When glaciers melt, they release water that carries sulfate-rich minerals previously trapped in the ice. This sulfate flows into streams and wetlands, increasing its concentration in watersheds.



As sulfate accumulates, it creates conditions that can trigger the production of toxic methylmercury, posing risks to ecosystems and wildlife.



Methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin, forms in waterlogged, sulfate-rich wetlands and enters water systems. It accumulates in fish, moves up the food chain to birds, and eventually reaches people who consume contaminated wildlife.



"Very little research has looked at methylmercury production in high-elevation wetlands," said Hannah Miller, a PhD student at <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CU Boulder</a> and lead author of a recent study.



"This leaves important knowledge gaps regarding how much is being produced in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glacier-melting-threatens-global-water-supplies-and-coastal-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mountain</a> wetlands and how this may change with ongoing climate change."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-mercury-turns-toxic-in-wetlands">How mercury turns toxic in wetlands</h2>



Methylmercury production from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-glaciers-are-reshaping-landscapes-and-national-borders-around-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">glacier</a> melt sulfate only occurs within a specific range in wetland soils. If glacier-derived sulfate levels are too low, the conversion process doesn’t start; too high, and it stalls.



The ideal range - 0.60 to 1.4 milligrams per gram of dry soil - creates optimal conditions for mercury to transform into its toxic methylated form.



Miller’s team pinpointed this “Goldilocks zone” after testing soil from peatlands, alpine meadows, and riparian zones. Above the treeline, methylmercury levels barely budged. Below the treeline, peatlands pulsed with microbial activity, converting mercury to its toxic form.



"We also found in our experiment that moderate sulfate additions to the subalpine peatlands resulted in the greatest production of methylmercury within the soils," Miller said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-peatlands-as-mercury-hotspots">Peatlands as mercury hotspots</h2>



In the lab, Miller pumped different sulfate concentrations into soil samples. The response? Peatlands with moderate sulfate additions churned out the most methylmercury.



But there’s a catch. Wetlands above the treeline don’t have much vegetation. Fewer plants mean less carbon-rich material to feed the microbes that convert sulfate to methylmercury. But in the subalpine peatlands, dense vegetation and waterlogged soils create the perfect storm.



Sulfate-reducing bacteria thrive in these oxygen-starved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-could-run-out-of-water-if-glaciers-continue-to-melt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environments</a>. They grab onto sulfate, munch through carbon, and churn out methylmercury as a byproduct. And as glaciers keep melting, more sulfate keeps coming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-melting-glaciers-spread-sulfate">Melting glaciers spread sulfate </h2>



Sulfate doesn’t stay put. It migrates downstream, riding currents and seeping into soils. In the past 30 years, sulfate levels in Boulder’s watershed have shot up by 200%. That spike mirrors a global pattern.



Glacier-fed streams in the Andes, Alps, and Himalayas show similar trends - up to a 2000% increase in sulfate concentrations. As these minerals flow, so does the risk of methylmercury contamination.



"It's a really interesting climate-driven signal that is starting to get more attention," Miller said. "And while increasing sulfate concentrations have direct implications for ecosystems, they can also have indirect impacts, including changing how mercury is transformed within wetlands."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mercury-moves-through-food-chains">Mercury moves through food chains</h2>



Methylmercury doesn’t just stay in the soil. It slips into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-glaciers-threaten-global-water-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a>, where fish absorb it through their gills. Small fish pass it to bigger fish. Birds swoop down, eat the fish, and the toxin moves up the food chain.



"In semi-arid mountain ecosystems, poorly developed soils and limited water bodies make it easy to think there is a lower risk for mercury contamination," noted Miller.



"But our findings show there is a risk, particularly in subalpine peatlands, and raise important questions about how this toxin may impact the communities and wildlife that rely on that water source now and in the future."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sulfate-isn-t-the-only-player">Sulfate isn’t the only player</h2>



Sulfate takes the spotlight, but it’s not alone. Iron, carbon, and water levels also play crucial roles in the methylmercury cycle.



In Boulder’s watershed, dry conditions could limit the spread of peatlands, reducing the areas where methylmercury thrives. But increased precipitation could do the opposite - more wetlands, more methylmercury.



Miller’s study also hints at the role of iron. Sulfate additions alone triggered methylmercury production, but iron concentrations could magnify or mitigate that effect.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-melting-glaciers-rising-mercury-levels">Melting glaciers, rising mercury levels</h2>



Glaciers worldwide are melting, releasing sulfate-rich minerals into nearby streams and wetlands. This surge in sulfate is not limited to Boulder but is occurring in mountain watersheds globally. 



As sulfate levels rise, so does the risk of toxic methylmercury formation, impacting ecosystems far beyond Colorado.



Glacial melt in Peru’s Andes has turned once-pristine wetlands into mercury-contaminated hotspots. The European Alps and the Himalayas face similar risks as warming temperatures increase sulfate runoff. 



As glaciers recede, more sulfate spills into wetlands, driving methylmercury production and threatening ecosystems globally.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-controlling-mercury-in-wetlands">Controlling mercury in wetlands</h2>



Monitoring sulfate is one thing. Mitigating its impact is another. Restoring wetlands, managing runoff, and regulating upstream mining could reduce sulfate flow. But Miller and her team aren’t stopping there.



"This research is timely, given the confluence of global changes, including climate warming, changes in the supply of reactive elements, and the occurrence of wildfires that are threatening sensitive high-elevation ecosystems," said Eve-Lyn Hinckley, co-author and CIRES Fellow.



Glaciers keep melting, releasing more sulfate into streams and wetlands. This ongoing process fuels methylmercury production, posing increasing risks to ecosystems. 



The outcome hinges on monitoring efforts and proactive intervention to manage these toxic threats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/add8a5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental Research Letters</a>.



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Mountain wetlands are turning into mercury hotspots

When glaciers melt, they release water that carries sulfate-rich minerals previously trapped in the ice. This sulfate flows into streams and wetlands, increasing its concentration in watersheds. As sulfate accumulates, it creates conditions that can trigger the production of toxic methylmercury, posing risks to ecosystems and wildlife. Methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin, forms in waterlogged, sulfate-rich wetlands and enters water systems. It accumulates in fish, moves up the food chain to birds, and eventually reaches people who consume contaminated wildlife. "Very little research has looked at methylmercury production...

Of the many methods developed to slow down <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bitcoin-growth-global-warming/">global warming</a>, some scientists believe that “cloud thinning” may actually show some promise. The strategy would be used to shoot powder over cirrus clouds, which would thin out their coverage and alter their radiative effects over Earth.

While this would have some impact on rainfall, the effects would be less significant compared to other plans of cooling the planet, according to the experts. 

Many of the proposed geoengineering techniques come with dangerous consequences, such as changes in precipitation that could trigger major droughts across some regions. Scientists have analyzed the geoengineering options that are currently available, and have determined that cloud thinning may be one of our best bets. 

The study authors believe that cloud thinning would cool the planet without triggering significant precipitation changes. The researchers, who are based at <a href="https://www.zju.edu.cn/english/">Zhejiang University</a> in China, said that by reducing the coverage of wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds, it could be possible to reduce global warming.

“Broadly speaking, I think cirrus cloud thinning, if it works in reality, would be preferable to stratospheric aerosol injections,” study co-author Long Cao told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>. “It seems the known side-effects of cirrus cloud thinning are less than stratospheric aerosol injection and marine cloud brightening.”

The team is also exploring the concept of injecting aerosols into the stratosphere to “deflect more sunlight back to space,” as well as the option of seeding marine stratocumulus clouds in a strategy known as “cloud brightening’ that causes clouds to reflect more sunlight. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21698996">Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Could cloud thinning actually help mitigate global warming?

Of the many methods developed to slow down global warming, some...

0602400484

Scientists at <a href="https://www.wfu.edu/">Wake Forest University</a> have found that more than 170,000 acres of primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon has been destroyed by small-scale gold mining. This is over 30 percent more deforestation than was previously realized.


Luis Fernandez is the Executive Director of the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) at Wake Forest. 

“The scale of the deforestation is really shocking,” said Fernandez. “In 2013, the first comprehensive look at Peruvian rainforest lost from mining showed 30,000 hectares. Five years later, we have found nearly 100,000 hectares of deforested landscape.”

The scientists at CINCIA have developed a new data fusion method to identify areas destroyed by small-scale mining. Combining existing forest monitoring technology and Global Forest Change data sets on forest loss, the new <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/exploitation-deforestation-madagascar/">deforestation</a> detection tool is 20-25 percent more accurate than those used previously.

Miles Silman is the associate director of Science for CINCIA and the director of Wake Forest's Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (CEES), who has researched biodiversity and ecology in the Western Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years.

“Combining the two methods gives us really good information about the specific kind of deforestation we're looking for,” said Silman. 

Artisanal-scale gold mining has been challenging to detect, yet the damage is extensive. Small crews of artisanal miners do not expect to hit it big, but they hope to collect the flakes of gold in rainforest.

“We're not talking about huge gold veins here,” said Fernandez. “But there's enough gold in the landscape to make a great deal of money in a struggling economy. You just have to destroy an immense amount of land to get it."

The process that is used to look for gold is environmentally catastrophic.

“You take out everything above ground - vast amounts of rainforest - and then you take the soil, run it through a sluice and wash away all that is good in it. What you have left is an alien environment,” said Silman. “All the scenery should look like broccoli. It looks like desert.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wake Forest University

Increased gold mining is worsening deforestation in the Amazon

Scientists at Wake Forest University have found that more than...

It’s no secret that bee populations around the world have been in decline in recent years. It’s a worrying trend, as bees are likely our most important pollinator, and have a significant positive impact on agricultural crop production, as well as the continued survival of most flowering plants on our planet. 

One of the suspected culprits behind this decline is <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/save-native-bees/">neonicotinoid</a> compounds, which are the most widely used type of insecticide. These compounds have been shown to devastate bee populations through reducing colony sizes. This effect has been widely studied, but the mechanism by which neonicotinoid exposure disrupts the behavioral systems of bee colonies remained unknown… until now.

A new study by James Crall and colleagues used an innovative, automated robotic platform to monitor worker behavior within the hives of multiple bumble bee colonies. The researchers exposed the colonies to environmentally realistic amounts of imidacloprid, which is a common type of neonicotinoid. They then used the tiny robotic platform to spy on the bees.

The study was published by the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science.</a>

Through these observations, the researchers found that exposure to the neurotoxic pesticide caused measurable changes in worker bee behavior. These workers were less active within the nest, less likely to feed and care for larvae, and more likely to be found near the periphery of the colony.

It was also observed that the behavioral effects varied significantly depending on the time of day. The study’s authors found that worker inactivity and reduced nursing behavior was more apparent at night. They also determined through analysis of free-foraging colonies in the field that imidacloprid exposure impaired colony thermoregulation.

With this new research, scientists may now know the reasons behind reduced colony sizes for bumble bees exposed to these insecticides. Hopefully, it will help lead to further research on how the effects can be reduced, as well as how bee populations might be able to bounce back.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How harmful pesticides affect the inner workings of bee colonies

It’s no secret that bee populations around the world have...

Sandpipers are just one group of shorebirds facing steep population declines due to many factors, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctics-mammal-global-warming/">climate change</a> seems to be the biggest driver of species loss, according to a new study. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/research-centres/milner-centre-for-evolution/">Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath</a> found that climate change is causing a chain reaction in the Arctic, historically an area where shorebirds like plovers and sandpipers migrate to because of the decreased risk of predators. 

In the tropics, shorebirds face a higher risk of nest predation, where predators raid nests and steal eggs. To protect their young, many birds migrate to the Arctic to lay their eggs and raise their young. 

However, after analyzing population data from shorebirds over the past 70 years, the researchers discovered that nest predation in the North Temperate Zone has doubled. 

Not only is nest predation leading to fewer hatchlings every season, but fewer adults are also surviving the Arctic as well because of an increase in hunting and habitat degradation. 

To better understand what's driving these declines and changes in the Arctic, the researchers analyzed data from 38,191 nests in 149 locations worldwide. 

111 species were included in the study, which was published in the journal Science. 

The researchers discovered a link between increases in nest predation and climate change in the Arctic and North Temperate Zone. 

Warmer temperatures are reshaping the food web of the Arctic and species that were once abundant are declining which means predators are more likely to raid nests. 

Distribution changes in the Arctic are also introducing new predators to shorebird nesting sites. 

“These findings are alarming,” said Tamás Székely, an author of the study. “The Earth is a fragile planet with complex ecosystems, thus changes in predator-prey interactions can lead to cascading effects through the food web with detrimental consequences for many organisms thousands of kilometres away.”

The researchers say the increase in nest predation may make it impossible for critically endangered species like the Spoonbill Sandpiper to recover. 

“What is particularly striking about these results is that it is clear that nest losses to predators have risen really quickly in the Arctic over the past 20 years,” said Robert Freckleton, a member of the research team. “The precise mechanisms are probably quite complex, but overall it looks like changes in climate are playing a leading role in driving such changes both in the Arctic and at a global scale as well.”

--

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: Pavel Tomkovich

Shorebird populations are declining due to climate change

Sandpipers are just one group of shorebirds facing steep population...

Diarrheal disease is the second-leading cause of death in children under the age of five and roughly 525,000 children die of the disease every year, according to <a href="http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease">the World Health Organization. </a>

The inability to access <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/filters-remove-heavy-metals-water/">safe drinking water</a> is one of the biggest drivers of diarrheal disease and it’s most common in developing countries.

Researchers from <a href="https://vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a> and <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> recently conducted a study examining the role of floods in diarrheal outbreaks in populations that depend on the Chobe River floodplain system in Botswana. 

Even though many communities along the Chobe River floodplain system have water treatment facilities, diarrheal disease still spreads through populations in a somewhat regular pattern. 

This led the researchers to wonder if there was any link between flood waters, increases in precipitation and draining water, also known as surface water dynamics, and diarrheal outbreaks. 

“It was a fundamental question for me,” said Kathleen Alexander, a leader of the research. “These places are doing everything right, but local populations are still impacted by diarrheal disease. Why does the infrastructure fail to protect these communities, and what can we do to improve public health now and under future environmental conditions?”

Climate change is projected to increase precipitation and flooding and so understanding how surface water dynamics impact the spread of diarrheal disease is crucial for creating better treatment systems. 

The study was published in the journal PLOS Medicine. 

The Chobe River floodplain system is no stranger to flooding, but its annual floods can vary drastically from year to year and even season to season. 

For the study, the researchers reviewed decades of data from ten government health facilities in Botswana and analyzed outbreak patterns of diarrheal disease across eight communities along the Chobe River.  

Not surprisingly, the researchers found that cases of the disease were more frequent during periods of rainfall. However, the researchers also noticed a link between diarrheal disease cases and flood recession. 

A one-meter drop in the river height during the dry season correlated with a 16.7 increase in cases in children. 

The researchers found that adults and older children were more likely to get sick during the dry season and young children got sick during the wet season. 

“What this tells us is that environmental conditions drive diarrheal disease -- not just the number of diarrhea cases and timing of outbreaks but also who is affected and what type of diarrhea might occur,” said Alexander. 

The researchers theorize that the reason current treatment facilities are failing to prevent outbreaks is that the variability in flood dynamics and surface water conditions along the Chobe River. 

“These highly variable surface water dynamics are difficult to manage in many water treatment plants, potentially increasing waterborne disease risk in dependent populations,” said Alexander. 

“There is an urgent need to evaluate water infrastructure and ensure these systems are able to handle rapid shifts in surface water quality.” 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Virginia Tech

Changes in floodplain increase the risk of waterborne disease

Diarrheal disease is the second-leading cause of death in children...

Rapid warming across two connected marine ecosystems, the Eastern English Channel and Southern North Sea, has caused small fish to abruptly move northward and jump from one region to the other. These major shifts in the structure and function of an ecosystem can alter the rate of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fans-suck-carbon-dioxide/">carbon</a> uptake, as well as the rate at which organic materials are broken down.


According to the study authors, the findings suggest that the expected increase in the frequency and severity of climate oscillations and extreme warming events could trigger shifts in the distribution and abundance of species. 

“This warming caused an abrupt change in fish communities as small, rapidly maturing fishes, particularly pelagic fishes, simultaneously decreased in the English Channel and increased in the North Sea,” said study co-author Matthew McLean. “This suggests both that fishes shifted northward between the ecosystems and that the English Channel became an unfavorable environment for certain fishes while the North Sea became a more favorable environment.”

In the mid-1990s, the “Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation” produced warmer sea surfaces throughout the Atlantic Ocean. The researchers realized that the majority of the research on the impact of this warming was focused on changes in particular species. 

In the new study, the researchers took a different approach to factor in the characteristics of certain species. 

“Surprisingly few studies have used this approach to understand how rapid warming can affect marine ecosystems and how shifts in fish abundances and distributions can impact ecosystem functioning,” said McLean. 

Analyzing over three decades of fish monitoring data and an extensive compilation of ecological traits, the experts characterized the functional structure using ten traits related to life history, habitat use, and feeding ecology for 73 fish species in the English Channel and 110 fish species in the North Sea.

The researchers were not surprised to find changes in the abundance and distribution across species in response to human-induced global warming. However, they were surprised to find an inverse shift in entire fish communities within connected ecosystems. 

The team was also surprised to find that the response to warmer conditions occurred only one or two years after a major temperature rise. The findings suggest that the influence of fishing was minor in comparison to the effects of warming.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Warming waters are prompting major changes in marine ecosystems

Rapid warming across two connected marine ecosystems, the Eastern English...

A new study has found that marine protected areas (MPAs) leave many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-map-little-ocean-wilderness/">marine wildlife species </a>vulnerable to habitat decline, fishing, and other human activities. 

The study, conducted by the <a href="http://helcom.fi/news/Pages/Network-of-Baltic-marine-protected-areas-expands-in-Finland.aspx">Finnish Marine Protected Areas Network</a>, found that three-quarters of important species are unprotected because MPAs are rarely designed to account for what’s under the surface. 

To help remedy this gap in protections, the researchers modeled biodiversity and marine conservation in areas that had the highest conservation value using a new methodology that could help create more effective MPAs and direct the placement of infrastructure like offshore wind farms. 

The results, published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00402/full">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>, show that if MPAs were expanded by just one percent, it would go a long way in marine conservation. 

MPAs are designed to protect against human activities. However, even with these safeguards in place, the researchers discovered that there were still species left unprotected in these areas. 

In Finland for example, 10 percent of the country’s surrounding seas are protected. However, only 27 percent of marine biodiversity are included in those protections. 

“Establishment of these protected sites has relied on certain important habitats, such as lagoons, shallow bays, and reefs, or the presence of seals or important bird areas, rather than knowledge of underwater species present or the ecological value of those areas,” said Elina Virtanen, the lead author of the study.

The researchers needed to find a better way to model marine biodiversity and identify the “hot spots” where expanded conservation would help most. 

The team used data from 140,000 samples of marine species to create ecological distribution models. 

“We found that increasing the protected area from just 10% to 11% in the most biodiverse areas would double conservation of the most ecologically important species,” said Virtanen. “This means increased protection of rare and threatened species, functionally important species and fish reproduction areas.”

The researchers recommend expanding MPAs using these models and allocating human activities to areas where there are lower levels of biodiversity and less risk of species decline. 

“There is a need to reassess current MPA boundaries to ensure they focus conservation efforts to the most valuable areas, and an increased emphasis on ecological efficiency is essential when designating or expanding MPAs,” said Virtanen. “This way we can ensure that Marine Protected Areas achieve global conservation objectives meaningfully and efficiently.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Marine Protected Areas need to be expanded to be effective

A new study has found that marine protected areas (MPAs)...

A team of scientists, led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>, discovered that within 30 years of climate change, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/president-brazil-amazon-rainforest/">Amazon rainforest</a> is adapting, just not at a fast enough pace. 

By using information gathered by the <a href="http://www.rainfor.org/">Amazon Forest Inventory Network (AFIN)</a>, the team found that tree growth and mortality have been greatly affected by stronger droughts, increased temperatures, and higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the 1980s.

One of the more concerning facts from this study is that moisture-loving trees are dying out at a quick pace, yet are not being replaced by trees suited for drier climates.

“The ecosystem's response is lagging behind the rate of climate change,” said lead author Dr. Adriane Esquivel Muelbert from the <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/geography">School of Geography at Leeds</a>. “The data showed us that the droughts that hit the Amazon basin in the last decades had serious consequences for the make-up of the forest, with higher mortality in tree species most vulnerable to droughts and not enough compensatory growth in species better equipped to survive drier conditions."

What’s more is that scientists found that larger canopy tree species are dominating over smaller plants, making the bigger trees “climate change winners,” according to the research team. These trees benefit from the increase in carbon dioxide, and can therefore grow faster than others. Other climate change winners are “pioneer trees,” which are those that grow quickly in groups in a spot where a tree dies. It is believed the influx of carbon dioxide is also at play in this discovery.

The study’s co-author, Dr. Kyle Dexter, from the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a>, said, "The impact of climate change on forest communities has important consequences for rain forest biodiversity. The species most vulnerable to droughts are doubly at risk, as they are typically the ones restricted to fewer locations in the heart of the Amazon, which make them more likely to be extinct if this process continues.”

These findings further indicate the need for instating strict rules and protections for Amazon rainforests as climate change continues to progress. Such protections include limits on deforestation for agriculture and livestock purposes. Otherwise, we can expect to see rainforests dwindle and reshape in more concerning ways as we move into the future.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Adriane Esquivel Muelbert, University of Leeds

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Amazon forests are struggling to adapt to climate change

A team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds,...

President Donald Trump has promised to revive the fossil fuel industry with little concern for how burning coal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wheeler-environmental-injustice-epa/https://www.earth.com/news/wheeler-environmental-injustice-epa/">impacts the environment</a> and drives climate change.

A major argument touted by the President and those in his corner is that there are considerable economic gains to be made in fossil fuels and by regulating emissions, strengthening environmental protections, and investing in renewables, you risk sacrificing those gains. 

Another claim is that if you reduce our dependence on coal, you take jobs away. 

However, a new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.iiasa.ac.at/">International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis </a>(IIASA) in Austria shows that it is possible to reduce coal emissions and still increase the number of available jobs. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(18)30466-5#%20">Joule. </a>

The researchers examined different solutions for maintaining employment rates while still phasing coal-fired power plants. 

Rather than merely retiring coal power plants, the researchers propose transforming the United State’s coal industry by replacing 50 percent of coal plants with natural gas plants by 2050. 

According to the analysis, this would create 22,000 new jobs, prevent the loss of 40,000 coal jobs, and still limit emissions to meet climate mitigation targets. 

“Rather than arguing that climate change mitigation is simply necessary, policymakers could promote climate actions by informing stakeholders about potential employment co-benefits,” the researchers wrote in their study. 

In other parts of the world, the shift towards renewables is already paying off, as Britain's renewable electricity capacity overtook its fossil fuel capacity or the first time, according to <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6359477/UKs-renewable-energy-capacity-overtaken-fossil-fuels-like-coal-gas-time.html">the Daily Mail. </a>

Now, the UK has 42 gigawatts of available electricity capacity from wind, solar and biomass energy whereas only 40.6 gigawatts is available from fossil fuel generators. 

It’s a small difference, but it’s a significant step for the UK in reaching its target to cut greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

--

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>

A new model to both cut coal emissions and create jobs

President Donald Trump has promised to revive the fossil fuel...

Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a hot spot for bee diversity, but the Trump administration’s push for fewer land protections could put the thriving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bee-friendly-pesticides/">bee populations</a> in the region at risk, according to a new study. 

In 2017, Trump reduced protections for both Utah’s Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument in a bid to make more land available for mining and other commercial ventures. 

Besides being a historical landmark, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument houses a wealth of geological information dating back millions of years and is rich in biodiversity. 

Researchers from <a href="http://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> recently published a paper in the journal PeerJ documenting a four-year study of the monument and its bee populations. 

One out of every four bee species known in the United States can be found in Utah, and there are more bee species in the “The Beehive State” than most other states in the country. 

The researchers found that nearly half of Utah’s bee species live in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 

660 species of bee were identified in the study, and some of the species were new discoveries. 

“We identified almost as many species as are known in the entire eastern United States,” said Olivia Messinger Carril, a lead author of the study. “We discovered 49 previously unknown species, as well as 150 'morphospecies,' that is, somewhat unique species that don't match known species.”

The reason for all the bee biodiversity has a lot to do with the number of flowering plant species in the region.

“Many are surprised to learn 87 percent of Utah's flowering plant species live within the monument's boundaries,” said Carril. “Which likely contributes to the rich diversity of pollinators.”

The Trump administration reduced the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to about half its previous size, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/us/trump-bears-ears.html">New York Times</a>, which could jeopardize the future of the regions bees and threaten the biodiversity of both bee species and flowering plants. 

“It's an amazing natural laboratory of pollinators, of which we don't know a lot,” said Joseph Wilson, a member of the research team. “The large reduction of this protected areas could have implications for future biodiversity.”

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Joseph S. Wilson, USU

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Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah is home to thriving bee diversity

Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a hot spot for...

A new study led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> has determined that climate change will facilitate the return of deadly mosquito-borne diseases. After tracing the evolutionary tree of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/malarial-mosquitoes-cattle-decoys/">mosquitoes</a> back as far as 195 million years, the researchers found that mosquito-related illnesses will not only affect Europe and other areas where the diseases have been previously eradicated, but will impact completely new regions as well. 

Mosquito-borne diseases including malaria, Yellow fever, Zika virus, and Dengue fever are responsible for millions of deaths each year. The rate at which new species of mosquitoes evolve usually increases as levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide rise. 

Despite this known link between rising CO2 levels and mosquito diversification, however, the researchers have discovered that this association is much more complicated than previously realized. Other factors, such as the diversity of mammalian hosts, also contribute to an increase in the species variance of mosquitoes.

Study co-author Professor Matthew Wills explained: “It's only the female mosquitoes that take a blood meal, and they use the CO2 that mammals and other vertebrates exhale as a very general cue to locate their hosts. One line of thinking is that as ambient levels of atmospheric CO2 rose, as they have done in recent decades, mosquitoes may have found it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the CO2 from their hosts and those background levels.”

“Vision, body heat and other smells might then have become more important in locating their blood meals, but many of these cues tend to be more specific to particular hosts. As a general rule, we know that strong host specificity can be an important driver of speciation within parasites, and the same may be true in mosquitoes.”

Study co-author Dr. Katie Davis from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>'s Department of Biology, said: “We found that the increase in the diversity of mammals led directly to a rise in the number of mosquito species, and also that there is a relationship between CO2 levels and the number of mammal species, but there are still missing pieces of this puzzle, so we can still only speculate at this stage.”

“It is important to look at the evolution of the mosquito against climate change because mosquitoes are responsive to CO2 levels. Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently rising due to changes in the environment that are connected to human activity, so what does this mean for the mosquito and human health?”

“Despite some uncertainties, we can now show that mosquito species are able to evolve and adapt to climate change in high numbers. With increased speciation, however, comes the added risk of disease increase and the return of certain diseases in countries that had eradicated them or never experienced them before.”


The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio">Communications Biology</a>. 

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

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Climate change could bring back eradicated mosquito-related diseases

A new study led by the Milner Centre for Evolution...

A new report from the United Nations has revealed that the ozone layer is steadily returning to normal and is expected to make a full recovery over the next five decades. The researchers also determined that the hole in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scientists-antarctic-ozone-layer-is-healing/">ozone layer</a> above Antarctica has been improving by around three percent each decade. 

The ozone is a layer in the Earth's stratosphere that protects our planet from ultraviolet radiation. When this layer is comprised, humans are left more vulnerable to the harmful rays and their associated impacts, such as skin cancer and other diseases. 

In the 1980s, it was discovered that widely-used industrial substances known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were destroying the ozone layer. The <a href="https://www.state.gov/e/oes/eqt/chemicalpollution/83007.htm">Montreal Protocol</a> banned the use of CFCs worldwide in 1987.

According to the assessment by the <a href="http://www.unenvironment.org/">UN Environment Programme</a>, the <a href="https://www.wmo.int/">World Meteorological Organization</a>, the European Commission, and other agencies, the Montreal Protocol has successfully allowed the ozone layer to heal. Erik Solheim, the head of UN Environment, described the Montreal Protocol as “one of the most successful multilateral agreements in history.”

The experts have estimated that the ozone layer will be fully regenerated at some point in the 2060s.

“Evidence presented by the authors shows that the ozone layer in parts of the stratosphere has recovered at a rate of 1-3 percent per decade since 2000,” the UN Environment and the World Meteorological Organization said in a statement. 

“At projected rates, Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone is scheduled to heal completely by the 2030s followed by the Southern Hemisphere in the 2050s and polar regions by 2060.”

[caption id="attachment_1861657" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nasa-via-ap.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861657" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nasa-via-ap.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="394" /></a> Image Credit: NASA via AP[/caption]

Earlier this year, scientists at the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA) were shocked to discover a sharp rise in CFCs from an unknown source.

The study's lead author, NOAA scientist Stephen Montzka, explained: “In the end, we concluded that it's most likely that someone may be producing the CFC-11 that's escaping to the atmosphere. “


“We don't know why they might be doing that and if it is being made for some specific purpose, or inadvertently as a side product of some other chemical process.”

According to Montzka, if the source can be identified and the CFCs can be contained soon, the damage to the ozone should be only minor. In the meantime, the mysterious emissions will slow the progress of global efforts to rehabilitate the ozone layer and maximize its efficiency. 

The full assessment from the United Nations can be viewed <a href="http://conf.montreal-protocol.org/meeting/mop/mop30/presession/Background-Documents/SAP-2018-Assessment-ES-October2018.pdf">here</a>. 

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The ozone layer is expected to make a full recovery by 2060

A new report from the United Nations has revealed 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.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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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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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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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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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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