Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features the island of Providencia in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. 



"Providencia was once an island sanctuary for pilgrims and privateers. Today, it is mostly a refuge of quieter Caribbean life amid raw natural beauty," reports NASA.



Providencia has an area of about seven square miles. The island is a territory of Colombia, yet sits closer to the Nicaraguan coast in the San Andres archipelago.



"The island is one of the centerpieces of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO Marine Protected Area noted for its marine biodiversity. The peaks at the center of the island are remnants of an ancient volcano," says NASA.



"Not much has been written about the indigenous history of the island, but Europeans arrived around the start of the 17th century. Dutch pirates were the first of many generations of privateers to use the island as a safe harbor and launching point for raids on Central America and the Caribbean Islands. In 1631, English pilgrims arrived on the Seaflower (a sister ship to the Mayflower) with hopes for more agricultural success than their fellows to the north in Plymouth, Massachusetts."



"But it was not long before the island was also forcibly populated with indentured servants and slaves. It also wasn’t long before Providencia became the site of one of the first known slave rebellions in a British colony. Eventually, control of the island was taken by the Spanish, and then again by pirates such as Henry Morgan."&nbsp;



Today, Providencia has a population of about 5,000 people across seven main villages. The economy is driven by fishing, farming, and limited tourism.



The image was captured on January 9, 2022 by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Landsat 9.



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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

Providencia in the southwestern Caribbean Sea

Today's Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the island of Providencia in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. "Providencia was once an island sanctuary for pilgrims and privateers. Today, it is mostly a refuge of quieter Caribbean life amid raw natural beauty," reports NASA. Providencia has an area of about seven square miles. The island is a territory of Colombia, yet sits closer to the Nicaraguan coast in the San Andres archipelago. "The island is one of the centerpieces of the Seaflower...

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features an astronaut view of the bright rocks and deep canyons of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada.

The Muddy and Virgin Rivers are visible in the photo, carrying water across the desert to Lake Mead reservoir.&nbsp;

The Muddy River, which flows through Moapa Valley, is bordered by agricultural fields and towns. By contrast, Virgin River, is bordered by dark vegetation.

Both of the rivers empty into the northern part of Lake Mead - known as the Overton Arm - which ultimately merges with the Colorado River to the south.

The reddish orange rocks near the center of the photo represent the Valley of Fire State Park, which is located approximately 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas.&nbsp;

At sunset, valley outcrops made of bright, rust-colored Aztec sandstone appear to be on fire. This sandstone formed from ancient sand dune fields dating back to the Jurassic Period.

According to NASA, significant archaeological artifacts have been found throughout Moapa Valley, with some dating back to 300 BCE. During that time, the region was occupied by Anasazi Native Americans, hunter-gatherers who built pueblo villages.&nbsp;

The southern part of the Moapa River Indian Reservation is also visible in this photograph, which was captured by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;

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

The Mojave Desert in southern Nevada

Today's Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features...

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features the Talampaya National Park in the La Rioja Province of Argentina. The photo was captured by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS).



"The high deserts of western Argentina lie in the rain shadow of the Andes mountains; which causes rain and snow to fall on the west side of the range and leads to a dry climate on the east side. Shadows cast to the east of the mountain peaks indicate that this photo was taken during the local late afternoon," says NASA.



"The photo is centered on the red sandstone cliffs of Talampaya National Park, which stand out from the generally muted colors of the landscape."



The region is predominantly made up of folded sedimentary rock layers that contain many fossils from the Triassic Period, which was approximately 250 to 200 million years ago.&nbsp;



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory



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

Talampaya National Park in Argentina

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features Capitol Reef National Park, located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country.



"It was named instead for two geologic features: the prominent white domes of Navajo Sandstone, which reminded early settlers of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.; and a formidable ridge of rocky cliffs that presented a barrier to travel," explains NASA.



"The settlers (some likely traveling in prairie schooners) likened it to the maritime navigational hazard of an ocean reef."



The ridge, which is known as Waterpocket Fold, runs north to south for 90 miles. Waterpocket Fold is a monocline, a a step-like fold in rock layers that have been folded up or down on one side.&nbsp;



"Between 75 million and 35 million years ago, the tectonic forces that uplifted the Rocky Mountains also buckled older rocks below Capitol Reef," reports NASA. "The rock layers above did not break, but bent, like a tablecloth draped over a table edge. The bend in this drape forms the Waterpocket Fold. More recently, rains, flash floods, and freeze-thaw cycles have eroded and sculpted the cliffs, canyons, bridges, and domes into what we see today."



"Capitol Reef tells a geologic story of hundreds of millions of years of deposition, uplift, and erosion - punctuated by episodes of volcanism and glaciation. The park boasts a nearly complete series of rock layers spanning from the late Permian Period (about 290 million years ago) to the end of the Mesozoic Era (66 million years ago). Deposited along and in a shallow sea and ancient delta, these rocks hold a nearly continuous record of life and environments here from before the rise of the dinosaurs through their demise."



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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

Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features a massive burn scar left behind after the&nbsp;November 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California.



According to NASA, the fire also left unusually high levels of fecal bacteria and suspended sediment in the coastal waters off Los Angeles and Ventura counties.



A new study published in Nature Scientific Reports used satellite imagery, precipitation data, and water quality reports to assess coastal water quality after the fire. The researchers assessed two parameters of water quality: the presence of fecal indicator bacteria and the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water.



"Fecal indicator bacteria originate in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other warm-blooded animals," reports NASA. "While fecal indicator bacteria are not harmful, they can indicate the presence of other potentially harmful bacteria and pathogens found in feces. Turbidity has other implications: Cloudy, murky water results in less sunlight reaching marine life like kelp and phytoplankton."



Study lead author Marisol Cira is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).&nbsp;



“Post-fire, we saw drastic water quality changes, particularly at beaches draining the burned area,” said Cira. “In those areas, both total coliform bacteria and enterococcus were far greater than pre-fire levels, as was turbidity plume size.”



The study revealed that the abundance of a large group of fecal indicator bacteria known as coliforms was ten times higher after the fire than it was in the previous twelve years.&nbsp;



The presence of enterococci, bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal disease, was 53 times higher post-fire and well above what is considered safe.



“When a fire burns through a forest, it increases the amount of vegetation litter on the ground and changes the chemistry of the soils in a way that makes them unable to absorb water,” said study co-author and JPL scientist Christine Lee. “So rather than getting absorbed into the soil, rain runs off into local water bodies and coastal systems, carrying sediment and bacteria with it.”



The experts found that bacteria levels remained high through February 2019,&nbsp; while turbidity remained high for three months before returning to previous levels.



“Usually when there’s a spike of bacteria in the water, it only lasts a day or two,” said study co-author Luke Ginger, a scientist with the nonprofit group Heal the Bay. “But after the fire, there were months of sustained high bacteria. So that was a big concern.”



“Climate change will likely exacerbate the effects we see here in terms of water quality as wildfire and rainfall patterns continue to change. A key part in protecting our ecosystems and communities is understanding these emerging threats and spreading awareness about them.”



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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

The Woolsey fire impacted water quality for months

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features Iberá National Park in northeast Argentina. The park was created in 2018 by conservation groups who acquired about 530 square miles of land and then donated it to the government of Argentina.



Iberá National Park is home to about 4,000 species of wildlife, which includes nearly 30 percent of the species that are known to exist in Argentina.



Decades ago, the land was used for a cattle ranch. Reporting for NASA, Adam Voiland explains that after philanthropists bought the land, hundreds of miles of fences were taken down and cattle were moved out of the area.&nbsp;



As the land naturally transforms itself back to grasslands and forest, conservationists are planning a rewilding program. The goal is to bring back the animals that were once pushed out of the area, such as jaguars, giant river otters, pampas deer, collared peccary, red-and-green macaw, bare-faced curassow, and the red-legged seriema.



Iberá National Park and Iberá Provincial Park are part of the larger Iberá Provincial Reserve. With an area of about 5,000 square miles, the reserve covers nearly 15 percent of the Corrientes province, and is the largest protected area in the country.



Iberá Provincial Reserve has a variety of wetland ecosystems, including swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, and natural sloughs.



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/ Lauren Dauphin



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

Iberá National Park in northeast Argentina

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features the Bezymianny Volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. The volcano, which recently erupted on May 28, 2022, peaks at an elevation of 9,455 feet.&nbsp;



"The name, which translates to 'no name,' was likely bestowed because the stratovolcano had been quiet for a thousand years at the time it was named," reports NASA. "Until late 1955, when it awakened with a cataclysmic eruption, the volcano was considered extinct. Bezymianny has been erupting intermittently ever since."



According to NASA, an eruption of Bezymianny in 1955 was very similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, with a lateral flank explosion and summit collapse. During the recent eruption, observers at the Kamchatka Volcanological Station recorded a strong explosion and large ash plume.



"The ejected ash ultimately reached an altitude of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) and traveled east-southeast for more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles). As the plume drifted over the peninsula toward the Pacific Ocean, it deposited a layer of ash on the snow-covered ground," says NASA.



"The streak of ash is visible in this image, acquired on May 29, 2022, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The image is overlain on topography data from the NASA Digital Elevation Model. Bezymianny is seen next to two larger neighboring volcanoes, Kamen and Klyuchevskaya."



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory



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

The Bezymianny Volcano in Kamchatka, Russia

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features an astronaut view of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. The darker-colored <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crops-have-a-drought-memory-that-prepares-them-for-tough-times/">crops</a> stand out against the lighter sand dunes.&nbsp;



"This area of intensively farmed soil occupies fan-shaped landscape features known as the Murgab and Tedzhen fans," reports NASA.



"Agricultural fields occupy more than 120 miles of the large Murgab fan. The cityscape of Mary stands amidst the fields."



The water that supports the people and crops of Karakum Desert comes from the Kopet Dagh Mountains



"The prominent Murgab River carries water down from the mountains to the fan, and a network of smaller canals lead it far into the desert," reports NASA. "The neighboring irrigated Tedzhen fan is also fed by water from the Kopet Dagh."



A second source of water for the desert is the Karakum Canal, which is one of the largest in the world and is navigable over much of its length, according to NASA. The canal draws water from the Amu Darya river.



A solar panel on the Cygnus NG-15 resupply vehicle appears in the foreground along the bottom of the image. Near the top, scattered puffy clouds cast dark shadows on the desert.



The photo was captured on June 13 by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station.



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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

The Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features what appears to be a massive hole in the clouds over the ocean south of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Located between 40 and 60 degrees south of the equator, mariners refer to these turbulent <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/churning-waters-in-the-english-channel/">waters</a> as the “Roaring Forties” and “Furious Fifties.”&nbsp;



Gary Partyka is an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. To gain a better understanding of the phenomenon observed in the photograph, he analyzed sea level pressure maps and other data from a NASA weather model called the GEOS Forward Processing system.



“There are actually a few things coming together to make it appear like one connected feature,” said Partyka. “It looks like there was a frontal weather system zipping by from west-to-east between 50-60 degrees south latitude."&nbsp;



"At the same time, a deck of more stationary, low clouds closer to the tip of Africa was being eroded by a high-pressure region with sinking air."&nbsp;



“The sinking air produced a semi-circle ring of clouds between 45-50 degrees south. When both of these phenomena lined up in longitude, it gave the appearance of a giant hole in the clouds.”



According to Abdullah Fahad, a NASA atmospheric scientist, winds generally blow outward and away from high-pressure systems, which are typically cooler and denser than surrounding air masses and pull air downward in a spiraling motion.



“This is a really interesting case,” said Fahad. “Keep in mind this is happening in the Southern Hemisphere’s ‘storm tracks’ region, which has regular cyclonic activity, low atmospheric pressures, and high westerly wind speeds most of the time. Seeing a high-pressure system and an anticyclone with the opposite circulation is actually an anomaly for this area.”



“One of the giveaways for me that this isn’t one circular cloud feature is that I can tell that the frontal clouds are at a higher altitude than the deck of low clouds being eroded to the north by looking beyond natural-color imagery,” said Partyka. “MODIS just happened to get a very fortuitous pass when both lined up at the right time.”



The photo was captured on April 3, 2022 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.&nbsp;



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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

Clouds over stormy seas in South Africa

Today's Image of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> features south-central and southwest Alaska, where an unusually active fire season continues.&nbsp;



"On June 4-5, 2022, thunderstorms moved across, delivering nearly 5,000 lightning strikes and igniting dozens of wildfires," says NASA. "As of June 14, 2022, there were 85 active fires burning across the state."



On May 31, a lightning strike ignited a fire in the Yukon Delta, the East Fork fire, which has now become the largest tundra fire on record.



"Northerly winds drove the East Fork fire within about 3.5 miles (6 kilometers) of the village of St. Mary’s," reports NASA. "Although no mandatory evacuation orders were issued, residents of St. Mary’s, and the nearby Yukon River villages of Mountain Village, Pitkas Point, and Pilot Station - all of which can be reached only by boat or plane - were encouraged to voluntarily relocate."



"On June 13, the wind shifted and allowed firefighters to attack the western edge of the fire. The firefighters were supported by 'scooper' aircraft dropping water, and by drones dropping ping-pong sized plastic balls that ignite to burn vegetation and create fire breaks."



By mid-June, 250 wildfires had already burned more than 770,000 acres, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. This is more than the 30-year average of 600,000 acres burned over the course of the entire wildfire season.&nbsp;



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory



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

Unusually active fire season continues in Alaska

According to DNA testing performed by experts at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, the wild ancestors of the common domestic and feral pigeons – currently extinct in most parts of the word – can still be found on several secluded islands in Scotland and Ireland. The discovery of these wild Rock Dove pigeons (Columba livia) can provide new insights into the evolution of domestic pigeons.



Feral pigeons originate from escaped domestic birds and can be found in towns and cities all over the globe. These pigeons are descendants of wild Rock Doves, which usually nest in sea caves and mountains, and were once spread through vast areas of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Recently though, they only persist in small, relict populations that feral pigeons have not yet been able to colonize. In fact, since many of them frequently interbreed with feral pigeons, some experts argue that there are no truly wild Rock Doves left.&nbsp;



“Studying the decline of the Rock Dove has been challenging for researchers because of such extensive interbreeding and replacement with feral pigeons,” explained study lead author William Smith, a doctoral student in Biology at Oxford.&nbsp;



Now, through state-of-the-art genetic and morphological analyses, Smith and his colleagues confirmed that the Rock Doves found on secluded Scottish and Irish islands descended from the undomesticated lineage from which all domestic and feral pigeons originate, with varying degrees of interbreeding.&nbsp;



While Rock Doves in Orkney have experienced extensive interbreeding with feral pigeons and are at risk of getting hybridized to the point of extinction as a distinct lineage, Rock Doves in the Outer Hebrides are still largely free of feral pigeon influence.



“We identified feral pigeon ancestry in most of the Scottish and Irish Rock Dove populations we sampled, and there have been feral pigeons in Europe for hundreds of years. It was therefore really surprising to discover that the Outer Hebridean Rock Doves showed negligible signs of hybridization,” said Smith.



However, since feral pigeons are reported on these islands more frequently, the population of wild Rock Doves in the UK will likely continue to shrink. By mapping their distribution and genetic status, scientists will help monitor and potentially safeguard the remaining Rock Dove populations. Moreover, better understanding phenomena such as “extinction by hybridization” will likely prevent many other plant and animal species, such as the Scottish wildcat, from undergoing the same fate as these pigeons.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104620">iScience</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wild ancestors of pigeons found on secluded islands

According to DNA testing performed by experts at the University...

A new study led by the <a href="https://uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humpback-whale-calls-reveal-mysterious-gunshot-sound/">humpback whales</a> can learn extremely complex songs from whales from other regions. By investigating the song patterns of male humpback whales from various regions in Australia between 2009 and 2015, the experts discovered that Caledonian whales could learn songs from their counterparts from Australia’s east coast with remarkable accuracy.



“By listening to the Australian humpback population, we were able to see if the songs changed in any way when sung by the New Caledonian whales,” said study lead author Jenny Allen, a research fellow in Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland.&nbsp;



“We found they actually learned the exact sounds, without simplifying or leaving anything out. And each year we observed them they sang a different song, so it means humpback whales can learn an entire song pattern from another population very quickly, even if it’s complex or difficult.”



According to Dr. Allen and her colleagues, whales learn songs from each other on shared migrations routes through New Zealand’s waters, as well as shared breeding grounds in Antarctica. This phenomenon indicates a level of “cultural transmission” way beyond that found in any observed non-human species.



“It’s rare for this degree of cultural exchange to be documented on such a large scale in a non-human species,” Dr. Allen explained. “We hope these findings provide a model for further study into understanding the evolution of cultural communication in animals and humans.”



Although humpback whales have recently been taken off the endangered species list, their populations still need to be carefully managed. “We now have a more holistic picture of the behaviors, movements, and interactions of different humpback whale populations, including how they transmit culture. It means we’re better equipped to protect them against the many threats they face as our climate, and planet, continue to change,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12784-3">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Whales can learn complex songs with remarkable accuracy

A new study led by the University of Queensland has...

By assessing over 500 research articles and re-analyzing state-of-the-art datasets from satellite data and computer models, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> (UEA) has found that the risk of wildfires is rising globally due to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/romantic-partners-influence-each-others-climate-change-beliefs/">climate</a> change. 



Since fire weather (hot and dry conditions conducive to wildfires) is increasing under climate change, landscapes all over the world are becoming more susceptible of burning more frequently and severely. In the future, the impact of climate change on fire risk is predicted to escalate if global temperatures continue to rise.



The scientists explored the relationship between past, present, and future wildfire trends by taking into account not only a warming climate, but also other factors that significantly impact the onset and spread of wildfires, such as human activity, land use, and changing vegetation productivity.&nbsp;



The analyses revealed that the annual fire weather season has increased by 14 days per year from 1979 to 2019, and the frequency of days with extreme fire weather has risen by 10 days during the same period. Until now, these increases have been particularly pronounced in western North America, Amazonia, and the Mediterranean. If temperatures will rise over 2°C above pre-industrial levels though, the boreal forests of Siberia, Canada, and Alaska will most likely experience similar conditions, and if they reach 3°C, all world regions will face unprecedented fire weather.



“Wildfires can have massive detrimental impacts on society, the economy, human health and livelihoods, biodiversity, and carbon storage. These impacts are generally magnified in the case of forest wildfires,” said study lead author Matthew Jones, a research fellow in Environmental Sciences at UEA.



“Clarifying the link between forest wildfire trends and climate change is critical to understanding wildfire threats in future climates. Societies can either push with or pull against the rising risks of fire under climate change, and regional actions and policies can certainly be important for preventing wildfires or reducing their severity.”&nbsp;



“Ultimately, though, we will be fighting the tide of escalating fire risks as the world warms further. Doubling down on efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limiting warming to below 2°C is the most effective thing we can do to avoid the worst risks of wildfire on the&nbsp;global&nbsp;scale,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020RG000726">Reviews of Geophysics</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Can humans limit the rising risks of wildfires?

By assessing over 500 research articles and re-analyzing state-of-the-art datasets...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.sussex.ac.uk/">University of Sussex</a> has investigated the exposure of small mammals to plastics in England and Wales. The results revealed traces of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-outpacing-strategies-to-get-it-under-control/">plastic</a> in the feces of more than half of the species examined, including the European hedgehog, the brown rat, the wood mouse, and the field vole.&nbsp;



The researchers expected to find higher plastic concentrations in samples taken from urban locations than rural ones, and less plastic in herbivores. However, they discovered that ingestion of plastics was occurring in both urban and rural areas, as well as across different dietary habits - across herbivores, insectivores, and omnivores.



“Much is known about the impact of plastic on aquatic ecosystems, but very little is known about the same with terrestrial systems,” said study senior author Fiona Matthews, a professor of Environmental Biology at the University of Sussex.&nbsp;“By analyzing the droppings of some of our most widespread small mammals, we’ve been able to provide a glimpse of the potential impact plastic is having on our wildlife - and the most commonly found plastics leaking into our environment.”



Professor Matthews and her team analyzed 261 fecal samples from seven species of small mammals. They discovered that four of these species had been exposed to plastic pollution, and 16.5 percent of all the samples tested positive for plastic polymers. The most common types identified were polyester, polyethylene, and polynorbornene.&nbsp;



Polyester – which can enter the waste water system through household washing and then end up in soils through the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer – accounted for 27 percent of the fragments and was found in all the plastic positive species. While over a quarter of the plastics discovered were biodegradable, the scientists warn that their biological impact is still not clearly understood.



“It’s very worrying that the traces of plastic were so widely distributed across locations and species of different dietary habits. This suggests that plastics could be seeping into all areas of our environment in different ways,” said study lead author Emily Thrift, a graduate student at the University of Sussex.&nbsp;“We’re also concerned that the European hedgehog, and field vole are both species suffering declines in numbers in the UK.”



“In the UK, plastic pollution can often seem like a problem somewhere else when most images are of polluted shorelines of tropical landscapes, or charismatic organisms like turtles or sea lions,” added co-author Adam Porter, a postdoctoral researcher in Marine Biology at the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>.



“This study brings the focus home, into our lands and in some of our much beloved mammal species. Further it demonstrates that the amount of plastic waste we produce is having an impact. We must change our relationship with plastic all together - moving away from disposable items and moving towards replacing plastic for better alternatives and establishing truly circular economies,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722037767#!">Science of the Total Environment</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

Many small mammals in the UK tested “plastic positive”

A new study led by the University of Sussex has...

Although we are all fairly familiar with the tumultuous and fiery conditions surrounding the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-likely-contributed-to-earths-largest-mass-extinction/">extinction</a> of dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, we probably know less about the conditions prevailing 202 million years ago, during the extinction event that marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic Periods. This is the time that mass extinctions of large terrestrial reptiles opened a door into the future for the various dinosaurs that existed at the time, and heralded in the age of the dinosaurs.&nbsp;



As yet, no impact crater of sufficient size has been dated to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary so scientists look to other possible explanations for the mass extinctions that occurred. This was a time of changing climate, geological rearrangement and ocean acidification. The world was generally hot and steamy during the Triassic Period, which preceded the extinction, but this began to change as the Jurassic progressed, along with its proliferation of dinosaurs. Most of the world experienced drastic changes in climate, as indicated by geological evidence.



A new study, conducted by an international team of scientists, turns the idea of heat-loving dinosaurs upside down. The study reports on finds excavated in the remote desert of northwest China’s Junggar Basin, where ancient shallow lakes accumulated sediments dated at 206 million years of age. These sediments formed during the late Triassic, through the period of the extinctions, and into the Jurassic. &nbsp;The excavations have revealed the first physical evidence that Triassic dinosaur species – then a minor group largely relegated to the polar regions – survived conditions of ice and snow.&nbsp;



“Dinosaurs were there during the Triassic under the radar all the time,” said lead author&nbsp;<a href="https://people.climate.columbia.edu/users/profile/paul-olsen">Paul Olsen</a>, a geologist at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>’s&nbsp;<a href="https://lamont.columbia.edu/">Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory</a>. “The key to their eventual dominance&nbsp;was very simple. They were fundamentally cold-adapted animals. When it got cold everywhere, they were ready, and other animals weren’t.”



The physical evidence upon which the scientists base this conclusion include fossilized footprints that show dinosaurs were present around the edges of the ancient lakes in the Junggar Basin, along with some unusual rock fragments that could only have got to the lakes if they had been transported there by ice. At the time, the Junggar Basin lay at about 71 degrees north, well above the latitude of the Arctic Circle.&nbsp;



The study’s authors propose that, during the extinction time, cold snaps that were already occurring at the poles spread to lower latitudes, killing off the dominant coldblooded reptiles that were not cold adapted. Dinosaurs, particularly those living at high latitudes such as at the Junggar Basin, were already adapted to cold conditions and they are thought to have survived the evolutionary bottleneck and spread out across the Jurassic world thereafter.&nbsp;



Dinosaurs are thought to have first appeared during the Triassic Period in temperate southerly latitudes about 231 million years ago, when most of the planet’s land was joined together in one giant continent called Pangea. By about 214 million years ago, dinosaurs had dispersed to the far northern latitudes and they remained established there until the mass extinction at 202 million years. Until the mass extinction occurred, the tropical and subtropical regions in between the poles were dominated by reptiles that included relatives of crocodiles as well as thecodontosaurids, trilophosaurids and other fearsome creatures.



During the Triassic, and for most of the Jurassic, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide ranged at or above 2000 parts per million, which is five times today’s levels and would have given rise to increased temperatures. There is no evidence of polar ice caps from that time, and excavations have shown that deciduous forests grew in polar regions. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0037073806001436">some climate models</a>&nbsp;suggest that the high latitudes were chilly some of the time; even with all that CO2, they would have received little sunlight much of the year, and temperatures would decline at least seasonally. But until now, no one has produced any physical evidence that they froze.



At the end of the Triassic, a brief period of perhaps a million years saw the extinction of more than three quarters of all terrestrial and marine species on the planet. Some animals living in burrows, such as turtles and a few early mammals, did survive. It is unclear exactly what happened, but many scientists connect it to a series of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/how-the-triassic-extinction-helped-dinosaurs-take-over-the-planet">massive volcanic eruptions</a>&nbsp;that probably altered the conditions of the atmosphere, causing spikes in carbon dioxide, high temperatures and acidification of the oceans. At this time, Pangea began to break up and form the Atlantic Ocean, as well as separating the Americas from Europe, Africa and Asia. This would have caused upheaval and changes in habitats and ecosystems.



The authors of the new study also cite another factor that could have contributed to extinctions. During the fiercest volcanic eruptions, sulfur aerosols would have spewed into the atmosphere, deflecting so much sunlight that volcanic winters would have affected the entire planet. These winters might have lasted a decade or more; even the tropics may have seen sustained freezing conditions. This killed uninsulated reptiles, but cold-adapted, insulated dinosaurs were able to hang on, say the scientists.



The researchers hypothesize that evidence from these cold snaps is found in the abundant small pebbles (up to about 1.5 centimeters across) that are present in the fine sediments at the bottom of the ancient lakes in the Junggar Basin. They are far from any apparent shoreline and should not be present there at all. The only plausible explanation for their presence is that they were ice-rafted debris (IRD).



When ice forms against a coastal landmass, it gets bits of the underlying rock stuck in it.&nbsp; At some point the ice gets loose and drifts away into the open water. When it melts, the rocks drop to the bottom, mixing with normal fine sediments. Geologists have extensively studied ancient IRD in the oceans, where it is delivered by glacial icebergs, but rarely in lake beds; the Junggar Basin discovery adds to this scant record. The authors say the pebbles were likely picked up during winter, when lake waters froze along pebbly shorelines. When warm weather returned, chunks of that ice floated off with samples of the pebbles attached, and later dropped them to the bottom of the lake.



“This shows that these areas froze regularly, and the dinosaurs did just fine,” said study co-author&nbsp;<a href="https://lamont.columbia.edu/directory/dennis-v-kent">Dennis Kent</a>, a geologist at Lamont-Doherty.



But how, exactly did dinosaurs manage to survive these icy conditions? Evidence has been building since the 1990s that many non-avian dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs, were covered in primitive feathers. The researchers propose that the main purpose of these feathers was probably insulation. There is also good evidence that, unlike the cold-blooded reptiles, many dinosaurs possessed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/28/science/dinosars-warm-cold-blood.html?searchResultPosition=1">warm-blooded, high-metabolism systems</a>. Both qualities would have helped dinosaurs in chilly conditions.



“Severe wintery episodes during volcanic eruptions may have brought freezing temperatures to the tropics, which is where many of the extinctions of big, naked, unfeathered vertebrates seem to have occurred,” said Kent. “Whereas our fine feathered friends acclimated to colder temperatures in higher latitudes did OK.”



The findings, published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>, defy the conventional imagery of dinosaurs, but some prominent specialists say they are convinced.&nbsp;



“There is a stereotype that dinosaurs always lived in lush tropical jungles, but this new research shows that the higher latitudes would have been freezing and even covered in ice during parts of the year,” said Stephen Brusatte, a professor at the University of Edinburgh. “Dinosaurs living at high latitudes just so happened to already have winter coats [while] many of their Triassic competitors died out.”



Randall Irmis, curator of paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and specialist in early dinosaurs, agrees. “This is the first detailed evidence from the high paleolatitudes, the first evidence for the last 10 million years of the Triassic Period, and the first evidence of truly icy conditions,” he said. “People are used to thinking of this as being a time when the entire globe was hot and humid, but that just wasn’t the case.”



Olsen says the next step to understand this period better is for more researchers to look for fossils in former polar areas like the Junggar Basin. “The fossil record is very bad, and no one is prospecting,” he said. “These rocks are gray and black, and it is much harder to prospect [for fossils] in these strata. Most paleontologists are attracted to the late Jurassic, where it’s known there are many big skeletons to be had. The paleo-Arctic is basically ignored.”&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dinosaurs came to dominate the world in icy landscapes

Although we are all fairly familiar with the tumultuous and...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features a time lapse of the Northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, captured from space. The images were acquired in November of 2021 during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, the Alpha mission.&nbsp;



According to ESA, the camera was set up to take pictures at intervals of two per second, and the time lapse video plays 25 pictures a second.&nbsp;



The fascinating light show, which can be viewed at both the north and south poles, is produced when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million miles per hour. Earth's magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles, creating the fascinating waves of light.&nbsp;



The earliest known record of the northern lights is in a cave painting in France that dates back 30,000 years.&nbsp; In 1619, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei named the northern lights "aurora borealis" after the Roman goddess of dawn (Aurora) and the Greek god of the north wind (Boreas).



When Pesquet shared the stunning Alpha mission video on social media, he noted that the pictures were taken from the docked Crew Dragon spacecraft windows. Pesquet said it was the strongest aurora the crew had seen during their six months in space.



Video Credit: ESA 



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

Spectacular astronaut view of the northern lights

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Patagonia, which includes Argentina and Chile at the southern tip of South America. The region is known for its rugged beauty, with an abundance of glaciers and dramatic mountain peaks.&nbsp;



"Covering an area of around 673,000 square kilometers, Patagonia is split by Argentina and Chile," reports ESA. "The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains, with lakes, fjords, rainforests and glaciers in the west and deserts and tablelands to the east."



"The island archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, located at the southern tip of Patagonia, is shared by Argentina and Chile, with the eastern part of the main island belonging to Argentina and the southern point of the archipelago, which forms Cape Horn, belonging to Chile. The Strait of Magellan, named after the discoverer, lies between Tierra del Fuego and mainland Argentina."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Patagonia: the southernmost region of South America

[sendtonews key="UN3EsNjPIM-2080637-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



The amount of heat and carbon dioxide absorbed depends on a number of ocean variables, all of which can be measured from space."



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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

How the ocean and climate influence each other

[sendtonews key="uwirCufwYv-2012371-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...