Our food faces growing threats as chemical, biological, and physical hazards collide with shifting economic and environmental conditions. But there’s hope on the horizon - artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a powerful ally in detecting food contamination before it reaches our plates.



Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, Bedfordshire, and <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oxford</a> have reviewed 116 studies published between 2019 and 2024.



The experts argue that only a combination of real-time <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enduring-earth-mystery-partially-solved-artificial-intelligence-nazca-geoglyphs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">artificial intelligence</a> tools and stronger international partnerships can keep pace with this accelerating complexity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-panorama-of-modern-food-contaminants">Panorama of modern food contaminants</h2>



The review groups hazards into three broad classes. Biological contaminants include familiar culprits - bacteria such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-it-safe-to-eat-eggs-salmonella-contamination-found-in-poultry-production-chain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Salmonella</a> and E. coli, as well as viruses and parasitic protozoa.



Chemical contaminants span a spectrum from pesticide residues and industrial heavy metals to naturally occurring toxins and veterinary drugs. 



Physical contaminants take the form of unwanted objects, now increasingly represented by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/contamination-crisis-microplastics-found-in-88-of-protein-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microplastics</a>, fragments of packaging, and processing debris.



According to the authors, these disparate hazards share a common characteristic: they travel quickly through a globalized, just-in-time food system that can turn a local slip into a transcontinental outbreak.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-drivers-behind-food-risks">Key drivers behind food risks</h2>



To understand why contamination episodes appear to be multiplying, the team identified six macro forces shaping <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electronic-tongue-could-revolutionize-food-safety/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">food safety</a>. Demographic change tops the list as urbanization and aging populations both alter consumption patterns and stretch distribution networks.



Economic factors follow closely, with cost pressures sometimes eroding best practice in production and transport. Environmental degradation - soil depletion, water scarcity, climate-induced weather volatility - can create new pathways for contaminants to infiltrate crops and livestock.



Geopolitical instability can disrupt supply chains or weaken regulatory oversight, while shifting consumer priorities - such as demand for minimally processed or “natural” foods - may inadvertently reduce built-in safety margins.



Finally, technological advances themselves cut both ways: they allow faster detection yet also introduce novel materials and ingredients whose safety profiles are not fully known.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-warnings-for-food-contamination">AI warnings for food contamination </h2>



“Our review shows that food contamination is a borderless threat that no nation can tackle alone,” said lead author Helen Onyeaka of the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Birmingham</a>.



“Pairing next-generation detection technologies with stronger international partnerships will be critical to keeping harmful contaminants out of the global food supply.”



The team highlights the promise of AI-driven systems that sift sensor data, trade records, and meteorological feeds to forecast contamination hotspots days or even weeks before pathogens bloom or toxins exceed safe limits. 



Machine-learning models can continuously refine themselves as new data arrive, offering regulators dynamic dashboards instead of static compliance snapshots.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gaps-in-global-oversight"><a></a>Gaps in global oversight</h2>



Despite technological gains, the authors found glaring inconsistencies in how nations define, measure and report emerging contaminants. 



While the European Union has made strides in harmonizing pesticide residue limits, global standards for microplastic fragments or mycotoxin cocktails are still patchy.



“Science-based, transparent regulation must keep pace with the accelerating complexity of the food chain,” said co-author John Krebs, the former chair of the <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UK Food Standards Agency</a>. “By integrating real-time data and global cooperation, we can modernize food safety for the challenges ahead.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-food-safety-ai-algorithms">Future of food safety: AI algorithms</h2>



The paper calls for a multi-level response. International research consortia should pool surveillance data and develop shared threat vocabularies so that a novel contaminant flagged in one region can be recognized in another before exposure spreads.



Regulatory bodies need to move toward mutual recognition of safety assessments and faster pathways for updating allowable limits. Investment in cutting-edge detection platforms must be prioritized to make supply chains more transparent.



Such platforms include biosensors that change color in the presence of toxins, handheld spectroscopes that read chemical fingerprints, and AI algorithms that parse complex patterns.



Public engagement rounds out the agenda: consumers who understand the provenance of their food and the basics of proper storage and preparation become active partners in prevention rather than passive recipients of recalls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-encouraging-signs-but-uneven-uptake"><a></a>Encouraging signs but uneven uptake</h2>



Novel tools are indeed emerging. Portable Raman spectrometers can now screen fish fillets for histamine in seconds; electrochemical biosensors detect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deadly-listeria-outbreak-linked-to-frozen-dairy-shakes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Listeria</a> in soft cheeses before they leave the factory. 



Deep-learning models use satellite imagery and humidity forecasts to predict aflatoxin surges in maize fields.



Yet adoption remains fragmented, with many small and medium-sized enterprises lacking capital or technical capacity. Governments can help by offering tax incentives, subsidized training, and open-source software packages that help detect these threats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-ai-to-detect-food-contamination">Using AI to detect food contamination </h2>



The review ends on a cautiously optimistic note. The same forces that magnify risk - global trade, digital interconnection, rapid innovation - also provide the tools to mitigate it.



If nations share data rather than hoard it, and if industry embraces intelligent monitoring rather than relying solely on end-product testing, contamination events could be intercepted well before they reach supermarket shelves.



In an era when a single click can order strawberries from another continent, the authors argue, food safety must evolve into a similarly networked enterprise. 



By balancing a set of harmonized rules with real-time analytics and an informed public, the world may yet enjoy a future where meals cross borders - and generations - without carrying invisible threats.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479725012228?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Environmental Management</a>.



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Future of food safety: AI can detect contamination early

Our food faces growing threats as chemical, biological, and physical hazards collide with shifting economic and environmental conditions. But there’s hope on the horizon - artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a powerful ally in detecting food contamination before it reaches our plates. Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, Bedfordshire, and Oxford have reviewed 116 studies published between 2019 and 2024. The experts argue that only a combination of real-time artificial intelligence tools and stronger international partnerships can keep pace with this accelerating complexity. Panorama of modern...

Drought conditions returned across the United States earlier this year, and measurements show that the situation became even worse in the month of August. By Labor Day weekend, more than half of the country was still enduring abnormally hot and dry <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/drought-conditions-california-sink/">drought</a> conditions. 

According to the latest release of the <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/">United States Drought Monitor</a>, over 56 percent of the country was either exceptionally dry or experiencing a full-blown drought on August 28th. Drought conditions are persisting in a third of the country, while almost eight percent is in an extreme or exceptional drought.

The drought map shows the major differences that are divided across the country, with the eastern half being largely spared compared to the western half of the country. 

The Four Corners region, which includes southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico, remains in a state of “exceptional drought,” along with parts of the Midwest around northern Missouri and Kansas City.

The <a href="http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/">Climate Prediction Center</a> is projecting unseasonably warm temperatures for September, October, and November, but is also forecasting a good chance of above-average precipitation in parts of the west this fall, including the Four Corners region.

According to the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/">National Climatic Data Center</a> (NCDC), the United States endured 114 climate or weather disasters that cost at least $1 billion in damages across the three decades leading up to 2011. Collectively, these weather events caused losses and damages of more than $800 billion. 

During this time frame, there were 16 billion-dollar droughts that totaled $195 billion in losses. This means that each billion-dollar drought cost approximately $12 billion.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Drought conditions persisting across more than half the U.S.

Drought conditions returned across the United States earlier this year,...

You can see it in places like Santa Fe, New Mexico, Moab, Utah, Telluride, Colorado, even in Hill City, South Dakota.  Slowly it seems, the wealthy are buying up the rugged west and costs for enjoying public lands climb lockstep with the alteration of that landscape for increased recreation.

I recently had dinner with a friend of mine who decades ago spent his summers during college living out of a van and working at a rock shop in Moab, Utah.  My friend tells me Moab has changed so much and not for the better, to the degree he can’t visit the town anymore; it’s too sad. Moab is the poster child for a type of change that threatens to engulf the entire western US.  Once a small, quirky town full of working class people and outdoor bums, Moab has become a destination, a tourism mecca. The sad irony is that people like John Muir or Ed Abbey, promoting the natural beauty of places they loved have drawn in tourists that have overrun once lonely places.  As my friend told me, eventually people stop coming to a place because they love it and people start coming simply because it’s the place to be.

In his book, The Man Who Quit Money, Mark Sundeen nicely summarizes the historic feel of Moab, Utah and a way of living that has attracted many to the western US over the years:

“In 1897 – the same year builders broke ground on that icon of modernity, the Eiffel Tower – Moab still had no road or railway service, and the only way to cross the Colorado River into town was by ferry…A graded road and river bridge did not arrive until 1912…Moab has always had a reflexively anti-authoritarian bent.  People came here to do whatever the Hell they wanted. When in 1878 a settler named Arthur Barney crossed the Colorado where Moab now sits, he and his men found a sign on the bank reading NO CAMPING ALLOWED. In excellent Moab form, they threw the sign in the river and crossed.” 

Things in Moab and throughout the west are changing though.  Ranching, mining, logging and other extraction industries in the western US are slowly being replaced by outdoor recreation and service industries, a shift fraught with unintentional consequences.  

On Patagonia’s blog <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2017/01/the-outdoor-industry-loves-utah-does-utah-love-the-outdoor-industry/">The Cleanest Line</a>, the company states that outdoor recreation annually drives $12 billion in spending and supports 122,000 jobs in Utah alone (as of January 2017).  According to an article in <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/business/2017/07/28/outdoor-recreation-meant-12b-to-utahs-economy-last-year/">The Salt Lake Tribune</a>, the outdoor industry supported 110,000 jobs in 2016, more than double the 32,000 mining jobs or 18,000 energy jobs.  According to a Utah Department of Agriculture and Food report for 2017, agriculture production and processing employed 79,000 people that year.  In 2017, <a href="https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865679687/Report-Utah-tourism-growing-at-record-levels.html">Deseret News</a> reported that tourism in Utah grew 12% from 2011 to 2015.   These numbers are striking when considering a western state like Utah that has traditionally been defined by ‘natural resources’ and hardworking blue collar types.

According to <a href="https://utahbusiness.com/build-population-growth-will-reshape-utahs-housing-landscape/">Utah Business</a>, Utah is projected to double its population by 2065.  Tourism seems to be a new major player in the economics of the west, one that’s here to stay.  <a href="https://newwest.net/city/article/what_is_a_new_west_vs_old_west_economy/C396/L396/">New West</a> says: 

“Vibrant local new economies are emerging. A 2005 government study finds that rural counties specializing in recreation and tourism enjoyed higher employment growth rates, higher percentages of working age residents, and lower local poverty rates.”

The economic and population growth in Utah is affecting national parks and other ‘natural’ areas as well.  <a href="https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2018/02/28/zion-national-park-ranks-3rd-u-s-number-visitors/380897002/">The Spectrum</a> reported earlier this year that Zion National Park in Southern Utah is now the third most visited National Park in the US.  Only Great Smoky National Park and Grand Canyon National Park had more visitors than Zion in 2017. 

Zion isn’t alone either; visiting Arches National Park on an average day makes it clear that much of what Ed Abbey feared in visitation has come to pass.  The master plan is complete. Roads are paved and packed with SUVs. On one hike, my fiance Erin and I were baffled to watch a tourist offer a chipmunk scurrying across slick rock water and proclaim, “Stupid chipmunk” when the small mammal didn’t drink.  Small puddles were already nearby. 

It seems from my perspective that the majority of visitors to Arches or Zion aren’t making a real connection to the land.  A ranger in the Grand Canyon once told me about rescuing a woman who walked for miles into the canyon in high heeled shoes.  What brings a person like that to the Grand Canyon? Perhaps clever marketing. 

In Utah, the Office of Tourism seems to have focused its marketing on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-national-parks/">national parks</a>.  The focus on the outdoors makes sense for Utah, it’s the main attraction on hand for tourism.  The Mighty Five ad campaign is one I remember seeing on TV a couple years ago, it’s an a campaign focusing on Utah’s five national parks.  Beyond the Mighty Five, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/ut/list.htm">Utah</a> has six National Monuments, some of which are absolutely as spectacular as the National Parks.  There are also four National Historic Trails passing through Utah and there is one National Historic Site and one National Recreation area.  

Utah is fairly typical of western states, where the majority of federal land is located.  <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/co/list.htm">Colorado</a> has five National Monuments, four National Parks, two National Historic sites and one National Recreation area.  <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/az/list.htm">Arizona</a> follows much the same pattern with only three National Parks but with a whopping 13 National Monuments plus historic sites, recreational sites and historic trails that pass through the state.  It isn’t just the four corners region or desert areas either; <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/or/list.htm">Oregon</a> has five National Parks.  <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/wa/list.htm">Washington</a> State has 15 National Parks and the park service claims, 8,371,753 visitors to those parks annually. 

The eastern US is much less dominated by federal land than the west.  Take <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/vt/index.htm">Vermont</a> for instance, the state only has one National Historical Park and one National Scenic Trail passing through it.  The National Park Service claims 48,945 visitors to Vermont’s park. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/state/me/index.htm">Maine</a> has a bit more public land with a National Park, a National Monument, an International Park and an International Historic Site.  Compared to Arizona though, Maine attracts less than one quarter of the visitors to its parks and less than half that of Washington state with 3,430,164 visitors.

The land of the eastern US was quickly developed and much was already lost when parks, monuments and national forests started popping up across the US.  Preservation has naturally favored places where a good amount of unspoiled land was left; places like Utah, Montana or Alaska. According to a 2016 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/upshot/why-the-government-owns-so-much-land-in-the-west.html">New York Times</a> report, the federal government owns 47% of western land.  According to <a href="https://www.summitpost.org/public-and-private-land-percentages-by-us-states/186111">summitpost.org</a>, 95.8% of Alaska is public land but not all of that land is Federal.  Listed in order of highest to lowest percentage of public lands, the first twelve states are all western, with New York ranking as number 13 with 37.1% of its land being public.  In the case of New York, a large portion of its public land is state land. Only 0.3% of New York is federal land according to <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Federal_land_ownership_by_state">ballotopedia.org</a>.  

It’s clear that federal public lands, including national parks and national forests, are part of what defines western landscape and culture, making it different than the eastern US.  What isn’t clear is what this will mean going forward. The reason why so many national parks and forests were able to be created in the western US is largely due to an accident in demographics.  The US was colonized by Europeans and other settlers starting on the east coast going west. The movement from east to west meant a less densely populated western US when parks and forests started to get set aside, meaning there was more undeveloped land to create parks with in the west.

When it comes to national forests, the pattern of east to west development and private land ownership becomes even more obvious.  54% of land inside eastern National Forest boundaries is actually national forest land, according to <a href="http://www.andykerr.net/kerr-public-lands-blog/2017/1/7/national-forests-in-the-eastern-united-states-an-incomplete-legacy">Andy Kerr’s Public Land Blog</a>.  Much of this privately owned land was already owned by private logging companies in the east, while a much smaller percentage was owned in western states.  

Although the preservation of much of the west is predicated on smaller western populations, there has been a growing trend to promote tourism to parks, forests, deserts, landscapes that need continued protection.  Undoubtedly seeing parks makes you care about them more but not all park experiences are equal. 

Infrastructure in parks is starting to crumble. <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/">Yes Magazine</a>, stating an oft recognized problem, writes that National Park’s transportation expenses require about $970 million annually, but in 2016 only received $240 million.  The backlog on infrastructure repairs remains today as well, a big reason parks have started to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-parks-trump-ghost-teddy-roosevelt/">raise fees</a>.  

The popularity of parks is directly contributing to the infrastructure problem and people who drive over roads in large RVs are causing the problem more than backpackers in relatively light cars but probably won’t shoulder more of the burden.  By encouraging more visitation, we’ve caused more problems in parks, problems of congestion, of degradation of both natural environment and infrastructure. With infrastructure also comes of course, less of what people go to parks to see; more asphalt and less grass, rock, trees.

Outside of parks, western cities become more crowded as well.  I’ve driven through mountain towns that now have special routes for people driving ATVs through towns.  Dirt roads are more crowded with ATVs, dirt bikes and SUVs as well, places where mountain bikes were once common are now too dusty to easily ride.  Land prices climb in the most beautiful areas of the west. It becomes increasingly unclear whether the tough working classes who built communities in the west or the Native Americans who’ve often been forced onto marginal lands have a future here.  Campgrounds that were once free are now charging and visits to grocery stores in many tourism driven western towns can induce sticker shock to most. 

With the changing western landscape, environmentalists, especially those in the west should start asking if they’ve made a mistake.  By asking people to visit the west have we simply traded the problems of the extraction industry for new problems caused by industrial tourism?  By focusing on financial benefits of parks are businesses like Patagonia selling out the environment? 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer                            

Image Credit: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/wa2l5tW5ISE?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Mitch Nielsen</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>

Ecotourism and the rapidly changing New West

You can see it in places like Santa Fe, New...

When permafrost thaws, carbon is released into rivers and streams where it will be emitted from the surface water directly into the atmosphere as a harmful greenhouse gas. Calculating the magnitude of these <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/reforestation-efforts-greenhouse-gas/">greenhouse gas emission</a>s is particularly critical in Western Siberia, where massive amounts of carbon are stored around rivers including the Ob, which is the seventh longest river in the world. 

A new study led by <a href="https://www.umu.se/en/">Umeå University</a> has found that river greenhouse gas emissions in Western Siberia peak in the areas where permafrost has been actively degrading, and decrease in colder areas where the permafrost has not yet started to thaw. The researchers have also discovered that the rivers of this region are emitting more carbon into the air than they are transporting to the Arctic Ocean.

Study co-author Svetlana Serikova is a doctoral student in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.

“This was an unexpected finding as it means that Western Siberian rivers actively process and release large part of the carbon they receive from degrading permafrost and that the magnitude of these emissions might increase as climate continues to warm,” said Serikova.

Quantifying the amount of river greenhouse gas emissions from degrading permafrost is crucial in understanding the role that such areas play in the global carbon cycle. Measuring these emissions also helps scientists to better predict the upcoming impacts of climate change on the Arctic.

“The large-scale changes that take place in the Arctic due to warming exert a strong influence on the climate system and have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world,” said Serikova. “That is why it is important we focus on capturing how climate warming affects the Arctic now before these dramatic changes happen.”

The study is published in the journal  <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Egor Istegechev

Where permafrost melts, river greenhouse gas emissions peak

When permafrost thaws, carbon is released into rivers and streams...

Step aside electric cars, hybrids, Teslas and gas-saving self-driving vehicles, the future of green automotives may soon lie in plastic.

Researchers from <a href="http://www.swansea.ac.uk/">Swansea University</a> have successfully converted plastic waste into hydrogen, paving the way for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles powered by plastic. 

As the world struggles to cope with a major plastic pollution crisis, millions of tons of plastic are entering the ocean each year and little sign of improvement.

Many researchers, conservation groups, and concerned citizens are scrambling to find ways to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pac-man-system-plastic-pollution/">clean up and recycle the plastic waste</a> created each day, and this new research may provide a new innovative solution. 

Plastic waste, even the plastic that can’t be recycled because it’s contaminated by food waste, can theoretically be used to make hydrogen using the new system created by the Swansea researchers. 

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, less common than electric cars and hybrids, use hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity that powers the car. 

It’s an incredibly clean and quiet way to power a car, and using plastic for fuel could be even a better alternative than trying to recycle the world’s plastic. 

“There's a lot of plastic used every year – billions of tonnes – and only a fraction of it is being recycled. We are trying to find a use for what is not being recycled,” said Moritz Kuehnel of Swansea University's chemistry department. “The beauty of this process is that it's not very picky. It can degrade all sorts of waste.”

The plastic is converted to hydrogen using an alkaline solution that is exposed to sunlight. 

The researchers say that plastic powered cars are quite a ways off, but many automotive manufacturers are already investing hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could plastic waste one day fuel your car?

Step aside electric cars, hybrids, Teslas and gas-saving self-driving vehicles,...

Coral bleaching is not limited to the reefs close to the surface, as a new study found that reefs previously thought immune to the most adverse effects of climate change are just as susceptible to bleaching as their surface counterparts. 

Deep sea coral reefs were thought a refuge from the ocean temperature changes and acidification that drive mass coral bleaching events, but researchers from the <a href="https://www.calacademy.org/">California Academy of Sciences</a> and the<a href="https://uncw.edu/cms/"> Center of Marine Sciences</a> in Portugal found that this is not the case. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and the results highlight the risks of mass bleaching for both shallow water and deep reefs. 

In 2016, one of the most devastating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-barrier-reef-mass-bleachings/">mass coral bleaching events</a> occurred along the Great Barrier Reef where one-quarter of the reef died out. 

The researchers focused on this event to see if the bleaching was isolated to the shallow reefs or if deep reefs were equally affected. 

“During the bleaching event, cold-water upwelling initially provided cooler conditions on the deep reef,” said Pim Bongaerts, co-author of the study. “However, when this upwelling stopped towards the end of summer, temperatures rose to record-high levels even at depth.”

To study the extensive deep coral reefs, the researchers used remotely operated vehicles that deployed sensors at depths of 328 feet to measure water temperatures.

Divers also surveyed multiple sites along the Great Barrier Reef and reported that nearly a quarter of the deep reefs had been affected by mass bleaching and mortality as far down as 131 feet below the surface. 


“It was a shock to see that the impacts extended to these dimly lit reefs, as we were hoping their depth may have provided protection from this devastating event,” said Pedro Frade, the lead author of the study. 

The study shows that there truly is no safe zone for coral reefs and that even those reefs located hundreds of feet below the surface are susceptible to climate change. 

“Unfortunately, this research further stresses the vulnerability of the Great Barrier Reef,” said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a>, where the study was conducted. “We already established that the refuge role of deep reefs is generally restricted by the limited overlap in species with the shallow reef. However, this adds an extra limitation by demonstrating that the deep reefs themselves are also impacted by higher water temperatures.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Pedro Frade

Even reefs deep below the surface aren’t safe from bleaching

Coral bleaching is not limited to the reefs close to...

Great white shark sightings, which have become a way of life in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shark-sightings-cape-cod/">Cape Cod</a> this summer, are causing major concerns for the safety of swimmers. Experts say that the rapidly increasing population of gray seals is primarily to blame. 

Leslie Reynolds, chief ranger at the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm">Cape Cod National Seashore</a>, explained that the white sharks are feeding on seals and the seals are coming closer to shore. Swimmers have been warned to stay away from the seals and to stay out of deep water.

Charter boat captain Doug Brown told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/">CNBC</a>, “The sharks come right up out of the water to grab the bait. They are not bashful. I have been out in the bay all my life, but I've never seen great whites to this amount. They are sometimes right under my boat.”

There is some evidence that the presence of younger great white sharks is contributing to the abnormal activity. 

Dr. Greg Skomal of the <a href="https://www.mass.gov/orgs/division-of-marine-fisheries">Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries</a> (DMF) has led a study on white sharks in the North Atlantic for nearly five years. The team spotted 149 great white sharks off of Cape Cod in July alone, which is nearly twice the number observed last July.

Data from the study is still being analyzed, but Dr. Skomal said smaller great whites that measure about eight to 10 feet likely appeared in larger numbers this year. He explained that these younger sharks could be responsible for some of the encounters that have recently gone viral, particularly those where sharks are snatching fish off of anglers' hooks.

According to Dr. Skomal, smaller sharks tend to feed on large fish like striped bass, while larger adult sharks usually feed on seals.

“Cape Cod may represent a productive feeding ground not just for mature white sharks, but also for juveniles. It's something we'll certainly be watching out for.”

Dr. Skomal added, “If anything, it's indicative of a healthy population. As the white shark rebounds across the East Coast, we should be seeing a broader range of sizes.”

--
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Great white shark sightings have exploded this summer in Cape Cod

Great white shark sightings, which have become a way of...

A new study has found that political anonymity may be the best way to foster the spread of accurate information, encourage productive interactions, and reduce polarization on social media

It’s no secret that social media played a large role in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/battling-climate-change-misinformation/">the spread of misinformation</a> which influenced the 2016 presidential election. 

Now, new research shows that there may be a way to use social media to be beneficial and productive, provided you keep party affiliation out of the equation. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> conducted a study asking both Democrats and Republicans to interpret Arctic sea ice data and graph released by the<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/"> National Aeronautics and Space Administration </a>(NASA) in 2013. 

“NASA found, to its dismay, that a lot of people were misinterpreting the graph to say that there would actually be more Arctic sea ice in the future rather than less,” said Douglas Guilbeault, a member of the research team. “Conservatives, in particular, were susceptible to this misinterpretation.”

The researchers wondered to what extent social media might influence an individual’s interpretation particularly given how politically charged social media is today. 

The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“New scientific information does not change people's minds. They can always interpret it to match their beliefs,” said Damon Centola, the leader of the study. “But, if you allow people to interact with each other in egalitarian social networks, in which no individual is more powerful than another, we find remarkably strong effects of bipartisan social learning on eliminating polarization.”

2,400 Republicans and Democrats were first asked to interpret the graph on their own. After this, 40 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of Democrats misinterpreted the data and thought that the graph showed Arctic sea-ice levels increasing over the next few years. 

Next, the researchers gave some study participants the opportunity to interact on an experimental social media platform specifically created by the research team. 

To test how much political polarization influences an individual’s ability to subjectively look at climate change research, the researchers split the participants into three groups on the social media platform. 

One group knew the political affiliation of each of their social media contacts on the platform. Another group did not know who they were interacting with, only the political affiliation assigned via a donkey or republican symbol at the bottom of the screen. The third group was non-political and anonymous.

When political affiliation was kept anonymous and the participants were simply sharing their opinions on the data, 88 percent of Republicans and 86 percent of Democrats figured out the sea-ice levels were dropping. 

Some of the participants were not allowed to interact on the social media platform and their final responses stayed true to the earlier survey answers with many still misinterpreting the graph. 

“We all expected polarization when Republicans and Democrats were isolated,” said Centola. “But we were amazed to see how dramatically bipartisan networks could improve participants' judgments. But the biggest surprise--and perhaps our biggest lesson--came from how fragile it all was. The improvements vanished completely with the mere suggestion of political party.”

The results show how influential political party affiliation is in our society. However, the researchers say that the study shows promise and that people are more open-minded when politics are kept out of the picture in terms of understanding climate change research. 

“Most of us are biased in one way or another,” said Centola. “It's often unavoidable. But, if you eliminate the symbols that drive people into their political camps and let them talk to each other, people have a natural instinct to learn from one another. And that can go a long way toward lessening partisan conflict.

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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 

Paid for by <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a>

Social media can help reduce polarization on climate change

A new study has found that political anonymity may be...

A new study funded by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> (NSF) and the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy</a> has revealed that future <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/el-nino-unpredictable-2/">El Niño</a> and La Niña events will cause more intense impacts on land, including bigger precipitation and temperature changes as well as higher wildfire risk.

For example, the researchers found that the increased wildfire danger in the Southwest United States would become even more dangerous as a result of a La Niña event. On the other hand, wetter and cooler conditions in the same region would likely become even colder and wetter when associated with El Niño events.

Study lead author John Fasullo is a scientist at the <a href="https://ncar.ucar.edu/">National Center for Atmospheric Research</a> (NCAR).

“The cycling between El Niño and La Niña is responsible for some of the weather whiplash we get from year to year, particularly in the Western U.S.,” said Fasullo. “What we find when we look at model simulations of the future is that the whiplash is likely to get more severe.”

Study co-author Ming Cai is a program officer in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences.

‘These simulations show that the continuous rising of global mean temperature will leave regions of the U.S., including California, more vulnerable to severe droughts and widespread wildfires in the future, especially during La Niña years,” said Cai.

El Niño events are characterized by unseasonably warm surface water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, while the water in this region is cooler than usual during La Niña events.

These events can influence weather patterns across the planet, with far-reaching consequences such as changes in fire risk, crop yields, and energy demand. 

For their investigation, the researchers used two sets of simulations: one from the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and the other from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Earth System Model.


After the models were run dozens of times under various starting conditions, the scientists were able to recognize the impacts linked with El Niño and La Niña.


“We can't say from this study whether more or fewer El Niños will form in the future, or whether the El Niños that do form will be stronger or weaker,” said Fasullo. “But we can say that an El Niño that forms in the future is likely to have more influence over our weather than if the same El Niño formed today.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Erik A. Ellison, Wikimedia Commons

El Niño, La Niña will worsen the effects of intensifying weather

A new study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)...

A recent study is shedding new light on why Neanderthals may have dwindled out just as Homo sapiens were emerging across Europe. The researchers found that two distinct time periods of extremely cold and dry conditions coincided with the disappearance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-created-fires/">Neanderthals</a> in different parts of the continent. 

Michael Staubwasser of the <a href="https://www.portal.uni-koeln.de/uoc_home.html?L=1">University of Cologne</a> in Germany said, “Whether they moved or died out, we can't tell.” 

Neanderthals vanished from Europe and Asia around 40,000 years ago, which is relatively soon after Homo sapiens arrived. Many theories have emerged about what may have happened to our predecessors. Some scientists blame the abrupt change in climate, while others speculate that Homo sapiens dominated the region's resources.

For the current investigation, the team analyzed a cold and dry spell that struck 44,000 years ago and lasted for about 1,000 years. The climate became extremely cold and dry again a few thousand years later, and the conditions persisted for about 600 years.

The timing of these two climate change events lines up with fossilized evidence that shows Neanderthals disappearing and Homo sapiens appearing in sites such as France and the Danube River valley.

The researchers explained that the abrupt climate changes would have shifted forests into grasslands, and Homo sapiens may have been better suited to live in this environment compared to the Neanderthals.

According to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html">Daily Mail</a>, Rick Potts of the <a href="https://www.si.edu/">Smithsonian Institution</a> said the study is “a refreshing new look” at this time in the history of our ancestors.

"As has been said before, our species didn't outsmart the Neanderthals," said Potts. “We simply out-survived them. The new paper offers much to contemplate about how it occurred.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proceedings_of_the_National_Academy_of_Sciences_of_the_United_States_of_America">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change likely caused Neanderthals to disappear in Europe

A recent study is shedding new light on why Neanderthals...

John Wesley Powell explored the Colorado River and Grand Canyon in one of the most stunning feats of European-American exploration in the US.  

In 1869, the Grand Canyon was terra incognito, especially to non-native Americans.  It was in this year that John Wesley Powell and nine men descended the canyon in four wooden boats.  The expedition descended 900 miles of the river, most of which was completely unknown to the expedition.  There was no one of telling whether there were waterfalls in narrow canyons or un-shootable rapids down river.  When Powell’s expedition put into the Colorado River, it was wholly wild. 

Despite the beautiful descriptions found in Powell’s writing, and despite the mythic names he placed on the land like ‘Bright Angel Creek’, or ‘Vulcan’s Throne’ and calling the Grand Canyon ‘library of the Gods’; John Wesley Powell came in the name of the federal government.  Powell’s famous expedition inevitably made development of the west possible, even if his specific recommendations have been largely ignored. In a way Powell’s exploration of the Grand Canyon ended an age of innocence in river descents. For those who follow Powell down rivers, there now always looms the possibility of a once wild river dammed into a Hell of tourists in house boats.

From 1956 to 1966, nearly 100 years after Powell’s audacious descent, the Glen Canyon Dam was built across the Colorado River.  Before Glen Canyon was flooded, the Colorado was already dammed. The Hoover Dam ushered in a new type of poverty under the guise of hydroelectric wealth to the American west.  Completed in 1936, the Hoover Dam killed 100 workers and flooded the Black Canyon of the Colorado (not to be confused with the Black Canyon of the Gunnison). It’s usually the Glen Canyon Dam, not the Hoover, that is remembered with pain by those clinging to visions of wild rivers and empty canyons.  Ever forgotten, the first dam on the Colorado River was Laguna Dam, built between 1903 and 1905 right after the Reclamation Act passed Congress in 1902. 

Dams have long been a sore spot for environmentalists.  Sometimes dams flood special places like Glen Canyon. Sometimes unique features disappear like the dinosaur footprints that march unknowingly into and beneath the waves of Lake Powell.  Dams displace people at times and can destroy plant life, archaeology, landscapes. Sometimes dams block important fish (or other animal) migrations.

Usually the damming of a river has a feel of finality about it.  A river dammed means an end of canyon exploration, of river running and a beginning of motor boats and paved campsites.  In the long run though, nothing is forever and Ed Abbey captured a bit of humor and long term optimism in a <a href="https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/edward-abbey-remarks-glen-canyon-dam-spring-equinox-1981">speech</a> he gave at the Glen Canyon Dam on the Spring Equinox of 1981:

“The good news I bring will certainly come to pass. The collapse of Glen Canyon Dam is as inevitable as the rising of the moon, or the revival of spring, or the flow of the river home to the sea. Let the engineers build fifty more dams between here and the Rockies, they can only retard, they cannot stop, the irresistible processes of erosion and renewal. The mountains and plateaus will continue to be uplifted, the rains and snows will fall, the waters will plunge downward back to their source, again and again and again.”

On human time scales though, probably most of us won’t be able to raft down an undammed Colorado River or explore the hidden secrets of Glen Canyon on foot.  On the scale of our lives, the Colorado River is dammed and the river one day shaking off its concrete shackles seems a distant fantasy. 

Besides the collapse of dams from natural processes, there is a beacon of hope.  Dam projects have slowed throughout the western US. <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/2018/02/dam-removal-in-2017/">American Rivers</a> goes so far as to proclaim: 

“In the midst of all the challenges 2017 saw for rivers and clean water, it was a record year for removing outdated, unsafe dams!”

86 <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hydropower-dams-andes-amazon/">dams</a> were torn down in 2017, beating the previous record of 78 dams being removed in 2014.  Dams were removed in 21 states, including the western states: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.  Dams are expensive to maintain, dangerous as they age and are quickly becoming outdated as a source of energy. These are some of the reasons dams are starting to be removed in much of the US. 

Although dams are being decommissioned in some areas, many more are continuing to build them.  <a href="http://www.pbl.nl/en/infographic/plans-for-3700-new-dams">A study</a> from PBL, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, showed that globally there are plans for 3,700 new dams.  According to the study, if only economic ends were pursued and the dam potential of the world was fully exploited, 8 million people would potentially be displaced.  The study also states that there are currently 8600 large dams worldwide. 

According to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/opinion/the-price-of-damming-tibets-rivers.html">New York Times</a> article, in 2015, China had 26,000 major dams, more than the rest of the world combined.  Major dams have now been built in Tibet to benefit Chinese cities with more electricity.     

Ed Abbey once floated through Glen Canyon on the Colorado River with his friend, Ralph Newcomb before the infamous dam was built.  In a way floating any major river in the world is a quixotic act of defiance against industrial development.

Today there are rafting guiding organizations that specialize in guiding raft trips to river destined to be dammed in an attempt to raise awareness for the beauty and peril of wild rivers.  <a href="http://www.lastdescents.info/">Last Descents</a> is one such organization, working in China, the world’s most dam hungry country.  Last Descents seems hopeful, despite China continuing to develop hydroelectric plans, in the ‘About’ section of there website, they state the idea behind their project:

“We believe that the wild rivers of western China have an important role in the future of the rapidly developing nation. By bringing urban Chinese to these areas we hope to facilitate a positive exchange between the rivers and our guests.  The river is a place to slow down, to be with family, it is a place for children and adults to grow, learn, and reconnect with themselves. We engage our guests in discussing how these rivers can be protected for generations to come.”

<a href="http://www.sierrarios.org/">Sierra Rios</a> is another such organization, with a much broader geographic focus.  The list of places Sierra Rios now offers trips to is only in Peru and Mexico, members of the organization have created a <a href="https://mexicanwhitewater.org/">guidebook</a> to white water of Mexico.  <a href="https://vimeo.com/115319041">A short documentary</a> about the organization and a descent of Peru’s Rio Marañón was also made.

There’s no doubt that damming of the Rio Marañón, primary source of the legendary Amazon River (as planned) would be tragic.  There seems little evidence that no matter how well intentioned, organizations bringing people to raft rivers have any real political power.  A descent down a river may change your life; rivers probably profoundly influenced lives of Ed Abbey and John Wesley Powell. But Abbey and not even Powell could stop rivers from being tamed.  Dams have been built. Is a last trip down a river slated for damming political activism or is it simply a sad goodbye? In the end, Abbey’s right; we may not be able to stop dams from being built but in the end, engineers can’t make them stand forever either.                    

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Last descents: Dams flood some of nature’s most special places

John Wesley Powell explored the Colorado River and Grand Canyon...

One of the biggest concerns that scientists have about the impacts of climate change is that carbon emissions are increasing temperatures at too fast a rate for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-moving-fast/">plants and animals to adapt</a>.

This means that in the coming decades, biodiversity could drastically decrease and our Earth will look very different from how it does today.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona (UA)</a> led a study published in the journal Science that projected the future of vegetation on Earth based on how plant life changed at the end of the last ice age.

When the planet warmed at the end of the last ice age, it drove major changes in the global landscape, which could happen over a rapidly increased rate in the next 100 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

“We found that ecosystems all over the globe experienced big changes,” said Connor Nolan, a doctoral candidate in the UA Department of Geosciences and the lead author of the study. “About 70 percent of those sites experienced large changes in the species that were there and what the vegetation looked like.”

First, the researchers compiled data from published reports on how vegetation changed after the last age for 594 sites around the world.

The vegetation, climate, and ecological data included information on every continent except Antarctica and covered a period from 21,000 years ago (the height of the last ice age) to the pre-industrial era.

For each site, Nolan had experts weigh in to determine if the vegetation change in a particular area was low, moderate, or large. Using these quantifiers, the researchers were able to better compare the sites and changes through the years.

The areas that had largest increases in temperature since the ice age also had the biggest documented changes in vegetation.

More than 67 percent of the 594 sites had high or large changes in vegetation and 26 percent experienced moderate changes according to the experts who were part of the study.

Once the researchers knew how temperature changes had impacted vegetation around the world, that data was used to project future vegetation changes based on various greenhouse-gas emission scenarios.

“We used the results from the past to look at the risk of future ecosystem change,” said Nolan. “We find that as temperatures rise there are bigger and bigger risks for more ecosystem change.”

Since the last ice age, the Earth has warmed seven to thirteen degrees Fahrenheit. Climate 
change research suggests that greenhouse gas emissions will drive temperatures to increase as much if not more in the next 100 to 150 years.

If this happens, the new study shows that it will completely change the Earth’s vegetation and threaten global biodiversity.

“If we allow climate change to go unchecked, the vegetation of this planet is going to look completely different than it does today, and that means a huge risk to the diversity of the planet,” said Jonathan Overpeck, a co-author of the study. “We're talking about the same amount of change in 10 to 20 thousand years that's going to be crammed into a century or two," he said. "Ecosystems are going to be scrambling to catch up.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change could spur drastic changes in global vegetation

One of the biggest concerns that scientists have about the...

Plantlife, soil, and water sources within an ecosystem all communicate with each other via a connected network, according to a new study. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=500044">National Science Foundation's (NSF) Critical Zone Observatory</a> found that ecosystems contain a kind of telecommunications network that warns of precipitation changes and sends signals through the soil, atmosphere, and vegetation. 

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and provides new ways to track and predict how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-droughts-hotter/">droughts and other changes in climate conditions </a>will affect an ecosystem as a whole. 

“The results show the ways in which watersheds respond to precipitation disturbances, in this case rainfall and drought," said Richard Yuretich, NSF CZO program director in a <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=296321&amp;WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&amp;WT.mc_ev=click">National Science Foundation news release</a>. “The information is important to predicting how ecosystems will respond to future extreme events.”

For the study, the researchers collected data from several Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) sites before, during, and after droughts and excessive rainfall.  The researchers focused on changes in heat flows, moisture levels in the soil, and fluctuations in carbon concentrations. 

One CZO site, Reynolds Creek, experienced heavy rain in 2015 while another site had many years of drought that started in 2012 .

Both of these extremes led to changes and the researchers noted how information was sent along networks within the ecosystems.

“These events send information through connected components of ecosystems, similar to the way information flows through telecommunication networks,” said Praveen Kumar, a co-author of the paper to the NSF. “This kind of analysis is new to ecological and hydrologic studies and lets us study changes in the level of connectivity among different components, and whether responses are site-specific or common across different ecosystems.” 

The CZO sites allowed the researchers to collect and analyze data from different elevations at the same place.

After noticeable changes in precipitation at the different sites, the researchers observed an increase in communication between different components of each ecosystem. 

“At the Idaho site, we saw increased connectivity between the atmosphere and the soil in the period directly after rainfall,” Allison Goodwell, the lead author of the study told the NSF. “At the Southern Sierra site, we found that heat and carbon fluxes responded to the drought in different ways, and that connectivity varied between high- and low-elevation sites.”

Ecosystems with a strong network of communication can influence changes in how precipitation impacts moisture levels in the soil and heat and carbon changes. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

During drought, plants, soil, and water communicate

Plantlife, soil, and water sources within an ecosystem all communicate...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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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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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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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