High in Alaska’s Brooks Range, streams that once ran so clear you could drink from them are now the color of rusty tea. The water looks hazy, smells metallic, and can stain rocks orange for miles.&nbsp;



Fish are struggling, insect life is smothered, and the change has arrived with startling speed. Scientists say the culprit isn’t industry. It’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/thawing-permafrost-could-tip-earths-climate-balance/">thawing permafrost</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-frozen-ground-wakes-up">When frozen ground wakes up</h2>



For millennia, Arctic permafrost - permanently frozen soil - locked minerals in place. As the region warms, that icy seal is failing. Water and oxygen seep into freshly thawed ground and set off a chain reaction in sulfide-rich rocks (pyrite is a prime example).&nbsp;



The chemistry is textbook: sulfides oxidize, sulfuric acid forms, and the acid leaches metals like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/iron-was-lifes-first-essential-metal-and-shaped-early-evolution/">iron</a>, aluminum, and cadmium from surrounding rock. Those metals then flush into rivers and streams.



“This is what acid mine drainage looks like,” said Tim Lyons, a biogeochemist at the University of California, Riverside. “But here, there’s no mine. The permafrost is thawing and changing the chemistry of the landscape.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-astounding-changes-in-water-chemistry">Astounding changes in water chemistry</h2>



A new study zeroes in on the Salmon River, a key waterway in the Brooks Range, documenting just how far the contamination has progressed.&nbsp;



But the authors stress the pattern isn’t isolated. Similar transformations are underway across dozens of Arctic watersheds that share the same mix of geology and thaw.



“I have worked and traveled in the Brooks Range since 1976, and the recent changes in landforms and water chemistry are truly astounding,” said David Cooper, a <a href="https://www.colostate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Colorado State University</a> research scientist and co-author of the study.



The alarm first sounded in 2019. Ecologist Paddy Sullivan of the <a href="https://www.alaska.edu/alaska/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Alaska</a> was flying into the backcountry to study northward-shifting forests when his bush pilot mentioned the Salmon hadn’t cleared after snowmelt - it looked, he said, “like sewage.”&nbsp;



Sullivan’s field observations led to a collaboration with Lyons, <a href="https://www.alaskapacific.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alaska Pacific University</a>’s Roman Dial, and others to trace the cause and measure the ecological fallout.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toxic-metals-in-alaska-s-rivers">Toxic metals in Alaska's rivers</h2>



The team’s analysis confirmed a geochemical cascade. Permafrost thaw exposes sulfide-bearing rocks, oxidation generates acidity, and the resulting acid mobilizes a suite of metals.&nbsp;



In small doses many metals are harmless or even essential. But at higher concentrations they become toxic to aquatic life - and the Salmon River’s waters now exceed the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> thresholds for several metals detrimental to fish and invertebrates.



Iron is the most visible signal. As iron oxidizes, it forms fine, orange precipitates that cloud the water and coat the streambed. That haze blocks sunlight that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-algae-that-once-cooled-earth-are-now-disappearing/">algae</a> and aquatic plants need, and the sludge blankets the gravel and cobbles where insect larvae live and fish spawn. 



Cadmium is more insidious: it can accumulate in fish organs, potentially affecting predators from Dolly Varden <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trout-living-in-polluted-rivers-evolved-to-tolerate-high-metal-levels-in-the-waters/">trout</a> and grayling to birds and bears.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ripple-effects-in-the-food-chain">Ripple effects in the food chain</h2>



For now, the researchers say metal levels in edible fish tissue are not considered hazardous to humans. But indirect risks loom large.&nbsp;



Chum salmon - central to the diets and culture of many Indigenous communities - lay their eggs in clean, oxygenated gravel. When those spaces fill with fine sediment and metal precipitates, the oxygen drops and eggs can suffocate. 



Changes in insect communities ripple up the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oceans-twilight-zone-stabilizes-the-marine-food-chain/">food chain</a>, weakening the foundation that supports juvenile fish and the species that eat them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-irreversible-shift-in-alaska-s-rivers">Irreversible shift in Alaska's rivers</h2>



Unlike mine sites - where engineers can install liners, drains, or neutralizing systems - these rivers wind through remote, roadless country, and the sources of contamination are everywhere thaw has reached the right rock. There is no single pipe to plug, no settling pond to build.



“Wherever you have the right kind of rock and thawing permafrost, this process can start,” Lyons said. And once it does, it tends to keep going. The only true “off switch” would be for the permafrost to refreeze - an unlikely prospect in a warming climate.



“There’s no fixing this once it starts,” Lyons said. “It’s another irreversible shift driven by a warming planet.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fingerprints-of-global-warming">Fingerprints of global warming</h2>



The experts hope their findings will help communities, land managers, and fisheries prepare - by expanding water quality monitoring, identifying vulnerable spawning grounds, planning alternative harvests if runs falter, and adapting management practices as conditions change.



The broader message is sobering. The Brooks Range is about as far from cities and smokestacks as you can get. Yet its rivers are wearing the unmistakable fingerprints of global warming.



“There are few places left on Earth as untouched as these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alaskas-rivers-are-rusting-and-the-changes-are-visible-from-space/">rivers</a>,” Lyons said. “But even here, far from cities and highways, the fingerprint of global warming is unmistakable. No place is spared.”



Rivers once known for their wild clarity are telling a new story - one where ancient ice, long trusted to keep the land’s chemistry in check, is finally letting go.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2425644122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



Image Credit: Taylor Rhoades



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Alaska's rivers are turning orange, and the changes are irreversible

High in Alaska’s Brooks Range, streams that once ran so clear you could drink from them are now the color of rusty tea. The water looks hazy, smells metallic, and can stain rocks orange for miles.&nbsp; Fish are struggling, insect life is smothered, and the change has arrived with startling speed. Scientists say the culprit isn’t industry. It’s thawing permafrost. When frozen ground wakes up For millennia, Arctic permafrost - permanently frozen soil - locked minerals in place. As the region warms, that icy seal is failing....

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) have found that the amount of coal power still being used across the globe is likely to put the climate targets established in Paris out of reach, regardless of the expanse of clean energy. 

Across many industries, decarbonization is not as simple as it is in others. This investigation is the first to focus on those sectors whose systems are not as easily transformed to clean forms of power.

Study co-author Shinichiro Fujimori is a researcher at the <a href="http://www.nies.go.jp/index-e.html">National Institute for Environmental Studies</a> (NIES) and Kyoto University in Japan.

“We wanted to decipher what really makes the difference in terms of carbon budgets and residual emissions,” explained Fujimori.

“To identify crucial decarbonization bottlenecks towards 1.5-2°C stabilization, we focused on the role of fossil fuel emissions that originate in industries like cement or steel making, fuel our transport sector from cars to freight to aviation and goes into heating our buildings.”

“These sectors are much more complicated to decarbonize than our energy supply, as there are no such obvious options available as wind and solar electricity generation.”


These are the activities that ultimately affect estimates of how much carbon dioxide will be emitted within this century, how much the world will have to rely on negative emissions, and if the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/paris-agreement-climate-goals/">Paris climate targets</a> will be feasible.

According to the study, to stay within the 1.5°C target limit, the remaining cumulative carbon budget could be as low as 200 gigatons of CO2 between now and the end of this century. However, at the current rate, 4.000 gigatons of CO2 will be emitted by 2100. The researchers concluded that negative emissions have now become mandatory.

“We found that even with enormous efforts by all countries, including early and substantial strengthening of the intended nationally determined contributions (the NDCs), our calculations show that residual fossil carbon emissions will remain at about 1000 Gigatons of CO2,” explained study lead author Gunnar Luderer from the PIK. 

“This seems to be a lower end of what can be achieved with even the most stringent climate policies, because much of the residual emissions are already locked-into the system due to existing infrastructures and dependencies on fossil fuels.” 

“To aim for the ambitious 1.5°C target for end-of-century warming would mean that an incredibly huge amount of at least 600 Gigatons of CO2 removal was required. So negative emissions are no longer a choice but rather a necessity.”

Study co-author Elmar Kriegler said that climate mitigation is a complex problem that, in the end, boils down to simple math.

“If the Paris targets are to be met, future CO2 emissions have to be kept within a finite budget,” said Kriegler. “The more the budget is overrun, the more relevant will carbon dioxide removal technologies become, and those come with great uncertainties.” 

“While it may still be difficult to determine the exact remaining CO2 budget for 1.5°C, one thing is very clear: Ambitions to reduce fossil fuel emissions have to be ramped up substantially and soon to keep doors open to meet the Paris targets.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Carbon removal will be needed to meet global climate goals

Researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)...

Wilderness is a quickly disappearing place and the wild a quickly vanishing experience.  The Amazon is becoming <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-deforestation-happening-officially-documented/">deforested</a>, tourists are overrunning American National Parks, even nominally wild animals are often radio collared and tracked.  What is left for those loving wild places and wild things? Where can we turn for the experience of the wild?

Venturing into wilder places and locales far from the comforts of home can be perilous, especially in the tropics, the area with the largest abundance of biodiversity.  I met a researcher in the rainforests of Equatorial Guinea who was diagnosed with ulcers. For years she took ulcer medicine until the diagnosis changed, it turned out she had a parasite the whole time.  My fiancé Erin told me of an epidemiologist college professor of hers who diagnosed herself with malaria. The doctors in the U.S. wouldn’t believe she had Malaria. 

I have my own tale.  A couple years back, Erin and I co-managed a nature reserve in the cloud forest of Ecuador.  One night after using the toilet, I found that something resembling an earth worm had come out of me.  I spent a sleepless night tossing and turning, imagining worms wriggling in my gut. The next day I hiked into town and got into a free clinic where they diagnosed me with a parasitic amoeba.  A week on antibiotics and I was again fine. Recently I drank high elevation untreated water in Mexico, filtered through a cave system, the water should be exceedingly clean but who knows what new organism could be growing inside me now?           

Your body is teeming with life and most of it is not your own.  Recently, I read an interview with ecosophist Jack Turner in The Sun Magazine, and when asked what exactly Turner meant by ‘wild’ he responded eloquently, saying it’s the opposite of control and then elaborated with examples:

“You can see wildness in the movement of glaciers, or you can track it in star-forming regions in the Orion Nebula. Wildness is everywhere. It starts with microscopic particles, and it goes more than 13 billion light-years into the cosmos. It’s in the soil and in the air, it’s on our hands, it’s in our immune systems, it’s in our lungs — where there are two thousand bacteria per square centimeter! In a certain respect, much of what we consider us is in fact not us. We breathe, and wildness comes in. We don’t control it.”   

According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikipedia</a>, earlier estimations found that there were ten times as many non-human cells as human cells in the body.  Newer and presumably more accurate estimations peg the number lower at three non-human cells to each human cell or perhaps about an equal number of each.  Either way, it’s clear there are many, many other organisms living in the bodies we call our own. We are in fact ecosystems as much as we are organisms. 

Most of us have probably had the experience of finding a tick on their skin.  Recently in the Mexican rainforest, I picked 15 of the blood suckers off myself in one day, and luckily none of them had attached themselves yet.  Leeches are also a common and easily recognized external parasite; there are however, unnoticed around a thousand species of bacteria living on your skin.  Most of the bacteria on your skin aren’t parasitic though, many are actually beneficial. The normal bacteria of your skin can actually prevent pathogens from colonizing your skin instead.  Imagine the porous, textured skin you take for granted, punctuated by the eruption of enormous hair follicles as a sort of forest or perhaps a desert sparsely planted but very much inhabited by strange creatures.  Interestingly, it seems that each part of your body may be a different microhabitat with a different set of bacteria living on it. The bacteria on your head are probably not the same bacteria on your feet. 

According to an article in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>, there are 100,000 billion bacteria in our guts.  The bacteria we host inside us are mostly organisms we have a long evolutionary history with, many help us.  Bacteria are essential to digesting food. There are at least three types of ecosystems found in the human digestive tract.  The differences in the ecology of different people’s guts may explain things like how individual bodies react to diseases or drugs. 

The different microbes living on and within us mostly maintain themselves in a harmonious balance, fitting exactly with Jack Turner’s definition of wildness, 

“…something that is self-willed, autonomous, self-organized. Basically it’s the opposite of controlled.”      

We don’t control the life inside us any more than we can ride wild grizzly bears.  I remember a slideshow I sat through when taking an undergraduate mycology class. It highlighted the many fungal infections a human can suffer.  It’s possible to get a yeast infection on your face. The weird thing about this is that there are any fungi on and in the human body all the time.  One study found 14 genera of fungi living between the toes of 100 adults. Our lungs inhale fungi all the time, if you don’t believe it get a petri dish with a medium fungi like to grow on, sterilize it and let it sit out anywhere.  Fungi will grow on the medium just by floating down on it from the surrounding air, within 24 hours you’re guaranteed to find something. It’s even more sure than finding pigeons in a park. If the ecosystem of your body becomes imbalanced, if your immune system is weak, then you can have problems.  Fungi infections to the degree I saw in that slide show are mostly rare because the ecosystem of our bodies regulates itself amazingly well. 

The level of control we exert on places like national forests, with their manicured trails, populations of deer closely monitored and trees replanted like crops in a farm hasn’t yet been reached in the human body.  Much of what we know about our deep symbiosis with bacteria, fungi and other microbes is very new and not deeply understood. What’s important is how our own lives and our definition of life should be rethought. We are in the habit of thinking of ourselves as distinct organisms and Homo sapiens as a distinct species.  It’s clear that there are actually no distinct species; everything from the tiniest of microbes to whales is part of a complex, thriving system and humans are no different.  The idea makes one think about things as big as the Gaiea Hypothesis, the idea that the whole planet is one super organism. To me it’s a comfort to think of myself not alone but enmeshed in a vast fabric of living and non-living things that make up not only the world but the entire cosmos.  In his book On Trails, Robert Moor describes well the amazing beauty of the human wilderness:

“I suddenly became aware of my own complexity: a riverine inner landscape swimming with cells both native and foreign; varied tissues clinging to and pulling against an architecture of bone; a digestive tract breaking down a bolus of plant material; two feet pressed against the earth; two nostrils sucking and spouting air; and in between, a branching network of nerves flickering with electricity in a furious effort to make sense of it all.  Inside the human body lies a realm of perpetual darkness and riotous life, much of it still unexplored. We are, each of us, wild to our marrow.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

The internal wilderness: Your body as a habitat for organisms

Wilderness is a quickly disappearing place and the wild a...

While <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/economic-impact-climate-change/">climate change models</a> are crucial for researchers, conservationists, and policy makers, these projections come with a level of uncertainty which can be challenging for creating accurate representations of future climate. 

One major problem for climate models is the unpredictability of the atmospheric heating and moistening of clouds. 

But now, a new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://engineering.columbia.edu/">Columbia Engineering</a> may have found a way to produce more accurate models by using machine learning to correctly represent how clouds will react to carbon emissions. 

The study was published in the journal American Geophysical Union. 

“This could be a real game-changer for climate prediction,” said Pierre Gentine, the lead author of the paper. “We have large uncertainties in our prediction of the response of the Earth’s climate to rising greenhouse gas concentrations. The primary reason is the representation of clouds and how they respond to a change in those gases. Our study shows that machine-learning techniques help us better represent clouds and thus better predict global and regional climate’s response to rising greenhouse gas concentrations.”

Gentine and a team of researchers created a machine-learning representation of clouds which they called Cloud Brain or CBRAIN. The researchers trained a deep neural network to learn from a simulation of clouds. 

CBRAIN is artificial intelligence which is why it could prove so useful for climate models. 

The researchers say that the machine learning technology could accurately predict cloud heating and moistening as well as global temperatures based on varying concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. 

“Our approach may open up a new possibility for a future of model representation in climate models, which are data-driven and are built ‘top-down,’ that is, by learning the salient features of the processes we are trying to represent,” said Gentine.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Game-changing AI tool can predict cloud responses to climate

While climate change models are crucial for researchers, conservationists, and...

Recently I camped in Padre Island National Seashore with my fiancé Erin.  Mostly we walked our dogs along the shore, waded and swam in the sea a bit on both sides of the island.  For a few hours, a friend of mine from Colorado and his girlfriend visited and we swam in the ocean. The eastern coast of north Padre Island where the seashore is located is a protected, calm hypersaline environment.  The hypersaline Madre Lagoon is a special environment unlike few on earth. The water is glassy smooth and you can watch people in the shallow waters fishing in waders and sailboarders gliding across the water near sunset.  Fish jump everywhere, rare roseate spoonbills and tricolor herons can be found there. Laughing gulls call through the warm summer air and brown pelicans fly across rolling grasslands in lines.

The last morning we were on Padre Island, Erin was lucky enough to witness the release of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles at the visitor center.  I stayed in the car with the dogs to make sure they weren’t too hot, as I’ve already participated in releasing sea turtles myself. Volunteering for five months at a biology field camp in Equatorial Guinea, I’ve taken tourists on excursions to watch sea turtles nesting as volunteers counted eggs and marked nests.

In 1866, when the ASPCA received its mandate from the state of New York, sea turtles were viewed in a very different light by Americans than they are today.  Turtles were shipped from the tropics and sold after days without food and water, tied to boats on their backs with rope through holes punched in their flippers.  Live turtles were seen by many Americans at the time as little more than a moving luxury meat.

Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA, arrested the captain of a sea turtle trading boat on charges of animal cruelty.  Eventually the ship’s captain and crew were acquitted as turtles were not seen as animals under the law, but the case was a victory in raising awareness of sea turtles and their plight.  

Today consumption of turtle or turtle eggs is generally out of fashion in America but it isn’t the case in other parts of the world.  I’ve seen the butchered bodies of leatherback sea turtles turned on their backs, guts piled neatly on leaves. I’ve seen turtles killed in Western Africa by corrupt military men with fake permits allowing them to hunt turtles.  It’s not just Africa either, the Americas, Australia, Asia, anywhere sea turtles have been found, people have eaten them or their eggs. Overtime, harvesting of sea turtles became over harvesting but in reality new fishing techniques are a big part of sea turtle decline. 

The Seri tribe of Sonora Mexico have a ceremony honoring captured leatherback sea turtles.  For four days the turtles is kept in a palm thatch hut and honored as a returned member of their tribe.  The ceremony stems from a myth in which a Seri girl turned into a leatherback. After four days, if the turtle survived, she was released without harm, if she died she was ceremonially eaten and her remains buried as if she were Seri.  It’s easy to write off ceremonies like this one as superstition, but we should bear in mind that we have our own strange cultural idiosyncrasies when encountering animals. 

When I volunteered in Equatorial Guinea, I was horrified that the volunteers were encouraged to kill crabs on the beach.  Crabs do predate sea turtle eggs and hatchlings, but they’re also part of the environment and as worthy as turtles. Many of the volunteers turned crab killing into a vicious game, crushing the crabs with a chosen stick, having contests to kill the most.  Others stomped, kicked and jumped on the helpless crabs with apparent glee. 

As I sat in the parking lot outside of the Padre Island visitors center, I could hear occasional words from a bullhorn, talking about sea turtles and I reflected.  I remember following an anchor rope down into the sea on my first SCUBA trip off Mexico’s Yucatan. At the bottom of the rope were two beautiful green sea turtles, turning and moving through the water like circling vultures on the wing.  The turtles were so graceful, a striking contrast to turtles hauling themselves laboriously across a beach under a full moon, to complete their life cycle. I thought about the first time I saw turtle track on a beach, pointed out to me by an old man in the Bahamas; they looked like tank tracks.  I wondered about my own part in conserving turtles. Leatherback turtles that nested on the beach when I was a volunteer were injected with microchips or scanned for old chips; we took tissue samples cut from their flesh. We counted and weighed eggs, carefully monitored the temperature of nests. 

People walked across the parking lot towards the Padre Island visitor center, casually texting on their phones or talking to each other in small groups.  A couple of dogs were walked around the edge of the parking lot. The parking lot was all asphalt, the visitor’s center was a modern building. The weather was bright and clear, a breeze brought the smell of the sea to me as I sat in the driver’s seat, thinking. 

Erin told me that the man speaking on the bullhorn had previously worked in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predators-yellowstone-landscape-fear/">Yellowstone National Park</a>.  He compared the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles to Bison. The comparison between a marine reptile and a land mammal may seem odd to some but I find it strangely apt.  Bison were brought to the edge of extinction by thoughtless slaughter and then protected, bred and re-released. Likewise, sea turtles the world over are hatched in artificial conditions and returned to the wild.  Turtles are intensely managed and protected. 

Rancho Nuevo in Tamaulipas Mexico is the main nesting site of Kemp’s Ridley turtles in the world.  According to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/kempsridleystory.htm">nps.gov</a>, scientists studying the nesting site in the 1960s found that 90% of the nests were destroyed on the same day the eggs were laid.  The eggs were loaded into trucks to be sold or eaten. 

It’s estimated that 40,000 female turtles once nested on the beach at Rancho Nuevo, but by 1985, only 702 nests were found worldwide.  Despite protection from the Mexican government, the population of turtles nesting had continued to decline. The turtle release Erin witnessed at Padre Island is part of a collaboration between conservationists in Mexico and the United States. A certain number of eggs laid at Rancho Nuevo are now packed in sand from Padre Island and sent there to be released, where hopefully they will have a better chance.  Changes in fishing laws and commercial fishing being banned near Rancho Nuevo have also helped the turtles. In 2009 there were almost 20,000 known Kemp’s Ridleys nests in the world, a massive increase from the low point of 702. 

I remember walking on a black sand beach in Equatorial Guinea at night with European tourists.  I’d told the tourists to be careful, to be quiet, to not use flash photography, to stand a reasonable distance from the turtles.  We approached carefully a turtle digging her nest on the beach. She was a smaller green turtle, I knew they were a shy species and I felt it good luck that she continued to dig her nest as the tourists carefully watched.  Sometimes the approach of one person was enough to scare a green turtle back into the sea. As we observed a young boy with the group of tourists broke rank and ran at the turtle. “Ha ha,” he shrieked as he jumped with both feet on the turtle’s back.  It wasn’t my finest moment, but all I could think to do was start screaming obscenities at the tourists and kick them off the beach. The little boy cried, clinging to his father’s leg as he tried comforting his son. I didn’t care. 

Another time on the beach, I had to tell a tourist to step back to avoid treading on a baby leatherback just making her way towards the ocean.  

According to <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a>, sea turtle tourism is big business.  The wildlife conservation giant proclaims on its <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/?153802/wwwpandaorglacmarineturtlespublications">website</a>:

“At nine sites, where turtles are used for their meat, eggs, and shells, the average annual income from these products was $582,000 whereas at nine locations where turtles are a tourist attraction, the average annual income was nearly three times higher at US $1.65 million.” 

The take home lesson is that a live sea turtle is worth more than a dead sea turtle.  I wonder at the wisdom of this approach. When we reduce animals to a tourist attraction, we all too often end up with drive through parks for photo ops.  If you drive through Custer State Park in South Dakota or Arches National Park in Utah, it’s not hard contemplating the line of cars to wonder how much connection people are making to the place.  We’ve blurred the line between wild and domesticated with animals like bison that were bred in captivity far away in New York before being reintroduced to the western US. Bison are also carefully managed, sometimes culled and branded across parks in the US, actions that rob them of their wildness.  With sea turtles it’s the same story, by turning them into carefully managed spectacle, we change their nature and our relationship with them. 

In 2016, tourists saw a distressed bison calf in Yellowstone National Park.  For days before that, Deby Dixon, a wildlife photographer had observed the abandoned calf, as she said in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a> article, 

“The calf was orphaned or had become separated from its mother. The calf would not be adopted by another cow and could not survive alone, and so it was just a matter of time before it died or was killed.”

She explains in the article that the Bison was wild and so beyond the help of humans, any interference would be a detriment to its wildness.  But the tourists didn’t see the bison as wild, they saw an infant animal that needed help. 

I think the tourists in their own way were justified.  How is saving the life of one baby bison so different than saving the species on individual at a time?  There is a population of bison in Yellowstone National Park that stems from an original 25 animals that weren’t domesticated, it’s known as the last wild herd of bison.  

In 2017, the year after the tourists loaded the bison calf into their car, <a href="https://www.yellowstonepark.com/">Yellowstonepark.com</a> reports that 1,200 bison were sent to a slaughter house.  The culling is because of Brucellosis, a disease introduced originally by European cattle and now eradicated in cows.  Culling bison helps prevent cows from catching brucellosis. I wonder how an animal sent to slaughter houses for the sake of cows can be considered wild in any real sense of the word.  

Sea turtles are released by smiling volunteers the world over.  People pay money to visit places like Costa Rica and raise and release turtles on the beach.  Turtles are monitored with GPS devices and injected with microchips. Tags are inserted into holes in flippers, probably in a similar way to ropes that once tied them to docks in New York.  I wonder if we see turtles as animals any more than the judge who acquitted the crew of a turtle trading ship over a hundred years ago.

In an article for <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-dave-randle/tourism-opportunities-to_b_6229226.html">The Huffington Post</a>, Dr. Dave Randle told of participating in the annual Tour de Turtles.  Without irony, he tells how his day began waking up in a room at Disney’s Vero Beach.  Turtles are captured at night and have GPS tracking devices glued to their shells before being released in the morning for Tour de Turtles where tourists watch them race down the beach and back into the ocean.  The event was created as a conservation outreach program. 

I am glad that at least some turtle populations are rebounding.  No one hopes more than I that we can continue to share the planet with these beautiful marine reptiles.  I still can’t help but be sad at the methods we’ve had to use. I’m also deeply uncomfortable thinking about a future when survival of any species is built upon its use as a tourist attraction.      

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner,</a> <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Sea turtle tourism: saving or compromising the irreplaceable?

Recently I camped in Padre Island National Seashore with my...

Biologists at the <a href="http://www.unina.it/unina-international">University of Naples Federico II</a> in Italy have confirmed the theory that drug contamination in waterways is having a harmful impact on marine life. The experts found that even low concentrations of cocaine were enough to cause severe damage to the skeletal muscle of critically-endangered European eels.

According to the researchers, the affected eels may have a difficult time making the long journeys to their spawning grounds, which can be up to thousands of miles away.

It is common for low levels of both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-lost-opioids-ohio/">prescription</a> and illegal drugs to make their way into rivers and other bodies of water from human waste, and experts have speculated that these chemicals affect wildlife.

The research team, which was led by Anna Capaldo, focused its study on 150 European eels that were kept in tanks for 50 days. Some of the tanks contained only tap water, and the rest contained a small amount of cocaine to represent pollution levels that have been detected in surface waters.

The eels grew hyperactive after exposure to the drug, swimming much faster than individuals in the control group. The researchers also found that the skeletal muscle was damaged among the impaired eels. 

The muscles were swollen and some of the muscle fibers were broken, even after the eels had recovered in a clean tank for up to 10 days. The drug had built up in the muscles and also in other regions of the bodies, including the brain and gills.

Capaldo said that these particular eels are well-known for making incredibly long migrations across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe all the way to the Sargasso Sea near the Bahamas. A trip of this magnitude would not likely be completed by eels with damaged skeletal muscle.

“Our results suggest that cocaine, at environmental concentrations, could compromise both the sustained swimming, ensured by the slow red muscle, and the burst swimming, ensured by the fast, white muscle,” wrote the study authors.

The European eel is already classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is likely due to the fact that they are overfished as an expensive delicacy.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/science-of-the-total-environment">Science of The Total Environment</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rivers polluted with cocaine are damaging to endangered eels

Biologists at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy...

Although tracking technology has made great strides in recent years, giving researchers a closer look at the behavior and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/magic-great-migrations/">migrations of birds, fish, and marine mammals</a>, there are still limitations in studying animals that migrate to the remotest corners of the globe. 

For example, songbirds that migrate to the Arctic earlier and earlier every year present a challenge to researchers who are not sure exactly when the birds come to their breeding grounds. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> took up this challenge, and conducted a study using field recordings from Alaska’ North Slope to create an algorithm that could calculate when songbirds migrate to the area. 

The results, published in the journal Science Advances, could be an asset to researchers who want to understand how climate change is affecting wildlife around the globe. 

“Our methods could be retooled to detect the arrival of birds and other vocal animals in highly seasonal habitats," said Ruth Oliver, the study’s lead author. “This could allow us to track large-scale changes in how animals are responding to climate change.”

Tracking songbirds and other migratory species that travel thousands of miles is difficult. Songbirds are too small to tag with GPS receivers which are a common way to track an animal's movements. 

The researchers tried a different approach to traditional tracking and in 2010 set up microphones in Alaska’s Brook Range that would pick up recordings of any animals and ambient noise in the area. 

For five seasons the researchers recorded noise in tundra from May through July with the hopes that the recordings would show when white-crowned sparrows and Lapland longspurs arrived to mate and raise their young. 

After the recordings were finished the researchers had to find a way to quickly analyze the vocal calls and identify which ones signaled the start of the birds’ mating season.

To do this, the researchers trained an algorithm to sift through the data and distinguish bird calls from wind, trucks, and other animal noises. The algorithm was then able to estimate when the birds had arrived. 

The algorithm’s estimates matched with the researcher’s own observations in the field.

The ability to quickly sift through data with an algorithm is extremely valuable for researchers looking to get a better understanding of a species or animals’ behavior and patterns over a long period of time. 

“An archive of acoustic recordings tells you how biodiversity is changing over time,” said Andrew Farnsworth, a researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who was not involved in the study.“Understanding the dynamics of songbird arrival and breeding timing is the doorway to thinking about climate change and how temperature, weather, and snowfall are affecting various species.”

Next, the researchers will work on making their algorithm able to identify the bird calls of a specific species while continuing to focus on migration patterns and arrivals of different songbirds to see how climate and environmental changes impact breeding and biodiversity. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: John Wingfield

New AI tool reveals how climate change is affecting songbirds

Although tracking technology has made great strides in recent years,...

A new study has found that exposure to the chemicals used in fracking can cause an increase in fat cells. 

Fracking is the process of injecting water and chemicals deep into the earth to extract natural gas, and over a thousand chemicals are used for hydraulic fracking in the United States. 

There have been concerns about the environmental and health impacts of fracking, and lab tests have found that many of the chemicals act as endocrine disruptors which can <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fracking-harmful-human-health/">increase the risk of cancer and birth defects.</a>

Now, researchers from <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> discovered that exposure to 23 common fracking chemicals in wastewater and contaminated groundwater from fracking sites caused an increase in fat cells, also known as adipogenesis, in mice. 

Adipogenesis can increase the risk of metabolic disorders that contribute to weight gain and so understanding what risk factors influence adipogenesis is important in combating it. 

The results were published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

“We saw significant fat cell proliferation and lipid accumulation, even when wastewater samples were diluted 1,000-fold from their raw state and when wastewater-affected surface water samples were diluted 25-fold,” said Chris Kassotis, the leader of the research. “Rather than needing to concentrate the samples to detect effects, we diluted them and still detected the effects.” 

In previous research, Kassotis discovered that mice exposed to fracking chemicals suffer from weight gain and issues with metabolic and reproductive health. 

For this study, the researchers focused on fat cell development and collected samples of wastewater and contaminated groundwater near fracking sites in Colorado and West Virginia. 

Cultures of mice cells were exposed to the samples, some of which were diluted, over a period of two weeks. During this time the researchers measured fat cell development. 

The researchers also exposed another group of mice cells to rosiglitazone, a pharmaceutical that’s been proven to cause weight gain and increase fat cells. 

No matter how diluted the wastewater and chemical mixes were, the mice cells developed more fat cells than those exposed to rosiglitazone

Diluted wastewater caused 80 percent more of an increase in fat cells and the mix of chemicals induced 60 percent as much fat as the drug. 

More work is needed to determine if fracking chemicals could increase fat cell development in humans or animals, but the results are a cause for concern given how widely used fracking is in the United States today. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could exposure to fracking wastewater cause weight gain?

A new study has found that exposure to the chemicals...

Researchers have discovered that the earth is rising in one area of Antarctica at one of the fastest rates ever recorded. This is a result of ice rapidly disappearing, taking away the weight on the bedrock. 

Although it may sound somewhat daunting, these findings actually have positive implications for the survival of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), which was thought to be a lost cause due to the effects of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-shows-how-antarctica-will-react-to-climate-change/">climate change</a>. The benefit would be that the fast rise of earth could actually increase the stability of the ice sheet against catastrophic collapse as a result of ice loss.

This study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, was led by scientists at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>. It required the use of a series of six GPS stations attached to bedrock around the Amundsen Sea Embayment in order to measure its rise in response to thinning ice. The “uplift rate” was found to be as much as 41 millimeters (1.6 inches) per year. Most places in Iceland and Alaska – which are considered to have rapid uplift rates – are usually measured at 20 to 30 millimeters of rise each year. “The rate of uplift we found is unusual and very surprising. It’s a game changer.” says Terry Wilson, a professor emeritus of earth sciences at Ohio State and one of the lead authors of the study. 

The researchers also estimate that in 100 years, the uplift rates at these GPS sites will be 2.5 to 2.5 times more rapid than what they have currently observed. “These results provide an important contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of the Earth’s bedrock, along with the thinning of ice in Antarctica.” says lead study author Valentina R. Barletta, who began this work at Ohio State and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="http://www.space.dtu.dk/english">National Space Institute</a> (DTU Space) at the Technical University of Denmark. “The new findings raise the need to improve ice models to get a more precise picture of what will happen in the future.”

Previous modeling studies have found that bedrock uplift could theoretically protect WAIS from collapse, but it was thought the process would take too long to have any real implications. “We previously thought uplift would occur over thousands of years at a very slow rate, not enough to have a stabilizing effect on the ice sheet,” says Wilson. “Our results suggest the stabilizing effect may only take decades.”

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet plays a significant role in sea level rise, as estimates suggest the WAIS alone accounts for a quarter of global sea level rise attributed to disappearing snow and ice. Some scientists think this ice sheet is already past the tipping point for which ice loss can no longer be halted. This would be catastrophic, as the glaciers there contain enough water to raise global sea levels up to four feet.

Researchers for this study estimate that the bedrock at the Pine Island Glacier grounding line (part of the WAIS) will have risen 8 meters by the next century. This rise is about three times larger than values produced by studies estimating how much the earth would have to rise to protect the WAIS and reduce run-away retreat of the ice sheet. “Under many realistic climate models, this should be enough to stabilize the ice sheet,” says Wilson.

But while the study is potential evidence of some positive news for the Amundsen Sea Embayment, the environmental situation in Antarctica is still far from ideal. If global warming continues to loom large, the researchers believe that it won’t matter how rapid the rise of the WAIS bedrock may be, the ice sheet would likely still collapse.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

West Antarctica bedrock is rapidly rising, could impact sea level

Researchers have discovered that the earth is rising in one...

A new study has found that people who refuse to believe in climate change are more likely to be prejudiced against individuals of other races. The research also revealed that climate change deniers are more likely to be older, white, and Republican.

The findings of the study suggest that the link between racial resentment and belief in climate change can be traced back to when Barack Obama became president in 2008. 

After the former president mentioned that addressing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-biodiversity/">climate change</a> was one of his top priorities, many white Americans had an adverse reaction and began to express doubt about the issue, according to the research.

Study author Benegal is a professor of Environmental Politics, Political Psychology, and Human Rights at <a href="https://www.depauw.edu/">DePauw University</a>.

Benegal told <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/">Nexus Media</a>: “There has been increasing polarization on this issue - and this is one thing my own research has been examining for a while - trying to figure out what are some of the root causes of this polarization.”

Benegal set out to determine whether racial resentment has fueled climate change denial. He compared the results of Pew surveys to analyze the views of black and white Americans on climate change before and during the time when Barack Obama was in office.

There was no notable difference between the opinions of black and white Americans on climate change before 2008. After Obama became president, however, white Americans were 18 percent less likely to report that climate change was a serious problem, while the views of black Americans did not significantly change.

Based on data from the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies, Benegal confirmed a strong correlation between racial resentment and climate change denial.

“It is not so much that elites would highlight Obama’s race specifically and then bring up climate or other health policies,” Benegal told Nexus Media. 

“It’s more that when certain voters associated Obama with an issue, they inherently saw Obama through this racial lens and immediately viewed almost anything he was associated with as some kind of racial issue.”

Benegal explained that he is not trying to overstate the magnitude of his study.

“I'm not trying to make a claim in the study that race is the single most important or necessarily a massive component of all environmental attitudes,” Benegal told the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-deniers-are-more-likely-be-racist-obama-trump-climate-change">Sierra Club</a>. “But it's a significant thing that we should be looking out for.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fenp20/current">Environmental Politics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Racist people are more likely to deny climate change, study finds

A new study has found that people who refuse to...

After the 1907 invention of Bakelite, <a href="https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics">the first truly synthetic plastic</a>, the “material of a thousand uses” revolutionized manufacturing and production worldwide. 

But what was once a revolutionary material has quickly created a major pollution problem. 

It’s estimated that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/business/energy-environment/raising-awareness-of-plastic-waste.html">300 million tons of plastic</a> are produced every year, but only around 10 percent of that is recycled. What’s more, many countries actually export their plastic waste to other countries. 

For a long time now, China has taken the brunt of other countries' plastic, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-plastic-waste-uk/">but not anymore</a>. 

In 2017, China passed the “National Sword” policy and banned the import of non-industrial plastic waste starting in 2018. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> examined the ban in a global context and how it would affect countries no longer able to export their plastic waste. 

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances. 

“About 111 million metric tons of plastic waste is going to be displaced because of the import ban through 2030, so we're going to have to develop more robust recycling programs domestically and rethink the use and design of plastic products if we want to deal with this waste responsibly,” said said Jenna Jambeck, a co-author of the study.

Since 1992, China has imported 106 million metric tons of plastic waste, and the biggest exporters are high-income countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

China’s low fees made it economically savvy for countries to export their plastic waste rather than process it domestically. 

Plastic waste used to be good business for China, but now the country is no longer able to profit off processing and recycling plastic like before. 

“But a lot of the plastic China received in recent years was poor quality, and it became difficult to turn a profit. China is also producing more plastic waste domestically, so it doesn't have to rely on other nations for waste,” said Amy Brooks, a lead author of the paper. 

Given how much plastic waste was exported to China, and how much plastic is produced worldwide every year, the research shows that the ban will have a significant impact on domestic waste management. 

The researchers note that the plastic will create a problem for exporting countries who will now have to deal with their plastic waste, but how they will do that is not clear. 

“It's hard to predict what will happen to the plastic waste that was once destined for Chinese processing facilities,” said Jambeck. “Some of it could be diverted to other countries, but most of them lack the infrastructure to manage their own waste let alone the waste produced by the rest of the world.”

One likely outcome of the ban is that more plastic waste will simply end up in landfills and the oceans, further aggravating the world’s plastic crisis unless major changes to plastic recycling are made in the near future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How China’s ban on plastic waste imports affects global pollution

After the 1907 invention of Bakelite, the first truly synthetic...

When you drape a thick fur coat over your shoulders, it’s very apparent you’re wearing the skin of an animal.  But there are other fabrics that are less obvious but commonly understood. If you slip into a silk dressing robe, it isn’t obvious you are wearing a product made by thousands of larvae of a domestic moth.  However, it’s not much of a secret that silkworms have been creating fabric used all over the world for the last 5,000 years. 

Similarly, without a close examination, the wool sweater that’s so nice to wear on cold autumn evenings could be made from cotton or nylon yarn instead of an animal’s hair.  Coats are stuffed with goose down or synthetic insulation depending on the quality of the product. Garments are very often made from cotton and the consumer usually knows very little about the specific growing conditions or agricultural practices that lead to their t-shirt.  

It’s not exactly surprising considering the vast array of materials used for clothing that some may cause deforestation or that consumers are mostly none the wiser.

The silk industry was extremely important to France in the 1860s when a disease struck their silkworms.  Famed scientist Louis Pasteur and Count Hilaire de Chardonnet worked to discover the root of the problem when Chardonnet invented ‘imitation silk’.  Chardonnet, using cellulose from wood pulp created a fabric now known as rayon. Initially rayon was found to be too weak for most clothing and was instead used in other products.  However in 1955, high wet modulus (HWM) rayon was invented, a new rayon strong enough for clothes. 

Today rayon is extremely popular.  According to <a href="http://www.textileworld.com">TextileWorld</a>, 5.2 million tons of rayon and related cellulose based fabrics were produced in 2015.    

Also in 2015, the Federal Trade Commission filed complaints against Bed Bath &amp; Beyond, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Backcountry.com, and their subsidiaries for selling rayon that was mislabeled as bamboo.  The companies were ordered to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties. 

It’s true that bamboo can be used to create rayon but that’s only part of the story.  Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world and so it has great potential for being used sustainably.  Of course forests can be cleared for bamboo plantations or natural bamboo stands could be decimated but these are rare instances and not the main problem.  Bamboo is usually relatively clean and sustainable but the same is not true for rayon. Patagonia explains that the chemical processing is a bigger concern than bamboo used in rayon:

“The solvent used for this process is carbon disulfide, a toxic chemical that is a known human reproductive hazard. It can endanger factory workers and pollute the environment via air emissions and wastewater. The recovery of this solvent in most viscose factories is around 50%, which means that the other half goes into the environment.”  

Much rayon doesn’t come from bamboo either.  According to non-profit <a href="https://www.ran.org/">Rainforest Action Network’s</a> Out of Fashion campaign, 120 million trees are cut down annually to make our clothes.  And Nicole Rycroft, founder of Canopy, a sustainable clothing nonprofit, quoted in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us">The Guardian</a> said that 30% of rayon and viscose (created with a similar process) in clothing is sourced from wood pulp coming from ‘endangered and ancient forests’.  

Organizations like Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and Canopy have pressured fashion companies to change their deforestation practices with mixed results.  In 2010, Canada, Indonesia and Brazil supplied about 60% of China’s pulp import, 75% of which was used to create viscose fabrics. According to The Guardian, 5% of the fabric industry is made up of forest based fabrics like rayon and viscose.  It’s projected that demand for these fabrics may grow as fast as 9% annually, which could lead to even more deforestation the world over. 

Canopy and RAN have each had some success.  Canopy has worked with H&amp;M to stop using cellulose from unsustainable sources and RAN reports that Ralph Lauren, Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie &amp; Fitch have adopted RAN’s more sustainable policies.  RAN also notes that some companies have ignored the pressure, continuing to support deforestation in their supply chains, specifically mentioning Forever 21, Under Armour, Foot Locker, Prada Group and Michael Kors; you can sign a petition on their site addressing these companies.  

Unfortunately fashion and deforestation are only half of the viscose rayon problem.  Patagonia notes that it doesn’t use rayon at all, not sourced from bamboo or sustainably harvested forests.  Patagonia doesn’t use rayon because only about 50% of the toxic chemicals used are recovered. Even if the toxic chemicals are kept in factory, the results can be devastating.  According to Paul Blanc, author of Fake Silk: The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon about 30% of factory workers investigated showed serious signs of poisoning.  Blanc said in an interview on <a href="http://www.cbc.ca">CBC</a> in 2017:

"They omit entirely the fact that you can't make the product without this toxic chemical. So it's really a 'greenwashing' of the most diabolical sort."   

Paul Blanc said one of the symptoms of poisoning by carbon disulfide, one of the main chemicals used to process rayon is insanity.  He said one factory had bars on its windows due to the prevalence of workers trying to jump to their deaths. Reproductive harm has also been shown in both men and women exposed to carbon disulfide.  One study even showed increase in spontaneous abortions in female workers at a rayon factory. 

The science isn’t unequivocal though, as only small effects have been shown in factory workers exposed to carbon disulfide and no causal relationship has been discovered, according to Science Direct.  

Studies showing the direct effect of specific chemicals on the human body are hard to carry out, and controlled settings are impossible.  It could be that the production of rayon has much more widespread problems than the scientific consensus shows. 

According to a paper in the journal Tobacco Control, as late as the 1960s only one third of American doctors thought that cigarettes indisputably caused lung cancer.  Part of the problem is money. Cigarette companies spent a lot of money disputing the idea that their product caused cancer. It’s not hard to imagine that clothing companies hide the darker aspects of their trade.  Indeed as I mentioned earlier, clothing companies have even been caught mislabeling rayon as ‘bamboo’. When confronted with the facts that their clothing has caused <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/palm-oil-deforestation-emissions/">deforestation</a>, the fashion industry claimed ignorance, much like they have claimed ignorance of sweatshops.  

When information is hard to come by on manufacturing and sourcing processes and companies even claim ignorance of where their product comes from, it makes it hard to see the bigger picture.              

Unfortunately rayon isn’t used only in clothes but is used to produce tires, cellophane and synthetic sponges as well.

It’s nearly impossible to live a normal modern life and never use any of these products.  What you can do is sign petitions like the one RAN created. You can also purposefully buy from companies like Patagonia that put factory workers and the environment as important from the beginning without being pressured from the outside.  Personally, I try to buy much of my clothes used, if you buy used it doesn’t matter nearly as much how the product was produced, you’re not contributing directly to production anyway. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Deforestation for fashion: The cost of rayon

When you drape a thick fur coat over your shoulders,...

Livestock is the single largest user of land resources in the world, as the land used for the production of feed represents almost 80 percent of our planet’s total agricultural land – according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Beyond just land usage, production of these crops is a major contributor to global pollution, and is often tied to significant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/palm-oil-deforestation-emissions/">deforestation</a> and biodiversity loss.

Unfortunately, as the world’s population grows – estimated to exceed 9 billion by 2050 – demand for livestock will only increase. But a possible solution to this large-scale problem may come in a small-scale form. A recent study in <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a> postulates that bacteria could be used to efficiently produce large amounts of microbial proteins, which may actually be able to replace some of the crops currently grown to feed livestock. 

Microbial proteins were first produced on an industrial scale using methane in the 1970s. But with advances in technology and a growing demand, researchers Benjamin L. Bodirsky, Ilje Pikaar, and colleagues decided to analyze the long-term effects that incorporating microbial proteins may have on land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and reactive nitrogen pollution. 

They performed this analysis using an advanced computer model to generate projected land-use and agricultural-production patterns. The researchers tested 48 different scenarios, which suggest that by 2050, microbial proteins produced using hydrogen and other gas feedstocks could replace 175 to 307 million tons of crop-based animal feed annually, or as much as 10 to 19 percent of conventional crop-based livestock feed protein demand.

In their study, the researchers state that this move to microbial proteins is capable of having a significant global impact. In replacing just 13 percent of the protein in feed with microbial proteins, their results project that worldwide cropland usage could be reduced by 6 percent, global nitrogen losses from croplands by 8 percent, and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent. Overall, it appears that pushing for microbial proteins in livestock feed would be a wise move if we want to slow down our destruction of this planet.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New solutions to feed livestock and reduce land use, pollution

Livestock is the single largest user of land resources in...

<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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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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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