Natural,Environment,Climate-neutral,Long-term,Emissions,Strategy,Net,Zero,2050,Carbon

Balancing cleaner air with rising incomes is not a luxury question for developing countries. It is a real-world, and real-life, policy problem that shapes health, jobs, and the future of their cities.



A new <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S0217590825500304" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> lays out when zero emissions can go hand in hand with steady <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-will-cut-world-gdp-by-a-staggering-40-percent-if-nothing-changes/">growth</a>, even when governments rely on foreign aid.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zero-emissions-and-economic-growth">Zero emissions and economic growth</h2>



The work comes from <a href="https://tus.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/hideo-noda" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hideo Noda</a> at the Tokyo University of Science (<a href="https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TUS</a>) with coauthor Fengqi Fang, a Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business Administration at TUS. 



The team builds a simple but testable way to check if a country can hit zero net <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-trade-is-fueling-a-dangerous-rise-in-methane-emissions/">emissions</a> while its economy keeps expanding.



They also verify the model numerically using real world style parameters so it is not just a chalkboard exercise. 



The paper connects theory to a specific United Nations target on decoupling growth from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/limiting-global-warming-to-1-5c-is-almost-certainly-out-of-reach/">environmental damage</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zero-emissions-models">Zero emissions models</h2>



First, the authors define a zero-emissions <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">policy</a> as keeping net pollution at zero at every point in time, by matching abatement to emissions. That requires money, technology, and clear rules to assign who pays.



They run two versions of the economy. 



One is a public goods <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/stantcheva/files/lecture8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">model</a> where government services like roads or schools lift private production for everyone at once, a standard growth <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/261726" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">model</a> introduced by Robert Barro in 1990. 



The second adds <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-will-climate-change-hit-hardest-global-index-reveals-vulnerability/">congestion</a>, where more people share the same public services so the boost per person shrinks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-minimum-income-rule">Minimum income rule</h2>



The key test is whether gross domestic product (<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GDP</a>) per capita rises above a minimum income threshold so a country can fully clean what it emits. 



The authors call this the kindergarten rule level of abatement, as in: “clean-up what you make dirty.”



"Following the Kindergarten rule means implementing zero emission technologies in either finite time or asymptotically," noted M. Scott Taylor and William Brock in their related <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w9597" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>. 



This frame anchors the new threshold concept for developing countries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aid-supports-clean-income-growth">Aid supports clean income growth</h2>



Many low income governments fund services with official development assistance (<a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/official-development-assistance-oda.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ODA</a>), so the model lets outside aid pay for both cleaning and public services. 



That design reflects classic work showing how aid aimed at productive public services can shift long run growth.



In related <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304387806000290" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">theory</a>, flexible labor and aid tied to public capital influence the path of output and welfare. The new paper extends this logic to pollution control that must be paid for every year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changing-income-threshold">Changing income threshold</h2>



The threshold depends on clean technology, population size, and how much aid is fixed to environmental <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/expanding-oil-and-gas-fields-threaten-global-climate-goals/">uses</a>. Better abatement technology lowers the income bar because each dollar of cleanup removes more pollution.



Population matters differently across the two models. In the public goods case, a larger labor force can raise growth because services scale with the economy, while in the congestion case that scale effect drops out as services get diluted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taxes-and-zero-emissions-targets">Taxes and zero emissions targets</h2>



The model also looks at tax policy, focusing on a labor income tax that finances services. 



There is a tax rate that maximizes the growth of income per person, and under both models governments can reach the needed income threshold in finite time if they choose that growth maximizing rate.



Public services that complement private capital are the link. When governments tax and spend on those services efficiently, private firms produce more and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-action-economies-can-grow-while-cutting-emissions/">economy climbs</a> to the income level that makes full abatement feasible.



"Both models indicate that implementing the zero-emissions policy is compatible with sustainable economic growth," wrote Noda. 



They also show the kindergarten rule threshold is higher with congestion than without it, so crowding of public services slows the crossing.



"We call this threshold the kindergarten rule level of pollution abatement in terms of GDP per capita," wrote Noda. The result gives policymakers a clear income target, not just a slogan about decoupling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-income-growth-and-sdgs">Income growth and SDGs</h2>



Target 8.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (<a href="https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SDGs</a>) asks countries to decouple growth from environmental degradation. 



The authors argue their framework helps explain when that is possible in practice, and how policy levers change the timing.



The UN defines the <a href="https://metadata.un.org/sdg/8.4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">target</a> as improving resource efficiency and decoupling growth from environmental harm through 2030. The paper’s threshold view fits that mandate with a concrete yardstick.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-results-still-matter">Why results still matter</h2>



Earlier <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652621009112" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> in the same research stream focused on developed, innovation-driven economies and showed that zero emissions could be achieved alongside continued growth. 



That study examined whether sustained economic expansion could occur while also maintaining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-net-zero-world-will-require-75-trillion-of-investment-and-1-billion-electric-cars/">zero net pollution emissions</a>.



The new paper shows the same compatibility can hold in aid dependent settings where innovation is not the main growth engine. 



That extension fills a real gap, because many low income countries face tighter fiscal and technological limits.



Build or buy cleaner technology so the threshold falls. Treat tied aid for environmental programs as a growth tool and not just a cost center.



Set tax policy to raise the growth rate of income per person, then sustain it long enough to pass the threshold. Guard against congestion by scaling services with population, so gains are not diluted.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S0217590825500304" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Singapore Economic Review</a>.



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Net-zero emissions and rising income levels can both be achieved simultaneously

Balancing cleaner air with rising incomes is not a luxury question for developing countries. It is a real-world, and real-life, policy problem that shapes health, jobs, and the future of their cities. A new study lays out when zero emissions can go hand in hand with steady growth, even when governments rely on foreign aid. Zero emissions and economic growth The work comes from Hideo Noda at the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) with coauthor Fengqi Fang, a Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration from the Graduate School...

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...

Droughts have been a common occurrence in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/california-drought-winners-losers/">California</a> in recent decades, and while water rationing for both the public and agriculture is usually the main concern, there are other consequences as well. A new study has found that droughts in central California are causing some areas to sink by as much as 50 centimeters a year.

“'With the heavy storms in early 2017, Californians were hopeful that the drought was over,' said Kyle Murray, a <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> geophysics doctoral candidate and co-author of the study. “There was a pause in land subsidence over a large area, and even uplift of the land in some areas. But by early summer the subsidence continued at a similar rate we observed during the drought.”

California experiences a large amount of groundwater extraction, which is occurring at a rate much faster than it can be replenished. Roughly 80 percent of groundwater usage in the state is for agriculture, and in the farming region of the Tulare Basin in central California, farmers have been extracting groundwater for over a century. Previous studies between 1962 and 2011 have found that the average volume of groundwater depletion each year was at least a half cubic-mile.

For this study, the researchers used satellite imagery of the San Joaquin Valley between 2012 and 2016 to determine that the depletion of the Tulare Basin groundwater volume was around 10 miles cubed, just in that short period of time.

The valley contains about 75 percent of the state’s irrigated agricultural land, and supplies 8 percent of the United States’ agricultural output. “The California water problem has been examined from different angles in the past decades. This is one piece of that,” says Rowena Lohman, a Cornell associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences. “In this research, we observed 50 centimeters of subsidence during the drought, and then heavy rains and snowfall over several months in the spring occurred and subsidence slowed down. Six months after the rain – in summer, 2017 – we observed that subsidence rates are again approaching their previous high levels. It was business as usual.”

Subsidence can result in damaged infrastructure and sinkholes, which put the public in danger. “'One of the places where it really matters in California is the aqueduct system that brings water to the region. They’re engineered very carefully to have the correct slope to carry a given amount of water,” Lohman explains. “Now, one of the major aqueducts in that area is bowed and can’t deliver as much water. It’s been a huge engineering nightmare. Eventually, the water quality and cost of extracting it could get to the point where it is effectively no longer available.”

With California being not only one of the most populated states in the U.S., but also one of the most important agriculturally, the ongoing droughts are a major issue for a number of reasons. With no impactful solutions currently available, we may soon be facing a future where California truly becomes a desert – and a sinking one at that.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Drought conditions have caused parts of California to sink

Droughts have been a common occurrence in California in recent...

An international research team led by the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> has found that the world's land-based ecosystems, such as forests and grasslands, are facing the threat of “major transformation” if harmful greenhouse gas emissions are not dramatically reduced. 

The researchers investigated the fate of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems by analyzing changes in vegetation that occurred during a period of post-glacial warming. Using fossil records, the experts projected future changes based on different emissions scenarios.

The team determined that if little is done to reduce <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-conditioning-emissions-deaths/">harmful emissions</a>, vegetation changes will not only be more severe than previously realized, but will also be much more widespread across the planet's wild landscapes.

Study co-author Jonathan Overpeck is the dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He explained that this far-reaching ecological shift would threaten global biodiversity and disrupt critical services that are provided to us by nature, including carbon storage and water security.

“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.”

Overpeck emphasized that the team's results are not just hypothetical, and that some of the expected vegetational changes are already underway in places like the American West and Southwest, where forests are dying and massive wildfires are transforming the landscape.

“We're talking about global landscape change that is ubiquitous and dramatic,” said Overpeck. “And we're already starting to see it in the United States, as well as around the globe.”

The research, which took five years to complete, was developed by Overpeck in collaboration with co-author Stephen T. Jackson of the U.S. Geological Survey. The study is the first of its kind to use paleoecological data to estimate the extent of ecosystem changes on a global scale. 

“We used the results from the past to look at the risk of future ecosystem change,” said study first author Connor Nolan. “We find that as temperatures rise, there are bigger and bigger risks for more ecosystem change.”

If emissions continue at the current rate, the probability of large-scale vegetation change is greater than 60 percent, according to the study. If global warming is limited to less than two degrees Celsius, the probability of large-scale vegetation change drops to less than 45 percent.

Much of the change would occur during the 21st century, and would likely continue into the 22nd century and beyond. 

“A lot of the carbon now locked up by vegetation around the planet could be released to the atmosphere, further amplifying the magnitude of the climate change,” said Overpeck.

“It's a huge challenge we as a nation and global community need to take more seriously.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</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>

Rate of climate change will drastically alter Earth’s ecosystems

An international research team led by the University of Michigan...

When most people think of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/summer-eastern-mediterranean/">Mediterranean</a>, they probably imagine rolling hills covered in vineyards or olive orchards.  Beaches, ancient ruins and quaint villages with cobbled roads also come to mind or perhaps large cities such as Rome. Italy, Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean weren’t always so bucolic; once the area was as wild as anywhere and the ancient people who once lived there knew it.  The Mediterranean is much more than its stereotype. 

The Mediterranean Basin is at a hub joining Africa, Asia and Europe, making it a confluence of different influences, both culturally and biologically.  According to <a href="https://www.arkive.org/eco-regions/mediterranean-basin/">Arkive</a>, nearly 12,000 species are found only in the Mediterranean Basin including 52% of the basin’s plants.  

The Mediterranean Sea itself is the world’s largest inland sea.  Being in such a dynamic place in the world, there has been historically a fascinating human history of war, trade, art and philosophy.  There is also a rich natural history in this region of the world. The Mediterranean is home to Europe’s only monkey (and only non-human primate), the Barbary Macaque.  Ideas of wilderness, agriculture and gods of wine, farming, hunting all first became a part of western culture in the Mediterranean. 

Prehistoric Greece was a very different place than its modern counterpart or it’s famed ancient past.  Myths of the cyclops may have originated from the little known prehistory of the Mediterranean. Once, mammoths and other elephantids roamed through Italy and Greece; the ancients found the bones of these creatures and reconstructed them in an unlikely configuration.  

Elephant skulls (and their allies such as mammoths and mastodons) are dominated by large central holes where trunks attach.  It’s easy to see how a hole for a trunk might be interpreted as the socket of a giant eye. It was common for ancient fossils to be interpreted as the remains of some ancient hero in Greece (as well as throughout the world).  Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean, often studied for ancient people, also has a fascinating paleontological record. There was even a miniature species of mammoth that once lived in Crete. Aristotle was one of the few ancients that had a fairly modern interpretation of some fossils, Aristotle realized that sea shell fossils found far above sea level meant that the oceans were once much higher or land much lower.   

The wildness of Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean didn’t simply disappear with the mammoths when humans arrived on the scene.  For a long time, forests thrived in the area before succumbing to exploitation. Greek mythology holds little clues to the once wild Greece.  Nature gods, tree and water spirits, huntresses all harken back to a past before most of the Mediterranean region was tamed. Interesting, the oldest known story, a work stamped into tablets in Cuneiform has a story of deforestation in the Mediterranean region.  In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero kills a demon guarding the cedars of Lebanon so he could build a gate to his city of Ur.

In his book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mPKZftM7lCgC&amp;q=greecce#v=onepage&amp;q=Mediterranean&amp;f=false">The Practice of the Wild</a>, Gary Snyder discusses the destruction of the Mediterranean forests: 

“The Cautionary history of the Mediterranean forests is well known.  Much of this destruction has taken place in recent centuries, but it was already well underway, especially in the lowlands, during the classical period.  In Neolithic times the whole basin had perhaps 500 million acres of forest. The higher-elevation forests are all that survive, and even they occupy only 30 percent of the mountain zone – about 45 million acres.  Some 100 million acres of land once densely covered with pine, oak, ash, laurel, and myrtle now have only traces of vegetation.” 

Because of the long human habitation of the Mediterranean region, many of the forests have been displaced by scrublands.  In fact there is a relatively sophisticated vocabulary for different types of scrubland with terms for different assemblages of post-forest scrub.    

There are still odd pockets of wildness in even the most urbane nations of the Mediterranean region, such as Italy.  A few hours from Rome, there are brown bears, differing from the grizzlies of places like Wyoming and Alaska only by being a different subspecies.  The Marsican bear is isolated from the nearest brown bears in the Italian Alps. In 2011, the Marsican bear population was estimated to be around 49 individuals.  There is good habitat between this bear population and the one in the Alps though, it is theoretically possible that the two bear populations could colonize the gap between them and start repopulating the area.    

Bears aren’t the only dangerous large predator to once live in the Mediterranean region.  Lions also have a long history in the Mediterranean region. It’s probably not surprising to think of lions living in northern Africa, just south of the Mediterranean Sea, but they also lived in Europe and were more widespread in parts of Asia.  Greek myths have several references to lions including the Nemean Lion, a vicious monstrous cat that was eventually killed by Heracles/Hercules. 

The oldest lion remains in Europe are subfossils found in Basque country in the Spanish Pyrenees.  There are also many historical references to lions living in Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean.  Herodotus wrote that lions killed camels in Persian emperor Xerxes (of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/">300</a> fame) military caravan in Greece for instance.  Today there are no wild lions in Greece or Europe at all; there is a small population of lions in India though.  

The loss of megafauna like bears and lions in the Mediterranean goes hand in hand with the loss of forests and other wild habitats.  For some the loss of wild Greece, Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean is the cost of civilization. A rich landscape with fertile soils and wild images to grow in the imagination had to be important for the creation of ‘civilization’ though.  Much of the mythology I’ve mentioned is dependent on wild themes and it’s only a small sliver of the whole. 

It seems the expansion of Rome into an international empire was a key factor in the deforestation of large parts of the Mediterranean.  According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman_period">Wikipedia</a>, the Roman Empire once boasted a population of 56.8 million people, 1 million being in the capital of Rome itself.  The number of people building houses, building ships, clearing land for agriculture makes it easy to imagine a large impact on local forests.  Military conquests of Rome were also hard on the lands of the Mediterranean. 

At one time, there were sacred forests, living embodiments of classical mythology in Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean.  <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20723131?read-now=1&amp;refreqid=excelsior%3A88541ac7e8c46b3db899e7a189cb0d17&amp;seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents">Ovid wrote</a>, “Here stands a silent grove black with the shade of oaks; at the sight of it, anyone could say, ‘There is a God in here!’ ”.  Today the wild mystery of the ancient Mediterranean seems to have largely disappeared.

Three bears in Italy died of poisoning as late as 2007.  In 2013, more poisoned bait was found in the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (PNALM), heart of the bear’s remaining territory, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/">Mongabay</a> reported.  <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/mediterranean-forests-are-buring-issue">The IUCN</a> reported in 2008 that as much as 400,000 hectares of forest burn each year in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece.  Development and increased population, illegal logging all contribute to even more destruction of the Mediterranean’s remaining forests.  What’s left continues to be under threat. 

Most of the forest is gone.  The mammoths are just fossils.  Lions are extirpated and bears are quickly disappearing.  What we have left is largely the wild words of mythology, the wild images of art.  We have left the deep bones of western culture, first built when the world was young and full of a wild mystery.    

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How the once-sprawling Mediterranean forests were destroyed

When most people think of the Mediterranean, they probably imagine...

You’ve probably seen or heard recurring concern surrounding the catalytic potential of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/supervolcano-eruptions-warning-signs/">Yellowstone supervolcano eruption. </a>

Researchers have long speculated about the Yellowstone Caldera, whether or not it’s likely to erupt in this lifetime, and what that would mean for life on Earth. 

However, a recent report published in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/08/21/yellowstone-supervolcano-biggest-threat-large-quake/973640002/">USA Today</a> found that a volcanic eruption isn’t the natural disaster we should be worried about. Instead, a 7.0 magnitude or larger earthquake underneath Yellowstone is much more likely to occur in the coming years.

Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active regions on the planet, and up to 2,500 mini-quakes occur in the park every year unbeknownst to the millions of tourists that flock to the area. 

Bigger quakes have happened in Yellowstone, and in 1959, a huge earthquake caused massive devastation.

The 7.3 earthquake created a landslide that killed 28 people and caused 80 million tons of debris and rocks to come loose and block off a river, according to USA Today. 

Now experts agree that it’s not a matter of if but when another large earthquake will strike the area. 

“The biggest concern we have for Yellowstone is not with the volcano, it’s with earthquakes,” Michael Poland, the scientist-in-charge at the <a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/">Yellowstone Volcano Observatory</a> told USA Today. “This is an underappreciated hazard in the Yellowstone area. There can and there will be in the future magnitude-7 earthquakes.”

What is most concerning to scientists is that in the event of another major earthquake, the effects will be far more devastating than what happened in 1959, as there are now far more people visiting the park every year. 

There are more than 40 seismic stations located around Yellowstone that are constantly monitoring and recording the seismic activity of the region, and although no one can yet predict exactly when an earthquake will strike, data records are crucial for predicting the likelihood of future activity. 

Although there are very good chances that a large earthquake will occur in the future, it doesn’t pose enough of an imminent threat to merit too much concern for park visitors. 

“We like to talk about these big, grandiose things happening like big earthquakes or large volcanic eruptions, but those are highly unlikely events,” Jamie Farrell, a geology professor at the University of Utah, told USA Today. “You’re in much more danger driving to Yellowstone than you would be by any of these things happening while you’re there.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Step aside supervolcano, this is Yellowstone’s biggest threat

You’ve probably seen or heard recurring concern surrounding the catalytic...

Just because some species have been able to adapt to climate change in the past doesn't mean that they will do so well in the future. 

A new study, led by researchers from the <a href="https://macroecology.ku.dk/">Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate</a> at the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>, found that current rates of climate change may be too fast for species to adapt and evolve as they have in the past. 

The results show that our understanding of biodiversity and climate change’s impact on the evolution of species needs to better reflect future projected rates of climate change. 

During past periods of drastic environmental changes, animals either adapted, migrated to more hospitable habitats, or went extinct.

As climate change becomes more serious today, animals are responding. We see that flowers are blooming at different times to match seasonal changes, and animals like owls are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snowshoe-hares-camouflage-winter-coats/">changing their coloring</a> because of the warmer winters. 

The researchers reviewed studies and events that covered these past and present changes in species to better model the impacts of climate change on future biodiversity. 

The results were published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 

“We compiled an enormous amount of studies of events, which we know influenced biodiversity during the past million years,” said David Bravo-Nogues, the lead author of the study. “It turns out species have been able to survive new conditions in their habitat by changing either their behavior or body shape. However, the current magnitude and unseen speed of change in nature may push species beyond their ability to adapt.” 

The researchers found many species today come from lineages that were able to adapt to environmental changes. A species is considered adapted when whole population changes occur, such as animals changing their coloring. 

“From fossils and other biological ‘archives’ we have access to a nearly limitless number of case studies throughout Earth's history,” said Stephen Jackson, a co-author of the study. “This provides us with valuable knowledge of how climate changes of various rates, magnitudes, and types can affect biodiversity.” 

Previous species adaptation happened over a long period of time and it was a slow process, which suggests that given the fast pace of climate change today, many species may not be able to adapt quickly enough. 

Some species have already gone extinct because they were unable to keep up with the changes in their environment, and the researchers say that understanding how climate drives species’ adaptation or extinction is crucial for future conservation. 

“We know animals and plants have prevented extinction by adapt or migrate in the past. However, the models we use today to predict future climate change, foresee magnitudes and rates of change, which have been exceptionally rare in the last million years,” said Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez, a fellow co-author of the study. “Thus, we need to expand our knowledge and improve our prediction models.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Egle Kudirkiene

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change may be moving too fast for some species to keep up

Just because some species have been able to adapt to...

The smartphone has become an essential tool for navigating everyday life, but it also contains some of the rarest elements on Earth to make it work. 

Mining for these precious metals creates huge quantities of toxic waste, and the serious environmental impacts of smartphones may not be something that most people consider when they flock to buy the latest model from Apple or Samsung. 

A new report in <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-ways-making-a-smartphone-can-harm-the-environment-102148">The Conversation</a> examines the harm that smartphone mining has on the environment and how it unfairly impacts people living near major mining operations in China, Africa, Russia, Brazil and Australia. 

As smartphones continue to become more and more accessible, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smartphone-harmful-environment/">their toll on the environment</a> will also grow.  

In their piece for The Conversation, researchers Patrick Byrne and Karen Hudson-Edwards highlighted the negative impacts of toxic waste spills from mining and the effects on the ecosystem that smartphone production causes. 

The biggest issues can be traced back to the mining operations for the rare and precious metals that are needed to make smartphones work.

Gold, iron, aluminum, copper, and lesser-known praseodymium are the elements that help make phone displays so colorful, glass screens crack resistant, and the metal frames so lightweight.  

Iron, aluminum, and copper mining create tons of solid and liquid waste (called mine tailings) which are contained in huge structures, but sometimes dam failures and devastating spills occur. 

In 2015, a dam collapse released 33 million cubic meters of iron ore mine tailings in Brazil. The collapse killed 19 people and the toxic waste later flowed into the Atlantic Ocean. 

“Recent catastrophic mine tailings spills highlight the danger of improper construction methods and lax safety monitoring,” Byrne and Hudson-Edwards wrote. “One thing is clear though – as our thirst for technology increases, mine tailings dams are increasing in number and size, and so is their risk of failure.” 

Gold and tin mining have largely contributed to deforestation in the Amazon and mining not only degrades important habitats, but toxic waste from mining like mercury can end up in drinking water and in fish. 

Mining for tin-rich sand has also destroyed coral reef ecosystems near Indonesia. 

However, all this pales in comparison to the pollution and waste created from mining rare earth elements in China, Russia, and Australia. 

In China, you will find a huge dumping ground for the toxic waste created from these sort of mining operations called the “World's tech waste lake.” 

Byrne and Hudson-Edwards say that although companies are working to improve their mining methods, in order to prevent mine tailing spills and further damage to the environment, both consumers and manufacturers need to be more aware of the environmental impacts of the technology that runs our lives. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Smartphone manufacturing is brutal on the environment

The smartphone has become an essential tool for navigating everyday...

It’s well understood that increasing temperatures due to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-arctic-seabird-populations/">climate change</a> will have a significant impact on crop growth around the world – mainly from drought-like conditions and desertification of arable land. But it may surprise you (and concern you) to know that rising temperatures could have additional effects on crops, this time related to insects.

A new study has found that crop losses for critical food grains will increase as the climate warms, due to rising temperatures increasing the metabolic rate and population growth of insect pests. Researchers estimate that just a 2-degree rise in global average temperature could lead to total crop losses of about 213 million tons of rice, wheat, and maize.

The study involved assessing how the insect pests that attack these three crops would respond to a variety of climate scenarios. The scenarios showed that rising global temperatures would cause increased crop loss due to insects – particularly in temperate regions. These losses were projected to rise by 10 to 25 percent per degree of warming.

Increased crop loss is projected as a result of increased insect metabolism and faster insect population growth rates. “When the temperature increases, the insects’ metabolism increases so they have to eat more,” says Scott Merrill, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a>, and co-author of the study. “That’s not good for crops.”

Insects have an optimal temperature that is ideal for population growth. If the temperature of their environment is too cold or too hot, the population does not grow as quickly. Hence, the researchers’ results showing that crop losses will be more severe in the temperate regions – as temperatures could be too hot for insect population growth in tropical regions.

“Temperate regions are not at that optimal temperature, so if the temperature increases there, populations will grow faster,” Merrill explains. “But insects in the tropics are already close to their optimal temperature, so the populations will actually grow slower. It’s just too hot for them.”

The study – published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> – also determined that of the three crops, wheat will face the biggest losses. This is because it is typically grown in cooler climates, where increases in temperature will have the most profound effect on insect populations. Unfortunately, this also means that the most significant yield declines are predicted to occur in some of the world’s most productive agriculture areas. “The overall picture is, if you’re growing a lot of food in a temperate region, you’re going to be hit hardest,” says Merrill.

Any reduced yield in these three crops is a major concern. Wheat, rice, and maize are global staple crops, and in total account for 42 percent of the direct calories consumed by humans around the world. Significant crop losses may result in increased food insecurity, and could lead to conflicts in areas where food is already scarce. In particular, poorer countries will likely be hit the hardest, as advanced farming strategies and products such as pesticides aren’t used nearly as frequently as in richer countries. 

<a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> professor and co-author of the study, Curtis Deutsch concludes, “I hope our results demonstrate the importance of collecting more data on how pests will impact crop losses in a warming world – because collectively, our choice now is not whether or not we will allow warming to occur, but how much warming we’re willing to tolerate.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Keith Ewing

As climate warms, more insects will result in major crop loss

It’s well understood that increasing temperatures due to climate change...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Greenland's ground rises while coasts worldwide face higher seas

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

AI agent training boosts mental health and profits

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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