Enceladus’ ocean right age to support life

The geysers of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. These huge plumes of water vapor erupt through cracks at Enceladus’ south pole. The Cassini spacecraft analyzed the plumes and found they contain water vapor, ice particles, salts, methane and a variety of complex organic molecules. Scientists believe they originate from an ocean below the moon’s icy crust. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Could there be life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus? The moon may be small, but it has a global water ocean beneath its icy surface, and scientists have speculated on whether there is anything alive in that deep, dark abyss. The Cassini spacecraft found that it is salty like oceans on Earth, contains abundant organic molecules, and that there is likely hydrothermal activity on the ocean bottom.

All of those are positive signs for habitability and now scientists have found another one: the ocean appears to be just the right age for optimal life-supporting conditions. The finding was announced by Marc Neveu, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, on June 24, 2019, during a talk at the 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon2019). The peer-reviewed results had also been previously published April 1, 2019, in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Enceladus’ ocean is now estimated to be 1 billion years old. This is an ideal age, in terms of life starting and evolving. If the ocean were too young, there wouldn’t have been enough time for different elements needed to mix together, but if it were too old, those chemical processes may have stopped already. The moon would’ve then reached a state of equilibrium, meaning that the reactions to sustain life wouldn’t take place any longer.

Enceladus as seen by the Cassini spacecraft. This small, icy moon has a global subsurface ocean that could possibly support life. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA Science.

So how did Neveu and his team come to this conclusion? Using data from the Cassini mission, which ended in late 2017, they created 50 different simulations of conditions in Enceladus’ ocean. These included details of Saturn’s moons’ orbits and the radioactivity of the rocks on Enceladus, as well as their own estimates as to the age of the moon and how it formed.

There was one simulation that best re-created the known conditions of the ocean, the one where the ocean is 1 billion years old. Neveu is cautious, though, because the simulation matched most of the conditions, but not all of them:

For example, if you took the present day, the ocean would be refrozen in that simulation which is not what we’re seeing. So the age of the ocean, should be taken with a grain of salt.

As a next step, the researchers want to improve the simulation models, so the ocean can be dated more precisely. As Neveu said:

We want to know this before we go back to search for life.

Illustration depicting the interior of Enceladus. Water from the subsurface ocean percolates to the surface through cracks in the ice at the south pole, erupting in huge plumes. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The fact that Enceladus has an ocean at all was surprising to planetary scientists, since it is so small and the surface is so cold. According to Neveu:

It’s very surprising to see an ocean today. It’s a very tiny moon and, in general, you expect tiny things to not be very active [but rather] like a dead block of rock and ice.

The Cassini spacecraft studied the composition of the ocean by analyzing the water vapor in the massive plumes that erupt from the moon’s south pole. The plumes originate from the ocean below, where water percolates to the surface through cracks, and then erupts into empty space. Cassini was able to fly right through the plumes, and found they contain water vapor, ice particles, salts, methane and a variety of complex organic molecules.

Cassini also found evidence for current hydrothermal activity – hydrothermal vents – on the ocean floor, just like in oceans on Earth. Such hotspots could provide an oasis of needed heat and energy in the otherwise cold waters. On Earth, similar vents sustain a wide variety of simple life forms. Could the same be true for Enceladus?

The Cassini mission found evidence for hydrothermal activity – hydrothermal vents – on the bottom of Enceladus’ ocean. Could they help sustain life like they do on Earth? Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute.

Enceladus has all the ingredients considered necessary for life (as we know it at least), and its ocean appears to be quite similar to that of Europa. Whether life of any kind ever actually started here is still unknown, but the prospects seem promising. The only way we can learn more is to go back there with a return mission. None are scheduled yet, but there are mission proposals on the drawing boards, perhaps something similar to the Europa Clipper mission, which is now being designed to launch sometime in the 2020s. That mission will study Europa and its ocean in more detail than ever before, looking for evidence that something might be alive in its dark waters as well.

Bottom line: It turns out that Enceladus’ subsurface ocean is just the right age to support life, according to a new study. Together with what we already know about its potential habitability, this makes Enceladus even more enticing in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.

Source: Evolution of Saturn’s mid-sized moons

Via Live Science

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2NWpTD9

The geysers of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. These huge plumes of water vapor erupt through cracks at Enceladus’ south pole. The Cassini spacecraft analyzed the plumes and found they contain water vapor, ice particles, salts, methane and a variety of complex organic molecules. Scientists believe they originate from an ocean below the moon’s icy crust. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Could there be life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus? The moon may be small, but it has a global water ocean beneath its icy surface, and scientists have speculated on whether there is anything alive in that deep, dark abyss. The Cassini spacecraft found that it is salty like oceans on Earth, contains abundant organic molecules, and that there is likely hydrothermal activity on the ocean bottom.

All of those are positive signs for habitability and now scientists have found another one: the ocean appears to be just the right age for optimal life-supporting conditions. The finding was announced by Marc Neveu, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, on June 24, 2019, during a talk at the 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon2019). The peer-reviewed results had also been previously published April 1, 2019, in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Enceladus’ ocean is now estimated to be 1 billion years old. This is an ideal age, in terms of life starting and evolving. If the ocean were too young, there wouldn’t have been enough time for different elements needed to mix together, but if it were too old, those chemical processes may have stopped already. The moon would’ve then reached a state of equilibrium, meaning that the reactions to sustain life wouldn’t take place any longer.

Enceladus as seen by the Cassini spacecraft. This small, icy moon has a global subsurface ocean that could possibly support life. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA Science.

So how did Neveu and his team come to this conclusion? Using data from the Cassini mission, which ended in late 2017, they created 50 different simulations of conditions in Enceladus’ ocean. These included details of Saturn’s moons’ orbits and the radioactivity of the rocks on Enceladus, as well as their own estimates as to the age of the moon and how it formed.

There was one simulation that best re-created the known conditions of the ocean, the one where the ocean is 1 billion years old. Neveu is cautious, though, because the simulation matched most of the conditions, but not all of them:

For example, if you took the present day, the ocean would be refrozen in that simulation which is not what we’re seeing. So the age of the ocean, should be taken with a grain of salt.

As a next step, the researchers want to improve the simulation models, so the ocean can be dated more precisely. As Neveu said:

We want to know this before we go back to search for life.

Illustration depicting the interior of Enceladus. Water from the subsurface ocean percolates to the surface through cracks in the ice at the south pole, erupting in huge plumes. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The fact that Enceladus has an ocean at all was surprising to planetary scientists, since it is so small and the surface is so cold. According to Neveu:

It’s very surprising to see an ocean today. It’s a very tiny moon and, in general, you expect tiny things to not be very active [but rather] like a dead block of rock and ice.

The Cassini spacecraft studied the composition of the ocean by analyzing the water vapor in the massive plumes that erupt from the moon’s south pole. The plumes originate from the ocean below, where water percolates to the surface through cracks, and then erupts into empty space. Cassini was able to fly right through the plumes, and found they contain water vapor, ice particles, salts, methane and a variety of complex organic molecules.

Cassini also found evidence for current hydrothermal activity – hydrothermal vents – on the ocean floor, just like in oceans on Earth. Such hotspots could provide an oasis of needed heat and energy in the otherwise cold waters. On Earth, similar vents sustain a wide variety of simple life forms. Could the same be true for Enceladus?

The Cassini mission found evidence for hydrothermal activity – hydrothermal vents – on the bottom of Enceladus’ ocean. Could they help sustain life like they do on Earth? Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute.

Enceladus has all the ingredients considered necessary for life (as we know it at least), and its ocean appears to be quite similar to that of Europa. Whether life of any kind ever actually started here is still unknown, but the prospects seem promising. The only way we can learn more is to go back there with a return mission. None are scheduled yet, but there are mission proposals on the drawing boards, perhaps something similar to the Europa Clipper mission, which is now being designed to launch sometime in the 2020s. That mission will study Europa and its ocean in more detail than ever before, looking for evidence that something might be alive in its dark waters as well.

Bottom line: It turns out that Enceladus’ subsurface ocean is just the right age to support life, according to a new study. Together with what we already know about its potential habitability, this makes Enceladus even more enticing in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.

Source: Evolution of Saturn’s mid-sized moons

Via Live Science

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2NWpTD9

Join space scientists marking Apollo anniversary

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Image via Neil Armstrong/NASA.

This evening (July 17, 2019), join space scientists at the National Archives in Washington D.C, where they’ll discuss the legacy of Apollo 11, ahead of the mission’s 50th anniversary. Titled Small Steps and Giant Leaps: How Apollo 11 Shaped Our Understanding of Earth and Beyond, the event will highlight how the study of the moon has led to a deeper understanding of Earth and the solar system, including their origins, and what the world stands to learn from continuing planetary science missions.

The program will be streamed live on YouTube, and begins at 7:00 p.m. EDT (23:00 UTC; translate UTC to your time).

Watch here.

Moderated by NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green, the panel will include:

– Sean Solomon, director of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
– Sonia Tikoo, assistant professor at Stanford University
– Steven Hauck, professor of planetary geodynamics at Case Western Reserve University
– Heather Meyer, postdoctoral fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

The event is a partnership between the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the National Archives and as a part of AGU’s Centennial celebration.

Bottom line: Watch leading space scientists discuss the legacy of Apollo 11, ahead of the mission’s 50th anniversary.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2XMwKn1

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Image via Neil Armstrong/NASA.

This evening (July 17, 2019), join space scientists at the National Archives in Washington D.C, where they’ll discuss the legacy of Apollo 11, ahead of the mission’s 50th anniversary. Titled Small Steps and Giant Leaps: How Apollo 11 Shaped Our Understanding of Earth and Beyond, the event will highlight how the study of the moon has led to a deeper understanding of Earth and the solar system, including their origins, and what the world stands to learn from continuing planetary science missions.

The program will be streamed live on YouTube, and begins at 7:00 p.m. EDT (23:00 UTC; translate UTC to your time).

Watch here.

Moderated by NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green, the panel will include:

– Sean Solomon, director of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
– Sonia Tikoo, assistant professor at Stanford University
– Steven Hauck, professor of planetary geodynamics at Case Western Reserve University
– Heather Meyer, postdoctoral fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

The event is a partnership between the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the National Archives and as a part of AGU’s Centennial celebration.

Bottom line: Watch leading space scientists discuss the legacy of Apollo 11, ahead of the mission’s 50th anniversary.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2XMwKn1

Apollo 11 launch pad

View larger. | Image via ESA.

Yesterday (July 16, 2019) the European Space Agency (ESA) released this image to mark 50 years since Apollo 11 blasted off with the first humans to walk on the moon. ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite captured this image of the historic launch site at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 29, 2019.

On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo 11 began its journey to the moon. It lifted off from launch pad 39A – which is the second pad down from the top in the image. ESA said in an accompanying statement:

The crew – Neil Armstrong, mission commander, Michael Collins, command module pilot and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, lunar module pilot – were embarking on a milestone in human history.

Just four days later, the lunar module, the Eagle, touched down. Watched on television by millions around the world, Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon, famously saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Bottom line: Satellite image of Apollo 11 mission launchpad.

Via ESA

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2ShXsOq

View larger. | Image via ESA.

Yesterday (July 16, 2019) the European Space Agency (ESA) released this image to mark 50 years since Apollo 11 blasted off with the first humans to walk on the moon. ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite captured this image of the historic launch site at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 29, 2019.

On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo 11 began its journey to the moon. It lifted off from launch pad 39A – which is the second pad down from the top in the image. ESA said in an accompanying statement:

The crew – Neil Armstrong, mission commander, Michael Collins, command module pilot and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, lunar module pilot – were embarking on a milestone in human history.

Just four days later, the lunar module, the Eagle, touched down. Watched on television by millions around the world, Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon, famously saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Bottom line: Satellite image of Apollo 11 mission launchpad.

Via ESA

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2ShXsOq

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #28, 2019

This week's research roundup includes 54 articles.

The most viscerally fascinating article in the present collection is undoubtedly Polag & Keppler's Global methane emissions from the human body: past, present and future.  Here we learn some unsettling facts: 

• Prediction of global CH4 emission for the year 2100 is 1221 ± 672 Gg.

• Future CH4 emission by humans might be in the range of present permafrost soils.

• Future factor-weighted estimation of human CH4 emission exceeds unweighted estimation.

Combine the above quantification with what we know should be our diet leaning more toward such sustenance as cabbage and beans and we could be looking at an emergent positive feedback, an unexpected outcome of climate change mitigation.

Per popular demand we're attempting to categorize research according to broad classifications; to the extent possible research articles appear in sections having principally to do with the physical science of anthropogenic climate change, relationships between biological systems and climate change, and the  back and forth of human drivers and responses with respect to climate change. Some articles don't neatly classify— in this collection is an article linking algal growth with Greenland ice albedo, and another constraining coal-fired generation plant contributions to global carbon load but as an objective in improving climate model performance. Each was classified as a physical sciences item. 

Extraneous matter:

In the course of compiling this list we encounter the same effect as when searching pages of an encyclopedia or using Wikipedia: some diversions are just too good to ignore. The RSS feed principally supplying raw material for these posts is of course not perfect and so this week's trawl netted us an irresistible wrong species: The five deeps: The location and depth of the deepest place in each of the world's oceans. Answering the promise of the title turns out to be surprisingly complicated. 

Articles for week #28, 2019:

Physical science of anthropenic climate change

Preface to special issue Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) 2: Beaufort Gyre phenomenon

Introduction to the Special Section on Fast Physics in Climate Models: Parameterization, Evaluation and Observation

Decelerated Greenland Ice Sheet melt driven by positive summer North Atlantic Oscillation

Revisiting recent elevation‐dependent warming on the Tibetan Plateau using satellite‐based datasets

Is Arctic Amplification dominated by regional radiative forcing and feedbacks: Perspectives from the World‐Avoided scenario

Increased fall precipitation in the southeastern US driven by higher‐intensity, frontal precipitation

Half‐a‐degree Matters for Reducing and Delaying Global Land Exposure to Combined Daytime‐Nighttime Hot Extremes

Effect of Tropical Non-Convective Condensation on Uncertainty in Modeled Projections of Rainfall

Blocking statistics in a varying climate: lessons from a ‘traffic jam’ model with pseudostochastic forcing

Dynamics of ITCZ width: Ekman processes, non-Ekman processes and links to sea-surface temperature

Trends of vertically integrated water vapor over the Arctic during 1979-2016: Consistent moistening all over?

A climatology of rain-on-snow events for Norway

Algal growth and weathering crust structure drive variability in Greenland Ice Sheet ice albedo

Leveraging the signature of heterotrophic respiration on atmospheric CO2 for model benchmarking

Investigation of the global methane budget over 1980–2017 using GFDL-AM4.1

Buoyant forces promote tidewater glacier iceberg calving through large basal stress concentrations

Arctic cloud annual cycle biases in climate models

Assessing the potential for non-turbulent methane escape from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Antarctic ice shelf thickness change from multimission lidar mapping

Ice island thinning: Rates and model calibration with in situ observations from Baffin Bay, Nunavut

A methodology to constrain carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants using satellite observations of co-emitted nitrogen dioxide

Recent climate trends over Greece

Detection of UHI bias in China climate network using Tmin and Tmax surface temperature divergence

Spatiotemporal differences in the climatic growing season in the Qinling Mountains of China under the influence of global warming from 1964 to 2015

Quantifying the range of future glacier mass change projections caused by differences among observed past-climate datasets

Circulation analogues and uncertainty in the time-evolution of extreme event probabilities: evidence from the 1947 Central European heatwave

Spatiotemporal trends of temperature and precipitation extremes across contrasting climatic zones of China during 1956–2015

Future precipitation changes over Panama projected with the atmospheric global model MRI-AGCM3.2

Intensity and spatial heterogeneity of design rainstorm under nonstationarity and stationarity hypothesis across mainland China

Spatio-temporal variations of precipitation extremes in Hanjiang River Basin, China, during 1960–2015

Climate change lengthens southeastern USA lightning‐ignited fire seasons

Variability and trends of landfalling atmospheric rivers along the Pacific Coast of northwestern North America

Effects of the tropospheric large‐scale circulation on European winter temperatures during the period of amplified Arctic warming 

Quantifying human contributions to past and future ocean warming and thermosteric sea level rise

Impacts on our culture of the human impact on climate 

Intensity and spatial heterogeneity of design rainstorm under nonstationarity and stationarity hypothesis across mainland China

U.S. hydrologic design standards insufficient due to large increases in frequency of rainfall extremes

Role of Knowledge Networks and Boundary Organizations in Coproduction: A Short History of a Decision Support Tool and Model for Adapting Multiuse Reservoir and Water-Energy Governance to Climate Change in California

Unpacking uncertainty and climate change from ‘above’ and ‘below’

Ignoring Indigenous peoples—climate change, oil development , and Indigenous rights clash in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Climate change adaptation planning in practice: insights from the Caribbean

Local climate change cultures: climate-relevant discursive practices in three emerging economies

Admitting uncertainty, transforming engagement: towards caring practices for sustainability beyond climate change

Stochastically modeling the projected impacts of climate change on rainfed and irrigated US crop yields

Households’ adaptation in a warming climate. Air conditioning and thermal insulation choices

Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems

Assessment of climatic variability risks with application of livelihood vulnerability indices

Climate impacts: temperature and electricity consumption

Biology and climate change

Global methane emissions from the human body: Past, present and future

Varying climate response across the tundra, forest-tundra and boreal forest biomes in northern West Siberia

The climatic drivers of primary Picea forest growth along the Carpathian arc are changing under rising temperatures

Phytoplankton decline in the eastern North Pacific transition zone associated with atmospheric blocking

Drylands climate response to transient and stabilized 2 °C and 1.5 °C global warming targets

Multi‐model Analysis of Future Land‐use and Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Functioning

Climate warming does not always extend the plant growing season in Inner Mongolian grasslands: Evidence from a thirty‐year in situ observations at eight experimental sites

 

The previous issue of SkS new research may be found here. 

 

 

from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2lc2VK8

This week's research roundup includes 54 articles.

The most viscerally fascinating article in the present collection is undoubtedly Polag & Keppler's Global methane emissions from the human body: past, present and future.  Here we learn some unsettling facts: 

• Prediction of global CH4 emission for the year 2100 is 1221 ± 672 Gg.

• Future CH4 emission by humans might be in the range of present permafrost soils.

• Future factor-weighted estimation of human CH4 emission exceeds unweighted estimation.

Combine the above quantification with what we know should be our diet leaning more toward such sustenance as cabbage and beans and we could be looking at an emergent positive feedback, an unexpected outcome of climate change mitigation.

Per popular demand we're attempting to categorize research according to broad classifications; to the extent possible research articles appear in sections having principally to do with the physical science of anthropogenic climate change, relationships between biological systems and climate change, and the  back and forth of human drivers and responses with respect to climate change. Some articles don't neatly classify— in this collection is an article linking algal growth with Greenland ice albedo, and another constraining coal-fired generation plant contributions to global carbon load but as an objective in improving climate model performance. Each was classified as a physical sciences item. 

Extraneous matter:

In the course of compiling this list we encounter the same effect as when searching pages of an encyclopedia or using Wikipedia: some diversions are just too good to ignore. The RSS feed principally supplying raw material for these posts is of course not perfect and so this week's trawl netted us an irresistible wrong species: The five deeps: The location and depth of the deepest place in each of the world's oceans. Answering the promise of the title turns out to be surprisingly complicated. 

Articles for week #28, 2019:

Physical science of anthropenic climate change

Preface to special issue Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) 2: Beaufort Gyre phenomenon

Introduction to the Special Section on Fast Physics in Climate Models: Parameterization, Evaluation and Observation

Decelerated Greenland Ice Sheet melt driven by positive summer North Atlantic Oscillation

Revisiting recent elevation‐dependent warming on the Tibetan Plateau using satellite‐based datasets

Is Arctic Amplification dominated by regional radiative forcing and feedbacks: Perspectives from the World‐Avoided scenario

Increased fall precipitation in the southeastern US driven by higher‐intensity, frontal precipitation

Half‐a‐degree Matters for Reducing and Delaying Global Land Exposure to Combined Daytime‐Nighttime Hot Extremes

Effect of Tropical Non-Convective Condensation on Uncertainty in Modeled Projections of Rainfall

Blocking statistics in a varying climate: lessons from a ‘traffic jam’ model with pseudostochastic forcing

Dynamics of ITCZ width: Ekman processes, non-Ekman processes and links to sea-surface temperature

Trends of vertically integrated water vapor over the Arctic during 1979-2016: Consistent moistening all over?

A climatology of rain-on-snow events for Norway

Algal growth and weathering crust structure drive variability in Greenland Ice Sheet ice albedo

Leveraging the signature of heterotrophic respiration on atmospheric CO2 for model benchmarking

Investigation of the global methane budget over 1980–2017 using GFDL-AM4.1

Buoyant forces promote tidewater glacier iceberg calving through large basal stress concentrations

Arctic cloud annual cycle biases in climate models

Assessing the potential for non-turbulent methane escape from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf

Antarctic ice shelf thickness change from multimission lidar mapping

Ice island thinning: Rates and model calibration with in situ observations from Baffin Bay, Nunavut

A methodology to constrain carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants using satellite observations of co-emitted nitrogen dioxide

Recent climate trends over Greece

Detection of UHI bias in China climate network using Tmin and Tmax surface temperature divergence

Spatiotemporal differences in the climatic growing season in the Qinling Mountains of China under the influence of global warming from 1964 to 2015

Quantifying the range of future glacier mass change projections caused by differences among observed past-climate datasets

Circulation analogues and uncertainty in the time-evolution of extreme event probabilities: evidence from the 1947 Central European heatwave

Spatiotemporal trends of temperature and precipitation extremes across contrasting climatic zones of China during 1956–2015

Future precipitation changes over Panama projected with the atmospheric global model MRI-AGCM3.2

Intensity and spatial heterogeneity of design rainstorm under nonstationarity and stationarity hypothesis across mainland China

Spatio-temporal variations of precipitation extremes in Hanjiang River Basin, China, during 1960–2015

Climate change lengthens southeastern USA lightning‐ignited fire seasons

Variability and trends of landfalling atmospheric rivers along the Pacific Coast of northwestern North America

Effects of the tropospheric large‐scale circulation on European winter temperatures during the period of amplified Arctic warming 

Quantifying human contributions to past and future ocean warming and thermosteric sea level rise

Impacts on our culture of the human impact on climate 

Intensity and spatial heterogeneity of design rainstorm under nonstationarity and stationarity hypothesis across mainland China

U.S. hydrologic design standards insufficient due to large increases in frequency of rainfall extremes

Role of Knowledge Networks and Boundary Organizations in Coproduction: A Short History of a Decision Support Tool and Model for Adapting Multiuse Reservoir and Water-Energy Governance to Climate Change in California

Unpacking uncertainty and climate change from ‘above’ and ‘below’

Ignoring Indigenous peoples—climate change, oil development , and Indigenous rights clash in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Climate change adaptation planning in practice: insights from the Caribbean

Local climate change cultures: climate-relevant discursive practices in three emerging economies

Admitting uncertainty, transforming engagement: towards caring practices for sustainability beyond climate change

Stochastically modeling the projected impacts of climate change on rainfed and irrigated US crop yields

Households’ adaptation in a warming climate. Air conditioning and thermal insulation choices

Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems

Assessment of climatic variability risks with application of livelihood vulnerability indices

Climate impacts: temperature and electricity consumption

Biology and climate change

Global methane emissions from the human body: Past, present and future

Varying climate response across the tundra, forest-tundra and boreal forest biomes in northern West Siberia

The climatic drivers of primary Picea forest growth along the Carpathian arc are changing under rising temperatures

Phytoplankton decline in the eastern North Pacific transition zone associated with atmospheric blocking

Drylands climate response to transient and stabilized 2 °C and 1.5 °C global warming targets

Multi‐model Analysis of Future Land‐use and Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Functioning

Climate warming does not always extend the plant growing season in Inner Mongolian grasslands: Evidence from a thirty‐year in situ observations at eight experimental sites

 

The previous issue of SkS new research may be found here. 

 

 

from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2lc2VK8

Record wettest 12 months for US, again

Just 367 days after the last of the Great June Flood of 2018 had left its memorable mark on nearly all of the populated Rio Grande valley, a confluence of atmospheric events came together during the late afternoon and evening of June 24, 2019. New daily rainfall records were set at most Rio Grande Valley climate recording locations, including Harlingen, Texas (shown), with 6.29 inches of rain, about 3x the monthly average. Image via NOAA.

A NOAA report, released July 9, 2019, says that rain – and plenty of it – in June 2019 added to a record-breaking 12 months of precipitation for the contiguous U.S. It’s the third consecutive time in 2019 (April, May and June) that the past 12-month precipitation record has hit an all-time high.

View larger. | An annotated map of the United States showing notable climate events that occurred across the country during June 2019. For more, see the bulleted list below and the online report summary. Image via NOAA.

Here’s a snapshot of NOAA’s U.S. climate report for June and the year to date:

– The June precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 3.3 inches (8.4 cm),.37 inches (.9 cm) above average, and ranked in the upper third of the 125-year period of record.

– Wet conditions from July 2018 through June 2019 resulted in a new 12-month precipitation record in the United States, with an average of 37.86 inches (96 cm), which is 7.9 inches (20 cm) above average, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. The year-to-date precipitation total was 19.05 inches (48.4 cm), 3.74 inches (9.5 cm) above average, and the wettest such period in the 125-year record.

Image via NOAA.

– The average U.S. temperature for the year to date (January through June 2019) was 47.6 degrees F (0.1 of a degree above average), which ranked in the middle third for the six-month period.

– Drought was a mixed bag: About 3.2 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in drought, down from 5.3 percent at the start of June. However, drought conditions worsened across parts of the Pacific Northwest and Puerto Rico.

– Alaska had its second hottest June on record, with an average temperature of 54.0 degrees F (4.8 degrees above average.)

Bottom line: NOAA reports a new 12-month precipitation record in the U.S. from July 2018 through June 2019.

See the complete report

Via NOAA

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2NXqCUN

Just 367 days after the last of the Great June Flood of 2018 had left its memorable mark on nearly all of the populated Rio Grande valley, a confluence of atmospheric events came together during the late afternoon and evening of June 24, 2019. New daily rainfall records were set at most Rio Grande Valley climate recording locations, including Harlingen, Texas (shown), with 6.29 inches of rain, about 3x the monthly average. Image via NOAA.

A NOAA report, released July 9, 2019, says that rain – and plenty of it – in June 2019 added to a record-breaking 12 months of precipitation for the contiguous U.S. It’s the third consecutive time in 2019 (April, May and June) that the past 12-month precipitation record has hit an all-time high.

View larger. | An annotated map of the United States showing notable climate events that occurred across the country during June 2019. For more, see the bulleted list below and the online report summary. Image via NOAA.

Here’s a snapshot of NOAA’s U.S. climate report for June and the year to date:

– The June precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 3.3 inches (8.4 cm),.37 inches (.9 cm) above average, and ranked in the upper third of the 125-year period of record.

– Wet conditions from July 2018 through June 2019 resulted in a new 12-month precipitation record in the United States, with an average of 37.86 inches (96 cm), which is 7.9 inches (20 cm) above average, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. The year-to-date precipitation total was 19.05 inches (48.4 cm), 3.74 inches (9.5 cm) above average, and the wettest such period in the 125-year record.

Image via NOAA.

– The average U.S. temperature for the year to date (January through June 2019) was 47.6 degrees F (0.1 of a degree above average), which ranked in the middle third for the six-month period.

– Drought was a mixed bag: About 3.2 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in drought, down from 5.3 percent at the start of June. However, drought conditions worsened across parts of the Pacific Northwest and Puerto Rico.

– Alaska had its second hottest June on record, with an average temperature of 54.0 degrees F (4.8 degrees above average.)

Bottom line: NOAA reports a new 12-month precipitation record in the U.S. from July 2018 through June 2019.

See the complete report

Via NOAA

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2NXqCUN

Partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17

Above photo of partially eclipsed moon by Ken Christison

On the night of July 16-17, 2019, much of the world can watch a partial eclipse of the full moon. This will be the last time that the moon sweeps through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow until the total lunar eclipse on May 26, 2021.

Unfortunately, North America misses out on this eclipse entirely. The eclipse is visible from South America at early evening July 16. From Europe and Africa, it happens later in the evening July 16. In Asia and Australia, watch for the eclipse to occur during the morning nighttime hours July 17. From South America, the moon is already in eclipse as it rises around sunset July 16; and in Australia, the moon is in eclipse as it sets around sunrise July 17. The worldwide map below shows more specifically where the eclipse is visible.

View larger. | South America sees the moon rising in eclipse around sunset on July 16. Eastern Asia and Australia see the moon in eclipse as it sets around sunrise on July 17. Eastern Africa and the Middle East see greatest eclipse around midnight on the night of July 16. North America misses out on this eclipse entirely.

The Virtual Telescope Project is offering free online viewing of this eclipse. The online observing session to see the partial lunar eclipse is scheduled for July 16, 2019, starting at 20:30 UTC; translate UTC to your time. Want to join the online observing session? Click here for more info.

Click on this eclipse calculator via TimeandDate to find out when (or if) this eclipse is happening in your part of the world. Fortunately, no conversion from Universal Time to your own local time is necessary!

The July 2019 full moon travels through the Earth’s outer faint penumbral shadow before and after partially sweeping through the Earth’s inner dark umbral shadow. (See the diagram below.) However, the penumbral stage of the eclipse is so faint that many people won’t even notice it, even as it’s taking place. So the eclipse times listed below are for the full moon’s passage through the dark umbra. From start to finish, the umbral phase lasts nearly three hours.

The moon moves from west to east across the Earth’s shadow. On July 16, 2019, the north side of the full moon clips the southern part of the Earth’s shadow, to stage a partial lunar eclipse.

Eclipse times in Universal Time (July 16, 2019):

Partial umbral eclipse begins: 20:02 (8:02 p.m.) UTC
Greatest eclipse: 21:31 (9:31 p.m.) UTC
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 23:00 (11:00 p.m.) UTC

Local times of the eclipse for various localities:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Moonrise (eclipse in progress): 5:19 p.m (July 16) local time
Greatest eclipse: 6:31 p.m. (July 16) local time
Partial lunar eclipse ends: 8:00 p.m. (July 16) local time

Paris, France
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 10:02 p’m. (July 16) local time
Greatest eclipse: 11:31 p.m. (July 16) local time
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 1:00 a.m. (July 17) local time

New Delhi, India
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 1:32 a.m. (January 17) local time
Greatest eclipse: 3:01 a.m. (July 17) local time
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 4:30 p.m. (July 17) local time

Melbourne, Australia
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 6:02 a.m. (July 17) local time
Greatest eclipse: 7:31 a.m. (July 17) local time
Moonset (eclipse in progress): 7:40 a.m. (July 17) local time

The moon passes through the faint penumbra before and after sweeping through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow. During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon misses the umbra completely, either by going above the umbra or below it. The next four lunar eclipses, all happening in 2020, will be penumbral.

What causes a lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon, because that’s the only time the moon can be directly opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. This time around, however, the alignment of the sun, Earth and full moon is somewhat askew, so it’s a partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17 instead of a total lunar eclipse.

More often than not, however, there is no eclipse at full moon. The full moon usually avoids being eclipsed because it swings to the north or south of the Earth’s shadow. This year, in 2019, we have 12 full moons but only two lunar eclipses.

Read more: Why no eclipse at every full and new moon?

In a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. If the moon passes through the dark central shadow of Earth – the umbra – a partial or total lunar eclipse takes place. If the moon only passes through the outer part of the shadow (the penumbra), a subtle penumbral eclipse occurs. Diagram via Fred Espenak’s Lunar Eclipses for Beginners.

We had a total eclipse of the moon on January 21, 2019. After that, the next five full moons (February, March, April, May and June) traveled too far north of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane) to undergo an eclipse.

Then, after the partial lunar eclipse of July 16, 2019, the following five full moons (August, September, October, November and December) will sweep too far south of the ecliptic for a lunar eclipse to occur.

This year, in 2019, we have 13 new moons and 3 solar eclipses (P = partial, T = total and A = annular). We also have 12 full moons and 2 lunar eclipses (t = total and p = partial). Moon phase table via Astropixels.

In 2020, all four lunar eclipses will be hard-to-see penumbral eclipses. So if you’re in the right spot to watch tonight’s partial lunar eclipse, by all means do so. This will be the last time that the Earth’s dark shadow touches the moon’s surface until May 26, 2021.

Bottom line: On the night of July 16-17, 2019, much of the world can watch a partial eclipse of the full moon. Unfortunately, North America misses out on this eclipse entirely. It’s visible from South America at early evening July 16 – from Europe and Africa, later in the evening July 16 – and in Asia and Australia before sunup July 17.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2k6s7Sf

Above photo of partially eclipsed moon by Ken Christison

On the night of July 16-17, 2019, much of the world can watch a partial eclipse of the full moon. This will be the last time that the moon sweeps through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow until the total lunar eclipse on May 26, 2021.

Unfortunately, North America misses out on this eclipse entirely. The eclipse is visible from South America at early evening July 16. From Europe and Africa, it happens later in the evening July 16. In Asia and Australia, watch for the eclipse to occur during the morning nighttime hours July 17. From South America, the moon is already in eclipse as it rises around sunset July 16; and in Australia, the moon is in eclipse as it sets around sunrise July 17. The worldwide map below shows more specifically where the eclipse is visible.

View larger. | South America sees the moon rising in eclipse around sunset on July 16. Eastern Asia and Australia see the moon in eclipse as it sets around sunrise on July 17. Eastern Africa and the Middle East see greatest eclipse around midnight on the night of July 16. North America misses out on this eclipse entirely.

The Virtual Telescope Project is offering free online viewing of this eclipse. The online observing session to see the partial lunar eclipse is scheduled for July 16, 2019, starting at 20:30 UTC; translate UTC to your time. Want to join the online observing session? Click here for more info.

Click on this eclipse calculator via TimeandDate to find out when (or if) this eclipse is happening in your part of the world. Fortunately, no conversion from Universal Time to your own local time is necessary!

The July 2019 full moon travels through the Earth’s outer faint penumbral shadow before and after partially sweeping through the Earth’s inner dark umbral shadow. (See the diagram below.) However, the penumbral stage of the eclipse is so faint that many people won’t even notice it, even as it’s taking place. So the eclipse times listed below are for the full moon’s passage through the dark umbra. From start to finish, the umbral phase lasts nearly three hours.

The moon moves from west to east across the Earth’s shadow. On July 16, 2019, the north side of the full moon clips the southern part of the Earth’s shadow, to stage a partial lunar eclipse.

Eclipse times in Universal Time (July 16, 2019):

Partial umbral eclipse begins: 20:02 (8:02 p.m.) UTC
Greatest eclipse: 21:31 (9:31 p.m.) UTC
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 23:00 (11:00 p.m.) UTC

Local times of the eclipse for various localities:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Moonrise (eclipse in progress): 5:19 p.m (July 16) local time
Greatest eclipse: 6:31 p.m. (July 16) local time
Partial lunar eclipse ends: 8:00 p.m. (July 16) local time

Paris, France
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 10:02 p’m. (July 16) local time
Greatest eclipse: 11:31 p.m. (July 16) local time
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 1:00 a.m. (July 17) local time

New Delhi, India
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 1:32 a.m. (January 17) local time
Greatest eclipse: 3:01 a.m. (July 17) local time
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 4:30 p.m. (July 17) local time

Melbourne, Australia
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 6:02 a.m. (July 17) local time
Greatest eclipse: 7:31 a.m. (July 17) local time
Moonset (eclipse in progress): 7:40 a.m. (July 17) local time

The moon passes through the faint penumbra before and after sweeping through the Earth’s dark umbral shadow. During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon misses the umbra completely, either by going above the umbra or below it. The next four lunar eclipses, all happening in 2020, will be penumbral.

What causes a lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon, because that’s the only time the moon can be directly opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. This time around, however, the alignment of the sun, Earth and full moon is somewhat askew, so it’s a partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17 instead of a total lunar eclipse.

More often than not, however, there is no eclipse at full moon. The full moon usually avoids being eclipsed because it swings to the north or south of the Earth’s shadow. This year, in 2019, we have 12 full moons but only two lunar eclipses.

Read more: Why no eclipse at every full and new moon?

In a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. If the moon passes through the dark central shadow of Earth – the umbra – a partial or total lunar eclipse takes place. If the moon only passes through the outer part of the shadow (the penumbra), a subtle penumbral eclipse occurs. Diagram via Fred Espenak’s Lunar Eclipses for Beginners.

We had a total eclipse of the moon on January 21, 2019. After that, the next five full moons (February, March, April, May and June) traveled too far north of the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane) to undergo an eclipse.

Then, after the partial lunar eclipse of July 16, 2019, the following five full moons (August, September, October, November and December) will sweep too far south of the ecliptic for a lunar eclipse to occur.

This year, in 2019, we have 13 new moons and 3 solar eclipses (P = partial, T = total and A = annular). We also have 12 full moons and 2 lunar eclipses (t = total and p = partial). Moon phase table via Astropixels.

In 2020, all four lunar eclipses will be hard-to-see penumbral eclipses. So if you’re in the right spot to watch tonight’s partial lunar eclipse, by all means do so. This will be the last time that the Earth’s dark shadow touches the moon’s surface until May 26, 2021.

Bottom line: On the night of July 16-17, 2019, much of the world can watch a partial eclipse of the full moon. Unfortunately, North America misses out on this eclipse entirely. It’s visible from South America at early evening July 16 – from Europe and Africa, later in the evening July 16 – and in Asia and Australia before sunup July 17.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2k6s7Sf

10 things a committed U.S. President and Congress could do about climate change

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Craig K. Chandler

The federal government has available to it, should it choose to use them, a wide range of potential climate change management tools, going well beyond the traditional pollution control regulatory options. And, in some cases (not all), without new legislative authorization.

There’s a big “if” behind that remark: It will take an exceptionally climate-savvy and climate-concerned Executive Branch to have the political will to initiate some of these steps. And there’s more: It likely will take supportive bipartisan majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. More still: It will also take widespread and strong public support and citizen engagement, and, even then, strong leadership skills on the part of federal leaders.

It’s not clear when or if that time will come, nor what kind of climate catastrophe could precipitate such a coming-together. It brings to mind a phrase often attributed, but with some uncertainty, to Winston Churchill: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”

Commentary

Among its options should some future Executive Branch want to consider them, or perhaps, worse yet, be forced to do so by deepening climate concerns:

Enact campaign-finance reforms that equitably share responsibilities and influence among individual citizens and “special interests.”

Many powerful “special interest” groups are happy with the status quo. The current rules and regulations (or lack thereof) work well for them. But too many Americans fear the rules are stacked against them, including on issues such as having their voices heard on climate change.

Enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax, with dividends paid back to taxpayers.

Many economists argue that unregulated markets underprice fossil fuels because they do not reflect “externalized” costs of environmental damages brought about as a result of buyer-seller transactions. All of us, when we drive our cars, heat our homes, or use fossil fuels in other ways, create these costs without having to pay for them.

A carbon fee system could provide an economic incentive to use low-emission fuels instead of high-emission fuels.

Oh, the things a committed and emboldened Executive Branch could do to help stem damages from climate change.

Overhaul or reform the system for providing tax breaks.

Special tax breaks for the U.S. oil, gas, and coal industries are valued at $4.6 billion annually. These breaks can distort markets and encourage more investment in a subsidized fuel than would occur under a neutral tax system.

It’s important to point out that tax-related support for renewable energy is estimated at $11.6 billion in 2017. However, the fossil fuel industry is a mature industry, accounting for nearly 80 percent of primary U.S. energy production, and doesn’t need tax breaks to help it get established in the marketplace. It has recorded significant profits for decades. In contrast, we impose high taxes on certain products such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

Include minivans, crossovers, SUVs, and pick-up trucks under the Gas Guzzler Tax

One provision of the Gas Guzzler Tax in the Energy Tax Act of 1978 discourages production and purchase of fuel-inefficient vehicles. The tax is a one-time tax, collected from manufacturers or importers on each new fuel-inefficient vehicle they sell. The lower the fuel economy of the vehicle, the higher the tax.

Vehicles are subject to the tax only if they have an average fuel efficiency of less than 22.5 mpg (as determined by EPA). Pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs are not included because minivans and SUVs were not widely available in 1978, and pickup trucks were not commonly used for personal transportation. The number of pickups, SUVs, and vans used as personal vehicles has increased dramatically since 1978, but the legislation has not been amended to account for this change.

In 2018, more than two-thirds of U.S. passenger vehicles were not covered by the Gas Guzzler Tax provision.

EPA’s fuel economy estimates for 2019 vehicles indicate that most full-size pickups and standard SUVs with 8-cylinder engines have an average efficiency of less than 20 mpg.

Lower speed limits on major interstate highways.

Lowering 70 mph speed limits to 65 mph, and then after several years to 60 mph, reduces emissions, even without technology enhancements.

Increase funding for mass transit.

Mass transit is considered the most environmentally sustainable mode of transportation available and help reduce congestion and air pollution in urban areas.

Increase the fuel efficiency performance and use of renewable fuels for military planes, ships, and land vehicles.

The United States has the largest military in the world – by far. Exact numbers of military hardware are difficult to come by, but the U.S. military, conservatively, has several thousand tanks, tens of thousands of road and fighting vehicles, over 10,000 aircraft (including fighters, bombers, transport planes, and helicopters) and roughly 100 ships (including aircraft carriers, frigates, and destroyers) – most consuming large amounts of fossil fuels.

The U.S. military is the largest institutional consumer of oil on Earth, burning the equivalent of more than 100 million barrels of oil per year to power ground operations and hardware.

A significant number of the land vehicles could be converted to battery-powered electric vehicles. Hydrogen, produced with renewable energy, could be used to power a significant number of military planes and ships – reducing yearly consumption of oil.

Eliminate or scale-back some federal crop insurance subsidies.

The U.S. government established a program in the 1930s to protect farmers against unpredictable hardships, such as droughts, floods, and pest infestations. The program was meant to be temporary, but it’s still going strong – because of heavy industry lobbying over the years.

Critics say these subsidies can distort the market, encouraging farmers to over-plant certain crops.

Crop subsidies may have served a useful purpose in the 1930s, but the agricultural industry has changed dramatically since then.

The ag industry has matured, and most farmers routinely handle both price and production risks. Modern farmers have much better tools to reduce risks, including advanced weather forecasting, modern irrigation technology, and effective pest management techniques.

Limit the home mortgage interest deduction to a person’s or family’s primary residence.

Here’s another government subsidy that distorts the market. Originally put in place to encourage middle-income Americans to purchase a home (instead of continuing to rent), it now mostly subsidizes housing costs for upper-income earners.

Homeowners can deduct interest on mortgages up to $750,000 dollars even if the loan is used to buy a vacation home (many of which are in vulnerable coastal communities). This provision of the tax code gives high-income taxpayers an incentive to buy larger, more expensive homes.

Restore funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and investment.

This funding was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or the Stimulus or Recovery Act). Included in this Act was money for rebates for purchase of energy efficient (Energy Star certified) appliances; and funding for home energy audits and energy efficiency upgrades for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Provide strong financial support for international family planning efforts and for efforts to educate women and increase their options in life.

Worldwide, more than 214 million women have an unmet need for modern contraception (i.e., they do not wish to get pregnant and are using no contraceptive method or a traditional method).

Total U.S. funding for family planning and reproductive health was $608 million in FY 2018; however, the current Administration has proposed reducing it significantly for FY 2019, and has withheld the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Population Fund for FY 2017 and FY 2018.

In confronting climate change, national governments and their legislatures can and must help moderate unreasonable demand for fossil fuels, food, housing, and transportation.

The “free markets” for these goods need not be replaced but should be adjusted to minimize negative effects on the environment and help make sure they work to the benefit of most citizens.

Resources used by the author to research and write this post.

AUTHOR
Craig K. Chandler is a retired horticulturist and professor from the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, where he led the university’s strawberry breeding program from 1987 until 2010.

from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2XMCybu

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Craig K. Chandler

The federal government has available to it, should it choose to use them, a wide range of potential climate change management tools, going well beyond the traditional pollution control regulatory options. And, in some cases (not all), without new legislative authorization.

There’s a big “if” behind that remark: It will take an exceptionally climate-savvy and climate-concerned Executive Branch to have the political will to initiate some of these steps. And there’s more: It likely will take supportive bipartisan majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. More still: It will also take widespread and strong public support and citizen engagement, and, even then, strong leadership skills on the part of federal leaders.

It’s not clear when or if that time will come, nor what kind of climate catastrophe could precipitate such a coming-together. It brings to mind a phrase often attributed, but with some uncertainty, to Winston Churchill: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”

Commentary

Among its options should some future Executive Branch want to consider them, or perhaps, worse yet, be forced to do so by deepening climate concerns:

Enact campaign-finance reforms that equitably share responsibilities and influence among individual citizens and “special interests.”

Many powerful “special interest” groups are happy with the status quo. The current rules and regulations (or lack thereof) work well for them. But too many Americans fear the rules are stacked against them, including on issues such as having their voices heard on climate change.

Enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax, with dividends paid back to taxpayers.

Many economists argue that unregulated markets underprice fossil fuels because they do not reflect “externalized” costs of environmental damages brought about as a result of buyer-seller transactions. All of us, when we drive our cars, heat our homes, or use fossil fuels in other ways, create these costs without having to pay for them.

A carbon fee system could provide an economic incentive to use low-emission fuels instead of high-emission fuels.

Oh, the things a committed and emboldened Executive Branch could do to help stem damages from climate change.

Overhaul or reform the system for providing tax breaks.

Special tax breaks for the U.S. oil, gas, and coal industries are valued at $4.6 billion annually. These breaks can distort markets and encourage more investment in a subsidized fuel than would occur under a neutral tax system.

It’s important to point out that tax-related support for renewable energy is estimated at $11.6 billion in 2017. However, the fossil fuel industry is a mature industry, accounting for nearly 80 percent of primary U.S. energy production, and doesn’t need tax breaks to help it get established in the marketplace. It has recorded significant profits for decades. In contrast, we impose high taxes on certain products such as tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

Include minivans, crossovers, SUVs, and pick-up trucks under the Gas Guzzler Tax

One provision of the Gas Guzzler Tax in the Energy Tax Act of 1978 discourages production and purchase of fuel-inefficient vehicles. The tax is a one-time tax, collected from manufacturers or importers on each new fuel-inefficient vehicle they sell. The lower the fuel economy of the vehicle, the higher the tax.

Vehicles are subject to the tax only if they have an average fuel efficiency of less than 22.5 mpg (as determined by EPA). Pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs are not included because minivans and SUVs were not widely available in 1978, and pickup trucks were not commonly used for personal transportation. The number of pickups, SUVs, and vans used as personal vehicles has increased dramatically since 1978, but the legislation has not been amended to account for this change.

In 2018, more than two-thirds of U.S. passenger vehicles were not covered by the Gas Guzzler Tax provision.

EPA’s fuel economy estimates for 2019 vehicles indicate that most full-size pickups and standard SUVs with 8-cylinder engines have an average efficiency of less than 20 mpg.

Lower speed limits on major interstate highways.

Lowering 70 mph speed limits to 65 mph, and then after several years to 60 mph, reduces emissions, even without technology enhancements.

Increase funding for mass transit.

Mass transit is considered the most environmentally sustainable mode of transportation available and help reduce congestion and air pollution in urban areas.

Increase the fuel efficiency performance and use of renewable fuels for military planes, ships, and land vehicles.

The United States has the largest military in the world – by far. Exact numbers of military hardware are difficult to come by, but the U.S. military, conservatively, has several thousand tanks, tens of thousands of road and fighting vehicles, over 10,000 aircraft (including fighters, bombers, transport planes, and helicopters) and roughly 100 ships (including aircraft carriers, frigates, and destroyers) – most consuming large amounts of fossil fuels.

The U.S. military is the largest institutional consumer of oil on Earth, burning the equivalent of more than 100 million barrels of oil per year to power ground operations and hardware.

A significant number of the land vehicles could be converted to battery-powered electric vehicles. Hydrogen, produced with renewable energy, could be used to power a significant number of military planes and ships – reducing yearly consumption of oil.

Eliminate or scale-back some federal crop insurance subsidies.

The U.S. government established a program in the 1930s to protect farmers against unpredictable hardships, such as droughts, floods, and pest infestations. The program was meant to be temporary, but it’s still going strong – because of heavy industry lobbying over the years.

Critics say these subsidies can distort the market, encouraging farmers to over-plant certain crops.

Crop subsidies may have served a useful purpose in the 1930s, but the agricultural industry has changed dramatically since then.

The ag industry has matured, and most farmers routinely handle both price and production risks. Modern farmers have much better tools to reduce risks, including advanced weather forecasting, modern irrigation technology, and effective pest management techniques.

Limit the home mortgage interest deduction to a person’s or family’s primary residence.

Here’s another government subsidy that distorts the market. Originally put in place to encourage middle-income Americans to purchase a home (instead of continuing to rent), it now mostly subsidizes housing costs for upper-income earners.

Homeowners can deduct interest on mortgages up to $750,000 dollars even if the loan is used to buy a vacation home (many of which are in vulnerable coastal communities). This provision of the tax code gives high-income taxpayers an incentive to buy larger, more expensive homes.

Restore funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and investment.

This funding was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or the Stimulus or Recovery Act). Included in this Act was money for rebates for purchase of energy efficient (Energy Star certified) appliances; and funding for home energy audits and energy efficiency upgrades for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Provide strong financial support for international family planning efforts and for efforts to educate women and increase their options in life.

Worldwide, more than 214 million women have an unmet need for modern contraception (i.e., they do not wish to get pregnant and are using no contraceptive method or a traditional method).

Total U.S. funding for family planning and reproductive health was $608 million in FY 2018; however, the current Administration has proposed reducing it significantly for FY 2019, and has withheld the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Population Fund for FY 2017 and FY 2018.

In confronting climate change, national governments and their legislatures can and must help moderate unreasonable demand for fossil fuels, food, housing, and transportation.

The “free markets” for these goods need not be replaced but should be adjusted to minimize negative effects on the environment and help make sure they work to the benefit of most citizens.

Resources used by the author to research and write this post.

AUTHOR
Craig K. Chandler is a retired horticulturist and professor from the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, where he led the university’s strawberry breeding program from 1987 until 2010.

from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2XMCybu

The eclipse that marked the start of the Iroquois Confederacy

Original Iroquois League was known as the Five Nations

My wife Alice regularly brings home the Indian Time news journal, a publication from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation Territory in northern New York. It was with great interest that I came across an article titled Dating the Iroquois Confederacy by Bruce E. Johansen.

What really attracted my attention was that a total, or near total, solar eclipse marked the beginning of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the oldest living democracy in North America and possibly on Earth. American democracy is said to have been modeled upon the democratic ideals of the Iroquois Confederacy, which originally consisted of five nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca). The sixth nation – the Tuscarora – joined the Iroquois Confederacy in the early eighteenth century (1701-1800).

Total solar eclipse of the sun on July 2, 2019

Map of the New York tribes before European arrival. Lavender indicates Iroquoian tribes. Orange indicates Algonquian tribes. Source: Smithsonian Institution

Iroquois, one of the historical figures of the Maisonneuve Monument, by Louis-Philippe Hébert, 1895, Place d’Armes, Montreal. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Bruce E. Johansen refers to the research done by Barbara A. Mann and Jerry L. Fields, which uses eclipse data as well as oral history to challenge the common notion that the Iroquois Confederacy or Iroquois League started in the fifteenth (1401-1500) or sixteenth (1501-1600) century. They state:

We know this much: During a ratification council held at Ganondagan (near modern-day Victor, New York) the sky darkened in a total, or near total, eclipse. The time of day was afternoon, as Councils are held between noon and sunset. The time of year was either Second Hoeing (early July) or Green Corn (late August to early September). Thus, we must look for an eclipse path that would totally cover Ganondagan between July and September, in mid-afternoon.

Mann and Fields settled upon the total solar eclipse of August 22, 1142 as satisfying the stated criteria. Bruce E. Johansen even pinpoints where the ratification of the Iroquois League took place:

The ratification council convened at a site that is now a football field in Victor, New York. The site is called Gonandaga by the Seneca.

Traditional Iroquois Longhouse. Source: Wilber F. Gordy

I looked up the August 1142 total solar eclipse at the NASA Eclipse Web Site. You can see this map for yourself by clicking here.

Map showing Victor, NY, and August 1142 eclipse path

Map Credit: NASA Eclipse Web Site

For the fun of it, I zoomed into the August 1142 eclipse map until finding Victor, New York. Looking along the zoomed-in eclipse path above, you can see Victor a short way to the north of the northern limit of total solar eclipse path (in blue). Nonetheless, it would have been very close to a total solar eclipse at greatest eclipse. Rounding off to the nearest minute, the partial eclipse started at 19:29 Universal Time (2:29 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), maximum eclipse arrived at 20:40 UT (3:40 p.m. EST) and the partial eclipse ended at 21:45 UT (4:45 p.m. EST).

Contrasting a total solar eclipse (A) with an annular eclipse (B) Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Other proposed dates include June 28, 1451 and June 18, 1536. But the total solar eclipse of 1451 June 28 did not swing as close to Victor as did the one on 1142 August 22. The path of 1536 June 18 eclipse didn’t pass particularly close to Victor either, and moreover, it came at the wrong time of day, and was an annular eclipse, rather than a total eclipse of the sun.

See the diagram at right to contrast a total solar eclipse with an annular eclipse. During a total solar eclipse, the new moon totally covers over the solar disk; during an annular eclipse, the new moon lies too far from Earth to completely cover over the sun, so a thin annulus – or ring – of sunshine circles the new moon silhouette.

Could it have been an annular solar eclipse that convinced the Seneca to join the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy at Gonandaga (Victor, NY)? If so, the formation of Haudenosaunee (Five Nations) might go all the way back to the annular eclipse of August 18, 909. The middle of the eclipse path (in red) on the below chart almost exactly crosses Victor, NY!

Map showing Victor, NY, and August 909 eclipse path

Map Credit: NASA Eclipse Web Site

These web pages can help you search out eclipse history in more detail: Major Solar Eclipses Visible from New York, NY and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses.

Eclipses are a great way to document history. But the real item of importance, as far as I’m concerned, is the acceptance of the Peacemaker and the democratic ideals of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Bottom line: Research suggests the total solar eclipse of August 22, 1142 coincided with the birth of the Iroquois (Five Nations) Confederacy, near modern-day Victor, New York.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2lvB4F5

Original Iroquois League was known as the Five Nations

My wife Alice regularly brings home the Indian Time news journal, a publication from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation Territory in northern New York. It was with great interest that I came across an article titled Dating the Iroquois Confederacy by Bruce E. Johansen.

What really attracted my attention was that a total, or near total, solar eclipse marked the beginning of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the oldest living democracy in North America and possibly on Earth. American democracy is said to have been modeled upon the democratic ideals of the Iroquois Confederacy, which originally consisted of five nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca). The sixth nation – the Tuscarora – joined the Iroquois Confederacy in the early eighteenth century (1701-1800).

Total solar eclipse of the sun on July 2, 2019

Map of the New York tribes before European arrival. Lavender indicates Iroquoian tribes. Orange indicates Algonquian tribes. Source: Smithsonian Institution

Iroquois, one of the historical figures of the Maisonneuve Monument, by Louis-Philippe Hébert, 1895, Place d’Armes, Montreal. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Bruce E. Johansen refers to the research done by Barbara A. Mann and Jerry L. Fields, which uses eclipse data as well as oral history to challenge the common notion that the Iroquois Confederacy or Iroquois League started in the fifteenth (1401-1500) or sixteenth (1501-1600) century. They state:

We know this much: During a ratification council held at Ganondagan (near modern-day Victor, New York) the sky darkened in a total, or near total, eclipse. The time of day was afternoon, as Councils are held between noon and sunset. The time of year was either Second Hoeing (early July) or Green Corn (late August to early September). Thus, we must look for an eclipse path that would totally cover Ganondagan between July and September, in mid-afternoon.

Mann and Fields settled upon the total solar eclipse of August 22, 1142 as satisfying the stated criteria. Bruce E. Johansen even pinpoints where the ratification of the Iroquois League took place:

The ratification council convened at a site that is now a football field in Victor, New York. The site is called Gonandaga by the Seneca.

Traditional Iroquois Longhouse. Source: Wilber F. Gordy

I looked up the August 1142 total solar eclipse at the NASA Eclipse Web Site. You can see this map for yourself by clicking here.

Map showing Victor, NY, and August 1142 eclipse path

Map Credit: NASA Eclipse Web Site

For the fun of it, I zoomed into the August 1142 eclipse map until finding Victor, New York. Looking along the zoomed-in eclipse path above, you can see Victor a short way to the north of the northern limit of total solar eclipse path (in blue). Nonetheless, it would have been very close to a total solar eclipse at greatest eclipse. Rounding off to the nearest minute, the partial eclipse started at 19:29 Universal Time (2:29 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), maximum eclipse arrived at 20:40 UT (3:40 p.m. EST) and the partial eclipse ended at 21:45 UT (4:45 p.m. EST).

Contrasting a total solar eclipse (A) with an annular eclipse (B) Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Other proposed dates include June 28, 1451 and June 18, 1536. But the total solar eclipse of 1451 June 28 did not swing as close to Victor as did the one on 1142 August 22. The path of 1536 June 18 eclipse didn’t pass particularly close to Victor either, and moreover, it came at the wrong time of day, and was an annular eclipse, rather than a total eclipse of the sun.

See the diagram at right to contrast a total solar eclipse with an annular eclipse. During a total solar eclipse, the new moon totally covers over the solar disk; during an annular eclipse, the new moon lies too far from Earth to completely cover over the sun, so a thin annulus – or ring – of sunshine circles the new moon silhouette.

Could it have been an annular solar eclipse that convinced the Seneca to join the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy at Gonandaga (Victor, NY)? If so, the formation of Haudenosaunee (Five Nations) might go all the way back to the annular eclipse of August 18, 909. The middle of the eclipse path (in red) on the below chart almost exactly crosses Victor, NY!

Map showing Victor, NY, and August 909 eclipse path

Map Credit: NASA Eclipse Web Site

These web pages can help you search out eclipse history in more detail: Major Solar Eclipses Visible from New York, NY and Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses.

Eclipses are a great way to document history. But the real item of importance, as far as I’m concerned, is the acceptance of the Peacemaker and the democratic ideals of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Bottom line: Research suggests the total solar eclipse of August 22, 1142 coincided with the birth of the Iroquois (Five Nations) Confederacy, near modern-day Victor, New York.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2lvB4F5

Moon goes by Saturn night of July 15

On July 15, 2019, the almost-full waxing gibbous moon and the planet Saturn pair up together on the sky’s dome, staying out nearly all night long. Saturn just passed its yearly opposition on July 9. It’s now at its brightest and best for all of 2019. Although the July 15 moon will probably appear full to the eye, it isn’t truly full until the night of July 16. What’s more, on July 16, the northern side of the full moon will swing through the southern part of the Earth’s dark shadow, to showcase a partial lunar eclipse that’ll be visible from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Indonesia, and Australia – but not in North America.

Saturn will be near the moon on July 16 as well … and depending on where you live worldwide, the moon and Saturn will couple up most closely on July 15 or 16. So find Saturn on either night! And – if you’re in a place to view the eclipse – enjoy it on eclipse night.

Read more: Partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17

These two luminaries – the moon and Saturn – shine in the eastern part of the sky at dusk, as viewed from around the world. They climb highest up for the night around midnight and set in the west as darkness gives way to dawn. Saturn shines as brilliantly as a 1st-magnitude star, that is, as one of the brightest stars in our sky. Still, you might easily overlook Saturn in the moon’s glare. If you can’t see a bright point of light near the moon on July 15, try blocking out the moon with your finger.

Saturn, the sixth planet outward from the sun, is the farthest world we can easily see with the unaided eye. The moon and Saturn aren’t close together in space tonight but closely align on the same line of sight. Tonight’s moon is about a quarter million miles (400,000 km) distant, whereas far-off Saturn is nearly 3,500 times the moon’s distance from Earth.

Want to know more? Find the moon’s present distance from Earth, and Saturn’s present distance (in astronomical units) from Earth. One astronomical unit = sun-Earth distance.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

The moon will sweep 0.2 degree south of Saturn on July 16, 2019, at 7:27 Universal Time. (For reference, 0.2 degree is 40 percent of the moon’s angular diameter.) At Canadian and U.S. times zones, the moon passes south of Saturn on July 16 at 4:27 a.m. ADT, 3:27 a.m. EDT, 2:27 a.m. CDT, 1:27 a.m. MDT, 12:27 a.m. PDT – and on July 15, at 11:27 p.m. AKDT (Alaska) and 9:27 p.m. HST (Hawaii).

One thing to remember: when an almanac tells you that the moon swings so many degrees to the north or south of a planet or bright star, it means as seen from the center of the Earth. From the Earth’s surface, the moon passes farther away from Saturn at more northerly latitudes, yet closer to Saturn at more southerly latitudes.

In fact, if you’re far south on the Earth’s globe, like in Antarctica or the southern tip of South America, you would actually see the moon pass to the north of Saturn – instead of to the south of Saturn. For much of South America, however, the moon won’t pass to the south or to the north of Saturn. Look at the worldwide map below. The area in between the solid white lines will actually have the moon occult – pass directly in front of – Saturn for a portion of the night on July 15-16, 2019. In South America, this occultation will happen in the morning hours of July 16.

Worldwide map of the occultation of Saturn via IOTA. All places between the solid white lines have the moon occulting Saturn in a nighttime sky on the night of July 15-16, 2019. More info at IOTA.

Bottom line: As darkness falls on July 15, 2019, try finding the planet Saturn in the glare of the almost-full moon. Then watch for Saturn again the next night, especially if you’re in a part of the world that can view the July 16-17 partial lunar eclipse. North America, tough luck for us. We won’t see the eclipse.

Read more: Partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2SdCtME

On July 15, 2019, the almost-full waxing gibbous moon and the planet Saturn pair up together on the sky’s dome, staying out nearly all night long. Saturn just passed its yearly opposition on July 9. It’s now at its brightest and best for all of 2019. Although the July 15 moon will probably appear full to the eye, it isn’t truly full until the night of July 16. What’s more, on July 16, the northern side of the full moon will swing through the southern part of the Earth’s dark shadow, to showcase a partial lunar eclipse that’ll be visible from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Indonesia, and Australia – but not in North America.

Saturn will be near the moon on July 16 as well … and depending on where you live worldwide, the moon and Saturn will couple up most closely on July 15 or 16. So find Saturn on either night! And – if you’re in a place to view the eclipse – enjoy it on eclipse night.

Read more: Partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17

These two luminaries – the moon and Saturn – shine in the eastern part of the sky at dusk, as viewed from around the world. They climb highest up for the night around midnight and set in the west as darkness gives way to dawn. Saturn shines as brilliantly as a 1st-magnitude star, that is, as one of the brightest stars in our sky. Still, you might easily overlook Saturn in the moon’s glare. If you can’t see a bright point of light near the moon on July 15, try blocking out the moon with your finger.

Saturn, the sixth planet outward from the sun, is the farthest world we can easily see with the unaided eye. The moon and Saturn aren’t close together in space tonight but closely align on the same line of sight. Tonight’s moon is about a quarter million miles (400,000 km) distant, whereas far-off Saturn is nearly 3,500 times the moon’s distance from Earth.

Want to know more? Find the moon’s present distance from Earth, and Saturn’s present distance (in astronomical units) from Earth. One astronomical unit = sun-Earth distance.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

The moon will sweep 0.2 degree south of Saturn on July 16, 2019, at 7:27 Universal Time. (For reference, 0.2 degree is 40 percent of the moon’s angular diameter.) At Canadian and U.S. times zones, the moon passes south of Saturn on July 16 at 4:27 a.m. ADT, 3:27 a.m. EDT, 2:27 a.m. CDT, 1:27 a.m. MDT, 12:27 a.m. PDT – and on July 15, at 11:27 p.m. AKDT (Alaska) and 9:27 p.m. HST (Hawaii).

One thing to remember: when an almanac tells you that the moon swings so many degrees to the north or south of a planet or bright star, it means as seen from the center of the Earth. From the Earth’s surface, the moon passes farther away from Saturn at more northerly latitudes, yet closer to Saturn at more southerly latitudes.

In fact, if you’re far south on the Earth’s globe, like in Antarctica or the southern tip of South America, you would actually see the moon pass to the north of Saturn – instead of to the south of Saturn. For much of South America, however, the moon won’t pass to the south or to the north of Saturn. Look at the worldwide map below. The area in between the solid white lines will actually have the moon occult – pass directly in front of – Saturn for a portion of the night on July 15-16, 2019. In South America, this occultation will happen in the morning hours of July 16.

Worldwide map of the occultation of Saturn via IOTA. All places between the solid white lines have the moon occulting Saturn in a nighttime sky on the night of July 15-16, 2019. More info at IOTA.

Bottom line: As darkness falls on July 15, 2019, try finding the planet Saturn in the glare of the almost-full moon. Then watch for Saturn again the next night, especially if you’re in a part of the world that can view the July 16-17 partial lunar eclipse. North America, tough luck for us. We won’t see the eclipse.

Read more: Partial lunar eclipse on July 16-17

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2SdCtME

Cactus blossom near Shimla, India

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Swami Krishnananda captured the images on this page in July 2019, near Shimla, India. He wrote to EarthSky: “Yesterday, on my daily walk, I saw this cactus blooming from far away, and decided to go near to enjoy its beauty. I had to climb hard climb up a hill to reach it. As the photos will show, it was worth the adventure.”

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Swami Krishnananda commented: “There are three different varieties of cacti in this region near Shimla. This one takes several months to bloom fully, starting with the long shoot.”

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Close-up on cactus blossoms.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Closer still.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | “Here we see a crimson sunbird feeding on the nectar,” Swami Krishnananda wrote.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | “And these bees were feeding on the nectar, too. Once the blossom is over and wilted, the cactus seems to have fulfilled its life’s purpose and dies. The same thing is said to happen to us human beings. Once God’s purpose of blossoming the Sahasrar Chakra is done, the body perishes within a week or so. Jai Guru!” Swami Krishnananda wrote.

Bottom line: A photo essay of a walk up a hillside near Shimla, India, closer and closer to a cactus blossom, with thoughts on impermanence.

More from Swami Krishnananda: Birds and birds

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2k1b7N7

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Swami Krishnananda captured the images on this page in July 2019, near Shimla, India. He wrote to EarthSky: “Yesterday, on my daily walk, I saw this cactus blooming from far away, and decided to go near to enjoy its beauty. I had to climb hard climb up a hill to reach it. As the photos will show, it was worth the adventure.”

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Swami Krishnananda commented: “There are three different varieties of cacti in this region near Shimla. This one takes several months to bloom fully, starting with the long shoot.”

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Close-up on cactus blossoms.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Closer still.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | “Here we see a crimson sunbird feeding on the nectar,” Swami Krishnananda wrote.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | “And these bees were feeding on the nectar, too. Once the blossom is over and wilted, the cactus seems to have fulfilled its life’s purpose and dies. The same thing is said to happen to us human beings. Once God’s purpose of blossoming the Sahasrar Chakra is done, the body perishes within a week or so. Jai Guru!” Swami Krishnananda wrote.

Bottom line: A photo essay of a walk up a hillside near Shimla, India, closer and closer to a cactus blossom, with thoughts on impermanence.

More from Swami Krishnananda: Birds and birds

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2k1b7N7

Eclipses make animals do strange things

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Pablo Goffard caught the July 2, 2019, total solar eclipse from Incahuasi, Chile. He wrote: “This is just a photo, a tiny part of the experience. Incahuasi is a small town in the Atacama desert. Here is seen the camp installed especially for the eclipse.”

By Steve Portugal, Royal Holloway

Looking for information on the July 16-17, 2019 partial lunar eclipse? Click here

For most animals, the structure of their day – and indeed their year – depends on the light-dark cycle. These regular and rhythmic cycles in the length of days tell animals when they should be foraging, when they should be asleep, when it’s time to migrate and when it’s time to breed. Animals can tell all this from how many hours of daylight they experience, but the moon’s cycles also strongly influence their behavior.

The lunar synodic cycle – the moon’s regular journey from full moon to full moon again over 28 nights – causes changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, the moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, and light levels at night. Many species can detect this and use it to synchronize their breeding. Mass spawning in corals sees tens of millions of eggs released at once on reefs to coincide with full or new moons. But what happens to animals when the moon or the sun does something unusual or unexpected, such as an eclipse?

A coral (Acropora millepora) releases egg and sperm bundles during the annual spawning event on the Great Barrier Reef, following the full moon in late November. Image via Coral Brunner/Shutterstock.

Solar eclipses

Of all the cosmic events, solar eclipses prompt perhaps the biggest change in animal behavior. Puzzled animals that are active during the day head back to their nighttime abodes while nocturnal animals think they’ve overslept. A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned on the same axis so that the moon completely blocks the sun. Around the world, unusual incidences of behavior are usually reported while everyone else is watching the eclipse.

Some spider species begin to break down their webs during an eclipse, as they typically do at the end of the day. Once the eclipse has passed, they begin to rebuild them again, possibly lamenting the lack of rest in between. Similarly, fish and birds that are active during the day head for their nighttime resting places, while nocturnal bats appear, seemingly tricked by the sudden darkness.

Hippos in Zimbabwe were observed leaving their rivers during an eclipse, heading towards their nocturnal feeding grounds on dry land. Midway through their departure, the eclipse passed, daylight returned and the hippos aborted their efforts. The animals appeared agitated and stressed following the eclipse for the remainder of the day.

Leaving in a hurry. Image via Jez Bennett/Shutterstock

The moon

A lunar eclipse happens when the moon, Earth and sun are very closely aligned, with the Earth positioned between the two. As the moon passes directly behind us, Earth blocks sunlight from directly reaching the moon, causing a reddish glow to appear. These so-called “blood moons” can only occur when there is a full moon, so it’s difficult to separate the impacts that lunar eclipses have on animals compared to a standard full moon.

A study in 2010 discovered that Azara’s owl monkeys – a typically nocturnal species – stopped foraging in Argentina during a lunar eclipse as their world became suddenly darker. They may have struggled to see their food, or felt too unnerved to move safely through the trees.

Azara’s owl monkeys stop feeding during lunar eclipses. Image via </<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azara%27s_night_monkey#/media/File:Aotus_azarae_infulatus.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rich Hoyer/Flickr.

Around three times a year, a “supermoon” occurs, which is when a full moon coincides with perigee – the point at which the moon is closest to the Earth. The moon’s distance to Earth varies throughout the month, because the moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle. During a perigee event, the moon is about 29,000 miles (46,000 km) closer to the Earth than during apogee – when the moon is farthest from Earth.

During a supermoon, light levels at night are around 30 percent brighter than at any point in the moon’s monthly cycle, and it appears much larger in the sky. Our recent study found that wild barnacle geese responded to these supermoon events while they over-winter in southwest Scotland. We fitted small devices to the animals which measure their behavior and found that the geese’s heart rate and body temperature increased at night during supermoons, when typically at this time of day they’d be subdued.

The birds didn’t respond to “supermoon” events when the moon was hidden by heavy cloud and the night stayed quite dark. So it appears that, a bit like with humans, the bright light of a supermoon woke the geese up, causing their heart rate and body temperature to increase, potentially in preparation for daytime.

Blood moons – despite their foreboding name – underwhelm barnacle geese. Image via Justinas Vitkus/Shutterstock.

The lunar cycle and us

For centuries, people have been fascinated about the relationship between human behavior and the lunar cycle. Many folklores and fables were connected to our interactions with the moon, the most extreme example perhaps being that of mythical beasts such as werewolves. It isn’t too surprising then that previously the term “lunatic” – from the Latin “lunaticus”, meaning “of the moon” – was used to describe people deemed to be mentally ill, crazy or unpredictable, until 1930, when more appropriate and sensitive terms were introduced.

It was once believed that the lunar cycle influenced a range of strange changes to a person’s physiology and the behavior of wider society, with everything from birth rate, fertility, epilepsy and overall argumentativeness thought to be influenced. Many still believe that incidences of violent crime and general disorder increase around the time of a full moon.

A series of studies published in the late 1980s found no evidence at all of any link between the lunar cycle and human behavior. The moon’s influence on us might remain the stuff of legend, but the confusion it sows among wild animals is very real indeed.

Steve Portugal, Reader in Animal Biology and Physiology, Royal Holloway

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: How do solar and lunar eclipses influence animal behavior?

Looking for information on the July 16-17, 2019 partial lunar eclipse? Click here

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2XKTKCQ

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Pablo Goffard caught the July 2, 2019, total solar eclipse from Incahuasi, Chile. He wrote: “This is just a photo, a tiny part of the experience. Incahuasi is a small town in the Atacama desert. Here is seen the camp installed especially for the eclipse.”

By Steve Portugal, Royal Holloway

Looking for information on the July 16-17, 2019 partial lunar eclipse? Click here

For most animals, the structure of their day – and indeed their year – depends on the light-dark cycle. These regular and rhythmic cycles in the length of days tell animals when they should be foraging, when they should be asleep, when it’s time to migrate and when it’s time to breed. Animals can tell all this from how many hours of daylight they experience, but the moon’s cycles also strongly influence their behavior.

The lunar synodic cycle – the moon’s regular journey from full moon to full moon again over 28 nights – causes changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, the moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, and light levels at night. Many species can detect this and use it to synchronize their breeding. Mass spawning in corals sees tens of millions of eggs released at once on reefs to coincide with full or new moons. But what happens to animals when the moon or the sun does something unusual or unexpected, such as an eclipse?

A coral (Acropora millepora) releases egg and sperm bundles during the annual spawning event on the Great Barrier Reef, following the full moon in late November. Image via Coral Brunner/Shutterstock.

Solar eclipses

Of all the cosmic events, solar eclipses prompt perhaps the biggest change in animal behavior. Puzzled animals that are active during the day head back to their nighttime abodes while nocturnal animals think they’ve overslept. A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned on the same axis so that the moon completely blocks the sun. Around the world, unusual incidences of behavior are usually reported while everyone else is watching the eclipse.

Some spider species begin to break down their webs during an eclipse, as they typically do at the end of the day. Once the eclipse has passed, they begin to rebuild them again, possibly lamenting the lack of rest in between. Similarly, fish and birds that are active during the day head for their nighttime resting places, while nocturnal bats appear, seemingly tricked by the sudden darkness.

Hippos in Zimbabwe were observed leaving their rivers during an eclipse, heading towards their nocturnal feeding grounds on dry land. Midway through their departure, the eclipse passed, daylight returned and the hippos aborted their efforts. The animals appeared agitated and stressed following the eclipse for the remainder of the day.

Leaving in a hurry. Image via Jez Bennett/Shutterstock

The moon

A lunar eclipse happens when the moon, Earth and sun are very closely aligned, with the Earth positioned between the two. As the moon passes directly behind us, Earth blocks sunlight from directly reaching the moon, causing a reddish glow to appear. These so-called “blood moons” can only occur when there is a full moon, so it’s difficult to separate the impacts that lunar eclipses have on animals compared to a standard full moon.

A study in 2010 discovered that Azara’s owl monkeys – a typically nocturnal species – stopped foraging in Argentina during a lunar eclipse as their world became suddenly darker. They may have struggled to see their food, or felt too unnerved to move safely through the trees.

Azara’s owl monkeys stop feeding during lunar eclipses. Image via </<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azara%27s_night_monkey#/media/File:Aotus_azarae_infulatus.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rich Hoyer/Flickr.

Around three times a year, a “supermoon” occurs, which is when a full moon coincides with perigee – the point at which the moon is closest to the Earth. The moon’s distance to Earth varies throughout the month, because the moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle. During a perigee event, the moon is about 29,000 miles (46,000 km) closer to the Earth than during apogee – when the moon is farthest from Earth.

During a supermoon, light levels at night are around 30 percent brighter than at any point in the moon’s monthly cycle, and it appears much larger in the sky. Our recent study found that wild barnacle geese responded to these supermoon events while they over-winter in southwest Scotland. We fitted small devices to the animals which measure their behavior and found that the geese’s heart rate and body temperature increased at night during supermoons, when typically at this time of day they’d be subdued.

The birds didn’t respond to “supermoon” events when the moon was hidden by heavy cloud and the night stayed quite dark. So it appears that, a bit like with humans, the bright light of a supermoon woke the geese up, causing their heart rate and body temperature to increase, potentially in preparation for daytime.

Blood moons – despite their foreboding name – underwhelm barnacle geese. Image via Justinas Vitkus/Shutterstock.

The lunar cycle and us

For centuries, people have been fascinated about the relationship between human behavior and the lunar cycle. Many folklores and fables were connected to our interactions with the moon, the most extreme example perhaps being that of mythical beasts such as werewolves. It isn’t too surprising then that previously the term “lunatic” – from the Latin “lunaticus”, meaning “of the moon” – was used to describe people deemed to be mentally ill, crazy or unpredictable, until 1930, when more appropriate and sensitive terms were introduced.

It was once believed that the lunar cycle influenced a range of strange changes to a person’s physiology and the behavior of wider society, with everything from birth rate, fertility, epilepsy and overall argumentativeness thought to be influenced. Many still believe that incidences of violent crime and general disorder increase around the time of a full moon.

A series of studies published in the late 1980s found no evidence at all of any link between the lunar cycle and human behavior. The moon’s influence on us might remain the stuff of legend, but the confusion it sows among wild animals is very real indeed.

Steve Portugal, Reader in Animal Biology and Physiology, Royal Holloway

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: How do solar and lunar eclipses influence animal behavior?

Looking for information on the July 16-17, 2019 partial lunar eclipse? Click here

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2XKTKCQ