Colorful,Parrotfish,Feeding,On,A,Tropical,Coral,Reef

Coral reefs are among the most dazzling ecosystems on Earth. When viewed from above, they display intricate structures and colors. But many reefs also show curious rings of bare sand encircling them. These circles, called grazing halos, appear in satellite images as pale outlines around patches of coral.



The origin of grazing halos has long puzzled scientists. Why do they form in some places and not others? Why do they vary in size? And most importantly - do they reveal something about the health of the reef?



A new study published in The American Naturalist suggests a surprising answer. It’s not just fear that creates these halos - it’s also the way <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breaks-in-ancient-coral-growth-reveal-earths-climate-past/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral</a> shelter is arranged.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-landscape-of-fear">The landscape of fear</h2>



One widely accepted theory to explain grazing halos involves fear. Fish like parrotfish and other herbivores leave the safety of coral reefs to feed on algae or seagrass.



However, they do not venture far because predators like sharks lurk in the open. To avoid becoming prey, these fish tend to graze close to shelter.



Their grazing creates visible halos - barren rings where the vegetation has been eaten. The behavior aligns with what ecologists call the “landscape of fear.”



According to this idea, prey animals avoid open areas and concentrate activity near shelter, which alters the way that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-may-be-more-resilient-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystems</a> look.



But this explanation has gaps. Some reefs that are full of predators lack halos. Others, where predator populations have collapsed due to overfishing, still show clear halos. 



Something else must be shaping these patterns - something embedded in the landscape itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reef-shelter-layout-and-halo-formation">Reef shelter layout and halo formation</h2>



The new study points to the layout of coral shelters as a missing piece of the puzzle. The researchers examined how the spatial distribution of reef <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-may-not-adapt-quickly-enough-to-survive-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">structures</a> influences halo formation. Do halos behave differently when coral is clustered tightly versus scattered widely?



The team used Heron Island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to test their ideas. This site is a hub for reef science and faces ongoing threats from climate change, including coral bleaching, storm damage, and ocean acidification.



The study explored how coral shelter layout affects where herbivores graze. Some corals are clustered closely together and provide tightly packed shelter, while others are more dispersed. 



The scattered corals create more distance between safe zones. The team predicted that these differences would shape how halos appear - or disappear - across the seascape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-models-predict-halo-shapes-on-reefs">Models predict halo shapes on reefs</h2>



To explore this, the researchers built two mathematical models. The first was geometric. It examined how simple circular shapes - representing coral patches - overlap on the seafloor. This helped predict how much vegetation should remain in areas around the patches, depending on how the shelters are arranged.



Study lead author Theresa Ong is an assistant professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth.



“If the shelter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-could-vanish-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">habitat</a> is tightly packed in one space, then there’s not much room for nervous prey to explore and less vegetation to eat. But if shelter is more evenly distributed, the halos carve out more empty space in the landscape and their distinctive patterns disappear into one another as they overlap," noted Professor Ong.



The geometric model revealed that clustered coral leads to clearer, more distinct halos. Scattered coral causes the rings to overlap and blur, making them harder to detect. This may explain why halos vary across reefs - even when predator presence remains constant.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grazing-patterns-change-over-time">Grazing patterns change over time</h2>



Geometry only tells part of the story. Grazing patterns change over time as vegetation regrows and fish populations fluctuate. So, the team developed a second model - one that added time and movement into the equation.



The dynamic model showed two scenarios. When coral patches are dispersed, fish must travel further to feed. This can lead to overgrazing - vegetation disappears, fish numbers drop, vegetation returns, and the cycle begins again. Halos may vanish and reappear in a rhythmic pattern.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/coral-reef_grazing-halos_great-barrier-reef_credit-Google-Earth_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/coral-reef_grazing-halos_great-barrier-reef_credit-Google-Earth_1s.webp" alt="Overview view of Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and close-up view of a selected reef region (box in overview) where macroalgae cover is dense and coral halos (vegetation-free space surrounding coral patch reefs) are prevalent. Example 1X-scale plots (47 × 47 m) are indicated by arrows to illustrate increasing dispersion in coral patch distributions. Credit: Google Earth Pro" class="wp-image-1968578"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Overview of Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and close-up view of a selected reef region (box in overview) where macroalgae cover is dense and coral halos (vegetation-free space surrounding coral patch reefs) are prevalent. Example 1X-scale plots (47 × 47 m) are indicated by arrows to illustrate increasing dispersion in coral patch distributions. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Google Earth Pro</figcaption></figure>



When coral is clustered, grazing remains more localized and consistent. This leads to more stable halo patterns. 



The models suggest that both stable and cyclic halos can exist on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/restored-coral-reefs-can-bounce-back-in-just-four-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">healthy reefs</a> - and both tell stories about how the ecosystem is functioning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-changes-are-alarming">Not all changes are alarming</h2>



A major insight from the study is that halo patterns - whether stable or oscillating - are not in themselves signs of reef health or decline. What matters more is how those patterns change over time.



“Oscillating halos are not necessarily a sign of overfishing or poor reef health,” said Ong. “What’s more concerning is if static halos suddenly start cycling or if cyclic halos suddenly become static, which could indicate a major shift in system health and resilience.”



In other words – it’s not the presence or size of the halo that reveals the truth, but whether its behavior shifts in ways that suggest underlying ecological change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-satellites-for-reef-surveillance">Using satellites for reef surveillance</h2>



Studying coral reefs directly is expensive and difficult. That’s where satellite imagery offers a powerful advantage. Researchers can quickly scan large areas and assess general patterns - even from space.



“There are a lot of endemic species on reefs, especially on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-barrier-reef-is-on-the-brink-of-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Great Barrier Reef</a>, which we could easily lose due to the compounding effects of climate change and overfishing,” noted Professor Ong.



“So gaining a better understanding of how halo patterns reflect reef community dynamics may be useful in reef conservation efforts.”



Halos might become an early warning system. Their changes could alert scientists to shifts in predator numbers, herbivore behavior, or coral shelter integrity - all of which influence reef resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-halo-dynamics-beyond-reefs">Halo dynamics beyond reefs</h2>



The models developed by the team aren’t limited to coral reefs. They apply to any system where grazing happens near shelter. 



Think of cattle grazing near trees, or deer feeding near forest edges. The same logic - of safety shaping movement - plays out across many ecosystems.



Still, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-reefs-could-vanish-if-temperatures-continue-to-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coral reefs</a> are especially fragile. Climate change is heating the oceans, acidifying waters, and disrupting food webs. Even subtle changes in reef structure can lead to major ecological shifts.



From overlapping rings of sand to predictive models and satellite imagery - this work reveals that coral reefs are writing their own story in patterns we can now begin to understand. We just have to learn how to read the halos.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/735688" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The American Naturalist</a>.



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What 'grazing halos' and parrotfish reveal about coral reef health

Coral reefs are among the most dazzling ecosystems on Earth. When viewed from above, they display intricate structures and colors. But many reefs also show curious rings of bare sand encircling them. These circles, called grazing halos, appear in satellite images as pale outlines around patches of coral. The origin of grazing halos has long puzzled scientists. Why do they form in some places and not others? Why do they vary in size? And most importantly - do they reveal something about the health of the reef?...

3 percent of the protected forest lost during 2000-2012

Protected Forests Being Lost At An Alarming Rate. Protected and intact forests have been lost at a rapid rate during the first 12 years of this century. According to researchers at Aalto University, Finland, 3% of the protected forest, 2.5% of the intact forest, and 1.5% of the protected intact forest in the world were lost during 2000 - 2012. These rates of forest loss are high compared to the total global forest loss of 5% for the same time period.

In Australia and Oceania, as well as North America, the loss in protected forests exceeded 5%. Worryingly, in parts of Africa, Central Asia, and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=europe&amp;cvid=c17959415bcc4d298ba78182276f7045&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Europe</a>, the relative forest loss was higher inside protected areas than outside. However, in several countries of South America and Southeast <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-reveal-that-monkeys-were-in-asia-6-4-million-years-ago/">Asia,</a> protection was found to substantially prevent forest loss.

On a global scale, agricultural land expansion is one of the most important processes causing forest loss.

According to the analysis, high rates of protected forest loss were also associated with high proportions of agricultural land. At the same time, the losses in protected and intact forests were associated with a high gross domestic product, challenging partly the previous findings.Protected Forests Being Lost At An Alarming Rate

- Forests maintain ecological diversity, regulate climate, store carbon, protect soil and water and provide resources and livelihoods for the world's population. It is alarming that official protection in many places does not actually protect the forests, says Timo Räsänen, Postdoc fellow at Aalto University.

- However, there are also positive signs, especially in the tropics. For example, the rate of forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon has finally declined in recent years, continues Matias Heino, researcher at Aalto University.

The analysis was conducted, using recently published global remote sensing based forest cover change data, together with global spatial datasets on protected areas and intact forest landscape. Global forest loss in protected areas and in intact forest landscapes have not been previously assessed with detailed and uniform datasets that allow consistent forest extent comparisons over space and time.

---

<a href="http://www.aalto.fi/en/">AALTO University</a>

Protected Forests Being Lost At An Alarming Rate

3 percent of the protected forest lost during 2000-2012 Protected...

An international team of scientists have identified potential climate tipping points where abrupt regional climate shifts could occur due to global warming.. An international team of scientists have identified potential climate tipping points where abrupt regional climate shifts could occur due to global warming.

In the new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), the scientists analysed the climate model simulations on which the recent 5th Intergovernmental Panel on <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=2c806419f248480abd97bdeedbff525c&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Climate Change</a> (IPCC) reports are based.

They found evidence of 41 cases of regional abrupt changes in the ocean, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/phytoplankton-remain-surprisingly-active-underneath-arctic-sea-ice/">sea ice,</a> snow cover, permafrost and terrestrial biosphere. Many of these events occur for global warming levels of less than two degrees, a threshold sometimes presented as a safe limit. However, although most models predict one or more abrupt regional shifts, any specific occurrence typically appears in only a few models.

"This illustrates the high uncertainty in predicting tipping points," says lead author Professor Sybren Drijfhout from Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton. "More precisely, our results show that the different state-of-the-art models agree that abrupt changes are likely, but that predicting when and where they will occur remains very difficult. Also, our results show that no safe limit exists and that many abrupt shifts already occur for global warming levels much lower than two degrees," he adds.

Examples of detected climate tipping include abrupt shifts in sea ice and ocean circulation patterns, as well as abrupt shifts in vegetation and marine productivity. Sea ice abrupt changes were particularly common in the climate simulations. However, various models also predict abrupt changes in Earth system elements such as the Amazon forest, tundra permafrost and snow on the Tibetan plateau.

"Interestingly, abrupt events could come out as a cascade of different phenomena," adds Victor Brovkin, a co-author from Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M). "For example, a collapse of permafrost in Arctic is followed by a rapid increase in forest area there. This kind of domino effect should have implications not only for natural systems, but also for society."

"The majority of the detected abrupt shifts are distant from the major population centres of the planet, but their occurrence could have implications over large distances." says Martin Claussen, director of the MPI-M and one of the co-authors. "Our work is only a starting point. Now we need to look deeper into mechanisms of tipping points and design an approach to diagnose them during the next round of climate model simulations for IPCC."

---

<a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Southampton</a>

Scientists Identify Climate Tipping Points

An international team of scientists have identified potential climate tipping...

NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US Thanks To El Nino. El Nino this winter will leave a big wet but not necessarily snowy footprint on much of the United States, including parched California, forecasters said Thursday.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration issued its winter forecast and "the driver of this winter's outlook is El Nino," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
El Nino changes weather worldwide, mostly affecting the <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/severe-fire-threat-continues-in-the-western-united-states/">United States</a> in winter. The weather pattern happens every few years when the Pacific Ocean warms up around the equator. This year's is one of the strongest El Ninos on record.
NOAA expects a cooler and wetter winter for the South. For California, more precipitation than usual is expected during the critical time that its reservoirs usually fill, but there's no guarantee. Only northern tier states, the Ohio Valley states and Alaska should be dry.
While California's drought is likely to lessen in January, even the wettest winter on record - 33 years ago - didn't have enough rain to wash out the current four-year drought, said NOAA hydrologist Alan Haynes of the California Nevada River Forecast Center.
Forecasters see a milder, warmer winter north of the Mason-Dixon line and for all of California and Nevada. Texas and the Deep South are forecast to be cold.
Overall, the nation should have 2 percent fewer days when people have to fire up their furnaces, said Halpert. He said the Northeast, where it was chilly and snowy last year, should see 6 percent fewer heating days.
Because of El Nino, NOAA is more confident than usual that its forecast is on target - 70 percent for a wet South, Halpert said.
The federal winter forecast doesn't address snow, just wet or dry and warm or cold. Even though it's likely to be both cooler and wetter in the South, it is usually so warm there that it needs a blast of Arctic air for snowstorms and that's not looking likely, Halpert said. And while the north is likely to be warmer, past El Ninos have had some big snowstorms.
Historically, because there's more storminess during El Ninos, there's been a slight but not great increase in snowfall in the Northeast during El Ninos, said NOAA El Nino expert Michelle L'Heureux. But that could be skewed by a few big years in the past like the winter of 2009-10, she said. The <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=great+lakes&amp;cvid=8c0807d43de1481182893e0fb0cb37c6&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Great Lakes</a> area tends to get less snow during El Ninos, she said.
Private forecast firm Weather Bell Analytics predicts a swath from New Mexico across to the Carolinas and up the coast to Connecticut will get 50 percent more snow than usual.
AccuWeather, another private firm, sees severe thunderstorms in Florida, but forecasts less lake-effect snow around the Great Lakes, occasional mild days for the Midwest and says it will be "not as brutal" for the Northeast.
--- Online:
NOAA's seasonal forecast: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1PvqmnZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://1.usa.gov/1PvqmnZ</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US

NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US...

Obama Expands Efforts To Reduce Refrigerants. President Barack Obama is ordering new steps to reduce refrigerants that contribute to climate change as he works to secure a global climate treaty.
The Obama administration is proposing to extend rules targeting emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals to refrigerants called hydrofluorocarbons. Obama Expands Efforts To Reduce Refrigerants
The White House said Thursday the rules will be finalized next year.
The Environmental Protection Agency also plans to prohibit more uses of hydrofluorocarbons under new deadlines coming in 2016. The Obama administration is pushing to phase out the potent heat-trapping gases <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/thinking-globally-acting-locally/">globally</a>.
The White House is also announcing nearly $15 million in grants for communities hit hard by the Obama-backed shift away from coal. Almost all of the funds are for programs in Kentucky.
Obama hopes to build momentum on climate change before international talks conclude in December.Obama was born in <a title="Honolulu" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honolulu">Honolulu</a>, <a title="Hawaii" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii">Hawaii</a>. After graduating from <a title="Columbia University" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University">Columbia University</a> in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in <a title="Chicago" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago">Chicago</a>. In 1988, he enrolled in <a title="Harvard Law School" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Law_School">Harvard Law School</a>, where he was the first black person to be president of the <a title="Harvard Law Review" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Law_Review">Harvard Law Review</a>. After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the <a title="University of Chicago Law School" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago_Law_School">University of Chicago Law School</a> from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he <a title="Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Senate_career_of_Barack_Obama">represented the 13th district</a> from 1997 until 2004 in the <a title="Illinois Senate" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Senate">Illinois Senate</a>,
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Obama Expands Efforts To Reduce Refrigerants

Obama Expands Efforts To Reduce Refrigerants. President Barack Obama is...

Study: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Similar For Shale And Crude Oil. The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory this week released a pair of studies on the efficiency of shale oil production excavation. The reports show that shale oil production generates greenhouse gas emissions at levels similar to traditional crude oil production.

The research, which was conducted in collaboration with Stanford University and the University of California, Davis, analyzed the Eagle Ford shale formation, also called a play, in Texas and the Bakken play mainly in North Dakota. These plays are shale formations with low permeability and must be hydraulically fractured to produce oil and gas.

Eagle Ford and Bakken are the second and third largest oil producing shale formation regions in the United States, during the last three years. Together, Bakken and Eagle Ford in 2014 accounted for 54 percent of oil production and 19 percent of gas production among the top seven production regions.

Light crude oil trapped in rock, such as shale, is called tight oil. Its production is accompanied by a significant amount of energy product, including natural gas, some of which gets flared or vented off at the well site. Until now, little information has existed about how production methods impact greenhouse gas emissions at these sites.

"These two plays produce a large amount of the shale oil for the U.S.," said Michael Wang, a senior scientist at Argonne who leads the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model, which incorporated the study results. "These two studies have concluded that the net greenhouse gas intensity of production is similar to conventional production."

Both studies showed that after taking into consideration flaring and venting of natural gas, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with shale/tight oil production are similar to those generated at conventional crude oil reserves. This emission intensity stays consistent during the lifespan of extraction at the oil play. This contradicts an earlier estimate that the Bakken play might produce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent higher more than for crude oil production.

"Drilling and fracturing wells for shale oil is more energy intensive than conventional drilling, but these wells have higher productivity and require less energy to produce and process the crude," said Adam Brandt, a professor at Stanford University, lead author on the Bakken study. "Flaring of gas is a key issue in the Bakken, and if flaring were controlled the Bakken crude would have lower emissions than conventional crude."

The Eagle Ford study looked at crude oil produced from different production zones for 2009-2013. Some zones produced more oil while others produced more gas. The study showed that wells in the gas-rich zone used roughly twice as much energy as wells in the oil-rich zone, which used an average of 1.2 percent of energy produced for production, extraction, and processing. Additionally, the water usage rate was generally higher at the gas-rich wells.

"It was challenging to calculate the net energy use and net greenhouse gas emissions for Eagle Ford because of the wide range of products produced at these places, and there were no publicly available tools for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing," said Sonia Yeh, lead author on the Eagle Ford study and a researcher with the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. "The collaboration provided greater transparency and understanding of energy and climate impacts of oil production in these regions."

These studies calculate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the crude oil and natural gas extraction using the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) model with production data collected for shale oil well operations in both plays. This model estimates energy for the lifecycle from the initial exploration to the refinery entrance gate and includes production, processing and transport.

The research team put the OPGEE-produced results into the GREET model developed at Argonne National Laboratory for modeling the life-cycle GHG emissions.

---

<a href="http://www.anl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Argonne National Laboratory</a>

Study: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Similar For Shale And Crude Oil

Study: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Similar For Shale And Crude Oil....

NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US Thanks To El Nino. El Nino this winter will leave a big wet but not necessarily snowy footprint on much of the United States, including parched California, forecasters said Thursday.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration issued its winter forecast and "the driver of this winter's outlook is El Nino," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
El Nino changes weather worldwide, mostly affecting the United States in winter. The weather pattern happens every few years when the Pacific Ocean warms up around the equator. This year's is one of the strongest El Ninos on record.
NOAA expects a cooler and wetter winter for the South. For <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/august-complex-fire-has-become-the-largest-in-californias-history/">California</a>, more precipitation than usual is expected during the critical time that its reservoirs usually fill, but there's no guarantee. Only northern tier states, the Ohio Valley states and Alaska should be dry.
While California's drought is likely to lessen in January, even the wettest winter on record - 33 years ago - didn't have enough rain to wash out the current four-year drought, said NOAA hydrologist Alan Haynes of the California <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nevada&amp;cvid=4a5024ab4fad468192f4a8f8f269f86f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Nevada</a> River Forecast Center.NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US Thanks To El Nino
Forecasters see a milder, warmer winter north of the Mason-Dixon line and for all of California and Nevada. Texas and the Deep South are forecast to be cold.
Overall, the nation should have 2 percent fewer days when people have to fire up their furnaces, said Halpert. He said the Northeast, where it was chilly and snowy last year, should see 6 percent fewer heating days.
Because of El Nino, NOAA is more confident than usual that its forecast is on target - 70 percent for a wet South, Halpert said.
The federal winter forecast doesn't address snow, just wet or dry and warm or cold. Even though it's likely to be both cooler and wetter in the South, it is usually so warm there that it needs a blast of Arctic air for snowstorms and that's not looking likely, Halpert said. And while the north is likely to be warmer, past El Ninos have had some big snowstorms.
Historically, because there's more storminess during El Ninos, there's been a slight but not great increase in snowfall in the Northeast during El Ninos, said NOAA El Nino expert Michelle L'Heureux. But that could be skewed by a few big years in the past like the winter of 2009-10, she said. The Great Lakes area tends to get less snow during El Ninos, she said.
Private forecast firm Weather Bell Analytics predicts a swath from New Mexico across to the Carolinas and up the coast to Connecticut will get 50 percent more snow than usual.
AccuWeather, another private firm, sees severe thunderstorms in Florida, but forecasts less lake-effect snow around the Great Lakes, occasional mild days for the Midwest and says it will be "not as brutal" for the Northeast.
--- Online:
NOAA's seasonal forecast: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1PvqmnZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://1.usa.gov/1PvqmnZ</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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NOAA: Looking Like A Very Wet Winter In The US Thanks To El Nino

Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference. The chief executives of 10 of the world's largest oil companies have pledged support for an "effective" deal to fight global warming at a Paris conference next month.
In a statement Friday, the CEOs of BP, Shell, Saudi Aramco, Total, Repsol, Statoil, Eni, Petroelos Mexicanos, Reliance Industries and BG Group said they recognize greenhouse gas emissions trends are inconsistent with the ambition to keep warming below a level many consider dangerous.
Burning coal, oil and gas for energy is a key <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=emissions&amp;cvid=2aad6a7812594308915d9982c56dc09e&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">emissions</a> source.
The companies offered to help by reducing flaring and methane emissions from oil and gas operations. They also called for replacing coal with cleaner-burning natural gas in power generation.
<a href="http://www.earth.com/organizations/greenpeace-international/">Greenpeace</a> said the companies' offer "contains nothing meaningful" and accused them of undermining effective climate action. Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference.
Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.Climate change, periodic modification of <a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Earth">Earth</a>’s <a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-meteorology">climate</a> brought about as a result of changes in the <a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/atmosphere">atmosphere</a> as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth system.
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Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference

Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference. The...

Scientists: Use Carbon-Absorbing Crystals To Curb Global Warming "As far as I know this is the first material that captures CO2 in an efficient way," said researcher Osamu Terasaki.

Carbon-absorbing crystals probably won't stave off global warming, but they could help put a dent in carbon emissions.

Carbon capturing technologies are mostly too expensive, but a new discovery could change that.
<div class="ad_slot"></div>
Scientists in Sweden have developed a new type of synthetic crystal with carbon-capturing micropores. Researchers say the crystal can capture carbon dioxide more efficiently than similar materials, even in the presence of water.

Researchers have previously experimented with CO2 capturing materials as a potential tool against global warming, but the co-absorption of water inhibits the process. For these materials to work, gas must first be dehumidified. The added expense makes that technology unrealistic.Scientists: Use Carbon-Absorbing Crystals To Curb Global Warming

But scientists at the Stockholm University developed a microporous coppersilicate crystal with separate CO2 and H2O uptake locations. The crystal absorbs both carbon and water, but its CO2 absorption is unaffected.

And because the crystal was synthesized hydrothermally, the material remains stable even after its H2O absorption. Similar materials degrade as they take up water.

The new material is detailed <a class="tpstyle" href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/350/6258/302.abstract?sid=fdc8505e-c912-43b6-ab0e-fc4af6a249b1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in the journal Science</a>.

"As far as I know this is the first material that captures CO2 in an efficient way in the presence of humidity," Osamu Terasaki, a material scientists and chemistry professor at Stockholm, said in a press release. "In other cases there is competition between water and carbon dioxide and water usually wins. This material adsorbs both, but the CO2 uptake is enormous."

The material could potentially be used to create filters on the top of smokestacks that prevent CO2 from escaping into the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earths-atmosphere-beyond-moon/">atmosphere</a> -- though there aren't specific plans for application in place.

"CO2 is always produced with moisture, and now we can capture CO2 from humid gases. Combined with other systems that are being developed, the waste carbon can be used for new valuable compounds," Terasaki said. "People are working very hard and I think we will be able to do this within five years. The most difficult part is to capture carbon dioxide, and we have a solution for that now."

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Credit: UPI

Scientists: Use Carbon-Absorbing Crystals To Curb Global Warming

Scientists: Use Carbon-Absorbing Crystals To Curb Global Warming "As far...

Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference. The chief executives of 10 of the world's largest oil companies have pledged support for an "<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fasting-diets-are-effective-for-weight-loss/">effective</a>" deal to fight global warming at a Paris conference next month.
In a statement Friday, the CEOs of BP, Shell, Saudi Aramco, Total, Repsol, Statoil, Eni, Petroelos Mexicanos, Reliance Industries and BG Group said they recognize greenhouse gas emissions trends are inconsistent with the ambition to keep warming below a level many consider dangerous.
Burning coal, oil and gas for energy is a key <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=emissions&amp;cvid=ef92c87eeea342e7889195dfa6dcade6&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">emissions</a> source. Largest Oil Companies Pledge Support For Paris Climate Conference
The companies offered to help by reducing flaring and methane emissions from oil and gas operations. They also called for replacing coal with cleaner-burning natural gas in power generation.
Greenpeace said the companies' offer "contains nothing meaningful" and accused them of undermining effective climate action.Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,148,271 residents as of 2020, in an area of 105 square kilometres. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science and arts. The City of Paris is the centre and seat of government of the Île-de-France,
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Climate Change Means Trouble For Coastal Redwood Forests. In a study published in the research journalGlobal Change Biology, climate scientists from the University of California, NatureServe and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) conclude that a warmer future with normal rainfall on California's coast will leave coastal redwood forests south of San Francisco Bay with significantly different climate than they have experienced for decades.

Fourteen redwood parks are located in this area, including Big Basin Redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park south of Carmel, and Garrapata State Park between Carmel and Big Sur on the Monterey coast.

Scientists also predict that redwood forest bioclimate, marked by fog, ample winter rain and moderate year-round temperatures, will expand by 34 percent northward from the coast of California into southern Oregon.

"With warmer climate forecast for more than half the coast redwood range in the next 10-15 years, we are eager for research that helps identify those areas that are most sensitive to climate change," says Paul Ringgold, Chief Program Officer for San Francisco-based Save the Redwoods League, the land trust which catalyzed the study under its Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative (RCCI). "These key findings help us better understand the future impacts of climate change and how to manage for these impacts on our redwood forests."

"Redwoods will still exist in the most vulnerable areas, while continued research on changing redwood bioclimate will help us identify and address redwood forest regeneration challenges. Moreover, locally unique weather patterns such as fog may influence projected climate trends in the future," he says.

"Coast redwoods have endured climatic changes over thousands of years. We are encouraged by our RCCI research, which shows that redwood trees continue to grow, even under warmer conditions, and will thrive further north into Oregon."

Written by Miguel Fernandez, Healy Hamilton and Lara Kueppers and entitled "Back to the Future --using historical climate variation to project near-term shifts in habitat suitable for coast redwood," the study sifts through the range of climate change predictions from global circulation models and analyzes which ones are most likely to occur in coastal California's future.

"Current global climate models often fail to capture climate change's impact on local weather patterns," says Fernandez of the University of California and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). "This data is critical to predict how individual species, like the coast redwood, will cope with climate change."

Fernandez's team of researchers used historical climate extremes as indicators of short- and medium-term changes in future climate and modeled coast redwoods' geographic distribution in the smallest discernible detail.

"This approach is particularly suitable for regions such as North America's West Coast, where local conditions strongly influence climate," he says.

This is the seventh study funded by Save the Redwoods League's RCCI, a $4 million, multi-year research program whose mission is to study coast redwood and giant sequoia ecosystems in a changing world. Eight scientists from Humboldt State University, UC Berkeley, and UC Merced have undertaken research for RCCI producing four peer-reviewed papers since 2009.

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<a href="http://www.idiv.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDIV</a>

Climate Change Means Trouble For Coastal Redwood Forests

Climate Change Means Trouble For Coastal Redwood Forests. In a...

Feds Are Pulling Back Oil Leases For The Arctic Ocean And Chukchi Sea. Three weeks after Royal Dutch Shell announced it was walking away from exploratory drilling in U.S. Arctic waters, the Obama administration has taken steps to keep drill rigs out of Alaska's northern ocean for a decade or more.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced Friday that the federal government is cancelling federal petroleum lease sales in U.S. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-rivers-heat-up-the-ocean-and-shrink-sea-ice/">Arctic</a> waters that were scheduled for 2016 and 2017.
Jewell said the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast and the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=beaufort+sea&amp;cvid=a9ae0014fcfa4daebd4b0c09de9a1d95&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Beaufort Sea</a> off the state's north coast will not be included in the agency's next five-year lease sale plan. Current leases held by Shell and other companies in Arctic waters will not be extended, she added.
The Beaufort Sea leases are set to expire in 2017, and the Chukchi Sea leases in 2020.
The decision reflects current market conditions and low industry interest, Jewell said in a news release.
"In light of Shell's announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half," she said.
Shell was the only company actively exploring in U.S. Arctic waters, and it was in with both feet. The company estimates it has spent upward of $7 billion on Arctic offshore development, including $2.1 billion in one day for leases at a 2008 Chukchi Sea sale.
Shell hoped to tap into a resource the U.S. Geological survey estimates at more than 26 billion barrels of conventionally recoverable oil under Arctic waters.
However, the company announced Sept. 28 that an exploratory well drilled this summer had been a bust. Shell found oil and gas but not in commercial quantities. Shell said it was stopping exploration "for the foreseeable future" because of the disappointing results and the uncertain federal regulatory environment.
Shell, however, had applied to extend leases in both the Chukchi and the Beaufort. Statoil, an oil and gas company based in Norway, requested an extension for Chukchi leases.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company disagrees with the agency's decision not to extend current leases.
"When it comes to frontier exploration in Alaska, one size does not fit all," Smith said by email. "We continue to believe the 10-year primary lease term needs to be extended."
In denying the extension, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's regional supervisor for field operations, Kevin Pendergast, said Shell had not met the criteria to extend its leases, including providing the agency with a work schedule on them. Shell could apply again, he said.
Environmental groups strongly oppose drilling. They say industrial activity will harm marine mammals already hurt by a loss of sea ice and a spill could not be cleaned in ice-choked Arctic waters. They also said burning Arctic Ocean oil would accelerate global warming.
"This is great for the Arctic and its polar bears," said Miyoko Sakashita of the Center for Biological Diversity. "We need to keep all the Arctic oil in the ground."
"Secretary Jewell's decisions today are consistent with the law as well as economic and environmental realities," said Mike LeVine of oceans advocate Oceana. Feds Are Pulling Back Oil Leases For The Arctic Ocean And Chukchi Sea
As much as 90 percent of Alaska state revenue is generated by the petroleum industry. The state faces a deficit in the billions between projected spending and revenue because of low oil prices.
Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, personally lobbied Jewell to extend Shell's leases. His goal is to get more oil in the trans-Alaska pipeline, which is running at about a quarter of its capacity. Walker said the Interior Department's decision left him with a "loss of hope, in some respects" about accomplishing that.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the Obama administration just robbed Alaskans of a lot of economic hope, at a time when the administration has vowed to help the state fight high rates of suicide, domestic violence and addiction.
"They just took real opportunity, significant opportunities that could benefit thousands if not tens of thousands of Alaskans off the table," Sullivan said. "That's not going to help the social problems. That's actually going to make them worse."
Rep. Don Young, who is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. House, said the battle will likely end up in court.
"I think this administration is adamantly opposed against fossil fuels, period," said Young, Alaska's sole representative in the House. "They'll do anything to stop it. I don't think they have a legal leg to stand on."
But Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said the decision was a victory for the millions of Americans who raised their voices against Arctic offshore drilling.
"The simple fact is that drilling in the Arctic is the height of irresponsibility," he said.
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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage contributed to this report.
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Feds Are Pulling Back Oil Leases For The Arctic Ocean And Chukchi Sea

Feds Are Pulling Back Oil Leases For The Arctic Ocean...

Last Round Of UN Climate Talks Before Paris Summit. U.N. climate negotiators will meet Monday for their last session ahead of a major conference in Paris to hammer out the details of what's envisioned to become the most ambitious agreement ever to fight global warming.
Delegates at the weeklong talks in Bonn,<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/the-frankfurt-rhine-main-region-of-germany/"> Germany</a>, are expected to start line-by-line editing a 20-page draft that still contains multiple options on how to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.
Some 150 countries - including top emitters China, the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=united+states+map&amp;cvid=199c8730bfbc41c68f9a6630a19c64ad&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">United States</a>, the European Union and India - have already made voluntary pledges to cut or curb their emissions after 2020, when the deal is supposed to take effect. Last Round Of UN Climate Talks Before Paris Summit
But several analyses show those pledges won't be enough to prevent levels of warming that many consider dangerous, so a key element of the Paris deal would be a mechanism to raise those commitments over time.
"We don't want to make a picture, we want to make a movie," Netherlands climate envoy Michel Rentenaar said, insisting that the Paris agreement cannot freeze the current level of ambition on climate action.
The U.N. talks have made significant strides since a 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen failed to live up to expectations. For the first time all countries now agree they need to act against climate change, which scientists say is already transforming the planet through melting glaciers, rising sea levels, intensifying heat waves and warmer, more acidic oceans.
Though major sticking points remain, including how to spell out the different responsibilities of nations in various stages of development, rich and poor countries have moved closer in recent years.
"We have gone very far from the Copenhagen atmosphere," said Pa Ousman Jarju, Gambia's environment minister.
As always in the U.N. talks, which are based on consensus, there's a risk that a handful of countries block progress, he said. It would be a major setback if some countries reject the draft in Bonn, leaving negotiators with little time to come up with a new one before Paris.
Several delegates said they didn't expect that to happen, though they couldn't rule it out.
One of the most contentious issues is money. Rich countries have promised to provide $100 billion annually by 2020 to help poor countries reduce their emissions and deal with unavoidable impacts of climate change. But they are reluctant to make any commitments beyond that and say the most advanced developing nations should also chip in.
The World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank, said negotiators must be prepared to get "their hands dirty" in Bonn and deal with the sticky issues before the Paris summit begins on Nov. 30.
"What happens in Bonn can pave the way for a universal agreement in Paris that can be the turning point on climate action that the world needs," the group said.
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Last Round Of UN Climate Talks Before Paris Summit

Last Round Of UN Climate Talks Before Paris Summit. U.N....

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Kangerlussuaq Glacier on the Greenland ice sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the complex relationship between ocean and climate. ESA's Climate Change Initiative will help us understand how oceans influence the climate and how climate change is impacting the oceans.&nbsp;



"Earth’s oceans are huge heat stores, soaking up 93% of the excess heat from human activity over the past 70 years. Ocean currents redistribute heat around the planet, from the Equator to the poles. Where this ocean heat goes influences weather patterns and regional climate," explains ESA.



"As well as absorbing heat, oceans are a natural carbon sink, absorbing a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This has led to the acidification of ocean water, threating marine life."



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide soaked up by the ocean depends on specific variables, including phytoplankton, temperatures, waves, salinity, and ice cover. Satellites can be used to measure these variables from space.



"From their unique vantage point, satellites provide key information for understanding the complexities of our planet and monitoring environmental issues," says ESA.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

Ocean heat influences regional climate

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes the importance of monitoring the shape of the sea surface, which is constantly changing. These observations have many applications, such as ship routing, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-modem-ocean-is-a-tough-place-for-whales-to-survive/">ocean</a> current forecasting, and debris tracking.



"A project supported by the Discovery element of ESA’s Basic Activities recently investigated a new technique to measure sea surface topography very precisely," reports ESA.



"The technique involves looking at satellite navigation (GNSS) signals that have been reflected off of the sea surface at very low angles. At these so-called grazing angles, waves and surface roughness have very little impact on the reflection process; the sea surface acts as a very smooth mirror."



Estel Cardellach is the principal investigator at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia, who first submitted the idea for the project.



“In a mirror-like reflection the phase of the signal can be tracked – it is continuous," said Cardellach. "Different surface heights result in different phase measurements. It gives a very precise measurement of the surface altitude at a few centimetres’ precision.”



The researchers developed a GNSS receiver and set up an experiment in the Balaeric Islands to collect signals from the receiver that were reflected off the sea surface. Ultimately, these signals will provide improved measurements of the shape of the sea surface.



Image/ Video Credit: ESA



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

Monitoring the dynamic shape of the sea surface

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