bank," said study co-author Professor Rob Jackson. "Extra growth from carbon dioxide is the interest we gain on our balance. We need to know how high the interest rate will be on our carbon investment."

Based on statistical methods, machine-learning, and satellite data, the experts quantified how much soil nutrients and climate factors limit the ability of plants and trees to absorb extra carbon dioxide. They found that the CO2 levels expected by the end of the century should increase plant biomass by 12 percent, enabling plants and trees to store more carbon dioxide. 

The researchers identified important partnerships that develop between trees and soil microbes to help them take up the additional nitrogen and phosphorus they need to balance their diets. 

The study emphasizes the critical role of tropical forests, such as those in the Amazon, which have the greatest potential to store additional carbon.

"We have already witnessed indiscriminate logging in pristine tropical forests, which are the largest reservoirs of biomass in the planet," said Terrer. "We stand to lose a tremendously important tool to limit global warming."

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How much longer will trees continue to absorb carbon dioxide?

Trees play an important role in keeping the air clean...

A world without bees would have major food shortages and possibly famine. There is much debate over whether Albert Einstein once said that if bees disappeared off the face of the Earth, humans would have only four years left to live. If all bees completely vanished, it would not cause humans to go extinct - or not right away, at least. However, it would cause extreme hardship, including major food shortages and possibly famine.

The reality is that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/uk-bees-declining-populations/">bees</a> play a critical role in feeding the world by pollinating the crops that feed 90 percent of the global population. Bees are said to be involved in the production of one out of every three bites of food that we take. This means that the ongoing decline of bees and other pollinators poses a serious threat to the future of the world's food supply. 

Many factors are driving the decline of bees, including habitat fragmentation, neonicotinoid pesticide use, colony collapse disorder, and climate change. A world without bees would have major food shortages and possibly famine

Honeybee populations, in particular, have been dramatically reduced, dropping by 89 percent between 2007 and 2016. In the United States, 40 percent of honeybee colonies were lost last year alone. 

According to the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a>, honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops. If we had no bees left on the Earth, we could lose all of the plants that they pollinate, followed by all of the animals that eat those plants. The repercussions would be felt all the way up the food chain. 

There are many birds and small mammals that would disappear if bees were lost. Honey, nuts, and beans would also be phased out because they rely so much on bees. The number of fruits and vegetables would be cut in half, while meat would become extremely limited as cattle depend on pollinated plants for food. 

The <a href="http://epa.gov">Environmental Protection Agency</a> has now banned the use of pesticides linked to bee deaths, and similar bans have been passed in Europe. There is also new emphasis being placed on the restoration and preservation of wild habitats where bees and other pollinators can thrive. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/TB studio

A world without bees would have major food shortages and possibly famine

A world without bees would have major food shortages and...

The United States is losing natural land at an alarming rate, according to <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2019/08/06/473242/much-nature-america-keep/">a new report </a>from the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/">Center for American Progress (CAP)</a>.

The report, authored by Matt Lee-Ashley, the senior director of Environmental Strategy and Communications at CAP, found that the US lost a football-sized area of natural land to new roads, pipelines, or houses every thirty seconds between 2001 and 2017. 

These losses are preventable, according to the report, but it would require a serious effort to conserve and protect America’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extinction-crisis-solutions/">wildlife and natural spaces</a>. 

“This report argues that the question—“How much nature should America keep?”—should be the subject of an urgent national conversation,” the report states. “Much like climate change, America must confront the conservation crisis head-on and address the role that it wants nature to play in society, the economy, and communities in the decades ahead.” 

To estimate land losses through the years, CAP enlisted the help of <a href="https://www.csp-inc.org/">Conservation Science Partners (CSP)</a>. 

CSP researchers created a detailed map of humanity’s footprint across the United States, excluding Hawaii and Alaska from 2001 through 2017. Satellite data and public datasets were used to help map how much land has been lost due to human activities. 

More than 24 million acres of land were lost to development in the 16 years studied. In the midwest, 59 percent of all land area was lost to farms, cities, power plants, and other infrastructure and development initiatives the report showed. 

If these trends continue, the US could lose an area of natural land equivalent to the size of South Dakota by 2050. 

CAP has several recommendations for ensuring that the US doesn’t lose any more natural land and biodiversity than is necessary. 

The researchers say that if the world’s nations committed to protecting 30 percent of their lands and oceans by 2030, it could go a long way in ensuring our ecosystem is not degraded past the point of no return. 

Only 12 percent of all US land is currently protected by law. 

“Protecting 30 percent of the world’s terrestrial and marine habitats not only would reduce extinctions and safeguard food supplies, drinking water, and clean air, but it also would help prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, a threshold beyond which scientists say the costs and effects of climate change worsen significantly,” the report states. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Maridav

The United States has lost a shocking amount of natural land since 2001

The United States is losing natural land at an alarming...

A long-term study in the Seychelles has revealed that coral bleaching is permanently altering fish communities. The research produced clear evidence that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/economic-coral-bleaching-caribbean/">coral bleaching</a> in 1998 triggered changes in biodiversity and the range of fish species that still remain in place today.

The numbers of large predator fish such as snappers and very small fish such as damselfish had been dramatically reduced. These fish were largely replaced by seaweed-loving fish like rabbitfish.

Some of the coral reefs examined in the study recovered following the bleaching event, but other reefs shifted to fields of seaweed. On the seaweed dominated reefs, the changes in fish communities were most apparent. The fish that feed on seaweed, however, became a dominant part of all the reef communities that were surveyed. 

According to the researchers, the same changes have likely occurred on damaged coral reefs around the world. 

"The new normal for coral reefs will be reef fish communities which have fewer species and are dominated by herbivores and invertebrate feeding fish," said Professor Nick Graham. "This will alter the way coral reefs function, and the fishery opportunities for coastal communities adjacent to coral reefs."

The study, which was led by <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/">Lancaster University</a>, tracked reef recovery in the Seychelles for 16 years following the 1998 event. Even though the next major coral-bleaching event was not until 2016, fish populations had still not returned to their pre-bleaching condition.

Previous studies have shown that the amount of time between bleaching periods is declining, and is now typically less than 10 years. In this study, there were 18 years between bleaching events, yet the fish communities were still unable to recover. 

"Although the 18-year period between major mass bleaching events allowed corals to recover on some reefs, we found evidence that fish populations were not able to return to their pre-bleaching levels, and they were substantially altered on the reefs that become dominated by seaweeds," said lead author Dr. James Robinson.

"The Seychelles case study suggests under current levels of ocean warming - where the average frequency of bleaching events is less than 10 years - permanent changes to reef fishes are likely on most coral reefs globally."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sabangvideo

Coral bleaching is permanently altering fish communities

A long-term study in the Seychelles has revealed that coral...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has carefully analyzed how much energy is produced by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-york-fossil-fuels/">fossil fuels</a> compared to the amount of energy that is used to acquire them. Although the estimated ratios for energy return on investment (EROI) have historically favored fossil fuels over renewable energy sources, the researchers found that these estimates are not accurate. 

Oil, coal, and gas are calculated to have an EROI of at least 25:1, which means that the energy return on one barrel of oil is about 25 barrels. Renewable energy sources often have much lower estimated ratios that are below 10:1.

The fossil fuel estimates, however, do not take into account the energy that is needed beyond the extraction process to transform oil, coal, or gas into the finished product. 

"Measuring energy return on investment of fossil fuels at the extraction stage gives the misleading impression that we have plenty of time for a renewable energy transition before energy constraints are a concern," said study co-author Dr. Paul Brockway.

"Those measurements are essentially predicating the potential energy output of newly-extracted sources like crude oil. But crude oil isn't used to heat our homes or power our cars. It makes more sense for calculations to consider where energy enters the economy, and that puts us much closer to the precipice."

"The ratios will only continue to decline because we are swiftly reaching the point where all the easily-accessible fossil fuel sources are becoming exhausted. By stepping up investment in renewable energy sources we can help ensure that we don't tip over the edge."

For the current investigation, the research team calculated the EROI for fossil fuels over a 16-year period. The results showed that, after the finished fuel stage, the ratios for fossil fuels are much closer to those of renewable energy sources at roughly 6:1. In the case of electricity, the EROI for fossil fuels was as low as 3:1.

The experts warn that the increasing energy costs of extracting fossil fuels will cause the ratios to continue dropping, pushing energy resources toward a "net energy cliff" where the net energy available to society experiences a sharp decline. The researchers emphasise that these findings make a strong case for rapidly stepping up investment in renewable energy sources.

"There is too much focus on the initial economic costs of transitioning to renewable energy " said study co-author Dr. Lina Brand-Correa. "Renewable infrastructure, such as wind farms and solar panels, do require a large initial investment, which is one of the reasons why their energy return on investment ratios have been so low until now."

"But the average energy return on investment for all fossil fuels at the finished fuel stage declined by roughly 23 per cent in the 16 year period we considered. This decline will lead to constraints on the energy available to society in the not-so-distant future, and these constraints might unfold in rapid and unexpected ways."

"Once the renewable infrastructure is built and dependency on fossil fuel decreases, the energy-return-on-investment for renewable sources should go up. This must be considered for future policy and energy infrastructure investments decisions, not only to meet climate change mitigation commitments but to ensure society continues to have access to the energy it needs."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nenergy/">Nature Energy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Kodda

Fossil fuels offer a lower energy return than previously believed

A new study from the University of Leeds has carefully...

Groundwater use in the United States over the past century has led to significant surface water declines, as a new study has linked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/groundwater-reserves-environmental-time-bomb/">groundwater pumping</a> to streamflow losses of 50 percent in some rivers. 

The study, conducted by hydrologists from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>, used computer modeling to answer important questions about past groundwater use and show how surface water levels could be impacted by groundwater pumping in the future. 

Groundwater is used to help water crops, and as climate change is projected to increase temperatures, food demand, and droughts, both ground and surface water will be increasingly important resources that will have to be managed sustainably. 

“We’re trying to figure out how that groundwater depletion has actually reshaped our hydrologic landscape,” said Laura Condon, the first author of the study. “What does that mean for us, and what are the lasting impacts?”

The researchers developed a computer model that maps most surface water in the contingent US (excluding coastal regions) and all groundwater up to 328 feet below the surface. 

By including both surface and groundwater, the researchers were able to model surface water levels if there had been no groundwater pumping and show how the Colorado and Mississippi River basins have been changed by past groundwater pumping since the 1950s. 

Over the 20th century, 800 cubic kilometers of groundwater has been pumped, according to the calculations by the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">US Geological Survey.</a>

“We showed that because we’ve taken all of this water out of the subsurface, that has had really big impacts on how our land surface hydrology behaves,” said Condon. “We can show in our simulation that by taking out this groundwater, we have dried up lots of small streams across the US because those streams would have been fed by groundwater discharge.”

Groundwater pumping has most significantly impacted lakes, streams, and rivers in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. 

If water levels continue to recede, it will put more strain on agriculture and water reserves.

Having a better idea of how closely linked ground and surface water are will help create groundwater management strategies to ensure groundwater levels stay above certain critical points. 

“With this study, we not only have been able to reconstruct the impact of historical pumping on stream depletion, but we can also use it in a predictive sense, to help sustainably manage groundwater pumping moving forward,” said Reed Maxwell, a co-author of the study. 

The study was published in the journal Science Advances. 

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: NASA

Pumping groundwater has severely reduced river stream flows in the US

Groundwater use in the United States over the past century...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-negatively-moth-pollination/">Forest fires</a>, wood boring beetles and woodpeckers often get a bad rap. All three are associated with destruction, either of trees and forests or wooden structures. Of course, all three are actually essential to most healthy forest ecosystems in North America. 

Healthy forests are not just areas of dense vegetation, although that is an aspect, but they are also patches of meadows, running streams and rotting logs. Many animals associated with woodlands depend on other habitats besides mature, old growth forests for their survival. This is one reason why fires are helpful for the maintenance of a more biodiverse and healthy forest ecosystem. Not only animals, but plants also sometimes require fires to successfully propagate seeds and open up areas to start growth. Other animals specifically depend on fires to complete their life cycle.

With climate change, the hotter drier weather is predicted to lead to more and more intense fires. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/impacts/infographic-wildfires-climate-change.html">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> points out that we’ve already seen an increase in the number of fires per year. Between 1980 and 1989, there were an average of 140 wildfires in the US, but that number has steadily increased to an average of 250 wildfires between 2000 and 2012. Unsurprisingly, the length of the wildfire season in the US has increased as well. In the 1970s, the average wildlife season lasted 5 months, but today the average season is more than 7 months long. This is driven by earlier snow melt, which in turn leaves forests drier for longer periods of time, leading inevitably to more fires over a longer period per year.        

Many beetles in the genus Melanophila are attracted to smoke. The beetles lay their eggs in dead and dying trees, so the smell of smoke is the smell of food for beetle grubs. Fires usually kill trees but leave large amounts of wood intact enough that there’s plenty for the beetle larvae. Interestingly, the wood boring beetles are also helped by bark boring beetles, which may damage or kill a tree, allowing entrance for the former beetle larvae. 

Beetles as a whole are one of the most diverse groups of animals, and wood boring beetles in particular are also diverse in themselves. The <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2019/03/21/metallic-wood-boring-beetles-utilize-aspen-cottonwoods-and-willows">University of Colorado</a> reports that there are 93 species of metallic wood boring beetle in that state alone. Some of the wood boring beetles found in the US are native and some are non-natives, and it is <a href="http://idtools.org/id/wbb/families/Wood_Boring_Beetle_Keys/Whole_site/Html/WBBeetle_info.htm">estimated</a> that non-native wood borers cost the US $2.1 billion per year. Wood boring beetles in the US come from ten different families and live wherever there is wood to be found.       

A recent paper in <a href="https://fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s42408-019-0040-1">Fire Ecology</a> discusses the relationship between fires and the beetles. It’s hard to determine if both beetles benefit from fire or if bark beetles actually make way for wood boring beetles because both are often present. However, when wood boring beetles arrive, they benefit woodpeckers as a food source. It’s easy to make the connection to see how fires are important not just for clearing out areas of dense trees, but they’re also important because they leave the smoldering remains of trees behind for beetles.

After the beetles come woodpeckers. Woodpeckers in their own right are crucial to forest habitats, considered to be ecosystem engineers. It’s not in searching for beetle larvae to eat that woodpeckers engineer the ecosystem, this merely supports large populations of the birds. Woodpeckers excavate holes in wood for nesting sites to raise their young. The holes dug into tree branches are reused after the woodpeckers have left them behind. 

Nesting burrows in trees are useful for many other animals, including other birds and small mammals, but they’re in short supply. According to <a href="https://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/woodpeckers-engineers-ecosystems/">American Forests</a>, 90% of burrows in trees are created by woodpeckers. This of course makes the inadvertent help that woodpeckers supply very important to the ecology of a forest (or in some cases a desert). 

Some forests, however, are adapted to burn more thoroughly than others, as the ecology of the long leaf pine forests in the US Southeast are different from other forests. The trees in these forests burn hotter, leaving less standing dead trees, making the beetles and the woodpeckers that eat them less important. But this is an exception to the general rule. Considering this, it’s not surprising that woodpeckers as a group usually have a close relationship to fire.

<a href="https://www.birdnote.org/show/woodpeckers-and-forest-fires">Bird Note</a> explains that some species of woodpeckers benefit especially from forest fires. Black-backed woodpeckers have plumage to match the ashy hue of burnt wood, they also have behaviors that take advantage of forest fires. Black-backed woodpeckers will form nest colonies within recently burned patches of forest, gorging on the grubs from wood boring beetles and other insects for the few years they’re plentiful before moving on. 

[caption id="attachment_1875170" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/woodpecker.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875170" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/woodpecker.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="489" /></a> Black-backed woodpecker, Image Credit: Shutterstock[/caption]

A history of forest fire suppression and thinning of forests by logging have possibly made the black-backed woodpecker’s habitat less prevalent. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/black-backed-woodpeckers-and-severe-fire">High Country News</a> reported in 2013 that the situation was thought to be dire by some, with four conservation groups petitioning for the Black-backed woodpeckers to be listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List. As of now, the Black-backed woodpecker hasn’t been added to the Endangered Species List. Specific species of woodpeckers specialize in different forest fire types.

The black-backed woodpeckers favor dense snag areas of severe fires, while Lewis’s Woodpeckers prefer more open areas of severe burns. White-headed woodpeckers may use some amount of burned forest but also depend on live trees for part of their food. These woodpeckers all inhabit different niches in the northwestern forest, forests throughout the US support different species and densities of woodpeckers, with varying dependence on fire.  

With a predicted increase in the number of forest fires and the intensity of them in the western US, it’s possible that woodpeckers are the silver lining to the threat of fire. In fact, in some ways decades of fire suppression may partially be to blame for some of the situation (as well as climate change) and more fires are part of a reckoning. But either way, woodpeckers are likely to benefit. 

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer    

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>             

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Christian Roberts-Olsen

An increase in forest fires means more beetles and woodpeckers

Forest fires, wood boring beetles and woodpeckers often get a...

Climate change is outpacing the ability of animals to adapt. A team of international researchers led by Viktoriia Radchuk, Alexandre Courtiol, and Stephanie Kramer-Schadt from the<a href="http://www.izw-berlin.de/welcome.html"> Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW)</a>, evaluated how effectively animals can react, and already have reacted, to their changing environments. They found that although animals do often adapt to their changing habitat, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-californias-wildfire-seasons/">climate change</a> is currently happening at such a pace that it's difficult for the animals to keep up.

The most common reaction to climate change observed is the alteration of the timing of biological events (also called phenological traits) like hibernation, reproduction, or migration, as Radchuk and colleagues observed in birds. Changes in body size, mass, or other morphological traits are also associated with climate change, however, these traits show no systematic pattern.

For their study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, the researchers linked relevant information from scientific literature to changes in climate throughout the years and potential changes in both phenological and morphological traits. They then evaluated whether observed trait changes were connected to higher survival rates or an increased number of offspring. 

"Our research focused on birds because complete data on other groups were scarce," said Radchuk. "We demonstrate that in temperate regions, the rising temperatures are associated with the shift of the timing of biological events to earlier dates."

"This suggests that species could stay in their warming habitat, as long as they change fast enough to cope with climate change," said co-author Steven Beissinger, a professor at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>.

But, "This is unlikely to be the case because even populations undergoing adaptive change do so at a pace that does not guarantee their persistence,” said senior author Alexandre Courtiol (Leibniz-IZW).

"These results were obtained by comparing the observed response to climate change with the one expected if a population would be able to adjust their traits so to track the climate change perfectly,” said co-author Thomas Reed, a senior lecturer at <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/en/">University College Cork</a>.

To make matters worse, the data analyzed predominantly included common and abundant bird species, all of which are known to deal with climate change fairly well.

"Adaptive responses among rare or endangered species remain to be analysed,” said Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Head of the Department of Ecological Dynamics, Leibniz-IZW. “We fear that the forecasts of population persistence for such species of conservation concern will be even more pessimistic.” 

The hope is that this new analysis will encourage more research on the resilience of animal populations and lead to a better predictive framework that can help future animal conservation.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Bernard Castelein

Climate change is outpacing the ability of animals to adapt

Climate change is outpacing the ability of animals to adapt....

Protected areas may not be protected enough, new study finds. Designating natural landscapes as “<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/living-near-protected-areas/">protected areas</a>” is generally done to preserve these places as a refuge for wildlife, secure from the infiltration of human expansion. 

However, a new study published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a> shows that while the designation of protected areas in Europe has been effective at reducing land cover changes associated with human activity, it has not been able to completely prevent these changes.

Land cover change occurs when there is a significant transition from natural to less natural habitats, threatening the resident ecosystems in the process. In an effort to protect many ecosystems and reduce land cover change, European countries have established a massive network of protect areas throughout the continent. 

Research led by Niels Hellwig of <a href="https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/university-of-potsdam.html">Potsdam University</a> and <a href="https://www.hs-osnabrueck.de/en/international/">Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences</a> in Germany and colleagues compared land cover changes in protected areas, non-protected areas, and 1 km buffer zones around buffer areas In Europe between 2000 and 2012. The research team analyzed the relationship of these changes to climatic and socioeconomic factors.

The results of the study showed that land cover changes occurred most frequently in the 1 km buffer zone around protected areas, as 3% of all buffer areas were affected. Land cover changes within protected areas occurred less frequently, with 1.5% of all protected areas affected. 

The major culprits in these land cover changes were pure anthropogenic processes such as urbanization and intensification of agriculture, which accounted for 25% of land cover changes within protected areas. 

The study’s authors believe that it could be important to regularly monitor the effects of land cover changes in the buffer zones of protected areas, especially since these ecosystems are likely to become more vulnerable in the future as climate change progresses and urbanization increases. 

If we want to keep these areas truly protected, it’s essential that we track any land cover changes that may occur around or near these important ecosystems.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Visualpower

Protected areas may not be protected enough, new study finds

Protected areas may not be protected enough, new study finds....

A study from the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California Riverside</a> has confirmed that Joshua trees are unable to adapt to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-droughts-hotter/">climate change</a>. Unless dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are achieved, the iconic trees are not likely to survive beyond this century. 

The researchers set out to investigate the findings of previous studies which suggested that global warming will have a deadly impact on the trees. The team also wanted to determine whether the trees have already been affected by climate change. 

Millions of tourists visit the Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California every year. As a species, Joshua trees date back to the Pleistocene era around 2.5 million years ago, and individual trees live up to 300 years. 

The adult trees can store large amounts of water for surviving droughts, but younger trees and seedlings are not capable of building up reserves. A recent drought in California that lasted 376 weeks made some regions too dry to support new plants, and climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of such dry spells. 

The UC Riverside team concluded that, even in the best-case scenario of climate mitigation, just 19 percent of Joshua tree habitat will exist after the year 2070. With no reduction in carbon emissions, the park will retain only 0.02 percent of the suitable habitat for Joshua trees.

The researchers gathered and analyzed data from more than 4,000 specimens. They discovered that Joshua trees have been migrating to higher elevations where there is cooler weather and more moisture in the ground. The adult trees are not reproducing as much in the dry season, and the young plants are not surviving.

The study also revealed that fewer than 10 percent of Joshua trees survive wildfires. Based on this research, the U.S. Park Service will remove invasive plants to reduce the fire risk for Joshua trees.

"Fires are just as much a threat to the trees as climate change, and removing grasses is a way park rangers are helping to protect the area today," said study lead author Lynn Sweet. "By protecting the trees, they're protecting a host of other native insects and animals that depend on them as well."

Sweet hopes that the study will inspire people to take protective environmental action. "The fate of these unusual, amazing trees is in all of our hands. Their numbers will decline, but how much depends on us."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://eco-sphere.com/">Ecosphere</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

Joshua trees may not exist by the end of the century

A study from the University of California Riverside has confirmed...

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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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