<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grapevines-could-offer-a-breakthrough-alternative-to-plastic-packaging/">Plastic</a> bags are everywhere, and too many slip into rivers and onto beaches. A new analysis finds that policies that either charge a small fee per bag or prohibit them outright cut the share of bags found during shoreline cleanups by 25 to 47 percent.



The study combed through hundreds of city, county, and state rules passed between 2017 and 2023. It matched those policies to more than 45,000 volunteer cleanups across the United States to see what actually changed on the ground.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-ran-the-study">Who ran the study</h2>



The research was coauthored by <a href="https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/departments/smsp/faculty/kimberly-oremus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kimberly L. Oremus</a> of the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science and Policy (<a href="https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/departments/smsp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UDEL</a>). 



Oremus and her collaborator set out to measure litter, not just shopping behavior, so the results speak to what ends up in nature.



The team relied on citizen science, meaning trained volunteers recorded what they collected during beach, river, and lake cleanups. 



They drew on <a href="https://www.coastalcleanupdata.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TIDES</a>, a public database that stores those counts in one place so researchers can analyze patterns across time and place.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-plastic-bag-policies">Studying plastic bag policies</h2>



To isolate the effect of bag policies, the authors used a Difference-in-Differences (<a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/population-health-methods/difference-difference-estimation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DiD</a>) approach that compares places with and without new laws over the same period. 



That design helps rule out unrelated trends that affect everyone, such as national shifts in shopping or packaging.



The headline result is simple. In communities with full bans or fees, the share of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-from-plastic-bottles-linked-to-high-blood-pressure-and-heart-problems/">plastic</a> bags in the litter mix fell relative to similar places without policies, and the decline grew in the years after a law took effect.



State level rules tended to be more reliable in the data than city or county policies. Effects looked similar along coasts and rivers, with hints of larger gains along lakes where winds and currents spread litter differently.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-policy-fees-vs-bans">Plastic policy: Fees vs. bans</h2>



Fees change the default at every checkout and discourage taking a bag when you do not need one, which reduces both thin and thicker bag use.



Other <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-england/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-charge-data-for-england-2024-to-2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> points in the same direction outside the United States. England reports an almost 98 percent drop in single use carrier bags at major retailers since its charge began.



Policies that only restrict thin bags often allow thicker <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/agricultural-soil-is-now-the-worlds-biggest-plastic-dumping-ground/">plastic</a> labeled as reusable. 



Those partial bans showed the smallest and least precise effects in the analysis, which is consistent with shoppers substituting one kind of plastic for another.



Some states also pass preemption <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/state-plastic-bag-legislation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">laws</a> that block cities and counties from regulating bags at all. When local governments cannot act, the study’s data suggest statewide policies become especially important.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wildlife-and-entanglement">Wildlife and entanglement</h2>



The cleanup records include notes on animals found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-found-in-99-percent-sea-turtles-organ-tissue-reproductive-system/">entangled in debris</a>. 



In areas with bag policies, the presence of entangled animals dropped by roughly 30 to 37 percent, although the authors caution that the estimates are imprecise and more data are needed.



That finding aligns with what we know about <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">single-use-plastics</a>. Thin bags linger in water and along shorelines, where they can snag, smother, or be eaten by turtles, birds, and fish.



Many studies track what happens at store checkouts, but fewer track what ends up outdoors. Shoreline cleanups offer a window into that last step in the chain from purchase to pollution.



Across the study period, the share of bags among collected items rose overall, but it rose less where bag laws existed. That pattern is exactly what you want to see if policies are slowing the flow of litter into the environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-plastic-policy-steps">Global plastic policy steps</h2>



A small, universal fee is a simple tool that nudges behavior without banning choices. Full bans can work too, and the analysis shows both approaches reduce the share of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glass-bottles-contain-more-microplastics-than-plastic-containers/">plastic</a> bags found during cleanups.



The mix of policies should match local conditions. In places with more bag litter to begin with, impacts were largest, so targeting high problem areas with fast action can deliver quick gains.



Plastic bag rules are only one part of the picture. Negotiators from 175 countries are working toward a plastics treaty under <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNEP</a> that could standardize action on a wider set of products and chemicals.



The study notes that bottles, caps, and other items did not decline when bag policies passed. That is a signal that targeted rules for other single use products would be needed to curb overall litter.



Adopt a modest fee or a full ban that applies across retail and restaurant settings, and keep the text simple so it is easy to enforce. Pair the policy with clear signs at checkout and with retailer reporting that tracks compliance.



Measure results in the same way the researchers did. Recruit volunteers, log items in TIDES, and watch how the litter mix changes year over year so the policy can be adjusted as needed.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp9274" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Studies confirm that a small tax definitely helps curb plastic pollution

Plastic bags are everywhere, and too many slip into rivers and onto beaches. A new analysis finds that policies that either charge a small fee per bag or prohibit them outright cut the share of bags found during shoreline cleanups by 25 to 47 percent. The study combed through hundreds of city, county, and state rules passed between 2017 and 2023. It matched those policies to more than 45,000 volunteer cleanups across the United States to see what actually changed on the ground. Who ran the study...

Arctic wildfires are emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide. As we reported, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unprecedented-wildfires-arctic/">‘unprecedented’ summer wildfires</a> are continuing to burn through the Arctic. More than 100 fires have been reported in the area since June, which was the hottest <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/june-2019-was-hottest-on-record-for-globe">month on record for the globe</a>. 

Satellite images from the <a href="https://www.copernicus.eu/en">Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service</a> (part of the Earth Observation program of the European Commission) show great billowing clouds of smoke traveling across remote regions of Greenland. 

But scientists are now turning their attention to the massive amounts of carbon being released in the process. 

So far, the fires have released more carbon -- 121 megatons -- in 2019 than in any of the 20 years since satellite record-keeping began in the Arctic. Arctic wildfires are emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide

The Arctic has emitted more carbon this year than Belgium’s annual carbon output. 

However, the Arctic's wildfire season, which can run to the end of August, is not yet over and more CO2 could be emitted over the coming weeks. 

This rapid release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will ramp up warming and feed into dangerous climate change feedback loops. 

What is unusual about the Arctic’s 2019 wildfire season is the duration of the fires themselves. In the past, fires usually lasted a few days, but some of the wildfires this year have been burning for over a month. 

Because the fires are burning up the Arctic’s dry peatland, there’s no telling how long the blazes will last or how far they will spread. So far fires have been reported in Russia, Alaska, and Greenland. 

“Boreal Alaska is having a severe fire year, and my guess is that fires will start affecting western Canada,” Merritt Turetsky at the <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/">University of Guelph </a>told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211013-huge-arctic-fires-have-now-emitted-a-record-breaking-amount-of-co2/?utm_medium=NLC&amp;utm_source=NSNS&amp;utm_campaign=2019-0726-GLOBAL-NSDAY&amp;utm_content=NSDAY">New Scientist</a>. 

With warmer than average temperatures, the permafrost will continue to thaw and provide more tinder for potential fires. Many of the Arctic’s fires likely started due to a lightning strike. 

“If the permafrost is melting and there’s more peat and fuel available, it’s dry enough, and there’s lightning, sure you would expect to see something [again],” Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, explained to New Scientist. 

Longer blazes and more fires mean more carbon emissions, which pose an immediate risk to human health in areas like Alaska, where air quality is low. 

A trending pattern in the Arctic is being established, and future wildfires are only projected to get worse. 

“The Arctic has historically experienced fire, and the area in Russia that is burning does have a history of fire,” said Turetsky. “But these Arctic fires are expected to occur more severely and more frequently in the future, and the CO2 measurements are a demonstration of how this will influence regional and potentially global 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: NASA Earth Observatory

Arctic wildfires are emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide

Arctic wildfires are emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide. As...

Tiny bacteria could be the key to protecting coral reefs from climate change. The microorganisms may boost coral resilience, allowing the delicate reefs to adapt to warmer temperatures and environmental pollution.

As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protect-coral-reefs-climate-change/">scientists brainstorm</a> the best way to preserve endangered coral reefs, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a> set out to study how coral might be saved from predicted rising global temperatures. Led by Dr. Christian Voolstra, the scientists investigated two coral species that have different relationships with bacteria. 

Acropora hemprichii may associate with various types of bacteria, while Pocillopora verrucosa consistently harbors only certain microorganisms. The team studied the coral resilience of the two species at various sites in the Red Sea – a region greatly affected by human activity – over 21 months.

To ensure the test corals weren’t affected by genetic variations, the team used coral fragments from the same colonies – one for each species – for the various tests.

“We could show that some corals respond flexibly to changing environmental conditions by associating themselves with certain bacteria, while other corals looked the same everywhere," Voolstra said in a press release about the research.

The researchers found that coral resilience may rely on being able to form relationships flexibly with bacteria. Generalist coral species like A. hemprichii adapt better to changing water temperatures and pollution because they can associate with new and different bacteria without going through an evolutionary process to develop the new relationship. 

Species like P. verrucosa, on the other hand, seem to suffer when their preferred bacteria is not available. But that doesn’t mean they can’t adapt.

"We must remember that the species we examined are those that have survived the tremendous changes of the past decade – thus, both types of corals harbor successful strategies," Voolstra said.

Coral resilience is increasingly important as mass bleaching of reefs <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-bleaching-altering-fish-communities/">affects the fish species</a> that depend on them.

Figuring out how to boost coral resilience in addition to recovering and replacing bleached coral could be key to protecting marine species.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10969-5">Nature Communications</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Anna Roik, <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a>

Paid for by Earth.com.

Bacteria boost coral resilience in warming oceans

Tiny bacteria could be the key to protecting coral reefs...

A scorching European heat wave knocked down <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/europe-heat-wave-by-the-numbers-record-breaking-temperatures-blasted-france-belgium-germany-netherlands-britain/70008926">record after record</a> this past week. Temperatures rose to nearly 110 in Paris, and the UK had to <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/trains-uk-heatwave-4739885-Jul2019/">slow its trains</a> to avoid causing tracks to buckle in the heat. All-time heat records were set in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scotland, and possibly England as well. 

The heat isn’t over yet – and it’s moving toward Greenland’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenlands-ice-sea-levels/">already struggling ice sheet</a>. That could make the thinning ice melt faster, bringing it close to – or even lower than – the record low set seven years ago in 2012. 

It’s also expected to affect sea ice in the Arctic, according to the <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en">U.N. World Meteorological Organization</a>. The heat may already be linked to an <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/unprecedented-wildfires-arctic">unprecedented number of Arctic wildfires</a>.

The European heat wave has been driven by warm air circulating north from Spain and North Africa, the WMO said.

This month’s heat has followed the hottest June on record, according to the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. Both the land and the sea temperature averages globally were the highest ever recorded, NOAA reported.

 “Such intense and widespread heat waves carry the signature of man-made climate change. This is consistent with the scientific finding showing evidence of more frequent, drawn out and intense heat events as greenhouse gas concentrations lead to a rise in global temperatures,” said Johannes Cullmann, director of the WMO Climate and Water Department.

Greenland’s ice sheet contains more frozen freshwater than anywhere else in the world except for Antarctica. Ice covers about 80% of Greenland’s surface. As that ice melts, it may be contributing to as much as 10% of the Earth’s sea level rise in recent years, researchers said.

“WMO expects that 2019 will be in the five top warmest years on record, and that 2015-2019 is to be the warmest of any equivalent five-year period on record,” Cullmann said in a statement on the WMO website.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Martin Helgemeir, <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/">Shutterstock.com</a>

Paid for by Earth.com.

Record-shattering European heat wave aims for Greenland ice

A scorching European heat wave knocked down record after record...

Some of the biggest names in the automotive industry have been privately plotting the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles with the <a href="http://ww2.arb.ca.gov/homepage">California Air Resources Board</a> (CARB). The negotiations may counteract efforts by the Trump administration to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/trump-freeze-fuel-efficiency-standards/">freeze vehicle emissions</a> and gas mileage standards. 

According to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a>, the agreement between Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW of North America, and the state of California may ultimately result in the manufacturing of vehicles that have an average fuel efficiency of 50 miles per gallon within the next five years.

In 2012, the Obama administration established an average fuel economy standard of 51 miles per gallon by 2026. However, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced plans to freeze these standards at 37 miles per gallon in the same time frame.

Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of CARB, hopes that the Trump administration will decide to join the new deal, which she said gives automakers flexibility in meeting emissions goals without "massive backsliding."

“What we have here is a statement of principles intended to reach out to the federal government to move them off the track that they seem to be on and onto a more constructive track,” said Nichols.

The four automakers said in a joint statement that the decision to strike a deal with California was driven by a need for predictability, lower compliance costs, affordable vehicles for customers, and also by the desire to be good environmental stewards.

"These terms will provide our companies much-needed regulatory certainty by allowing us to meet both federal and state requirements with a single national fleet, avoiding a patchwork of regulations while continuing to ensure meaningful greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” said the auto companies, which represent about 30 percent of the American market. 

The automakers have agreed to manufacture fleets that average nearly 50 miles per gallon over the next six years. The environmental benefits of these negotiations will grow substantially if more automakers choose to make the same commitment. 

For its part of the deal, California will certify vehicles from the four companies and will grant them flexibility in meeting each year’s emissions goal. The automakers pledged to improve their fleet’s average fuel efficiency by 3.7 percent a year, which is only slightly less than the standards set under former President Obama.

--

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/TierneyMJ

California makes deal with automakers to improve fuel efficiency standards

Some of the biggest names in the automotive industry have...

Yasuní National Park in Ecuador is part of a legendary region of the Amazon. It is home to some of the reputedly fiercest indigenous people in the far western <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/destroyed-tropical-forests-restored/">Amazon rainforest</a>, the Huaoroni. First contact with these people ended typically in violent death to the outsider, sending a clear message for a desire of solitude.

Missionaries that arrived in an airplane in the 1950s are a typical example. Soon after arrival, the missionaries were speared to death. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of hardship for the Huaoroni living in the area.

Over time, missionaries brought crippling European disease and slandered the indigenous culture, introducing clothes and customs not well adapted to the local environment. Some Huaoroni even suffered from polio. 

The Huaoroni also split into two groups – those who were influenced by the missionaries and became more westernized and those who fled deeper into the jungle. To this day, some of the Huaoroni live deep in Yasuní, uncontacted by outsiders. This leaves the Huaoroni contacted by missionaries and subsequent outsiders divided from their relatives and culturally impoverished.  

The creeping cultural influence of missionaries led to the end of cycles of violent revenge killings among the Huaoroni but it also allowed them to be taken advantage of by scrupulous outsiders. Without the imminent threat of death by the hands of the Huaoroni, Yasuní has slowly become more and more visited by outsiders. 

I visited the National Park myself as part of a tropical field biology course, passing by Huaoroni men with fishing spears boarding a bus and traveling down river past a huddle of huts that makes up a Huaoroni village. What most visitors view of Yasuní is a very small piece of a much larger park. But all of Yasuní represents the remaining territory that the Huaoroni must now share with tourists and other outsiders, and is still only about a third of their previous territory. 

From the beginning of contact, the Huaoroni have had a complicated relationship with the outside world, highlighted by differing views of land ownership and a changed cultural identity. Outsiders wanting to cash in on resources found on traditional Huaoroni land or control it complicate that relationship and challenge notions of indigenous territorial sovereignty.

Yasuní was made an Ecuadorian National Park in 1979, becoming Ecuador’s largest mainland national park (the Galapagos are part of Ecuador as well). This marked the government’s official control of the region as opposed to a land traditionally controlled by the Huaoroni. The 982,000 hectare park was declared a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve in the same year. Bordering Yasuní is a Huaoroni Reserve as well. 

Despite the protection afforded a national park and International Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador opened Yasuní to oil drilling in 2016. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/26/oil-drilling-underway-beneath-ecuadors-yasuni-national-park">The Guardian</a> reports that oil extraction began removing 23,000 barrels a day and the government reported little disturbance to the park. Despite the government’s comforting words, environmentalists and the Huaoroni have been less than pleased about drilling in Yasuní. 

Initially, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa offered the chance to leave oil in the ground in Yasuní for a bribe. The president agreed to leave the area alone for a payment of $3.6 billion, after 6 years of waiting for the ransom, Ecuador had received only $200 million before opening the park to drilling. The government has been criticized by environmental groups for the move but defends the action, claiming that modern technology allow for drilling with little negative impact on the environment. These claims have been extremely hard to verify as the government has allowed no independent oversight of drilling in Yasuní at all. 

“The government has not allowed any independent monitoring by scientists, journalists, or civil society. The well site is militarised, and aerial flyovers and images are prohibited,” Kevin Koenig, Ecuador program director of Amazon Watch, told <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/10/exclusive-new-satellite-images-show-ecuador-drilling-next-to-yasunis-itt/">Mongabay</a>.

The consequences are likely to be much larger than the Ecuadorian government has been willing to acknowledge. Roads will leave an ecological impact for long periods of time, and the potential for water pollution could be catastrophic. The project also opens the doors to hundreds of workers that could come into violent conflict with the Huaoroni. Critics claim that oil field workers often return to areas now with already made roads as hunters, beginning the colonization of the area. Some claim that much of this potential destruction could have been prevented by flying to each oil well site by helicopter instead of building roads. 

Since the initial foray into Yasuní, the threat from oil exploitation has only grown. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/oil-company-breaks-agreement-builds-big-roads-in-yasuni-rainforest/">Mongabay</a> reported in 2014 that oil company Petroamazonas had initially made an agreement with the Ecuadorian government to not make a road into a remote part of Yasuní called Block 31. Unfortunately, satellite photos confirmed that the company ignored the government agreement, building roads anyway. 

Despite not honoring the agreement, Petroamazonas has been granted more drilling rights in Yasuní. The government refusing independent oversight and overlooking rule breaking in one of Ecuador’s most remote and biodiverse regions is disturbing, especially so when indigenous people are concerned. Despite a history of drilling in Yasuní that already deeply concerns indigenous advocates and environmentalists, Ecuador is going even further in allowing drilling. 

Now, block 43, the last block in the most contentious areas for drilling within Yasuní has been opened to drilling, heralding drilling in the last part of the park <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/heart-of-ecuadors-yasuni-home-to-uncontacted-tribes-opens-for-oil-drilling/">Mongabay</a> reports. Energy minister, Carlos Perez delayed the decision to open the area to drilling last year when environmentalists and Indigenous leaders occupied his office in protest. But in the end, drilling in the contentious area, home to uncontacted Huaoroni that have been in voluntary isolation, was approved with a small reduction of the oil extraction area. 

If history is any sort of guide, oil extraction in the region will continue unabated until it’s all gone and the indigenous population are left sharing poisoned water with what’s left of the wildlife. Yasuní is still a paradise for the most, part but greed and short sightedness can destroy the irreplaceable very quickly.        

--

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/Dr Morley Read

The last part of Yasuní, home to uncontacted tribes, now open for drilling

Yasuní National Park in Ecuador is part of a legendary...

The Paris Climate Agreement was adopted in 2015 to help combat climate change, but a new study shows that some of the inconsistent pledges that were included are getting in the way of meaningful emissions reductions. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uab.cat/en/">Autonomous University of Barcelona </a>categorized the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to atmospheric greenhouse emissions of the Paris Climate Agreement to assess how well countries are meeting their pledges.  

Inconsistency and a lack of transparency have made some of the best efforts fall short. We’re still a long way off from enacting meaningful climate change policies that will limit warming to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2030-limit-climate-change-warming/">1.5 degrees Celsius</a>. 

The study findings were published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. 

“The Paris Climate Agreement was a step in the right direction for international climate policy. But in its current form, it is at best inadequate and at worst grossly ineffective,” said Lewi King, the lead author of the study.

The Paris Climate Agreement pledges don’t stick to a single format, and as such, it can be challenging comparing and evaluating them. 

The researchers developed a system to analyze different NDCs and organized them into four categories. 

“Our normalisation of the pledges effectively converts them all to the absolute emission reduction target format, but indicating actual emission change - whether positive or negative - compared with a consistent base year,” said King. 

The categories were “absolute emission reduction targets,” “business as usual,” “emission intensity reductions,” and NDCs that had no greenhouse gas emission targets. 

Absolute emission reduction targets were pledges that detailed explicit emission reductions to be met by a target year. 

With business as usual plans, a country pledged to reduce emissions relative to business as usual scenario. However, because a business as usual scenario is defined differently by each country, these pledges are widely inconsistent. 

Emission intensity reduction pledges aimed to reduce emission intensity per GDP. Absolute emission reduction targets were found to be the most effective, according to the researchers. 

“We found that authentic absolute reduction pledges had the highest ambition in terms of tangible emissions reduction,” said King. “By contrast, pledges in the other three categories tend to produce low ambitions with significant emissions increases of 29-53 per cent at a global level.” 

According to King, we as a society have a right to understand and compare NDCs. 

The researchers suggest that the <a href="https://unfccc.int/">United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s </a><a href="http://www.task-ghg.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/04/Session-1-UNFCCC-guidelines-Romano.pdf">principles of transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability, and completeness</a> (TACCC) be extended to all NDCs. 

“This would be easy to achieve, by having countries convert their pledges into clear emission targets relative to the most recent available base year, inclusive of all significant gases and sectors,” said King. 

--

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/r.classen

Inconsistent Paris Agreement pledges have hindered real progress, study finds

The Paris Climate Agreement was adopted in 2015 to help...

It’s long been a mystery to scientists exactly how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/meteorites-life-outside-earth/">meteorites</a> that land on Earth form their shapes. While most of these “shooting stars” that arrive on our planet are randomly shaped, many wind up being peculiarly cone-shaped. 

Leif Ristroph, an assistant professor in NYU's <a href="https://cims.nyu.edu/">Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences</a>, explains: “The shapes of meteorites are not as they are in space, since they are actually melted, eroded, and reshaped by atmospheric flight. While most meteorites are randomly shaped ‘blobs,’ surprisingly many– some say about 25 percent – are ‘oriented meteorites,’ and complete samples of these look almost like perfect cones.”

In order to explore how these cone shapes occur, Ristroph led a study that replicated meteoroids traveling through outer space. This was done by attaching clay objects to a rod, playing the part of the meteorites as they are moved through water. This method resulted in the clay pieces being carved into cones of the same angularity as the conical meteorites. 

[caption id="attachment_1875664" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/meteorite-copy.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875664" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/meteorite-copy.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="758" /></a> Cone-shaped meteorite, Image Credit: NYU's Applied Mathematics Laboratory[/caption]

However, the research team knew that this experiment didn’t exactly replicate the conditions a real meteoroid experiences in outer space. Unlike the clay objects, meteoroids are not held in a static position – they can freely rotate and spin in the vastness of space. Knowing this, they began to wonder how meteorites were able to keep a fixed orientation during their journey to reach our planet.

To explore these questions, the team analyzed how different cone shapes fell through water. Their results showed that narrow cones flip over, while broad cones tended to flutter. But right in between narrow and broad, there were “just right” cones that flew straight. “Amazingly, these ‘Goldilocks’ cones of the ‘just right’ angles exactly match the shapes of eroded clay resulting from our experiments and of actual conical meteorites,” says Ristroph.

The findings of this study shed light on these visiting rocks, as well as provide more insight into the workings of the vast emptiness surrounding our own little rock.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: NYU's Applied Mathematics Laboratory

What’s behind the bizarre shape of certain meteorites?

It’s long been a mystery to scientists exactly how 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...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHHxOej4QfE
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Researchers found a correlation between Alzheimer's disease and traffic pollution.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-invisible-threat-in-urban-air">Invisible threat in urban air</h2>



City dwellers face an unseen danger with every breath. New findings from Emory University researchers suggest that fine particulate matter from <a href="http://earth.com/news/traffic-related-air-pollution-might-increase-alzheimers-risk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vehicle emissions may significantly elevate the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease</a>. The study examined brain tissue samples from 224 individuals who had confirmed diagnoses and volunteered their brains for scientific research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disturbing-connections-emerge">Disturbing connections emerge</h2>



Scientists analyzed neuritic plaques — protein clusters that characterize Alzheimer's — while mapping each participant's exposure to PM2.5 particles based on residential location and surrounding traffic density. The correlation proved more alarming than anticipated. Individuals experiencing higher pollution exposure showed nearly double the likelihood of elevated plaque accumulation in brain tissue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-timing-matters">Timing matters</h2>



The research team discovered that pollution exposure during the final year before death demonstrated the strongest association with brain changes. This timeline suggests relatively rapid impacts from environmental toxins on neural health. The connection remained robust even after accounting for various demographic and health factors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetic-vulnerability-patterns">Genetic vulnerability patterns</h2>



Perhaps most concerning, people lacking the APOE gene—which naturally predisposes individuals to Alzheimer's — exhibited more than twice the susceptibility to pollution-related brain damage. Study author Dr. Anke Huels noted this indicates environmental elements like air contamination could trigger the disease in cases where hereditary factors don't explain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-public-health-implications">Public health implications</h2>



These findings, published in <a href="https://www.neurology.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neurology</a>, underscore the critical importance of air quality regulations in urban planning. The research suggests that implementing stricter emission controls and promoting alternative transportation could serve as powerful tools in Alzheimer's prevention.



As cities worldwide grapple with growing traffic congestion and aging populations, this study highlights an urgent need for comprehensive approaches to environmental health that protect both our lungs and our minds.



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Traffic fumes may trigger Alzheimer's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHHxOej4QfE Researchers found a correlation between Alzheimer's disease and traffic...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-astrobiology">Implications for astrobiology</h2>



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DuSr87SHY
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">57 million-year ice age mystery solved by Australian scientists.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-earth-became-a-frozen-wasteland">When Earth became a frozen wasteland</h2>



Imagine Earth as a giant snowball, frozen solid from the North Pole to the equator. This wasn't the plot of a science fiction movie – it was our planet's reality 700 million years ago during an extreme ice age that has puzzled scientists for decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-discovery">The discovery</h2>



Australian researchers from the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Sydney</a> have finally cracked one of geology's greatest mysteries: what caused the Sturtian glaciation and why it persisted for an unprecedented 57 million years. This period occurred long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, when no complex plants or multicellular animals existed.



Dr. Adriana Dutkiewicz, the study's lead author, describes a world completely unlike today's climate. "Imagine the Earth almost completely frozen over," she explained. "The planet was blanketed in ice from poles to equator, and temperatures plunged."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-combination-of-climate-factors">The combination of climate factors</h2>



The research team discovered that this massive freeze resulted from a "double whammy" of geological events. First, plate tectonic activity reduced volcanic carbon dioxide emissions to historically low levels. Volcanic activity typically releases CO2 into the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect that keeps Earth warm.



Simultaneously, weathering of volcanic rocks in what is now Canada actively absorbed atmospheric CO2, further reducing greenhouse gas concentrations. When atmospheric carbon dioxide levels dropped below 200 parts per million – less than half of today's levels – glaciation engulfed the entire planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-climate-implications">Modern climate implications</h2>



Published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geology</a>, this research provides crucial insights into Earth's climate system. While geological climate changes occur over millions of years, the study emphasizes that human-induced climate change is happening at a pace ten times faster than previously observed natural changes, highlighting the urgent need to understand our planet's delicate climate balance.



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What caused the planet's longest ice age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DuSr87SHY 57 million-year ice age mystery solved by Australian scientists....

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXGGiynIjs
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Greenland is not sinking. In fact, it is the opposite.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-contrasting-climate-response">A contrasting climate response</h2>



Most coastal towns are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sinking-land-will-intensify-the-effects-of-rising-sea-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preparing for higher sea levels</a>, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-no-longer-has-to-worry-about-rising-sea-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greenland presents</a> a different scenario during climate change. The ground there is rising at a remarkable rate. Over the past decade, some areas have lifted about 20 centimeters, which translates to roughly 2 meters per century. This rate significantly exceeds current projections for sea level rise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-geological-rebound-process-through-climate-change">Geological rebound process through climate change</h2>



The mechanism behind this phenomenon is straightforward. As the ice sheet melts, the immense weight is removed from the bedrock, causing the land to rebound upward. This process resembles the way compressed material springs back when pressure is released.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-monitoring-networks">Scientific monitoring networks</h2>



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.dtu.dk/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Technical University of Denmark</a> are documenting this uplift using the GNET network, consisting of 61 GPS stations positioned around Greenland's coast. These sensors can detect movement with millimeter precision, providing detailed measurements of the ongoing changes.



The data reveal that current uplift rates exceed the gradual rebound occurring since the last ice age ended approximately 12,000 years ago. This acceleration corresponds directly with increased ice sheet melting rates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coastal-transformation">Coastal Transformation</h2>



This uplift is actively reshaping Greenland's coastline. New islands and rocky formations, called "skerries," are emerging as previously submerged land surfaces rise above the water level. This represents a notable contrast to global concerns about rising seas.



The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, demonstrates the varied regional impacts of climate change. While many locations face rising water levels, Greenland's bedrock is literally rising above the surrounding seas.



The full study was recently published in <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL104851" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



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Greenland's ground rises while coasts worldwide face higher seas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXGGiynIjs Greenland is not sinking. In fact, it is the...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSM3EVeGHJU
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Companies like MindStudio help companies train their employees to implement the latest AI Agent building platform.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-agent-training-transforms-the-workplace-fear-factor-into-a-competitive-advantage">AI agent training transforms the workplace 'fear factor' into a competitive advantage</h2>



Organizations that offer comprehensive artificial intelligence training to their workers find remarkable value that extends well beyond basic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mind-wandering-might-be-more-productive-than-you-think/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">productivity improvements</a>. Emerging research demonstrates that carefully crafted AI training programs <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-does-not-replace-human-creativity-but-enhances-it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enhance</a> corporate performance, lower operational costs, and dramatically improve employee psychological well-being by turning workplace uncertainty into professional empowerment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-addressing-the-widespread-ai-anxiety-crisis-among-us">Addressing the widespread 'AI anxiety' crisis among us</h2>



A staggering 53% of employees expressed concern that the use of AI tools to automate work tasks could make them appear disposable to their employers, according to <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft</a>'s 2024 workplace survey. Such pervasive worry about being substituted by machines has caused what researchers have termed "AI technostress" – a psychological state that can result in occupational burnout and poorer mental well-being.



Data published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/palcomms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a> showed that belief in AI learning ability was a moderator in the link between technology adoption and work pressure, and higher confidence significantly lowered negative psychological responses. Workers provided ample training to become competent with AI software have significantly lower stress.



Companies like <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MindStudio</a> have platforms for building what are known as "AI Agents". In essence, AI Agents are simply tools that employees can build for themselves or their teams quickly and inexpensively. MindStudio will even train entire companies, from the CEO on down, at no cost. By letting MindStudio empower employees, companies avoid hiring more IT staff, buying more software, and implementing solutions to problems that do not exist.



MindStudio even has partners locally for companies, like <a href="http://www.dominnus.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dominnus</a> with offices in the Carolinas, California, and Denver, to help build AI Agents and support employees as they become resident AI experts for their organization. The training provided by MindStudio is applicable across other AI Agent building platforms as well.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-productivity-through-focused-learning">Revolutionary productivity through focused learning</h2>



Organizations that implement large-scale AI training programs achieve dramatic outcomes. Employees performed tasks significantly better when they utilized AI support compared to when they didn't, according to <a href="https://www.nngroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nielsen Norman Group</a> research findings. Their study documented productivity increases of 66% for a variety of professional tasks.



Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research finds workers record 33% higher productivity in time working with generative AI tools. The benefit is equivalent to 5.4% of work time savings for AI users – around 2.2 hours per week for full-time workers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-psychological-well-being-benefits-through-ai-competence">Psychological well-being benefits through AI competence</h2>



The emotional transformation when employees are provided with proper technology training is a fundamental transformation from fear to professional confidence. A survey of 600 employees across industries, carried out by ScienceDirect, proved that AI capabilities strengthen work environment commitment and improve job satisfaction.



A <a href="https://www.lut.fi/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LUT University</a> study discovered that AI adoption has no direct effect on workers' well-being but does so indirectly through working conditions like task optimization and safety protocols. Strategically deployed AI that involves correct training can actually increase workplace mental well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-replacement-anxiety-to-partnership-confidence">From 'replacement anxiety' to 'partnership confidence'</h2>



Although 35% of those interviewed in recent McKinsey studies were concerned about workforce displacement, firms with large-scale training initiatives witness such fears dissipate quickly. The World Economic Forum found that two out of three respondents believe AI competencies will enhance their career prospects and job marketability.



This shift from fear to trust has measurable implications for job satisfaction. Applied Sciences research indicates AI can create tailored wellness programs based on individual employee requirements.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-financial-benefits-of-increased-retention">Financial benefits of increased retention</h2>



The mental health advantages of AI learning have a direct impact on organizational bottom lines in the form of a positive feedback cycle with high retention of employees. Recent ROI research validates that artificial intelligence learning has a beneficial impact on employee turnover and satisfaction levels.



PriceWaterhouseCoopers' research documents 20% to 30% improvements in productivity, market speed, and revenue in organizations that attempt systematic AI adoption through comprehensive training.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-environmental-advantages-of-ai-enabled-teams">Environmental advantages of AI-enabled teams</h2>



AI training has unforeseen environmental benefits as it makes the work environment more efficient. According to a study in Scientific Reports, the carbon footprint in writing and illustrating work is significantly lower when AI performs it compared to humans. AI software produces 130 to 1,500 times less CO2 equivalent per page of text created than human authors.



In addition, AI-driven remote work functionality significantly reduces environmental impact. Research by Cornell University and Microsoft indicates that remote workers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 54% by not commuting daily to offices. Hybrid workers working remotely two to four days a week can reduce their carbon footprint by 11% to 29%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cumulative-organizational-advantages">Cumulative organizational advantages</h2>



The compounding gains of better mental well-being, reduced turnover, increased productivity, and environmental benefits flow to enterprises from the pairing. McKinsey analysis estimates the long-term AI potential at $4.4 trillion in incremental productivity growth opportunity from business use cases.



As of now, 75% of knowledge workers globally utilize generative AI, mirroring widespread adoption patterns. Organizations that provide organized training and assistance see the most favorable results in productivity, worker satisfaction, and ecological sustainability.



The research overwhelmingly indicates that companies that invest in proper AI education, like that offered through <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MindStudio</a>, establish win-win scenarios where employees are both more empowered and less stressed, and companies enjoy the gains of increased productivity, reduced turnover, and improved mental health outcomes throughout their workforce.



For more on MindStudio's free AI training for companies, visit the website's of MindStudio and Dominnus from the links below.



The research was published across a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including <a href="https://www.nature.com/palcomms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a>, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence</a>, and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci">Applied Sciences</a>.



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MindStudio.AI: <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.mindstudio.ai</a>



Dominnus: <a href="https://www.dominnus.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.dominnus.com</a>

AI agent training boosts mental health and profits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSM3EVeGHJU Companies like MindStudio help companies train their employees to...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDXqTGEmi4
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-natural-solution-to-disease-through-crop-modification">A natural solution to disease through crop modification.</h2>



The agricultural industry stands at a crossroads between productivity and environmental responsibility, and crop modification often carries a negative connotation. While chemical pesticides have long been the go-to solution for crop protection, their harmful effects on ecosystems and human health have prompted scientists to seek alternatives. The recent breakthrough by <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southampton</a> researchers offers a promising path forward through the precise manipulation of plant-associated microbial communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-science-behind-microbial-partnerships">The science behind microbial partnerships</h2>



Plants naturally harbor diverse ecosystems of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that function as biological allies. These microscopic partners contribute to disease resistance, nutrient absorption, and stress tolerance. However, until now, scientists lacked the tools to deliberately reshape these communities to enhance crop protection.



The Southampton team's approach centered on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/engineered-plant-microbiomes-the-future-of-crop-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modifying lignin biosynthesis genes in rice plants</a>. This strategic intervention altered the plant's metabolic output, creating conditions that favored beneficial bacterial populations while suppressing harmful ones. The result was a living defense system embedded within the plant itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-global-food-security">Implications for global food security</h2>



The successful demonstration against Xanthomonas oryzae, the pathogen responsible for bacterial blight in rice, represents more than a laboratory achievement. Rice feeds nearly half the world's population, and bacterial blight causes devastating crop losses annually. Traditional control methods rely heavily on pesticides that contaminate soil and water systems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-beyond-disease-resistance">Looking Beyond Disease Resistance</h2>



While disease protection represents the immediate application, the research framework opens doors to broader agricultural improvements. Future developments could engineer microbiomes to enhance nutrient uptake, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. This dual benefit addresses both crop productivity and environmental sustainability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-path-forward">The path forward</h2>



As this technology advances from laboratory to field applications, it promises to reshape sustainable agriculture. The ability to program plants with their own biological defense systems could herald a new era where crops protect themselves naturally, reducing chemical inputs while maintaining yields necessary for global food security.



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44335-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDXqTGEmi4 Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease A natural...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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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 



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[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



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

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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



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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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