Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals.



A research team led by Hans Sanderson of <a href="http://Aarhus University https://g.co/kgs/wGFv7P9">Aarhus University</a> tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166445X24003485?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaternium conditioners</a> that make hair feel smooth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoos-tame-frizz">How shampoos tame frizz</h2>



Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166248108701168" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positively charged polymers</a> so those long molecules wrap around each fiber and neutralize static, leaving a sleek finish.



The most common sub‑group, polyquaterniums, numbers more than 25,000 variations. Together they support a <a href="https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/polyquaternium-market-107659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">market valued</a> at about $0.12 billion in 2024 and projected to grow steadily over the next decade.



Each molecule is huge by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ocean-animals-connect-countries-and-continents/">chemical</a> standards, so toxicology screens once assumed they were harmless to wildlife because they cannot slip through cell membranes. Sanderson’s team asked whether sticking on the outside of a creature could matter just as much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-harms-tiny-aquatic-animals">Shampoo harms tiny aquatic animals </h2>



Freshwater ponds and lakes are full of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">daphnia</a>, tiny crustaceans <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shampoo-animals.jpg">sometimes called water fleas</a>. They filter algae and bacteria, purify water, and form a primary food source for many small fish.



Because daphnia propel themselves with rhythmic strokes of their antennae, any extra drag can slow them down. 



The Aarhus experiments showed that a film of conditioner polymers glued to the animals’ shells, halving their swimming speed and hindering feeding.



“We have conducted the first study in the world to investigate this. The substances do not penetrate the animals’ cells, but rather stick to the surface of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-2025-plastic-pollution-is-choking-our-planet/">animal</a>,” explained Sanderson. 



“This physically affects the animal, making it unable to move as well, and it impairs its ability to ingest food,” continued Sanderson.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-s-charge-makes-animals-vulnerable">Shampoo's charge makes animals vulnerable</h2>



The researchers ran complementary tests on two standard laboratory species, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daphnia magna</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/483833-Ceriodaphnia-dubia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ceriodaphnia dubia</a>, using three <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaterniums</a> of different designs. 



The team found toxicity thresholds as low as 0.05 mg per liter for the most highly charged polymer, while the same molecule with a lower charge was 400‑fold less toxic.



The pattern was consistent regardless of molecular weight. That result shifts regulatory focus from size to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/charge-density" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">charge density</a>, a parameter rarely documented on shampoo labels.



Organic matter in natural water, such as dissolved humic acids, partially blunts the polymers’ stickiness. Yet even moderate concentrations still impaired reproduction and growth during 21‑day chronic tests with both daphnia species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoo-chemicals-move-to-animals">How shampoo chemicals move to animals</h2>



Wastewater plants intentionally add the same <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01223" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cationic polymers</a> as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/flocculant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flocculant</a> to clump particles together for easier removal. Ironically, what helps strip other pollutants out of sewage can persist in the resulting sludge or treated effluent.



If facilities discharge more than the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-impacting-marine-life-more-than-we-realized/">ecosystem</a> can buffer, sensitive invertebrates pay the price. Because daphnia sit near the base of the food web, their decline can ripple upward and reduce fish recruitment.



Laboratory work measured polymer levels that killed half a daphnia population within 48 hours at phone‑screen brightness‑level concentrations. Field monitoring remains limited, so nobody knows how often small streams approach those doses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-call-for-smarter-safety-tests">Call for smarter safety tests</h2>



European agencies already demand hazard labels for chemicals that penetrate cells, but large polymers still slip through many guidelines. 



The European Commission is reviewing <a href="https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/chemicals/chemicals-legislation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymer assessment rules</a> under its CLP and <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/reach-regulation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">REACH regulations</a>, with updates expected this year.



The researchers argue that future protocols must mimic real‑world water containing organic carbon, rather than the ultra‑clean test media used today. 



They also recommend including movement and feeding endpoints, not just mortality, when assessing ecological risk.



Softening agents may never fully disappear from consumer goods. However, incremental tweaks, lower charge density, biodegradable side chains, or safer alternatives like amino‑based conditioners could cut harm dramatically. 



Manufacturers have incentives to act before formal limits arrive, because production lines adapt faster than legislation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reducing-shampoo-s-harm-to-animals">Reducing shampoo’s harm to animals</h2>



Reading an ingredient list will often reveal polyquaterniums by number, for example polyquaternium‑10 or ‑7. Lower single‑digit numbers usually carry higher charge density, although the label alone cannot quantify risk.



Choosing rinse‑off products certified for low aquatic toxicity is one stopgap, though Sanderson notes that even ecolabel formulations sometimes rely on the same chemistry. 



Reducing dosage helps too; a quarter‑sized blob of shampoo cleans most medium‑length hair, and conditioner is unnecessary every wash for many people.



Small behavior shifts add up because each bottle skipped prevents thousands of gallons of rinse water from picking up extra polymers over its retail life. 



Until wastewater infrastructure and regulations catch up, prevention at the source remains the surest shield for freshwater communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-a-balanced-bathroom-shelf">Toward a balanced bathroom shelf</h2>



The story of sticky hair conditioners underscores a broader lesson in polymer safety. Size alone cannot protect wildlife if surface charge lets molecules hijack essential behaviors like swimming and feeding. 



Daphnia, though invisible from a shower stall, signal the health of entire lakes and streams. When their numbers fall, algae blooms can surge, water clarity drops, and fish lose a key snack.



Scientists now have lab tools to screen thousands of conditioning agents quickly, ranking them by how strongly they glue onto living surfaces. 



Policy makers can use that knowledge to set practical discharge limits, while industry chemists re‑engineer formulas for performance without collateral damage.



Every shampoo rinse cycle connects personal routine to planetary processes, affecting animals too. Balancing clean hair with clean water and protecting animals is no longer guesswork; the data are in view, and the solutions are within reach.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aquatic Toxicology</a>.



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Chemicals in shampoos and soaps are infiltrating rivers and killing aquatic life

Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals. A research team led by Hans Sanderson of Aarhus University tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called polyquaternium conditioners that make hair feel smooth. How shampoos tame frizz Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add positively charged polymers so those long molecules wrap around...

To <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oroville-dam-californian-catastrophe/">Californians</a>, it can sometimes seem like their state is in drought or high water. On Wednesday, one of the wettest seasons on record brought a flood that displaced thousands of homeowners in and around San Jose. Among the 50,000 who were warned to leave, the order was mandatory for 14,000 of the most threatened residents.

The crisis occurred when Silicon Valley’s Coyote Creek flooded its banks late Tuesday and early Wednesday after heavy rainfall.

The region’s water agencies and rescuers were taken by surprise. Although emergency alerts had been sent out to those who’d signed up for alerts, some residents reported knowing nothing about the evacuation order until they saw first responders in dinghies.

“If the first time a resident is aware that they need to get out of their home is when they see a firefighter in a boat, that's a failure,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “We are assessing what happened in that failure.”

The suddenness of the flood was attributed to the “atmospheric river” weather pattern, a narrow corridor of moisture that can bring on sudden and severe weather conditions. Adding to the challenge, the floodwater is most likely to be contaminated by raw sewage.

“People should take every precaution to stay away from the water to avoid illness or injury,” warned Sara Cody, a Santa Clara County health officer.

The San Jose flood is only the latest weather calamity brought on by the state’s sustained downpours. Oroville Dam to the north has been in the news for its near-collapse when its reservoir overflowed and damaged spillways.

Although floodwaters were receding in San Jose by late Wednesday, Mayor Liccardo said residents wouldn’t be allowed to return until at least Thursday.

--

By David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4250798/Worst-flooding-hit-San-Jose-100-years.html"> Daily Mail</a>

California flood displaces up to 50,000

To Californians, it can sometimes seem like their state is...

If we could see the planet’s last 2.6 million years at super-fast film speed, we’d see polar <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/scientists-collapsing-ice-sheets-will-accelerate-sea-level-rise/">ice sheets</a> expanding over North America and northern Europe and retreating, expanding and retreating. Without benefit of satellite video from the last couple million years, researchers at three universities worked on the challenge of predicting when an ice age ends and when interglacial, or warming, periods begin. 

According to a new study published today in Nature, climate scientists from University College London, University of Cambridge and University of Louvain (France) found answers based on solar energy peaks.

These occur when Earth’s orbit and the tilt of its axis result in ice-melting solar energy over our high northern latitudes. We’ve had 110 of these solar energy peaks in the last 2.6 million years, but only 50 of them triggered complete meltdown of the expanding ice sheets.

“The basic idea is that there is a threshold for the amount of energy reaching high northern latitudes in summer,” said Professor of Geography Chronis Tzedakis at UCL. “Above that threshold, the ice retreats completely and we enter an interglacial.”

This ice-melt threshold tended to occur in our planet’s earlier days about every 41,000 years. But things changed around a million years ago. From then up to now, the ice ages have expanded.

The university researchers were able to formulate a predictive model based on solar energy and the ice cycles to predict the end of an ice age and onset of interglacial periods over the last million years, finding that they occurred roughly every 100,000 years.

The scientists also found that some of these solar energy peaks almost triggered interglacial periods, but didn’t quite hit the threshold. This is where things get a little dicey.

“The threshold was only just missed 50,000 years ago,” said researcher Professor Michel Crucifix of the University of Louvain. “If it hadn't been missed, then we wouldn't have had an interglacial in the last 11,000 years.”

And you thought your winters were cold now.

—

By David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://nature.com/">Nature</a>

Did we just miss living in an ice age for the last 11,000 years?

If we could see the planet’s last 2.6 million years...

Climate change contributes to snow and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oceans-rise-massive-glacier-melts/">glacier</a> melt and that, in turn, causes sea levels to rise. That’s why recent <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> research on Greenland’s underground meltwater reservoirs is so important.

Greenland is already known to lose a significant amount of water to the sea through underground meltwater reservoirs, and the amount has been growing in recent years. This is especially true in the western part of the island nation. But things were thought to be different in southeast Greenland, most of which is covered in thick sheets of ice. Runoff water here is trapped in a vast expanse of reservoirs some forty feet below the icy surface.

How vast? It is estimated that these firn aquifers encompass some 8,455 square miles and contain the approximate water volume of Lake Tahoe. Because of the insulating snow cover, the water within the aquifers remains in a liquid state.

“This paper illuminates the fate of the aquifer’s water,” said Kristin Poinar, lead author of the NASA study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">Goddard Space Flight Center</a> in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Before, we didn’t know if the water froze inside the ice sheet or reemerged onto the ice surface. In either of those scenarios, the meltwater would not contribute to sea level rise.”

Unfortunately, that’s not what NASA’s ground-penetrating radar and computer modeling found to be happening to the trapped water. The finding was that the water in the crevices stays liquid long enough to find its way to the bottom of the ice sheet in a pathway of fractures, and out to sea. The leakage of these underground meltwater reservoirs is just one more obstacle to adapting to climate change.

--

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.tiredearth.com/138148777327335"> Tired Earth,</a> <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>

Greenland’s underground meltwater reservoirs leaking into ocean

Climate change contributes to snow and glacier melt and that,...

The earth’s core is cooling. We know that much. It occurs as a result of the very gradual movement of liquid metal, transferring heat from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-internal-jet-stream-core/">core</a> to the surface. But how much cooling has occurred over geological time?

The answer that Kei Hirose, now Director of the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology came up with in 2013 – a heat reduction of 1000 degrees Centimeter over the 4.5 billion-year life of the planet – startled earth scientists. That was a lot of heat loss! But it’s what the numbers had to add up to in order to sustain the geomagnetic field – unless there was another energy source.

Hirose and his team think they’ve found that alternate source along with gaining greater understanding of the chemical composition of the core.

“The core is mostly iron and some nickel, but also contains about ten percent of light alloys such as silicon, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen, and other compounds,” said Hirose, lead author of the new study, to be published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>. “We think that many alloys are simultaneously present, but we don't know the proportion of each candidate element.”

The team used precision-cut diamonds and lasers to replicate pressure and heat conditions that exist at the earth’s core on various combinations of iron and alloys. In the past, researchers conducting similar experiments only mixed iron with one alloy.

“But in these experiments we decided to combine two different alloys containing silicon and oxygen, which we strongly believe exist in the core,” said Hirose.

The process formed dust-size silicon dioxide crystals – which do appear, as the mineral quartz, on the earth’s surface.

“We were excited because our calculations showed that crystallization of silicon dioxide crystals from the core could provide an immense new energy source for powering the earth's magnetic field,” said John Hernlund of ELSI and a co-author of the study.

In other words, while the earth’s core is indeed steadily cooling, the findings point to it happening at a much less dramatic rate than previously calculated.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/133691.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131166" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/133691.jpg" alt="" width="385" height="461" /></a>

--

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source – <a href="http://www.titech.ac.jp/english/">Tokyo Institute of Technology</a>

The earth may be cooling slower than we thought

The earth’s core is cooling. We know that much. It...

Plastic garbage wreaks havoc on the Earth’s sea creatures. If you spend any amount of time on the web, you’ve probably seen videos of friendly kayakers clipping plastic trash away from sea turtles and birds. In a recent story, a<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dying-whale-found-plastic-bags/"> dying whale washed up</a> off the coast of Norway with 30 plastic bags inside of its belly. Among the problems are plastic six-pack beverage rings – those ring holders that can be found on six-packs of beer and soda. 

Like plastic shopping bags, these beverage rings pose a double safety whammy to marine life, as creatures can get caught in them, but they can also ingest them. As a fish, whale, or turtle consumes non-digestible plastic, the material slowly fills up their stomachs and causes them to starve to death.

A brewery in Florida decided that they’d had enough. Americans consumed 6.3 billion gallons of beer just last year alone. Determined not to add to the plethora of plastic floating around the oceans, the <a href="http://www.saltwaterbrewery.com/">Saltwater Brewery</a> in Florida designed six-pack rings that are both edible and biodegradable. 

The rings are made from wheat and barley. Left to their own devices, the rings will eventually break down. However, if a sea turtle takes a nibble out of them, it won’t hurt. In fact, it could be a tasty treat!  

Saltwater Brewery estimates that if other, larger breweries would adopt their six-pack ring technology, hundreds of thousands of animal lives could be saved every year. One factor that might hold the innovative new rings back? They cost more than traditional, plastic six-pack rings. 

Saltwater Brewery’s head of brand, Peter Agardy, feels this sort of technology is worth spending money on. “It’s a big investment for a small brewery created by fisherman, surfers and people that love the sea,” he said. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Edible six-pack beverage rings offer alternative to plastic

Plastic garbage wreaks havoc on the Earth’s sea creatures. If...

For those who are unfamiliar with fracking, it’s not a G-rated curse word. Fracking refers to drilling into the earth and using high-pressured water to fracture shale rock in order to release <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/long-term-damage-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/">oil</a> and gas. 

Many environmental advocates oppose fracking because they say it can harm the environment, as well as cause a danger to people who live nearby. They say that this is due to the dangerous chemicals used during the process, which have the potential to escape and contaminate the ground, as well as nearby bodies of water. 

A new study is proving those environmentalists right. According to a team from<a href="https://www.duke.edu"> Duke University</a>’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, 2 to 16% of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells spill chemically-contaminated water, hydrocarbons, hydraulic fracturing fluids, and other substances that spell very bad news for the environment. 

That adds up to a whopping 6,648 spills in three states – Colorado, New Mexico, and North Dakota – during the 10-year period covered in the study. The findings, published in<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag"> Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>, covered a time span starting in 2005 and ending in 2014. 

“As this form of energy production increases, state efforts to reduce spill risk could benefit from making data more uniform and accessible to better provide stakeholders with important information on where to target efforts for locating and preventing future spills,” said Lauren Patterson, the lead author of the study. 

The team discovered that there is a higher likelihood of a spill during the first three years of a well’s life. They also discovered that having a past spill was often an indicator for future spills. Experts believe that having such numbers available will help researchers, states, and leaders inside the oil and gas industry avoid creating health risks by causing repeated spills. 

And that’s fracking good news. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Lauren Patterson,<a href="http://www.apple.com"> Duke University</a>

Drilling for oil and gas causes fracking problems

For those who are unfamiliar with fracking, it’s not a...

So much of today’s environmental news is doom and gloom. The ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising. A giant asteroid is headed for earth at some point thousands of years from now. Solar rays from the sun will eventually suck us all in and we’ll melt into nothing. Ostriches have recently developed a taste for human flesh and they’re coming for us. 

Ok – so that last bit wasn’t actually environmental news. I just wanted to make sure you were all paying attention for the good news we’d like to deliver…

The Mexican gray wolf population is rebounding.  Researchers say that their numbers have reached 113 in eastern Arizona and New Mexico. 

While that might not sound like a lot, the population had struggled to reach 110 two years ago since the wolves were reintroduced into the wild in 1998. By the end of 2015, though, their numbers had dropped back to only 97 – a stunning setback for conservationists. They say that the drop was due to illegal shootings, as well as a lower pup survival rate. Only 23 pups survived in 2015. By comparison, 50 Mexican gray wolves born in the wild survived last year. 

In a news release,<a href="https://www.fws.gov"> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle said that the goal is to achieve a 10% average population gain. 

"We are encouraged by these numbers, but these 2016 results demonstrate we are still not out of the woods with this experimental population,” he said. 

Wolf <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/kenyan-railway-nairobi-national-park/">conservationists</a> are coming up against ranch owners and deer and elk hunters who would like to see a lower number of wolves roaming around their states. The state of New Mexico actually went to court to get a court injunction to prevent any more wolves from being released into the state. 

Despite the politics, the increase in wolf numbers are good news for conservationists and animal lovers, as well as the wolves themselves. 

Even if the earth finally does collide with the sun, at least we’ll have plenty of beautiful animal species to enjoy up until that last, fiery moment, right? 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source:<a href="https://www.fws.gov"> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>

Here’s some good environmental news, for a change

So much of today’s environmental news is doom and gloom....

Reading the news, it may seem that warming temperatures will potentially impact pretty much everything in the world. Unfortunately, this will be another one of those news stories. Scientists have discovered yet another side effect of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/migratory-geese-climate-change/">climate change</a> – and this one has to do with warming temperatures in ponds.

A new study determined that warming temperatures can reduce the amount of carbon monoxide stored by ponds, as well as increasing the amount of methane they release into the air. 

They determined this by conducting experiments in which they warmed a variety of ponds by 4 to 5ºC (about 39 to 41ºF) to see how the warmer bodies of water would be affected in terms of metabolism and emissions. 

Professor Gabriel Yvon-Durocher of the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> is the lead author of the study. He and his colleagues at the <a href="http://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> published their report in the journal<a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/index.html"> Nature Climate Change</a>. 

“This is the first experiment to investigate the long-term effects of warming in aquatic ecosystems,” he said. “Given the substantial contribution small ponds make to the emission of greenhouse gases, it is vital to understand how they might respond to global warming. Our findings show that warming can fundamentally alter the carbon balance of small ponds over a number of years, reducing their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and increasing emissions of methane.”

Why is this a concern? “This could ultimately accelerate climate change,” Yvon-Durocher explained. 

It’s a dirty cycle known as a “positive feedback,” and it happens when effects of global warming cause consequences that further increase the rate of climate change. This phenomenon with ponds stands out because it differs from what scientists have come to expect on land.

“The amplified effects of experimental warming we have observed in ponds are different to those we typically see on land, where large initial effects of warming appear to diminish over the long term. This accelerating effect in ponds, which could have serious impacts on climate change, is not currently accounted for in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models,” Yvon-Durocher said. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 
Source: Gabriel Yvon-Durocher, <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

New study shows climate change is now messing with our ponds!

Reading the news, it may seem that warming temperatures will...

Soon <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fact-family-farmers-grants/">farmers </a>will have an app to help them save the bees! It can be a laborious process for a farmer to encourage bees to pollinate their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-happening-quickly-food-crops-adapt/">crops.</a> They would have to walk through her fields, assess possible locations, take measurements, crunch numbers and still, they could only guess a number of plants bees would pollinate. But soon farmers will have an app to help them calculate the crop productivity and pollination benefits of supporting endangered bees.

Bee expert Taylor Rickett from the University of Vermont is co-leading the app's development and introduced the new interactive technology at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting panel, <a href="https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2017/webprogram/Session14937.html">Plan Bee: Pollinators, Food Production and U.S. Policy</a>, on Feb. 19.

The currently nameless app which will be launching later this year, allows users to explore land management scenarios, and virtually test how bee-friendly decisions would improve their business.

Pre-loaded with aerial images of North America, the app allows users to calculate their best practices for boosting pollination once their enter their address details. According to Ricketts. "You simply draw different options - from wind breaks to planting flowers or bringing in honey bees. The app will do a pollination, productivity, and eventually, a cost-benefit analysis. Farmers can then determine which choices bring the best return on investment."

The app uses the first <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/giee/?Page=news&amp;storyID=22053&amp;category=gund">national map of U.S. wild bees</a> as a base which found the key insects are disappearing in the country's most important farmlands - including California's Central Valley, the Midwest's corn belt and the Mississippi River valley.

That study, led by UVM bee researchers, showed that with further bee losses, farmers could face higher costs and the nation's food production could experience "destabilization" due to climate change, pesticides, habitat loss and disease.

Ricketts added "Farmers are a natural partner to protect bees because pollinators are essential for growing many foods,"

The hope is that the app will make the best available science and bee-friendly practices accessible to users - which can help making real steps to reverse bee losses.

"Government action is key, but saving bees requires more than that," says Ricketts. "Leadership from the private sector, especially farmers and agricultural businesses, is crucial. Their choices will have a huge impact on whether pollinators fail or flourish. This gives farmers a chance to help with an issue that directly impacts their businesses". What we all know is that it's going to take a lot of work from everyone to save the bees.

–

Source: <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/giee/?Page=news&amp;storyID=22530&amp;category=gund">UVM</a>

By: Frances Levine Editor-in-Chief

Save the bees with an app!

Soon farmers will have an app to help them save...

Mexico City is crumbling. We’re talking more than typical city terms of a crumbling infrastructure – the city itself is actually collapsing and sinking into the earth. 

How can this be happening? Mexico City sits on a base of clay – the same clay on which the Aztecs built the first structures of the city. That clay is weakening fast as the city drills into it in a desperate quest for water. 

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-water-cycle-dreams/">water</a> shortage has become an increasing crisis in Mexico City. Drought and immense heat intensified by climate change is causing water stores to evaporate. This means that in neighborhoods like Iztapalapa, people never know what to expect when they turn the handle at their tap. This is the situation for almost 20% of the city’s residents. 

The more Mexico City drills for water, the faster the city sinks. In some areas, the earth is dropping at an amazing rate of nine inches per year. This is causing a multitude of problems. One of them is cracking and crumbling buildings and sidewalks. More than a cosmetic problem, it’s extremely dangerous. In one incident, a crack in a sidewalk suddenly widened and swallowed a teenager. In total, 15 elementary schools have been affected by the sinking – either crumbling or collapsing entirely. 

Another issue? As the city sinks, its wastewater is no longer properly draining into the Grand Canal. The canal was constructed to deal with tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater. However, it was designed so that gravity would drain the water from the city and pour it into the canal. With the city falling, drainage has been affected – causing a constant stench across the area. 

A government fix for the problem seems unlikely, according to Claudia Sheinbaum. Formerly an environment minister, she developed Mexico City’s first climate change program. 

“There has to be a consensus — of scientists, politicians, engineers and society — when it comes to pollution, water, climate,” Sheinbaum told the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>. “We have the resources, but lack the political will.”

[caption id="attachment_131077" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-17-at-10.36.15-AM.png"><img class="wp-image-131077 size-medium" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-17-at-10.36.15-AM-300x128.png" width="300" height="128" /></a> Graphic showing Mexico City Subsidence; Source: Dr. Andy Sowter, Geomatic Ventures Limited.[/caption]

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By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mexico City is actually disappearing into the earth

Mexico City is crumbling. We’re talking more than typical city...

<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> technology gives us a bird’s – or rather, a star’s-eye view – of our planet from space. Using satellite imaging technology, scientists are able to view the Earth as a whole in order to understand how all of its systems work together. Of particular interest are the regions that spend large chunks of time buried underneath snowfall. As temperatures warm in those areas, melting snow provides water to those areas. Because of this, snowfall levels can affect how much water is available for drinking water, agricultural purposes, and hydropower programs. 

However, it’s tough to measure exactly how much <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/kamchatka-peninsula-captured/">snow</a> exists in a given area using traditional imaging technology. This led NASA to create SnowEx, a program that uses remote sensing measurements to tell not only how much snow is on the ground in an area, but also how much water is contained within that snow. 

Edward Kim, a NASA scientist who specializes in remote sensing, explained the purpose of the program. 

“"This is the most comprehensive campaign we have ever done on snow,” he said. “An army of nearly 100 scientists from universities and agencies across the U.S., Europe and Canada are participating. Our goal is to find and refine the best snow-measuring techniques.”

The program will utilize five aircraft that will carry a total of 10 remote sensors in order to take measurements. Jets will take off from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, as well as from Grand Junction, Colorado. Meanwhile, teams of 50 researchers will collect data on the ground that will be used to validate the measurements taken from the air.

Scientists hope that if the program, beginning later this month in Colorado, is a success, it will be used to upgrade existing satellites so that they can take measurements. 

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By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>

Check out NASA’s cool new method for measuring snowfall

NASA technology gives us a bird’s – or rather, a...

Get out your umbrellas. And your rain boots. And your kayaks? Southern California is bracing for a strong storm slated to hit the area starting Friday and continuing through Saturday. Officials say that it will bring heavy, nonstop rain and strong winds. As with most bad weather in California, it will also potentially cause flash flooding and dangerous mudslides. 

Los Angeles and Ventura Counties are expecting as much as 6 inches of nonstop rain. South-facing foothills and coastal mountain areas could receive as much as 5 to 10 inches. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-water-deficit-california/">storm</a> will create record-breaking rainfall totals for some areas of the state. 

Some areas, such as neighborhoods in the Fish Fire burn area of the city of Duarte, have issued evacuation notices for their residents, who are increasingly nervous. 

"I'm a little anxious knowing that we have pack up the house again, twice in one year to get out of our home. We got booted out when the Fish Fire hit, the fire department did a great job and kept us super safe, all of our homes were saved," Jill Brainard said to <a href="http://ktla.com/">KTLA</a>. "But this is a little different, you can't control mudflow and rain.”

Despite the overwhelming amount of rain that’s fallen in California over the past few months, experts say that the state’s five-years-long drought isn’t quite over. This is because the rainfall has been focused on the northern half of the state. In those areas, once-low reservoirs are brimming with water once again. 

The middle and southern parts of the state, however, are still suffering from moderate to severe levels of drought. Experts say that it will take more than one rainy winter to correct the problem. 

“Luckily, they got one record setting winter this year, which is great,” <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">NOAA</a> meteorologist David Miskus said to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">The Washington Post</a>. “But what will happen next year? You don’t know what next winter will bring.” 

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By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Think the nonstop rain is killing CA’s drought? Think again

Get out your umbrellas. And your rain boots. And your...

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

[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



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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 



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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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



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.

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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

[sendtonews key="Ccjk8KEMzv-2550719-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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