Let's be honest – the whole idea of a "perfect" <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-often-feel-lonely-burnt-out-parenting-demands/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parent</a> is absurd. No matter how polished those Instagram snapshots or how organized your neighbor seems, no parent has it all together, all the time. Yet, the constant pressure to achieve some mythical ideal of perfect parenting is taking its toll on families everywhere and causing parental burnout in excess.



A new study from <a href="https://nursing.osu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Ohio State University College of Nursing</a>, summarized in the report "The Power of Positive Parenting: Evidence to Help Parents and Their Children Thrive," shows how damaging this "perfect" parent obsession can be.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-burnout-epidemic-impacting-parents">Burnout epidemic impacting parents</h2>



"We have high expectations for ourselves as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-are-not-strongly-inherited-from-parents/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parents</a>; we have high expectations for what our kids should be doing. Then on the flipside, you're comparing yourself to other people, other families, and there's a lot of judgment that goes on. And whether it's intended or not, it's still there," says Kate Gawlik, DNP, an associate clinical professor at Ohio State's College of Nursing, and one of the study's lead researchers.



The study revealed a truly startling fact: a whopping 57% of the 700 surveyed parents reported feeling burned out. So, what's behind this overwhelming feeling? 



Today's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parents-spend-the-most-time-on-devices-but-nature-offers-a-solution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parents</a> face a barrage of pressures, both from within and from society at large. They struggle to live up to their own ideals about what a "good parent" should be, while simultaneously feeling judged by others. The constant struggle to meet everyone's expectations - whether about keeping a spotless home, providing the perfect play experiences, or raising high-achieving children - is draining.



In our current society, achievement and success are celebrated (and sometimes even expected) from a very early age. This "culture of achievement" puts pressure on parents to push their kids to excel in all areas. They enroll children in multiple structured activities, hoping to give them every possible advantage. 



However, this often backfires, replacing relaxing family time and the freedom of unstructured play with stressful schedules and added pressure for everyone involved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-impact-on-kids-beyond-parent-burnout">Impact on kids beyond parent burnout</h2>



Sadly, the problems don't stop with parental burnout. The study reveals worrying trends in children's mental health.



Parental burnout doesn't exist in a vacuum. The study found a direct link between burned-out parents and a greater likelihood of their children developing mental health issues. Children of these parents were more likely to experience anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other mental health challenges.



When parents are feeling completely overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted, it's incredibly difficult to respond to their children's needs with patience and understanding. Burnout can lead to harsh verbal reactions fueled by anger or criticism. 



It can even, in some cases, lead to physical punishment. These negative interactions are deeply harmful, further escalating the child's mental health struggles and creating a vicious cycle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-positive-parenting-a-better-way-to-handle-parental-burnout">Positive parenting: A better way to handle parental burnout</h2>



So, what's a tired, well-meaning parent to do? The Ohio State experts say forget about perfection. Instead, focus on "positive parenting" with a few key strategies:



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-connection-over-chaos">Connection over chaos</h3>



Instead of striving for a picture-perfect home, focus on building strong, loving relationships with your children. This means making time for genuine conversations, active listening, and shared experiences. 



Accept that sometimes – maybe even often – the house will be a little messy in favor of those precious moments of connection.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-catch-negative-thoughts">Catch negative thoughts</h3>



Parenting is full of doubt: "Am I doing this right?" or "Am I failing as a parent?" It's easy for such worries to spiral into negative self-talk and unrealistic expectations that set you up for failure. 



Develop the habit of recognizing negative thought patterns. Actively challenge them and replace them with kinder, more realistic internal narratives.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-re-adjust-priorities">Re-adjust priorities</h3>



Take an honest inventory of how you and your family spend your time and energy. Are there commitments or obligations that are draining your family's happiness without bringing true fulfillment in return? Don't be afraid to give yourself permission to let those things go, freeing up valuable time and emotional space for the things that truly matter.



"'Positive parenting is when you give your children a lot of love and warmth, but you also provide structure and guidance in their life. You gently teach them consequences of behaviors. So that is a much better goal to shoot for being a positive parent than a perfect parent,'" explains Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion and chief wellness officer at Ohio State.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-self-care-isn-t-selfish">Self-care isn't selfish</h2>



It's like the old "put your oxygen mask on before assisting others" advice on airplanes. "As parents, we can't keep pouring from an empty cup. If children see their parents taking good self-care, the chances are they're going to grow up with that value as well. It has a ripple effect to the children and to the entire family," notes Dr. Melnyk.



Let's cut this "perfect parent" myth down to size. You are not failing if you sometimes feel lost or tired. Parenting is hard! What truly matters is being present, loving, and modeling healthy behaviors for your child. "I would much rather have a happy kid than a perfect kid," says Gawlik.



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Parents report excess burnout due to unrealistic expectations

Let's be honest – the whole idea of a "perfect" parent is absurd. No matter how polished those Instagram snapshots or how organized your neighbor seems, no parent has it all together, all the time. Yet, the constant pressure to achieve some mythical ideal of perfect parenting is taking its toll on families everywhere and causing parental burnout in excess. A new study from The Ohio State University College of Nursing, summarized in the report "The Power of Positive Parenting: Evidence to Help Parents and Their Children...

Ice Sculpture Festivals Are Being Cancelled Due To Warm Weather. Ice sculptures really aren't cut out for this kind of balmy November weather.
Just a few weeks ahead of global climate change talks in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/inconsistent-paris-agreement-pledges/">Paris</a>, ice sculpture festivals in Western Europe are feeling the impact of an unusually warm November.
In Bruges, at the Ice Sculpture Festival, it means soaring energy bills to keep temperatures at minus 16 degrees Celsius (3 Fahrenheit), while outside, people are soaking up the sun at 16 C (61 Fahrenheit) instead of previous monthly averages of 10 degrees less. For the artists, the temperature shocks have meant sniffles and colds.Ice Sculpture Festivals Are Being Cancelled Due To Warm Weather
"The winter is coming later and later," said Ice Magic's managing director Francis Vandendorpe, who has been organizing the festival since 1999.
Scientists say the global average temperature has risen by about 0.8 degrees Celsius since the industrial revolution and new weather records in most European countries - precipitation or temperatures, by month or years - keep being set. The issue will be discussed at a major U.N. climate conference in Paris that opens Nov. 30.
In Belgium, tourists are still enjoying warm sunshine on the restaurant terraces of Bruges deep in November. One famed brewer has had to postpone beer production because of the balmy weather, and a chocolate maker was hampered in his attempt to break the world record for the biggest chocolate coin because the paste won't harden fast enough.
"People are expecting winter, but they don't get winter," said Vandendorpe. His 12 cool compressors in his special thermo-isolated hall are working overtime as sculptors from several nations chip, chisel and saw away ahead of the Nov. 20 opening. "Now we can't give them a break because the outside temperature is too high."
Vandendorpe said his energy bill is expected to be close to 40,000 euros (US$ 43,000) for the six-week festival, almost 10,000 euros more than he anticipated. He said a similar festival in Metz, France faced the same problem.
Inside the hall, artist Kim Arents was working on huge slabs of ice to turn them into something recognizable for a festival that will feature anything from Vikings to bumble bees and even an ice-cold super-king-size bed that will be available for 500 euros a night. Like many others, the frequent hot-cold-hot trips inside and out have affected him.
"You get sick from it. People are getting runny noses and it's pretty hard going. Outside it is too warm, working inside it's too cold," he said.
---
Video journalist Mark Carlson contributed to this report.
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Ice Sculpture Festivals Are Being Cancelled Due To Warm Weather

Ice Sculpture Festivals Are Being Cancelled Due To Warm Weather....

Tension Builds Before Paris Climate Talks. It's the elephant in the negotiating room that few officials want to acknowledge: Whatever international deal comes out of Paris climate talks, it likely won't be a treaty that needs ratification by a reluctant Republican U.S. Congress.
That's not the only complication in Paris. China, the U.S. and India don't want the international community dictating their carbon dioxide emissions, but they do want to do something about ever escalating greenhouse gas levels and the rising temperatures they cause. So they have to come up with an agreement that doesn't dictate binding, internationally set targets or require<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/releasing-a-virus-is-not-the-solution-to-australias-invasive-carp-problem/"> U.S. Senate</a> approval - and yet gets the job done. At least partly.Tension Builds Before Paris Climate Talks
To do so, they must reach a pact that has as many twists and turns as a pretzel.
"It's a reality that the world is coming to grips with," former Vice President Al Gore said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. "The design of the Paris negotiation is really driven in large part by the desire to get an agreement that does not have to go through the treaty ratification process. It's all perfectly legal."
Earlier this month at a press briefing a few blocks from the White House, U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres was asked about Republican opposition to possible Paris climate agreements. Her response was a shrug and a dismissive, "Yeah, fine."
But on Thursday, the carefully crafted dance to avoid the Senate exploded into a bit of international confusion.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told The Financial Times that the agreement was "definitely not going to be a treaty" and there was "not going to be legally binding reduction targets." That prompted French president Francois Hollande to object and say "if the deal is not legally binding, there is no accord."
And here's the twist: Both Kerry and Hollande can be right, said Nigel Purvis, an international lawyer who was a top environmental diplomat and international negotiator for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It's an issue of definitions and the way an agreement is framed, said Purvis, who is president of the non-governmental organization Climate Advisers.
The U.S. Constitution and the rest of the world have different definitions of the word "treaty," Purvis said. Elsewhere, a treaty is a binding agreement. But in the U.S., there are several types of international agreements and only 6 percent of them end up being formal treaties that require Senate approval, he said. The last international, Senate-approved treaty was in 2010.
The climate treaty, Purvis said, is likely to end up as an "executive agreement" like the 1945 Yalta Accord at the end of World War II. This requires only presidential approval.
"If you can end World War II, I think you can do a climate agreement where the only obligation is to inform the international community what you are doing and demonstrate to them that you are doing it," Purvis said.
Experts expect different layers of agreements. The key is that more than 100 nations have already made pledges of what they would do, including the U.S. promise to cut emissions by about 28 percent. In addition, there will likely be an agreement that nations will do what they promise, meet again to ratchet up their emission cuts and set up a monitoring and verification system for those pledges.
Purvis said it probably will hinge on a 1992 international treaty, signed by President George H.W. Bush and approved by the Senate, that promised to do something about climate change; a decades-old U.S. air pollution law; a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the air pollution law applies to carbon dioxide; and presidential executive action.
And it involves diplomacy that explains how non-binding international agreements can still be binding domestically, because the president is enforcing the Clean Air Act, Purvis said.
"Getting an international binding agreement is in the cards; what is then binding inside that agreement is what's up for debate," said Jennifer Morgan, global director of climate program for World Resources Institute.
Confused?
"The beauty of diplomacy is that you could interpret things in different ways," said John Reilly, co-director of MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.
---
Matthew Lee and Donna Cassata in Washington, Angela Charlton in Paris and Karl Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this report.
---
Online:
The Paris climate summit: <a href="http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en</a>
---
Follow Seth Borenstein at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a> and his work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein</a>
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of an occasional series focusing on the science, the costs and the challenges of climate change around the world ahead of a critical summit in Paris.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Tension Builds Before Paris Climate Talks

Tension Builds Before Paris Climate Talks. It's the elephant in...

Zachariae Isstrom: Another Major Glacier In Greenland Comes Undone. It's big. It's cold. And it's melting into the world's ocean.

It's Zachariae Isstrom, the latest in a string of Greenland glaciers to undergo rapid change in our warming world. A new <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/nasa-helps-assess-impacts-of-extreme-weather/">NASA</a>-funded study published today in the journal Science finds that Zachariae Isstrom broke loose from a glaciologically stable position in 2012 and entered a phase of accelerated retreat. The consequences will be felt for decades to come.

The reason? Zachariae Isstrom is big. It drains ice from an area of 35,440 square miles (91,780 square kilometers). That's about 5 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet. All by itself, it holds enough water to raise global sea level by more than 18 inches (46 centimeters) if it were to melt completely. And now it's on a crash diet, losing 5 billion tons of mass every year. All that ice is crumbling into the North Atlantic Ocean.

"North Greenland glaciers are changing rapidly," said lead author Jeremie Mouginot, an assistant researcher in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. "The shape and dynamics of Zachariae Isstrom have changed dramatically over the last few years. The glacier is now breaking up and calving high volumes of icebergs into the ocean, which will result in rising sea levels for decades to come."

Mouginot and his colleagues from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California; and the University of Kansas, Lawrence, set out to study the changes taking place at Zachariae Isstrom.

[caption id="attachment_2386484" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/11/13113028/glacier-iceland-Zachariae-Isstrom_2big_nasa.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2386484" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/11/13113028/glacier-iceland-Zachariae-Isstrom_2big_nasa-150x150.jpg" alt="Aerial photo of all of lower Zachariae Isstrom glacier taken from aboard a NASA Falcon jet on Sept. 30, 2015. " width="150" height="150" /></a> Aerial photo of all of lower Zachariae Isstrom glacier taken from aboard a NASA Falcon jet on Sept. 30, 2015.[/caption]

The team used data from aerial surveys conducted by NASA's Operation IceBridge and satellite-based observations acquired by multiple international space agencies (NASA, ESA, CSA, DLR,JAXA and ASI) coordinated by the Polar Space Task Group. The NASA satellite data used are from the joint NASA/USGS Landsat program. The various tools used -- including a highly sensitive radar sounder, gravimeter and laser profiling systems, coupled with radar and optical images from space -- monitor and record changes in the shape, size and position of glacial ice over long time periods, providing precise data on the state of Earth's polar regions.

The scientists determined the bottom of Zachariae Isstrom is being rapidly eroded by warmer ocean water mixed with growing amounts of meltwater from the ice sheet surface. "Ocean warming has likely played a major role in triggering [the glacier's] retreat," Mouginot said, "but we need more oceanographic observations in this critical sector of Greenland to determine its future."

"Zachariae Isstrom is being hit from above and below," said the study's senior author Eric Rignot, Chancellor's Professor of Earth system science at UCI, and Joint Faculty Appointee at JPL. "The top of the glacier is melting away as a result of decades of steadily increasing air temperatures, while its underside is compromised by currents carrying warmer ocean water, and the glacier is now breaking away into bits and pieces and retreating into deeper ground."

Adjacent to Zachariae Isstrom is another large glacier, Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, which is also melting rapidly but is receding at a slower rate because it's protected by an inland hill. The two glaciers make up 12 percent of the Greenland ice sheet and would boost global sea levels by more than 39 inches (99 centimeters) if they fully collapsed.

The sector where these two glaciers reside is one of three major marine-based basins in Greenland, along with Jakobshavn Isbrae in central west Greenland and the Petermann-Humboldt sector in central north Greenland. The latter two sectors hold enough water to raise global sea level by 2 feet (0.6 meters) each, and both are also undergoing significant changes at present. The authors conclude it is likely that Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden and Petermann-Humboldt glaciers will lose their ice shelves in coming years, further increasing Greenland's future contributions to global sea level rise.

"Not long ago, we wondered about the effect on sea levels if Earth's major glaciers in the polar regions were to start retreating," Rignot noted. "We no longer need to wonder; for a couple of decades now, we've been able to directly observe the results of climate warming on polar glaciers. The changes are staggering and are now affecting the four corners of Greenland."

In 2015, NASA kicked off a new six-year field campaign, Oceans Melting Greenland, which will examine ocean conditions around Greenland affecting the Ice Sheet. For more information on OMG, visit:
<a href="https://omg.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://omg.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/</a>
Ongoing research into the health of ice sheets and glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica is supported by funding from <a href="http://ice.nasa.gov/NASAsRole/?CFID=11351208&amp;CFTOKEN=77969915" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program</a>.

For more information on the study, visit:

<a href="http://news.uci.edu/research/massive-northeast-greenland-glacier-is-rapidly-melting-uci-led-team-finds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://news.uci.edu/research/massive-northeast-greenland-glacier-is-rapidly-melting-uci-led-team-finds/</a>

Zachariae Isstrom: Another Major Glacier In Greenland Comes Undone

Zachariae Isstrom: Another Major Glacier In Greenland Comes Undone. It's...

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Algae Threatens To Cancel Dungeness Crab Season. San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf typically bustles this time of year as workers prepare to haul millions of pounds of Dungeness crab that are a tradition at Thanksgiving and other holiday meals.
But crab pots are sitting empty on docks, boats are idled and fishermen are anxiously waiting for California authorities to open the lucrative Dungeness crab season.
California has delayed the Nov. 15 start of its commercial crab season after finding dangerous levels of a toxin in crabs. Officials in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/unequal-treatment-protestors/">Oregon</a> and Washington are testing crab samples and will decide soon whether to open its coastal season by Dec. 1 as planned.Algae Threatens To Cancel Dungeness Crab Season
A massive bloom of microscopic algae - which produced a natural toxin called domoic acid that is harmful to wildlife and fish - in the Pacific Ocean is threatening the crab industry during a time when many fishing outfits make their most money. It's also roiling coastal tourism and marine ecosystems.
A closure along the entire West Coast would be a blow to the industry, which harvested nearly $170 million worth of Dungeness crab in 2014.
"Everybody is counting on crab to make it, so this is pretty disappointing," said Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. "Whenever they test clean, we'll go get them. I'm very hopeful that it's sooner than later."
Experts say the warm conditions that set up the toxic algae bloom - while not attributed to climate change - does offer a picture of what's to come as ocean temperatures are projected to warm. Already, warmer ocean temperatures off New England have shaken up fisheries there, contributing to the collapse of the region's cod fishery and the shift northward in the lobster population, studies have found.
"I don't have a crystal ball, but I think we're being given a warning here," said Vera Trainer, who manages the marine biotoxin program at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. "We're being shown what the future is going to look like. This is more of what we can expect."
Razor clams, for now, have been taken off menus in Oregon and Washington. Shellfish managers have closed recreational digs after finding dangerous levels of domoic acid in the bivalves. Those closures have cost an estimated $22 million in tourism-related spending, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Crabbing was also closed along parts of the Washington coast over the summer, though crabbing continued in the Puget Sound.
Matt Hunter, shellfish project leader with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said crabbing is huge fishery in the state and any closure will have "trickle-down effect on the economy, not only on the coastal communities."
Crab can still be found in many restaurants and stores, including San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, and health officials say crabs sold in stores are safe to eat. Some crab on the market now may have been harvested months ago and frozen for later; commercial crab fishing is currently open in some parts of Alaska, Oregon and Puget Sound.
In California, crab fisherman are bracing for a tough season.
"Needless to say, this is devastating," said Steve Fitz, who owns Mr. Morgan Fisheries in Half Moon Bay. Crab represents the bulk of annual income for many in the fishing community, he said. Still, he's optimistic that toxin levels will go down and the season will open soon.
Restaurants and customers say they'll adjust their habits.
"It's a disappointment because we really look forward to it every November," said Matt Watson, manager of Woodhouse Fish Co. in San Francisco, which will do its best to get whole crab at a reasonable price from other states.
Kris Ducker, who grew up in California, looks forward to her family's holiday tradition: eating crab served ice cold, cracked, with a side of sourdough bread. Even though she now lives in Texas, she still tries to find fresh Dungeness crab.
"We're looking forward to having Dungeness crab for Christmas Eve. We could move on to something else. It wouldn't kill us, but we would be sad," she said.
Scientists say the warm waters that fostered the massive toxic algae bloom off the West Coast this year is more likely a short-term climate event than one attributed to climate change.
"Whether this warming itself is a direct function of climate change or not, we can't say," said Mark Wells, an oceanography professor in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. However, the climate change models project warming along the coastlines over the next several decades, so "this type of event probably is going to become much more frequent in the future."
On the Northeast coast, scientists have documented shifts in species as the result of warmer waters and that's meant some changes in what is caught and where.
"We see lots of shifting going on," said Richard Merrick, NOAA Fisheries chief science adviser. Significant fish stocks have been shifting northward and deeper into cooler waters along the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, he noted. The New England cod fishery collapsed but haddock fishing has gone up as fishermen switched, he said.
Another study found that warming seas will likely send West Coast fish species northward by about 20 miles a decade, and some species probably will disappear from southern ranges off California and Oregon.
---
Associated Press photojournalist Eric Risberg contributed to this report from San Francisco.
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Algae Threatens To Cancel Dungeness Crab Season

Algae Threatens To Cancel Dungeness Crab Season. San Francisco's Fisherman's...

In the Arctic Methane Cycle, Sea Ice Plays a Pivotal Role. The ice-covered Arctic Ocean is a more important factor concerning the concentration of the greenhouse gas methane in the atmosphere than previously assumed. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) report on the newly discovered interactions between the atmosphere, sea ice and the ocean in a recent online study in the journal Nature's Scientific Reports.

Sea ice forms a natural barrier on the Central <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/sea-ice-escapes-the-arctic-ocean/">Arctic Ocean</a>, limiting gas exchange between water and atmosphere. Over the past several years, the summer sea ice cover in the Arctic has rapidly decreased. "We're investigating how the changed conditions are affecting the geochemical interaction between the ocean, ice and atmosphere," explains Dr Ellen Damm, the first author of the study and a biogeochemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute. "We were able to confirm that the surface water in the central Arctic contains higher methane concentrations than the atmosphere, which means the Arctic Ocean is a potential source of atmospheric methane. That makes it fundamentally different from oceans in lower latitudes, which - except for a few sporadic sources - are considered methane sinks."

For the study, Damm and her colleagues from the AWI, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Bremen analysed geochemical and oceanographic data gathered during a 2011 expedition to the Arctic with the research icebreaker Polarstern. They measured methane levels in both the sea ice and in the water directly below it, and in deeper seawater entirely unaffected by the ice. "Our study shows that there are previously overlooked feedbacks between ice melting and formation, the atmosphere, and the seawater influenced by ice," says Damm. Among other factors, they analysed the salt solution, i.e. the brine, which is constitutes concentrated seawater resulting during the formation of sea ice. They found that the brine had a thousand times higher concentration of methane than the atmosphere - proof that sea ice can be a source of methane.

As a result of the melting and freezing processes, methane in the brine channels can be released into the seawater. Further, the water remains in stable layers, due to the different densities of freshwater and saltwater. As such, the methane from the brine channels remains in the uppermost water layer throughout the summer. When autumn storms set in and it gets colder, different water layers become mixed (convection), which can release the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. At that time of year the sea ice cover is fragmented and the "lid" on the ocean has almost disappeared, conditions that are conducive to the release of methane into the atmosphere. The convection-based mixing continues in the winter, and methane continues to escape through the leads between ice floes.

The stable water layers prevent the methane from mixing to greater depths of the Arctic Ocean; the significantly lower methane concentrations (compared to the atmosphere) in the lower layer unaffected by the ice, verify this process. This has two effects: firstly, the newly discovered and as such not previously accounted for near-surface feedback mechanism can lead to the direct release of methane from the sea ice and ocean into the atmosphere. Secondly, the exchange between atmosphere and the deeper Arctic Ocean is reduced, which also limits the Arctic Ocean's capacity to act as a methane sink. Co-author and AWI oceanographer Prof Ursula Schauer summarises the study's importance as follows: "The role of sea ice in gas exchange and gas flux is much more complex than previously assumed, and the processes at work in the Northern Ocean differ greatly from those in lower latitudes. These aspects have to be kept in mind in future climate models." Further, she points out, the study raises the question on where the methane originates. Conceivably, methane could be produced in sea ice as it drifts through the Arctic, or methane trapped in sea ice could be transported from other regions.

---

<a href="http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/">Alfred Wegener Institute</a>

In the Arctic Methane Cycle, Sea Ice Plays a Pivotal Role

In the Arctic Methane Cycle, Sea Ice Plays a Pivotal...

NASA Targets 'Other Half' Of Carbon And Climate Equation. NASA and university scientists will discuss new insights, tools and agency research into key carbon and climate change questions, as the agency ramps up its efforts to understand how Earth's ocean, forest, and land ecosystems absorb nearly half of emitted carbon dioxide today -- the other half of the carbon and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-have-outlined-the-top-ten-climate-insights-of-2020/">climate</a> equation.

Carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by human activities influences the amount of the sun's energy trapped by Earth's atmosphere. These emissions are the subject of a United Nations climate conference in Paris later this month. To improve the information available to policymakers on this issue, scientists are grappling with the complex question of whether Earth's oceans, forests and land ecosystems will maintain their capacity to absorb about half of all human-produced carbon dioxide emissions in the future. NASA Targets 'Other Half' Of Carbon And Climate Equation

"NASA is at the forefront of scientific understanding in this area, bringing together advanced measurement technologies, focused field experiments, and cutting-edge research to reveal how carbon moves around the planet and changes our climate," said Michael Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division. "Understanding how the planet responds to human carbon emissions and increasing atmospheric CO2 levels will position our nation to take advantage of the opportunities and face the challenges that climate changes present."

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels recently surpassed a concentration of 400 parts per million (ppm) -- higher than at any time in at least 400,000 years -- and continue to increase at about 2 ppm per year. Levels of the even more potent heat-trapping gas methane -- also carbon-based -- now exceed pre-industrial amounts by about 2.5 times. Calculations show that, on average, only about half of the carbon emitted by human activities remains in the atmosphere.

This "other half" of the carbon problem -- how and where it is absorbed on land and sea -- is a priority for carbon cycle scientists at NASA and around the world. Scientists are investigating how Earth's warming environment will affect the ability of ecosystems around the world to absorb carbon naturally, and what changes in those ecosystems could mean for future climate. It's a major research question involving several NASA satellite missions, multi-year field campaigns and new instruments that will fly on the International Space Station in coming years.

Scientists discussed the ongoing analysis of the first year-plus of satellite data from NASA's recently launched Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 -- the agency's first satellite designed to measure carbon dioxide from the top of Earth's atmosphere to its surface.

"As carbon dioxide is the largest human-produced driver of our changing climate, having regular observations from space is a major step forward for our ability to understand and predict climate change," said Annmarie Eldering, OCO-2 deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "Precisely measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been one of the most difficult observations to make from space."

OCO-2 already is demonstrating the accuracy, precision and coverage needed to provide the first complete picture of both human and natural sources of carbon dioxide and the places where they are being absorbed. While the mission gives scientists new, near-global data on atmospheric carbon dioxide, satellite data cannot directly observe the processes by which the gas is absorbed on the land and ocean. To better understand these processes, NASA scientists will use satellite data and detailed field experiments in concert with super-high-resolution computer models. Scientists need this integrated approach in order to continue to more accurately predict how carbon-absorbing ecosystems will respond to a warming climate.

"The land and the ocean are really doing us a big favor," said Lesley Ott, an atmospheric scientist in the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Otherwise you would have carbon building up in the atmosphere twice as fast as it does now."

Also causing concern is the potential for the ocean's rate of carbon absorption to change as ocean temperatures rise and phytoplankton communities show signs of change. NASA's North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) launched ship and airborne studies last week to the North Atlantic Ocean, where satellites have documented surprising phytoplankton behavior in recent years.

"We will be studying an ocean region that every year exhibits one of the largest natural phytoplankton blooms on Earth," said Mike Behrenfeld, NAAMES principal investigator from Oregon State University in Corvallis. "Phytoplankton are not only influenced by climate, but they also influence climate. That's why we're out here in the North Atlantic in the middle of November."

Forest and other land ecosystems are also changing in response to a warmer world. Some ecosystems -- such as thawing permafrost in the Arctic and fire-prone forests -- could begin emitting more carbon than they currently absorb. Next fall, NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment will begin a 10-year investigation into the fate of carbon stores in rapidly warming regions of Alaska and Canada.

The scientists also outlined several other upcoming NASA carbon missions and field campaigns, including:

• ACT-America, which will fly over the eastern U.S. beginning in 2016 to study the atmospheric movement of carbon emissions;

• Coral Airborne Laboratory mission, which will fly over coral reefs around the world beginning in 2016 to observe how reefs are responding to changing ocean pH levels caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide;

• The Pre-Aerosol, Clouds and Ocean Ecosystem satellite, now in early development, will provide a revolutionary way of measuring phytoplankton from orbit; and,

• Two instruments that will fly on the International Space Station in coming years -- Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, which will provide crucial observations of plants and forests;

To learn more about NASA's efforts to better understand the carbon and climate challenge, visit:

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/carbonclimate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.nasa.gov/carbonclimate</a>

NASA Targets 'Other Half' Of Carbon And Climate Equation

NASA Targets 'Other Half' Of Carbon And Climate Equation. NASA...

California Drought

California Extends Water-Saving Measures. Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday extended his executive order requiring Californians to conserve water as the state prepares for a fifth year of drought.
The move gives state water officials expanded authority to take new water-saving measures to deal with the parched conditions and cope with potential storms from an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coral-cores-el-nino-events/">El Nino</a> weather pattern.
Brown, a Democrat, has ordered communities throughout the state to reduce water use by 25 percent this year. State water regulators set individual targets for local agencies to meet, but those cuts will expire in February.
"We're going to need to continue it past February because we will not know the state of the drought until later in the season," said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=state&amp;cvid=dd653549eb5d48e39e06ee50716e4e54&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">State</a> Water Resources Control Board, which imposes the water-savings targets.
Friday's order allows emergency water conservation measures to continue through October 2016 if California still faces a drought this January.
The order also extends the suspension of some environmental rules, expedites permits to rebuild power plants that were damaged by wildfires, and allows some Californians to capture more water.
"The goal of this is not necessarily to deal with next year, but to recognize the fact that we may well be in our own millennial drought," Marcus said. "The problem of this drought is it's beyond anything in our experience."
She said the water board is meeting with local officials and residents statewide to discuss what has worked and what has not worked in the conservation efforts.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

California Extends Water-Saving Measures

California Extends Water-Saving Measures. Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday extended...

Companies hope to build wind farms off Hawaii coast. As Hawaii pushes to meet its aggressive renewable energy goals, two companies have proposed offshore wind turbine projects for federal waters off Oahu.
Their plan would use technology that floats the massive turbines in deep waters miles offshore. The offshore turbine proposals are in the early stages, and would face years of environmental reviews and community meetings before possible approval. Companies hope to build wind farms off Hawaii coast
The federal Bureau of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-rivers-heat-up-the-ocean-and-shrink-sea-ice/">Ocean</a> Energy Management, the agency that would decide whether to approve ocean leases for the projects, held a meeting about the proposals Monday.
Two companies are proposing offshore wind farms. A.W. Hawaii Wind, a Texas company that's a subsidiary of Denmark-based Alpha Wind Energy, is proposing two offshore floating wind farms, each generating about 400 megawatts of energy with 50 turbines. One is proposed for the northwest side of Oahu 12 miles off the coast of Kaena Point, in waters about a half-mile deep. The company also is proposing a wind farm in waters 17 miles south of Diamond Head.
A second company, Progression Hawaii Offshore Wind, is proposing a 400 megawatt wind farm using 40 to 50 floating turbines off Oahu's South Shore, in waters that are also about a half-mile deep.
Hawaii has set a goal for its utilities to use 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2045. Offshore wind farms could help the state meet that goal, said Mark Glick, energy administrator for the Hawaii State Energy Office.
"We have to figure this out together, because the low-hanging fruit has been collected, and essentially the tougher decisions are before us...the next steps are going to be crucial," Glick said.
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Companies hope to build wind farms off Hawaii coast

Companies hope to build wind farms off Hawaii coast. As...

Obama's Carbon Dioxide Emissions Plan Is Squeezing Democrat Governors. Democratic governors are being squeezed by the mandate in President Barack Obama's climate change plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions - perhaps none more than<a href="http://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/montana-valley-and-foothill-grasslands/"> Montana's</a> Steve Bullock, the one governor in a coal-producing state who faces re-election next year.
The Obama plan puts a big target on Bullock's back as he tries to avoid the fate of other Democrats tossed on the slag heap in the nation's coal belt.
Republicans control most of the states where <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=obama&amp;cvid=00971345d78041f0871bf6a8115c7140&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Obama's</a> Clean Power Plan is a major issue, but Democrats in Montana hold most statewide offices, including governor.
"The Clean Power Plan may be the single biggest threat to Bullock's chances for re-election," Carroll College political scientist Jeremy Johnson said Friday. "Presumably, Republicans will relentlessly focus on the issue during the gubernatorial campaign." Obama's Carbon Dioxide Emissions Plan Is Squeezing Democrat Governors
The emissions rule was an issue in this month's gubernatorial election in Kentucky, where Attorney General Jack Conway lost to Republican Matt Bevin, despite Conway joining a 27-state lawsuit seeking to block the rule.
Many Democratic governors who don't face an election in 2016 unequivocally support the Obama administration plan. In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper is taking Attorney General Cynthia Coffman to the state Supreme Court over whether Coffman had the authority to join the lawsuit to block the Environmental Protection Agency's emission reduction targets.
Bullock's approach is more ambivalent: The plan is not fair because it imposes the biggest cuts on Montana, but it has to be done.
In contrast to Hickenlooper, Bullock appears to support the move by Montana Attorney General Tim Fox to join the 27-state lawsuit, saying it's important for the courts to clarify many questions about the plan. But, Bullock said Thursday, the state must create a plan to meet the targets or risk the federal government doing it for Montana.
"Even though I do not believe that the final EPA rules are fair for our state, I do believe that there are many choices that Montanans may make to keep our state's energy destiny in our own hands," Bullock said.
It's a tough needle for Bullock to thread. Montana's target emission rate cuts are the steepest in the nation at 47 percent by 2030. The state is a major coal producer and has several coal-fired power plants, including the Colstrip plant, the second-largest west of the Mississippi River.
A likely Bullock opponent in 2016, Republican entrepreneur Greg Gianforte, was headed to Colstrip on Friday to speak with families who are concerned the federal plan could mean the end of the power plant and their jobs. Gianforte was critical of Bullock's response to the Obama plan, saying he should have come out more strongly against it.
"I would have expected more leadership," he said. "It seems like we're waving the white flag."
Bullock had been largely silent about the plan until Thursday, when he released an executive order forming an advisory council to make recommendations ahead of a September 2016 deadline. Then, the state will be required to either submit its plan to the EPA for meeting the cuts or request an extension to 2018.
A close look at Bullock's executive order shows that one of the council's main duties is to justify requesting the two-year extension, which would allow Bullock to avoid releasing a plan at the peak of his re-election campaign.
The advisory council serves a dual role, Johnson said: To kick the issue down the road, preferably beyond the 2016 election, and to hope it comes up with ideas that could help lessen the blow to the state.
Bullock will need to do more to avoid the issue becoming a pitfall in the election, Johnson added.
"Bullock will need to attempt to change the conversation to other subjects, particularly his own plans to help the Montana economy," he said.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Obama's Carbon Dioxide Emissions Plan Is Squeezing Democrat Governors

Obama's Carbon Dioxide Emissions Plan Is Squeezing Democrat Governors. Democratic...

Oregon's Coos Bay historically has avoided serious hypoxic conditions. A study of the 15-mile length of Coos Bay, from the ocean to the city of the same name, finds the bay is free of toxic levels of reduced oxygen that often affect other Oregon locations.
<div>

The narrow offshore continental shelf combines with the deep-dredged ship channel to help maintain safe oxygen levels during summertime wind changes and reduced rainfall that curtails freshwater discharge from the Coos River, says Dave Sutherland, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences. Oregon's Coos Bay historically has avoided serious hypoxic conditions

The research is good news for today's fishing industry in the region, said Sutherland, the study's lead author. More importantly, he added, the study provides a foundation for monitoring and projecting how changing climate conditions may raise the chances of oxygen depletion, or hypoxia, in the future.

"This region of the coast is understudied," said Sutherland, who leads the UO's coastal oceanography research group. "This research was really about getting a wealth of baseline information so that we can figure out what is happening now and use it to help us prepare for what may happen in the future. The system is working now but could change based on weather conditions. "

The study -- published in the journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science -- was based on almost two years of monthly water samples gathered in the estuary and reviews of 50 years of similar records (1957-2007) kept by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Data gathered included acidity, salinity, temperature and levels of dissolved oxygen.

The UO study also incorporated measurements taken since 2002 by the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and since 2011 by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Suislaw Indians.

Lowest readings of dissolved oxygen were found in late summers, as is the case in other estuaries along the Oregon coast, when incoming salty seawater settles longer in the estuary and warmer, drier conditions reduce the amount of fresh water from the Coos River.

With stagnant seawater, biological processes become important as microscopic organisms known as phytoplankton, which consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen, die off, Sutherland said.

"As phytoplankton die, they sink to the bottom where all the oxygen gets depleted and you get low-bottom hypoxia," he said. That leads to stress on cool-water fish such as salmon. Bottom dwellers -- crabs, oysters, worms, clams, sponges and rockfish -- face potentially lethal effects.

Early in the summer, upwelling occurs: Prevailing winds blow the ocean's surface water away from shore and cold, nutrient-rich but low-oxygen deep water rises, making for the chilly summertime wind.

"At the end of summer, the Coos River and other rivers along the coast that feed the estuaries generally dry up," Sutherland said. "Without precipitation, there is little flushing of the estuaries from the rivers, and there is little net exchange besides tidal movements."

In Oregon coastal estuaries to the north of Coos Bay, the offshore shelf is much wider. Combined with the wind, seawater remains longer in the shallower estuaries as the summers get dry, making for stagnant conditions, less flushing and more lethal hypoxic conditions.

"Despite recent alarm about inner-shelf hypoxia on the Oregon coast, there appears to be no hypoxia currently in the main channel of Coos Bay, and there is little evidence of past hypoxia in the estuary," Sutherland and co-author Molly A. O'Neill wrote in their conclusion.

That could change, however, if climate change makes the region hotter and drier and chokes off the flushing action of fresh water from the river, Sutherland said.

The study began as a graduate thesis for O'Neill, who earned her master's degree in 2014. Together, she and Sutherland collected their monthly samples from Coos Bay from a small research vessel made available for the UO's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, located in Charleston just inside the ocean end of the bay.

Sutherland expanded that effort and continues to study the region. The research, which will be featured in a five-panel display dedicated to UO research in the new Charleston Marine Life Center, provides basic data that could help feed mitigation efforts to battle hypoxia in the region and elsewhere.
###
Oregon Sea Grant, via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant Program, supported the study by way of a grant routed to Sutherland through his membership in the UO's Environmental Science Institute. The Oregon Legislature and National Science Foundation also provided funding.

Source:

Dave Sutherland
assistant professor of geological sciences
541-346-8753
<a href="mailto:dsuth@uoregon.edu">dsuth@uoregon.edu</a>

Note: The UO is equipped with an on-campus television studio with a point-of-origin Vyvx connection, which provides broadcast-quality video to networks worldwide via fiber optic network. There also is video access to satellite uplink and audio access to an ISDN codec for broadcast-quality radio interviews.

Links:

Paper: <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771416300427" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www. sciencedirect. com/ science/ article/ pii/ S0272771416300427</a> DOI:10.1016/j.ecss.2016.01.042

<a href="http://geology.uoregon.edu/profile/dsuth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sutherland faculty page</a>

<a href="http://pages.uoregon.edu/dsuth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oceanography lab</a>

<a href="http://geology.uoregon.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Geological Sciences</a>

<a href="http://esi.uoregon.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UO Environmental Science Institute</a>

</div>
<div>

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

</div>

Oregon's Coos Bay historically has avoided serious hypoxic conditions

Oregon's Coos Bay historically has avoided serious hypoxic conditions. A...

Argonne carbon coating shows surprising potential to improve wind power. Despite the rigors of scientific inquiry and the methodical approaches of the world's most talented researchers, sometimes science has a surprise in store.
<div>

Such was the case when a group of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Akron discovered that a particular form of carbon coating not necessarily designed for wind turbines may indeed prove a boon to the wind industry--a serendipitous finding that was recently <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301679X16000931" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highlighted</a> in the journal Tribology International.

Due to the strenuous environment inherent in wind turbine drivetrains, key components such as actuators, bearings and gears are prone to failure, meaning turbines require regular maintenance that helps drive up the price of wind energy. Prolonging the life of these components could greatly reduce the cost of wind power, the fastest growing source of energy in the world, thereby making it an even more attractive energy source.

These failures are often due to a phenomenon known as micropitting in which the repeated rolling and sliding cycles in the gears and bearings of turbines lead to cracks on the surface of drivetrain components. Further contact only exacerbates the cracking once it begins, chipping away at the metal and increasing the severity of the existing cracks until costly maintenance is necessary or, even worse, the drivetrain fails.Argonne carbon coating shows surprising potential to improve wind power

Enter Argonne's Tribology and Thermal-Mechanics Section and its Surface and Lubrication Interaction, Discovery and Engineering (SLIDE) initiative, which investigates how lubricants and materials interact and develops novel lubrication and coating concepts that reduce friction, and therefore micropitting, prolonging component life across a range of energy technologies.

And sometimes they get a little lucky. Such was the case when SLIDE researchers applied this "diamond-like" (some of the carbon-to-carbon bonding in the coating is similar to that of diamonds) coating to wind turbine components, which was not the intended use.

"We felt that if it was working under other sliding conditions, it might work in wind turbine drivetrains as well," said SLIDE's Ali Erdemir, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow. "Initially, our expectations were low, as we thought the coating would wear out due to the high stresses inherent in wind turbines, but that didn't happen."

So far the coating, named N3FC, has proven its worth through more than 100 million testing cycles with no appreciable micropitting. Erdemir admits that they don't know exactly how far it could go, as it has surpassed the time limit of SLIDE's benchtop micropitting test rig. If the coating performs similarly under real-world conditions, it could mean huge savings in terms of maintenance and prevention of failure in wind turbines nationwide--to the tune of millions of dollars, said Erdemir.

But first, he added, they need to learn exactly why it works.

"We don't yet understand the exact mechanism," said Erdemir. "The general belief is that component wear life extension requires a much harder coating, as more hardness reduces wear. But in this case the coating has less hardness than the base steel, so conventional thought doesn't apply."

The team is now eager to work with companies and see how N3FC performs in the field. Until then, they will stay busy trying to discover the mechanism behind this surprising scientific development. "We would love to get to the bottom of this and design even better coatings," said Erdemir.

The team is also testing the coating in sealing applications for compressors. As a low-friction surface coating, it may also prove beneficial in natural gas and hydrogen environments. "It appears to have multiple capabilities in terms of performance," said Erdemir.

While much of the work was done in Argonne's tribology laboratory, Raman spectroscopy (which uses monochromatic light, usually from a laser) was performed at the laboratory's Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
###
The research was funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency &amp; Renewable Energy (Vehicles Technologies Office and Wind and Hydropower Technologies Office).

Team members include Argonne researchers Giovanni Ramirez, Osman Eryilmaz and Aaron Greco, as well as Gary Doll of the University of Akron and Harpal Singh of both Argonne and the University of Akron.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by <a href="http://www.uchicagoargonnellc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UChicago Argonne, LLC</a> for the <a href="http://science.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science</a>.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the <a href="http://science.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Office of Science website</a>.

</div>

Argonne carbon coating shows surprising potential to improve wind power

Argonne carbon coating shows surprising potential to improve wind power....

Biodiversity protects fish from climate change. Fish provide protein to billions of people and are an especially critical food source in the developing world. Today marine biologists confirmed a key factor that could help them thrive through the coming decades: biodiversity. Communities with more fish species are more productive and more resilient to rising temperatures and temperature swings, according to a new study from the Smithsonian's Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and other international institutions.

The accelerating loss and rearrangement of species all over the globe have troubled scientists and the public for decades. But the question of whether biodiversity offers practical value--for humans and ecosystems--remained controversial. The new study, published May 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers the most thorough proof yet that preserving marine biodiversity can benefit people as much as it benefits the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-oceans-absorb-much-more-carbon-than-previously-thought/">oceans</a>.

"Biodiversity is more than a pretty face," said lead author Emmett Duffy, director of the Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and senior scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. "Preserving biodiversity is not just an aesthetic or spiritual issue--it's critical to the healthy functioning of ecosystems and the important services they provide to humans, like seafood."

The discovery came out of the Reef Life Survey, a comprehensive program that has conducted surveys of more than 3,000 fish species in 44 countries around the world. Many of the surveyors were volunteer citizen scientists, about a third of whom had no scientific background. Volunteer divers from 11 countries received training from the program's lead scientists at the University of Tasmania to collect data using standardized methods.

"This study is based on more than 4,000 underwater surveys," said co-author Rick Stuart-Smith of the University of Tasmania. "It was only possible with the enthusiastic contributions of highly trained volunteer divers in the Reef Life Survey program, which allowed us to achieve this comprehensive coverage of the world's reefs, from tropical to polar waters."

Armed with the most comprehensive global dataset on marine biodiversity involving standardized counts, the researchers tracked how 11 different environmental factors influenced total fish biomass on coral and rocky reefs around the world. Surprisingly, one of the strongest influences was biodiversity: The number of species (species richness) and the variety in how they use their environment (functional diversity) enhanced fish biomass. The boost in fish resources provided by biodiversity was second only to that of warm temperatures.

Temperature had a more complex relationship with fish biomass: Warmer ocean temperatures tended to boost fish biomass on average, while wider temperature fluctuations hindered it. But biodiversity made fish communities more resilient against changing climate. In communities with only a few species, fish biomass tended to increase with rising temperatures until seas warmed above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit)--at which point biomass started to fall. But communities with many species remained stable at these higher temperatures.

The researchers found a similar buffering effect of diversity against temperature swings. While both high- and low-diversity communities were less productive under fluctuating temperatures, high-diversity communities suffered only half as much as low-diversity ones. The researchers suspect communities with more species are better equipped to handle temperature changes because they have more of their bases covered. When temperatures fluctuate, a community with numerous species has better odds that at least a few species can thrive in the new normal.

"This work is a critical step forward in linking insights from experiments in buckets and garden plots to the larger world," said co-author Jonathan Lefcheck of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, referring to earlier biodiversity experiments done with plants and small animals in gardens or greenhouses. "It shows that experimental ecologists have in fact been on the right track for 20 years, and that biodiversity is paramount to how natural systems work."

"Results demonstrate that preserving local biodiversity is not only an ethical directive with aesthetical and genetic insurance value, but that it is an imperative for human life," said co-author Sergio Navarrete of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

---

<a href="http://www.si.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Smithsonian Institute</a>

Biodiversity protects fish from climate change

Biodiversity protects fish from climate change. Fish provide protein to...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.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 the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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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How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



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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Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&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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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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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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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



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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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



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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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; 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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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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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How the immune system responds to injury

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

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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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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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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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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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