A new phenomenon dubbed "ice piracy" is unfolding in the frigid wilderness of West Antarctica, where one glacier appears to be stealing ice from its neighbor. 



This unusual behavior - once believed to take hundreds or even thousands of years - has now been recorded happening in under two decades.



Scientists from the University of Leeds, working with international collaborators, have used high-resolution satellite data to reveal that a fast-moving glacier is redirecting ice flow away from its slower neighbor.



This surprising event is changing how scientists understand the dynamics of glaciers - and how such shifts may contribute to future sea-level rise. Their findings, now published in The Cryosphere, provide rare insight into these rapid changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fast-paced-shift-in-the-ice">Fast-paced shift in the ice</h2>



Between 2005 and 2022, researchers observed that seven <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ice-streams-move-unpredictably-due-to-hidden-quakes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ice streams</a> in the Pope, Smith, and Kohler (PSK) region of West Antarctica sped up significantly. 



One glacier nearly doubled its speed - an 87% increase - at the point where it meets the ocean. 



Three other glaciers accelerated by 60% to 84%. By 2022, six of these streams were moving at more than 700 meters (0.4 miles) per year. That’s the equivalent of covering just over seven football fields in just one year.



This kind of acceleration, especially so close to the grounding line - the point where a glacier starts to float - is a warning sign. 



Grounding lines help track the stability of ice sheets. Changes in their position or speed suggest the system is out of balance and can influence how ice flows inland.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-slowing-glaciers-leads-to-ice-piracy">Slowing glaciers leads to ice piracy</h2>



But not every glacier followed the same pattern. The Kohler West glacier actually slowed down by 10% during the same time period. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_Glacier-velocity-change_2005-2022_ESA_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_Glacier-velocity-change_2005-2022_ESA_1s.webp" alt="The image depicts the average change in velocity of multiple glaciers flowing into the Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves in West Antarctica from 2005 to 2022. Credit: ESA" class="wp-image-1969732"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The image depicts the average change in velocity of multiple glaciers flowing into the Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves in West Antarctica from 2005 to 2022. Click image to enlarge. Credit: ESA</figcaption></figure>



This stood in stark contrast to nearby glaciers like Kohler East and Smith West, which sped up dramatically - by about 560 meters per year.



The slowdown puzzled scientists, until they looked at the ice flow patterns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kohler-west-and-kohler-east">Kohler West and Kohler East</h2>



“We think that the observed slowdown on Kohler West Glacier is due to the redirection of ice flow towards its neighbor - Kohler East," explained lead author Dr. Heather L. Selley from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Leeds</a>.



"This is due to the large change in Kohler West’s surface slope, likely caused by the vastly different thinning rates on its neighboring <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-glaciers-flow-faster-during-the-summer-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">glaciers</a>.” 



She added that because Kohler East’s ice stream is flowing and thinning faster as it travels, it absorbs, or ‘steals’ ice from Kohler West. 



"This is effectively an act of ‘ice piracy’, where ice flow is redirected from one glacier to another, and the accelerating glacier is essentially ‘thieving’ ice from its slowing neighbor,” explained Selley.



“We didn’t know ice streams could ‘steal’ ice from each over such a short period, so this is a fascinating discovery. It’s unprecedented as we're seeing this from satellite data and it’s happening at a rate of under 18 years, whereas we’ve always thought it was this extremely long, slow process,” she added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-watching-ice-piracy-from-space">Watching ice piracy from space</h2>



To track this shift, the research team used satellite images and a technique that follows the movement of surface features like crevasses and rifts. 



They also incorporated data on ice thinning from the European Space Agency’s <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/CryoSat" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryoSat mission</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_speed-direction_Crosson-Dotson-Ice-Shelves_2015-2022_ESA_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_speed-direction_Crosson-Dotson-Ice-Shelves_2015-2022_ESA_1s.webp" alt="The image depicts the average speed and direction of multiple glaciers flowing into the Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves in West Antarctica from 2015 to 2022. The arrows show change in direction of flow. Credit: ESA" class="wp-image-1969725"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The image depicts the average speed and direction of multiple glaciers flowing into the Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves in West Antarctica from 2015 to 2022. The arrows show change in direction of flow. Click image to enlarge. Credit: ESA</figcaption></figure>



Data was sourced from satellites operated by ESA, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.



“This study provides an interesting demonstration of ice piracy, where flow into one glacier gradually switches to flow into another glacier, as the ocean melts the grounding zone and re-configures ice flow,” said Pierre Dutrieux, climate researcher at the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">British Antarctic Survey</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



The research team looked into several factors that influence ice flow, including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-temperatures-are-rising-faster-than-expected-and-likely-to-accelerate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocean temperatures</a>, circulation changes, air temperature, and snowfall. 



They discovered that ice redirection is affecting the amount of ice reaching the floating ice shelves fed by these glaciers.



Two major ice shelves - the Crosson and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctica-ice-shapes-never-seen-by-humans-dotson-ice-shelf-ran-submersible/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dotson</a> - are already among the fastest-changing outlets in West Antarctica. 



Crosson spans roughly 40 miles (60 kilometers), and Dotson stretches about 30 miles (48 kilometers). Both are thinning and retreating at their grounding lines.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_Crosson-Dotson-Ice-Shelves_map_ESA_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Antarctica_ice-piracy_Crosson-Dotson-Ice-Shelves_map_ESA_1s.webp" alt="The Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves are situated in West Antarctica. These huge ice shelves are fed by numerous glaciers flowing towards the Amundsen Sea. Credit: ESA" class="wp-image-1969723"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves are situated in West Antarctica. These huge ice shelves are fed by numerous glaciers flowing towards the Amundsen Sea. Click image to enlarge. Credit: ESA</figcaption></figure>



“The changes in flow direction have substantially altered the ice mass flux into Dotson and Crosson Ice Shelves, likely playing an important role in maintaining Dotson and accelerating the deterioration of Crosson," explained Professor Anna Hogg, co-author and Professor of Earth Observation at the University of Leeds.



“This suggests that ice flow redirection is an important new process in contemporary <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ice-sheet-fracture-sets-a-speed-record-in-antarctica/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ice sheet dynamics</a>, which is required to understand present-day structural change in glaciers and the future evolution of these systems.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ice-piracy-rising-seas-global-impacts">Ice piracy, rising seas, global impacts</h2>



The stakes are high. Sea levels are already rising due to climate change, and over 410 million people could be affected by coastal flooding by the year 2100. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-sea-levels-spiked-dramatically-in-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global sea levels</a> have increased by more than 10 centimeters over the past decade.



“This new study highlights the unique ability of satellites to provide both the temporal and spatial coverage required to assess change in the polar regions,” remarked Dr. Martin Wearing, ESA Digital Twin Earth Scientist and Polar Science Cluster Coordinator.



Using data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 and ESA's Earth Explorer CryoSat, the team has revealed the complex evolution of ice flow in part of West Antarctica over the past few decades. 



Understanding these changing dynamics and what drives them is crucial for improved projections of future ice-sheet change and contributions to sea-level rise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-does-it-all-mean">What does it all mean?</h2>



To sum it all up, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-ice-sheet-past-present-and-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Antarctic ice sheet</a> - once thought to be sluggish and stable over millennia - is changing much faster than we realized, and in unexpected ways. 



This discovery of "ice piracy" shows that glaciers can dynamically interact, competing for ice and rerouting flow like rivers shifting course, which completely reshapes how we model future sea-level rise.



If one glacier can weaken another by stealing its ice, entire ice systems may destabilize quicker than predicted, feeding more ice into the ocean and raising sea levels. 



In plain terms: Antarctica isn’t just melting - it’s reorganizing itself in ways that could have big consequences for coastal cities around the world.



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The study brought together experts from the University of Leeds, the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">British Antarctic Survey</a>, and the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (<a href="https://cpom.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CPOM</a>), which is led from <a href="https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northumbria University</a>. 



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/19/1725/2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Cryosphere</a>.



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Ice piracy: Antarctic glacier discovered "stealing" ice from a neighbor, and that's not good for sea level rise

A new phenomenon dubbed "ice piracy" is unfolding in the frigid wilderness of West Antarctica, where one glacier appears to be stealing ice from its neighbor. This unusual behavior - once believed to take hundreds or even thousands of years - has now been recorded happening in under two decades. Scientists from the University of Leeds, working with international collaborators, have used high-resolution satellite data to reveal that a fast-moving glacier is redirecting ice flow away from its slower neighbor. This surprising event is changing how scientists...

Inside the archival depths of The Field Museum, primitive members of a ‘beardog’ family have been laying in wait. Until now. Their recent resurrection made headlines in the Royal Society Open Science publication and has paleontologists excited and on the run. With no living family members, rounding up a new family for the pack of grizzly canine carnivores, discovered and described decades ago, turned out to be a happy accident for The Field’s post-doctoral scholar, Susumu Tomiya.

"We've known about these curious little critters for 30 years, but couldn't tell exactly what kind of carnivores they were," explains lead author Susumu Tomiya, a postdoctoral scholar at The Field Museum. Tomiya recently re-identified the 38-million-year-old descendants of the Chihuahua sized ‘amphicyonids’ in the Museum's collections. Subtle dental feature differences in the jaw bones of these former what-is-now-known-as-Texas-natives, gave Tomiya reason to track down their real family branch. And make yet another discovery.

Sometime after the dawn of ‘beardog,’evolution, early stages of the dog branch diversified. Tomiya and co-author, Jack Tseng of the <a href="http://www.buffalo.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Buffalo</a>, digitized a reconstruction of a largely intact skull of what was originally named ‘Miacis australis.’ Flat surfaces on some of these beardogs teeth indicated it wasn’t just a meat eater. Like its namesake, this beardog most likely also ate berries and insects which led Tomiya and Tseng down a new path of nomenclature. Finding a new family name for this branch of beardogs turned into a 3-D experience for the team.

A CT scan revealed useful characteristics for reconstructing carnivore species relationships. New light shed by the results inspired Tomiya and Tseng to believe that the southern region of North America may have played a more vital role in mammalian history than was previously thought.

"Studying how the diversity of beardogs waxed and waned over time could tell us about larger patterns in carnivore evolution,” noted Tomiya. Beardogs ranged in size from larger than modern day lions to bite-sized carnivores. The larger the beardog the more space it took up, the more food it needed to survive and produced fewer offspring. Smaller beardogs had to deal with ‘size matters’ when it came to finding food and keeping it. Larger animals face extinction sooner which means smaller might be better when it comes to living large and evolving.

Big changes to landscape, forests and climate meant big changes in carnivore evolution to adapt, survive and evolve. Beardog evolution gives us a broader view of how climate effects evolution and what kinds of animals thrived in a changing environmental context. Current relatives and cousins evolving from the beardog branch include dogs, wolves, fox, bear, sea lion, and weasel.

The importance of museum collections and studies like Tomiya’s reminds us how much history is embedded in their fossilized dens. As he notes ‘all biodiversity research is contingent on good understanding of what species lived where and when in the past, and how they are related to one another. Museum collections are vital to building and continually refining such fundamental data sets.”

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Susumu Tomiya is a postdoctoral scholar at The Field Museum in Chicago; he did his graduate work at the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley. Jack Tseng is an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo and was previously at the American Museum of Natural History.

Author: Suzanne Johnson

Beardog discovery offers new clues on canine evolution

Inside the archival depths of The Field Museum, primitive members...

<div>Australian scientists have good news for frog conservation -- there may be longer than expected time to intervene before climate change causes extinction of some species.</div>
<div>

The scientists used new methods for modelling the threat of climate change on frogs in tropical north-eastern Australia and showed that, at least for some species, there is likely to be more time than earlier thought before expected climate shifts and associated habitat loss drive them to extinction.

The study, published today in the scientific journal Biology Letters, shows that as many as four species of frogs in the protected Wet Tropics of Queensland UNESCO World Heritage Area face extinction by 2080 due to human-induced climate change. However, the research also shows that for at least three species, there might be sufficient time for conservation managers to intervene successfully.

The researchers, from the University of Adelaide, the University of Tasmania and James Cook University, used the latest biodiversity modelling techniques to show that extinctions from climate change can occur after substantial time lags.

[caption id="attachment_89168" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-89168" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/green-eyed-tree-frog-Litoria-serrata_1big_UAdelaide-150x150.jpg" alt="the green-eyed tree frog (Litoria serrata)." width="150" height="150" /> the green-eyed tree frog (Litoria serrata).[/caption]

Lead author Dr Damien Fordham, ARC Future Fellow with the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute, says: "This is a rare example of good news for conservation because it means that for some frog species there is likely to be more time than expected for on-ground management intervention.

"For example, our research shows that the window of time between impact and extinction might be adequate for successful translocation programs to be established."

Co-author Professor Barry Brook, Professor of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Tasmania, says this may also mean good news for other flora and fauna.

"By showing that extinction delays can exceed decades for short-lived animals such as frogs, it follows that the time lags for extinction might be even larger for long-lived species, such as large vertebrates and trees," Professor Brook says.

This study also has important implications for 'triage'-based conservation prioritisation, which is the idea that conservation managers should actively decide on which species have a reasonable prospect of being saved, and then direct precious conservation resources accordingly.

"If long time scales for extinction lags exist for some species, the likelihood that these extinctions can be averted through active on-ground management increases," says Dr Fordham. "Furthermore, it means that other species in more immediate need could be targeted for early conservation intervention."


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Credit: <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Adelaide</a>
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Scientists: More time than we thought to save frogs from climate change

Australian scientists have good news for frog conservation -- there...

<div>In pictures, the Arctic appears pristine and timeless with its barren lands and icy landscape. In reality, the area is rapidly changing.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Scientists are working to understand the chemistry behind these changes to better predict what could happen to the region in the future. One team reports in ACS' Journal of Physical Chemistry A that sea salt could play a larger role in the formation of local atmospheric pollutants than previously thought.</div>
<div>

The Arctic's wintertime ice hit a record low this year, and its air is warming, according to NASA. Previous research has shown that pollutants, including gaseous nitrogen oxides and ozone, have at times been recorded at levels similar to those one would see in more populated areas. Nitrogen oxides are air pollutants that, in sunlight, lead to the formation of ozone, the main component in smog normally associated with cities. The gases can be processed in the atmosphere and be deposited on Earth as nitrates, which can get trapped in snow.

In sunlight, snow can act as a reactor in which nitrates may be transformed back to nitrogen oxide gases. In the Arctic, sea ice and snow contain salt and other impurities that can possibly alter the efficiency of this process. James Donaldson, Karen Morenz and colleagues took a closer look at how salt and nitrate content in snow could affect the levels of nitrogen oxides in the air during sunny conditions.

The researchers tested lab-made snow containing nitrate alone or nitrate and salt. They found that under simulated sunlight, about 40 to 90 percent more nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was reformed from the snow with low levels of salt at environmentally relevant concentrations than snow with no salt. Researchers observed the greatest effect when they used realistic sea salt in the experiment. The results suggest that sea ice and salty snow, which previously have not been considered as factors in the balance of ozone-forming chemicals in the atmosphere, should be a part of future models.


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Credit: <a href="http://www.acs.org" target="_blank">American Chemical Society</a>
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Sea ice and salty snow impact air pollution in the Arctic

In pictures, the Arctic appears pristine and timeless with its...

<div>An ornithological mystery has been solved! Puzzling red feathers have been popping up in eastern North America's "yellow-shafted" population of Northern Flickers, but they aren't due to genes borrowed from their "red-shafted" cousins to the west, according to a new study in The Auk: Ornithological Advances. Instead, the culprit is a pigment that the birds are ingesting in the berries of exotic honeysuckle plants.</div>
<div>

The Northern Flicker comes in two varieties--the birds of the west have a salmon pink or orange tinge to the undersides of their wings, while the eastern birds are yellow. Where the two populations meet in the middle, they frequently hybridize, producing birds with a blend of both colors. For years, however, flickers far to the east of the hybrid zone have been popping up with red-orange wing feathers. The prevailing explanation has been that they must somehow have genes from the western population, but Jocelyn Hudon of the Royal Alberta Museum and his colleagues have determined that the eastern birds' unusual color actually has a different source: a pigment called rhodoxanthin, which comes from the berries of two species of invasive honeysuckle plants.

Hudon and his colleagues used spectrophotometry and chromatography to show that rhodoxanthin, rather than the type of carotenoid pigment that colors western red-shafted birds, was present in the feathers of yellow-shafted flicker specimens with the aberrant red coloration. Data from a bird-banding station helped confirm that the birds acquire the red pigment during their fall molt about early August, which coincides with the availability of ripe honeysuckle berries. The honeysuckles have also been implicated as the source of unusual orange feathers in Cedar Waxwings.

"At one point considered valuable wildlife habitat and widely disseminated, the naturalized Asian bush honeysuckles are now considered invasive and undesirable in many states. This is clearly not the last we have heard of aberrantly colored birds," says Hudon. "The ready availability of a pigment that can alter the coloration of birds with carotenoids in their plumages could have major implications for mate selection if plumage coloration no longer signaled a bird's body condition."

"This is the pinnacle of a lengthy series of papers on the pigments deposited in primary feathers. Hudon et al. make use of the most up-to-date spectrometric and biochemical analyses to identify and quantify the pigments," according to Alan Brush, an expert on feather color and retired University of Connecticut professor who was not involved with the study. "In addition to demonstrating that the red pigments in the molting yellow-shafted feathers are derived from their diets, not the result of interbreeding with the red-shafted form, they illuminate the dynamic nature of pigment deposition during molt, an accomplishment in itself."


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Credit: <a href="http://www.aoucospubs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Central Ornithological Association</a>
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Invasive honeysuckle plants die woodpecker's wings red

An ornithological mystery has been solved! Puzzling red feathers have...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">A new mapping project has identified regions worldwide that are most susceptible to dramatic permafrost thaw formations, known as thermokarst, and the resulting release of greenhouse gases.</div>
University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers David McGuire and Vladimir Romanovsky were part of the project, which was led by University of Alberta researcher David Olefeldt. They found that about 20 percent of the globe's northern permafrost region is potential thermokarst landscape. The research can be used in infrastructure and ecosystem planning and greenhouse gas modeling.

The journal Nature Communications published the study this week.

Northern permafrost soils store twice as much carbon as is currently in the atmosphere. When permafrost thaws, the organic matter in the previously frozen soil begins to decay, releasing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Those gases can contribute to climate warming and further permafrost thaw.

"The most dramatic changes are likely to occur where permafrost thaw is accompanied by land surface collapse, known as thermokarst," Olefeldt said. Scientists can use the new map to test assumptions about how fast the soil organic matter will turn into greenhouse gases in these areas.

Thermokarst occurs when thawing soil contains large amounts of ice. When that soil and ice thaws, the water drains away, leaving a void that can lead to more than two dozen distinct collapse landforms, including gullies, slumps, wetlands and lakes. Each type affects greenhouse gas emissions in its own way, and up until now no one has been able to account for all of them at the global scale.

"There haven't been good estimates on how thermokarst disturbance could affect the release of carbon out of the soil," said McGuire, who is part of the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and U.S. Geological Survey.

Scientists have been hindered by both the diversity of the thermokarst landforms and a lack of information on where these thermokarst landforms are most likely to occur in a warming world.

"This map is a first step to answer how the landscape will change with the thawing of permafrost in a warming climate. This is the big picture, it is useful as a general idea of what we should expect on a circumpolar scale," said Romanovsky, a researcher at the UAF Geophysical Institute.

One of the most important results of the project was developing a method to prepare a map that will help scientists and resource managers estimate the effects of a warming climate on permafrost in these regions, Romanovsky said. "In Alaska we can see that some areas will be more vulnerable than others. For example, you can see from the map that the Yukon Delta and the North Slope regions will probably undergo significant landscape changes."


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<div>Credit: <a href="http://www.uaf.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Alaska Fairbanks</a></div>

Study identifies thermokarst areas at risk of releasing greenhouse gases

A new mapping project has identified regions worldwide that are...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the northwestern Pacific Ocean as Tropical Depression 24W formed and analyzed the storm in infrared light.</div>
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed Tropical Depression 24W (TD24W) in infrared light at Oct.12 at 12:29 a.m. EDT (429 UTC). Coldest cloud top temperatures exceeded minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) in bands of thunderstorms east of the center from the northeastern to the southern quadrants. Storms with temperatures that cold are high in the troposphere and NASA research has shown they have the ability to generate heavy rain.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JWTC) bulletin on Oct. 12 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) noted that TD24W has maximum sustained winds near 30 knots (34.5 mph/55.5 kph). It was located near 13.2 degrees north latitude and 129.8 degrees east longitude, about 526 nautical miles east of Manila, Philippines. TD24W was moving to the west-northwest at 11 knots (12.6 mph/20.3 kph).

JTWC forecasts 24W to strengthen into a typhoon and make landfall in Luzon, northern Philippines sometime on Oct. 15.


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<div>Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a></div>

Tropical Depression 24W forms east of Philippines

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the northwestern Pacific Ocean as...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">It was an eye-opening event when NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Songda early on Oct 12. The storm was transitioning into an extra-tropical storm far away from any land areas as it moves through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.</div>
Satellite imagery on Oct. 10 showed high clouds had covered the eye. On Oct. 12 at 03:05 UTC (Oct. 11 at 11:05 p.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Typhoon Songda as the eye re-emerged. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) estimates that the ragged eye is about 23 nautical miles (26.4 miles/42.6 km) wide.

JTWC forecasters said "[Infrared imagery showed that] central convection has begun to collapse as evidenced by the warming cloud tops. Additionally, the overall structure has become more asymmetric with severe elongation and dispersion along the northern peripheries."

The National Hurricane Center defined a tropical cylcone's transition to an extra-tropical storm as when "a cyclone has lost its "tropical" characteristics. The term implies both poleward displacement of the cyclone and the conversion of the cyclone's primary energy source from the release of latent heat of condensation to baroclinic (the temperature contrast between warm and cold air masses) processes. It is important to note that cyclones can become extra-tropical and still retain winds of hurricane or tropical storm force."

The final advisory on Songda was issued at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) by the JTWC. At that time, maximum sustained winds were near 120.8 mph (105 knots/194.5 kph). Songda was far from any land areas. It was centered near 32.5 degrees north latitude and 153.8 degrees east longitude, about 770 nautical miles (886 miles/1,426 km) southeast of Misawa, Japan. Songda was speeding through the open waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean at 31 mph (27 knots/50 kph) and was quickly becoming extra-tropical.


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<div>Credit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a></div>

Typhoon Songda becoming extra-tropical

It was an eye-opening event when NASA's Aqua satellite passed...

A new study has found that African and Asian elephants are more different than previously believed. In particular, the social relationships between the elephants is dependent on the species, with African elephants exhibiting a more hierarchical structure than their Asian counterparts.

The new work by Shermin de Silva, director of the Uda Walawe Elephant Research Project; CSU Associate Professor George Wittemyer; and Volker Schmid, biologist at the University of Regensburg, contrasted the dominance interactions exhibited by adult female Asian elephants in Sri Lanka and a similarly aged group of female African savannah elephants in Kenya.

Although elephants have been historically thought to exhibit a clear matriarchal structure, this structure was not present in the Asian elephants studied, and the Asian elephants showed less than a third of the dominant behavior as the African elephants. "Female Asian elephants are a bit more like lionesses than like African savannah elephants," said de Silva, who conducted this research while a postdoctoral fellow at Colorado State University.

The team extended their analysis to include other types of social interactions, including those between young and old members of the group. In the case of the Asian elephants, the older members tended to "win" confrontations, but did not exhibit other forms of social order, unlike the African elephants.

The research group attributed these social differences to the ecological differences between the African savannah habitat and the island habitat in Sri Lanka. The cohesive matriarchal structure of the African elephants is an advantage given the sparse rainfall, distributed resources and large predators common on the savannah -- factors which increase competition between the animals. In contrast, the environments of the Asian elephants studied were safer with plentiful water and food. This results in more independence for each animal because they are less dependent on teamwork with other animals. The researchers refer to this phenomenon as an "ecological release." Based on these observations, the researchers suggested that elephants may be prone to experiencing increased conflict when confined to smaller areas, where movements are more constrained and direct competition cannot be avoided.

A James Smithson fellow at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, de Silva is founder of the conservation nonprofit Trunks &amp; Leaves Inc. Wittemyer also serves as scientific director of Save the Elephants.

---

Author:

Earth.com Staff

Asian elephants don't exhibit much dominant behavior

A new study has found that African and Asian elephants...

<div>Sand dunes pull double duty -- offering a visual treat both for their undulating curves and their ability to attract birds and other wildlife, while affording protection from storm surges and the threat of rising sea levels.</div>
<div>

But conservationists have discovered that restoring sand dunes isn't as simple as dredging sand from Gulf floor and plopping it onshore. Plants transplanted to the new dunes, an important step in stabilizing the sand, seldom thrive.

Kerri Crawford, assistant professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston, has been funded by the Texas Sea Grant program -- which is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- to study the coastal dune ecosystem in Galveston and along the Texas coast.

Efforts in Galveston to rebuild sand dunes along the beach have met with mixed success, as many of the native plants used in the restoration projects don't survive, said Crawford, a plant ecologist who studies diverse plant communities and who is working with the nonprofit Artist Boat on the project.

"We're looking at, is there something we can do better to promote plant growth and stabilize the dunes?" she said. "The first thing I think of is, are they missing the microbial community the plants are used to? Sand dunes are pretty hostile environments for plants, and the right microbes can help."

Sand used to rebuild dunes, generally dredged from the Gulf floor or the Houston Ship Channel, is unlikely to have the soil microbes that promote healthy plant communities, she said. Tests showed the restored dunes and beaches had low levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a type of fungus found coexisting with about 80 percent of terrestrial plants, for example.

In tests conducted at the UH Coastal Center, about 30 miles south of the main campus, Crawford is using the fungus in a series of experiments, set up in 100-gallon pots of sand seeded with two species of grasses native to the Texas coast, bitter panicum and sea oats.

While the fungus often works in tandem with plants, sending out shoots to forage for nutrients in exchange for absorbing carbon produced by photosynthesis, it also can overwhelm some species. To determine what soil microbes are needed - and how those microbes can affect plant diversity - Crawford will study the impact of both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil samples taken from natural plant communities in Galveston. Ultimately, they will collect soil samples and isolate and sequence the soil DNA, in addition to studying how plants perform under varying conditions.

Once the initial plant colonies are established, researchers will seed the pots with additional native plant species to determine how the addition of the microbes affects broader plant diversity.

"Maybe it helps the (original) plants and improves dune stability, but could it affect other plant species?" Crawford asked. "We hope to see that treatment leads to greater growth and stability but doesn't crowd out other species."


</div>
--

Credit: <a href="http://www.houston.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Houston</a>
<div></div>

Scientists are restoring coastal sand dunes by using microbes

Sand dunes pull double duty -- offering a visual treat...

<div></div>
<div>

Scientists at the University of Bristol are working with the energy industry to develop an 'early warning tool' to predict the sudden, en masse appearance of jellyfish swarms which can cause serious problems by clogging the water intakes of coastal power plants.

The reduction in cooling water caused by these 'swarms' means coastal power plants have, on occasion, had to run at reduced efficiency or temporarily shut down as a precautionary measure.

This can have an impact on the provision of electricity to customers and incur a significant cost to the supplier.

A persistent difficulty lies in identifying the origin of swarms, or blooms, and predicting when they will impact coastal sites.

The University of Bristol team, led by Drs Sally Wood and Erica Hendy from the School of Earth Sciences, will be developing their ideas by working with EDF Energy at its Torness power station.

Torness supplies around a third of Scotland's electricity and was offline for a week in June 2011 following a precautionary shutdown of both reactors after a blockage of cooling filters caused by a swarm of moon jellyfish.

Dr Sally Wood, said: "The aim of the project is to develop a robust tool for the rapid evaluation of the likelihood and scale of jellyfish ingress at Torness based on simulated patterns of historic bloom dispersal within the North Sea from the last 20 years.

"To achieve this we will be translating previous research using a state-of-the-art marine dispersal modelling system to simulate the transport of jellyfish blooms by ocean currents, incorporating specific biological behaviours of jellyfish."

The project, which has been funded by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) and EDF Energy, has two objectives:
<ul>
 	<li>Provide gridded maps, specific to the time of year or oceanographic conditions, giving the probability that a bloom arising at any source location within the North Sea will be transported within the vicinity of Torness, as well as minimum and peak arrival times.</li>
 	<li>Test the suitability of the tool for providing an early warning of potential ingress threat from jellyfish blooms at other locations, including validation with historic and satellite-based observational data.</li>
</ul>
Dr Erica Hendy added: "We hope that this tool will allow rapid risk evaluation and inform any potential operational response by EDF when a jellyfish blooms is located in the future.

"The tool will also identify locations in the North Sea where ongoing monitoring is essential for an early warning system for Torness power station.

"The methodology we will be using is deliberately generic to allow adaptation to other sensitive coastal sites and we have already received support from other organisations that can be affected by jellyfish blooms such as the farmed salmon industry."

Pietro Bernardara, from EDF Energy R&amp;D UK centre, said: "Jellyfish swarms are an occasional but challenging issue for our power stations. They can have an impact on the amount of electricity we are able to supply to consumers and can cost the business money.

"That is why EDF Energy's R&amp;D and Torness power station teams are pleased to be working with the University of Bristol to develop a tool that will allow us to continue delivering, safe, secure and responsible nuclear electricity."

Professor Rich Pancost, Director of the University of Bristol's interdisciplinary Cabot Institute, under which the project falls, said:

"We are very excited by the potential of this project. The approach the team are using was developed in order to study the dispersal of coral larvae and help us understand the future of our coral reefs. Now it is being adapting to solve a very different challenge.

"The University's collaborations make a real contribution to society but they also help our science evolve - and I have no doubt that new applications will be discovered as the project progresses."


</div>
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Credit: <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Bristol</a>
<div></div>

Jellyfish cause serious problems at coastal power plants

Scientists at the University of Bristol are working with the...

In an effort to appeal to young, environmentally conscious voters, Hillary Clinton is tapping Al Gore to join her at a rally in Miami on Tuesday to discuss climate change, according to a new Associated Press report. Clinton and Gore know each other from their eight years in the White House together, when she was First Lady and he was Vice President. Since leaving the White House, Gore has worked as an environmental activist, notably speaking about global warming in his 2006 documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

At the event, Clinton plans to emphasize her plans to support clean energy, cut fossil fuel production and build resiliency against natural disasters. Speaking at Ohio State University Monday night, Clinton said: "I'm running against somebody who doesn't believe in climate change or at least he says he doesn't, who has even said he thinks it's a hoax created by the Chinese." Trump has frequently expressed skepticism relating to climate change, vowing to "renegotiate" the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty designed to curb the rise in global temperatures. 2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record, surpassing records set in 2010, 2014 and 2015; it is estimated that the world is 1.8 degrees warmer than 100 years ago. In addition to a warmer environment, consequences of global warming are deadly heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours.

The environment has been a key topic for Mrs. Clinton since the primary against Bernie Sanders. She has offered clean energy plans and voiced opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline, a stance supported by environmentalists. However, these positions are in sharp contrast to those of her challenger, Trump. "Climate change is one of the issues where the difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is night and day," said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. "For many of the core supporters we are seeking to galvanize in the remaining weeks of the campaign, including young voters, communicating the boldness of her plan is important."

Hillary is supported by the Advocacy group NextGen Climate, founded by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who has donated $25 million into a millennial outreach program. "We've seen throughout this campaign that climate change is an issue that millennials care about deeply," said NextGen's political director Heather Hargreaves. Although surveys of young voters early in the campaign showed Trump and Clinton being close on climate issues, as the campaign has progressed the young voters have increasingly favored Clinton.

Although Clinton's emphasis on environmental issues dates back to her June 2015 campaign launch speech, there has been some discord among her team on the issue of raising fossil fuel royalties on federal land. A email released from Wikileaks indicated that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta received an email from speechwriting director Dan Schwerin stating "I think we're going to have to make peace with our fossil fuels royalties, since she's already promised that."

Later, Clinton admitted that although she planned to raise fees and phase out extraction on public land, it could not be instantaneous because "we still have to run our economy, we still have to turn on the lights."

The leaked emails also showed a struggle to establish how Clinton could state her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline; wrote Schwerin on August 7, 2015: "We are trying to find a good way to leak her opposition to the pipeline without her having to actually say it and give up her principled stand about not second-guessing the president in public."Clinton announced her opposition during a town hall in Iowa the following month, in response to a question from the audience.

---

Author:

Earth.com Staff

Hilary Clinton brings in Al Gore to help her with climate change issues

In an effort to appeal to young, environmentally conscious voters,...

<div>The Greenland ice sheet records information about Arctic temperature and climate going back to more than 120,000 years ago. But new research from the Niels Bohr Institute among others reveals that the ice doesn't just tell us about the situation in the air and on the land - it can also tell us about what was happening at sea. By analyzing ice cores drilled from deep inside the Greenland ice sheet, researchers have started to calculate how much Arctic sea ice there was in the past. The results have been published in the research journal Scientific Reports.</div>
<div>

Arctic sea ice is changing. In the past the Arctic Ocean was covered by meters of thick sea ice but now that sea ice is thinning and being replaced by sea ice that melts away over the summer. The rapid decrease of summer sea ice that we currently observe is opening up the region for shipping and exploration but also threatening local ecosystems and cultures. But what was sea ice like in the past? The amount of sea ice has only been well known since the 1970's when satellite measurements began, so we don't know what has been happening far back into the past.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark and Ca'Foscari University of Venice in Italy have discovered that chemical traces of sea ice can be found far away from the ocean within the kilometers-thick Greenland ice sheet. The ice sheet is covered by snow which falls every year and is compressed into ice over many thousands of years. Every layer of ice tells us about the year that the snow originally fell on the ice sheet - what the temperature was like and what kinds of particles were blowing around in the atmosphere at that time.

[caption id="attachment_88972" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-88972" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/greenland-ice-sheet-map_1big_Niels-Bohr-150x150.jpg" alt="Greenland ice sheet" width="150" height="150" /> Greenland ice sheet[/caption]

"We can measure the amount of a chemical called bromine in the Greenland ice cores. You find bromine in both the ocean and sea ice, but when new sea ice forms in the winter the sea salt is concentrated into salty pockets of brine which contain bromine. In spring and summer, the sunlight that shines down onto the sea ice starts chemical reactions. In these reactions, ozone in the air reacts with bromine in the ice and the bromine is released in greater and greater amounts from the sea ice. This process is called a bromine explosion. When it is released from the sea ice, the concentrated bromine is carried by the wind up onto the ice sheet and then deposited with the falling snow. That is the source of the bromine we measure in ice cores", explains Paul Vallelonga, Associate Professor at the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Insitute, University of Copenhagen.

The reactions stop in autumn and winter, when the sun goes below the horizon and new sea ice begins to form again.

Reconstructing sea-ice in the past

It's one thing to measure the amount of bromine in an ice core from Greenland, but it's another thing to understand the connection between bromine and the amount of sea ice in the Arctic.

In order to link the bromine measurements with the amount of sea ice covering the Arctic, scientists have used satellite observations of sea ice as a measuring stick, which goes back to the 1970's. The measurements can be used to link the bromine content in the ice cores with the amount of new sea ice produced each year since 1979. A clue about the amount of sea ice in the past has also been revealed by records from Icelandic fishing communities, which go back more than 1000 years. Altogether, these data have allowed researchers to calculate how much sea ice there was in the Arctic tens of thousands of years ago.

"With this technique we can fill the gaps in our understanding of the amount of Arctic sea ice in the past. Since ice cores also reveal a lot of information about the climate, we can combine the sea ice data with the climate data and start to understand how sea ice reacts to climate change" explains Paul Vallelonga.

Sea ice and climate change

Researchers have found that 8000 years ago the Arctic climate was 2 to 3 degrees warmer than now, and that there was also less summertime Arctic sea ice than today.

"We have been in this situation before, with less sea ice and more open ocean during the warm Arctic summer. So right now we have not yet exceeded the natural boundaries for the Arctic region, but the question is: with more warming in the Arctic driven by rising greenhouse gases, how soon will sea ice melting reach and exceed the levels of 8000 years ago? These new research results can help us to answer this question when we combine them with climate models", says Paul Vallelonga.


</div>
--

Credit: <a href="http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/" target="_blank">Neils Bohr Institute</a>
<div></div>

Studying the Greenland ice sheet gives clues to past Arctic sea ice levels

The Greenland ice sheet records information about Arctic temperature and...

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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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.

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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Saturn,-,High,Resolution,3d,Images,Presents,Planets,Of,The

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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

[sendtonews key="6SdlLLbt0t-1988946-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NTU...

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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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