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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



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

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

Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet. Hydraulic fracturing activities have not led to widespread harm to drinking water in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/severe-fire-threat-continues-in-the-western-united-states/">United States</a>, but the controversial drilling technique could affect drinking water if safeguards are not maintained, the government said Thursday.
A draft report released by the Environmental Protection Agency found several specific instances where poorly constructed drilling wells and improper wastewater management affected drinking water resources. But it also said the number of cases was small compared to the large number of wells that use hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet.
The assessment tracked water used throughout the fracking process, from acquiring the water to mixing chemicals at the well site and injecting so-called "fracking fluids" into wells, to collection of wastewater, wastewater treatment and disposal.
The report identified several vulnerabilities to drinking water resources, including fracking's effect on drought-stricken areas; inadequately cased or cemented wells resulting in below-ground migration of gases and liquids; inadequately treated wastewater discharged into drinking water resources; and spills of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=hydraulic&amp;cvid=af6b582af13044b3a1b2f339436ec840&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">hydraulic</a> fluids and wastewater.
Improved drilling techniques have led to a surge in fracking in recent years that has fueled a nationwide boom in production of oil and natural gas, as fracking wells sprout up from California to Pennsylvania. Fracking involves pumping huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rocks to allow oil and gas to flow.
Improved technology has allowed energy companies to gain access to huge stores of oil and natural gas underneath states from coast to coast but has raised widespread concerns that it might lead to groundwater contamination and even earthquakes. Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet.
EPA officials said the draft assessment will give state regulators, tribes, local communities and industry an important resource to identify how best to protect public health and drinking water resources.
---
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Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water

Fracking Hasn't Caused Major Harm to Drinking Water...Yet. Hydraulic fracturing...

Beach Goo

Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches. A 4-mile stretch of beach in south Los Angeles County was closed Thursday after tar balls washed ashore - the latest Southern California coastline to shut down due to oily goo, authorities said.
The Long Beach Fire Department ordered the closure Wednesday night over concerns the material could cause skin irritation or other adverse health effects.
The closure was continued after authorities assessed the beach Thursday afternoon and determined tar balls were still washing up on shore.
"We ask that people stay off the beach and out of the water for now," agency spokesman Jake Heflin said.
By Thursday morning, crews scooped up about 55 gallons of the sticky substance from the shoreline about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, Heflin said. Tar was not readily apparent on the sand at midmorning, between low tide and high tides.
"Various amounts of `tar balls' continue to wash up on shore and create a public and environmental health concern," the Long Beach Fire Department said in a statement.
Clean-up operations were expected to continue, with volunteers and contractor Ocean Blue working at area beaches.
The U.S. Coast Guard will test samples to try to determine the source of the tar balls. The material did not appear related to oil and gas extraction operations in the area, Heflin said.
The beach is adjacent to the massive <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/loggerhead-turtles-warming-climate/">Long Beach</a>-Los Angeles port complex.
Tar balls also led to recent beach closures in nearby Manhattan Beach and farther northwest in Ventura County. Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches
Nothing has been ruled out, including last month's spill of thousands of gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara County coast, about 140 miles to the northwest. Two beaches there remain closed.
The city of Seal Beach also reported an increase Thursday in the number of tar balls found on the beach. The Coast Guard determined there was no need to close the beach and suggested letting the tar balls dissipate naturally, city officials said.
Public works employees will pick up the tar balls during daily beach cleaning operations.
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Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches

Oily Goo Closes More California Beaches. A 4-mile stretch of...

California Drought Showers to Flowers

California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home. Showering during California's drought is a guilt-free experience for homeowners Catarina Negrin and Noah Friedman.
The Berkeley couple - she runs a preschool, he's an architect - are early adopters of a home plumbing do-over that's becoming more popular during California's record four-year dry stretch.
California, like many states, long required all water used in homes to be piped out with the sewage, fearing health risks if water recycling is done clumsily.
Since 2010, however, the increasingly dry state has come around, and now even encourages the reuse of so-called gray water, which typically includes the gently-used runoff from bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs and washing machines.
As mandatory conservation kicked in statewide this month, forcing many of California's 38 million people to face giving up on greenery, these recycling systems have become attractive options in new homes, right along with granite countertops. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;cvid=9c98704d716c4143b753ad588d2b3a21&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a> Building Industry Association executive Robert Raymer rattles off the drought-conscious top builders that now routinely offer in-home water recycling.
And California's building codes are catching up as well, allowing owners of existing homes to create the simplest systems for the safest gray water without a permit.
So while others think about hauling buckets to catch stray drips from their sinks and tubs, Negrin and Friedman can relax: Each gallon they use in the shower means another for the butterflies that duck and bob over their vegetable garden, for the lemon tree shading the yard, and for two strutting backyard <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-chickens-cancer-therapies/">chickens</a> busily investigating it all.
"I love a lush garden, and so it seems like why not, right? I could have a lush garden if it doesn't go into the sewer system," Negrin said. "So, yes, "I'm going to take a shower."
Because pathogens swimming in untreated gray water can transmit disease if humans ingest them, most modern health and building codes have long made recycling it impractical. Many families did it anyway, without official oversight or permits. Greywater Action, a group that promotes household water recycling and trains families and installers on the do's and don'ts, estimates that more than a million Californians had illegal systems before plumbing codes were updated.
But interest in doing it the right way has soared since April 1, when Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a 25-percent cut in water use by cities and towns. Palo Alto gray-water system installer Sassan Golafshan saw his website crash within a day from the surge in traffic.
"There's huge interest," said Laura Allen, a co-founder of Greywater Action. Contractors "told us they're getting so many more calls than before."
Water savings could be significant. A 2009 study by the University of California at Los Angeles found that if everyone in the southern part of the state recycled the water that currently goes down drains from their showers and washing machines, there would be enough to satisfy Southern California's entire outdoor residential water use needs.
At the California Water Resources Board's recycled water unit, chief Randy Barnard is fielding many calls from homeowners desperate to save their beloved lawns and gardens. "If they've got a prize fruit tree they've been babying for years, they don't want to lose that tree," he said.
But for many, he has some bad news to share. Recycling water at home is not as easy as just hooking your shower up to the lawn sprinklers, and recycled water probably won't save the lawn.
"Just like there's no one sure way to fight the drought, there's no one sure way for gray-water treatment," the state gray-water chief said. "Everybody has to look at all the options and figure out what works for them."
Water from toilets is considered "black" water and sent straight to wastewater treatment plants. Many states also bar water from kitchen sinks, since homeowners may have contaminated it by washing raw meat.
In California, homeowners are now allowed to irrigate with untreated water straight from bathroom sinks, washing machines and bathtubs, as long as - among other requirements - the water lines run beneath soil or mulch, so as not to come in contact with people. That rules out using untreated gray water on lawns, which typically need above-ground spray heads or sprinklers.
Gray water can even go to vegetable gardens like Negrin's and Friedman's, as long as it doesn't touch root vegetables or any other plant part that's eaten. Tomatoes are fine, but forget about carrots.
The latest plumbing-code changes have enabled families to install these straightforward laundry-to-landscape systems without a permit, sending wash water into the yard with a valve to divert it back into the sewage system when needed. A handy homeowner can do it with no more than a couple hundred of dollars of piping and parts.
More complicated systems, involving automation, filters and pumps, can top out at $30,000, contractors said.
About 20 states now allow gray-water recycling, and around the country, Arizona has some of the friendliest laws. California still has more to do, Allen and other advocates say. Raymer, at the building trade group, hopes for more legal changes in the coming years to align state gray-water codes with the rules of hundreds of cities and towns.
---
AP Video journalist Haven Daley contributed to this report.
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California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home

California Drought Prompting Water Recycling At Home. Showering during California's...

Hands hold Green Energy

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks. Sometimes it takes more to be good than just not being bad.
That's the logic behind a shift within the surging sustainable investing market. For years, the default way to invest responsibly was simply to ignore the companies and industries that some find distasteful, such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-industry-raising-prices/">tobacco</a> companies or casino operators. It's still the world's most popular approach, based on total dollars, but a more nuanced approach to sustainable investing is growing even more quickly. Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks
Instead of barring a list of industries from consideration, more mutual funds are taking into account how well companies do on environmental, social and governance issues. Does the company have a history of emitting a lot of carbon dioxide? Does it pay its executives excessively? Is its accounting trustworthy?
Managers of so-called ESG-integrated funds consider the answers alongside more traditional measures, such as how much profit a company makes and how quickly it's growing. Adding that layer of questioning is a way to reduce risk for long-term <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=investments&amp;cvid=7fa16295de1f4ff1bd58f3c86f13e87a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">investments</a>, proponents say, in part because companies that score well on ESG issues are less likely to blow up in scandals or face big regulatory fines.
Sustainable investing in general is surging. Assets in the category leapt to $21.4 trillion worldwide at the start of 2014 from $13.3 trillion two years earlier, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. It's growing faster than the overall market and represents 30.2 percent of all professionally managed assets, up from 21.5 percent in 2012.
Under the sustainable umbrella, ESG-integrated investing is providing some of the fastest growth. Its assets more than doubled from 2012 to 2014, hitting $12.9 trillion, and demand has been so strong that new ESG mutual funds are being rolled out seemingly every month.
Consider the Matthews Asia ESG fund, which launched on April 30. It focuses on Asian stocks and its lead manager, Vivek Tanneeru, says the region is ripe for an ESG approach given environmental concerns in the region and the rapid ascendance of many families out of poverty.
"We're not setting out to exclude anything," Tanneeru says. "We're looking for companies that do the right things."
Banks in India that target women and low-income customers are not only helping on social issues, for example, they're also delving into big, profitable markets. Tanneeru emphasizes that finding companies with strong financial prospects remains his priority, and that considering ESG issues comes later in the process.
That's because many of these ESG-integrated funds want investors to be able to depend on them as core holdings, rather than as just nice side investments.
"We aren't there just to love the environment," says Nicholas Kaiser, chief investment officer of Saturna Capital. "We certainly respect the environment, but the goal is the shareholder and his investment for the long term. The real goal is to reduce risk."
The influx of new funds means that many don't have a track record. But a recent study by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing found that investors interested in sustainable funds generally don't have to sacrifice returns.
After looking at the performance of 10,228 mutual funds over seven years, the institute found sustainable stock funds posted returns that were as good or better than the median traditional fund in nearly two thirds of time periods measured.
Saturna opened its Sustainable Equity fund and Sustainable Bond fund in late March after seeing demand rising for responsible investment through the Amana mutual funds that it manages. These funds screen out certain investments according to Islamic principles -- such as companies that charge interest or are involved in the liquor or pornography industries.
Kaiser says he's not sure about the exact percentage, but estimates that less than 20 percent of the Amana funds' investors are Muslim, showing the widespread hunger for responsible investments.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments also saw a wave of demand for responsible investments when the Threadneedle U.K. Social Bond fund launched in January 2014. The fund invests in bonds issued by organizations looking to help society and economic development, and U.S. investors were quickly calling to see if they could get in.
They couldn't, but the demand led to the launch of the Columbia U.S. Social Bond fund in March. The U.S. fund focuses on municipal bonds geared toward low-income communities, school systems and the environment, among other areas. Among its investments are bonds backing a low-income housing project in Bellemont, Louisiana, that also helps provide job-training and other services to its residents.
"There are plenty of investors out there who want to feel better about what they're doing, invest in a way they can feel good about," says James Dearborn, one of the fund's managers. "Sitting at my own dinner table with my teenage boys, they're very interested it. It makes me very happy."
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks

Sustainable Investing Market Still Working Through Kinks. Sometimes it takes...

UN: Climate To Make Pledge For Climate Treaty. China is expected this month to formally submit its pledge for a global climate treaty that countries are seeking to finalize by December, the United Nations' top adviser on climate change said Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon last week about the issue, U.N. assistant secretary-general Janos Pasztor told The Associated Press. Pasztor did not give details.
China is the world's biggest emitter of heat-trapping <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-carbon-dioxide-sink/">carbon dioxide</a>, and its pledge for the global treaty is highly anticipated. The United States made its own pledge in March, committing to a 26 percent to 28 percent cut in greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=emissions&amp;cvid=3a6343af61e04082a83e31b6e749def2&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">emissions</a> by 2025 from 2005 levels. UN: Climate To Make Pledge For Climate Treaty
The climate treaty is supposed to be adopted at a Paris summit late this year. It would mark the first time all countries agree to do something to limit emissions of global warming gases, primarily carbon dioxide, from the burning of coal, oil and gas. France has pushed for a legally binding treaty, but that would have virtually no chance of being ratified by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress.
Pasztor said 154 countries still have not made their pledges.
Xi last year said China will stop the growth in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and clean up its polluted air. He also has promised to double the percentage of renewable energy in China's energy sources by that year.
China is the world's biggest coal-consuming nation, using roughly half of all of the global coal production for power generation, heating and industry. But the government has said coal production and imports are dropping this year as it pushes to reduce carbon emissions.
So far, other countries that have made formal pledges for the climate summit include Canada, which last month said it plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The EU has a target of 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and Japan is proposing to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 26 percent by 2030.
"What has been agreed by parties is that there will be no backsliding," Pasztor said. "Whatever countries put on the table, they should not be going backwards."
This week's U.N. negotiations in Bonn, Germany, are seen as a test of how close or far countries are from a climate deal. Pasztor didn't indicate any breakthroughs. "They're not going to negotiate away all the big issues at this session," he said.
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UN: Climate To Make Pledge For Climate Treaty

UN: Climate To Make Pledge For Climate Treaty. China is...

Japan's Renewable Energy Plan for G-7 Not Green Enough. Japan may find itself the odd man out when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presents his government's blueprint for combating climate change at this weekend's summit of the world's leading industrialized democracies.
The Group of Seven host, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/porpoises-are-steadily-declining-in-the-german-north-sea/">German</a> Chancellor Angela Merkel, has indicated she supports a pledge of eventual zero carbon emissions. Japan favors coal, gas and nuclear power over green energy despite rapid growth of investment in renewables since all its nuclear reactors were taken offline following the 2011 disaster in Fukushima. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=japan&amp;cvid=32c17997bcf24055b31c56a47629c405&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Japan's</a> Renewable Energy Plan for G-7 Not Green Enough
Curbing global warming will be among many items on the agenda when G-7 leaders meet Sunday and Monday at Schloss Elmau, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Munich.
Japan is the world's No. 3 economy and its fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Abe plans to explain to fellow leaders its target of a 26 percent reduction from 2013 levels of carbon emissions by 2030.
That compares with an intended 26-28 percent cut by 2025 from 2005 levels for the U.S., and the European Union's target of a 40 percent reduction from 1990 levels, or 35 percent from 2005.
Japanese officials defend their plan as comparable to or even exceeding the goals set by other major economies.
"Some committee members said it was too ambitious and they said it could not be done, but it was decided to set this target," said Masakazu Toyoda, a government adviser and chairman of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan.
Solar and wind power generation are too unstable and costly to provide more than marginal power generation capacity, especially given the need to extend power grids from major cities like Tokyo to more remote areas considered most suitable for wind power, he says.
As for zero emissions, the world's carbon dioxide pollution level hit a record 396 parts per million in 2014, way above the 350 ppm level of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere seen by some scientists and environmental groups as a safe level.
In Toyoda's view, limiting emissions to 450 ppm by 2050, would be "very difficult to achieve."
"With additional effort to introduce advanced technology, the realistic target should be 550 ppm," he said in a briefing Thursday.
Japan's long-term energy plan is evolving and actual trends will depend on various factors, including nuclear plant restarts, the pace of decline in the population, changes in technology and expanded use of solar panels and other renewable energy by households and businesses.
The country does face unique challenges, as an island nation with scant conventional energy resources. Unlike European countries, it cannot draw from and feed into regional electricity grids.
Abe's government is seeking restarts of reactors that meet upgraded safety standards, and in the meantime fossil fuels remain the preferred option for bridging energy supply gaps.
Japan could do far better, given the trend toward wider, ad-hoc adoption of renewable energy in the private sector, said Tomas Kaberger, chairman of the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation and a former head of Sweden's energy agency.
"It's just a matter of very costly delays to an industrial development that will be inevitable for global competition reasons. Japan cannot be the last fossil country in the world," he said.
During climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, this week, the NGO Climate Action Network announced Japan as the winner of its "Fossil of the Day" award for "doing the most to block progress on climate action."
At a time when many countries, including China, are reducing reliance on cheap, plentiful but heavily polluting coal, Japan is viewing it with newfound enthusiasm.
Its current plan calls for coal to account for about 26 percent of total power generation in 2030; natural gas for 27 percent and oil for about 3 percent. Renewable energy would provide up to 24 percent of power and nuclear up to 22 percent, according to a document from the government's Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy.
That plan would raise Japan's total energy self-sufficiency rate to about 24 percent from the current 6 percent, it says.
More than 40 coal-fired power plants are planned or under construction in Japan. Abe's government is also promoting financing of such plants in its infrastructure development aid.
Critics contend the latest "energy mix" strategy is delaying an inevitable shift to renewable sources, while creating a raft of potentially obsolete, or "stranded" assets.
"These guys are risking a whole lot of public finance on something that may be overtaken by the accelerating cheapening of renewables," said Andrew DeWit, a professor at Tokyo's Rikkyo University.
Japanese local governments increasingly are investing in smart-city technologies such as high-tech electricity meters, heat recycling and other clean and renewable energy options, encouraged by efforts to decentralize power production to help boost sagging local economies.
Generating capacity from renewable energy, including solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal power was rising at an average annual rate of about 9 percent before 2012, and then jumped 32 percent in 2013 with the introduction of higher feed-in tariffs, mostly due to a boom in installation of solar panels.
But In October, major power companies suspended access to their electricity grids for renewable energy, saying further increases would make them too unstable.
And moves to reduce higher feed-in tariffs for solar and wind power, introduced after the Fukushima disaster, are deterring investors who need greater certainty over potential returns on projects, said Yasuyo Yamazaki, president of Kuni Umi Asset Management, a company that invests in solar and biomass energy projects.
Like many in Japan, he believes that reforms that eventually will separate power generation from transmission will help.
"Japan should be able to rely entirely on renewable energy for all of its needs," he said. "But there is a certain pathway we have to get through to get to our goal."
---
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Japan's Renewable Energy Plan for G-7 Not Green Enough

Japan's Renewable Energy Plan for G-7 Not Green Enough. Japan...

Study: Global Warming Has Not Stopped Or Even Slowed. Global warming has not stopped or even slowed in the past 18 years, according to a new federal study that rebuts doubters who've claimed that that heating trends have paused.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration readjusted thousands of weather data points to account for different measuring techniques through the decades. Their calculations show that since 1998, the rate of warming is about the same as it has been since 1950: about two-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit a decade.
The so-called hiatus has been touted by non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science. Those claims have resonated; two years ago, the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change felt the need to explain why the Earth was not heating up as expected, listing such reasons as volcanic eruptions, reduced solar radiation and the oceans absorbing more heat.
"The reality is that there is no hiatus," said Tom Karl, director of the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina. He is the lead author of a study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science
One key to claims of a hiatus is the start date: 1998. That year there was a big temperature spike; some of the following years were not as hot, though even hotter years followed in 2005, 2010 and 2014, according to NOAA, NASA and temperature records kept in England and Japan. This year is on pace to break last year's global heat record.
Scientists keep updating the way they measure Earth's temperatures. This study focuses on the effects of the way ocean temperatures are taken. The old way, going back generations, is with ships. Sometimes people would dip a bucket in the way; other times they'd measure water that came into the engine. They also did it at various times of day.
The new way is on buoys at the same time of day. Karl said the buoy measurements are more accurate, but can't be compared directly to the ship measurements for a trend without making adjustments, because that would be comparing apples and oranges. So to come up with a trend using comparable numbers, NOAA increases the buoy temperatures a bit.
A few years ago NOAA made similar adjustments to make land temperatures more comparable decade-to-decade. But that also caused some non-scientists who reject climate change to cry tampering.
Several outside scientists contacted by The Associated Press said the new and previous adjustments are sound. Kevin Trenberth, climate analysis chief at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the new work was "good and careful analysis" but only confirms what most scientists already knew, that there was no such hiatus.
A few years ago, a group out of University of California Berkeley - funded in part by the Charles Koch Foundation, whose founder is a major funder of climate doubter groups and the tea party- took what was initially billed as a skeptical look at the previous NOAA data. But they pronounced the earlier adjustments legitimate. The same scientists now say the new NOAA adjustments are also proper.
"NOAA is confirming what we have been saying for some time that the `hiatus' in global warming is spurious," Berkeley team chief and physicist Richard Muller said in an email. Muller said global warming continues but in "many fits and spurts."
John Christy of the University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/tornado-track-tuscaloosa-alabama/">Alabama</a> Huntsville, one of the minority of scientists who dispute the magnitude of global warming, said the Karl paper "doesn't make sense" because satellite data show little recent warming. "You must conclude the data were adjusted to get this result" of no warming pause, Christy wrote in an email. "Were the adjustments proper? I don't know at this point."
Others who reject warming, especially non-scientists, point to satellite records by Remote Sensing Systems that appear to show no change in temperature since 1998. Satellites measure a different part of Earth's atmosphere than ground and ocean monitors that NOAA, NASA and others use.
Carl Mears, senior research scientist for RSS, said those rejecting climate change based on his work or any one dataset are wrong and "seek to deny the reality of human-induced climate change by grasping at straws." Mears said the overall data consistently show long-term global warming and that it really hasn't stopped recently. The NOAA adjustments make sense, he said. Study: Global Warming Has Not Stopped Or Even Slowed
Karl said NOAA didn't adjust datasets in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=arctic&amp;cvid=6943ae33ae8e4bcc9de685eb17342755&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Arctic</a>, where it is warming even faster, because there is a lack of reliable long-term records to compare. Had NOAA made those adjustments, the recent warming trend would be slightly larger, he said.
---
Online:
Science: <a href="http://sciencemag.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://sciencemag.org</a>
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policyand Terms of Use.

Study: Global Warming Has Not Stopped Or Even Slowed

Study: Global Warming Has Not Stopped Or Even Slowed. Global...

California Pipeline Break "Extremely Unlikely" According to Texas Firm. A Texas company whose ruptured pipeline created the largest coastal oil spill in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/tule-fog-across-californias-central-valley/">California</a> in 25 years had assured the government that a break in the line while possible was "extremely unlikely" and state-of-the-art monitoring could quickly detect possible leaks and alert operators, documents show.
Nearly 1,200 pages of records, filed with state regulators by Plains All American Pipeline, detail a range of defenses the company established to guard against crude oil spills and, at the same time, prepare for the worst should a spill occur. California Pipeline Break "Extremely Unlikely" According to Texas Firm
The company acknowledged the potential for <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oil&amp;cvid=16742b90ecb44fc991776cfc4d1053b4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">oil</a> to leak from the 24-inch, 10.6-mile-long pipeline west of Santa Barbara. A team of experts organized by the company, however, assessed that risk as remote, according to the records, known as a spill response plan, and were released under the state's public records act.
"The pipeline and its operation are state-of-the-art," asserted the analysis submitted to the state. "Spills are still possible, though extremely unlikely."
On May 19, a 6-inch breach along a badly corroded section of the line caused up to 101,000 gallons of oil to spill, blackening beaches and creating a 9-mile ocean slick. The breach and the environmental damage have challenged the company's conclusions about safe operation and rigorous monitoring.
Last year, federal regulators endorsed the plan but the company is facing questions about whether it followed its own blueprint, or if it was outdated or inadequate. The analysis assessing the potential for a spill was initially conducted in 1994 and 1995, although sections have been modified as recently as last year.
Plains All American spokeswoman Meredith Matthews said it would be inappropriate to comment because of the ongoing federal investigation.
Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the plan's list of endangered species is at least 20 years outdated and the company fell short in following through with its requirements. "It grossly understates the potential for an oil spill," Monsell said.
Members of Congress also want answers.
"We need to find out if the company lived up to the promises of its oil spill response plan," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in a statement. "I'm concerned that they may not have moved quickly enough to detect and report the spill, which could have exacerbated the environmental damage."
The cause of the break has not been determined. But preliminary information released by federal regulators suggests that corrosion was the culprit.
Plains All American took a series of steps to ward off corrosion - the pipeline was treated with a urethane coating, as well as covered with foam insulation and an outer wrap. It was also shielded by what is known as cathodic protection, a low-level electric current that is run through the pipeline to inhibit corrosion.
An analysis concluded that the potential for a leak due to corrosion was "adequately mitigated."
Yet documents released by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration after the spill said testing conducted in early May found extensive external corrosion in some areas, although Plains said it had not received those results prior to the spill.
Additionally, federal inspectors said the area near the break had earlier been repaired because of corrosion. At the break point, over 80 percent of the wall thickness of the pipeline had been eaten away.
In 2010, the company agreed to spend over $40 million to prevent corrosion and improve leak detection on its pipelines as part of a settlement with federal officials, stemming from spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The Santa Barbara County pipeline, completed in 1990, is part of a network that moves crude oil to inland refineries. A handful of prior spills have taken place on the line, the largest about 1,200 gallons.
The plan repeatedly stresses the importance of notifying the government immediately of a leak. Under federal regulations, the company was to notify the National Response Center, a clearinghouse for reports of hazardous material releases, "at the earliest practicable moment." State law requires immediate notification of any release, or a threatened release.
Company calculations assume it should take no more than 15 minutes to discover a release and shut down the flow.
On May 19, an employee first confirmed the spill at 1:30 p.m. - two hours after the pipeline was shut down remotely. Despite its own plan calling for notifying the response center within an hour of a spill, Plains didn't contact the response center for nearly 90 minutes.
By then, the federal response led by the Coast Guard was underway, but the lag may reveal lapses in the company's planning, said Gerald Emison, a former deputy regional EPA administrator.
"It sounds like the company may not have followed its own protocol," said Emison. "The question is: Why didn't they?"
Company records describe an extensive system scrutinizing pipeline pressure and flow, which is controlled in Texas and set to trigger alarms if something goes awry.
However, it's not clear if it worked.
Pumps at an inland station were shut down at 10:45 a.m., but then restarted within 10 minutes. They were shut down again 20 minutes later. By 11:30 a.m., a Plains operator remotely shut down the entire pipeline because of what the company called pressure anomalies.
But it wasn't until 12:30 p.m. that Plains dispatched a worker to do a visual inspection. By that time, firefighters responding to a call about a petroleum smell near Refugio State Beach had discovered the spill.
---
© 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.

California Pipeline Break "Extremely Unlikely" According to Texas Firm

California Pipeline Break "Extremely Unlikely" According to Texas Firm. A...

Congress Forests

Republicans Resurrect Efforts to Increase Logging in National Forests. Drought has killed about 12 million trees in California's national forests. In the Rocky Mountain region, an epidemic of pine beetles has damaged trees over a stretch of 32 million acres. Altogether, up to 40 percent of the entire national forest system is in need of treatment to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and disease.
As the national forests suffer from drought, density and infestation, House Republicans are resurrecting efforts to thin more quickly millions of acres and take down dead trees.
It's not a new battle by any means, but this time some of their proposals are winning positive feedback from the Obama administration, even as some environmental groups and House Democrats express concerns.
House Republicans have long sought more aggressive tree removal from national forest lands. Legislation in the last Congress would have required the government to increase significantly the amount of timber it offers for sale each year. The lawmakers say more aggressive timbering would make for a healthier forest and improve rural economies. But such mandates went nowhere in the Senate and prompted a veto threat from the White House.
This year, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/young-republicans-climate-change-2/">Republican</a>-led push is focused on slimming down and streamlining environmental reviews for projects and by making a lawsuit to stop a project potentially much more expensive to file.
The goal is to speed up timber harvests and the removal of underbrush the U.S. Forest Service deemed necessary. The House Natural Resources Committee is expected to vote on the bill on Wednesday.
When the U.S. Forest Service currently wants to undertake major work on a national forest, it talks with stakeholders such as the timber industry, local residents and environmental groups to develop a plan that addresses their concerns and uses the best science available. But, the process often takes too long and ends in a lawsuit, said a memorandum written by Republican staff for the House Natural Resources Committee. Republicans Resurrect Efforts to Increase Logging in National Forests
"These policies may be making environmental law firms rich, but they are killing our national forest," said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees federal lands issues.
Democrats say they worry the legislation will reduce public participation and allow major projects to go forward without adequate review of the effect on the environment.
Under the proposed legislation, many projects fewer than 15,000 acres would be eligible for the streamlined review if the projects were designed to reduce hazardous fuel loads and disease, protect watersheds or improve critical habitat. That's five times the current limit of 3,000 acres.
Also, groups suing the federal government over a thinning project would often have to buy an insurance bond in the event they lose so that the federal government could recoup the expense of defending itself in court.
Tom Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, did not take a position on the legislation during a hearing last week, but said he was encouraged by some goals of the bill.
Robert Bonnie, an undersecretary who oversees the Forest Service, told The Associated Press that some of the GOP's approaches are "interesting and we want to engage in the conversation."
But both men emphasized that the biggest problems they face are budgetary. Fires are eating up so much of the agency's budget that it has 39 percent fewer employees than it had nearly two decades ago.
"We're taking people out of the field that put together the projects to reduce fire in the first place," Bonnie said. "So even if you give the Forest Service a bunch of new tools and tool boxes, we don't have enough people on the ground to reach the type of scale we need. So we have to fix the fire budget."
Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., said that limiting environmental reviews can help in specific situations, "but this bill goes too far."
Nearly three dozen environmental groups wrote McClintock and Tsongas to oppose the bill, including the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and Defenders of Wildlife. "Under the pretext of `forest health' and `collaboration,' the bill does the opposite by moving toward analysis-free, high-risk production-based logging on our national forests and reducing collaboration," the groups wrote.
Kyle Tisdel, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, said groups that end up suing the federal government to stop a project must take part in an extensive public participation process before they can go to court. He said the additional hurdle of requiring an insurance bond would have a substantial chilling effect on the public's ability to engage the government and take their case to a final arbiter.
"These organizations operate on shoestring budgets for the most part," Tisdel said.
The USDA's Bonnie also expressed concern about requiring groups suing the department to acquire a surety bond.
"It's important the public still have the ability to access the courts," Bonnie said. "The best approach we have to reduce litigation is these collaborative efforts on the ground."
---
This story has been corrected to show that projects would undergo a less extensive and detailed type of environmental review rather than be excluded from a review.
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Republicans Resurrect Efforts to Increase Logging in National Forests

Republicans Resurrect Efforts to Increase Logging in National Forests. Drought...

April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in US. Feeling soggy? Last month was the wettest on record for the contiguous United States, according to federal meteorologists.
On average 4.36 inches of rain and snow - mostly rain - fell over the Lower 48 in May, sloshing past October 2009 which had been the wettest month in U.S. records with 4.29 inches. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records go back to 1895. April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in US
<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/investigation-noaa-trump-dorian/">NOAA</a> climate scientist Jake Crouch calculated that comes to more than 200 trillion gallons of water in May.
Crouch said the record was triggered by a stalled pattern of storms that dumped massive amounts of rain in the central U.S., especially in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=texas&amp;cvid=7c184dcdb8754cf194488a786d1607f0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Texas</a> and Oklahoma, which had their rainiest months.
Oklahoma and Texas had been in a five-year drought and it was washed away in just one month, Crouch said: "It's like one disaster ending a catastrophe." April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in US
Colorado had its rainiest May on record. Arkansas, Nebraska and Utah had their second wettest month on record. Fourteen states had one of their 10 rainiest Mays on record, all of them west of the Mississippi River and east of California. April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in US
Still, parts of the Northeast were unusually dry. It was the second driest May for Massachusetts and the third driest May for Rhode Island and New Jersey.
Last month was 1.45 inches wetter than 20th-century average for May. It was only the seventh time the entire contiguous United States averaged four inches of rain or more.
The global climate phenomenon El Nino, which starts with a warming in the central Pacific and changes weather worldwide for a year or so, is usually associated with such heavy rainfall, Crouch said. He added that it is too early to say if it triggered the record moisture. Also, more heavy downpours are expected as the world warms, but Crouch said there's no way to connect climate change to a single, soggy month.
May's average temperature in the U.S. was 60.8 degrees, which is slightly warmer than the 20th-century average. However, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island had their warmest Mays on record.
---
Online:
NOAA: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/national/201505" target="-blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/national/201505</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="-blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</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.

April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in US

April Showers? More like May! Wettest Month on Record in...

Crude Oil Shipper Settles in Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster. MIAMI, June 9 (UPI) -- A company tied to the sale of the oil on the train that crashed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2013 said it agreed to contribute to a settlement for victims.

World Fuel Services Corp. said it agreed to contribute about $90 million to a compensation fund for victims of the 2013 derailment as <a class="tpstyle" href="http://ir.wfscorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=101792&amp;p=irol-newsArticle&amp;ID=2057333" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part of a settlement</a> with the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and its bankruptcy trustees. Crude Oil Shipper Settles in Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster

"We believe that participating in the settlement and contributing to the compensation fund is in the best interests of our shareholders and will also aid in providing closure to those affected by this tragic accident," the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Michael Kasbar, said in a statement.

A World Fuel subsidiary sold the crude oil that was on the train at the time of the incident. More than 40 people were killed in Lac-Megantic after the derailment of a train carrying tankers of crude oil from North Dakota to Canadian refineries.

U.S. regulators in early 2013 started an operation dubbed Bakken Blitz to examine how shippers are classifying crude oils that may be more prone to detonate in some types of rail tankers. Supporters of the energy industry said they had questions about the concerns raised over Bakken oil, a grade found in North Dakota.

North American crude oil production has increased to the point that it's more than the existing pipeline infrastructure can handle, leaving energy companies to rely more on rail for transport. More rail disasters involving crude oil have occurred in recent years as a result.

In March, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/03/09/Canada-under-pressure-after-oil-train-derailment/4341425905382/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dispatched investigators</a> to the site of a derailment of a train carrying crude oil through the village of Gogama in Ontario. The derailment was the second in the region in less than a month.

Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway blamed the air brakes on the locomotive holding the freight for the Lac-Megantic incident and later filed for bankruptcy protection.

Crude Oil Shipper Settles in Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster

Crude Oil Shipper Settles in Lac-Megantic Rail Disaster. MIAMI, June...

Researchers Rush to Understand Alaska's Warming Trend. A group of scientists from the Atmospheric Measurement Research (ARM) Climate Research Facility won’t be looking for gold or oil this summer as they crisscross Alaska’s North Slope in an airplane. Instead, the ARM Airborne Carbon Measurements V (ARM-ACME V) team—led by Sebastien Biraud from U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—will run an aerial campaign from June 1 to September 15, measuring trace gas concentrations, aerosols, and cloud properties to find out why current climate models underestimate how rapidly the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=arctic&amp;cvid=8b84b04330e744e5babf08f7dc4b0bba&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Arctic</a> is warming. Researchers Rush to Understand Alaska's Warming Trend

Using the ARM Aerial Facility’s (AAF) Gulfstream-159 (G-1)research aircraft, the team will fly three possible flight paths between Prudhoe Bay, Oliktok Point, Barrow, Atqasuk, Ivotuk, and Toolik Lake measuring carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide—also known as trace gases—using two different types of gas analyzers and collecting air samples of trace gases with a 12-flask sampler. The aircraft payload also provides measurements of aerosol and cloud properties, atmospheric thermodynamics, and solar/infrared radiation.

Since arctic clouds are known to exert a significant influence on atmospheric radiation and may play a role in observed arctic warming, the ARM-ACME V campaign will also address populations of liquid droplets and ice crystals to help characterize the properties of cloud layers. Measuring aerosol concentration and radiation will help scientists examine how clouds and aerosols interact with each other and with different layers of arctic air.

This research will also link missions supported by multiple federal agencies, like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment missions and the DOE Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiment Arctic project, according to Biraud.

Verifying Ground-site Data
When passing over established ground sites, such as the two ARM sites at Oliktok Point and Barrow—the northernmost point in the United States—the G-1 will fly a spiral pattern up to a maximum of 10,000 or 20,000 feet, depending upon the strength of vertical mixing of gases. The data collected will be used to help put ground measurements being taken at these sites into a regional context. Other ground sites being covered include: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory at Barrow; the Long Term Ecological Research site at Toolik Lake; and two San Diego University sites at Atqasuk and Ivotuk.

The G-1 will follow a fourth flight path north, above the Arctic Ocean between Oliktok Point and Prudhoe Bay, alternately climbing and descending between 300 and 3,000 feet and spiraling up to 20,000 feet at the 75th parallel before returning. Such airborne observations are expected to help scientists accomplish a number of objectives that will enhance their understanding of Earth’s weather patterns in hopes of reducing the uncertainty of current global and regional climate simulations and projections.

[caption id="attachment_2382181" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/06/alaska-warming-pano_LBNL.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2382181" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/06/alaska-warming-pano_LBNL-300x233.jpg" alt="Airborne measurements taken during the ARM-ACME V campaign from June 1 to September 15 will include samples from as high as 20,000 feet to verify ground measurement readings over ARM facilities such as in Barrow (top) and Oliktok Point (bottom). (Credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)" width="300" height="233" /></a> Airborne measurements taken during the ARM-ACME V campaign from June 1 to September 15 will include samples from as high as 20,000 feet to verify ground measurement readings over ARM facilities such as in Barrow (top) and Oliktok Point (bottom). (Credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)[/caption]

The ARM-ACME V campaign flight patterns and instrumentation are designed to collect a unique data set of trace-gas concentrations and atmospheric properties, according to Beat Schmid, Technical Director of the AAF at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

"I believe our trace carbon-cycle gas observations are very accurate," he explains. "The data will be very detailed. I hope this plan will complement the work of other groups or agencies and add to our understanding of the carbon cycle in this sensitive region."

Improving Estimates for Emission Sources
By characterizing atmospheric gas mixing ratios (volume of gas per volume of air) across the North Slope, scientists hope to improve the estimates of the volume of gases like carbon dioxide and methane being emitted from biological sources such as Alaska’s permafrost layer which stores large amounts of carbon. Permafrost is thawing at an accelerated pace due to rising air temperature and this degradation releases carbon dioxide and methane—two greenhouse gases that affect the amount of radiant energy that can reach or leave the Earth. Scientists will also use soot spectroscopy observations to fine-tune their understanding of how heat-producing activities, such as biomass burning and oil and gas production, contribute to Arctic warming.

"Warming has two effects," according to Margaret Torn, co-principal investigator for the ARM-ACME V campaign. "As arctic tundra thaws, organic matter decomposes, releasing carbon dioxide and methane, two greenhouse gases. At the same time, the warming trend has a greening effect on Alaska that you can see from space. The additional photosynthesis occurring as a result of this greening takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. We want to determine when one effect is more important than the other—and why." Researchers Rush to Understand Alaska's Warming Trend

"These flights will also be looking at surface properties like albedo, which is the amount of solar radiation reflected by the Earth," Torn added. "When solar energy is reflected back into space, it reduces the amount of energy that is available to influence atmospheric convection and gas mixing. That affects the weather."

The ARM-ACME V campaign will also collect more detailed data on the distribution of aerosols that scientists can use to test the accuracy of climate simulation models. One goal is to learn more about the roles played by black and brown carbon in changing the balance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy from the earth.

The G-1 research aircraft will be based at the airport in Deadhorse, <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/dust-streams-over-the-gulf-of-alaska/">Alaska,</a> just outside Prudhoe Bay. During the 15-week campaign, 16 team members will rotate in and out of Alaska in shifts of five for no longer than three weeks at a time. The team will make two or three four-hour flights per week, for a campaign total of 140 hours of observations.

"This is the leanest [staffed] G-1 deployment we have ever done!" shared Schmid.
ARM researchers have been taking airborne carbon measurements for a number of years that have contributed to understanding carbon exchange processes and how carbon dioxide and associated water and energy fluxes influence the amount of sunlight that is absorbed by the earth and how much energy is radiated back to space, as well convective processes and carbon dioxide concentrations over the ARM region. ARM-ACME campaigns have also focused on how greenhouse gases are transported on continental scales.

"Previous ARM-ACME campaigns over the Southern Great Plains documented greenhouse gases near the surface of the Earth that tell us about how land use, fracking and the ecosystem influence production of the gases," Torn concluded. "We also flew [measured] higher in the atmosphere, and those higher elevation measurements tell us how greenhouse gas concentrations are changing over a larger region."

---

<a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a>

Researchers Rush to Understand Alaska's Warming Trend

Researchers Rush to Understand Alaska's Warming Trend. A group of...

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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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



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Ocean heat influences regional climate

[sendtonews key="uwirCufwYv-2012371-12187" 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> 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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