Floating photovoltaics (FPV), or “floatovoltaics,” are spreading across water bodies worldwide. From California’s vineyards to China’s massive energy projects, these solar systems glide atop irrigation ponds, reservoirs, and wastewater treatment plants. 



They produce clean energy without consuming precious land, a seemingly perfect solution in a space-constrained world.



But the water beneath these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/floating-solar-panels-could-power-entire-countries/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">panels</a> isn’t empty. It teems with life. Birds drift, dive, nest, and hunt in these waters. As FPV systems expand, they introduce a new dynamic to these habitats - and nobody knows yet what the consequences might be.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-floating-solar-and-bird-habitats">Floating solar and bird habitats</h2>



A recent study from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Davis</a>, published in the journal Nature Water, raises a vital question: Can renewable energy and wildlife coexist without collateral damage? The researchers, part of the UC Davis Wild Energy Center, are among the first to examine how waterbirds respond to FPV systems.



“That’s why it’s so important to understand how waterbirds are going to respond to floating solar and if there is the possibility for conservation concessions at new floating solar facilities,” said Elliott Steele, a postdoctoral scholar with the UC Davis Wild Energy Center within the Energy and Efficiency Institute.



Steele’s words are urgent. Bird populations are plummeting. Habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and avian influenza have combined into a perfect storm of threats. If floating solar disrupts waterbird behavior, it could exacerbate an already dire situation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bird-responses-to-floating-solar-systems">Bird responses to floating solar systems</h2>



Imagine a black-crowned night heron standing motionless on a solar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/floating-solar-panels-could-power-every-home-in-the-u-s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">panel</a> before dawn. Below, cormorants dart through the water, jostling for a place to perch. A black phoebe builds a nest beneath the panels, sheltered but close to human-made structures.



These are not imagined scenes. During their fieldwork, the UC Davis researchers observed all these behaviors. Birds are not just interacting with FPV systems — they are adapting to them, sometimes in unexpected ways.



“Our team has been documenting such a diversity of bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/floridas-waterbirds-expert-divers-with-bold-hunting-techniques/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">behavior</a> with floating PV, so we immediately knew this was a very important interaction, especially given the precipitous decline in waterbird numbers globally,” said senior author and UC Davis Professor Rebecca R. Hernandez.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-benefits-and-risks-of-floating-solar">Benefits and risks of floating solar</h2>



Renewable energy projects have not always considered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saving-americas-birds-scientists-declare-a-full-on-emergency-in-the-us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildlife</a>. Now, as FPV systems expand, researchers are determined not to repeat past mistakes. The UC Davis team identified five areas demanding urgent study.



First, the researchers are exploring how waterbirds interact with FPV structures, questioning whether these birds use the solar panels as nesting sites, hunting perches, or safe resting places.



In addition, they are investigating the direct and indirect effects of FPV systems on waterbirds. While a panel may provide shelter to one species, it may simultaneously deter another.



The team is considering how conservation strategies can be tailored to specific sites, regions, and seasons, recognizing that bird populations vary significantly in their behaviors and needs.



Furthermore, they are examining how best to design monitoring systems at FPV sites. Should they rely on cameras, sensors, or traditional bird counts to collect data effectively?



The researchers are also assessing the potential for pollutants to be released from FPV systems. If such contamination occurs, they aim to determine what can be done to mitigate the risks to aquatic and avian life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-renewable-energy-design">Rethinking renewable energy design</h2>



Study co-author Emma Forester is a Ph.D. candidate with the UC Davis Land, Air and Water Resources department and the Wild Energy Center.



“There are some things we wished we’d known before other kinds of renewable energy were developed,” said Forester.



“While we’re at this critical threshold of renewable energy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-panels-are-1000-times-more-powerful-with-new-tech-breakthrough/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">development</a>, we want to put more thought into the design that can benefit birds and other wildlife as we go forward.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-balancing-act-energy-vs-ecology">The balancing act: Energy vs. ecology</h2>



Floating solar systems present a compelling case for water conservation. They can reduce evaporation by shading the water surface, an added benefit in drought-prone areas. But there’s a catch.



While some birds, like the black-crowned night heron, seem to thrive on the panels, others might not. Researchers observed birds using FPV systems in various ways - nesting, perching, feeding - but the long-term impacts remain unclear.



And then there’s pollution. Solar panels are not inert objects. As they age, they can degrade, releasing chemicals into the water. What happens to the fish, algae or the birds? These questions linger, unanswered.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-designing-for-wildlife">Designing for wildlife</h2>



To ensure that FPV systems are truly green, wildlife considerations must be integrated from the start. 



Hernandez and her team emphasize that waterbirds are ideal subjects for these studies. They occupy both the water and the air, making them sensitive indicators of environmental change.



But there’s a deeper challenge. Conservation strategies that work in California may fail in Florida. Solutions for herons may not suit cormorants. Customization is key.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-at-stake">What’s at stake</h2>



Floating solar may be new, but the questions it raises are not. When energy projects collide with nature, unintended consequences often follow. As renewable energy scales up, researchers must consider not just the panels but the ecosystems they disrupt.



Floating solar has enormous potential. But without rigorous, long-term studies, that potential could come at a steep ecological cost. For now, the researchers at UC Davis are watching the waterbirds - and hoping the world will pay attention.



The study, funded by the <a href="https://uckeepresearching.org/california-climate-action/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">California Climate Action Seed Grant</a>, <a href="https://www.enelgreenpower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Enel Green Power</a>, and several U.S. government agencies, is a starting point. 



The research team includes scientists from UC Davis, the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Geological Survey</a>, the <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Central Florida</a>, <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lancaster University</a>, and <a href="https://www.enelgreenpower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Enel Green Power</a> in Italy.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-025-00429-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Water.</a>



Image Credit: Rebecca R. Hernandez, UC Davis.



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Floating solar panels affect bird habitats in unexpected ways

Floating photovoltaics (FPV), or “floatovoltaics,” are spreading across water bodies worldwide. From California’s vineyards to China’s massive energy projects, these solar systems glide atop irrigation ponds, reservoirs, and wastewater treatment plants. They produce clean energy without consuming precious land, a seemingly perfect solution in a space-constrained world. But the water beneath these panels isn’t empty. It teems with life. Birds drift, dive, nest, and hunt in these waters. As FPV systems expand, they introduce a new dynamic to these habitats - and nobody knows yet what the...

Trees in a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-officially-arrived-in-the-black-forest/">forest</a> ecosystem may be living as interconnected ‘superorganisms’. In a New Zealand forest, researchers have been investigating how a tree stump clings to life by pulling water and nutrients from the roots of neighboring <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/joshua-trees-climate-change/">trees</a>. This grafted root system implies that forest ecosystems should no longer be viewed as a bunch of individual trees, but instead as interconnected networks living as "superorganisms."

Study co-author Sebastian Leuzinger is an associate professor at the <a href="https://www.aut.ac.nz/">Auckland University of Technology</a> (AUT). 

"My colleague Martin Bader and I stumbled upon this kauri tree stump while we were hiking in West Auckland," explained Professor Leuzinger. "It was odd, because even though the stump didn't have any foliage, it was alive."

The experts set out to examine how the surrounding trees were keeping the tree stump alive by measuring water flow in both the stump and the neighboring trees that belonged to the same species. They discovered that the water movement in the tree stump was negatively correlated with the water movement in the other trees. 

According to Professor Leuzinger, these measurements suggest that the roots of the stump and its surrounding conspecific trees were grafted together. Root grafts can develop once a tree recognizes that a nearby root tissue is similar enough to allow for the exchange of resources, despite any genetic differences. 

"This is different from how normal trees operate, where the water flow is driven by the water potential of the atmosphere," said Professor Leuzinger. "In this case, the stump has to follow what the rest of the trees do, because since it lacks transpiring leaves, it escapes the atmospheric pull."

The team wanted to understand why a living kauri tree would want to keep a nearby stump alive. "For the stump, the advantages are obvious - it would be dead without the grafts, because it doesn't have any green tissue of its own. But why would the green trees keep their grandpa tree alive on the forest floor while it doesn't seem to provide anything for its host trees?" Trees in a forest ecosystem may be living as interconnected ‘superorganisms’

Professor Leuzinger said one possible explanation is that the root grafts formed before one of the trees lost its leaves and became a stump. The graft system expands the roots of the individual trees, providing them with more stability on the steep slope of the forest and allowing them to access more resources such as water and nutrients. It may go unnoticed when a single tree stops providing these nutrients. 

"This has far-reaching consequences for our perception of trees - possibly we are not really dealing with trees as individuals, but with the forest as a superorganism," said Professor Leuzinger.

"This is a call for more research in this area, particularly in a changing climate and a risk of more frequent and more severe droughts. This changes the way we look at the survival of trees and the ecology of forests."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/home">iScience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Sebastian Leuzinger / iScience

Trees in a forest ecosystem may be living as interconnected ‘superorganisms’

Trees in a forest ecosystem may be living as interconnected...

Current global warming is unlike any climate event. From the Little Ice Age that blanketed Europe in colder than average temperatures and saw glacier growth in the European Alps and the Sierra Nevadas, to the warm-up that occurred during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Earth is no stranger to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-megadroughts/">climate extremes</a>. 

Warm, dry, wet and cold periods have sprung up in different regions throughout history, but no climate event over the past 2,000 years comes close to the scale and impact of the world’s current warming due to climate change. 

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1401-2.epdf?referrer_access_token=27w7afUgTtMxVD88NsF60tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OFAuvUf3smNPgQh_x6w3tkX-JXRoLf0zBLgBVwxe-Kovp4xC7ZhBAmXerbgnk32hVHLYFf_xcsZKqDDUOIlVX00PJ8uHZ97qLzO6HLShxctcH3JIESQS2h2kjJWuQZXmLcazXH72LAYAWKy7V5rZPgmD1MLXr4fcTr--ybas5rl23cXAggEkEZfjiiJBKzEP_QwcQzyhI-egqSbA-TrBVIoCd0DzpDw37q8nvrB7fw8sdexqppmlCAzmEHGQDurs4-gPw3N9ANuCpMsa_R_UMkOPGrnoOkTS9zjrqMwyz3PQ%3D%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.usatoday.com">Nature</a>, researchers examined global climate events over the past 2,000 years to see if previous periods of warming and cooling had the same reach that climate change does today. 

The consistent warming we’ve experienced in the past 100 years is unprecedented, according to the researchers. 

“The warming of the climate system that we’ve seen in the past 100 years is fundamentally different than what we’ve seen in the prior 1,900 years,” Nathan Steiger, a co-author of the study, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/24/global-warming-climate-warming-faster-than-has-last-2-000-years/1816664001/">USA Today</a>. “Climate epochs of the past 2,000 years, which have been popularized with names such as the “Little Ice Age” and the “Medieval Warm Period,” were only regional or continental-scale phenomena.” 

As the study shows, the sheer scale and impact of climate change today cannot be compared to other climate events prior to the late 1800s. 

Temperature records before 1850 can be challenging to piece together. For this study, the researchers combined data from tree rings, corals, lake sediments, and even mollusks to create an accurate picture of global surface temperatures over the past two thousand years. 

The burning of fossil fuels correlates with a warm period covering nearly 98 percent of the Earth, much more than the Little Ice Age, which impacted around two-fifths of the globe. 

“It’s true that during the Little Ice Age it was generally colder across the whole world, but not everywhere at the same time,” said <a href="https://www.unibe.ch/news/media_news/media_relations_e/media_releases/2019/medienmitteilungen_2019/the_climate_is_warming_faster_than_it_has_in_the_last_2000_years/index_eng.html">Raphael Neukom</a>, a fellow co-author of the study, “The peak periods of pre-industrial warm and cold periods occurred at different times in different places.” 

The results of the study help prove that the current warming we’re experiencing is not merely a natural phenomenon. The synchronistic global warming trend is directly linked to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. 

--

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/Tom Wang

Current global warming is unlike any climate event

Current global warming is unlike any climate event. From the...

Satellite images of the Brazillian Amazon rainforest from <a href="http://www.inpe.br/">INPE</a> (Brazil’s space agency) show that 2019 has seen an increase in deforestation. The increase coincides with President Jair Bolsonaro’s first year in office even though Bolsonaro says he thinks the data is false.  

Over 3,700 square kilometers of forest cover has been removed in 2019, 16 percent more than what was deforested in 2016, but the year is not yet over. 

The Amazon rainforest is one of Earth’s greatest treasure troves of biodiversity, housing a rich array of species found nowhere else on Earth. 

The forest also absorbs billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year. With deforestation and climate change carving out more and more of the rainforest, this crucial carbon sink shrinks and releases more carbon into the atmosphere. 

According to a report in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2210621-deforestation-in-brazil-has-rocketed-since-bolsonaro-became-president/?utm_medium=NLC&amp;utm_source=NSNS&amp;utm_campaign=2019-0717-GLOBAL-NSDAY&amp;utm_content=NSDAY">New Scientist</a>, deforestation is increasing more every month. July has been particularly bad and in the first 22 days of this month, more than 1,250 square kilometers of the forest has been removed. 

Satellite images can help show unusual spikes in deforestation but are not typically used to track annual deforestation patterns. Other satellites beyond the INPE have also detected an increase in deforestation these past few months. 

<a href="https://www.glad.umd.edu/">The Global Land Analysis &amp; Discovery (GLAD) lab</a> at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> has had many deforestation alerts early in the summer, far more than last year. 

Given the already alarming trend coming to light, it’s predicted that deforestation in 2019 will have increased considerably by the end of the year when the official data is released. 

Bolsonaro’s presidency has been rife with controversy with many concerned about the President’s right-wing views on the environment, including his less than welcoming views on conservation, protecting indigenous groups, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/president-brazil-amazon-rainforest/">the rainforest</a>. 

“You have to understand that the Amazon is Brazil’s, not yours,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/19/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-amazon-rainforest-deforestation">Bolsonaro said on Friday</a> after facing scrutiny about the satellite imagery. “If all this devastation you accuse us of doing was done in the past the Amazon would have stopped existing, it would be a big desert.”

There have been no new laws about deforestation under Bolsonaro, and those who clear more than one-fifth of their land could still face hefty fines. However, it’s thought that landowners, fueled by Bolsonaro’s rhetoric, are simply removing trees with no consequences. 

“What we can tell is people are feeling more enabled by the government,” Erika Berenguer at the University of Oxford, who met landowners during a recent visit to Brazil, told New Scientist.

The biggest driver of deforestation is clearing land for cattle to graze or to grow crops.  

There are claims that the INPE data has been manipulated, but researchers are quick to defend the agency. 

There has been a considerable effort to curb deforestation in the Amazon in the past, but an increase in deforestation could mean a departure from those efforts and put the rainforest, its resources, and its rich biodiversity at risk. 

--

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/Rich Carey

Dramatic increase in Brazilian deforestation since Bolsonaro took office

Satellite images of the Brazillian Amazon rainforest from INPE (Brazil’s...

Scientists working with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which provides data about atmospheric composition and emissions, reveal that more than 100 <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/summer-weather-wildfires-flooding/">wildfires</a>, an “unprecedented” number, have lit up in the Arctic Circle since June this year — which was the hottest June on record, worldwide.

Satellite photography expert Pierre Markuse noted to CNN that the region has experienced fires in the past, but never this many at once.

"The number and intensity of wildfires in the Arctic Circle is unusual and unprecedented," said CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington per CNN. "They are concerning as they are occurring in a very remote part of the world, and in an environment that many people would consider to be pristine.”

Parrington added that temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than the global average, meaning wildfires have a greater opportunity to spread at faster rates. Local heatwaves in Siberia, Canada, and Alaska are also to blame, Parrington said.

Not only are the fires a result of climate change, but they’re also contributing to further climate change with their release of carbon dioxide. In fact, between June 1st and July 21st, the amount of carbon dioxide released by the Arctic wildfires almost equals Belgium’s entire carbon dioxide output for 2017.

Dr. Claudia Volosciuk, a scientist with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told CNN, “When particles of smoke land on snow and ice, [they] cause the ice to absorb sunlight that it would otherwise reflect, and thereby accelerate the warming in the Arctic.”

--

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: NASA Earth Observatory

‘Unprecedented’ wildfires are burning through the Arctic

Scientists working with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which...

Living with large reptiles that can eat humans is always a tenuous position.  The reality of being eaten by a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cultures-crocodiles-worshipped/">crocodilian</a> is a very ancient one for humans. Fossil evidence from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania shows that hominid fossils, perhaps those of human ancestors, were <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-predators-prey/">preyed upon</a> by a crocodile, Crocodylus anthropophagus as long as 1.8 million years ago.  Alligators in Florida have killed 24 people since 1973.  <a href="http://www.crocodile-attack.info/data/map">CrocBITE</a>, the worldwide crocodilian attack database, has already recorded 116 worldwide crocodilian attacks on humans this year, some of which were fatal. 

Attacks by crocodiles have captured the imagination both in the US and abroad.  <a href="https://youtu.be/H6MLJG0RdDE">Crawl</a>, a movie in which a giant crocodilian hunts people trapped in a flooded basement in Florida, hit theaters July 12 in the US.  In other parts of the world, crocodilians are more reality than terrifying flight of imagination, but sometimes unreasonable fear is mixed in.  The <a href="https://www.sanpedrosun.com/community-and-society/2010/09/06/crocodile-sanctuary-in-belize-destroyed-by-mob/">San Pedro Sun</a> reported in 2010 that a crocodile conservation facility was burned down and crocodiles killed and mutilated by a mob.  The mob was apparently motivated by the advice of a clairvoyant who falsely claimed the remains of missing children would be found in the bellies of the crocodiles.  

Despite the violence of crocodilians and the intense fear humans often feel for them, humans and crocodilians have found ways to coexist in some parts of the world.  In the United States, American Alligator populations plunged close to extinction from hunting and habitat destruction. Alligators were put on the endangered species list in 1967, but were removed in the 1980s after a long recovery.  

Today, the American Alligator is considered a conservation success story.  <a href="https://defenders.org/american-alligator/basic-facts">Defenders of Wildlife</a> estimates that there are now 5 million alligators in the southeastern US and as many as 1.2 million in Florida alone.  The species is carefully managed for hunting and raised in captivity for entertainment as well as for alligator skins used to make clothing and accessories.  

Crocodiles in Australia are also thriving. So called ‘salties’ are one of the most dangerous crocodilians to humans.  Despite their common name, salt water crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) can live in fresh water as well as salt.  <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/crocodiles-rising/">Haika Magazine</a> reported in 2016 that despite a previous history of decline, like the American Alligator the species had rebounded.  According to the Australian <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1774">Department of the Environment and Energy</a>, the population of salt water crocodiles is estimated to be 100,000, although there could be as many as 200,000 living in the wild.  Much like in the United States, crocodiles are raised in captivity but on an even broader scale for skins, meat and entertainment for tourists.  Native peoples have the right to limited hunting of crocodiles as well.  

Despite these instances of successfully managing co-habitation between crocodilians and humans, it doesn’t always work out so well.  <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/rise-in-crocodile-sightings-linked-to-habitat-degradation-in-indonesia/">Mongabay</a> reports that in Indonesia, salt water crocodile sightings and conflicts are on the rise.  Last February, villagers captured a crocodile, tied its mouth shut and beat it before turning the animal over to a wildlife organization which released the crocodile far from human habitation.  The crocodile was suspected of preying on local villagers livestock and the presence of the large reptile was seen as threatening, thus prompting the villagers to attack the animal. The fear of more crocodiles following in the wake of the one captured is very real in a region where crocodile attacks are on the rise.  

Human encroachment into the habitat of a dangerous wild animal is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, the habitat destruction that comes with human development endangers the animal.  On the other hand, more humans close to (in this case dangerous) wild animals increases the likelihood of conflict.  Over the long history of humanity, we’ve mostly killed off dangerous animals or moved away from them, to the point where less of us are knowledgeable about the proper way to live near dangerous predators or are willing to accept the risk of doing so.  One of the purposes of parks is to preserve wildlife in a way that isn’t very threatening to humans or human society.  

Wild animals don’t recognize the boundaries of parks, though.  Alligators can potentially be in almost any pool of water within their range, even if it’s an artificial pool of water <a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gator-attack-disney-world-20160822-snap-story.html">inside Disney World</a>. Unfortunately, humans are increasingly living in close quarters with dangerous crocodilians.  

The reason for the increase in crocodile encounters in part of Indonesia is due to a greater human presence and destruction of habitat.  Blast fishing and turn over of habitat into farms push the crocodiles into a desperate situation with less of their traditional food or habitat available.  Sometimes human encounters with crocodiles can become incredibly nasty. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-crocodiles/indonesian-villagers-kill-nearly-300-crocodiles-in-revenge-attack-idUSKBN1K60HQ">Reuters</a> reported that last year, a man was killed by a crocodile at a conservation breeding facility in Indonesia.  In the wake of the man’s death, the local villagers killed all 292 crocodiles in the facility with clubs, knives and hammers in revenge.  

For now in America and Australia, crocodilians are protected by law but human populations in those areas are growing as well.  <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/crocodiles-rising/">Haika Magazine</a> points out that Darwin, right in salt water crocodile’s range, is one of the fastest growing capitals in Australia.  Key West Aquarium suggests it’s best to not encounter alligators in close proximity, however human populations in Florida it notes are 20 million in a state with one million alligators.  People are increasingly close to the dangerous animals. The conservationists managing hunting and farming the crocodilians point to monetization as a way to save dangerous animals.  

I wonder if putting a cash value is enough to protect crocodilians or if it cheapens them and actually ourselves.  If we’re concerned for our own lives, aren’t we monetizing ourselves when we put a price on a crocodile or alligator?  It seems what we need more is true respect and we rarely respect what we spend money on, we instead objectify it. It also denies the crocodilians their place as free agents in complex ecosystems. Is there enough room for danger left in the world?    

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Andi syahputra

Habitat destruction leads to confrontations with crocodiles in Indonesia

Living with large reptiles that can eat humans is always...

Beginning in the 9th century, the American Southwest was hit with dozens of decade-long megadroughts that suddenly ended around the year 1600. Scientists are working to understand what caused these prolonged droughts to better predict when and where they may happen in the future.

A new study from <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> has produced a comprehensive theory of how megadroughts emerged during the medieval period, and the research indicates that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-animals-adapt/">climate change</a> could trigger their return.

The theory proposes that megadroughts were driven by a combination of ocean conditions and high radiative forcing, which is when more solar heat is absorbed by the Earth compared to what is reflected back into space.

Previous studies were focused on individual factors that contributed to megadroughts. For the current investigation, scientists at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory analyzed how a network of global climate factors worked together to produce the extreme events.

The team reconstructed aquatic climate data and sea-surface temperatures from the last 2,000 years, pinpointing three key contributors to megadroughts. The experts determined that warm conditions in the Atlantic Ocean, cooler La Niña conditions in the surface waters of the tropical Pacific, and radiative forcing all converged to create the perfect conditions for persistent drought.

Most significantly, frequent La Niña events and elevated sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic were responsible for less precipitation across the southwest. The additional heat from intense radiative forcing made matters worse. 

Despite their success in identifying the causes of megadroughts, the researchers explained that these events will remain challenging to predict. This is primarily due to the difficulty of forecasting future El Niño and La Niña activity. 

Regardless, the persistent global warming associated with human activities will steadily increase the likelihood of megadroughts. 

"Because you increase the baseline aridity, in the future when you have a big La Niña, or several of them in a row, it could lead to megadroughts in the American West,"  explained study lead author Nathan Steiger.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/kenkistler

Global warming may trigger megadroughts not seen since the 15th Century

Beginning in the 9th century, the American Southwest was hit...

Greenhouse gases have dominated climate change since about 1850. Members of the <a href="http://www.pastglobalchanges.org/">Past Global Changes</a> (PAGES) project have reconstructed the global record of average surface temperatures over the past 2,000 years. Based on this work, the experts were able to identify the primary drivers of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-animals-adapt/">climate change</a> for each of the last 200 decades. 

The research suggests that the Earth is currently warming at the highest rate ever observed as a result of greenhouse gases. The study also shows that brief periods of global cooling prior to the Industrial Revolution were mainly driven by airborne particles associated with volcanic activity.

The temperature reconstruction largely corroborates climate model simulations of the same time period. This indicates that climate models accurately represent the contributions of various influences on climate change and are reliable predictors of future warming.

PAGES co-chair Professor Michael Evans is a geologist at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>.

"Our reconstructions look like the 'hockey stick' diagram of global temperature change that was first reconstructed more than two decades ago," said Professor Evans. "Thanks to the work of the PAGES community, we have much more data now. The results were consistent regardless of how we created the reconstructions or which randomly chosen subset of input data we used."

The PAGES researchers compiled the most detailed database of its kind for the temperature reconstruction, including nearly 700 records of climate indicators from across the globe such as old trees, reef-building corals, ice cores, and marine and lake sediments. 

Based on seven different statistical methods, the experts found that volcanic activity was responsible for climate variations up until  about 1850. After that, greenhouse gases became the dominant influence on the global climate. 

By removing these influences, the study authors pinpointed the magnitude of climate fluctuations that cannot be traced to a specific cause. Their estimates of these random changes strongly correspond with climate model calculations. 

"This makes us more confident that our reconstructions are realistic and, in turn, that the climate models are simulating past and future climate warming faithfully," said Professor Evans. He pointed out that the global temperature change over the next few decades will rely heavily on the choices that humans make, which is very difficult to predict.

"The uncertainty in the influence of human activities is not so large when looking forward only a few decades. But in the longer term, the choices we make for our energy sources and how much carbon these sources emit really matter."

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

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Anupma Gupta/Michael Evans

Greenhouse gases have dominated climate change since about 1850

Greenhouse gases have dominated climate change since about 1850. Members...

Memorial will be held to raise awareness of the death of a famous glacier. 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 <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/study-ocean-warming-is-the-primary-reason-for-glacier-melting/">global warming</a>. The "Ok glacier" has now ceased all movement and has transitioned into what experts refer to as dead ice.

Even though Iceland's largest glaciers are projected to expand in 2019 for the first time in 25 years, the shift is a few years too late for Ok, which lost its status as a glacier in 2014. By this time, the glacier had shrunk down to less than seven percent of its original 5.8 square miles.

Ok has now transformed into a mass of sediment and rocks known as moraine. The glacier will be memorialized on a plaque that is inscribed with "a letter to the future" composed by famous author Andri Snaer Magnason. Memorial will be held to raise awareness of the death of a famous glacier

“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.

The glacier was the subject of the 2018 documentary “Not Ok,” produced by Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer of <a href="https://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a> in Houston. The film shares the story of Ok, as well as the likely fate of the rest of Iceland's glaciers.

"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.”

On August 18, memorial attendees will be led on an "Un-glacier tour" by the Rice University anthropologists to the site of the former Okjökull glacier in Borgarfjörður, Iceland. The plaque, which will be permanently placed at the site, notes that the current amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 415 parts per million.

“One of our Icelandic colleagues put it very wisely when he said, ‘Memorials are not for the dead; they are for the living,'” said Howe. “With this memorial, we want to underscore that it is up to us, the living, to collectively respond to the rapid loss of glaciers and the ongoing impacts of climate change."

--

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/Jan Miko

Memorial will be held to raise awareness of the death of a famous glacier

Memorial will be held to raise awareness of the death...

Temperatures control the timing of hibernation for monarch butterflies. Every year in the fall, millions of North American <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/monarch-butterflies-vast-distances/">monarch butterflies</a> travel thousands of miles to the same overwintering sites in central Mexico and along the coast of California. Once they reach their destination, the butterflies spend several months in a state of dormancy known as diapause, which helps them survive the winter months.

Scientists who study biological timing have been perplexed by how the end of diapause is signaled among the butterflies. A type of internal timer alerts the monarchs that it is time for spring migration weeks before the temperatures change or the days get longer.

Previous research focused on other organisms has shown that cold temperatures can influence the diapause-termination timer. Dr. André Green, a biologist at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>, theorized that diapause timing among monarchs is also sensitive to cold temperatures. After investigating at monarch overwintering sites in central California, Dr. Green confirmed this theory.  

"These results are particularly interesting because they address a counterintuitive result: How does cold temperature, which normally slows down an organism's metabolism and development, speed up diapause? This work is one of the first to provide insights into this question," said Dr. Green.

According to the researchers, the findings have important implications for North America's monarchs, whose populations have declined steadily for decades at overwintering sites as a result of climate change.

"Understanding how diapause dynamics are affected by environmental and anthropogenic factors at their overwintering sites may be critical for understanding North American monarch population decline and guiding future conservation efforts, a point highlighted by the record low number of monarchs recorded in the western North American monarch population in 2018," wrote Dr. Green and his co-author Marcus Kronforst.

For the investigation, the team captured female monarch butterflies at overwintering sites after they entered diapause. The live insects were then transported to a lab where they were placed in an environmental chamber. 

The butterflies were exposed to light and temperatures that were designed to mimic the November conditions of central California, which is where they had been hibernating. In both December and January, additional female monarchs were moved to the lab from the same region. 

Next, Dr. Green compared the reproductive maturity of the different groups by counting the number of eggs in each female. An abundance of mature eggs is an indication that the female has terminated diapause, while a scarcity indicates that she is still in a dormant state. Temperatures control the timing of hibernation for monarch butterflies

"The monarchs collected from the wild in December showed increased reproductive development compared to the monarchs that had been in the laboratory since November," said Dr. Green. "This indicated that an environmental condition in the wild - cold temperature - sped up the timer."

Dr. Green is currently working on a study of monarch migration at a site in U-M's Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1365294x">Molecular Ecology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: D. André Green

Temperatures control the timing of hibernation for monarch butterflies

Temperatures control the timing of hibernation for monarch butterflies. Every...

Balloons pose a serious threat to the environment. But what about sky lanterns?. First it was plastic straws. Now <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/balloons-environmental-impact/">balloons</a> are quickly gaining public ire due to their environmental impacts. Sky lanterns are a natural alternative to balloons, yet there has been little focus on their effect on the environment. 

Sky lanterns, also known as Chinese lanterns, are tiny paper hot air balloons. Similar to traditional latex balloons, the lanterns are often released into the sky during celebrations. 

Balloons can cause vast damage to an ecosystem once released. Not only do balloons contribute to our pollution crisis, but wild animals may mistake balloons for food and ingest the material. The balloon can then block the animal’s stomach resulting in a slow death by starvation. Turtles are especially susceptible to this as balloons floating in water look eerily similar to jellyfish. Wildlife also risk becoming entangled in the strings of the balloon. Balloons pose a serious threat to the environment. But what about sky lanterns?

Balloon releases were once an exciting public spectacle. Many other balloons are also accidentally released into the environment with the slip of a hand. Balloons pose a serious threat to the environment. But what about sky lanterns?

This balloon pollution quickly adds up. During a 2016 international beach clean-up event, enough balloons were <a href="https://oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/International-Coastal-Cleanup_2017-Report.pdf">collected</a> to lift a 2,200 pound walrus off the ground.

At least five states have laws cracking down on balloon releases, according to<a href="https://balloonsblow.org/laws-concerning-balloons/"> Balloons Blow</a>, a non-profit that educates the public on the destructive effects of balloons.

While opposition to balloon releases grows, the effects of releasing sky lanterns is often left out of public discourse. Although sky lanterns have a smaller impact on pollution than balloons, the lanterns pose a unique threat due to their fire hazard.

Sky lanterns propel off the ground through a small fire that is ignited at the bottom of the lantern. The lanterns therefore could damage ecosystems, wildlife and human health if the flame touches the ground and starts a fire.

In 2011, a sky lantern caused a<a href="http://www.mofd.org/announcements/sky-lanterns-fire-danger-falling-from-the-sky"> wildfire</a> that burned 800 acres in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

While floating in the sky, sky lanterns pose a risk to airplanes. There were<a href="https://seneddresearch.blog/2013/10/16/sky-lanterns/"> 40 incidents</a> between airplanes and sky lanterns from 2001 to 2012 in the United Kingdom. During this time, only 8 incidents were reported between airplanes and balloons.

Farmers have also expressed concerns that the lanterns threaten their livestock through ingestion and entanglement but this phenomenon has yet to be assessed in depth.

Despite the lack of attention on the environmental impacts of sky lanterns, their release has been regulated throughout the world, including in Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica and Germany. In the United States, at least 17 states have banned them.

The sky lantern industry has worked to address environmental concerns by replacing metal wires with non-flammable strings and using rice paper and bamboo. These sky lanterns are often advertised online as “eco-friendly”.

Not all environmentalists are convinced. Balloons Blows<a href="https://balloonsblow.org/flaming-litter/"> warns</a> that even “eco-friendly” sky lanterns are an unsafe alternative as they still present a fire hazard.

Releasing a fire into the environment certainly comes with its risk, yet the full scale of this problem is still up in the air.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/stepmorem

Balloons pose a serious threat to the environment

Balloons pose a serious threat to the environment. But what...

How thermal imaging could help us better prepare for climate change. The technology behind monitoring our own body temperature has advanced quite a lot over the last century. These days, a sensor placed against your skin can quickly read out your core temperature – whereas a few decades ago that might’ve involved a more… invasive method. And just as the technology to measure our body temperature has advanced, so has the technology behind measuring the temperature of our planet.

A new ultra-high-resolution thermal imaging technology has taken to the skies above Europe this summer, as scientists explore the potential of building a new satellite system that could record the temperature of Earth’s surface in intricate detail. The goal of this system would be to ultimately help increase the resilience of agriculture in a future that face increasing water scarcity and variability. However, scientists hope it will also help us gain more knowledge about the Earth’s climate system.

This new thermal imaging system is called HyTES and was built by <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>. Results from its rest flights above urban and rural areas of the UK and Italy will help provide test data to support the development of the proposed Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) mission. This would be one of six new missions being developed by the <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a> (ESA).

The proposed mission would include mapping both land-surface temperature and rates of evapotranspiration (water vapor emitted by plants as they grow) in incredible detail – delivering information at a resolution 400 times finer than what is currently captured from space-based thermal instruments. 

“In an urban context, this will help to understand and model thermal activity and ventilation in and around individual cities and inform planning and ‘climate-adaptive’ building design to deal with heatwaves such as those experience in western Europe during June,” explains Dr. Darren Ghent of the <a href="https://le.ac.uk/">University of Leicester</a> and member of the LSTM Mission Advisory Group. 

Data gathered from rural areas would potentially provide major benefits for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/food-production-environmental-impact/">food production</a> and sustainable water use. 

“At the expected resolution it will be possible to monitor the temperature of individual fields, enabling growers to tailor irrigation regimes to specific crops and locations,” says Ghent.

With the Earth’s population expected to hit nine billion by 2050, the pressure on our planet’s water resources is mounting. “Agriculture already accounts for the use of 70% of global freshwater. Increased water withdrawals to keep up with future food demands combined with water scarcity and variability issues due to the effects of climate change will be challenging,” says Ghent. “The field-level temperature information from LSTM will increase the efficiency of individual farms in a changed environment.”

As the intricacies of our climate become even more important to understand with the effects of climate change, access to detailed climate data is at a premium. The efforts behind projects such as this could help increase our resilience to climate change as we gain a better understanding of the planet on which we live.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA

How thermal imaging could help us better prepare for climate change

How thermal imaging could help us better prepare for climate...

Research has shown that climate change will make <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/storm-flooding-triple-north-america/">weather extremes more common</a> in the future. 

120 years of data have now confirmed this theory, proving that climate change is directly linked to the increased severity and frequency of storms and floods in North Carolina.  

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina Chapel Hill</a> analyzed records of rainfall, and tropical cyclones kept since 1898 for North Carolina’s coastal storms. 

The data shows that major precipitation events have increased and that six out the seven highest rainfall events on record have occurred in the last 20 years. 

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“North Carolina has one of the highest impact zones of tropical cyclones in the world, and we have these carefully kept records that shows us that the last 20 years of precipitation events have been off the charts,” said Hans Paerl, the lead author of the study. 

[caption id="attachment_1875559" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/north-carolina.png"><img class="wp-image-1875559" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/north-carolina.png" alt="" width="650" height="208" /></a> Image Credit: Paerl, Hall, Hounshell, Luettich, Rossignol, Osburn and Bales, 2019[/caption]

The trending pattern becomes even more evident when you factor in hurricanes Floyd, Mathew, and Florence, all of which occurred in the last 20 years and which brought about massive flooding. 

“The price we’re paying is that we’re having to cope with increasing levels of catastrophic flooding,” Paerl said. “Coastal watersheds are having to absorb more rain. Let’s go back to Hurricane Floyd in 1999, which flooded half of the coastal plain of North Carolina. Then, we had Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Just recently we had Hurricane Florence in 2018. These events are causing a huge amount of human suffering, economic, and ecological damage.”

Rainfall has increased since the 1990s, but precipitation from tropical cyclones has increased over the past 120 years. 

As significant rainfall events and storms become more frequent, it’s difficult for coastal communities to rebuild and prepare for future storms. The damage from hurricanes and tropical storms can devastate communities, displace residents, and take years to repair. 

Flooded homes and streets aren’t the only major cause for concern in the study. More rain means higher riverways, more soil erosion, and increases in nutrient runoff into watersheds. 

The study helps illustrate how precipitation events and their increased frequency are connected to climate change. 

However, as North Carolina’s population is growing along with the global population, emissions will follow suit and continue to rise, which will increase global temperatures. 

“We are in part responsible for what’s going on in the context of fossil fuel combustion emissions that are leading to global warming,” said Paerl. “The ocean is a huge reservoir that is absorbing heat and seeing more evaporation. With more evaporation comes more rainfall.”

--

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>

Main Image Credit: Jeremy Warner/Shutterstock

Climate change has driven increases in precipitation, flooding in North Carolina

Research has shown that climate change will make weather extremes...

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"

[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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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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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