Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
June 8, 2020, was World Oceans Day, which aims to raise awareness in protecting and restoring our oceans and its resources. Earth observing satellites continuously watch over the ocean to monitor and protect our environment. Covering more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface, the oceans are what makes this our “Blue Planet.” Our seas influence
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
A recent pattern change has allowed stifling heat to build gradually across the southwestern United States. As the week beginning May 25, 2020, continues, meteorologists caution that the heat will further intensify over the region, which will allow numerous daily records from Sacramento to Phoenix to be challenged. Temperatures began to climb on May 24,
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020
Using the most advanced Earth-observing laser instrument NASA has ever flown in space, scientists have made precise, detailed measurements of how the elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have changed over 16 years. The results provide insights into how the polar ice sheets are changing, demonstrating definitively that small gains of ice in
Tuesday, April 28th, 2020
Ozone levels above the Arctic reached a record low for March, NASA researchers report. An analysis of satellite observations show that ozone levels reached their lowest point on March 12, 2020, at 205 Dobson units. Although such low levels are rare, they are not unprecedented. Similar low ozone levels occurred in the upper atmosphere, or
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
Earth Challenge 2020 (Earth Challenge) launched on April 9, 2020, marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This project creates a global expansion of open-source citizen science data and opportunities for civic engagement. Earth Challenge has two goals. First, to aggregate existing citizen science from around the world and make it interoperable, creating a coordinated
Tuesday, March 31st, 2020
Shorter and warmer winters lead to an increase in emissions of methane from northern lakes, according to a new study by scientists in Finland and the United States. Longer ice-free periods contribute to increased methane emissions. In Finland, emissions of methane from lakes could go up by as much as 60 percent. An international study
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020
Tropical forest ecosystems are an important part of the global carbon cycle as they take up and store large amounts of carbon dioxide. It is uncertain, however, how much these forests’ ability to take up and store carbon differ between forests with high vs. low species richness. New International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020
The bison population has grown rapidly during the last two decades in Yellowstone National Park. This creates complex situations for wildlife managers when the animals follow good grazing opportunities beyond the boundaries of the park and come into contact with surrounding communities. A NASA study has now found a link between climate change effects on
Tuesday, March 10th, 2020
Similarly to how bats use echolocation to orient themselves with their surroundings, mathematicians have found that the same can be done with microphones and a speaker on a drone with the help of algebra and geometry. This signal processing research has potential applications for people, underwater vehicles and even cars, said Mireille “Mimi” Boutin, a
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020
Drones are commonly known for flying in the sky, but a new breed is rolling around on the ground and swimming in the ocean. Aquiline Drones (AD) will be powering GuardBot’s spherical and amphibious robotic vehicles via the AD Cloud. “Our new alliance with Aquiline Drones now gives us the ability to program our bots
