Marine,Biodiversity,Above,Healthy,Coral,Reef,In,The,Coral,Triangle

When thinking about fossils, we often picture dinosaurs. But reefs can also hold an ancient history. Tiny fish bones and shark scales also become fossils in these habitats, quietly preserving the story of ancient oceans.



A striking study from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (<a href="https://stri.si.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">STRI</a>) has now revealed how humans disrupted Caribbean reefs in the past.



Scientists analyzed fossilized coral reefs from Panama’s Bocas del Toro and the Dominican Republic. These reefs, exposed and well-preserved, date back 7,000 years. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-changed-reef-fish-communities">Humans changed reef fish communities </h2>



The researchers compared the fossilized reefs with nearby living <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-hidden-hotspot-where-soft-corals-are-thriving/">reefs</a> to reveal how overfishing changed fish communities.



In the ancient reef sediments, the team found thousands of fossilized otoliths (fish ear bones) and dermal denticles (shark scales).



These fossils gave clues to species composition and size. The results show a massive shift in predator-prey dynamics, unlike anything seen before.



One of the most alarming findings was a 75% drop in shark numbers. These top predators once played a key role in maintaining reef balance. As their numbers fell, populations of prey fish surged. They doubled in abundance and increased 17% in size.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-predator-release-effect">The predator release effect</h2>



The study offers hard evidence for the “predator release effect.” Scientists had long predicted this outcome, but they lacked solid prehistoric data to prove it. 



Now, the fossils confirm what models once assumed: removing predators lets prey populations explode.



Meanwhile, fish targeted by humans, like larger groupers and snappers, became 22% smaller. This shrinking trend matches what we observe today. 



Overfishing seems to have pushed these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-temperature-swings-boost-coral-reef-resilience/">species</a> toward early maturity and smaller size.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-fish-stay-the-same">Some fish stay the same</h2>



Remains from tiny cryptobenthic reef fishes, which live in coral crevices, told a different story. Their size and abundance remained unchanged over thousands of years.



Despite fishing and upheaval above them, these reef dwellers stayed stable. Their resilience surprised the researchers.



“The stability of these fish shows remarkable resistance to external pressures,” noted the researchers. Even as top predators vanished and fishing intensified, these hidden <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-reef-awareness-day-2025-bringing-corals-back-to-life/">species</a> kept going, unchanged.



To measure these shifts, the scientists examined 807 shark denticles and 5,724 otoliths. They also studied coral branches for bite marks left by damselfish. 



Fossil and modern samples showed that damselfish now bite more often - likely because they face fewer predators.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-bones-reveal-big-reef-changes">Fish bones reveal big reef changes</h2>



Otoliths grow in layers like tree rings. This allows scientists to estimate the age and size of fish at time of death. By comparing fossil otoliths with modern ones, researchers could track size changes across millennia.



Dermal denticles, the scale-like structures on shark skin, helped identify shark presence. These tiny features tell a big story: as shark numbers decreased, populations of prey species expanded.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/coral-reefs_fish-otoliths_credit-Erin-Dillon_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/coral-reefs_fish-otoliths_credit-Erin-Dillon_1s.webp" alt="Fish otoliths — the calcium carbonate structures found in fishes' inner ears — from human harvested fish, prey fish (those eaten by predatory fish) and reef-sheltered fish (also known as cryptobentic fish) found in 7000 year-old fossilized Caribbean reefs from Panama and the Dominican Republic. Credit: Erin Dillon" class="wp-image-1976075"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Fish otoliths - the calcium carbonate structures found in fishes' inner ears - from human harvested fish, prey fish (those eaten by predatory fish) and reef-sheltered fish (also known as cryptobentic fish) found in 7000 year-old fossilized Caribbean reefs from Panama and the Dominican Republic. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Erin Dillon</figcaption></figure>



Bite marks from damselfish also gave insights. These aggressive little fish defend territories and leave distinct marks. More bites today means more damselfish - again pointing to the effects of predator loss.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-reef-fish-history-with-fossils">Tracing reef fish history with fossils</h2>



This fossil evidence gives scientists a rare and valuable baseline. It shows how Caribbean reef fish communities looked before human fishing began to alter their structure. 



Without such deep-time context, conservation efforts often rely on incomplete or recent data that miss the full picture of ecological change.



Now, researchers and reef managers can clearly see which parts of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-coral-collapse-may-help-save-the-great-barrier-reef/">reef</a> ecosystem shifted due to human influence - and which components, like tiny reef-sheltered fish, remained stable across millennia.



“This study demonstrates the power of the fossil record for future conservation,” the researchers stated. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-term-impacts-of-human-activity">Long-term impacts of human activity</h2>



These 7,000-year-old fossils give us a clearer view of the long-term impacts of human activity on reef food webs, fish sizes, and predator-prey dynamics.



They also help identify which reef species and relationships are most at risk from continued pressure. 



By looking back in time through the fossil record, scientists gain crucial insight to guide better decisions in reef conservation, fishing policies, and biodiversity management today.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/-m5uNoWKIgo
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Discovering and studying prehistoric coral reefs on dry land.</figcaption></figure>



The research was a collaboration among top institutions including the&nbsp;Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the&nbsp;Marine Science Institute at the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Texas, Austin</a>, and the&nbsp;Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at <a href="https://www.asu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arizona State University</a>.



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2503986122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Fossils reveal how humans completely changed Caribbean reef ecosystems

When thinking about fossils, we often picture dinosaurs. But reefs can also hold an ancient history. Tiny fish bones and shark scales also become fossils in these habitats, quietly preserving the story of ancient oceans. A striking study from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) has now revealed how humans disrupted Caribbean reefs in the past. Scientists analyzed fossilized coral reefs from Panama’s Bocas del Toro and the Dominican Republic. These reefs, exposed and well-preserved, date back 7,000 years. Humans changed reef fish communities The researchers compared...

The majestic beauty of Caribbean coral reefs is largely dependent on the balance between the coral and algal growth. Otherwise, algae will smother the coral, having a devastating effect on both the health and beauty of the reef. 

That’s exactly what took place in the Caribbean beginning in the early 1980s. At that time, Caribbean coral reefs depended on long-spined black sea urchins to consume the algae and keep levels balanced. But a mysterious disease began killing off these long-spined urchins, a phenomenon first discovered by <a href="https://www.stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> (STRI) scientist Harilaos Lessios in 1983 at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama canal. As the urchins died off, the reef’s only other hope for algal maintenance were parrotfish. But large parrotfish populations were simultaneously being ravaged by rampant overfishing. 

The result was chronic algal overgrowth that smothered reefs across the Caribbean and continued for years. But according to a new report from STRI marine biologists Catie Kuempel and Andrew Altieri, Caribbean coral reefs may have found new heroes: smaller urchins and finger-sized parrotfish.

Kuempel and Altieri set out to examine the scene on the seafloor in Bocas del Toro, Panama. While they found that many reefs had already died, they were surprised to see much lower levels of algae. The team determined that the most commonly seen algae-eating seafloor grazers were much smaller sea urchins, Echinometra viridis, and tiny parrotfish, Scarus iseri. For the most part, this species of parrotfish managed to avoid the perils of overfishing due to their size. What both the urchins and parrotfish lacked in physical size compared to their predecessors, they compensated for in larger numbers.

Kuempel and Altieri propose that working as a team, these tiny urchins and parrotfish could be capable of restoring the algal balance in degraded Caribbean coral reefs.

"These dollhouse-sized species came the rescue of reefs in Panama, and may be important elsewhere as well," said Altieri.

The STRI team published their findings in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep39670">Nature</a>.

Tiny grazers could be the new heroes of Caribbean coral reefs

The majestic beauty of Caribbean coral reefs is largely dependent...

Illegally traded endangered species get a second life

As if endangered species don’t already have enough problems as it is, their limited population quantity also sadly increases their value on the black market. But according to a new study from a team of researchers at the <a href="http://www.hku.hk">University of Hong Kong</a> and the <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au">Australian National University</a>, there could be a silver lining for those animals who have been illegally traded but manage to escape captivity.

In a paper published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.1449/abstract">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>, the team explains how illegally traded endangered species that escape can form secondary populations in new locations. These secondary populations can ease the pressure on their native population and increase the odds of long-term survival.  

"This first came to my attention when I read a news story about the seizure of an illegal shipment of 23 yellow crested cockatoos," co-author Dr. Luke Gibson told <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38498037">BBC News</a>. "Each individual had been stuffed inside a plastic water bottle."

Gibson had been unaware that the species was endangered having seen several flying around outside of his office. This prompted an exploration into how an already threatened species could become self-sustaining in a new environment. 

The team found at least 49 cases of endangered species establishing a secondary population just as the yellow crested cockatoo did in Hong Kong.

"This is a species which is primarily threatened by wildlife trade," said Gibson. "Poachers go out into the forest in its native range in eastern Indonesia and capture the bird and then ship them off, usually up to Hong Kong or China where there is a strong demand for pet birds. This is what has fueled the decline of this species [in its native range]. But it's really interesting because that same cause also had another effect: some of the people who were keeping this species in Hong Kong accidentally or intentionally released them."

Illegally traded endangered species get a second life

Illegally traded endangered species get a second life As if...

Could the same process that turned plant matter into fossil fuels have caused an oxygen spike and explosion of new animal life 500 million years ago?

That’s what researchers from the <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> think.

“Why is there oxygen in the atmosphere? The high school explanation is ‘photosynthesis.’ But we’ve known for a long time … that building up oxygen requires the formation of rocks like black shale,” study co-author Dr. Shanan Peters said in a <a href="http://news.wisc.edu/fossil-fuel-formation-key-to-atmospheres-oxygen/">press release</a>.

Photosynthesis alone probably didn't cause the Earth’s oxygen spike, the researchers said. The process had already been around for at least 2.5 billion years, after all.

Instead, rapid sedimentation that buried organic matter may have allowed photosynthesis to shine as never before.

As organic matter decomposes, it produces carbon, which binds to oxygen molecules and forms carbon dioxide. Quick burial traps the carbon, and that oxygen stays carbon-free and breathable.

The process that buried plant matter under soil, eventually turning it into shale and fossil fuels, also blocked that carbon from entering the atmosphere, Peters said. That caused the Cambrian oxygen spike, which in turn sparked an explosion of life.

To prove the theory, Peters and postdoctoral fellow Jon Husson used the data tool <a href="https://macrostrat.org/">Macrostrat</a>. The tool is a collection of geological data from throughout North America.

They generated parallel graphs showing oxygen levels in Earth’s atmosphere alongside sedimentation rates through Earth’s history. Both graphs show a massive spike 500 million years ago. They also share smaller spikes.

The two scientists admit that so far, they have mainly shown correlation, not causation. But they also point to current atmospheric conditions, where the burning of carbon-rich fossil fuels seems to correlate with lower oxygen levels and higher carbon dioxide.

If the pair are right, their theory also suggests a potential fix to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

“The secret to having oxygen in the atmosphere is to remove a tiny portion of the present biomass and sequester it in sedimentary deposits. That’s what happened when fossil fuels were deposited,” Husson said.

The study was published online and will appear in the February issue of the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/earth-and-planetary-science-letters/">Earth and Planetary Science Letters</a>.

Scientists seek to solve mystery of Cambrian oxygen spike

Could the same process that turned plant matter into fossil fuels...

What if we could see just how much a new smartphone or sushi lunch will affect wildlife? Now we can, thanks to new maps of consumer hotspots that put wildlife at risk.

Dr. Daniel Moran of the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a> paired up with his colleague, Dr. Keiichiro Kanemoto of <a href="http://www.shinshu-u.ac.jp/english/">Shinshu University</a>, to tackle the problem.

They created a new technique that examines global supply chains to identify where they cause threats to animals species, and analyze how. Then they mapped out each country’s consumer hotspots across the globe.

“Locating biodiversity threat hotspots driven by consumption of goods and services can help to connect conservationists, consumers, companies and governments in order to better target conservation actions,” Moran and Kanemoto wrote in an <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-016-0023">article</a> published this week.

In other words, the major players can tackle threats like deforestation in a way that leaves everyone all satisfied. And the maps help identify threats to wildlife and what is causing them, allowing those players to take action.

Moran and Kanemoto focused on 6,803 vulnerable and endangered animal species listed by the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> and <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/">BirdLife International</a>. Then they looked at the threats each species faced, such as deforestation. Finally, they followed the chain of events to the ultimate consumer.

That way, they could determine which consumer hotspots were causing a ripple effect down the global supply chain.

The tool lets you look at a country and see where its consumer habits have the largest effect.

For example, the U.S. is a consumer hotspot that causes threats to species in Mexico, Madagascar, the Sahel region of Africa, Southeast Asia, Spain, Central America, and elsewhere.

For marine species, Southeast Asia was the primary consumer hotspot. The region’s fishing industry feeds not just that area, but people in the U.S. and the European Union.

The two scientists hope that their work will help countries and consumers take more effective steps toward conserving endangered species.

“Maps of species threat hotspots can thus help all actors, from producers and conservationists to final consumers, to focus solutions on targeted biodiversity hotspots,” they wrote.

The pair published their research in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

New maps show consumer hotspots that threaten endangered species

What if we could see just how much a new...

In a role reversal, it’s female pipefish who do all the work of competing for a mate. And male pipefish? They get pregnant.

That role reversal is rare in the animal kingdom, and it has scientists fascinated.

Male pipefish, like seahorses, sea dragons, and other fish in the Syngnathidae family, are among a very small number of species where the male, not the female, carries the young to term.

For all of these fish, the females still produce the eggs. But they transfer their clutch to a specialized brood pouch on the males. Then, the males carry the eggs to term, often sharing nutrients.

"From a research standpoint, pipefish are interesting because of the unique opportunity they provide to study sexual selection in reverse, which can tell us a lot about how variation works in mating and reproductive success," Dr. Sarah Flanagan said in a <a href="http://www.nimbios.org/press/FS_pipefish">press release</a>. Flanagan is a postdoctoral fellow at the <a href="http://www.nimbios.org/">National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis</a>.

The reversal of roles has led to a reversal of the typical sex characteristics seen in the wild. Female pipefish are the flashier members of the species, sometimes with more colorful ornamentation. They’re the ones who have to compete for males, who prefer larger females that produce more eggs.

But in a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00265-016-2255-3">new study</a> led by Flanagan, a team of researchers from the U.S. and Sweden found that when it comes to courting, it’s not just about what males want.

Females have some input, too, and size matters. The team, which looked at broad-nosed pipefish, found that larger male pipefish carry more eggs and produce healthier offspring. Those offspring are better survivors, too, and that makes large males much more desirable for the females.

“Our results show that larger males mate earlier than smaller males and that pregnant males have higher measures of condition compared to non-pregnant males,” the researchers wrote.

Males that breed earlier can also carry more pregnancies over the course of the breeding season, the team noted.

"This study shows that there are many factors at play in this system, more than perhaps we ever realized, but it's that variation in traits and fitness which allows for sexual selection to work," Flanagan said.

She plans to extend the research, looking into how pipefish genetics play a role in their reproductive behavior.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://link.springer.com/journal/265">Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</a>.

Male pipefish 'motherhood' is complicated, new study shows

In a role reversal, it’s female pipefish who do all...

Development of green technologies needs to pick up the pace, study finds

A recent study from a team of researchers at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> has found that the development and spread of green technologies will need to drastically quicken in order to meet global greenhouse gas emissions goals set by the <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php">Paris Agreement</a>.

Using delayed differential equations, the team calculated the pace at which global per-capita carbon dioxide emissions have increased since the Second Industrial Revolution. The pace at which CO2 emissions have increased was then compared to the rate at which low-carbon emitting technologies have been developed. Once projected population growth was factored in, the team was able to predict the pace of future greenhouse gas emission increases relative to the speed of new innovation in green technology. 

The study was led by Gabriele Manoli, former postdoctoral associate at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. 

"Based on our calculations, we won't meet the climate warming goals set by the Paris Agreement unless we speed up the spread of clean technology by a full order of magnitude, or about ten times faster than in the past," said Manoli. “Radically new strategies to implement technological advances on a global scale and at unprecedented rates are needed if current emissions goals are to be achieved." 

The studying was published in the journal <a href="http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/agu/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2328-4277/">Earth’s Future</a>.

"It's no longer enough to have emissions-reducing technologies," Manoli continued.  "We must scale them up and spread them globally at unprecedented speeds.

"Sometimes these lags are technical in nature, but -- as recent history amply demonstrates -- they also can be caused by political or economic barriers. Whatever the cause, our quantification of the delays historically associated with such challenges shows that a tenfold acceleration in the spread of green technologies is now necessary to cause some delay in the Doomsday Clock."

Development of green technologies needs to pick up the pace, study finds

Development of green technologies needs to pick up the pace,...

California's snowpack is still much lower than average, disappointing news for a state that may be looking at its sixth year of drought. But storms on the way could hold out some hope.

Each year, the <a href="http://www.water.ca.gov/">California Department of Water Resources</a> visits Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains and surveys the snowpack. On January 3, Frank Gehrke – chief of the Cooperative Snow Surveys Program – and his team took measurements to determine the water content of the snow on the ground.

A huge pile of fluffy snow can contain much less water than it seems. Surveyors run tests to figure out exactly how much water the snowpack will produce for the state’s reservoirs once it melts.

At Phillips Station, the water content of the snow translated to about six inches of water. That's around 53 percent of the long-term average, Gehrke said. Statewide, snowpack content is about 7.2 inches, still far below average.

“While that seems perhaps a little gloomy, keep in mind that we had pretty much bare ground here about a week ago,” Gehrke said. “There was a few patches of snow, and most of the snow we measured today came down in the last couple of days and is continuing to come down.”

And it looks like it certainly will continue to come down, at least for the next few days.

A storm system brought rain and snow to parts of Northern California on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A “pineapple express” is headed into the state this weekend, and it could pack a wallop, too. The storm could drop five feet of snow on parts of the Sierras, meteorologists with the <a href="http://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a> said. It could bring some rain to Southern California, too.

So there’s still a good chance for California's snowpack to catch up to its average water content levels.

And it’s definitely a hopeful change from 2015, when the ground was bare during the April 1 measurement.

“We still have three historically wet months ahead of us, so there’s still time for the snowpack to build and improve before it begins to melt, which usually starts happening around April 1,” State Climatologist Mike Anderson said.

In an average water year – which runs from October 1 to September 30 – California gets two-thirds of its rain and snow from December to March. The snow collects in the Sierras, where it later melts and fills the state’s reservoirs. Surveyors use measurements of California's snowpack taken from January to April 1, as well as rainfall totals, to determine the state’s water management policies for the year.

But this year, the rain started with a splash right at the beginning of the water year.

Total precipitation has been above average this rainy season, Anderson said. But warm temperatures meant it was falling as rain, not snow, in the Sierras until this month.

Gehrke, too, was quick to point out the unusual rainfall this water year.

“We had a great October,” Gehrke said. “Many of the stations set monthly records for precipitation in October, and that really set us up well for increases in reservoir storage.”

California's snowpack measures low, but storms on the way could change that

California's snowpack is still much lower than average, disappointing news...

Growing concern over the safety of chemicals used in pesticides has prompted Hawaiian residents to push for stricter pesticide regulation on the islands. Numerous reported cases of children and agricultural workers getting sick has led many to suspect the illnesses may be caused by exposure to pesticides sprayed by agricultural companies. 

A number of major agricultural companies, including Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer, and BASF Plant Science, test genetically engineered crops on the islands in an effort to produce new types of soybeans and corn. Because of Hawaii’s consistently warm climate, the companies are able to test a significantly larger volume of crops than they could in any other state.

Advocates for increased pesticide regulation are pushing several new bills that would require agricultural companies to disclose where and when they spray pesticides and to enforce buffer zones near hospitals and schools. An effort has also been made to ban the use of any spray containing glyphosate, a chemical that has been linked to several different types of cancer.

But a recent study concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that any of the pesticides used by the major agricultural companies have caused any adverse health effects. The study did, however, recommend that the state carefully monitor such environmental data. While the decision is ultimately up to the state, advocates for stricter regulation seem optimistic. 

"With really focused public pressure, we could really see something get through. The time is right," said Ashley Lukens, director of the <a href="http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/hawaii">Hawaii Center for Food Safety</a>.

Hawaii has begun a formal study on Kauai and Oahu to tests surface water for pesticides before and after storms to determine if chemicals are bleeding into the surrounding environment at unsafe levels. The state also intends on tripling the fee required to register pesticides. But many residents find these regulations insufficient, as they are not mandatory and companies still won’t have to report where the pesticide is sprayed. 

"Even though they're doing similar work, Syngenta, Monsanto Dow and Pioneer are all competitors, and they're trying to keep the millions of dollars that they've put in to research the genetics lines that they're developing as confidential business information," said Scott Enright, chairman of the state <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">Department of Agriculture</a>.

According to Rep. Chris Lee, "There's still zero transparency for the long-term cumulative impacts on various communities around the islands for what's being sprayed and any impact it may be having over the long term," Lee said. "And that's something that we have a clear obligation above anything else to dive into, because it is health and safety and people have a right to know."

Hawaii residents fight for tougher pesticide regulation

Growing concern over the safety of chemicals used in pesticides...

A new, three-dimensional map will let scientists track ocean ecosystems in stunning, unprecedented detail.

The international team of developers who created it hope it will be a powerful new tool for studying the ocean’s “biogeography” and deciding which areas are at the most risk. The map is intended for conservationists, biologists, government officials, and others who make decisions about ocean preservation.

The map sorts ocean regions worldwide into 37 categories. Regions with similar water temperature, oxygen levels, salinity (salt content), and nutrient levels are grouped together by category.

Maps already exist that attempt to describe ocean ecosystems, lead author Dr. Dawn Wright said.

“What’s often missing is all that’s between the surface of the ocean and the ocean bottom,” Wright told the journal Nature. “That’s what our project will hopefully bring to the table.”

Wright is the chief scientist for <a href="http://www.esri.com/">Esri</a>, the California-based geographic information-systems company helped build the map.

Unlike previous maps, the one created by Esri uses ecological marine units, or EMUs, to create a three-dimensional representation of the ocean.

EMUs describe the type of ecosystem from the surface down to the ocean’s floor. This means that the map can offer up information about why marine animals choose to live in a specific location. It can show the interaction between warm and cold waters, or oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor regions.

It can even show how the ocean changes with natural events like the El Niño warming cycle.

That information is vital for those who make the oceans their livelihood, from marine biologists to tuna fishing crews.

Projects like the <a href="http://www.sanbi.org/">South African National Biodiversity Institute</a> plan to use EMUs to update their data on their ocean habitats. That information will be used in the country’s next national biodiversity assessment.

EMUs is the second step that began with a project to map land-based ecosystems. The ocean map used data collected over five decades by dozens of agencies.

Wright presented the project at a December meeting of the <a href="https://sites.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union</a>.

New, 3D map is a powerful tool to track ocean ecosystems

A new, three-dimensional map will let scientists track ocean ecosystems...

In December 2014, a massive string of storms brought extreme rainfall to Northern California.

The pineapple express dumped three inches of water on the San Francisco Bay Area in just an hour on December 11, a day that also set records for rainfall in Sacramento. It triggered the first blizzard warning in six years in the Sierra Nevadas. It blew out power for 50,000 people.

The tempest was known as the “Storm of the Decade,” but it may soon be the new norm for California, according to researchers from the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>. Why? Climate change could bring more atmospheric rivers, they said.
<h3>Extreme rainfall on the rise?</h3>
Atmospheric rivers are narrow flows of concentrated water in the lower atmosphere. They can carry anywhere from seven to 15 times the amount of water in the Mississippi River, and most of that reaches the ground as torrential downpours.

A pineapple express, like the one that caused the December 2014 storm, is a type of atmospheric river that forms near Hawaii. California sees a lot of them already.

But it may see a lot more in the future, if global temperatures continue to rise, the MIT team said. Warmer temperatures encourage atmospheric rivers to form, and warmer air can hold a lot more water, they said.

The scientists created a new model for predicting the frequency of extreme rainfall in specific locations. The technique looks for telltale patterns in atmospheric data, then connects those patterns to the location in question.

They created the new model because old ones were unable to accurately predict extreme weather events like the atmospheric rivers.

Current models use global data to predict local weather. That means local weather experts can predict that there may be rainfall, but are unable to accurately estimate how much water will fall.

“None of the [older] models are even close to the observations,” lead author Dr. Xiang Gao said in a <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/more-extreme-storms-ahead-california-0103">press release</a>. “And regardless of the combination of atmospheric variables we used, the new schemes were much closer to observations.”

[caption id="attachment_129998" align="aligncenter" width="550"]<img class="wp-image-129998" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Study-finds-more-extreme-storms-ahead-for-California.jpg" alt="New studies from scientists at MIT and UC Davis are predicting more torrential downpours in California's future." width="550" height="367" /> New studies from scientists at MIT and UC Davis are predicting more torrential downpours in California's future.[/caption]

California served as a test case for the new technique.

The scientists found that their rainfall predictions were much more accurate if, instead of trying to “zoom in” on a local spot using global data, they instead focused on large-scale atmospheric patterns.

“We’ve actually found there’s a connection between what climate models do really well, which is to simulate large-scale motions of the atmosphere, and local, heavy precipitation events,” study co-author Dr. Adam Schlosser said. “We can use this association to tell how frequently these events are occurring now, and how they will change locally, like in New England, or the West Coast.”

They also found that when they applied this technique to future weather, they saw a lot more atmospheric rivers on the horizon. If global temperatures rise by just 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, the model showed an average of three more extreme rainfall events each year in California.

Their findings were published in the <a href="http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0544.1">Journal of Climate</a>. The <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>, the <a href="https://energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy</a>, and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> supported the research.
<h3>Study backed up by recent oyster research</h3>
The findings follow a similar study published last month.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> and <a href="http://www.sfbaynerr.org/">San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve</a> studying a mass die-off of oysters found that atmospheric rivers had likely caused the event.

The Olympia oysters near <a href="http://www.parks.ca.gov/chinacamp/">China Camp State Park</a>, at the northern edge of the bay, were among the densest populations in the world. An average 3,000 oysters per square meter lived at the site, the researchers said.

In the spring of 2011, nearly all of those oysters died. At least 100,000 oysters perished, and probably much more, the researchers said. The die-off was surprising, because the hardy native oysters are pretty resilient when it comes to changing water conditions.

“Species that undergo [mass mortality events] may require decades to recover, and in extreme cases, MMEs may trigger extinction,” the study authors, led by Dr. Brian Cheng, wrote.

This would be devastating in the case of oysters, which are a “foundation species,” they wrote. The study was published in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1844/20161462">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

The researchers discovered large flows of freshwater into the bay that spring had caused its salt levels to drop drastically. Olympia oysters cannot survive in freshwater, and the bay’s salinity dropped below their threshold, killing them.

While the researchers have focused on restoring the oysters’ population and spreading them out so they can better withstand disaster, they also wanted to figure out what had caused the freshwater flows.

Studying weather conditions through field data and remote sensing equipment led them to the likely culprit: atmospheric rivers flowed into California in the weeks ahead of the die-off, delivering extreme rainfall.

That heavy rain flowed into the rivers and out to the bay – a massive freshwater injection the oysters couldn’t survive.

"Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of extreme events [such as atmospheric rivers], with theory predicting that extreme precipitation events should intensify because of increased evaporation and greater atmospheric water-holding capacity," the scientists wrote in their study.
<h3>Atmospheric rivers in California history</h3>
Atmospheric rivers are old news in California.

One pineapple express-fueled extreme rainfall event changed the state’s history. Beginning in December 1861 and stretching into the new year, more than 40 days of storms linked to atmospheric rivers turned the state’s massive Central Valley into an inland sea.

The Great Flood of 1862, which also dropped record rain in Oregon and Nevada, turned most of California’s massive Central Valley into a giant inland sea with some areas under 30 feet of water.

Floodwaters breached the levees around the capital of Sacramento. The levees then acted as a dam, leaving the city a western Venice even after floodwaters began to recede.

The Gold Rush town of Red Dog recorded more than 25 inches of rain in one month. About 11 of those inches fell on two days alone. The flooding also destroyed an Army fort near Klamath.

Dozens of towns were underwater and countless homes and businesses were destroyed. Thousands of people died and more than 800,000 cattle drowned. California declared bankruptcy, not even 12 years after achieving statehood.

Atmospheric rivers have caused other disasters in the state. In January 1952, a massive blizzard stranded a train in the Sierras. Storms in 1955 wreaked havoc on the Sacramento Valley. Another series of pineapple expresses flooded large swaths of the West Coast in 1997. And in 2005, an atmospheric river deluged the San Gabriel Mountains with 31 inches of rain in just four days.
<h3>What now?</h3>
Both the UC Davis and MIT studies found that atmospheric rivers are likely to increase in the coming decades. The MIT study figured out how to predict extreme rainfall events.

But what does that mean for California residents?

If global temperatures rise 4 degrees Celsius, it could mean more frequent intense storms, the MIT team said.

If worldwide climate change goals are met – and if they actually succeed in cutting global warming in half by 2100 as promised – California will still see extreme rainfall, but not nearly as much, they said.

And in either case, the ability to predict extreme rainfall events will leave Californians better prepared, the scientists said. That includes extra maintenance on important systems such as levees to prevent costly damage.

“That is actionable information,” Schlosser said.

The MIT team is now working on translating the technique from torrential downpours to heatwaves.

Scientists: extreme rainfall may be the new norm for California

In December 2014, a massive string of storms brought extreme...

Flight-disrupting ash clouds found to occur twice a century 

The 2010 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull released an ash cloud so dense that it caused major disruptions in air travel across northwestern Europe. Over 10 million air passengers were left stranded, costing the European economy £4 billion.

The incident inspired a research team from the <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> to begin examining how frequently such flight-disrupting ash clouds can occur across Europe. Led by Dr. Liz Watson from the School of Geography, the team found that these types of ash clouds occur about every 44 years and have about a 20% chance of occurring in Europe over a decade. 

"Reliable estimates of the frequency of volcanic ash events could help airlines, insurance companies and the traveling public mitigate the economic losses and disruption caused by ash clouds in the future,” said Watson.

The team worked alongside colleagues from the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk">University of St. Andrews</a> and the <a href="http://www.usf.edu">University of South Florida</a> to compare records of volcanic ash in northern Europe over the last 1,000 years. By identifying tiny shards of volcanic ash called cryptotephra found in peat and lake sediment, the team was able to track the point at which ash clouds had spread across Europe. This data was then compared to historical records of volcanic eruptions in northern Europe.


The results showed that 84 ash clouds had occurred in the past 7,000 years, most of which from Icelandic volcanoes. 

"In 2010, when Eyjafjallajökull erupted, people were really shocked - it seemed to come completely out of the blue, but the eruption of Grímsvötn, the following year, was an extraordinary coincidence,” said co-author Dr. Graeme Swindles, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds. "Although it is possible that ash clouds can occur on an annual basis, the average return interval for the last 1,000 years is around 44 years.

"The last time volcanic ash clouds affected Northern Europe before the recent event was in 1947, 69 years ago - but aviation was much less intense at that time and it simply didn't have the same sort of impact.

"Our research shows that, over thousands of years, these sorts of incidents are not that rare - but people wondering how likely it is that the 2010 chaos will be repeated in the next few years can feel somewhat reassured."

Flight-disrupting ash clouds found to occur twice a century

Flight-disrupting ash clouds found to occur twice a century The 2010...

China issues punishments for factories violating anti-smog measures

China’s chronic smog problem has been especially brutal in recent weeks, and on Tuesday it was announced that several Chinese companies have violated anti-smog measures. 

According to the Chinese <a href="http://english.mep.gov.cn/">Ministry of Environmental Protection</a>, 10 different inspection teams found that an unspecified number of companies had resumed production in violation of a government ban on emissions. The environmental ministry found these companies to be in direct violation of anti-smog measures issued as air quality in major cities has continued to worsen.

As of this week, 24 different Chinese cities issued pollution “red alerts,” the worst warning level in their four-tiered system. Since last Friday, Beijing has been on an “orange alert” that was scheduled to end on Sunday, but has since been extended due to the smog.

Red alerts require a number of manufacturers to reduce production and ban the use of high-emission vehicles. Companies found to be in violation of these anti-smog measures received punishments from the Ministry of Environmental Protection. According to the <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/">Xinhua News Agency</a>, more than 500 construction sites and enterprises and over 10,000 vehicles had ignored the restrictions. The exact details of these punishments, however, are still unclear.
The extremity of the air pollution in China has been in large part due to the country’s reliance on factory production and coal energy. A large of number of older, high-emission cars have also exacerbated the problem. While the environmental ministry has issued anti-smog measures before, this latest case indicates that enforcing these restrictions continues to pose a challenge.

China issues punishments for factories violating anti-smog measures

China issues punishments for factories violating anti-smog measures China’s chronic...

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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