As night falls in the rainforests, orangutans climb into the canopy to construct intricate tree nests, displaying remarkable ingenuity. 



These comfy platforms are carefully engineered beds, providing warmth, comfort, protection from predators, and even reduce mosquito bites.



Scientists have long wondered how young orangutans learn to master such complex architecture. Recent findings reveal that they acquire this skill through close observation and practice, a process called observational <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-and-bees-are-capable-of-complex-social-learning/">social learning</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutans-build-nests-for-survival">Orangutans build nests for survival</h2>



Nest-building is essential for survival. Unlike many behaviors in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-orangutans-can-teach-humans-about-food-and-fitness/">animals</a>, this skill is neither entirely instinctive nor quickly learned. 



Orangutans must manipulate branches, twigs, and leaves with strength and dexterity while making decisions about materials and structure.



Night nests, far more elaborate than day nests, can include linings, pillows, blankets, and even roofs. 



To build such structures requires both technical know-how and material knowledge, making nest-building a cognitively demanding task.



Young <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orangutan-mothers-have-unique-parenting-styles-like-humans/">orangutans</a> begin showing interest in nests at just six months, playing with leaves and branches. 



Practice of basic day nests starts around age one, but night nest practice begins only at three years and is not mastered until about the age of eight.



Complex additions, such as multitree nests and comfort elements, appear later. This long timeline shows that the skill is not acquired quickly but gradually, with repeated attempts and guided observation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-from-mom">Learning from mom</h2>



Researchers documented that immatures who carefully peered at their mothers during nest-building were far more likely to practice soon afterward. 



Merely being nearby without watching closely did not have the same effect. This highlights the importance of selective attention in learning.



“Nest-building is critical to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-unlock-the-mysteries-of-orangutan-communication/">survival</a> in orangutans but is surprisingly not the focus of a lot of research," noted Dr. Ani Permana from the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Warwick</a>. 



"We previously reported that it takes multiple years for immature orangutans to learn to nest-build but, based on 17 years of observational data, this paper shows that this learning process is highly dependent on young animals carefully watching the nest-building of others.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutan-nests-are-complex">Orangutan nests are complex</h2>



The study also showed that young orangutans pay special attention to complex features like multitree nests, twig manipulations, and comfort elements. 



These require memorizing multiple steps and sequences. After observing these, immatures increased their practice, suggesting they were specifically learning the more challenging parts. 



Simpler nests, such as single-tree day nests, did not trigger the same level of focused observation.



“Orangutan nest-building tendency may have some innate basis, but the details and method must be socially learned, starting from a very young age, by watching and practicing, learning from mistakes as they grow and this paper is the first time this has been shown in wild apes,” Dr. Permana added.



At first, immatures mostly learn from their mothers, but as they grow older, they begin peering at other group members, thereby expanding their knowledge base.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-what-to-use">Learning what to use</h2>



Beyond construction skills, orangutans also learn what materials to use. 



“Aside from learning ‘how to’ build a nest, immature orangutans also appear to learn the ‘know-what’ of which materials to use," noted Dr. Caroline Schuppli, <a href="https://www.ab.mpg.de/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior</a>.



The choice of tree species is important, and infants - who primarily peer at their mothers - are more likely to select the same species their mothers use.



“Just like human teenagers finding their own path, maturing orangutans increasingly peer at the nest-building of others and begin experimenting with the tree species those individuals use," Dr. Schuppli continued.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-returning-to-roots">Returning to roots</h2>



Interestingly, adults often revert to using the tree species favored by their mothers, even after experimenting with alternatives in youth.



“Ultimately, adult orangutans tend to revert to the nest materials used by their mothers, perhaps recognizing that the most effective methods had already been established," Dr. Schuppli noted. 



"This consistent variation in nest materials across generations indicates that wild orangutan populations possess cultural elements that could be lost without the conservation of the species and their habitats,” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutans-learn-and-pass-on-traditions">Orangutans learn and pass on traditions</h2>



The study emphasized four main points: peering, not just proximity, drives learning; immatures focus on complex multi-step elements; role models expand with age; and knowledge of tree species is socially transmitted.



These findings suggest orangutans display cultural variation, with nest-building traditions passed through generations.



<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32658/chapter-abstract/270606055?redirectedFrom=fulltext&amp;login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nest-building</a> is an evolutionarily ancient behavior shared by great apes. 



By proving that orangutans acquire this skill through observational social learning, the study suggests that such cultural learning has deep roots in primate history.



It highlights not just the intelligence of orangutans but also their fragile cultural heritage - one that can only continue if their forest homes are preserved.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08217-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Biology</a>.



-----



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Orangutans learn to build complex tree nests by watching their mothers

As night falls in the rainforests, orangutans climb into the canopy to construct intricate tree nests, displaying remarkable ingenuity. These comfy platforms are carefully engineered beds, providing warmth, comfort, protection from predators, and even reduce mosquito bites. Scientists have long wondered how young orangutans learn to master such complex architecture. Recent findings reveal that they acquire this skill through close observation and practice, a process called observational social learning. Orangutans build nests for survival Nest-building is essential for survival. Unlike many behaviors in animals, this skill is...

New species of microbes discovered in the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California could play an essential role in reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the ocean.

The discovery, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that there is much to be learned from microbes and that there are whole worlds of new species waiting to be explored and identified. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://utmsi.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute</a> explored microbial communities living in deep-sea sediments in the Guaymas Basin 2,000 meters below the surface. 

Water temperature at those depths is extremely hot, measuring around 200 degrees Celsius in some areas due to undersea volcanic activity. 

The researchers collected and analyzed sediment samples and were able to identify and map 551 microbes, some of which were wholly new discoveries and represent new branches on the tree of life. 

Nearly two dozen new types of microbes were discovered within the sediments, and like other microbial communities living in harsh and extreme environments, the Guaymas Basin microbes depend on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cave-organisms-methane-gas/">methane and butane as energy sources</a>. 

Because of these pollutant-eating abilities, the researchers think that the newly discovered microbes could one day help clean up oil spills.

[caption id="attachment_1863117" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/deep-sea.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863117" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/deep-sea-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="525" /></a> Image Credit: Brett Baker/University of Texas at Austin[/caption]

“This shows the deep oceans contain expansive unexplored biodiversity, and microscopic organisms there are capable of degrading oil and other harmful chemicals,” said Brett Baker, the lead researcher for the study. “Beneath the ocean floor huge reservoirs of hydrocarbon gases--including methane, propane, butane and others--exist now, and these microbes prevent greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.”

Baker and his team have so far conducted the largest ever genomic sampling of the Guaymas Basin, but there are likely many more new microbes yet to be discovered. 

“We think that this is probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of diversity in the Guaymas Basin,” said Baker. “So, we're doing a lot more DNA sequencing to try to get a handle on how much more there is. This paper is really just our first hint at what these things are and what they are doing.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Brett Baker/University of Texas at Austin

Newly discovered deep-sea microbes feed on greenhouse gasses

New species of microbes discovered in the Guaymas Basin in...

Tegu lizards are large, omnivorous reptiles native to South America, but are also an invasive species in the US and pose a threat to local habitats and endangered animals. 

Like many invasive species, tegus in the United States can be attributed to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/popular-exotic-pets-dumped/">exotic pet trade</a>, a major driver of introducing invasive species to new environments. 

While the tegu is a threat to native species in Florida where invasive colonies of tegus are most abundant, the reptile possesses some unique qualities that make it an appealing animal to study. 

For one, the tegu is unlike most reptiles because it can regulate its own body temperature and raise its temperature by 10 degrees Celsius above its surroundings. 

Genomic information on reptiles is surprisingly lacking, but DNA and genome mapping could offer valuable insights into why the tegu is so different from other reptiles and what allows it to thrive in non-native habitats. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.mpi-cbg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology</a> chose to sequence the genome of the Salvator merianae tegu lizard in a new study published in the journal GigaScience. 

The tegu’s genome sequence is the most complete reptile genome ever pieced together, and the study could help with future reptile genome research.

[caption id="attachment_1863112" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/What-makes-tegu-lizards-adapt-so-well-to-non-native-habitats.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1863112" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/What-makes-tegu-lizards-adapt-so-well-to-non-native-habitats-1024x611.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="418" /></a> Image Credit: Renato Recoder[/caption]

State of the art, “long read” sequencing technology allowed the researchers to read the tegu’s DNA and sequence its complete genome despite the difficult hurdles in mapping repetitive sequences. 

“Similar to other reptiles, a large portion of the tegu genomes consists of repetitive sequences, which occur many times in the genome,” said Michael Hiller and Juliana Roscito, authors of the study. “Repeats are a main problem when assembling a genome, especially when repeats are longer than the length of the sequenced DNA fragments, which results in gaps (breaks) in the assembly.”

One of the main goals of the research was to sequence a reptile genome that would aid in the study of other limbless reptiles like snakes.

“We were interested in studying limb loss in snakes and other reptiles,” Hiller and Roscito said. “Since limbless reptiles had ancestors with fully developed limbs, we needed a well-assembled genome of a lizard with fully developed limbs as a reference.”

The researchers were able to compare the tegu’s genome to 16 other species. 

“We hope that these resources facilitate comparative reptile genomics to understand how unique morphological features evolved in this group of species and how vertebrate genomes evolve in general,” said Hiller and Roscito. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What makes tegu lizards adapt so well to non-native habitats?

Tegu lizards are large, omnivorous reptiles native to South America,...

Thirteen pounds of plastic and waste were found in the stomach a dead sperm whale in Indonesia. 

Researchers from the Wakatobi National Park, the Academy of Marine and Fisheries Community, and the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund (WWF)</a> tasked with studying the whale have not yet determined a cause of death, but its stomach contents highlight the realities of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/polar-bear-cubs-plastic-pollution/">plastic crisis</a> currently taking over our world’s oceans.

According to the WWF 115 plastic cups, two sandals, 19 pieces of hard plastic, six wood splinters, four plastic bottles, seven pounds of rope, and 25 plastic bags were found in the sperm whale. 

The whale had washed ashore on Kapota Island in Southeast Sulawesi where it was first found by a team from the Wakatobi National Park, according to the <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/11/20/6-kg-of-garbage-found-in-dead-whales-stomach-in-wakatobi.html?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1542698749">Jarkata Post</a>.

By the time the whale was found, it had already started to decompose which further complicated identifying a cause of death. According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/669685624/researchers-find-115-plastic-cups-in-dead-whales-stomach">NPR</a>, the sperm whale was over 31 feet long. 

Plastic is extremely problematic for marine wildlife, and this isn’t the first time a whale has been found with a stomach full of plastic. 

When a whale eats plastic, it disrupts the digestive system and tricks the whale into thinking it’s full, according to <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/whale-dead-plastic-bags-thailand-animals/">National Geographic.</a>

“At some point, their stomach fills up with trash and they can't eat real food,” Regina Asmutis-Silvia from the <a href="https://us.whales.org/">Whale and Dolphin Conservation</a> program told National Geographic. “You're not getting any nutrients in and you've basically completely clogged your digestive system.”

Our oceans are filling up with plastic. Millions of tons of unrecycled plastic and microplastics enter the oceans every year, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife and habitats. 

This latest incident is just one in a long, tragic line of the world’s wildlife suffering due to humanity’s widespread problem with pollution. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Muhammad Irpan Sejati Tassakka/AKKP Wakatobi/AP

Dead whale found with a stomach full of 115 plastic cups

Thirteen pounds of plastic and waste were found in the...

A mother’s phone call seems to be have been the key to the discovery of a new dinosaur: Macrocollum itaquii.

The fossilized bones represent what may be the oldest known long-necked sauropodomorph ever discovered. And they were discovered after Estefânia Temp Müller gave her paleontologist son a call in 2012, to tell him his uncle had found some fossils on his property in southern Brazil.

His mother’s call led to the discovery of the new species, Dr. Rodrigo Temp Müller told the website <a href="https://www.livescience.com/">LiveScience</a>. He and his colleagues found the remains of three long-necked dinosaurs at the property in Agudo, with two skulls perfectly preserved. 

Macrocollum itaquii lived about 225 million years ago, during the Triassic. The dino was about 11 feet long and 5 feet tall, and weighed in at 220 pounds. Unlike its relative the brontosaurus, M. itaquii walked on two legs, not four.

Its long neck probably gave it an advantage when foraging for food and allowed it to reach vegetation high in trees – an important trait for the likely herbivorous species.

“There are three articulated skeletons in five tons of rock,” Müller, from the <a href="http://w3.ufsm.br/sai/index.php/2016-03-14-12-07-10/studying-at-ufsm">Federal University of Santa Maria</a> in Brazil, told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/">The Independent</a>. “This is unique. It suggests these animals probably died together, as they share the same degree of disarticulation.”

If the dinosaurs truly did die together, it suggests they lived in groups rather than separately, he added.

"It had a small head and a long neck," Müller told LiveScience. "In its hand, there was a large and sharp claw on its 'thumb.'"

In addition to its distant connection to brontosaurus, Macrocollum itaquii appears to be related to several species discovered in India. Brazil and South Asia were both once part of a supercontinent known as Gondwana, before it broke up into South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Australia and Antarctica.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/11/20180633">Biology Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Image credit: <a href="http://coral.ufsm.br/cappa/">CAPPA/UFSM</a>

Mother's phone call leads to dino Macrocollum itaquii

A mother’s phone call seems to be have been the...

As fans of “Dynasties” tune in to today’s episode, they’ll not only learn about how lioness mothers raise their young. They’ll also learn more about Earth’s shrinking lion populations.

The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06mvmmr">new BBC One nature series</a>, hosted by Sir David Attenborough, follows five of Earth’s endangered species: chimpanzees, penguins, lions, painted wolves and tigers.

This week’s episode shows how lionesses protect their cubs from male lions and hyenas – but those aren’t the biggest threats to lions’ survival.

Humans are.

“Down from as many as 200,000 lions a century ago, some experts believe that we could now have as few as 20,000 individuals remaining in the wild – and that number is likely to be falling by the day,” Dr. Niki Rust, a postdoctoral researcher, wrote in a review of the episode for <a href="http://theconversation.com/dynasties-lions-may-disappear-without-urgent-funding-for-conservation-107116">The Conversation</a>. “Worryingly, the general public are mostly unaware of their precarious conservation status. We have done a bad job of showing the perilous state of these big cats.”

Without funding for conservation and work by humans, shrinking lion populations may soon lead to extinction, said Rust, a social scientist at <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> and technical advisor in wildlife for the <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/">World Wildlife Fund-United Kingdom</a>.

Threats to the lions include habitat loss and loss of prey animals as humans develop rural areas, to farmers killing them to protect livestock, illegal wildlife trade and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asian-lion-bone-market-poaching/">poaching</a>, and trophy hunting, she said.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, she added.

“For instance, for lions that reside alongside people in areas outside national parks, research has shown that it is absolutely vital to reduce the perceived costs of lions to local people, like livestock depredation, while increasing their benefits, such as income from photographic tourism or trophy hunting,” Rust said.

Employing poachers as lion guardians in places like Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia has helped to turn around shrinking lion populations in those countries, reducing killing by up to 99 percent, she said.

Pride Lion Conservation Alliance has brought together five different conservation groups so that they can combine their efforts to protect the wild cats.

But more help is needed – to the tune of $900 million to $2.1 billion for conservation. It’s time for brainstorming to determine how to raise that funding, if people want to protect big cats, Rust said.

“An idea from Sir David Attenborough himself argues that companies that use lions in their marketing should pay for lion conservation. What is abundantly clear is that if we want lions to have a future, we must start stumping up the cash for their conservation,” she said.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

New BBC show sheds light on shrinking lion populations

As fans of “Dynasties” tune in to today’s episode, they’ll...

A new species of Triassic mammal-like reptile was recently discovered in Poland, and the new fossils shed insight on the early ancestors of mammals, dinosaurs, and reptiles. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-triassic-period/">The Triassic period (252-201)</a> began with a mass extinction event that wiped out over 90 percent of life on Earth but as the world recovered an unprecedented diversification of species occurred. 

In the fossil record, the Triassic is where we see the first dinosaurs as well as ancestors of today’s reptiles and mammals. This was also a time when all the Earth’s landmasses came together to form the supercontinent Pangea. 

Researchers have been particularly interested in mammal-like reptiles from the Triassic called therapsids. 

A group of therapsids called dicynodonts were the dominant terrestrial herbivores in the Middle and Late Triassic, but they were thought to have gone extinct before dinosaurs became the most abundant four-footed terrestrial animal on Earth. 

However, researchers from <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a> in Sweden have unearthed new fossil evidence that have called into question everything researchers previously knew about dicynodonts. 

While excavating near the Polish village of Lisowice, the researchers found fossils that belonged to a new species of dicynodont, which they called Lisowicia bojani.

[caption id="attachment_1862274" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ancient-mammal-like-reptile-was-the-size-of-an-elephant-.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1862274" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ancient-mammal-like-reptile-was-the-size-of-an-elephant--1024x645.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="441" /></a> Image Credit: Tomasz Sulej[/caption]

“The discovery of Lisowicia changes our ideas about the latest history of dicynodonts, mammal Triassic relatives,” said Tomasz Sulej, a member of the research team. “It also raises far more questions about what really make them and dinosaurs so large.” 

A study detailing the findings was published in the journal Science. 

After sorting through and analyzing thousands of bones and bone fragments from the area, the researchers pieced together Lisowicia bojani. 

The fossils showed that the animal was as big as an elephant and weighed around nine tons, the largest of any known dicynodont. 

Lisowicia bojani also lived much later, ten million years later, compared to other dicynodont species, and as such co-existed with the first sauropodomorph dinosaurs. 

“Dicynodonts were amazingly successful animals in the Middle and Late Triassic. Lisowicia is the youngest dicynodont and the largest non-dinosaurian terrestrial tetrapod from the Triassic,” said Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, a co-author of the study. “It's natural to want to know how dicynodonts became so large. Lisowicia is hugely exciting because it blows holes in many of our classic ideas of Triassic ‘mammal-like reptiles’.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki

Ancient mammal-like reptile was the size of an elephant

A new species of Triassic mammal-like reptile was recently discovered...

A team of researchers from Australia and Scotland has found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-personality-traits/">whales</a> change the songs that they share among their pods every few years, selecting tunes that are basic and easier for everyone to learn and remember. 

Prior to this study, many experts have speculated that whale songs help the animals navigate new territory.

After observing 95 male humpbacks for 13 years, the researchers concluded that this strategy helps the animals cope with their limited learning capacity and acts as a type of reset button. The scientists, who are from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.sa.edu/">St. Andrews University</a>, referred to the phenomenon as a “cultural revolution.” 

The study was focused on 95 male humpback whales from eastern Australia. The research team discovered that gradual song changes are derived from individual whales, but are quickly picked up on by the rest of the group.

According to the researchers, this system is used because the animals have a limited learning capacity. In other words, it is easier for the mammals to gradually adapt their existing songs instead of developing and sharing entirely different melodies. 

“We examined two measures of song structure, complexity and entropy (a tendency to become more disordered),” said study lead author Dr. Jenny Allen. 

“Complexity increased as songs evolved over time, but decreased when revolutions occurred. No correlation between complexity and entropy suggests it would allow males to stand out amidst population-wide conformity.”

“The consistent reduction in complexity during song revolutions suggests a potential limit to the social learning capacity of novel material in humpback whales.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Whales select new songs every few years that are easier to remember

A team of researchers from Australia and Scotland has found...

Scientists are scrambling to save endangered Puerto Rican parrots, which have become even more threatened since <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-maria-real-death-toll/">Hurricane Maria</a>. The catastrophic weather event ripped through the island's tropical habitats, wiping out more than half of the wild parrots. 

The outcome of Hurricane Maria has been traumatic for the parrot species. In the tropical forest of El Yunque, only 2 of 56 wild birds survived, while only 4 of 31 survived in a forest in the western town of Maricao. According to the researchers, an estimated 75 out of 134 survived in the Rio Abajo forest in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.

Gustavo Olivieri, the parrot recovery program coordinator for Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources, explained that there is a lot of work to be done. 

Next month, experts will unite to debate the best action plan. At the breeding centers in El Yunque and Rio Abajo forests, over 460 birds remain captive and none of them have been released since the hurricane.

Scientists are currently trying to determine the best way to prepare the parrots for release. There are very few birds in the wild, and the forests are not as able to sustain them as they once were.

“Our priority now is not reproduction..It’s to start releasing them,” said study co-author Marisel Lopez, who oversees the parrot recovery program at El Yunque for the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>.

Before this type of release, however, scientists must make sure that the forests can offer food and safe shelter. One major concern is that many of the large trees where parrots used to nest are completely wiped out.
--
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Associated Press

Scientists work to save wild Puerto Rican parrots after Hurricane Maria

Scientists are scrambling to save endangered Puerto Rican parrots, which...

A team of researchers have discovered that early human ancestors are not to blame for the extinction of large prehistoric African mammals. This revelation, published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, directly contrasts what scientists have believed for over half a century. 

Many have speculated that the disappearance of giant mammals over the last 50,000 years must have began in Africa due to the fact that our homo sapien ancestors were in Africa long before any other continent.

However, this has been proven false. The research team focused their attention on megaherbivores, the largest prehistoric mammal species weighing in at over 2,000 lbs. They compared a seven-million-year-record of African <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/risky-foraging-tactics-extinction/">extinctions</a> to milestones in human evolution, such as the development of stone tools, mammal butchery, and the evolution of homo erectus, which have all been previously linked to large mammal extinctions. 

Researchers found that extinction of megaherbivores in Africa was a completely independent process. What’s more is that their decline actually began 4.6 million years ago, a time before tool-wielding human ancestors roamed the earth. The only known hominem of that time is Ardipithecus, an ape-like human ancestor with a small-sized brain and hunting skills similar to that of chimpanzees.

[caption id="attachment_1862143" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-animals.png"><img class="wp-image-1862143" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/african-animals-1024x294.png" alt="" width="700" height="201" /></a> Image Credit: John Rowan[/caption]

One team member from the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a>, 2018 <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> doctoral graduate John Rowan, said, “If hominins were responsible for the extinction of megaherbivores, we would expect their decline to be more step-like and to track behavioral or adaptive milestones in human evolution. It is instead gradual — playing out over nearly five million years — long before the appearance of any hominin remotely capable of taking down rhino- or elephant-sized prey.” 

“This suggests to our research team that widespread impacts on the large mammal species and terrestrial ecosystems might be unique to us — Homo sapiens."

Instead, the researchers believe megaherbivores met their demise due to environmental change. Falling atmospheric carbon dioxide and the replacement of trees and shrubs with grasslands led to the extinction of tree-browsing mammals.

“Human impacts on Earth's biodiversity have been significant and sometimes catastrophic," Rowan said. "In this case, at least, our ancestors are not to blame. This is very clearly a long-term, bottom-up loss of diversity related to broader events in Earth's climate and environments over the last several million years."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: John Rowan

Humans did not cause the extinction of prehistoric African animals

A team of researchers have discovered that early human ancestors...

Ants keep the colony strong by working together. New findings from a collaborative study between the <a href="https://ist.ac.at/research/research-groups/cremer-group/">Sylvia Cremer group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria)</a> and the <a href="https://www.unil.ch/dee/en/home/menuinst/research--education/research/research-groups/keller-group.html">Laurent Keller group at the University of Lausanne</a> show that ants change their behavior when a pathogen enters their colony. By adapting their social organization, the ants work together to protect the queen, brood, and young workers from becoming sick.

Published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, the research reveals that, within each colony, ants are organized into subgroups based on their age and tasks. For example, younger worker ants, called “nurses,” protect the brood at the center of the colony, older ants, called “foragers,” leave the colony to collect food. These subgroups are vital if and when a pathogen enters the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ants-bees-community-first/">colony</a>.

To track the ants’ behavior when disease presents itself within the colony, the research team used the Keller group’s “barcode” system, for which digital markers are placed on ants and infrared cameras are used to monitor their actions within the colony. The team placed markers on 2,266 garden ants and then exposed 10% of the worker ants to fungal spores.

"The ants change how they interact and who they interact with,” Sylvia Cremer said regarding the ants’ social behaviors after detecting the fungal spores. "The cliques among ants become even stronger, and contact between cliques is reduced. Foragers interact more with foragers, and nurses more with nurses. This is a response by the whole colony — also animals who are not themselves treated with spores change their behavior."

Laurent Keller added, "This is the first scientific study that shows that an animal society is able to actively change its organization to reduce the spread of disease."

Furthermore, researchers noted that, once a pathogen is introduced into the colony, the ants regroup to protect the most valuable colony members, like the queen, nurses, and workers. These important colony members received less of the pathogen, meaning they were kept separate from those infected. And in survival experiments, ants with a high predicted spore load almost always died after nine days, whereas nurses rarely died and all the queens survived, showing that protecting the important players is key in ant society.

“Social interactions are the routes on which diseases travel and define how epidemics may spread,” Cremer said. She concluded, “Basic research on ants can help us to deeper understand epidemiological processes, which can be relevant also in other social groups."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Timothée Brütsch

Ants keep the colony strong by working together

Ants keep the colony strong by working together. New findings...

An investigation into the effects of traffic noise on amphibians has revealed that when frogs from quiet ponds are relocated close to the highway, they experience stress that impairs the production of important immunity defense compounds. On the other hand, frogs that are removed from sites near busy highways show a dampened stress response to traffic noise.

Study first author Jennifer Tennessen was a graduate student at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> at the time of the research.

“In the United States, traffic noise can be heard nearly everywhere,” said Tennessen. “Noise can have a number of negative consequences on wildlife, for example by interfering with communication and reducing the ability to find food.”

“Frogs are particularly vulnerable to noise because they rely on sound to find mates and reproduce. Wood frogs travel to ponds in the spring to mate and lay their eggs, but many of these ponds are located near noisy roads. We wanted to know if traffic noise has negative physiological effects on wood frogs and, if so, whether they can adapt.”

The analysis was focused on eggs collected from ponds within 300 feet of interstates and major highways and from remote ponds as far as three miles from major roads. After the eggs were raised in the lab, the offspring were exposed to either traffic noise or to ambient noise for 8 days, which is around the length of time they would spend in breeding ponds.

The study revealed that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/robotic-system-frogs-jump/">frogs</a> from the quiet ponds had increased levels of the stress hormone corticosterone after exposure to traffic noise for 8 days. Immune function was also altered among the frogs from quiet sites when they were exposed to the sounds of traffic. The researchers found elevated numbers of white blood cell called monocytes and impaired production of important defensive compounds called antimicrobial peptides.

Study co-author Louise Rollins-Smith is a professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the <a href="https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University School of Medicine</a>.

“In frogs from quiet ponds, exposure to traffic noise impaired the ability to produce antimicrobial peptides in the brevinin and temporin families,” said Professor Rollins-Smith. “Antimicrobial peptides are components of the immune defense system that provide important protection against pathogens like bacteria and fungi. Brevinin-family peptides in particular strongly inhibit the fungal pathogen that causes the infectious disease chytridiomycosis, or chytrid, which is responsible for widespread mortality of amphibians around the world.”

Frogs from noisy ponds did not have elevated levels of corticosterone after exposure to traffic sounds for 8 days. This indicates that frogs from ponds in noisy areas have a dampened stress response.

“We're not sure if the frogs from noisy sites have a suppressed stress response to noise specifically or if they have a suppressed stress response overall,” said study senior author Tracy Langkilde. “Both offer the benefit of avoiding stress-related costs of noise, but having a dampened stress response in general could have other negative effects, for example not being able to properly mount a behavioral response to predators.”

The frogs from noisy ponds actually had increased monocyte counts when exposed to the ambient noise that is heard at quiet ponds. The researchers believe that this kind of immune response may happen in unfamiliar situations. The finding also suggests that frogs from noisy sites have adapted to avoid the physiological costs of noise.

“In the future, we hope to pinpoint the mechanism of how frogs are adapting to noise,” said Tennessen. “The roads near the ponds we studied were built between the 1940s and 1960s, so these changes may have occurred within 15 to 35 frog generations. People usually think of adaptation and evolution occurring over huge timescales, but here we see that animals can respond relatively quickly to new threats, though the consequences of that response are still unclear.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</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: Lindsey Swierk

Traffic noises hurt the immune systems of frogs who aren’t adapted

An investigation into the effects of traffic noise on amphibians...

As travelers become more conscientious, traditional animal attractions are increasingly being rejected. These attractions are being replaced with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lion-voluntourism-trips-harm/">voluntourism</a> and animal sanctuary experiences. While these experiences appeal to ethical tourists, they can be crueler than they seem.

There has been a clear shift in the way people interact with captive wild animals in recent years. While circuses used to be a grand spectacle, a<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/183275/say-animals-rights-people.aspx"> 2015 Gallup poll</a> showed that 69% of Americans are concerned with how animals are treated in the circus. Just last year, Ringling Bros. Circus closed their show after 146 years. Americans also showed high levels of concern with other animal attractions such as animal sports and contests, aquariums and zoos.

Travelers now want to visit wild animals in a more natural and humane setting. This new wave of animal tourism provides travelers with a feel-good experience, but these experiences can be marked by the same inhumane conditions as traditional animal attractions.

The elephant camps throughout Thailand, which offer travelers the opportunity to ride, bathe and watch elephants, are a prime example of this phenomenon.

Elephant camps came to rise after commercial logging was banned in Thailand in 1989. Elephants in the country had been trained to work in the logging industry transporting people and logs. The ban left many captive elephants displaced as they could no longer work but were too accustomed to people to be released into the wild. Many elephant handlers turned towards the tourism industry. There are now an<a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-57-01-A5.pdf"> estimated</a> 200 elephant camps in Thailand alone.

While many of the elephants at the camps came from the logging industry, some have been captured from the wild. A 2014<a href="http://www.trafficj.org/publication/14_An_Assessment_of_the_Live_ElephantTrade_Thailand.pdf"> report</a> by the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC found that an estimated 79 to 81 wild elephants were illegally captured for sale into the tourism industry in Thailand during a two-year period.

Today, Thailand is home to fewer than 3,500 Asian elephants in the wild and 3,500 to 4,000 elephants in captivity. The Asian elephant is currently listed as endangered with populations decreasing throughout the world. Illegally smuggling elephants from the wild could have negative impacts on elephant populations, especially considering the high commercial value of young individuals.

In addition to concerns on the conservation of elephants, animal advocates point to the inhumane living conditions of elephants at the camps. A<a href="https://d31j74p4lpxrfp.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/int_files/pdfs/taken_for_a_ride.pdf"> report</a> by World Animal Protection found that nearly 75% of the elephants they studied living in Asian elephant camps lived in poor conditions.

The report notes “When not giving rides or performing, the elephants were typically chained day and night, most of the time to chains less than 3m long. They were also fed poor diets, given limited appropriate veterinary care and were frequently kept on concrete floors in stressful locations near loud music, roads or visitor groups.”

A<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139092"> 2015 study</a> published in PLOS One found similar results. The study examined the welfare of Asian elephants, Pig-tailed macaques and tigers at tourism venues in Thailand. Eighty-six percent of the elephants were kept on short chains when they were not interacting with tourists and 25.6% were kept on concrete ground which can cause health issues in elephants. Further, over one-third of the elephants were kept isolated from each other. For the highly social species, this can cause severe distress and boredom.

Proponents of elephant tourism in Thailand argue that the camps provide an income for the elephant handlers and a home for the elephants who can no longer be used for the logging industry.

The tourism industry may be able to help the both local people and elephants if it is done right. Travelers’ desire to visit the beautiful giants in person will not dissipate soon. Tourism venues can provide these awe-inspiring experiences and protect elephants in the country by adhering to strict welfare standards.

<a href="https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/elephant-conservation/travel-guide/elephant-sanctuaries">Responsible Travel</a>, a travel website which promotes responsible tourism, recommends avoiding places where elephants are forced to perform or give rides. The website screens elephant sanctuaries to ensure they are humane before featuring them on their website. Their recommendations mirror the results in the World Animal Protection report which found that the elephants with the highest welfare conditions were living at camps that did not allow rides or performances.

Sadly, responsible tourism is not as easy as avoiding notoriously cruel animal attractions such as circuses and animal contests. Travelers need to conduct thorough research before visiting an animal attraction to ensure they are visiting a truly humane attraction.

--

By <a href="http://mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Elephant sanctuary attractions may not be as ethical as they seem

As travelers become more conscientious, traditional animal attractions are increasingly...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&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.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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