For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were becoming progressively fresher - a shift that helped lock deep heat away and nurture expansive winter sea ice.



However, new observations show the opposite is now happening. An international team led by the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a> reported a sudden rise in surface <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salinity-is-rising-in-coastal-areas-and-hurting-farmlands/">salinity</a> south of 50° latitude. This shift coincided with the steepest drop in Antarctic sea-ice extent ever recorded.



The analysis combines European satellite data with readings from autonomous floats that profile the water column. The result reveals an unanticipated pivot in the Southern Ocean’s salt balance sometime after 2015.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-excessive-salt-melts-sea-ice">Excessive salt melts sea ice</h2>



Cold, fresh surface water normally overlies warmer, saltier layers at depth, creating strong density “stratification” that traps heat below. When the surface grows saltier, that barrier weakens. Heat then mixes upward, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarcticas-melting-ice-shelves-threaten-global-sea-levels/">melting sea ice</a> from beneath and preventing extensive winter growth.



“Saltier surface water allows deep ocean heat to rise more easily, melting sea ice from below," said lead author Alessandro Silvano, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton. "It's a dangerous feedback loop: less ice leads to more heat, which leads to even less ice.” 



Since 2015, the continent has shed sea ice equivalent to the area of Greenland. Researchers call it the largest environmental shift detected anywhere on Earth in recent decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-hole-returns-after-decades">Sea ice hole returns after decades</h2>



One striking symptom is the re-opening of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-hole-polynya-the-size-of-switzerland-appeared-in-the-antarctica-sea-ice/">Maud Rise polynya</a> - a yawning hole in the Weddell Sea ice cover. It spans nearly four times the size of Wales and last appeared in the late 1970s.



“The return of the Maud Rise polynya signals just how unusual the current conditions are,” Silvano said. “If this salty, low-ice state continues, it could permanently reshape the Southern Ocean - and with it, the planet.”



Reduced Antarctic ice darkens the ocean, absorbing more sunlight and already feeding back into the global climate system. This, as Silvano put it, will give rise to “stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-antarctic-sea-ice-loss-is-causing-severe-storms-around-the-world/">storms</a>, warmer oceans, and shrinking habitats for Antarctic wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-predictions-fall-short">Old predictions fall short</h2>



Climate models had projected eventual Antarctic sea-ice loss under greenhouse forcing. However, many scientists believed that enhanced snowfall and increased melt from continental ice sheets would keep surface waters fresh for decades, delaying large declines. The new evidence challenges that assumption.



“While scientists expected that human-driven climate change would eventually lead to Antarctic sea ice decline, the timing and nature of this shift remained uncertain,” said co-author Aditya Narayanan, a physical oceanographer at the University of Southampton.



“Previous projections emphasized enhanced surface freshening and stronger ocean stratification, which could have supported sustained sea ice cover. Instead, a rapid reduction in sea ice - an important reflector of solar radiation - has occurred, potentially accelerating global warming.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eyes-on-the-southern-ocean">Eyes on the Southern Ocean</h2>



Because this turnaround was detected only after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/satellites-reveal-a-sudden-drop-in-global-freshwater-levels/">satellites</a> began tracking sea-surface salinity in detail, researchers worry that other rapid transitions might be missed without constant observation.



“The new findings suggest that our current understanding may be insufficient to accurately predict future changes,” said senior author Alberto Naveira Garabato, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of Southampton.



“It makes the need for continuous satellite and in-situ monitoring all the more pressing, so we can better understand the drivers of recent and future shifts in the ice-ocean system.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-loss-changes-the-planet">Sea ice loss changes the planet</h2>



Antarctic sea ice acts as a reflective shield, bouncing sunlight back to space and modulating heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere.



Its precipitous decline could amplify warming worldwide, disturb wind patterns, and alter the formation of the deep water masses that power global ocean circulation.



Saltier surface layers may also influence how much carbon the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/">Southern Ocean</a> can absorb, potentially weakening one of Earth’s most important climate buffers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-salt-reinforce-sea-ice-loss">Heat and salt reinforce sea ice loss</h2>



The study leaves open questions about what triggered the sudden salinity jump. Possibilities include shifts in wind patterns, changes in precipitation, or increased intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf.



Whatever the cause, the new feedback between salt and sea ice could lock the region into a self-reinforcing cycle of warming and ice loss.



Scientists stress that only sustained measurements - combining satellites, autonomous floats, and ship-based surveys - will reveal whether the Southern Ocean snaps back to its former fresher state or continues toward an unfamiliar, saltier future.



For now, the message is clear: Antarctica’s floating fringe, once thought relatively resistant to near-term change, is undergoing a rapid transformation that matters far beyond the frozen continent.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500440122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



-----



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Antarctic sea ice collapse linked to a sudden surge in ocean salt

For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were becoming progressively fresher - a shift that helped lock deep heat away and nurture expansive winter sea ice. However, new observations show the opposite is now happening. An international team led by the University of Southampton reported a sudden rise in surface salinity south of 50° latitude. This shift coincided with the steepest drop in Antarctic sea-ice extent ever recorded. The analysis combines European satellite data with readings from autonomous floats that profile the water column. The...

A new study from the <a href="http://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> reports that the increasing role of the United States’ financial sector in the country’s emerging solar market in the 1980s and 1990s might have actually significantly impaired the solar industry.

At that time, the financial sector was shifting in focus from technology investment to speculating on future markets. Max Jerneck explains that as American conglomerates bought up small firms at the forefront of solar technology, less money was invested in improving the technology and was instead directed towards enriching managers and investors.

This conflict ultimately led to a disconnect between the solar industry and its financial stakeholders, which eventually resulted in the dismantling or selling of solar divisions across the country.

The consequence of this was that – between 1978 and 2005 – the American share of the global solar market dropped from 95% to about 9%. Sure would be nice to have that back.

By contrast, Japan – with an economy about half the size of the U.S. – had about a 50% global share of the solar industry by 2005. So why were they able to flourish as the U.S. fell apart?

Jerneck believes their success is due to their strong hold on semiconductor and electronics markets when the industry was in its infancy, which progressed without interference of corporate governance looking to make a quick buck. 

In Japan, manufacturers were shielded from the type of financial turbulence that was occurring in the U.S. at the same time. Investment into manufacturing was expanded and Japan’s share of the market grew.

With <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trump-executive-order/">environmental regulations</a> and alternative energy in the news so often these days, this study is also an important look into carbon mitigation strategies. Jerneck finds that while a carbon tax could make low carbon industries – such as solar – more competitive, many companies will end up failing, as innovation is always uncertain.

In other words, a simple carbon tax isn’t enough to make these new technologies competitive in the U.S. market. Instead, this study advocates for policies that bring productive and financial capital together in order to improve the future of the alternative energy industry.

--

By Connor Ertz, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a>

Solar industry financialization may have cost U.S. a global share

A new study from the American Association for the Advancement...

Marine litter continues to be a chronic problem for the world’s oceans. Recently, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dying-whale-found-plastic-bags/">we told you</a> about the dying whale who was found to have 30 plastic bags in its stomach. Now, a new study from the <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Alfred Wegener Institute</a> has set out to determine where marine litter is most concentrated and which species it affects. 

The full results of the study have been compiled in a comprehensive online database called <a href="http://www.litterbase.org/">AWI Litterbase</a>, which includes global maps and graphic analysis. According to the data, 34% of the species observed ingested litter, 31% colonized it, and 30% got entangled or trapped in it. All in all, the total number affected by marine litter reached 1,220 species, which is more than double the amount reported in the previous study.

"In AWI Litterbase we've for the first time analysed all groups of organisms, which were studied in connection with litter, and presented in map form," said Dr. Melanie Bergmann of the <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Alfred Wegener Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research</a>. Bergmann developed the database alongside colleagues Dr. Lars Gutow and Mine Tekman. 

"Our global maps also show data in different units. However, we intentionally designed Litterbase with this feature, since it allows users to filter results by type of unit. In this way, values using the same unit can easily be compared -for the first time, for litter in different regions and ecosystems," added Dr. Gutow. "At the same time, Litterbase is also of tremendous scientific value. Our database will allow us to assess and better understand the global quantities and distribution patterns of litter in the ocean."

That said, its founders are quick to point out that Litterbase does not capture all polluted areas of the world’s oceans. Rather, the database helps to identify areas where more extensive research is needed.

"The maps document where researchers have identified litter,” said Dr. Bergmann. “But it's important to bear in mind that the blank areas of the map don't necessarily represent clean regions; instead they're blind spots."

--

By Rory Arnold, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:  <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Alfred Wegener Institute</a>, <a href="https://www.awi.de/en.html">Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research</a>

Marine litter significantly impacts all oceans and 1,220 species

Marine litter continues to be a chronic problem for the...

Jet airstreams cause <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-weather-forecast-data/">weather</a> patterns to move quickly – and greenhouse gases have been causing these patterns to slow down and stall. That’s the thinking behind one way that climate change is contributing to the frequency of extreme weather. The new research comes from an international team of climate scientists using computer simulations and real-world observations.

These jet streams distribute heat and moisture from the Arctic and the equator in huge planetary waves that traditionally move airflow quickly around the planet. But the researchers have found that the effect of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere can stall the air flow so that weather conditions stay in one place longer and turn extreme.

“The unprecedented 2016 California drought, the 2011 U.S. heatwave and 2010 Pakistan flood all belong to a most worrying series of extremes,” said study lead author and <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> professor Dr. Michael Mann. “The increased incidence of these events exceeds what we would expect from the direct effects of global warming alone. There must be an additional climate change effect.”

The team said that they now have a “clear fingerprint” of human activity responsible for the droughts, heatwaves, flooding and other extreme weather events seen and experienced globally. The jet stream stalls are the culprit, said the researchers.

“If the same weather persists for weeks on end in one region, then sunny days can turn into a serious heat wave and drought, or lasting rains can lead to flooding,” said study co-author Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) in Germany.

&nbsp;

One of the reasons for the air flow stalls is that global warming is causing the Arctic air to warm faster than the equatorial air, which means there’s less of a temperature contrast between the two air flows. In addition, land masses are warming faster than oceans, also contributing to the global air movement changes.

“We can limit the risks associated with increases in weather extremes if we limit greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Dr. Dim Coumou, of the Department of Water and Climate Risk at <a href="https://www.vu.nl/en/">VU University</a> in Amsterdam.

The researchers’ findings were published in Inside Climate News.

--

Written by David Searls, Earth.com staff writer

Source:<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27032017/climate-change-global-warming-extreme-weather-jet-stream-michael-mann-penn-state"> Inside Climate News</a>

Climate change triggers extreme weather, says new study

Jet airstreams cause weather patterns to move quickly – and...

Former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan had already been sidelined by the U.S. Supreme Court while its provisions were being legally challenged. But today, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin to undo the act altogether. The order will also substantially reduce the federal government's role in climate regulation by eliminating six other Obama-era executive orders aimed at curbing climate change. According to the Trump administration, the changes are all in the interest of helping the American economy.

"It is an issue that deserves attention," a White House official told <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/trump-climate-change-executive-order/index.html?adkey=bn">CNN</a> regarding climate change. "But I think the President has been very clear that he is not going to pursue climate change policies that put the US economy at risk. It is very simple."

The sidelined Obama plan established metrics for individual states to meet to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired and natural gas power plants and encouraged faster transitions to renewable energy sources. In his former position, as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oklahoma-is-latest-state-to-prevent-oil-fracking-bans/">Oklahoma</a> attorney general, Pruitt was one of many states attorney general suing the Obama administration to block the initiative from going into effect.

The idea behind the Clean Power Plan was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants by as much as 32 percent by the year 2030. By doing so, it signified the U.S. commitment to meeting carbon dioxide reduction standards established as part of the Paris Accord of 2015.

“We've made tremendous progress on our environment, and we can be both pro-jobs and pro-environment," Pruitt told <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/">ABC News’s</a> This Week host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “And the executive order's going to address the past administration's effort to kill jobs across this country through the Clean Power Plan.”

Among other objections, environmental groups say that by backing out of Paris Accord commitments, the U.S. will set a bad example in front of other nations in compliance.

Pruitt said that rejection of the Clean Power Plan is not a violation of the Accord and that the administration isn’t worried about legal obstructions.

-- 

By Earth.com Staff Writer David Searls

Source:<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek"> This Week</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>

&nbsp;

Trump signs executive order to drastically cut climate regulation

Former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan had already been...

Our planet contains countless breathtaking and unforgettable places to explore. This is not among them. Presenting Earth.com <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vacations-hell-chernobyl/">Vacations To Hell</a>: Sakha Republic. 

For your east Siberian vacation to be called “hellish,” you’ll first have to give up your certainty that the undesired final destination of lost souls is kept at high thermostat levels. Instead, picture a frozen tundra, unburied winter corpses and a rampaging super-pack of hungry wolves. At least until the brief, sixty degree summers hit.

The Sakha Republic is a Russian Federation member whose capital is located just 280 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The republic is larger than Argentina and just smaller than India. Its capital is Yakutsk, the world’s coldest city, but a surprisingly metropolitan one with a population of over 280,000 that’s got a university and museums and restaurants and the like. TripAdvisor says you could rent a room in a dozen or more hotels and motels here, at prices generally starting in the thirties and heading north of a hundred dollars a night. 

With its record low temp of -83 Fahrenheit, Yakutsk is, perhaps to no one’s surprise, also home to the Mammoth Museum. And to the Melnikov Permafrost Institute Underground Laboratory. Anything with the word “permafrost” in it just seems to fit here. One might imagine wearing sweaters year-round when working at this underground lab. 

Correction: you should pack shorts and swimsuit if you come in July. Yakutsk hits summer highs (very briefly) that can go about 86 F, for the wildest annual temperature swing in the world. 

Nyet to indoor plumbing

One small town in the Republic, Oymyakon, has almost no indoor plumbing because the buried pipes would constantly freeze. That’s to be expected with temperatures that set a non-polar record low of -96.2 F in 1924. So, if you visit during winter months be careful not to sample too much of the local brew before bedtime. If you get up with a full bladder and it’s 50 below, you won’t want to expose much of anything in the outhouse. 

Truckers always travel in pairs and don’t turn off their engines for the entirety of their two-week supply runs, according to The Independent. And you can’t bury gramma in the winter until a roaring bonfire has been lit to melt some of the frost from the ground. They don’t call it permafrost for nothin’. 

Wolves on the prowl

Then there’s Verkhoyansk, located 400 miles north of Yakutsk. Its 1,311 hardy citizens, at last count, boast the Pole of Cold Museum. One might imagine that the name says it all. But here’s another way of looking at the chill factor: Verkhoyansk has an average year-round temperature of 5.9 degrees Fahrenheit, and that’s even after tallying summer temps. The town’s record for warmest month was in July 2010, when the reading hit a sweltering 69.4 F. 

The main course of business around here in 2011 and 2012 was fighting off a roving super-pack of some 400 hungry wolves encircling the town when their usual diet of blue hare ran low on the tundra. Wolves generally run in pack of seven to ten, so 400 was a bit of an overkill to the town’s and region’s animal population. The final tally was the loss of 313 horses and 16,000 reindeer, but no humans.

All in all, a summer-months booking to the Sakha Republic could make for a culturally enriching and memorable vacation. As for a winter visit, not so much. 

--

Feature by David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth.com Vacations to Hell: Sakha Republic

Our planet contains countless breathtaking and unforgettable places to explore....

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">University of California Riverside</a> have discovered that California’s Sierra Nevada mountains have been benefiting from nutrients that blow in on dust from as far away as Asia. The scientists found that dust from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/san-joaquin-valley-sinking/">Central Valley</a> of California and the Gobi Desert in Asia contribute more phosphorus for plants in the Sierra Nevadas than bedrock weathering – which is the breaking down of rock beneath the soil.

This is an important finding for the ecosystem, as the soil in Sierra Nevadas tends to be phosphorus-limited. Phosphorus – one of the key elements plants need to survive – is extremely necessary for the famous giant sequoias of this region to grow up to heights of almost 100 meters.

Emma Aronson, an assistant professor of plant pathology and microbiology at <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>, explains: “In recent years it has been a bit of mystery how all these big trees have been sustained in this ecosystem without a lot of phosphorus in the bedrock. This work begins to unravel that mystery and show that dust may be shaping this iconic California ecosystem.”

Aronson, along with co-authors Chelsea Carey and Jon Botthoff, believe that this study may help predict the impacts of climate change. The expected changes to our planet’s climate are anticipated to increase drought and desert conditions around the world. This would likely include California.

If droughts continue to worsen, the researchers anticipate that a lot of dust will be moving in the atmosphere, and would likely bring phosphorus and other essential nutrients to these isolated mountain ecosystems.

By using non-stick bundt pans filled with glass marbles connected to 6-foot poles, the scientists collected blowing dust at various elevations along the mountains. There was no indication of whether the cake pans were used for their intended purpose at any point during the study.

Upon analyzing the isotopic signatures of elements in the dust, the team found that at the lowest elevation roughly 20 percent of the dust originated from the Gobi Desert in Asia. At the highest elevation, the average was closer to 45 percent of dust from Asian origin. The percentages were higher at the more elevated sites as dust usually travels high in the air stream until it hits a large object, such as a mountain.

Given the number of mountainous ecosystems around the world, this study could have global implications. The researchers believe that these findings will be consistent throughout many similar regions, and could help predict forest response to climate change and land use.

More information on this study can be found in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By Connor Ertz, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">University of California - Riverside</a>

Gobi Desert dust provides key nutrients for the Sierra Nevadas

Researchers from the University of California Riverside have discovered that...

Starting in the 1920s, a chemical compound known as tetra-ethyl-lead began being added to gasoline in order to boost octane rating and increase engine power. Despite the boost in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/renewable-fuel-cars-hawaii/">car</a> performance, this compound had the unintended effect of exposing the public and the environment to the powerful neurotoxin known as lead.

Unfortunately, the lead itself did not burn in the combustion process. Instead, it was expelled from tailpipes as elemental lead and lead oxides, which then settled as a particulate in soils around areas where cars constantly drove. Children playing near these areas were likely to breathe in lead-filled dust or swallow small amounts of the hazardous soil. 

This exposure would lead to accumulation of lead in the child’s bloodstream. Over time, the lead settled into bones, teeth, and soft tissue. 

Leaded gasoline was phased out in the U.S. between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s. During the time where leaded gasoline was commonplace, <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> began a long-term study of more than 500 children who grew up in the small town of Dunedin, New Zealand.

The study began at a time when New Zealand had some of the highest gasoline lead levels in the world. Researchers studied participants who were born between 1972 and 1973, assessing them for cognitive skills such as perceptual reasoning and working memory. 

These assessments took place from the individual’s birth through adulthood, including a collection of blood samples at the age of 11.  

Researchers found that the exposure to lead may have caused a loss of intelligence and occupational standing by the time the participants reached age 38. These effects are small, but significant, and found that the higher the blood lead level in childhood, the greater the loss of IQ points and occupational status in adulthood.

Individuals who were found to have more than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood at age 11 had IQs at age 38 that were 4.25 points lower than those with less lead exposure. They also tended to lose IQ points relative to their own childhood scores, showing a cumulative effect of the neurotoxin over time.

The study also looked at changes in social standing, using a device from the New Zealand government that plotted families on a 6-point scale. The social status of each child’s family was compared to their own adult status at age 38. It was found that children who had over 10 micrograms of lead in their blood attained occupations with socioeconomic status levels four-tenths lower than their less-exposed peers.

Aaron Reuben, a <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> psychology graduate student and first author of the study, explains: “The downward social mobility we see mirrors the trend in IQ… the decline in occupational status is partially but significantly explained by the loss of IQ. If you're above the historic level of concern [for lead exposure], you're doing worse on both.”

What makes this study unique is that lead exposure was not something that was confined to just the lower social classes. In New Zealand – like many places – automobile traffic occurs just about everywhere. Thus, exposure to leaded gasoline fumes occurred relatively evenly across all social classes.

“Regardless of where you start in life, lead is going to exert a downward pull,” explained Avshalom Caspi, Professor of psychology &amp; neuroscience and psychiatry &amp; behavioral sciences at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> and co-author on the paper. Because this method of lead exposure affects all parts of society relatively equally, its negative effects could move the entire curve of IQ and social status downward. In other words, “If everyone takes a hit from environmental pollutants, society as a whole suffers.”

Reuben and his colleagues believe that the effects of lead exposure are likely to be long lasting. Given that some Asian and middle eastern countries still use leaded gasoline, this research is important and incredibly pertinent around the world. 

The study appears Wednesday in the <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama">Journal of the American Medical Association</a>.

--

By Connor Ertz, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a>

Exposure to leaded gasoline fumes in childhood linked to lower IQ

Starting in the 1920s, a chemical compound known as tetra-ethyl-lead...

Sustainable, a documentary film by Matt Wechsler and Annie Speicher, lays out the case for organic farming through the eyes of farmers practicing sustainable operations and their nutritionally committed food operations customers.

The star of the film is central Illinois farmers Marty and Kris Travis and their grown son, Will. The family couldn’t be more passionate about the way they work Spence Farm, the small plot of land they repurchased in 1999 after a prior generation had to sell it the decade before. The Travises only started turning a profit after attending a meeting of Chicago restaurant chefs looking for a locally grown organic produce supply chain. The chefs would place an order for whatever underserved produce they needed the next season and the Travises would figure out how to organically grow it. 

When Will points out how his neighbors, traditional farmers farming a thousand acres or more, are making $400 an acre while Spence Farm is pulling in $2,200 on each of their 160 acres, the film certainly makes the case for the economics of 

farming without the high chemical input costs and other bad practices that have become the unwritten rules of agribusiness.

The Travises eventually recruit other small, struggling farmers, some of whom give on-screen credit to the family for saving their own operations.

We learn that most of the farming land in Iowa is devoted to corn and oats, and that the commodity nature of those crops means that the farmers are entirely at the mercy of markets. Their crop prices have nothing to do with the quality of their output in a given year. The sustainable farmers in the film, on the other hand, have more control over what they choose to grow and charge for their yield.

As in many similar stories, big agribusiness is the enemy. One University of Missouri agriculture professor even admits to having trusted the corporate farms to more efficiently feed more people on less acreage. Sure, it would push family farmers out of the business, but that would, in turn, enable those former people of the land to find more profitable careers elsewhere. What he didn’t count on, he says, was the spike of farmer suicides in the 1980s when they couldn’t keep their multi-generation family farms. That’s the point at which he sees that farming isn’t just a business – it’s a culture.

There are a lot of farming cultural heroes in this film, including an Amish agricultural consultant from Middlefield, Ohio whose face is never shown on-camera because of the prohibitions of his religion, but whose knowledge of the old ways are entirely new again.  The sustainability farming experts preach that a diseased plant is one whose health has been permitted to decline and that nutrition programs for the crops can save the fields without <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-study-shows-direct-impact-of-pesticides-on-bee-colonies/">pesticides</a>. 

Interestingly, cattle ranching is put in a favorable light, as long as the meat producers act in environmentally sensitive and non-cruel ways. Vegetarian, animal welfare activist and environmental lawyer Nicolette Hahn meets, falls in love with and marries Bill Niman, a cattle rancher – much to her own surprise. The family’s farm raises grass-fed, grazing beef cattle. The former lawyer states the many ways their herd contribute to responsible land management.

“When you have good grazing, it stimulates vegetation growth and keeps soil moister,” she says. “Hooves tramp organic matter back into the soil.”

The film does an admirable job of extolling the benefits of organic farming over the current agribusiness model. But by presenting mostly small-scale farmers whose main customers are big-city fine dining restaurant chefs, the filmmakers and passionate food activists inadvertently highlight their argument’s weaknesses. These are mostly boutique farmers selling to boutique markets. One might conclude that the higher prices of organic produce is the “real” price of food, and that the corporate mass producers have found ways to cheat costs down that are detrimental to the land and to the health of the American customer.

But until organic farming finds its way into Walmart and Kroger as prime suppliers – not just a small dedicated sub-section of the produce aisle – they aren’t making the mass-market sell they need to be taken seriously by mass markets. Instead, they’re serving only a more elitist audience of fine diners at trendy metropolitan restaurants, and for upscale outdoor market aficionados and those willing to pay extra for their nutritional savvy at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. 

At one point the filmmakers point out that 20 percent of American children are food-insecure. But are the parents of those kids going to solve the challenge by taking the family to a four-star Chicago eatery or by rolling a grocery cart through the organic aisle at a trendy big-city supermarket? 

One foodie and customer of Spence Farm is a baker for Publican Artisan Bread in Chicago who boasts that, while supermarket loaves takes four hours to make, theirs take 60 hours. One can guess that a 60-hour bread costs much more than a mass-produced loaf baked in a fraction of the time – and that it’s well worth it in terms of both flavor and nutritional value. The average family might buy an artisan loaf to thank Aunt Martha for watering the houseplants while they’re on vacation, but will they put it in the kids’ school lunch boxes five days a week?

Until organic farming can be done on a much larger scale at prices that don’t induce sticker shock, sustainable farming might continue to serve a small, but dedicated upscale and urban market. 

Sustainable is currently playing on <a href="https://www.netflix.com/">Netflix</a>. 

--

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://sustainablefoodfilm.com/">Sustainable Official Site</a>

Earth.com Film Review: Sustainable

Sustainable, a documentary film by Matt Wechsler and Annie Speicher,...

Imagine 30 million gallons of raw sewage dumped into the nation’s second-largest estuary, just off the shores of a major U.S. city and its largest park. That’s the situation in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kayakers-prepare-to-meet-shell-oil-rig-in-seattle/">Seattle</a> since an electrical failure resulted in the catastrophic spill of human waste into Puget Sound that occurred February 9-16, according to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>.

Local authorities say that the accident damaging the underground network of pumps, motors, electric panels and other system components has been fixed and that no raw sewage has escaped since mid-February. They also say that they’ve been working 24 hours a day to effect repairs and clean up the damage.

However, the facility is currently only partially treating waste at this point before dumping it into the Sound.

“It has been a disaster, and we're not out of it yet,” said Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a King County councilwoman, in an <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a> interview. “We still don't know really what went wrong. We've got to get a handle on it. I'm very concerned about the environment, the effects on marine life in the sound, (and) public health.”

Kohl-Welles’s district includes the hobbled West Point Treatment Plant, which is located next to the city’s largest public park.

So far, damage and cleanup costs have exceeded $25 million and the treatment plant expects to not be finished until the end of April.

As for the long-term damage, untreated waste can adversely affect the health of humans and marine life through the release of chemicals and germs. It could also make the region’s popular shellfish risky to eat.

“Anytime pollution goes into the sound, it's a concern," Sheida Sahandy, who directs the Puget Sound Partnership, told the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>. PSS is the state agency responsible for cleaning up the sound.

The spill also gives a bloody nose to the reputation of the region for its clean waterways and environmental concerns.

--

Written by David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/"> Associated Press</a>

Millions of gallons of raw human waste spill into Puget Sound

Imagine 30 million gallons of raw sewage dumped into the...

Could man-made climate change be affecting the planetary airstreams that trigger extreme weather? An international team of climate scientists think so. 

The scientists – from the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK), <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>, and <a href="https://www.vu.nl/en/">Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam</a> – have linked “stalling” giant airstreams to human activity.

“The unprecedented 2016 California drought, the 2011 U.S. heatwave and 2010 Pakistan flood as well as the 2003 European hot spell all belong to a most worrying series of extremes,” said Dr. Michael Mann of Penn State, the study’s lead author, in a press release. “The increased incidence of these events exceeds what we would expect from the direct effects of global warming alone, so there must be an additional climate change effect. In data from computer simulations as well as observations, we identify changes that favor unusually persistent, extreme meanders of the jet stream that support such extreme weather events.”

The data point to human activity as a culprit in the unusual airstream activity, Mann said.

Extreme weather, from drought to flooding to heatwaves, occurs when the climate in an area gets “stuck” on otherwise normal weather, co-author Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf of PIK said. Dry, hot days or rain without a break can cause problems, he said.

“This occurs under specific conditions that favor what we call a quasi-resonant amplification that makes the north-south undulations of the jet stream grow very large,” Rahmstorf said. “It also makes theses waves grind to a halt rather than moving from west to east.”

The airstreams are powered by the gap in temperature between the polar regions and the Equator, he explained. The poles – especially the Arctic – are warming more quickly than equatorial regions, and that affects the movement of the airstreams, Rahmstorf said.

Another factor is that the average surface temperature over land masses is rising faster than over oceans. This also affects the airstreams, Rahmstorf said.

The team of scientists used temperature data recorded since 1870 to reach their conclusions. They found that a particular combination of temperature factors cause the planetary airstreams to “stall.” They also found that this concurrence of conditions had increased by 70 percent since the Industrial Revolution began. 

The pace has picked up even more in the past four decades, the team found.

“The more frequent persistent and meandering jetstream states seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, which makes it even more relevant,” said Dr. Dim Coumou of VU Amsterdam. 

The researchers acknowledged that the study is only beginning to tackle how climate change and human activity may influence the planetary airstreams to cause extreme weather events.

“We certainly need to further investigate this – there is some good evidence, but also many open questions,” Coumou said. “In any case, such non-linear responses of the Earth system to human-made warming should be avoided.”

The study will be published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep45242">Scientific Reports</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists: human activity may affect planetary airstreams

Could man-made climate change be affecting the planetary airstreams that...

The world changed dramatically beginning some 35 million years ago in what is now Australia. For starters, the entire island nation broke off from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctica-sets-record-high/">Antarctica</a>, and at about the same time, temperatures dropped globally. The freeze resulted in a mass extinction event that drew the interest of modern-day scientists from <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a>.

The ANU researchers used molecular evolutionary studies and fossil records to study a species of pygopodoid geckos that became extinct due to the abrupt climate change.

“The dramatic shift to colder and drier climates likely resulted in rapidly changing Australian habitats, which hugely impacted the animals that inhabited them,” said Ian Brennan, the lead researcher of the study and a PhD student at the ANU Research School of Biology. “Our research provides evidence that rapid shifts in climate may have profound and long-lasting effects on global biodiversity.”

Species of pygopodoid geckos died off in a mass extinction event caused by the freezing temperatures. But over time new species of the hardy reptile adapted to the changing climate in a number of ways once the effects of the big chill wore off and the landscape turned to heated deserts some ten million years ago.

For instance, the reptiles dodged the radiant heat by becoming nocturnal and they developed rugged skin and scales to defend against water loss.

The study proved that climate change affects biodiversity in long-term and dramatic ways. So how will Earth and its inhabitants change to meet the conditions to come under this next cycle of global environmental change?

The ANU study was published earlier this month in the journal Evolution.

-- 

Written by David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.13207/abstract"> Evolution</a>

Image Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU

Mass extinction event occurred in Australia 35 million years ago

The world changed dramatically beginning some 35 million years ago...

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It traps heat in the atmosphere, thus making it the main culprit for climate change. But what if science could find a way to convert CO2 to methanol?

On the face of it, that doesn’t look like much of a trade off. Methanol is a chemical that can cause blindness, coma and even death to humans. But when handled carefully, it’s a valuable substance in the production of paint, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-evidence-that-deep-sea-animals-are-ingesting-plastics/">plastics</a> and even explosives.

And now researchers at the <a href="https://energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy's</a> Brookhaven National Laboratory, have taken the first steps toward that conversion by identifying in the lab the metal that can serve as the most efficient catalyst. Metal catalysts interact with metals to speed up chemical reactions that lead to conversions, and the researchers had to test many such metals.

“We found that copper zinc oxide should give the best results, and that copper zinc is not even stable under reaction conditions,” said Dr. Ping Liu, a chemist and the study’s lead author. “In fact, it reacts with oxygen and transforms to copper zinc oxide.”

The next step is to increase efficiencies in the operation.

“We want to improve it, and get it to operate at lower temperatures and lower pressures, which would save energy,” said Liu.

These findings, which were published in Science, could one day lead to technologies for turning a compound that’s slowly poisoning the earth into a useful substance.

--

Written by David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/"> Science</a>

First steps taken to turn climate-changing CO2 into methanol

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It traps heat in...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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



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



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



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



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



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



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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