The thin line of gold behind every tap, swipe, and click on our electronic devices rarely enters daily conversation, yet the metal keeps digital life running, then eventually turn into landfills full of toxic e-waste. 



From the contacts in a phone jack to the chips inside a smartwatch, gold moves electrons smoothly and shrugs off corrosion. 



Mining more, however, blasts mountains, drains rivers, and spews carbon. With the global appetite for electronics still climbing, attention has turned to the growing junkyard of cast‑off gadgets.



E‑waste is now the quickest‑rising waste stream on the planet - roughly 63 million short tons in 2024 according to <a href="https://www.unep.org/ietc/what-we-do/e-waste-management" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">United Nations estimates</a> - and only a small share gets recycled in certified facilities. 



Most of our old electronics end up in landfills or backyard workshops, which then leak metals into the groundwater, creating toxic brews. A cleaner strategy is to reclaim precious metals safely before our devices make their way into the garbage heaps.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cheese-e-waste-and-gold">Cheese, e-waste, and gold</h2>



A research team is now working to change that script. Professor Raffaele Mezzenga at <a href="https://ethz.ch/en.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ETH Zurich</a> and senior scientist Mohammad Peydayesh assembled colleagues in search of a simpler tool than acid vats or cyanide baths. Their unlikely inspiration bubbles up in cheese factories.



Cheese makers separate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cottage-cheese-is-making-a-comeback-due-to-its-nutritional-benefits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">curds from whey</a>, leaving behind nearly nine pounds of watery by‑product for every pound of cheddar. Whey is rich in proteins that twist into hair‑thin amyloid fibrils when warmed in acid. 



The Zurich group realized those fibrils could be coaxed into a feather‑light sponge that prefers gold over the other metals lurking in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electronic-waste-is-growing-five-times-faster-than-recycling/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shredded phones and laptops</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adding-a-cheesy-twist-to-golden-e-waste">Adding a cheesy twist to golden e-waste</h2>



The researchers stirred the fibrils into a gel, then dried it into an aerogel - think Styrofoam’s airiness on a nanoscale. Microscopic pores criss‑cross the material, offering miles of surface area inside a crumb‑sized cube. 



When a slice of this sponge meets a beaker filled with dissolved circuit boards, gold ions rush toward the proteins and cling tightly.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/electronic-devices_gold-extraction-process_schematic_credit-ETH-Zurich_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/electronic-devices_gold-extraction-process_schematic_credit-ETH-Zurich_1s.webp" alt="Schematic route followed to generate neat value via pure gold, extracted from food waste (whey) and e-waste as starting source materials. Credit: Advanced Materials" class="wp-image-1968796"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Schematic route followed to generate neat value via pure gold, extracted from food waste (whey) and e-waste as starting source materials. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Advanced Materials</figcaption></figure>



Early trials showed the aerogel collecting a far higher share of gold than plastic resins that recyclers often use. Better yet, the process skips noxious solvents. 



Water, moderate heat, and the natural chemistry of protein do the heavy lifting, which slashes both hazard and cost.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aerogel-and-a-protein-sponge">Aerogel and a protein sponge</h2>



For a head‑to‑head laboratory test, the team stripped metal parts from twenty <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/international-day-of-zero-waste-a-global-commitment-to-a-sustainable-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discarded computer motherboards</a>, dissolved them in acid, and dropped in a fingernail‑sized piece of aerogel. 



Copper, nickel, and cobalt swirled in the brew, yet gold ions settled on the sponge far more efficiently. After a short soak, the solution cleared, signaling that most of the precious metal had left the liquid.



Numbers tell the story. The sponge drew out gold that was about 90.8 percent pure - close to 22‑karat jewelry - on its first pass. Competing adsorbents usually require extra purification steps to reach similar purity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-e-waste-ions-to-gold-nuggets">From e-waste ions to gold nuggets</h2>



Pulling ions from solution is useful; turning them back into solid metal is crucial. The Zurich group warmed the loaded sponge until the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fools-gold-may-be-a-valuable-source-of-lithium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gold ions</a> shed their charge and merged into shimmering flakes. 



Heating continued until the flakes fused into a nugget weighing roughly 450 milligrams. Chemical analysis showed the lump was 91 percent gold and 9 percent copper, again hitting the mark for 22 carats.



This step also freed the protein skeleton. Burned away under controlled heat, the whey‑derived matrix leaves no synthetic residue, easing cleanup. Conventional resin beds cannot claim the same neat exit.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/electronic-devices_gold-extraction-process_gold-nuggets-recovered_Credit-ETH-Zurich_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/electronic-devices_gold-extraction-process_gold-nuggets-recovered_Credit-ETH-Zurich_1s.webp" alt="The gold nugget obtained from computer motherboards in three parts. The largest of these parts is around five millimeters wide. Credit: ETH Zurich/Alan Kovacevic" class="wp-image-1968794"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The gold nugget obtained from computer motherboards in three parts. The largest of these parts is around five millimeters wide. Click image to enlarge. Credit: ETH Zurich/Alan Kovacevic</figcaption></figure>



Recycling lives or dies on the balance sheet. Here the math looks encouraging. 



Procurement and energy costs for the entire operation are about fifty times lower than the market value of the gold retrieved. Even after accounting for labor and overhead, that margin hints at solid profit for commercial recyclers.



Lower operating costs open doors for smaller regional plants. Instead of shipping obsolete electronics overseas, communities could process them nearby, cutting transportation emissions and keeping revenue local.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-e-waste-has-more-than-just-gold">e-Waste has more than just gold</h2>



Gold steals headlines, yet the technique need not stop there. By tweaking pH or tailoring the protein structure, the same sort of sponge could sort copper, cobalt, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/water-captured-on-video-forming-out-of-thin-air-for-the-first-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">palladium</a> - metals vital for batteries and sensors. 



The team is already experimenting with pea‑protein waste from plant‑based milk production and collagen from fish scales. Success would guard against supply bottlenecks tied to a single dairy stream.



E‑waste is not the only target. Industrial rinse water from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-computer-defeats-a-supercomputer-in-crucial-annealing-optimization-task/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microchip fabrication</a> and gold‑plating shops also carries trace metals worth reclaiming. A modular protein sponge could slip into those lines, trimming costs and curbing runoff.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taking-the-next-steps">Taking the next steps</h2>



“The fact I love the most is that we’re using a food industry byproduct to obtain gold from electronic waste,” Mezzenga says. In a very real sense, the method transforms two waste products into gold. “You can’t get much more sustainable than that!”



If pilot projects scale as hoped, tomorrow’s recycling centers may sit beside creameries and food processors, quietly turning yesterday’s whey and last decade’s gadgets into tomorrow’s circuit traces. 



The approach will not halt mining overnight, but every recovered ounce delays a blast, a slurry pond, or a diesel haul truck. 



That shift, multiplied across millions of phones and laptops, offers a straightforward path toward lighter footprints and longer‑lived resources - no new mountains required.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202310642" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Advanced Materials</a>.



-----



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Invention turns our electronic waste into 22-carat gold nuggets instead of toxic trash

The thin line of gold behind every tap, swipe, and click on our electronic devices rarely enters daily conversation, yet the metal keeps digital life running, then eventually turn into landfills full of toxic e-waste. From the contacts in a phone jack to the chips inside a smartwatch, gold moves electrons smoothly and shrugs off corrosion. Mining more, however, blasts mountains, drains rivers, and spews carbon. With the global appetite for electronics still climbing, attention has turned to the growing junkyard of cast‑off gadgets. E‑waste is now...

Wastewater From Colorado Gold Mine Flows Towards Utah And New Mexico. An eerie yellow sludge that poured out of a shuttered Colorado gold mine and into a southwestern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=f83411bd5bf94341bb9d4ba733d23d37&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> river was inching its way downstream toward New Mexico and Utah.
Federal officials said Friday the spill contains heavy metals including lead and arsenic, but it was too early to know whether they posed a health risk. No health hazard has been detected, but the tests were still being analyzed, said Joan Card, an adviser to Environmental Protection Agency Regional Director Shaun McGrath. Wastewater From Colorado Gold Mine Flows Towards Utah And New Mexico
The spill also contained cadmium, <a href="http://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/aluminum/">aluminum</a>, copper and calcium, the EPA said. The concentrations were not yet known.
An EPA-supervised cleanup crew accidentally unleashed 1 million gallons of the wastewater from the Gold King Mine on Wednesday, and it flowed down Cement Creek and into the scenic Animas River, which is popular with boaters and anglers.
The EPA warned people to stay out of the river and to keep domestic animals from drinking from it. Local officials declared stretches of the river off-limits in Colorado and New Mexico.
At least two of the heavy metals can be lethal for humans in long-term exposure. Arsenic at high levels can cause blindness, paralysis and cancer. Lead poisoning can create muscle and vision problems for adults, harm development in fetuses and lead to kidney disease, developmental problems and sometimes death in children, the agency said.
Water samples were also tested in New Mexico, but no results had been released. The Animas flows into the San Juan River in New Mexico, and the San Juan flows into Utah, where in joins the Colorado River in Lake Powell.
Officials said the contamination would likely settle into sediment in Lake Powell. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area officials said visitors will be warned starting Monday to avoid drinking, swimming or boating on affected stretches of the lake and river until further notice.
New Mexico officials were angry they were not told of the spill until Thursday, nearly a day after it occurred. "New Mexico deserves better," state Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said.
McGrath apologized for the EPA's response and for previously sounding cavalier about the concerns for public health and the environment. "Our initial response to it was not appropriate in that we did not understand the full extent of what we were looking at here," he said.
At least seven water utilities shut down their intake valves ahead of the plume to keep it out of their systems, and no drinking-water contamination was reported. Farmers also closed the gates on their irrigation ditches to protect their crops.
Water was still spilling from the mine on Friday, but officials didn't know how fast. Crews were building containment ponds to catch it.
Card said the EPA has no way to get the discolored water out of the river and that it will eventually dissipate. It wasn't clear when that will happen.
Officials were releasing extra water from at least one reservoir to help dilute the pollution.
Few details have been released about the spill, except that the cleanup crew of EPA employees and contractors accidentally breached a debris dam that had formed inside the mine. The crew was trying to enter the mine to pump out and treat the water, EPA spokeswoman Lisa McClain-Vanderpool said.
The mine has been inactive since 1923.
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Wastewater From Colorado Gold Mine Flows Towards Utah

Wastewater From Colorado Gold Mine Flows Towards Utah And New...

The Environmental Protection Agency says the mine waste spill into Colorado waters is much larger than originally estimated.
But an EPA official said Sunday that she doesn't believe wildlife will suffer significant health impacts from the wastewater from an abandoned mine in southwestern Colorado.
The agency said the amount of heavy-metal laced water that leaked from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River, turning the water a mucky orange and then yellow, is three times larger than its initial estimate.
The EPA now says 3 million gallons of wastewater spilled Wednesday and Thursday, instead of 1 million. The revision came after the EPA used a stream gauge from the U.S. Geological Survey.


[caption id="attachment_2383519" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/08113450/colorado-river-mine-sludge_1big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383519" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/08113450/colorado-river-mine-sludge_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Credit: AP" width="150" height="150" /></a> Credit: AP[/caption]
The agency has so far been unable to determine whether humans or aquatic life face health risks. However, EPA toxicologist Deborah McKean said the sludge moved so quickly after the spill that it would not have "caused significant health effects" to animals that consumed the water.
The discolored water from the spill stretched more than 100 miles from where it originated near Colorado's historic mining town of Silverton into the New Mexico municipalities of Farmington, Aztec and Kirtland.
The leading edge of the plume was headed toward Utah and Montezuma Creek near the town of Bluff, a tourist destination. The town, which is populated by a few hundred people, is surrounded by scenic sandstone bluffs.
Local officials were preparing to shut down two wells that serve Montezuma Creek, said Rex Kontz, deputy general manager for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
To keep water flowing to homes, the residential tank in Halchita has been filled with clean water hauled 40 miles from Arizona.
Back in Colorado where the spill started, the EPA planned to meet with residents of Durango, downstream from the mine. The EPA water tests near Durango are still being analyzed.
The EPA has not said how long cleanup efforts will take. An EPA-supervised crew trying to enter the mine to pump out and treat the water caused the spill
---
Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed from Salt Lake City.
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EPA: Colorado Gold King Mine Spill Worse Than Expected

The Environmental Protection Agency says the mine waste spill into...

Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The Western US. Beneath the western United States lie thousands of old mining tunnels filled with the same <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/toxic-algal-blooms-will-become-more-frequent-off-the-u-s-west-coast/">toxic</a> water stew that spilled into a Colorado river last week, turning it into a nauseating yellow concoction and stoking alarm about contamination of drinking water.
Though the spill into the Animas River in southern Colorado is unusual for its size, it's only the latest instance of the region grappling with the legacy of a centuries-old mining boom that helped populate the region but also left buried toxins. Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The Western US
Until the late 1970s there were no regulations on mining in most of the region, meaning anyone could dig a hole where they liked and search for gold, silver, copper or<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=zinc&amp;cvid=783fe5a50b514bd8bb258c1d5a641e3f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS"> zinc</a>. Abandoned mines fill up with groundwater and snowmelt that becomes tainted with acids and heavy metals from mining veins which can trickle into the region's waterways. Experts estimate there are 55,000 such abandoned mines from Colorado to Idaho to California, and federal and state authorities have struggled to clean them for decades. The federal government says 40 percent of the headwaters of Western waterways have been contaminated from mine runoff.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency was trying to staunch leakage from a gold mine - not worked since 1923 - high in the San Juan mountains of southern Colorado. But workers moving debris from the mine tunnel accidentally opened up the passage, leading to a million gallons of sludge spilling into a creek that carried it into the Animas River. From there the discharge headed toward the Colorado River, which provides water to tens of millions of Westerners.
"The whole acid draining issue is something we struggle with in the western United States," said Bruce Stover, the Colorado Department of Mining official in charge of dealing with abandoned mines in that state.
One of the complicating factors is money and legal liability. Cleaning up the mines is very costly, and the Clean Water Act says that anyone who contributes to pollution of a waterway can be prosecuted for a federal crime, even if they were trying to clean up pollution. That's kept environmental groups from helping the EPA treat water and tidy up mines. Groups for several years have been pushing for a federal law that would let so-called "Good Samaritan" groups help with cleanup without being exposed to legal liability.
"There's still a whole generation of abandoned mines that needs to be dealt with," said Steve Kandell of Trout Unlimited, one of the organizations backing the bill.
But the Wednesday spill from the Gold King mine shows the amount of damage that the slightest cleanup accident can inflict. The mine is one of four outside the old mining town of Silverton that have leaked heavy metals into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas. Cement Creek is so poisoned that no fish live there and the EPA has long registered abnormal levels of acidity and heavy metals in the upper Animas that have also injured aquatic life.
Downstream, though, the Animas flows through the scenic town of Durango and is a magnet for summer vacationers, fishermen and rafters. The river turned yellow Thursday, emitting a sickening stench and sending water agencies scrambling to shut off the taps from the waterway.
The EPA apologized profusely to residents for both the accident and failing to warn anyone for the first 24 hours. During a town hall meeting in Durango on Friday, a restaurant owner asked the EPA if it would compensate businesses for lost revenue, while officials warned that the river may turn yellow again in the spring, when snowmelt kicks up the settled contaminated sediment. Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The Western US
The history of the Gold King and its neighboring mines is also an example of the difficulty in cleaning up old waste. The EPA had initially tried to plug a leak in another mine that drained into Cement Creek, the American Tunnel, but that simply pushed more contaminated water out of the neighboring mines such as Gold King.
"In this day and age, everyone wants the quick fix, but these things take time," said Jason Willis, an environmental engineer who works with Trout Unlimited in Colorado. "These are site-specific tasks."
Stover said it was particularly galling that the Animas was contaminated by the very chemicals that environmental officials have been trying to remove from its watershed.
"It's very unfortunate," Stover said. "We've been fighting this war for years, and we've lost a battle. But we're going to win the war."
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground

Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The...

Puerto Rico Caribbean Seaweed Invasion

Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches. The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs.
Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed up on Caribbean coastlines, but researchers say the algae blooms have exploded in extent and frequency in recent years. The 2015 seaweed invasion appears to be a bumper crop, with a number of shorelines so severely hit that some tourists have canceled summer trips and lawmakers on Tobago have termed it a "natural disaster." Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches
From the Dominican Republic in the north, to Barbados in the east, and Mexico's Caribbean resorts to the west, officials are authorizing emergency money to fund cleanup efforts and clear stinking mounds of seaweed that in some cases have piled up nearly 10 feet high on beaches, choked scenic coves and cut off moored boats.
With the start of the region's high tourism season a few months away, some officials are calling for an emergency meeting of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, worried that the worsening seaweed influx could become a chronic dilemma for the globe's most tourism-dependent region.
"This has been the worst year we've seen so far. We really need to have a regional effort on this because this unsightly seaweed could end up affecting the image of the Caribbean," said Christopher James, chairman of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association.
There are various ideas about what is causing the seaweed boom that scientists say started in 2011, including warming ocean temperatures and changes in the ocean currents due to climate change. Some researchers believe it is primarily due to increased land-based nutrients and pollutants washing into the water, including nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and sewage waste that fuel the blooms.
Brian Lapointe, a sargassum expert at Florida Atlantic University, says that while the sargassum washing up in normal amounts has long been good for the Caribbean, severe influxes like those seen lately are "harmful algal blooms" because they can cause fish kills, beach fouling, tourism losses and even coastal dead zones.
"Considering that these events have been happening since 2011, this could be the `new normal.' Time will tell," Lapointe said by email.
The mats of drifting sargassum covered with berry-like sacs have become so numerous in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean they are even drifting as far away as to West Africa, where they've been piling up fast in Sierre Leone and Ghana.
Sargassum, which gets its name from the Portuguese word for grape, is a floating brownish algae that generally blooms in the Sargasso Sea, a 2 million-square-mile (3 million-square-kilometer) body of warm water in the North Atlantic that is a major <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/beavers-create-habitats-that-support-threatened-amphibians/">habitat</a> and nursery for numerous marine species. Like coral reefs, the algae mats are critical habitats and mahi-mahi, tuna, billfish, eels, shrimp, crabs and sea turtles all use the algae to spawn, feed or hide from predators.
But some scientists believe the sargassum besieging a growing number of beaches may actually be due to blooms in the Atlantic's equatorial region, perhaps because of a high flow of nutrients from South America's Amazon and Orinoco Rivers mixing with warmer ocean temperatures.
"We think this is an ongoing equatorial regional event and our research has found no direct connection with the Sargasso Sea," said Jim Franks, senior research scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.
Whatever the reason, the massive sargassum flow is becoming a major challenge for tourism-dependent countries. In large doses, the algae harms coastal environments, even causing the deaths of endangered sea turtle hatchlings after they wriggle out of the sand where their eggs were buried. Cleanup efforts by work crews may also worsen beach erosion.
"We have heard reports of recently hatched sea turtles getting caught in the seaweed. If removal of seaweed involves large machinery that will also obviously cause impacts to the beaches and the ecosystems there," said Faith Bulger, program officer at the Washington-based Sargasso Sea Commission.
Mexican authorities recently said they will spend about $9.1 million and hire 4,600 temporary workers to clean up seaweed mounds accumulating along that country's Caribbean coast. Part of the money will be used to test whether the sargassum can be collected at sea before it reaches shore.
Some tourists in hard-hit areas are trying to prevent their summer vacations from being ruined by the stinking algae.
"The smell of seaweed is terrible, but I'm enjoying the sun," German tourist Oliver Pahlke said during a visit to Cancun, Mexico.
Sitting at a picnic table on the south coast of Barbados, Canadian vacationer Anne Alma said reports of the rotting seaweed mounds she'd heard from friends did not dissuade her from visiting the Eastern Caribbean island.
"I just wonder where the seaweed is going to go," the Toronto resident said one recent morning, watching more of mats drift to shore even after crews had already trucked away big piles to use as mulch and fertilizers.
---
Associated Press writers Carol Williams contributed from Bridgetown, Barbados and Gabriel Alcocer from Cancun, Mexico.
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Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches

Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches. The...

Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The Western US. Beneath the western <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/how-did-covid-19-spread-so-extensively-in-the-united-states/">United States</a> lie thousands of old mining tunnels filled with the same toxic water stew that spilled into a Colorado river last week, turning it into a nauseating yellow concoction and stoking alarm about contamination of drinking water.
Though the spill into the Animas River in southern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=41a7450aaa6940e0a25b3b90fb285368&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> is unusual for its size, it's only the latest instance of the region grappling with the legacy of a centuries-old mining boom that helped populate the region but also left buried toxins. Thousands Of Mines With Toxic Water Lie Underground In The Western US
Until the late 1970s there were no regulations on mining in most of the region, meaning anyone could dig a hole where they liked and search for gold, silver, copper or zinc. Abandoned mines fill up with groundwater and snowmelt that becomes tainted with acids and heavy metals from mining veins which can trickle into the region's waterways. Experts estimate there are 55,000 such abandoned mines from Colorado to Idaho to California, and federal and state authorities have struggled to clean them for decades. The federal government says 40 percent of the headwaters of Western waterways have been contaminated from mine runoff.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency was trying to staunch leakage from a gold mine - not worked since 1923 - high in the San Juan mountains of southern Colorado. But workers moving debris from the mine tunnel accidentally opened up the passage, leading to a million gallons of sludge spilling into a creek that carried it into the Animas River. From there the discharge headed toward the Colorado River, which provides water to tens of millions of Westerners.
"The whole acid draining issue is something we struggle with in the western United States," said Bruce Stover, the Colorado Department of Mining official in charge of dealing with abandoned mines in that state.
One of the complicating factors is money and legal liability. Cleaning up the mines is very costly, and the Clean Water Act says that anyone who contributes to pollution of a waterway can be prosecuted for a federal crime, even if they were trying to clean up pollution. That's kept environmental groups from helping the EPA treat water and tidy up mines. Groups for several years have been pushing for a federal law that would let so-called "Good Samaritan" groups help with cleanup without being exposed to legal liability.
"There's still a whole generation of abandoned mines that needs to be dealt with," said Steve Kandell of Trout Unlimited, one of the organizations backing the bill.
But the Wednesday spill from the Gold King mine shows the amount of damage that the slightest cleanup accident can inflict. The mine is one of four outside the old mining town of Silverton that have leaked heavy metals into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas. Cement Creek is so poisoned that no fish live there and the EPA has long registered abnormal levels of acidity and heavy metals in the upper Animas that have also injured aquatic life.
Downstream, though, the Animas flows through the scenic town of Durango and is a magnet for summer vacationers, fishermen and rafters. The river turned yellow Thursday, emitting a sickening stench and sending water agencies scrambling to shut off the taps from the waterway.
The EPA apologized profusely to residents for both the accident and failing to warn anyone for the first 24 hours. During a town hall meeting in Durango on Friday, a restaurant owner asked the EPA if it would compensate businesses for lost revenue, while officials warned that the river may turn yellow again in the spring, when snowmelt kicks up the settled contaminated sediment.
The history of the Gold King and its neighboring mines is also an example of the difficulty in cleaning up old waste. The EPA had initially tried to plug a leak in another mine that drained into Cement Creek, the American Tunnel, but that simply pushed more contaminated water out of the neighboring mines such as Gold King.
"In this day and age, everyone wants the quick fix, but these things take time," said Jason Willis, an environmental engineer who works with Trout Unlimited in Colorado. "These are site-specific tasks."
Stover said it was particularly galling that the Animas was contaminated by the very chemicals that environmental officials have been trying to remove from its watershed.
"It's very unfortunate," Stover said. "We've been fighting this war for years, and we've lost a battle. But we're going to win the war."
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches. The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs.
Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed up on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/caribbean-king-crabs-could-be-used-to-restore-coral-reefs/">Caribbean</a> coastlines, but researchers say the algae blooms have exploded in extent and frequency in recent years. The 2015 seaweed invasion appears to be a bumper crop, with a number of shorelines so severely hit that some tourists have canceled summer trips and lawmakers on Tobago have termed it a "natural disaster."
From the Dominican Republic in the north, to Barbados in the east, and Mexico's Caribbean resorts to the west, officials are authorizing emergency money to fund cleanup efforts and clear stinking mounds of seaweed that in some cases have piled up nearly 10 feet high on beaches, choked scenic coves and cut off moored boats. Mats Of Decaying Seaweed Piling Up On Caribbean Beaches
With the start of the region's high tourism season a few months away, some officials are calling for an emergency meeting of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, worried that the worsening seaweed influx could become a chronic dilemma for the globe's most <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=tourism&amp;cvid=1695076f08894e29aa7e74a4b0cfae41&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">tourism</a>-dependent region.
"This has been the worst year we've seen so far. We really need to have a regional effort on this because this unsightly seaweed could end up affecting the image of the Caribbean," said Christopher James, chairman of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association.
There are various ideas about what is causing the seaweed boom that scientists say started in 2011, including warming ocean temperatures and changes in the ocean currents due to climate change. Some researchers believe it is primarily due to increased land-based nutrients and pollutants washing into the water, including nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and sewage waste that fuel the blooms.
Brian Lapointe, a sargassum expert at Florida Atlantic University, says that while the sargassum washing up in normal amounts has long been good for the Caribbean, severe influxes like those seen lately are "harmful algal blooms" because they can cause fish kills, beach fouling, tourism losses and even coastal dead zones.
"Considering that these events have been happening since 2011, this could be the `new normal.' Time will tell," Lapointe said by email.
The mats of drifting sargassum covered with berry-like sacs have become so numerous in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean they are even drifting as far away as to West Africa, where they've been piling up fast in Sierre Leone and Ghana.
Sargassum, which gets its name from the Portuguese word for grape, is a floating brownish algae that generally blooms in the Sargasso Sea, a 2 million-square-mile (3 million-square-kilometer) body of warm water in the North Atlantic that is a major habitat and nursery for numerous marine species. Like coral reefs, the algae mats are critical habitats and mahi-mahi, tuna, billfish, eels, shrimp, crabs and sea turtles all use the algae to spawn, feed or hide from predators.
But some scientists believe the sargassum besieging a growing number of beaches may actually be due to blooms in the Atlantic's equatorial region, perhaps because of a high flow of nutrients from South America's Amazon and Orinoco Rivers mixing with warmer ocean temperatures.
"We think this is an ongoing equatorial regional event and our research has found no direct connection with the Sargasso Sea," said Jim Franks, senior research scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.
Whatever the reason, the massive sargassum flow is becoming a major challenge for tourism-dependent countries. In large doses, the algae harms coastal environments, even causing the deaths of endangered sea turtle hatchlings after they wriggle out of the sand where their eggs were buried. Cleanup efforts by work crews may also worsen beach erosion.
"We have heard reports of recently hatched sea turtles getting caught in the seaweed. If removal of seaweed involves large machinery that will also obviously cause impacts to the beaches and the ecosystems there," said Faith Bulger, program officer at the Washington-based Sargasso Sea Commission.
Mexican authorities recently said they will spend about $9.1 million and hire 4,600 temporary workers to clean up seaweed mounds accumulating along that country's Caribbean coast. Part of the money will be used to test whether the sargassum can be collected at sea before it reaches shore.
Some tourists in hard-hit areas are trying to prevent their summer vacations from being ruined by the stinking algae.
"The smell of seaweed is terrible, but I'm enjoying the sun," German tourist Oliver Pahlke said during a visit to Cancun, Mexico.
Sitting at a picnic table on the south coast of Barbados, Canadian vacationer Anne Alma said reports of the rotting seaweed mounds she'd heard from friends did not dissuade her from visiting the Eastern Caribbean island.
"I just wonder where the seaweed is going to go," the Toronto resident said one recent morning, watching more of mats drift to shore even after crews had already trucked away big piles to use as mulch and fertilizers.
---
Associated Press writers Carol Williams contributed from Bridgetown, Barbados and Gabriel Alcocer from Cancun, Mexico.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

New research provides early warning of ocean acidification effects

Scientists from NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM) have documented a dramatic shift from vibrant coral communities to carpets of algae in remote Pacific Ocean waters where an underwater volcano spews carbon dioxide.

The new research published online August 10 in Nature Climate Change provides a stark look into the future of ocean acidification - the absorption by the global oceans of increasing amounts of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists predict that elevated carbon dioxide absorbed by the global oceans will drive similar ecosystem shifts, making it difficult for coral to build skeletons and easier for other plants and animals to erode them.

"While we've done lab simulations of how increased carbon dioxide influences coral growth, this is the first field evidence that increasing ocean acidification results in such a dramatic ecosystem change from coral to algae," said Ian Enochs, a scientist with NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at UM who led the research. "Healthy coral reefs provide food and shelter for abundant fisheries, support tourism and protect shorelines from storms. A shift from coral to algae-covered rocks is typically accompanied by a loss of species diversity and the benefits that reefs provide."

The research was conducted on Maug, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands about 450 miles from Guam. This location allowed scientists to single out a small geographic area that experiences carbon dioxide levels that vary from present day to those predicted for a hundred years in the future. Maug also provided researchers with an area with few other man-made stressors for coral, such as overfishing and pollution from land.

By setting up underwater instruments to continuously measure the effects of carbon dioxide, scientists were able to use this natural laboratory to show that coral cover decreased under higher levels of carbon dioxide, giving way to less desirable algae-covered rocks near the volcano's vents.

---

<a href="http://www.miami.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Miami</a>

&nbsp;

Carbon Dioxide-Spewing Volcano Seen Killing Coral Reefs

New research provides early warning of ocean acidification effects Scientists...

Carbon Dioxide-Spewing Volcano Seen Killing Coral Reefs. New research provides early warning of ocean acidification effects

Scientists from NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM) have documented a dramatic shift from vibrant coral communities to carpets of algae in remote Pacific Ocean waters where an underwater volcano spews carbon dioxide.Carbon Dioxide-Spewing Volcano Seen Killing Coral Reefs

The new research published online August 10 in Nature Climate Change provides a stark look into the future of ocean acidification - the absorption by the global oceans of increasing amounts of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists predict that elevated carbon dioxide absorbed by the global oceans will drive similar ecosystem shifts, making it difficult for coral to build skeletons and easier for other plants and animals to erode them.

"While we've done lab simulations of how increased carbon dioxide influences coral growth, this is the first field evidence that increasing ocean acidification results in such a dramatic ecosystem change from coral to algae," said Ian Enochs, a scientist with NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at UM who led the research. "Healthy coral reefs provide food and shelter for abundant fisheries, support tourism and protect shorelines from storms. A shift from coral to algae-covered rocks is typically accompanied by a loss of species diversity and the benefits that reefs provide."

The research was conducted on Maug, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands about 450 miles from Guam. This location allowed scientists to single out a small geographic area that experiences carbon dioxide levels that vary from present day to those predicted for a hundred years in the future. Maug also provided researchers with an area with few other man-made stressors for coral, such as overfishing and pollution from land.

By setting up underwater instruments to continuously measure the effects of carbon dioxide, scientists were able to use this natural laboratory to show that coral cover decreased under higher levels of carbon dioxide, giving way to less desirable algae-covered rocks near the volcano's vents.

---

<a href="http://www.miami.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Miami</a>

&nbsp;

Carbon Dioxide-Spewing Volcano Seen Killing Coral Reefs. New research provides...

Nature, Chinese Pollution Offset U.S. West Ozone Gains. A new study finds that the western United States reduced its production of ozone-forming pollutants by a whopping 21 percent between 2005 and 2010, but ozone in the atmosphere above the region did not drop as expected in response. The reason: a combination of naturally occurring atmospheric processes and pollutants crossing the Pacific Ocean from China. Nature, Chinese Pollution Offset U.S. West Ozone Gains

Scientists from the Netherlands and from <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=1da06e4973bd46fa9ba0f90b2536ed5f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA'</a>s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, looked at ozone in the mid-troposphere, about 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3 to 9 kilometers) above ground level. Ozone is formed throughout the atmosphere by chemical reactions, and it travels through the atmosphere upward, downward and sideways -- from ground level to many miles up into the stratosphere. In the mid-troposphere, ozone has a measurable greenhouse effect. Nature, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/understanding-chinese-medicine-could-protect-endangered-animals/">Chinese</a> Pollution Offset U.S. West Ozone Gains

The researchers focused on ozone above eastern China and the western United States, using measurements of ozone and key ozone-forming pollutants from instruments on NASA's Aura satellite, and a computer model of global atmospheric chemistry and weather. Their study covered 2005 through 2010.

[caption id="attachment_2383571" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/10161523/troposphere_1big_nasa.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383571" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/10161523/troposphere_1big_nasa-150x150.jpg" alt="The troposphere glows orange, the stratosphere appears pale pink, and upper layers of the atmosphere are lighter blue." width="150" height="150" /></a> The troposphere glows orange, the stratosphere appears pale pink, and upper layers of the atmosphere are lighter blue.[/caption]

Over China, ozone increased about seven percent in the mid-troposphere. The researchers found two causes. First, Chinese emissions of ozone-forming pollutants increased 21 percent during these years. Second, an unusually large amount of ozone drifted down from the stratosphere as the result of several periodic, natural cycles, including an El Niño event in 2009-10.

At the same time, western U.S. emissions of ozone-forming pollutants decreased by 21 percent. The benefits of this large decrease will continue to accumulate for many years, like compound interest. By 2010, however, the decrease should have created a drop of more than two percent in mid-tropospheric ozone. Instead, there was no drop at all.

To quantify the impact of each cause, the scientists tested several scenarios with the atmospheric chemistry model. They used the NASA satellite measurements to set up accurate model simulations and to provide a reality check on the results.

In one model simulation, they held emissions from China constant at 2005 levels while allowing everything else (weather conditions, U.S. emissions, etc.) to evolve as in real life. The difference between West Coast ozone levels in this simulation and in the real world allowed them to quantify China's contribution to offsetting western U.S. ozone progress at 43 percent. The remainder of the offset -- 57 percent -- was the result of a temporary uptick in the amount of stratospheric ozone descending to the mid-troposphere.

JPL scientist Jessica Neu, a coauthor of the paper, explained, "The large contribution from the stratosphere is part of a natural up-and-down cycle of upper-atmosphere winds. We know pretty well what will happen to the stratospheric contribution in the next few decades; it will continue to go up and down every two years or so. On the other hand, the contribution from China increased steadily throughout the study, and we don't know what will happen to it in the future because it depends on human rather than natural factors."

Neu noted that this is by no means the only case of emissions from one nation crossing borders to another, and in fact, China itself is on the receiving end of pollutants blowing in from India. "We focused on China because its emissions grew very rapidly during a period when there were good satellite observations of ozone available, making it much easier to see the tropospheric ozone response to changing emissions," she said.

The lead author of the study is Willem Verstraeten, an atmospheric chemist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who is also affiliated with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in DeBilt.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and shorter-term process-oriented studies. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit:
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.nasa.gov/earth</a>

Nature, Chinese Pollution Offset U.S. West Ozone Gains

Nature, Chinese Pollution Offset U.S. West Ozone Gains. A new...

Many US Olympic Rowers Get Sick From Polluted Rio Waters. Thirteen Olympic rowers on the 40-member U.S. team came down with stomach illness at the World Junior Rowing Championships - a trial run for next summer's Olympics - and the team doctor said she suspected it was due to<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-the-cascading-effects-of-fertilizer-pollution/"> pollution</a> in the lake where the competition took place.
The event took place amid rising concerns about the water quality at venues for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, now less than a year away. Many US <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=olympics&amp;cvid=5a088257888347d0a113da2f61240c2e&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Olympic</a> Rowers Get Sick From Polluted Rio Waters
The Americans were by far the hardest hit at the regatta that concluded over the weekend, with reports of vomiting and diarrhea. Other teams in the competition reported some illnesses, according to World Rowing, the sport's governing body, but those were about as expected at an event that featured more than 500 young rowers. Many US Olympic Rowers Get Sick From Polluted Rio Waters
On July 30, The Associated Press published an independent analysis of water quality that showed high levels of viruses and, in some cases, bacteria from human sewage in all of Rio's Olympic and Paralympic water venues, including the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, where the rowing competition took place.
U.S. coach Susan Francia, a two-time Olympic gold-medal rower, said in an interview with the AP that 13 athletes and four staff members - including herself - suffered various gastrointestinal symptoms during the team's two weeks of training in Rio.
Dr. Kathryn Ackerman, the U.S. team physician, said athletes from several other countries stayed in the same hotel as the Americans, but did not seem to get as sick as her rowers.
"I don't know if it was the water bottles in the boats, or hygiene precautions that some athletes are really good about and others weren't," she said.
Officials did not rule out that the Americans could have gotten ill from food or drinking water.
"We're not really sure. My personal feeling is, I think it's from the lake," Ackerman said.
Francia said she lacked the data and information to directly blame the illness on the venue, but added: "It just doesn't seem normal."
She warned athletes coming for the Olympics that "you should know when you're coming next year that you have to be smart about how you are preparing."
Francia said the U.S. team had taken precautions about competing in the polluted lake beneath Rio's picturesque Christ the Redeemer statue, "but maybe we were not as strict in enforcing them as we should have been from the beginning."
"As soon as kids started going down, we were bleaching oar handles, we were immediately washing hands after coming off the water," she said. "Other countries didn't allow water bottles at all. Other countries had water bottles in zip-locked bags."
US Rowing, which oversees the sport in the United States, said it is investigating what sickened the athletes, who range in age from 16-19. None are likely to be Olympians next year.
Rowing officials will debrief the athletes when they return to the U.S., likely through the rest of the week. They will talk to the athletes, review protocols for cleanliness.
Ackerman said she became worried when one U.S. boat tipped over in the lake, although the athlete who got thrown into the water was not among those who became ill.
"Obviously we were all concerned because we know the water's polluted," she added.
The Americans' experience is almost certain to raise more concerns for the Olympics. About 10,500 athletes will attend the Summer Games, and 1,400 will participate in rowing, sailing, triathlon, canoeing and distance swimming in the waters around Rio.
"You don't want to see athletes in the boat-park vomiting," Francia said, recounting that the competitor she saw get sick was not an American. One of the U.S. rowers did faint in a dining area, she added.
The AP analysis of water began in March and was performed by noted Brazilian virologist Fernando Spilki, coordinator of the environmental quality program at Feevale University in southern Brazil. It showed dangerously high levels of viruses from sewage in all Olympic venues. The samples were checked for three types of human adenovirus, as well as rotavirus, enterovirus and fecal coliforms.
These are viruses that are known to cause digestive and respiratory illnesses, including explosive diarrhea and vomiting, but can also in rarer cases lead to more serious heart, brain and other diseases, such as hepatitis A.
The AP testing, which will continue through the Olympics, also checked for bacterial fecal coliforms - which at times during the study peaked at the Olympic lake to 10 times the acceptable limit for secondary contact per Brazilian regulations.
In two separate emailed statements following the AP study, the World Health Organization affirmed it was advising the International Olympic Committee "to widen the scientific base of indicators to include viruses." The WHO underscored that it's actually up to the local Olympic organizing committee in Rio to order that viral testing be done.
However, in an emailed statement Monday, the organization reversed course and said that "WHO has not and will not issue an `official recommendation' on viral testing."
The local committee has not responded to repeated requests for information on whether it will order the viral testing.
Matt Smith, the head of World Rowing, said he wants the IOC and local organizers to ask the state of Rio de Janeiro to do viral testing in the run-up to the Olympics.
However, the Rio state environment agency does not have the equipment or the trained personnel to carry out viral testing of water, according to local virologists. The agency confirmed it only does bacterial testing, since that is all Brazilian law, like that of most nations including the U.S., demands.
Smith said the rowing, sailing, swimming, canoeing and triathlon federation could unite to test if the Rio state officials declined to.
"If they don't agree, or don't want to, we will discuss together what to do and probably finance our own test," Smith said.
Peter Sowrey, the CEO of sailing's world governing body ISAF, told AP he would seek independent testing for viruses "to understand exactly what we are dealing with."
Sailing will take place in Guanabara Bay, rowing and canoeing in Rodrigo de Freitas, and triathlon and swimming off Copacabana Beach.
Peter Cookson, the high-performance director for the Canadian team, said he had "absolutely no problems" at the regatta. But he had questions about risks.
"I'm not an expert in viruses. We've never encountered this," he said. "I'm struggling with what the right answer is to protect the rowers."
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and IOC member Carlos Nuzman, who heads the local organizing committee, appeared at the venue over the weekend.
Paes, who has repeatedly acknowledged that Rio "missed an opportunity" to clean its waters for the Olympics, said he would follow the IOC's lead on viral testing.
"The IOC needs to tell us that we need to," he said. "The Brazilian law doesn't tell us to do that (viral testing). They just tell us to do the standards of the Brazilian law. And if the IOC wants it, we'll do it."
Swiss rower Katharina Strahl, noting that the lake was "smelly in a few places," was able to joke about the pollution.
"I don't think in this lake they'll be throwing the coxswain into the water," she said.
---
Associated Press writer Brad Brooks contributed to this report.
---
Stephen Wade on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP</a>
Brad Brooks on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bradleybrooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.twitter.com/bradleybrooks</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Many US Olympic Rowers Get Sick From Polluted Rio Waters

Many US Olympic Rowers Get Sick From Polluted Rio Waters....

Officials Are Demanding Answers Regarding Colorado Gold Mine Spill. Local officials in towns downstream from where millions of gallons of Colorado gold mine spill into a southwest Colorado river are demanding answers about possible long-term threats to the water supply.
Colorado and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carlsbad-caverns-new-mexico/">New Mexico</a> declared stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers to be disaster areas as the orange-colored waste stream made its way downstream toward Lake Powell in Utah after the spill Wednesday at the abandoned Gold King mine near Silverton, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=19760a6eeabe4d4697af6f427b348611&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado.</a>
The 3 million gallons of mine waste included high concentrations of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. Workers with the EPA accidentally unleashed the spill as they inspected the abandoned mine site. Officials Are Demanding Answers Regarding Colorado Gold Mine Spill
EPA officials said Monday that there was no leading edge of contamination visible in downstream sections of the San Juan River or Lake Powell. But that has done little to ease concerns or quell the anger caused by the spill.
The Navajo Nation, which covers parts of New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, declared an emergency as it shut down water intake systems and stopped diverting water from the San Juan River.
Members of the tribal council were frustrated during a special meeting Monday and echoed the sentiment of New Mexico and Utah officials that the federal government needs to be held accountable.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes discussed the legal implications with his New Mexico counterpart, Hector Balderas, and planned to hold a similar call with Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, Reyes' office said Monday.
"We hope to work with our sister states to ensure our citizens are protected and whatever remediation is necessary occurs as quickly as possible," Reyes said in a statement. "We will continue to evaluate the legal issues as we receive data and monitor the effects on our communities."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said the governor is disappointed in the EPA's initial handling of the spill but the state has no plans for legal action.
The EPA has said the contaminants were rolling too fast to be an immediate health threat. Experts and federal environmental officials say they expect the river system to dilute the heavy metals before they pose a longer-term threat.
The EPA said stretches of the rivers would be closed for drinking water, recreation and other uses at least through Aug. 17.
Dissolved iron in the waste turned the long plume an alarming orange-yellow - a look familiar to old-time miners who call it "yellow boy" - so "the water appears worse aesthetically than it actually is, in terms of health," said Ron Cohen, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines.
Tests show some of the metals have settled to the bottom and would dissolve only if conditions became acidic, which isn't likely, Cohen said.
The best course for the EPA would be to leave the metals where they settle, he said, noting that next spring's mountain snowmelt would help dilute the contaminants further and flush them downstream.
No die-off of wildlife along the river has yet been detected. Federal officials say all but one of a test batch of fingerling trout deliberately exposed to the water survived over the weekend.
As a precaution, state and federal officials along the river system have ordered public water systems to turn off intake valves as the plume passes. Boaters and fishing groups have been told to avoid affected stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers, which are crowded with rafters and anglers in a normal summer.
Recreational businesses along the rivers said they were losing thousands of dollars.
"We had lots of trips booked. Right now we're just canceling by the day," said Drew Beezley, co-owner of 4 Corners Whitewater in Durango, Colorado.
He said his company has had to cancel 20 rafting trips so far, and his dozen employees are out of work until the river is deemed safe to enter again.
"We don't really know what the future holds yet," said Beezley, who estimates that he's lost about $10,000 worth of business since the spill last week. "We don't know if the rest of this season is just scrapped."
The EPA has considered adding a section of the Animas River in Colorado as a Superfund cleanup site at least since the 1990s because heavy metals from Gold King and other defunct mines were killing fish and other species.
The designation would have brought federal clean-up funds, but some in Colorado opposed the move in part because of the stigma attached. The EPA agreed to allow local officials to lead clean-up efforts instead.Officials Are Demanding Answers Regarding Colorado Gold Mine Spill
---
Knickmeyer reported from San Francisco. AP writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City, Ivan Moreno and Thomas Peipert in Denver, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this story.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Officials Are Demanding Answers Regarding Colorado Gold Mine Spill

Officials Are Demanding Answers Regarding Colorado Gold Mine Spill. Local...

Navajo Nation Declares Emergency Over Colorado Mine Spill. Tribal officials with the Navajo Nation declared an emergency as a massive plume of contaminated wastewater from an abandoned Colorado mine spill flowed down the San Juan River on Monday toward <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/lake-powell-reaches-its-annual-peak/">Lake Powell</a> in Utah, which supplies much of the water to the Southwest.
Some drinking water systems on the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, have shut down their intake systems and stopped diverting water from the river.
Drinking water is being hauled to some communities. Navajo Nation Declares Emergency Over Colorado Mine Spill
Navajo President Russell Begaye said the tribe is frustrated with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and he plans to take legal action. An EPA-supervised crew has been blamed for causing the spill while attempting to clean up the mine area.
Elsewhere, farms along the Animas and San Juan river valleys in northwestern New Mexico have no water to irrigate their crops after the spill.
The yellow plume of wastewater stretches 100 miles and was three times larger than initially estimated, federal officials say. The EPA initially estimated 1 million gallons escaped.
The water is laced with heavy metals, including lead and arsenic, and spilled from the Gold King Mine in the historic town of Silverton, turning the Animas River in Colorado a mustard yellow last week.
The spill reached the New Mexico municipalities of Aztec, Farmington and Kirtland over the weekend.
The EPA has so far been unable to determine whether humans or aquatic life face health risks from the pollution.
The Navajo Nation in its declaration stated the toxic spill will have long-lasting and unknown impacts on the tribe's water system and wells.
No drinking-water contamination has been reported because water utilities shut down their intake valves ahead of the plume to keep it out of their systems. Farmers also closed the gates on their irrigation ditches to protect their crops.
Colorado authorities said Monday there were no reports yet of harm to wildlife in that state.
The state's Parks and Wildlife agency said it had inserted cages with more than 100 fingerling trout into the river in southwest <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=19760a6eeabe4d4697af6f427b348611&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> near Durango.
The fish are sensitive to changes in water quality. As of Monday, only one fish had died, but the agency said it didn't know if that was because of the metals in the water.
The sludge moved so quickly that it would not have caused significant health effects to animals that consumed the water, EPA toxicologist Deborah McKean said.
The leading edge of the plume was headed toward Utah and Montezuma Creek near the town of Bluff, a tourist destination. The town, which is populated by a few hundred people, is surrounded by scenic sandstone bluffs.
Local officials prepared to shut down two wells near Montezuma Creek, said Rex Kontz, deputy general manager for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
To keep water flowing to homes, the residential tank in Halchita has been filled with clean water that was hauled 40 miles from Arizona.
In Colorado, the EPA planned to meet with residents of Durango, downstream from the mine as water tests from near the city were being analyzed.
Federal officials have not said how long cleanup efforts will take.
The mine has been inactive since 1923.
A family farm that serves as many as 3,000 customers in the Four Corners region has been forced to stop irrigating dozens of acres.
D'rese Sutherland of Sutherland Farmers in Cedar Hill, New Mexico, said she received advanced warning from farmer friends in Colorado about the approaching plume.
Trucking companies that work with the region's oil and gas industry have offered to haul water to the farm, but Sutherland said it would require a significant amount to keep the chile, pumpkins and other vegetables watered.
There was no indication of when the water will be safe to use again, she said.
Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, expressing concern over the failure of the agency to notify New Mexico sooner.
They also asked that the agency develop a plan for dealing with the lack of water for communities in San Juan County and the Navajo Nation.
"We have yet to be presented with a comprehensive plan from the agency to provide water to those whose wells have been affected, farmers whose crops are not being irrigated, ranchers whose livestock are without water, and people for drinking, cooking, and showering," the letter stated.
---
Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City and Susan Montoya in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this story.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Navajo Nation Declares Emergency Over Colorado Mine Spill

Navajo Nation Declares Emergency Over Colorado Mine Spill. Tribal officials...

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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter 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/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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



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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

[sendtonews key="fxH3eJHEkQ-2010196-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from 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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

[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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

[sendtonews key="gRpsplpwpe-2251464-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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



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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



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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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

[sendtonews key="yPSXGZek1I-2312529-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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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