If you’re a male gray frog trying to find a mate, you’d better have a fast and steady call. That’s what female treefrogs usually go for. But when the crowd gets loud and chaotic, things change. The males that don’t sound all that great? They suddenly have a shot.



In quiet situations where females only hear two males at once, their preferences are clear. They go for the one with the sharper, more rhythmic call. 



But when four or even eight males are calling at once, things get messy. Female choices become unpredictable. This isn’t just a frog issue - it ties into a broader idea that scientists call “choice overload.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-frogs-face-chaos-in-the-chorus">Frogs face chaos in the chorus</h2>



In nature, frogs gather in large, noisy groups called choruses. Picture a shallow pond in spring, with dozens of males calling out at the same time. It’s the frog equivalent of a dating scene in a packed nightclub.



The researchers found that the crowded conditions of these choruses might be too overwhelming for females to reliably pick the best mate. It’s not that they stop caring - it’s that they can’t tell who’s who.



Professor Jessie Tanner of the <a href="https://www.utk.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Tennessee, Knoxville</a>, led a team studying how choice overload affects evolution.



“Because female mate choice can drive evolution, our results suggest that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unraveling-the-story-of-early-animal-evolution/">evolution</a> might happen more slowly than we thought before,” she said. 



“Some males that are fairly unattractive could still mate, especially if they take advantage of crowded spaces where females might be less able to discriminate between attractive and unattractive males.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-when-choices-are-too-hard">What happens when choices are too hard?</h2>



The idea of choice overload is pretty common in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/science-behind-predicting-and-changing-human-behavior/">human behavior</a>. You walk into a store to buy toothpaste and face 50 brands. You either freeze, grab something random, or walk away. Same goes for dating apps with endless swiping.



“We wanted to understand how having to make mating decisions in crowded environments, where choice overload could be a problem, might drive the evolution of calls,” Tanner explained. 



“Since males that are chosen by females pass on their genes to the next generation, this mate choice can cause the population to change over time.”



When animals, like people, face too many options, their decision-making can break down. That opens up a chance for less attractive mates to get picked - not because they became more appealing, but because the chooser got overwhelmed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-choice-overload-in-other-animals">Choice overload in other animals</h2>



This isn’t just about frogs. Scientists are now looking at how this effect shows up in other animals. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-increasingly-stressed-over-the-past-century/">Bumblebees</a>, for instance, are on the list. So are wood roaches.



“Our lab is working to understand how choice overload and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogs-have-lungs-that-cancel-out-background-noise/">noise</a> may each contribute to the difficulty female treefrogs face in making mating decisions,” Tanner said. 



“We are also working to understand whether this choice overload is something that occurs generally in many different kinds of animals or is more specific to individual species.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simultaneous-cricket-songs">Simultaneous cricket songs </h2>



Tanner, who has a background in both psychology and biology, first got into animal behavior while studying mate choice as an undergrad. She later became interested in sound - especially how it plays into animal communication.



That led to earlier work on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-male-crickets-go-silent-how-females-adapt-and-respond/">crickets</a>. Like treefrogs, male crickets use sound to attract mates. A study on cricket mating showed that noisy environments might either block females from hearing calls or make them too confused to pick. It was hard to tell which was causing the problem.



“During that study, it became clear that our work was consistent with both the possibility that many simultaneous cricket songs created noise that made it hard for females to hear, and the possibility that the females were experiencing choice overload,” Tanner said. “Our current work looks to disentangle those ideas.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-average-becomes-good-enough">When average becomes good enough</h2>



The research adds a new layer to how scientists think about evolution. Normally, stronger signals - like a faster frog call - are expected to win out and spread through the population over time. 



But if crowded conditions keep females from consistently picking the top performers, evolution slows down. Mediocre traits stick around longer.



That changes the math for survival. In nature, being the best isn’t always enough - and sometimes, being just okay is good enough, especially if the crowd’s loud and the choices are many.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.0585" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.



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Frogs settle for average mates when dating gets too noisy

If you’re a male gray frog trying to find a mate, you’d better have a fast and steady call. That’s what female treefrogs usually go for. But when the crowd gets loud and chaotic, things change. The males that don’t sound all that great? They suddenly have a shot. In quiet situations where females only hear two males at once, their preferences are clear. They go for the one with the sharper, more rhythmic call. But when four or even eight males are calling at once, things...

Rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-linked-to-low-quality-diets-among-children/">temperatures</a> could have a major impact on livestock production of meat and milk in East Africa, according to a new study from <a href="https://ciat.cgiar.org/">CIAT</a>. Hotter and more humid weather are expected to create unsuitable conditions for dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs, and poultry. 

Heat stress in these animals will occur more frequently and for longer periods, explained the researchers. In an analysis of data from 1981 to 2010, they found that livestock have already been progressively subjected to heat stress.

Projections show that environmental conditions are set to worsen significantly, which has serious implications for livestock. 

"We knew that climate change would bring problems for animals, yet we were surprised about the magnitude of change," said livestock expert An Notenbaert. "Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures absolutely need to be factored into decisions and strategies for livestock production."

The study authors noted that up to 19 percent of current meat and milk production takes place in areas where dangerous heat stress conditions are likely to increase in frequency from 2071 to 2100. 

Without urgent action to combat climate change, much of East Africa will become unsuitable for exotic pig, poultry, and dairy cattle production at the current rate of global warming.

Based on climate projections, the experts found that dairy production will be hit hardest in South Sudan, Southern parts of Eritrea, and eastern and northwestern parts of Kenya. Action is being taken to protect the pig sector in parts of Uganda, where heat stress is already prevalent.

"This paper is an alarm bell for policymakers and anyone involved in livestock in the tropical region," said study co-author Klaus Butterbach-Bahl of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

"In East Africa, where protein consumption is already low, this could worsen the food and nutrition security situation."

According to the researchers, well-targeted and evidence-based climate adaptation will enable livestock production to continue and expand across East Africa. Such measures include identifying productive animal breeds that are adapted to heat.

"Holstein Friesians, a popular imported breed, are not indigenous to Africa. Although they produce more milk than local breeds, they do not cope well with heat," said Notenbaert. "To make livestock production more environmentally efficient, we need breeds that can cope with rising temperatures while at the same time produce more meat and milk."

In addition to breeding, there are other mitigation strategies that could be considered to help animals cope with rising temperatures, such as providing them with shelter, shaded areas, or better access to water sources. 

"Heat stress in livestock, besides being an animal welfare issue, also means less income to the farmer, less efficient use of natural resources, and higher greenhouse gas emissions per unit of livestock product," said <a href="https://www.ilri.org/">ILRI</a> livestock breeder Karen Marshall.

"It is important to keep in mind, however, that while heat stress provides an important lens on the effect of climate change on animals, it is just one part of the picture."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natfood/">Nature Food</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Livestock production could be hit hard by global warming

Rising temperatures could have a major impact on livestock production...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-poop-up-to-66-percent-less-when-they-eat-human-grade-foods/">Dogs</a> were the first animal to be domesticated by humans, evolving from a group of wolves thousands of years ago. But when it comes to Australian dingoes, exactly where they fit into the family is still up for debate, according to retired <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> anthropologist Pat Shipman.

For most animals, hybridization does not occur between closely related species. When there is an exception, the offspring are usually infertile, such as when female horses and male donkeys produce mules.

On the other hand, many canid species - including wolves, dingoes, and dogs - can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. This makes it challenging to define species boundaries in canids.

"Indigenous Australians understood that there was something different about the dingoes and the colonial dogs," said Shipman. "They really are, I think, different animals. They react differently to humans. A lot of genetic and behavioral work has been done with wolves, dogs and dingoes. Dingoes come out somewhere in between."

Domestic dogs made their Australian debut in in 1788 with the first 11 ships of convicts. At this time, dingoes were already present on the continent, along with aboriginal Australians who arrived about 65,000 years ago. Today, many dingoes have domestic dogs in their ancestry. 

According to fossil evidence, dingoes came to Australia at least 4,000 years ago, and Shipman believes that this date may be actually turn out to be even earlier.

"Part of the reason I'm so fascinated with dingoes is that if you see a dingo through American eyes you say, 'that's a dog,'" said Shipman. "In evolutionary terms, dingoes give us a glimpse of what started the domestication process."

Dingoes have a "basic doggy look" even though they are not dogs, explained Shipman. They differ from dogs in both behavior and genetics, and are more like wolves in their relationships with humans.

Domestic doggs were evolving at a time when humans began growing food and moved to a diet containing large amounts of starch from maize, rice, potatoes, or wheat. While wolves and dingoes have very few of the genes for starch digestion, the dog's genome adapted to tolerate it. 

Indigenous Australians stole dingo puppies from their dens and raised them, yet these puppies generally left human homes at maturity and went off to breed and raise offspring. This demonstrates that their ability to closely bond with humans is limited.

"Aboriginal Australians were not well-regarded as holders of knowledge or special skill when Europeans came to the continent," said Shipman. "So, no one thought to ask them about dingoes. Even recently, asking aboriginals for their scientific or behavioral knowledge really was not common."

Regardless, aboriginal Australians have a long history of living with dingoes in their lives. Many people argue that dingoes are just dogs - strange dogs, but just dogs, said Shipman. However, aboriginals would disagree.

Since dingoes exhibit behaviors that fall somewhere between wolves and dogs, and possess a slight ability to tolerate living in captivity, Shipman concluded that a dingo is simply a wolf on its way to becoming a dog, that never got there.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/loi/19328494">Anatomical Record</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Are dingoes actually just strange dogs?

Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans,...

In a new study published by <a href="https://plos.org/">PLOS</a>, scientists have observed some unexpected breeding behavior among Brazilian treefrogs. 

The researchers found that Paranapiacaba treefrogs lay spawn in small pools of water inside the leaves of bromeliad <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/plants-cannot-keep-up-with-rising-co2-levels/">plants</a> that are located on the banks of a stream. The tadpoles hatch from the aquatic eggs in the leaf tanks, and then make their way into the nearby stream to complete development.

The study is the first to report this unusual reproductive strategy among frogs, which are also known as anurans. 

Led by Leo Ramos Malagoli from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil, the researchers spent 11 years collecting data on the courtship behaviors, mating, spawning, and tadpole development of Paranapiacaba treefrogs. This little-known species is native to the Atlantic Forests of Brazil. 

The experts observed the males calling out from bromeliad ponds located on or over streams. Next, the females mated with the males inside of the leaf tanks and layed spawn there. 

However, the researchers found that the tadpoles did not complete their entire development in the tanks. By at least the 26th stage of development, the tadpoles had managed to enter the neighboring stream. 

The study authors theorize that the tadpoles must fall, jump, or get washed out of the tank to complete their development in a large body of water.

It is not uncommon for frogs to mate in leaf tanks, which offer a refuge out of the sights of predators and competitors. With other species, however, the frogs usually relocate to lay their eggs in larger water bodies or the tadpoles remain in the leaf tanks until adulthood. 

The developmental strategy used by Paranapiacaba treefrogs allows their tadpoles to grow in a safe location while escaping before limited food and space runs out in the small leaf tank.

According to the study authors, high summer rainfall in the Atlantic forests of southeast Brazil likely drove the evolution of this unique breeding strategy.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Brazilian treefrogs have adopted an unusual breeding strategy

In a new study published by PLOS, scientists have observed...

Socialization makes a big difference in the life expectancy of adult female giraffes, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a>. The experts have found that female giraffes who spend more time with other females have a higher chance of survival than those who are less sociable.

For over five years, a research team led by Monica Bond has been conducting the largest study to date of a giraffe population. The site of the investigation, which is in the Tarangire region of Tanzania, spans more than 1,000 square kilometers and includes multiple social communities with hundreds of adult female members.

The researchers determined that the benefits of socializing outweigh the effects of environmental factors or human presence on the survival of female giraffes.

While group formations change throughout the day, adult females were found to maintain many special friendships over the long term.

"Grouping with more females, called gregariousness, is correlated with better survival of female giraffes, even as group membership is frequently changing," said Bond. "This aspect of giraffe sociability is even more important than attributes of their non-social environment such as vegetation and nearness to human settlements."

Beyond the threats of poaching and wildlife trafficking, adult female giraffe mortality is primarily caused by disease, stress, and malnutrition. 

"Social relationships can improve foraging efficiency, and help manage intraspecific competition, predation, disease risk and psychosocial stress," said study senior author Professor Barbara König. 

For example, female giraffes may team up with other females to obtain information about the best places to find food. Socializing in larger groups may also lower stress levels, reduce harassment from males, and provide help in caring for young.

The team analyzed the social behaviors of the wild giraffes using network algorithms. The analysis showed that giraffes are surprisingly similar to humans and other primates in their social habits.

"It seems to be beneficial for female giraffes to connect with a greater number of others and develop a sense of larger community, but without a strong sense of exclusive subgroup affiliation," said Bond.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Female giraffes live longer when they stick together

Socialization makes a big difference in the life expectancy of...

Tourists may be carelessly spreading COVID-19 to wild mountain gorillas by taking selfies with them. A team of researchers at <a href="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/">Oxford Brookes University</a> analyzed nearly 1,000 Instagram posts containing photos taken with mountain gorillas in East <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shipwrecked-ivory-sheds-new-light-on-african-forest-elephants/">Africa</a>.

The study revealed that most of the tourists were close enough to the animals to transmit a virus or infection, and they were not wearing face masks. 

"The risk of disease transmission between visitors and gorillas is very concerning. It is vital that we strengthen and enforce tour regulations to ensure gorilla trekking practices do not further threaten these already imperiled great apes," said study lead author Gaspard Van Hamme.

In January 2021, captive gorillas at San Diego Zoo tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, providing new evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can affect great apes. 

"In the photos we analyzed, we found that face masks were rarely worn by tourists visiting gorillas and that brings potential for disease transmission between people and the gorillas they visit," said study co-author Dr. Magdalena Svensson. "With people all over the world getting more used to wearing face masks we have hope that in the future wearing face masks will become common practice in gorilla trekking."

Mountain gorillas are native to East Africa, and can currently be found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. After decades of threats from human activities, gorilla numbers have started to bounce back in recent years. There are now an estimated 1,063 individuals.

"This research provides a valuable perspective on how much tourists are willing to share their too close encounters with mountain gorillas through Instagram, which creates expectations for future tourists," explained Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka.

"It highlights a great need for responsible tourism to provide adequate protection while minimizing disease transmission, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Trekking is a valuable way to generate income to support mountain gorilla conservation. At the same time, large numbers of visitors can negatively impact the wildlife and their environment.

One of the main guidelines for visitors is to maintain a minimum distance of seven meters away from the gorillas, but the new research shows that such guidelines are not adequately followed or enforced.

Russell A. Mittermeier is the Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, who was not involved in the study.

"It has become apparent in the past few years that studies of anthroponotic and zoonotic disease spread are crucial to the field of primate conservation. With that in mind, it is very exciting to see the new research on this topic coming out of the Primate Conservation Group at Oxford Brookes University," said Mittermeier.

"While this study focused on one species, the mountain gorilla, the lessons learned are also applicable to many other primate species that are increasingly coming into contact with people. This line of research will certainly become more important in the future."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/25758314">People and Nature</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tourists taking selfies with mountain gorillas put them at risk of disease

Tourists may be carelessly spreading COVID-19 to wild mountain gorillas...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-rely-on-an-autism-gene-for-memorization/">Birds</a> grow thicker down feathers to survive the cold conditions in high elevations, according to a new study. The researchers examined feathers across 249 species of Himalayan songbirds using a collection of bird specimens at the <a href="http://naturalhistory.si.edu/">Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History</a>.

To regulate their body temperature, birds grow a layer of fluffy down insulation between their bodies and their outermost feathers.

The study revealed that birds living at higher elevations have more down feathers than birds living at lower elevations. The experts also found that smaller birds, which lose heat faster than large birds, grow longer down feathers in proportion to their body size.

The research highlights the importance of feathers in helping birds adapt to their environment, and suggests that adding down may be a common strategy among songbirds. The findings may ultimately help researchers predict which birds are most vulnerable to climate change by simply studying their feathers.

"The Himalayas are seeing some of the fastest rates of warming on Earth," said study lead author Sahas Barve. "At the same time, climate change is driving an increase in the frequency and intensity of extremely cold events like snowstorms. Being able to accurately predict the temperatures a bird can withstand could give us a new tool to predict how certain species might respond to climate change."

During a frigid morning of field work in the Sho-kharkh forest of the Himalayas, Barve observed a tiny goldcrest dashing across the treetops. He wondered how this little bird, which weighed about as much as a teaspoon of sugar, was able to thrive in frigid conditions. Barve set out to investigate whether Himalayan birds wear their own version of down jackets.

While previous studies suggested that birds from colder habitats had extra down feathers, Barve said this is the first study to analyze this pattern for such a large number of species in cold environments and across 15,000 feet of elevation.

The researchers used a microscope to image the chest feathers of 1,715 specimens from the high-altitude Himalayan Mountains. The team analyzed the photos to determine how long each feather's downy section was relative to its total length. 

The analysis revealed that the birds from the highest elevations, as well as the smallest birds, tended to have the highest proportion of down on their body feathers. Small birds had down feathers that were three times as long as the largest birds, while high-elevation birds had up to 25 percent more down.

"Seeing this correlation across so many species makes our findings more general and lets us say these results suggest all passerine birds may show this pattern," said Barve. "And we never would have been able to look at so many different species and get at this more general pattern of evolution without the Smithsonian's collections."

Study co-author Carla Dove said she was excited to work together with Barve to use the Smithsonian's collections in a new way. 

"Sahas looked at more than 1,700 specimens. Having them all in one place in downtown Washington, D.C., as opposed to having to go to the Himalayas and study these birds in the wild, obviously makes a big difference. It allowed him to gather the data he needed quickly before the COVID lockdowns swept the globe, and then work on the analysis remotely."

According to Dove, the potential to use these results to predict how some birds will cope with climate change demonstrates the value of museum collections. 

"We have more than 620,000 bird specimens collected over the past 200 years waiting for studies like this. We don't know what our specimens will be used for down the line; that's why we have to maintain them and keep enhancing them. These specimens from the past can be used to predict the future."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/16000587">Ecography</a>. 

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Birds grow more down feathers in higher elevations

Birds grow thicker down feathers to survive the cold conditions...

Around 10,000 years ago, the largest mammals in North America completely vanished. Megafauna including mammoths, ground sloths, and giant beavers were widely believed to have fallen victim to overhunting by rapidly expanding human populations, with climate change playing a significant role in the extinctions as well. 

But now, experts at the <a href="https://www.ice.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology</a> have found that climate change actually played a leading role in the disappearance of North American megafauna. 

Based on a new statistical modeling approach, the study shows that a drastic decrease in temperatures around 13,000 years ago likely initiated the decline of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-giants-study-reveals-shocking-decline-of-large-mammals-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">giant mammal populations</a>. 

For the last six decades, the prevailing theory was that the arrival of specialized "big-game" hunters in North America about 14,000 years ago led to the rapid decline of large mammals. 

It has also been debated that there is not enough archaeological evidence that overhunting was persistent or widespread enough to cause extinctions. Instead, dramatic climate and ecological changes may have been responsible for megafauna extinctions.

Around the time of the extinction event, there were two major climate changes, beginning with a period of abrupt warming that began around 14,700 years ago. This climate warming was followed by a cold snap around 12,900 years ago during which the Northern Hemisphere returned to near-glacial conditions. 

"A common approach has been to try to determine the timing of megafauna extinctions and to see how they align with human arrival in the Americas or some climatic event," said study co-lead author Mathew Stewart. 

"However, extinction is a process - meaning that it unfolds over some span of time - and so to understand what caused the demise of North America's megafauna, it's crucial that we understand how their populations fluctuated in the lead up to extinction. Without those long-term patterns, all we can see are rough coincidences."

Traditionally, experts have used the radiocarbon record to estimate past population sizes, but there is a level of uncertainty associated with radiocarbon dates.

"As a result, you can end up seeing trends in the data that don't really exist, making this method rather unsuitable for capturing changes in past population levels," explained study co-lead author W. Christopher Carleton.

"Using simulation studies where we know what the real patterns in the data are, we have been able to show that the new method does not have the same problems. As a result, our method is able to do a much better job capturing through-time changes in population levels using the radiocarbon record."

To investigate, the researchers applied a new statistical approach that was developed by Carleton. The results show that megafauna populations fluctuated in response to climate change.

"Megafauna populations appear to have been increasing as North American began to warm around 14,700 years ago," said Stewart. "But we then see a shift in this trend around 12,900 years ago as North America began to drastically cool, and shortly after this we begin to see the extinctions of megafauna occur."

While the findings suggest that the return to near glacial conditions was the direct cause for megafauna extinctions, human activities such as overhunting and habitat modification likely played an indirect role. 

"We must consider the ecological changes associated with these climate changes at both a continental and regional scale if we want to have a proper understanding of what drove these extinctions," explained study senior author Huw Groucutt. 

"Humans also aren't completely off the hook, as it remains possible that they played a more nuanced role in the megafauna extinctions than simple overkill models suggest."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms">Nature Communications</a>.

---

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

North America's largest mammals were a casualty of climate change

Around 10,000 years ago, the largest mammals in North America...

A major shift in atmospheric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/active-travel-can-greatly-reduce-co2-emissions-in-the-city/">CO2</a> levels may have helped dinosaurs make a 6,500-mile journey from South America to Greenland, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.earth.columbia.edu/">Earth Institute at Columbia University</a>.

A group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs known as sauropodomorphs arrived in Greenland sometime between 225 and 205 million years ago. 

The new study has matched ancient magnetism patterns in rock layers at fossil sites across South America, Arizona, New Jersey, Europe, and Greenland, to determine that the dinosaurs completed this migration around 214 million years ago. At this time, all of the continents were still connected as part of the supercontinent Pangea.

Fossil records show that sauropodomorphs first appeared in Argentina and Brazil about 230 million years ago, which raises the question of why it took them so long to expand into the Northern Hemisphere.

"In principle, the dinosaurs could have walked from almost one pole to the other," explained study co-author Dennis Kent. "There was no ocean in between. There were no big mountains. And yet it took 15 million years. It's as if snails could have done it faster."

Kent estimated that if a dinosaur herd walked only one mile per day, it would take less than 20 years to make the journey between South America and Greenland.

Up until about 215 million years ago, the Triassic period had experienced extremely high levels of CO2 at around 4,000 parts per million. Between 215 and 212 million years ago, the CO2 concentration dropped by half. This would have been the same time that sauropodomorphs set out on their long journey to Greenland.

The researchers theorize that the plummeting CO2 levels and the sauropodomorph migration are linked. They suggest that the milder levels of CO2 may have helped to remove climatic barriers that had limited the sauropodomorphs to South America.

The study authors explained that on a planet supercharged with CO2, there were likely climate extremes that would have prevented the dinosaurs from migrating. "We know that with higher CO2, the dry gets drier and the wet gets wetter," said Kent.

When the CO2 levels dipped 215 to 212 million years ago, the tropical regions may have become more mild, and the arid regions could have become less dry. Certain passageways may have developed, such as along rivers or lakes, that would have helped sustain the herbivores along the way to Greenland.

"Once they arrived in Greenland, it looked like they settled in. They hung around as a long fossil record after that." 

Kent said the idea that a dip in CO2 could have helped these dinosaurs to overcome a climatic barrier is speculative but plausible, and it seems to be supported by the fossil record.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dinosaur migration was made possible by a major climate shift

A major shift in atmospheric CO2 levels may have helped...

An invasive fly from Asia that is known for attacking fruit <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-cereal-crops-have-a-secret-weapon-for-deeper-roots/">crops</a> is very particular about where it chooses to lay its eggs. The spotted wing drosophila fly, D. suzukii, prefers to lay its eggs in places that have not been visited by other flies, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a>.

The discovery raises new questions about how the flies can tell which pieces of fruit are untarnished, and about what this could mean for pest control.

Although Drosophila suzukii is native to east Asia, the fruit fly has spread rapidly across Africa, Europe, and both North and South America over the past 10 to 15 years. 

These invasive flies lay their eggs in ripe fruit, which poses problems for farmers.

"Ultimately, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in potential crop losses and increases in pest-management costs each year in the United States," said study co-author Professor Hannah Burrack. "These costs have driven some small growers out of business.

"The first step toward addressing an invasive pest species is understanding it. And two fundamental questions that we had are: Which plants will this species attack? And why does it pick those plants?"

While observing Drosophila invasions on farms, the experts noticed that the flies' egg-laying behavior varied according to the size of the infestation. If they were part of a smaller population, the flies laid only a few eggs in each piece of fruit, and only when the fruit was ripe. 

On the other hand, if the flies were part of a large population, more eggs were laid in each piece of fruit. To investigate, the researchers conducted a series of experiments. 

The surprising results revealed that, when given a choice, D. suzukii preferred to lay its eggs in fruit that other flies had never visited.

"It doesn't matter if the other flies lay eggs," said Professor Burrack. "It doesn't even matter if the other flies are male or female. It only matters if other flies have touched a piece of fruit. If untouched fruit is available, D. suzukii will reject fruit that other flies have visited."

"We're not sure if the flies leave behind a chemical or bacterial marker, or something else entirely - but the flies can tell where other flies have been."

The researchers said that the next step is to determine what, exactly, the Drosophila suzukii flies are detecting as they scope out the fruit.

"If we can get a better understanding of what drives the behavior of this species, that could inform the development of new pest-control techniques," said Professor Burrack. "We're not making any promises, but this is a significant crop pest - and the more we know, the better."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Drosophila flies prefer to lay their eggs in untouched fruit

An invasive fly from Asia that is known for attacking...

Ross Ice Shelf

Scientists have discovered some strange and unexpected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sponges-dna-sea-creatures/">creatures</a> living far beneath the Antarctic ice shelf, according to a new study published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a>. 

This is the first time a hard substrate community has been found deep beneath an ice shelf, and the discovery contradicts previous theories of what types of life could survive there.

During an expedition to the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, which is located in the southeastern Weddell Sea, researchers drilled through 900 meters of ice. At a distance of 260 kilometers from the ice front, the site was under complete darkness with temperatures of -2.2 degree Celsius. 

While very few animals have ever been observed in such conditions, scientists found that a large boulder on the seafloor was covered with sponge-like stationary animals. 

"This discovery is one of those fortunate accidents that pushes ideas in a different direction and shows us that Antarctic marine life is incredibly special and amazingly adapted to a frozen world," said study lead author Dr. Huw Griffiths of the British Antarctic Survey.

"Our discovery raises so many more questions than it answers, such as how did they get there? What are they eating? How long have they been there? How common are these boulders covered in life? Are these the same species as we see outside the ice shelf or are they new species? And what would happen to these communities if the ice shelf collapsed?"

Floating ice shelves cover more that 1.5 million square kilometers of the Antarctic continental ice shelf, yet only a total area similar in size to a tennis court has been explored. 

"Prior to this study, our knowledge of these habitats and the life they support was restricted to what has been observed from eight boreholes drilled for geological and glaciological studies," wrote the researchers.

It has been widely assumed that whatever life forms could survive beneath ice shelves become less abundant as you move farther away from open water and sunlight. In the past, some small mobile scavengers and predators like fish and worms have been spotted in these habitats. 

The researchers said that the local currents suggest this community is somewhere between 625 and 1500 kilometers in the direction of water flow from the nearest region of photosynthesis. 

There are some organisms that depend on nutrients from glacial melts or chemicals from methane seeps to survive in such extremities, but little is known about the new creatures until the researchers have an opportunity to study them further.

"To answer our questions we will have to find a way of getting up close with these animals and their environment - and that's under 900 meters of ice, 260km away from the ships where our labs are," said Dr. Griffiths. "This means that as polar scientists, we are going to have to find new and innovative ways to study them and answer all the new questions we have."

The experts noted that with the climate crisis and the collapse of these ice shelves, time is running out to study and protect these ecosystems.

"This new evidence requires us to rethink our ideas with regard to the diversity of community types found under ice shelves, the key factors which control their distribution and their vulnerability to environmental change and ice shelf collapse."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Strange creatures found beneath the Antarctic ice shelf

Scientists have discovered some strange and unexpected creatures living far...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has revealed that tropical paper wasps help out neighboring <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-change-their-lifestyle-after-establishing-a-nest/">nests</a> by babysitting when there are extra workers available. The findings suggest that when their closest kin are less in need, the wasps seek to help more distant relatives.

"These wasps can act like rich family members lending a hand to their second cousins. If there's not much more you can do to help your immediate family, you can turn your attention to the extended family," explained study lead author Dr. Patrick Kennedy.

Around the Panama Canal, the researchers observed 20,000 baby wasps and their caregivers to investigate the usefulness of workers in colonies of different sizes. The study showed that as the number of colony members rises, the worker bees become less useful due to a surplus of help.

"By helping more distant relatives who are more in need - those living next door with fewer carers - workers can pass on more copies of their genes overall," said study co-author Professor Andy Radford. "We believe that similar principles of diminishing returns might explain seemingly paradoxical acts of altruism in many other social animals."

Dr. Kennedy said the fact that these paper wasps help at other colonies is really bizarre when you consider that most wasps, ants, and bees are extremely hostile to outsiders. 'To solve this puzzling behavior, we combined mathematical modelling with our detailed field observations."

"We ended up being stung a lot. But it was worth it, because our results show that worker wasps can become redundant at home. A wasp on a colony with few larvae but lots of other workers becomes almost useless: the best thing to do is to babysit the larvae of other relatives."

The evolution of "altruism" in animals had remained a mystery for many decades since the time of Charles Darwin.

"In 1964, the legendary biologist W. D. Hamilton figured out the cardinal rule of animal altruism. Lavish help on your family because they share many of your genes. Copies of your genes will triumph in the population," said Professor Radford.

However, the behavior of tropical paper wasps baffled Hamilton back in 1964. He was surprised to notice that Polistes wasps were leaving their close family in their home nests and flying off to help the neighbors, who are less closely related.

Previously, study co-author Professor Seirian Sumner reported that over half the workers in a Panamanian population of paper wasps were helping on multiple nests. This comes as a surprise considering that wasps usually viciously attack outsiders, and suggests that something unusual is going on.

"Wasps offer amazing windows into the evolution of selflessness," said Professor Sumner. "There is so much going on in a wasp nest: power struggles, self-sacrifice, groups battling against the odds to survive... If we want to understand how societies evolve, we should look more deeply at wasps."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paper wasps offer clues about the evolution of selflessness

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

Throughout the animal kingdom, there are many species that form monogamous bonds with their mates just like humans. In a new study from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>, experts have discovered that the brain circuitry that supports lasting love in some species is not the same in others.

For the investigation, the researchers compared monogamous and promiscuous species within a closely related group of primates known as lemurs.

Red-bellied lemurs and mongoose lemurs are two of the only types of this group in which male-female pairs stick together to raise their young and defend their territory.

Once two lemurs have bonded, they spend about one-third of their lifetime together. The partners spend hours grooming each other or huddled side by side. 

Overall, monogamy is rare among mammals and remains somewhat of a mystery to biologists. While about 90 percent of bird species are usually faithful to one partner, only three to five percent of mammals practice fidelity. "It's an uncommon arrangement," said study lead author Nicholas Grebe.

The researchers set out to investigate what makes some species biologically inclined to monogamy. Previous studies have found evidence that two hormones released during mating, oxytocin and vasopressin, have an influence on lasting love according to how they affect the brain.

When experts compared the brains of monogamous prairie voles with two other vole species that behave promiscuously, they found that prairie voles had more "docking sites" for the hormones, especially in parts of the brain's reward system.

If these "cuddle chemicals" enhance lasting love in voles, the researchers theorized they may have the same influence on humans. The study was focused on lemurs because they are a closer genetic match to humans than voles.

The researchers used an imaging technique called autoradiography on 12 lemurs that had died of natural causes at the Duke Lemur Center. They used the images to map binding sites for oxytocin and vasopressin.

The team compared the brain imaging results in lemurs with previous results in voles and monkeys. This analysis revealed some noticeable differences in the density and distribution of hormone receptors. 

Essentially, oxytocin and vasopressin were found to act on different parts of the brain in lemurs, which means they may also have different effects depending on their target cell's location.

According to Grebe, oxytocin may be the "potion of devotion" for voles, but it may be the combined actions and interactions of multiple brain chemicals - along with ecological factors - that create lasting bonds in lemurs and other primates like humans.

"There are probably a number of different ways through which monogamy is instantiated within the brain, and it depends on what animals we're looking at," said Grebe. "There's more going on than we originally thought."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The basis of lasting love is more complex than expected

Throughout the animal kingdom, there are many species that form...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-astrobiology">Implications for astrobiology</h2>



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

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Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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