In the age of climate extremes, Earth is sending signals we can now decode. Across South Africa, scientists have noticed an unusual phenomenon: the land is rising. 



This isn’t a minor wobble or a passing shift. Measurements show consistent uplift of up to two millimeters per year in many regions. It’s slow, silent, and until recently, misunderstood.



For decades, researchers believed that mantle <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-wins-in-2025-came-from-unexpected-places/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">activity</a>, such as the presence of a deep-seated plume, explained this movement. The idea fit well with established geophysical models.



But recent findings from the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bonn</a> paint a very different picture - one that traces these land movements not to the deep Earth, but to its parched and drying surface.



This study, led by geodesists and climate scientists, offers not only an explanation but also a new way to measure drought. Using GPS networks and satellite data, the team discovered that declining water reserves - not mantle forces - are driving South Africa’s gradual rise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gps-reveals-subtle-land-movement">GPS reveals subtle land movement</h2>



South Africa has a unique advantage: a dense network of <a href="https://www.euspa.europa.eu/eu-space-programme/galileo/what-gnss#:~:text=Global%20Navigation%20Satellite%20System%20(%20GNSS,Galileo%20(EU)" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GNSS</a> (Global Navigation Satellite System) stations known as TrigNet. 



Originally built for land surveys and atmospheric studies, these stations have become unexpected tools in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-now-impacting-earths-rotation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">climate</a> research. From 2000 to 2021, data from 88 of these stations revealed a subtle yet consistent vertical rise.



Dr. Makan Karegar of the University of Bonn, along with Christian Mielke, Helena Gerdener, and Professor Jürgen Kusche, carefully filtered this data. 



The goal was to separate meaningful signals from noise. To do this, the team applied singular spectrum analysis - a technique that decomposes the time series into seasonal, annual, and long-term trends. This made it possible to see past fluctuations and identify genuine patterns of uplift.



Most of the stations recorded a positive trend starting around 2012. “This data showed an average rise of six millimeters between 2012 and 2020,” explained Dr. Karegar. That shift coincided with drought years. But how does dry weather make land rise?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-loss-and-rising-land-in-africa">Water loss and rising land in Africa </h2>



To understand the process, imagine pressing down on a sponge. When you release it, it springs back. Earth’s crust <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-2025-our-power-our-planet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">behaves</a> in a similar way. When water saturates the land, it weighs it down. When that water disappears - whether from rivers, soil, or aquifers - the crust rebounds.



“During droughts, water loss from the ground can cause the Earth's surface to rise slightly and can therefore be used to estimate water mass loss, assuming the elastic response of the Earth,” said Mielke.



The researchers cross-validated their findings with data from NASA’s <a href="https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GRACE</a> satellites, which detect changes in Earth’s gravity to infer shifts in mass. Although GRACE has limited resolution, it showed the same trend: in areas where water disappeared, land lifted. 



Further confirmation came from hydrological models like GLDAS-Noah and GLWS, which simulate the water cycle. Together, these tools formed a consistent story of surface dehydration and upward movement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-africa-s-driest-land-is-rising-the-most">Africa's driest land is rising the most</h2>



The most severe uplift in South Africa occurred in provinces that suffered major droughts. Western Cape, Gauteng, and Limpopo displayed especially strong signals. 



From 2012 to 2020, some regions showed water mass loss equivalent to 0.10 meters of water. This, in turn, triggered an average rise of 6 millimeters across the country.



The impact of Cape Town’s “Day Zero” drought between 2015 and 2017 was particularly striking. The GNSS station near the city captured a strong uplift signal. Gauteng also showed marked increases in elevation. The likely reason: the depletion of numerous reservoirs near Pretoria and Johannesburg.



“The GNSS network in South Africa has the potential to estimate the impact of drought on water <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astonishing-global-heat-in-january-2025-defied-climate-expectations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">resources</a>,” the researchers emphasized in their paper.



These patterns of uplift can thus serve as indirect indicators of how much groundwater has been used or lost - a vital insight in a water-stressed country.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-land-uplift-follows-el-nino-cycles">Land uplift follows El Niño cycles</h2>



Climate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wealthier-nations-set-bold-climate-targets-but-citizens-give-less/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">patterns</a> provided further support. South Africa’s rainy seasons are closely tied to El Niño and La Niña events. These oceanic shifts alternate between warm, dry years and cool, wet ones. 



The researchers found that land uplift followed dry El Niño phases and slowed or reversed during wetter La Niña periods.



Time-series data revealed that water loss correlated strongly with El Niño events in 2002, 2015, and 2019. Conversely, La Niña years such as 2010 and 2021 showed increases in water mass. These trends confirmed that the uplift wasn’t random - it followed the rhythm of precipitation.



In the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, GNSS stations displayed high correlation with hydrological models. Correlation coefficients reached 90% with GLWS and 94% with GLDAS-Noah in some locations. These alignments confirmed that the uplift reflected hydrological rather than geodynamic changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-drought-drives-south-africa-s-rising-land">Drought drives South Africa’s rising land </h2>



For decades, scientists suspected that mantle plumes - especially the Quathlamba hotspot - were pushing South Africa upward. While these features still exist, their influence on current land motion appears limited.



“We believe that it also possible that a loss of groundwater and surface water is responsible for the land uplift,” said Karegar.



The team did not dismiss mantle flow entirely. Some uplift could still result from deep Earth <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pests-are-moving-to-cooler-regions-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">processes</a>. But their data showed that hydrological changes accounted for most of the recent vertical movement. A region’s elevation rose or fell in step with drought severity.



The analysis ruled out tectonic activity as the main cause. Earthquakes in South Africa are rare, and the crustal strain rate is minimal. Instead, the findings support a view where surface processes - not deep mantle forces - dominate short-term land deformation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gps-tracks-hidden-water-loss">GPS tracks hidden water loss </h2>



With water scarcity expected to worsen under climate change, the ability to track groundwater loss is vital. 



Current drought monitoring systems rely on rainfall, vegetation, or surface water. But these can miss the hidden reservoir: groundwater. That’s where GPS-based monitoring becomes revolutionary.



GNSS offers a cheap, passive way to detect unseen changes beneath our feet. It doesn’t require drilling wells or installing new satellites. The infrastructure already exists. With improved processing and station density, GNSS could transform how countries like South Africa prepare for water shortages.



Despite sparse coverage in regions like the Northern Cape, the results still delivered valuable insights.



Compared to similar studies in the United States, South Africa has fewer GNSS sites. This results in lower‐quality estimates of total water storage. Yet the study also showed that even limited networks can yield high-value information.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warning-signs-from-a-drying-earth">Warning signs from a drying Earth</h2>



The success of this study suggests a path forward. Expanding the GNSS network into under-monitored areas could improve national drought forecasting. It could also help verify water policies, especially those aimed at managing aquifer extraction.



Services like the United Nations African Flood and Drought Monitor and ESA’s ANIN project aim to improve drought tracking. 



But GNSS-based hydrogeodesy brings something unique: the ability to measure total water storage, including the deep underground reserves that satellites can’t see.



“This effect can be used to record the extent of a drought more precisely than ever before – using a method that is comparatively inexpensive and requires less effort,” Mielke explained.



In a world where water grows scarcer each year, these ground motions are more than geological curiosities. They’re warning signs - gentle but persistent - that tell of the urgency of a drying Earth.



The study is published in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JB030350" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth</a>. 



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South Africa is literally rising out of the ocean, scientists think they know why

In the age of climate extremes, Earth is sending signals we can now decode. Across South Africa, scientists have noticed an unusual phenomenon: the land is rising. This isn’t a minor wobble or a passing shift. Measurements show consistent uplift of up to two millimeters per year in many regions. It’s slow, silent, and until recently, misunderstood. For decades, researchers believed that mantle activity, such as the presence of a deep-seated plume, explained this movement. The idea fit well with established geophysical models. But recent findings from...

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Subtropical weather in Cornwall could mean exotic new crops. The subtropical weather in Cornwall means new exotic crops such as quinoa and Japanese persimmon are now more likely to succeed, according to a new technique developed by University of Exeter experts to monitor the climate.

Parts of Cornwall have become subtropical since 2000 and this could create opportunities to grow new, unusual plants. Sunflowers, maize, grapevines and tea are already grown in the Duchy.

Researchers from the Environment and Sustainability Institute in Penryn, Cornwall, have developed new techniques for modelling local microclimates. The models capture the effects of terrain, sea temperatures, altitude and soil properties to predict local temperatures, which can differ greatly from those measured at weather stations.

Using these models, they have been able to identify particularly mild parts of the landscape that would be most suitable for growing unusual crops associated with warmer climates. Sheltered coastal valleys are often buffered from the coldest temperatures by the more stable sea temperatures, and south-facing slopes are often up to 15 degrees warmer than the surrounding landscape.

The model shows that the amount by which temperatures have increased over the last 40 years has varied across the county, as Cornwall has become sunnier as well as warmer, but some locations have benefited from this more than others.

Dr Ilya Maclean, a Senior Lecturer in Natural<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lakes-green-environment/"> Environment</a> who lead the research, said: "While sub-tropical conditions may create opportunities to grow exotic crops, the lower frequency of frosts is also making Cornwall more susceptible to invasive species. As the temperatures continue to warm, we need to ensure we manage the risks carefully as well as capitalising on the opportunities. This will require scientists to continue to work hand-in-hand with the horticultural sector."

The techniques build on those first developed by geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha, of Cornish-American descent, who in 1966 developed the world famous classification system for grouping climates into polar, boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical.

Using this system, regions in which temperatures are 10ºC or greater for 4-7 months of the year are considered temperate, and those with temperatures of 10ºC or greater for more than 7 months of the year are considered subtropical. At that time the system was developed Cornwall lay firmly in the temperate zone.

Climate change impacts and adaptive strategies: lessons from the grapevine is published in the journal Global Change Biology.


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Subtropical weather in Cornwall could mean exotic new crops

Subtropical weather in Cornwall could mean exotic new crops. The...

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Movie shows Tropical Cyclone Blas fading. An animation of visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite from July 9 to July 11 shows Tropical Cyclone Blas weakening to a remnant followed by a strengthening Tropical Cyclone Celia.

The animation shows that Blas had weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression by 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Sunday, July 10, 2016. At that time, maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 35 mph (55 kph).NOAA manages the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, and NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland uses the data from them to create images and animations.

By 11 a.m. EDT on July 10 Blas was considered a post-tropical storm. At that time, the center of Post-Tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/tropical-cyclone-eloise-in-the-mozambique-channel/">Cyclone</a> Blas was located near 21.3 north latitude and 136.3 west longitude. The post-tropical cyclone was moving toward the west near 10 mph (17 kph).

By July 11, Blas' remnants were growing weaker and still moving in a westerly direction in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The remnants are expected to dissipate in a couple of days. Atlantic Pronunciation Guide (PDF) Since 1953, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=atlantic+ocean&amp;cvid=c5aa8d42b04340f88e5891d94429d1c4&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Atlantic</a> tropical storms had been named from lists originatedby the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated througha strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The six lists above are used in rotation and re-cycled every six years, i.e., the 2019 list will be used again in 2025. The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadlyor costly that the future use.


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Movie shows Tropical Cyclone Blas fading

&nbsp; Movie shows Tropical Cyclone Blas fading. An animation of...

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Study: Changes in cloud patterns are warming the planet. Scientists have found that changes in cloud patterns during the last three decades match those predicted by climate model simulations. These cloud changes are likely to have had a warming effect on the planet.

Records of cloudiness from satellites originally designed to monitor weather are plagued by erroneous variability related to changes in satellite orbit, instrument calibration and other factors, so the team used a new technique to remove the variability from the records. The corrected satellite records exhibited large-scale patterns of cloud change between the 1980s and 2000s that are consistent with climate model predictions, including poleward retreat of mid-latitude storm tracks, expansion of subtropical dry zones and increasing height of the highest cloud tops.

The research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, Riverside and Colorado State University appears in the July 11 edition of the journal, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-walks-help-relieve-work-related-stress/">Nature</a>.

"What this paper brings to the table is the first credible demonstration that the cloud changes we expect from climate models and theory are currently happening," said study lead author Joel Norris, a climate researcher at Scripps.

Clouds substantially impact Earth's energy budget by reflecting solar radiation back to space (the albedo effect) and by restricting emission of thermal radiation to space. Most of the uncertainty in how much the planet will warm in response to greenhouse gas emissions is due to uncertainty in how clouds will respond and impact Earth's energy budget.

"After the spurious trends were removed, we saw consistent responses among several independent datasets and with model simulations," said Mark Zelinka, an LLNL scientist and co-author of the paper. "That is a nice confirmation of the models' predictions, at least for the types of cloud changes that models agree on."

The authors also were able to assess the causes of the observed cloud trends using a variety of climate model simulations with and without influences of humans, volcanoes and other factors.

"If models are correct, the observed cloud trends are very unlikely to have been caused by natural climate variability," said Stephen Klein, another LLNL scientist involved in the research. "Rather, we found that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and a recovery from volcanic radiative cooling are the primary causes in these decades."

The scientists expect the cloud trends to continue in the future as the planet continues to warm due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.
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The research is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy Office of Science and NASA.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national security laboratory, with a mission to ensure national security and apply science and technology to the important issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

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Study: Changes in cloud patterns are warming the planet

Study: Changes in cloud patterns are warming the planet. Scientists...

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Ocean warming exacerbates impact on calcareous phytoplankton. Two new studies recently published in Limnology &amp; Oceanography and Biogeosciences report that ocean warming may exacerbate the impacts of ocean acidification on calcareous phytoplankton, and its evolutionary success and physiological performance will be hampered.

The oceans have absorbed more than a quarter of the human-made carbon dioxide (CO2) in the last century, changing the chemistry of the ocean and resulting in 'ocean acidification'. A rise in average temperatures is also warming the sea surface. The risks posed by warming and acidification are expected to become more acute in the next decades, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">CO2</a> emissions into the atmosphere are increasing.

Coccolithophores is a very abundant calcifying phytoplankton group which plays a major role in the biogeochemical cycle and in the regulation of the global climate. These tiny algae which measure less than one hundredth of a millimeter "form the basis of the aquatic <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/trophic-rewilding-climate-change/">trophic</a> chain, and through calcification and photosynthesis coccolithophores regulate atmospheric and oceanic CO2 levels", says Dr Patrizia Ziveri, ICREA researcher at ICTA-UAB and author of the study. The effects of acidification - and in particular warming - are rarely considered for the organism itself, and there is very little knowledge on how warming and acidification combined may affect the physiological performance or evolutionary success of coccolithophores.

Therefore, it was the aim of the team to investigate not only how temperature affects the impact of acidification on the cocolithophores, but also on the sinking rate and coccolithophores morphogenesis. A culture experiment was conducted on Mediterranean Sea and North Pacific Ocean strains of Emiliania huxleyi, the most abundant coccolitophore species.

Using scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, the researchers show in their study that there will be an increase in the percentage of malformed and incomplete coccoliths in a warmer and more acidified ocean. This will hamper the evolutionary success of these calcifiers and their role in regulating atmospheric carbon.

Since coccolithophores need to stay in the photic zone of the oceans, their sinking velocity affects their survival rate. Nothing is known about the response of coccolithophores to acidification and warming in terms of sinking rate, because it had been impossible to estimate sinking rate in the framework of a typical laboratory experiment. The team used a novel approach to calculate sinking rate from cell-architecture and showed that an increase in temperature will lead to an increase in sinking rate. Hence, the faster sinking for the organism itself has an impact on future global carbon cycling and therewith on atmospheric levels of CO2 and global climate.
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This work was funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 265103 (project MedSeA), the European Research Council (ERC grant 2010-NEWLOG ADG-267931 HE), the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant NE/N011708/1) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (MERS, 2014 SGR - 1356). This work is contributing to the ICTA-UAB 'María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence' (MinECo, MDM2015-0552).

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Ocean warming exacerbates impact on calcareous phytoplankton

Ocean warming exacerbates impact on calcareous phytoplankton. Two new studies...

Sea level rise is causing health issues. The Florida Institute for Health Innovation released a report today on communities from Palm Beach to Key West with the greatest risk for adverse health effects of sea level rise. In conjunction with the South Florida Regional Planning Council and Florida Atlantic University's Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Institute for Health Innovation mapped zones most prone to environmental sea level rise impacts, described associated public health risks and identified the region's socially, economically and medically vulnerable communities most susceptible to sea level rise health effects.
Using an innovative public health framework developed by the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/florida-and-the-everglades-national-park/">Florida</a> Institute for Health Innovation, the research provides a foundation for health-related climate change studies. It informs adaptation, mitigation and infrastructure planning and provides a new method for linking socio-economic vulnerability and health risks to climate change effects. It also includes a tool kit with recommendations for local decision makers and planners. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=sea&amp;cvid=c7a7d8a90aa8478ea40290a49e47523a&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Sea</a> level rise is causing health issues

Funded by the Kresge Foundation, the study findings provide significant indicators for communities and their socio-economic levels. It is also the beginning of better detection and monitoring of vector-borne illnesses such as the Zika virus and chikungunya fever.

"Sea level rise represents an unexpected public health concern," said Roderick King, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation. "We normally think of populations with the lowest socio-economic status as being the most vulnerable, due to lack of financial resources to pay for health care. In the case of sea level rise, the most vulnerable turn out to be the wealthier populations who can afford to live close to the ocean. They may also be older, with health issues that require regular treatment, and if they can't access health care because the streets are flooded, it poses a significant problem."

A result of two years of cross-sector research and outreach, the study, titled Health and Sea-level rise: Impacts on South Florida, serves as a guide for all coastal communities. Newly established vulnerability indicators include flooding risk; educational attainment, income and race; emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pneumonia, giardiasis, and healthcare access. Using these results, researchers mapped "hot-spots" in the region to be considered for Adaptation Action Areas, governmentally designated areas that experience sea-level rise impacts and coastal flooding.

Director of FAU's Center for Environmental Studies, Colin Polsy, Ph.D. stated: "The human health impacts from climate change is a relatively under-researched area, especially as applied to South Florida. The report reflects a significant positive step towards improving South Florida's coastal resilience with applicability to other regions."

Providing a next step for regional resiliency planning, the study directly addresses multiple recommendations outlined in the 2012 Regional Climate Action Plan led by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.

"This is an important new study that will support ongoing regional and local resilience planning initiatives," stated Jim Murley, Chief Resilience Officer for Miami-Dade County. "It informs our efforts by stressing the link between climate change impacts and public health."

###

The research team will host a webinar discussion of findings, methodology and implications for resiliency late summer, early fall. To receive webinar notifications and other briefings on the subject, please email info@flhealthinnovation.org.

About the Florida Institute for Health Innovation

The Florida Institute for Health Innovation (FIHI) believes that today's health challenges require a new way of working based on shared leadership, aligning root causes and strategy, and measurable results. A nonprofit public health institute, FIHI aims to achieve health equity for Florida's most vulnerable by addressing upstream factors that contribute to health. FIHI's mission states: Creating healthy and sustainable communities by championing innovative public health policy and cross-sector collaboration. They achieve this by facilitating data-driven, results- based collaborative action; conducting community-focused research, providing impartial analysis of policy health impacts and communicating accessibly. To learn more, visit http://www.flhealthinnovation.org.

Contact information:

Florida Institute for Health Innovation
2701 North Australian Ave., Suite 204; West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 838-4444
info@flhealthinnovation.org
http://www.flhealthinnovation.org
Twitter: @flhealthinnova
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flhealthinnov

Sea level rise is causing health issues

Sea level rise is causing health issues. The Florida Institute...

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The environmental impacts of crime. Recent research by the University of Surrey's <a href="http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ces/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centre for Environmental Strategy</a> has found that despite policy makers currently examining the economic and social impacts of crime, the environmental impacts have not, to date, been included.

The study, published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, estimates the carbon footprint of crime. It was conducted by a UK-based research team led by an engineering doctorate student, Helen Skudder, in the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey. The environmental impacts of crime

The authors use a complex method of quantification--applying carbon emissions factors to the monetized costs of crime using environmentally-extended input-output analysis. This allowed them to estimate the carbon footprint of crime committed in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-footprints-oldest-england/">England</a> and Wales in 2011. They found it to be over 4 million metric tonne s CO2e, equivalent to the carbon emissions of around 900,000 UK homes.

Of the offence types considered, burglary resulted in the largest proportion of the total footprint (30%) due to large volume of offences and the carbon associated with replacing stolen or damaged goods. Criminal justice system services (policing, prisons and courts) also accounted for a large proportion of the total footprint (21% of all crime and 49% of police recorded offences).

The limitations to the findings are particularly interesting and predominantly result from the footprinting methodology. Although it is tempting to conclude from the research that crime reduction will automatically result in a reduction of carbon emissions, this is not necessarily the case, due to the rebound effect. That is, the study considered how money currently spent addressing crime might be spent in the absence of crime. By comparing the carbon emissions associated with this re-spending of the money with the carbon footprint of crime, it was found that the most likely rebound effect would be an increase in emissions of around 2%.

Author Helen Skudder, of the University of Surrey, said "Although there are limitations to the methodology, we've highlighted some interesting findings, such as the large proportion of the footprint which arises due to burglaries. Looking at burglary in more detail, we find that emissions not only arise from policing and the criminal justice system response to crime, but also that the carbon arising due to replacement of stolen items is significant. The analysis illustrates the complex ways that institutions in society and the associated economic activity shape the impact we have on our climate. We have shown that it is possible to take into account the environmental implications of crime alongside the social and economic costs, as part of crime prevention policy appraisals".
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The article, "Addressing the Carbon-Crime Blind Spot: A Carbon Footprint Approach" is freely downloadable <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.12457/epdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Media enquiries: Ashley Lovell, Media Relations Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: 01483 686141 or E-mail: <a href="mailto:a.lovell@surrey.ac.uk">a.lovell@surrey.ac.uk</a>

Notes to Editors:

About the University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is one of the UK's leading professional, scientific and technological universities with a world-class research profile and a reputation for excellence in teaching. Ground-breaking research at the University is bringing direct benefit to all spheres of life - helping industry to maintain its competitive edge and creating improvements in the areas of health, medicine, space science, the environment, communications, defence and social policy. Programmes in science and technology have gained widespread recognition and it also boasts flourishing programmes in dance and music, social sciences, management and languages and law.

In addition to the campus on 150 hectares just outside Guildford, Surrey, the University also owns and runs the Surrey Research Park, which provides facilities for 110 companies employing 2,750 staff.

The University of Surrey was named University of the Year by the Times and Sunday Times, both overall and for 'Student Experience', and achieved a top-five ranking in the Guardian University Guide 2017.

For more information about the University and its work, visit <a href="http://www.surrey.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.surrey.ac.uk</a>

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The environmental impacts of crime

The environmental impacts of crime. Recent research by the University...

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Typhoon Nepartak dropped almost 20 inches of rain. Typhoon Nepartak was a powerful category four tropical typhoon when it hit Taiwan last week but weakened to a tropical storm as it moved into the Taiwan Strait. NASA calculated the heavy rainfall the typhoon brought to Taiwan and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/historic-flooding-has-killed-hundreds-across-china/">China</a> before it dissipated over southeastern China.

Nepartak's winds and heavy rains caused severe problems when it moved ashore over southeastern China. Thousands of homes in China were destroyed by the storm. At least three deaths in Taiwan and six fatalities in China were attributed to Nepartak. Torrential rain caused flash flooding and mudslides in both Taiwan and China. Typhoon Nepartak dropped almost 20 inches of rain

<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=nasa&amp;cvid=7483842c389943f5b116a82e2e9bc57f&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">NASA's</a> Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM mission (IMERG) were used to estimate the total amount of rain that Nepartak dropped over Taiwan and southeastern China. Totals were estimated during the period from July 3 through July 10, 2016 when the typhoon moved through the western Pacific. IMERG estimates indicated that the typhoon dropped over 500 mm (19.7 inches) in some areas. Even greater rainfall totals were calculated in areas of China and southern Japan that were not directly affected by typhoon Nepartak.


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Typhoon Nepartak dropped almost 20 inches of rain

Typhoon Nepartak dropped almost 20 inches of rain. Typhoon Nepartak...

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Gas causing ground to rise near Mount Vesuvius volcano. New work by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/virus-killing-dolphins/">Italian</a> geochemists seems to indicate that the current ground movement around one of the world's most dangerous volcano systems may be due to gas pressure, and not because of a surge of volcanic magma. This work was recently presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Yokohama, Japan (30 June 2016).

The Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields), just across the Bay of Naples from the famous Vesuvius volcano, is amongst the most dangerous volcanos on <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth+wiki&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=HS&amp;cvid=197419b1fd0e4faab09bac8a8c043c41&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemEfleM0HF8bdm1Pd6C0xc49T3*BQd5YYqegbJpmu*JbdftEw98VI*hZAfiFFzcD9lI&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Earth</a>. In the past it has been capable of a "VEI 7" eruption (Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7, meaning that it has produced an explosive eruption even bigger than the famous Krakatoa eruption of 1883). However, this was around 40,000 years ago. The last eruption, "VEI 2" occurred in 1538 AD.

Because of the geological instability in the area, the land in this area can rise and fall by several metres over just a few years, a phenomenon known as Bradyseism. The last few years have seen the ground in the area begin to rise again, with a 38 cm rise recorded since late 2005*. There have been worries that this may presage an eruption.

The last serious geological unrest in the area was in 1982-84, which saw ground levels rise by up to 1.8m. Most scientists think that the movement in this period was caused by mixed magmatic- hydrothermal activity (although some recent papers in the geochemical literature have suggested a major role for hydrothermal processes supported by deep magmatic gases, with pressurised water causing the land to rise). On the other hand, consensus exists that the current activity is caused by molten magma movement and accumulation under the Campi - which carries a greater risk of an eruption. Now however, a group of Geochemists from Second University of Naples and the Vesuvius Observatory think that the consensus has got it exactly the wrong way round.

Lead researcher, Professor Roberto Moretti (Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli) commented:

"Everyone accepts the geochemical evidence that current activity has different causes to that of 1982-84. Most geochemists are now showing that the 1982-84 movement was caused by hydrothermal activity and the current activity is caused by magma, but we think that it's exactly the other way round. We have checked geochemical records going back over more than 30 years, and our ongoing interpretation - looking at released gases and physical signals - seem to be consistent with current activity being hydrothermal, with the support of deep magmatic gases, rather than due to magma migration or growth of a shallow (3-4 km deep) magma chamber. We believe that this magma dynamics characterized the 1982-84 episode.Gas causing ground to rise near Mount Vesuvius volcano

This is apparently better news, at least for now; activity in which magma moves upward and accumulates tends to be associated with an increased chance of an eruption. However the change from hydrothermal to magmatic activity can take place at any time, so we're not in a position to say that everything is well under the Campi Flegrei. The Campi Flegrei is still a very volatile place. What it does show is the difficulty in interpreting the data, even from one of the most-studied volcanic areas in the world. Reconciling all of the data is a major issue, despite our efforts.

Achieving such a unique and consistent interpretation would probably require direct access to underground geochemical, geophysical and geochemical information in the areas of interest. However, there is still a debate over the safety of drilling in such a volatile area".

Commenting, Professor Jon Blundy (University of Bristol) said:

"Interpreting the causes of ground movement at restless volcanoes is an enduring problem for volcanologists. Both hot gases (steam) and magma are candidate causes, but with quite different implications for future eruptive activity. Moretti and others make a compelling case for gas, rather than magma, as the cause of the latest bradyseisms at Campi Flegrei. Their methods could be used at other restless volcanoes where there is evidence of ground uplift"


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Gas causing ground to rise near Mount Vesuvius volcano

Gas causing ground to rise near Mount Vesuvius volcano. New...

Carbon Dioxide

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New method to store carbon dioxide deep underground. Scientists have found an inexpensive way to monitor the storage of the most common greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide - deep underground.

Successful trials of their method at a site in Australia will inform the development of <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/carbon-is-the-basis-for-all-life-on-our-planet/">Carbon</a> Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, in which CO2 from power stations and industrial sources is held deep underground, to prevent emissions from contributing to climate change.

In the first experiment of its kind, researchers studied the different forms of oxygen in waters sampled from rocks deep below ground at the storage site in the Otway Basin, in south eastern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=australia&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=fb6c1e791558406ca3ef6d925796e2a3&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNqIbOEKEZbuUqFXmqcpemE8HmDlKQIjBSv1FYbv4LOfm2z499WfxHyqGGAQRik9r%21EcBfh9YuFwS39zsw5PYAF&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Australia</a>.

They found that the reservoir's waters changed their oxygen composition when in contact with bubbles of trapped CO2. Testing samples of water for this altered form of oxygen provides a simple way to measure the amount of CO2 stored within the rock.

The study shows that injected CO2 is very quickly retained in the underground rocks, with CO2 being locked away like air being trapped within a foam sponge. The research was carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh and Australian research organisation CO2CRC.

Researchers say their technique provides an inexpensive monitoring solution, as they need only measure only CO2 injected into a site and water samples from before and after injection to find out how much CO2 is trapped.

The study, published in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, was supported by the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre and CO2CRC.

Dr Sascha Serno, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said: "Our results highlight the promising potential of using oxygen compositions to monitor the fate of CO2 injected underground. This method is simple and cheap, and can be easily combined with other monitoring techniques for CCS projects in the UK and beyond."

Dr Stuart Gilfillan, also of the School of GeoSciences, the study co-ordinator, said: "Understanding the fate of CO2 injected into the underground for storage is essential for engineering secure CO2 stores. Our work with our Australian partners paves the way for better understanding of the fate of CO2 when we inject it underground."


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New method to store carbon dioxide deep underground

New method to store carbon dioxide deep underground. Scientists have...

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Hurricane Celia is seen headed for the Central Pacific Ocean. The Suomi NPP and Aqua satellites captured visible and infrared data on Hurricane Celia as it continues to head west toward the Central <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dust-asia-fertilizes-north-pacific/">Pacific Ocean</a>.

Hurricane Celia is currently in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, but once it passes west of 140 degrees west longitude, warnings on the system will be issued by NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

On July 11 at 22:05 UTC (6:05 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA-DOD's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Hurricane Celia that showed a cloud-filled eye with powerful bands of thunderstorms wrapping around the low level center. The VIIRS image also showed a large band of thunderstorms that extended to the south, wrapping into the storms' eastern quadrant.Hurricane Celia is seen headed for the Central Pacific Ocean

On July 11 at 21:29 UTC (5:29 p.m. EDT) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data of Celia's cloud top temperatures. The data was made into a false-colored image that showed the coldest, strongest, highest thunderstorm cloud tops in purple wrapping around the center. The color indicated that those thunderstorm tops were as cold as minus 63 Fahrenheit (minus 53 Celsius). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> research has shown that storms that high in the atmosphere have the ability to generate heavy rain.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on July 12 the center of Hurricane Celia was located near 16.2 north latitude and 127.9 west longitude. That's about 1,260 miles (2,025 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. It was moving to the west-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph) and NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Celia to turn toward the northwest later today, with this motion continuing Tuesday night and Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds were near 100 mph (155 kph).

NHC forecasts weakening over the next two days and Celia could weaken to a tropical storm on Wednesday.


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Hurricane Celia is seen headed for the Central Pacific Ocean

Hurricane Celia is seen headed for the Central Pacific Ocean....

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Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic Ocean. Ice algae play a much greater role for the Arctic food web than previously assumed. In a new study, biologists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/marine-species-are-moving-away-from-the-equator/">Marine</a> Research (AWI) showed that not only animals that live directly under the ice thrive on carbon produced by so-called ice algae. Even species that mostly live at greater depth depend to a large extent on carbon from these algae. This also means that the decline of the Arctic sea ice may have far-reaching consequences for the entire food web of the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=arctic+ocean&amp;FORM=EDGENA&amp;PC=HCTS&amp;refig=e67e02a78cb6408faaccf7ab66a410e8">Arctic Ocean</a>. Their results have been published online now in the journal Limnology &amp; Oceanography.

The summer sea ice in the Arctic is diminishing at a rapid pace and with it the habitat of ice algae. The consequences of this decline for the Arctic ecosystem are difficult to predict. Scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research showed the significance of ice algae for the Arctic food web in this context. "A number of studies have already speculated that ice algae are an important energy source for the polar ecosystems. We have now been able to show that not only animals associated with ice meet the majority of their carbon needs from ice algae, but that, surprisingly, so do species that mostly live at greater depths," says lead author Doreen Kohlbach.Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic Ocean

In a new study, she and her colleagues examined copepods, amphipods, crustaceans and sea angels from the central Arctic Ocean and their dependence on ice algae. A number of these species use the underside of the sea ice as their habitat. Many other species of zooplankton, however, spend their entire lives floating in water depths up to 1000 metres and more.

"We now know that ice algae play a much more important role for the pelagic food web than previously assumed. This finding also means, however, that the decline of the ice could have a more profound impact on Arctic marine animals, including fish, seals and ultimately also polar bears, than hitherto suspected," says Doreen Kohlbach.

The AWI researcher was able to establish the close relationship between zooplankton and ice algae using fatty acids as biomarkers, which are passed on unchanged in the food chain. The typical fatty acids in ice algae are thus indicators of whether an animal has ingested carbon from ice algae via food. In order to precisely determine the proportion of ice algae carbon in the diet, Doreen Kohlbach also performed an isotope analysis of these biomarkers. The scientist took advantage of the fact that ice algae inherently have a higher proportion of heavy carbon isotopes incorporated in their cells than algae that float freely in the water. On the basis of the ratio of heavy to light carbon isotopes in the biomarkers it is possible to determine the exact proportion of carbon derived from ice algae in the organisms along the food web.

The result showed that ice-associated animals derive between 60 and 90 percent of their carbon from the ice. For animals living at greater depths, the percentages were between 20 and 50 - significantly higher than expected. "Personally, I was most surprised by the percentage in the predatory amphipod Themisto libellula, which lives in the open waters and is not known to hunt under the surface of the ice. We now know that it obtains up to 45 percent of its carbon from ice algae, which had been eaten by its prey," says AWI sea ice ecologist and co-author Dr Hauke Flores. "We found that pelagic copepods also obtain up to 50 percent from these algae, even though we had assumed that they mainly feed on algae from the water column," Hauke Flores continues.

These figures were also surprising in view of the fact that ice algae mainly grow in spring when little light penetrates the ice, which is still thick at that time of the year. The samples, however, were taken in the summer - and the percentage of ice algae carbon in the food chain was still relatively high. The AWI scientists now wonder what the figures look like at other times of the year. They are also interested in whether a greater distinction can be made between the various ice algae and whether perhaps there is a key alga.

Based on the new study, it is now possible to back up the flow of ice algae carbon through the summer food web in the central Arctic using specific figures. AWI biologists can use these figures in model calculations to assess the consequences of the sea ice decline for the Arctic ecosystem.


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Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic Ocean

Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic...

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El Niño climate patterns contributed to the warm blob that began dominating the Gulf of Alaska in late 2013, and later gripped the West Coast of North America in what became the Northeast Pacific's largest marine heatwave, according to a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3082.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a> published in Nature Climate Change today.

While the warm blob started in the Gulf of Alaska in 2013, its persistence and evolution into a much larger pattern of ocean warming in 2014 and 2015 involved long-distance "teleconnections" between the North and tropical <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=pacific&amp;cvid=5c70472f6b5b487babad9c9d087a10ed&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Pacific.</a> El Nino climate patterns contributed to the warm blob

"The bottom line is that El Niño had a hand in this even though we're talking about very long-distance influences," said Nate Mantua, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center and a coauthor of the new study. "It's been known for decades that El Niño causes changes in wind, weather, and ocean temperatures across the North Pacific through an 'atmospheric bridge,' where massive shifts in tropical rainfall influence storm tracks over the North Pacific and North America."

The new research found that the known climate patterns linked the tropical and temperate latitudes of the North Pacific Ocean, helping to fuel the extreme marine heatwave.El Nino climate patterns contributed to the warm blob

Climate models suggest that the extreme atmospheric conditions that gave rise to the warm blob could become more pronounced as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, the study found. The study was authored by Emanuele Di Lorenzo of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Mantua.

"Climate models predict that these kind of multi-year extremes become stronger in a warming climate," Mantua said. "But while the models show that they should get stronger as the earth's climate warms, it's not clear to us yet if that is now detectable in nature."

The heat wave emerged in the fall of 2013, when a ridge of high pressure dampened winds over the Gulf of Alaska, allowing a large section of the North Pacific to warm by up to 3 degrees C (about 5 degrees F) above average. It represented the highest temperature anomaly in the North Pacific in more than 100 years of records. The ridge came with weak winds in the subtropical Pacific near Hawaii, which is a known precursor of El Niño conditions that develop up to one year later.

The warm patch spread to fill the northeast Pacific between Hawaii and the West Coast of North America by the fall of 2014, shaking up the marine food chain and leading to sightings of warm-water species far outside of their normal range. The conditions led to die-offs of seabirds, mass strandings for California sea lion pups, and likely contributed in 2015 to the largest-ever harmful algal bloom recorded on the West Coast, closing fisheries for clams and Dungeness crab.

"While the socio-economic consequences of this climate event need to be further evaluated, it is possible that the northeast Pacific warm anomaly of 2014-15 is the most ecologically and economically significant marine heatwave on record," the researchers wrote.

A weak El Niño pattern that stalled out during the winter of 2014-15 contributed to the North Pacific's heatwave, according to a combination of climate observations and model simulations. That was followed by a second and much stronger El Niño pattern that emerged the following winter, with an "atmospheric bridge" concentrating the extended warmth of the Northeast Pacific Ocean in an arc-pattern along the West Coast from Alaska to Mexico.

The latest observations in July 2016 show that ocean temperatures near the coast of Southern and Baja California, around Alaska and in a wide offshore band between Hawaii and Alaska remain about 3 degrees C warmer than average. In contrast, there are colder than normal surface temperatures along coast of Northern California and Southern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unequal-treatment-protestors/">Oregon,</a> and in patches along the equator.

The latest seasonal forecasts from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center show that the cool waters in the tropical Pacific are likely to expand and that a La Niña pattern is likely to develop during the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2016, with about a 75% chance of La Niña during the fall and winter of 2016-17. La Niña would favor changes in wind, weather, and ocean currents that tend to cool the Northeast Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and North America.


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El Nino climate patterns contributed to the warm blob

El Niño climate patterns contributed to the warm blob that...

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



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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

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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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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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



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



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NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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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

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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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