In nature, flashy displays usually scream courtship. Peacocks fan iridescent trains, peacock spiders dance in sequined shorts, and all the glitter serves one end: to impress a mate. So when Panama’s matador bugs - Anisoscelis alipes - waggle bright, banner-like hind legs, the obvious guess has been sexual selection. 



But a new <a href="https://stri.si.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> (STRI) study says the leg-waving isn’t a love signal at all.



“The very nature of discovery is that we can’t anticipate where our questions lead,” said STRI postdoctoral fellow Ummat Somjee, whose work on sexual selection and insect weaponry has been widely covered. 



“By following our curiosity we sometimes arrive at unexpected realities, leading us to reevaluate the very questions we asked in the first place.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-matador-bugs-put-to-the-test">Matador bugs put to the test</h2>



Sexual selection leaves a telltale pattern. In species with showy male ornaments, males tend to carry bigger, brighter structures than females, and they show them off more often - especially at close range to suitors or rivals.



The STRI-led team, with collaborators in the UK, Panama, the United States, Switzerland, and Germany, set out to test whether matador bugs fit that script.



They first gave each wild-caught bug a tiny dot of nontoxic paint so individuals could be tracked. Then, in a screened enclosure, they released the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-are-still-disappearing-and-there-are-hundreds-of-reasons-why/">insects</a> in groups of three, stepped out, and let the cameras roll.



Over repeated trials, they recorded positions every couple of minutes, later combing through full-session video to measure how often and how long the bugs waved and how far apart they were when they did. By the end, they had logged more than 745 flag-waving bouts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-showy-legs-aren-t-about-mating">Showy legs aren’t about mating</h2>



The pattern was striking for how unsexy it was. Flag size scaled with body size in both sexes, but females - though generally larger - did not carry disproportionately bigger flags than males of the same size. Males and females waved about as often and at similar rates.



Most telling, waving tended to happen when other bugs were farther away, not at close quarters where courtship and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-clues-about-the-feeding-habits-of-grasshoppers/">rivalry</a> typically unfold. Whether the trio was all male, all female, or mixed didn’t change the behavior.



Taken together, the evidence points away from signaling to mates or rivals. For matador bugs, flamboyant feet are probably not about impressing anyone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bugs-wave-to-stay-alive">Bugs wave to stay alive</h2>



If sex isn’t the driver, another explanation rises to the top: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worms-activate-an-ancient-sleep-circuit-when-trapped-by-predators/">predator</a> distraction. In the wild, nearly one in six matador bugs is missing a hind leg. That’s a lot of lost limbs in exactly the spot where those flashy flags are.



The team suspects the bright, mobile banners operate like a bullfighter’s cape - drawing attacks away from vital body parts. Sacrificing a leg is bad, but it’s better than being eaten.



Future experiments will directly test this idea, for instance by observing predator strikes with and without flags or by manipulating color and motion to see what attackers target.



The researchers aren’t ruling out other functions either; flags could startle predators, misdirect their aim, or even act as a general “back off” signal to larger animals without being a specialized sexual signal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flashy-bugs-spark-new-solutions">Flashy bugs spark new solutions</h2>



Matador bugs aren’t just jungle curiosities. In Panama and neighboring Costa Rica, they’re common pests on passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) farms. If the flags are indeed decoys for predators, that insight could inform <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pests-are-moving-to-cooler-regions-due-to-climate-change/">pest</a> management.



Encouraging natural enemies - or even designing low-toxicity lures that exploit the bugs’ own signaling - might offer alternatives to broad-spectrum insecticides that harm beneficial insects as well.



Good ideas start with careful natural history. Until now, the matador bug’s signature behavior was famous mostly as a striking photograph on guidebook covers. This study turns the image into data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fieldwork-beats-the-feed"><a></a>Fieldwork beats the feed</h2>



Much of the project’s grunt work fell to early-career researchers tracking painted bugs under tropical heat. For first author and <a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Manchester</a> undergraduate intern Cameron Longbottom, the field season was transformational.



“Being in the field in Panama is so different from watching Avatar on the internet," he said. "To see animals in their own habitats - you don’t get that in many places. there is still so much to learn.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-showiness-can-also-mean-survival">Showiness can also mean survival</h2>



Charles Darwin wrestled with the strange logic of ornamentation and ultimately proposed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/temperature-tolerance-has-co-evolved-with-sexual-selection/">sexual selection</a> to explain it. That theory remains a powerful lens, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to every bright color or exaggerated appendage.



The matador bug’s neon leg flags remind us that conspicuous traits can evolve for reasons other than romance - especially if they help animals survive long enough to reproduce.



For now, the verdict is clear: the leg-waving that made these insects famous doesn’t help them flirt. It likely helps them live.



The study is&nbsp;published&nbsp;in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cz/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cz/zoaf047/8220672?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Zoology</a>. 



Image Credit: Steven Paton



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Matador bugs wave their flashy neon legs to distract predators

In nature, flashy displays usually scream courtship. Peacocks fan iridescent trains, peacock spiders dance in sequined shorts, and all the glitter serves one end: to impress a mate. So when Panama’s matador bugs - Anisoscelis alipes - waggle bright, banner-like hind legs, the obvious guess has been sexual selection. But a new Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) study says the leg-waving isn’t a love signal at all. “The very nature of discovery is that we can’t anticipate where our questions lead,” said STRI postdoctoral fellow Ummat Somjee,...

A new study has revealed significant declines in four major commercially important species of shellfish along the U.S. east coast in recent years.

Harvests of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oyster-recovery-programs-in-the-us-are-making-progress/">eastern oysters,</a> northern quahogs, softshell clams, and northern bay scallops have been less and less abundant with every year. But now, new research shows that increases in temperature due to climate change is the biggest driving factor behind these declines. 

The study was conducted by Clyde MacKenzie, a shellfish researcher at the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, and Mitchell Tarnowski, a shellfish biologist from the <a href="http://dnr.maryland.gov/">Maryland Department of Natural Resources</a>. 

The researchers reviewed harvest data from four important shellfish species along the East Coast from main to North Carolina. MacKenzie and Tarnowski set out to see if the declines were to due to overfishing or the impacts of climate and environmental changes. 

The two researchers published their findings in the Marine Fisheries Review journal. 

The study found that eastern oyster harvests dropped from 600,00 bushels in 1960 to less than 100,000 in 2005. Between 1980 and 2010, all four of the commercially important bivalves included in the study declined and with them the fishermen who harvested them. 

In Maine, softshell clam harvests are at an all-time low and fishery managers, as well as clammers, are looking to find new ways to adapt to the changing landscape and protect important resources. 

Conservation efforts and fisheries management have successfully yielded better scallop harvests in Maine in contrast to the declines along other parts of the east coast.

Still, this is the exception and not the norm, and the researchers have several explanations as to why warmer temperatures and climate change would cause shellfish harvests to decline. 

One reason is that warmer temperatures are increasing the risk of predation for many bivalves. 

“Their predation rate is faster in the warmer waters,” MacKenzie told the Daily Mail. “They begin to prey earlier, and they prey longer into the fall.” 

Habitat degradation is also a factor, and the researchers found that a shift in the North Atlantic Oscillation has degraded many shellfish habitats. 

Shellfish are a popular seafood, especially along the east coast, and if declines in harvests continue, the United States may soon become reliant on imported shellfish from other parts of the world, which could negatively impact local fisheries and clamming industries. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

East coast shellfish harvests are declining due to warming waters

A new study has revealed significant declines in four major...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a> made an unexpected discovery while studying grey reef sharks in a protected shark sanctuary around the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). 

Almost a quarter of all shark populations are in danger of becoming extinct, and overfishing has played a significant role in many shark population declines. One particularly gruesome practice is called <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-finning-unsustainable/">shark finning</a>, where people cut off the fin of a shark and discard the rest of its body. 

Shark sanctuaries were implemented as a buffer against fishing and are meant to serve as a conservation area specifically for sharks. 

At first, the researchers were hoping to survey the sharks’ movements but instead, monitoring in the area led to the discovery of illegal shark fishing. 

A study detailing the researchers' new findings and calling for better monitoring using satellite technology in shark sanctuaries was published in the journal Conservation Letters.  

“It's not the study we expected,” said Darcy Bradley, a researcher for the study. “Instead, we uncovered a high level of illegal shark fishing from within the Marshall Islands shark sanctuary.” 

The researchers discovered that illegal fishing activity was taking place in the Marshall Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone after tracking the movements of 15 sharks with satellite tags. 

Of those 15 sharks, eight were thought to have been illegally fished because the tags showed movements uncharacteristic of grey reef sharks.

The tags traveled thousands of kilometers across the Pacific Ocean at very high speeds, faster than sharks can sustain for long periods of time. A few of the tags even ended up in local ports, according to Bradley. 

The researchers calculated that if illegal fishing continued at that rate, a healthy, large shark population could collapse to less than ten percent of its unfished numbers in less than five years. 

Even though RMI was one of the first nations to implement policies that protect local shark populations, this recent study shows that very little is being done to enforce protections and prevent illegal fishing. 

However, a big part of why enforcement is so minimal is because the RMI and similar remote island territories lack the resources to monitor large shark sanctuaries adequately. 

Illegal shark fishing is not without its risks, but the researchers say that the high value of sharks on the black market and in commercial fishing markets is enough to drive people to disregard any risks or consequences should they be caught. 

According to the researchers, it’s easy for illegal fishing activities to go unnoticed. 

To help remedy this, the researchers propose that shark sanctuaries use cost-effective satellite technology like vessel tracking and automatic identification systems which would track fishing vessels over large areas. 

“The ability to 'see' all boats in all places in near real-time using satellite tracking technology would provide a means to monitor for compliance with multiple fisheries management goals -- be they combating illegal fishing, monitoring transshipments, identifying fishing activity in high bycatch areas and more,” said Bradley. 

The study shows how problematic illegal fishing is in shark sanctuaries and shows that existing satellite technology could be used to improve monitoring of these sanctuaries. But only time will tell if countries will take advantage of satellite technology or not. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shark sanctuaries offer little protection from illegal fishing

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara made an...

Black widow spiders, native to temperate climates and found all over the world, are known for their steel-strength silk fibers and venomous bite, which is said to be more potent than a rattlesnake’s. 

Silk from a black widow spider is <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/1996/12/black-widows-spin-super-silk">reportedly as resilient as kevlar</a> and researchers have been working to unlock the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-genetics-spider-silk/">secrets of how this silk is formed</a> before the spider spins it into complex webs. 

Now, a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed the inner workings of the spider’s silk proteins. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> and <a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/">San Diego State University</a> conducted a study to examine the amino acids that make up the silk proteins. 

Previous studies have theorized that spider silk proteins are held in nano-size spherical micelles, which are clusters of water-soluble and non-soluble molecules. The spider then feeds these micelles through its spinning system. 

However, this is where the trail gets cold, and researchers have been unable to replicate this silk process or closely examine the micelles before they are spun into silk to confirm this theory. 

“The knowledge gap was literally in the middle,” said Nathan C. Gianneschi, an author of the new study. “What we didn't understand completely is what goes on at the nanoscale in the silk glands or the spinning duct -- the storage, transformation, and transportation process involved in proteins becoming fibers.”

The researchers used two complementary imaging techniques, nuclear magnetic resonance, and electron microscopy to get an inside look at the protein glands of black widow spiders. 

Once the researchers were able to examine where the silk fibers originate, it was discovered that the micelles of silk proteins are complex and compound micelles, which is how the spider can weave such strong webs. 

“We now know that black widow spider silks are spun from hierarchical nano-assemblies (200 to 500 nanometers in diameter) of proteins stored in the spider's abdomen, rather than from a random solution of individual proteins or from simple spherical particles,” said Gregory P. Holland, a co-author of the study. 

If researchers can successfully duplicate black widow spider silk, there is a wide range of potential implications including making high-performance textiles and building materials.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How do black widow spiders spin such strong silk?

Black widow spiders, native to temperate climates and found all...

Researchers have identified four Pacific salmon populations in California, Oregon, and Idaho that are particularly vulnerable to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-animals-adapt/">climate change</a>. The salmon inhabit a broad range of territory which makes them much more likely to be impacted by environmental changes. 

Although Pacific salmon spend most of their lives in the ocean, they return to their native waterways to spawn, migrating as far inland as central Idaho. 

The study, led by Lisa Crozier of the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA), will help to prioritize protection efforts for salmon along the entire west coast of the United States.

The researchers set out to gauge the vulnerability of Pacific salmon by analyzing 33 threatened or endangered groups, including local populations from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. 

The study accounted for 20 attributes among each population group to more accurately assess its risk in the face of climate change. These attributes measured the magnitude of expected change in local environmental conditions, the capacity of the population group to adapt to new climatic conditions, and the sensitivity of specific population groups to current environmental conditions.

[caption id="attachment_1875596" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mapping-salmon.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1875596" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mapping-salmon.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="650" /></a> Image Credit: NOAA Fisheries (2019)[/caption]

The results of the analysis pinpointed the four most threatened population groups: Chinook in California's Central Valley, coho in northern California and Oregon, Chinook in the Columbia and Willamette River basins in Oregon, and sockeye in the Snake River basin of Idaho. 

Overall, every single population group examined for the study was found to be sensitive to rising surface temperatures in the ocean and throughout the streams. The researchers also determined that all 33 groups are vulnerable to ocean acidification.

"Salmon have always adapted to change, and they have been very successful, otherwise they wouldn't still be here," said Crozier. "What we are trying to understand is which populations may need the most help with anticipated future changes in temperature and water availability, and what steps we can take to support them."

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

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sekar B

Pacific salmon will struggle with rising water temperatures, acidification

Researchers have identified four Pacific salmon populations in California, Oregon,...

A new study from <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a> (WSU) has found that the breeding seasons of wild house finches are shifting due to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-sharks-swim/">climate change</a>. 

Study lead author Heather Watts is an avian physiologist and an associate professor in WSU's School of Biological Sciences.

“We know that many birds are breeding earlier as temperatures get warmer,” said Professor Watts. “Almost all of those studies are on birds that eat insects or other animals. What we don't know is if seed-eating birds are shifting the timing of breeding too.”


It is important for scientists to study seed-eaters to gain a better understanding of how temperature is affecting breeding habits. Experts are still trying to determine whether rising temperatures are having a direct or an indirect effect on the animals.

Previous studies have found that plant-eating animals are likely to experience stronger impacts due to environmental changes such as shifts in the timing of plant growth. 

To investigate the magnitude of these effects, the researchers studied when house finches lay eggs. The team gathered museum records of house finch nests found in California between 1895 and 2007, and then compared these records against spring temperature data for the locations of the nests. 

“For every degree Celsius increase in temperature, they're laying about four-and-a-half days earlier,” said Professor Watts. This was a large shift compared to what is known of other species, which supports the theory that climate change will have stronger effects on plant-eaters.

According to the researchers, the study findings are not necessarily bad news for the house finch. The shift could even allow the birds to take advantage of the longer breeding season and have more reproductive success. 

“We have no evidence that under current conditions this is a problem for house finches,” said Professor Watts. “But as climate continues to change, we could reach a point where birds are no longer able to either time breeding appropriately, or food resources could change in such a way that it has negative impacts on breeding.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.bou.org.uk/ibis-international-journal-of-avian-science/">IBIS-International Journal of Avian Science</a>.

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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 

Image Credit: Jessica Tir

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change is altering the breeding seasons for seed-eating birds

A new study from Washington State University (WSU) has found...

Even if you don’t have a dog of your own, most people know that dogs have a way of staying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-comfort-owners-upset/">acutely in tune</a> with their owners.

It’s all thanks to a mutualistic relationship between humans and canines thousands of years in the making, and it’s why dogs are so successful as therapy, companion, and guide animals. 

Now, a new study has found that not only can dogs understand their owner’s feelings but they will also mirror their owner’s stress levels. 

Researchers from <a href="https://liu.se/en">Linköping University</a> studied stress levels in dogs and their owners to see how one influenced the other and examined how lifestyle factors impacted a dog’s stress levels. 

Past studies have shown that humans mirror each other’s long-term stress and emotions, but the researchers wondered if this link extended beyond humans between different species. 

58 dogs (25 border collies and 33 Shetland sheepdogs) and their owners took part in the research. All the owners were women. 

Stress levels were determined by measuring cortisol levels from hair taken from both the dog and its owner over several months. 

Before measuring cortisol levels, the researchers compared the companion dogs to active dogs that competed in agility courses to see how physical activity, which is known to increase cortisol levels, impacts stress levels. 

For the competing dogs, their stress levels were strongly linked to their owners, but for the companion dogs, physical activity had little impact on cortisol levels. 

What the researchers did find was that the stress levels of the companion dogs synched up with those of their owners. 

“We found that the levels of long-term cortisol in the dog and its owner were synchronised, such that owners with high cortisol levels have dogs with high cortisol levels, while owners with low cortisol levels have dogs with low levels,” said Ann-Sofie Sundman, the first author of the study. 

The researchers also asked participants to fill out personality surveys about their dogs to see if stress levels corresponded to a dog’s personality. 

However, personality, like physical activity, had little impact on stress levels for the 58 companion dogs. 

“Surprisingly enough, we found no major effect of the dog’s personality on long-term stress,” said Lina Roth, the lead researcher for the study. “The personality of the owner, on the other hand, had a strong effect. This has led us to suggest that the dog mirrors its owner’s stress.” 

The results of the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicate that there is a strong connection between an owner’s stress levels and their dog’s stress levels yet further research is needed to confirm this correlation. 

Factors such as the breed of dog or sex of the owner could impact the results, and the researchers plan to continue studying synchronistic stress levels in dogs and humans. 

“If we learn more about how different types of dog are influenced by humans, it will be possible to match dog and owner in a way that is better for both, from a stress-management point of view. It may be that certain breeds are not so deeply affected if their owner has a high stress level,” said Roth.

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By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Irina Kozorog

Your dog can feel your stress, new study shows

Even if you don’t have a dog of your own,...

In the South Gobi Province of Mongolia in 2011, four <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/snow-leopards-return-brink-extinction/">snow leopards</a> were discovered dead and without a clear cause of death. This discovery led to the assembly of an international team of researchers who would set out to investigate possible zoonotic pathogens that could derail conservation efforts.

The snow leopard is a threatened and highly vulnerable species that lives in the mountain ranges of Central Asia. There may be as few as 4,000 of these big cats in the wild, and their numbers are still declining. 

This species faces many threats, including poaching, habitat loss, climate change, and conflict with herders. The possibility that snow leopards could also be facing an epidemic of a deadly disease was of major concern to the conservation community.

Between 2008 and 2015, a team of researchers from the Snow Leopard Trust and Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation captured 20 snow leopards, and determined that all but one appeared to be clinically healthy. These cats were tested for multiple zoonotic pathogens, of which several were detected. These included Coxiella burnetti, which can cause Q fever in humans and infect livestock; Leptospira species, which are transmittable to people and can lead to life-threatening infections, and Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that is able to infect any warm-blooded animal and cause toxoplasmosis. Ticks found on these leopards also contained many types of potentially zoonotic bacteria.

“A disease epidemic could be devastating to wild snow leopards due to their low numbers and many other threats to their existence,” says Carol Esson of <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/">James Cook University</a> in Australia, lead author of the paper. “Although the zoonotic pathogens identified in this study did not appear to cause illness to the snow leopards in the short term, they have caused illness in other wild cats. And so, there is now a need to establish surveillance to monitor for potential longer-term disease impacts on this vulnerable population.”

This initial study, published in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ziee20/current">Infection Ecology &amp; Epidemiology</a>, will be an important reference for the health of snow leopards as surveillance efforts continue. 

Along with benefiting this big cat species, further knowledge of these disease that are able to infect humans and livestock will serve to help the nomadic communities that live in these areas. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Pixabay

Snow leopards face threat of disease epidemic that could spread to humans

In the South Gobi Province of Mongolia in 2011, four...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tyrannosaurus-rex-big-run/">Tyrannosaurus rex</a>, who is famous for being a deadly carnivore, was likely assisting in the widespread dispersal of fruit seeds. A recent report in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a> suggests that T Rex was inadvertently planting fruits across the landscape in its droppings after devouring plant-eating animals.

Plants produce brightly-colored, seeded fruits to entice herbivores to eat them and disperse the seeds in their waste. Carnivores also become seed dispersers after consuming the herbivores.

A team of researchers led by Tetsuro Yoshikawa at the <a href="https://www.nies.go.jp/index-e.html">National Institute for Environmental Studies</a> set out to investigate if the carnivorous dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period may have been seed dispersers. 

The team analyzed data on the body weight and diet of 51 living bird species that are the closest living relatives of T. rex. Using this information, the experts developed a computer model to estimate how long seeds persist in a bird’s gut before being excreted.

The model enabled the researchers to predict how long seeds may have remained inside of a T. rex. The study revealed that seeds would likely have persisted for five to seven days before passing through the digestive system.

According to Yoshikawa, the fact that T. rex was highly mobile means that the dinosaur dispersed seeds across a large area. Yoshikawa told New Scientist that further research is needed to understand T. rex’s role in seed dispersal. “Our result is a first step to the modelling, and the estimates for dinosaurs are quite rough.”

Yoshikawa added that the model could be improved with more information on the type of seeds that were consumed and with a better understanding of T. rex’s diet.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.oikosjournal.org/">Oikos Journal</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tyrannosaurus rex ate meat but also accidentally planted fruit

Tyrannosaurus rex, who is famous for being a deadly carnivore,...

Since 1970, Earth’s wildlife populations have declined by 60 percent. The <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Foundation</a> (WWF) recently released its <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/living-planet-report-2018">Living Planet Report</a> for 2018 and it has revealed some startling findings. 

Human activity is prompting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/population-declines-underway-extinct/">extinction rates like never before</a>, and global wildlife populations have dropped by 60 percent in 40 years. The biggest threats to biodiversity and species’ survival have been overfishing and deforestation. 

Our consumption of natural resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and sprawls of urban and agricultural development are causing drastic declines in mammal, bird, fish, reptile, and amphibian populations around the world. 

According to the report, in the past 30 years, Earth has lost about half of its shallow water corals. One-fifth of the Amazon, one of the most richly biodiverse regions on Earth, has been lost over the past 50 years. 

90 percent of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs today, and African elephants in Tanzania have declined by 60 percent due to ivory poaching. 

According <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/29/health/wwf-wildlife-population-report-intl/index.html">CNN</a>, in Borneo, 100,000 orangutans were lost between 1999 and 2015 

The window of time we have to act and reverse catastrophic declines is quickly closing in. 

“This report sounds a warning shot across our bow,” said Carter Roberts, the president and CEO of <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/living-planet-report-2018">WWF-US</a>. “Natural systems essential to our survival—forests, oceans, and rivers—remain in decline. Wildlife around the world continue to dwindle. It reminds us we need to change course. It’s time to balance our consumption with the needs of nature, and to protect the only planet that is our home.”

“We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last one that can do anything about it,” Tanya Steele, the WWF Chief Executive in the UK, added in a statement. 

Humanity is reliant on Earth’s resources, but the report shows how poorly we are managing them. 

The WWF has called for a global deal to help conserve biodiversity on Earth. 

196 nations that are part of the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a> have been urged to consider developing conservation targets to help stem the tide of wildlife loss. 

“If we want a world with orangutans and puffins, clean air and enough food for everyone, we need urgent action from our leaders and a new global deal for nature and people that kick starts a global program of recovery,” Steele told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6331433/Wildlife-populations-plummeting-face-human-activity-report-warns.html">Daily Mail.</a>

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Since 1970, Earth’s wildlife populations have declined by 60 percent

Since 1970, Earth’s wildlife populations have declined by 60 percent....

Mountain birds are on a rising “escalator to extinction,” according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

It’s been theorized that as climate change makes local habitats inhospitable, some species will <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-temperatures-species-mountaintops/">navigate to higher ground </a>where conditions are more favorable. 

Finding real-world confirmation that climate change is driving species to higher altitudes has been challenging, but researchers from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell</a> and the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> had a rare opportunity to compare mountain bird populations in Peru based on a 1985 survey. 

The study proves what researchers and climate models have predicted, that climate change is driving local bird species towards extinction. 

“A study like this where you have historical data you can go back to and compare is very rare,” Mark Urban, director of the Center of Biological Risk at the<a href="https://uconn.edu/"> University of Connecticut</a>, told the<a href="https://www.apnews.com/a4465873dd1f44c1b07bf315caef2493"> Associated Press</a>. “As long as the species can disperse, you will see species marching up the mountain, until that escalator becomes a stairway to heaven.”

The 1985 study served as a crucial baseline for the recent research, and in 2017 a team of researchers followed the same methods of the earlier study to survey over 400 species of birds in southeastern Peru.

Forty foot nets were used to catch and release tropical birds, and microphone boxes placed on the mountain were used to record the chirps of different bird species. 

Between the earlier survey and the study conducted in 2017, temperatures in the mountain area of Peru rose an average .76 degrees Fahrenheit, and this increase was enough to shift populations to new latitudes. 

“We found that the bird communities were moving up the slope to reach the climate conditions to which they were originally adapted,” Benjamin Freeman, the lead author of the new study told the Associated Press. “Near the top of the mountain, the bird species moved higher by 321 feet (98 meters), on average.”

According to Freeman, temperature is the largest influencing factor for these tropical birds. 

Unfortunately, while the birds are moving up to increase their odds of survival, it’s rapidly increasing their odds of extinction and eight species have already completely disappeared from the mountain. 

“Once you move up as far as you can go, there’s nowhere else left,” said John W. Fitzpatrick, a study author and director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. “On this particular mountain, some ridgetop bird populations were literally wiped out. We should expect that what’s happening on this mountaintop is happening more generally in the Andes, and other tropical mountain ranges.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Warming temps have mountain birds climbing towards extinction

Mountain birds are on a rising “escalator to extinction,” according...

This dinosaur species didn’t have teeth, so it used its powerful jaws. Scientists in Mongolia have discovered a new oviraptorosaur species that lived around 100 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous. Gobiraptor minutus, named after the Gobi Desert where it was found, resembled a huge chicken with no teeth. 

The lack of teeth suggests that the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-dinosaur-species-huge-spikes/">dinosaur</a> would have been an herbivore, but a team of experts led by <a href="http://www.useoul.edu/">Seoul National University</a> has concluded that Gobiraptor minutus ate both plants and animals. To compensate for a lack of teeth, the dinosaur was equipped with powerful, enlarged jaws that were likely used to crush eggs, seeds, mollusks, and other hard items for feeding. 

The incomplete fossil skeleton of Gobiraptor was found at a site known as the Nemegt Formation.  According to palaeontologist and study lead author Professor Yuong-Nam Lee, histological analysis of the femur revealed that the individual was “likely a juvenile.”


Oviraptorosaurs typically grew up to 11 feet in length and weighed up to 500 pounds with long legs, huge feet, and claw-tipped arms. 

Even though many oviraptorosaur skeletons have been found in China and Mongolia, their diet and feeding strategies have remained a mystery. Among this diverse group of dinosaurs, Gobiraptor minutus is distinctive because of its extra thick jaw structure. 

“A new oviraptorid dinosaur Gobiraptor minutus from the Nemegt Formation is described here based on a single specimen that includes incomplete cranial and postcranial elements,” wrote the study authors.

“The unique morphology of the jaw and the accordingly inferred specialized diet of Gobiraptor also indicate different dietary strategies may be one of important factors linked with the remarkably high diversity of oviraptorids in the Nemegt Basin.”

The study is published in the journal in <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

Image Credit: Do Yoon Kim

This dinosaur species didn’t have teeth, so it used its powerful jaws

This dinosaur species didn’t have teeth, so it used its...

<div id="titlewrap"></div>
Planet Earth faces an extinction crisis and, depending on the scientist you ask, may be in the midst of a "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-hunted-6th-extinction/">sixth mass extinction</a>." Last month, a U.N. report banged the alarm bells with a forecast of up to 1 million species lost due to human activity. Those disappearances, in turn, would bring tremendous losses for human civilization. 

From billions of dollars in unpollinated crops to a spiritually devastating planet devoid of our natural companions, extinctions could rob humanity of much of what it needs to survive and thrive. 

"The diversity of species are responsible for the benefits that humans get from the environment, and the benefits are immense," said Nick Haddad, a <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> biologist who studies insect conservation. "If we lose the biodiversity that's projected, a million species, then, it's unclear how human civilization can function." 

And the blame for those extinctions lies at the feet of humanity itself, due to habitat destruction, overharvesting, climate change and other anthropogenic pressures, May's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/1-million-species-extinction/">report</a> emphasized.

The study tasked hundreds of scientists with examining thousands of studies on extinction. (The UN published a <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf">summary</a> from the report in May; the full report will arrive later this year.)  Along with the top-line prediction on species loss, the report examined trends in 18 categories of nature's contributions to humans. And aside from the production of some resources, like energy and lumber, all those contributions have declined and stand to fall further with species loss, the report found. 

"There has been an increase in crop production and an increase in various types of material production," said Stephen Polasky, coordinating lead author on the report's section on nature's contributions and a <a href="https://umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> ecologist. "But virtually all the others — pollination and those regulatory services, the decline in the ability to filter air and water, the sort of more nonmaterial, cultural, spiritual services — all of those have declined."

$577 Billion in Crops

Even those increases in production come with obvious trade-offs, like the conversion of forests to cropland. Farmers can also trace better crop yields to pesticide use, which ironically contributes to loss of the insect pollinators crucial to agriculture.

Such pollinator loss puts "between $235 billion and $577 billion" of annual agricultural production at risk globally, the report said. These insects face threats not only from pesticide use, but also habitat loss, producing the so-called "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html">insect apocalypse</a>," Haddad said. And insect losses are indeed dire. 

For example, "the western monarch butterfly's populations have dropped by 97%," Haddad said. "I mean this is literally on the verge of total loss."

Studies have also linked tremendous agricultural losses to the disappearance of pest predators, said Gerardo Ceballos, an ecologist at Mexico's <a href="https://www.unah.edu.hn/">Universidad Nacional Autónoma</a> and a visiting professor at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a>. "By losing the bats in a particular area, just in an island," he said, "it will cost something like $1 billion in insect[-related] losses of crops."

Beyond crops, food resources could also dwindle with the collapse of fisheries from overfishing, pollution and other causes.

A Blow to Human Health

Mass extinction has financial implications beyond agriculture, too. 

"Tourism to protected areas generates an estimated $600 billion annually," Polasky said. 

And the planet's biomass provides a valuable climate-change protection by storing, or sequestering, carbon — 5.6 gigatons per year, worth $840 billion annually, Polasky said.

"Global warming is produced not only by the use of fossil fuels but also by losing the ecosystems that maintain this balance," Ceballos said. "And so we're losing so many tropical and other forests because of human activities that we are losing the capability to maintain a stable climate." 

From 2010 to 2015, according to the U.N. report, about 79 million acres of "primary or recovering forest" vanished.

Well-functioning ecosystems, with diverse species, also crucially balance and clean our air and water, Ceballos added. And human health leans on species diversity in the doctor's office, too, as 25 to 50% of drugs, including 70% of cancer drugs, come from or are inspired by nature, Polasky said. Future species loss means, potentially, the loss of as-yet-undiscovered drugs.

Lost Connections

Extinction happens within the context of massively complicated ecological webs, and so the causes and effects can be equally complex. One species' loss can amplify the pressures on another, as seen, for example, when tree loss increases flooding, making waterways silty and unlivable for fish. 

Ceballos also gave the example of prairie dogs. Once considered a pest, their populations fell as the government paid bounties to hunt them. Studies later showed that the rodents maintained grasslands by removing invasive species and burrowing in soil. Lost grasses, in turn, deprived bison (and domestic cattle) of feeding grounds.

The interconnected losses of species diversity, in fact, could compound so greatly that the effects destroy far more than a few industries, Ceballos said. The production of tens of millions of climate refugees, the further loss of the ability to adequately feed the planet, and other effects could mean the end of human civilization — if nothing is done, he said.

"We're losing so many species at such a high rate that we are collapsing the whole environmental system that produces our well-being," he said. "And that basically will mean the end of civilization as we know it."

Scientists alerting the world about the dangers of species loss point out, too, that we should care for reasons beyond the practical and self-focused. Our fellow species wouldn't deserve to die at our hands, even if the threat to us weren't so dire, Ceballos said.

"All these plants and animals have been our companions since we started our journey as humanity 3 million years ago," Ceballos said. "We are in large part what we are because of all them."

Stay tuned to <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> for a follow-up on solutions to the extinction crisis.

--

By <a href="mailto:michael.dhar@gmail.com">Michael Dhar</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/JMP_Traveler

One million species gone: What humanity stands to lose

Planet Earth faces an extinction crisis and, depending on the...

<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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter 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://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;



---



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



---



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;



---



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

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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"

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