Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws.



Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young.



This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-twist-in-fish-jaw-evolution">Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution</h2>



Roughly 400 million years ago, fish ruled the seas. Two big groups stood out: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coelacanth-ngamugawi-wirngarri-new-species-living-fossil-fish-survived-over-400-million-years/">lobe-finned fishes</a> and ray-finned fishes. 



Lobe-finned fishes had fleshy, muscular fins that helped them move in different ways. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/319-million-year-old-fish-holds-clues-about-brain-evolution/">Ray-finned fishes</a> had lighter, more flexible fins supported by thin spines.



Today, ray-finned fishes dominate the oceans, rivers, and lakes. They include about 33,000 species - from goldfish to tuna. 



Lobe-finned fishes, on the other hand, are nearly extinct. Only eight species are known to exist today, including the coelacanth and the lungfish. But a new study from the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a> flips the story.



The research shows that between 359 and 423 million years ago, lobe-finned fishes were the ones leading the evolutionary race. 



Their jaws were changing fast, adapting in all sorts of new ways. Meanwhile, the ray-finned fishes were evolving far more slowly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-answers-in-ancient-jaw-bones">Finding answers in ancient jaw bones</h2>



The researchers used CT scans to create 3D models of 86 fossilized fish jaws from the Silurian and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/at-least-two-of-earths-mass-extinctions-caused-by-massive-supernova-explosions/">Devonian Periods</a> - dating back to around 443 million years ago. That’s older than the first forests.



The team digitally mapped these jaws to study both their shape and how they worked. To measure the strength of a fish's bite, they calculated something called mechanical advantage.



Emily Troyer is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study. She explained that essentially, the higher the mechanical advantage of the jaw, the stronger the bite force.



The results showed something no one expected. "This is a really striking result, primarily because <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lungfish-genome-discovery-explains-how-fish-first-walked-onto-land/">lungfish</a> and coelacanths today are represented by only eight living species, with not much jaw diversity going on," Troyer said. 



"However, if we look back in time 400 or so million years, we see this striking inversion. During the Devonian, we have a lot more species and a lot more innovation within their jaws." 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dipterus-fish_whole-skeleton_credit-Troyer-UMichigan_1s.webp" alt="Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan" class="wp-image-1984595"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Whole skeleton of Dipterus, an extinct lungfish from the middle Devonian period. Specimen (UMMP 16140) from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. Click image to enlarge. Credit: E.M. Troyer/UMichigan</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lungfish-jaws-lead-the-way">Lungfish jaws lead the way</h2>



Lungfish jaws, in particular, went through a major shift during the Devonian Period. Their jaws became larger, thicker, and packed with powerful muscles. This likely helped them crush hard-shelled prey, like early clams and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-crustaceans-have-what-it-takes-to-survive-climate-change/">crustaceans</a>.



"With their really hefty jaws, they were able to eat really hard food," Troyer said. "We think these new feeding strategies might be causing jaws to need to be shaped like this, and that some of these major innovations are associated with their ecosystems during this time."



Rafael Rivero-Vega, co-first author of the study and a recent doctoral graduate, scanned nearly every complete lobe-finned fish jaw fossil available. 



He mapped out their key features to study something called adaptive radiation. That’s when animals quickly evolve into many different forms because their environment pushes them to adapt.



Rivero-Vega saw clear patterns. "Some fishes were diversifying their jaws rapidly in shape and size, only later to stay essentially unchanged once they filled a specialized niche," he said. 



"Others had similar characteristics but a wider variety of shapes and sizes, and yet others had similar form but wouldn't change until after they had already transitioned onto land."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-jaw-innovation-changed-the-future">Fish jaw innovation changed the future</h2>



This research shows that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-can-be-predicted-pangenome-genetic-history/">evolution</a> doesn’t follow a straight line. Just because a group is successful now doesn’t mean it always was. 



Lobe-finned fishes once led the way in jaw innovation, helping set the stage for major changes in vertebrate life - including the eventual rise of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.



"When you're looking at evolution, you can learn so much from looking at the past," Troyer said. "Without the fossil record, we would have no idea of this inverted role reversal."



The study also highlights the importance of old bones. Even though only a few lobe-finned fishes are still around, their ancient fossils tell a story that would otherwise have been be lost.



"It's a great example of how innovations in shape, form, and function can be explored by different fish groups at their own pace, as long as they experience the appropriate evolutionary pressures," said Rivero-Vega. 



"All of this happened hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs. Fishes are awesome."



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225010395" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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How ancient fish jaws built the path to modern land animals

Before there were dinosaurs, before trees covered the land, fish were already hard at work shaping Earth’s future. They did this with a single powerful innovation: jaws. Jaws weren’t just for biting. Fish used them for all sorts of tasks - cracking shells, digging into the seafloor, defending themselves, and even carrying their young. This one tool gave early vertebrates - including our distant ancestors - a huge advantage. But not all fish jaws evolved the same way. Surprising twist in fish jaw evolution Roughly 400 million...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California Santa Cruz</a> has tracked 14 species of migratory marine predators such as leatherback turtles and blue whales to examine how their movements relate to the geopolitical boundaries of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-emissions-pacific-ocean-flows/">Pacific Ocean</a>. The research will provide critical insight for developing international agreements that are needed to manage and conserve these animals in the high seas. 

“If a species spends most of its time in the jurisdiction of one or two countries, conservation and management is a much easier issue than it is for species that migrate through many different countries,” said study co-author Professor Daniel Costa.

For example, the leatherback sea turtle, which is the largest living turtle and a critically endangered species, visits more than 30 countries during migrations. 

“For these highly migratory species, we wanted to know how many jurisdictional regions they go through and how much time they spend in the open ocean beyond the jurisdiction of any one country,” said Professor Costa.

Since 2016, members of the United Nations have been working to negotiate a global treaty for conservation and management in the open ocean waters. Under the current international law, every coastal nation can establish an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extending up to 200 nautical miles from shore. The country has exclusive rights to exploit resources and regulate fisheries within its established EEZ.

Study first author Autumn-Lynn Harrison began the study as a graduate student in Professor Costa's lab at UC Santa Cruz.

“I wanted to see if we could predict when during the year a species would be in the waters of a particular country,” said Harrison. “Some of these animals are mostly hidden beneath the sea, so being able to show with tracking data which countries they are in can help us understand who should be cooperating to manage these species.”

Harrison attended meetings on issues related to the high seas, which focused her attention on the time migratory species spend in waters outside of any country's jurisdiction. 

“Figuring out how much time these animals spend in the high seas was directly motivated by questions I was being asked by policy makers who are interested in high seas conservation,” said Harrison.

Many of the top marine predators are declining or threatened, and this is partially due to the fact that their mobility exposes them to a wide array of threats in different parts of the ocean. 

Professor Costa is a co-founder of the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP), which has produced one of the most extensive data sets available on the movements of large marine animals. 

White sharks are protected in U.S. and Mexican waters, but the TOPP data show that they spend about 60 percent of their time in the high seas. Leatherback turtles, Laysan albatross, Pacific bluefin tuna, and sooty shearwaters also travel across the Pacific Ocean during their migrations.

“Bluefin tuna breed in the western North Pacific, then cross the Pacific Ocean to feed in the California Current off the United States and Mexico,” said Professor Costa. “Sooty shearwaters not only cross the open ocean, they use the entire Pacific Ocean from north to south and go through the jurisdictions of more than 30 different countries.”

Harrison will present the team's findings at the U.N. Intergovernmental Conference in September, which will be the first to negotiate an international agreement on the conservation of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction.


“These migratory species are a shared heritage, and this paper shows their international travels better than ever before,” said Harrison. “The first step to protect them is knowing where they are over their annual cycle and promoting international agreements to manage the threats they may face across several countries.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</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: Alex Eilers

Tracking marine predators can help conservation efforts

A new study from the University of California Santa Cruz...

Fruit flies just may have some superpowers. The tiny insects appear to come equipped with their own internal, sun-powered compasses – and they can fly up to nine miles in a single day.

“It was a bit surprising to find that the same pesky little lies that flit around fruit bowls and wine glasses have the capacity to navigate for many miles using the sun,” co-author Dr. Michael Dickinson told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>.

Fruit flies – scientific name Drosophila – are about 3 to 4 millimeters long. An equivalent journey for a human would be from London to Beijing in under 24 hours, scientists said. Researchers first discovered the minuscule insects could fly such long distances four decades ago. They also knew the bugs <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fruit-fly-brains-navigational-tools/">are great navigators</a>. But until now, they weren’t sure how they did it.

Dickinson and his colleagues at <a href="http://www.caltech.edu/">California Institute of Technology</a> created a flight simulator to try and figure out the answer. They created a mechanism that would hold the fruit flies in place, but allow them to move their wings as if they were flying in response to visual stimulation.

They found that fruit flies have special brain cells that respond to sunlight. Using a series of LED lights, they found that the flies turned toward them and flapped. They also remembered the direction of a specific light for hours.

So they genetically modified the fruit flies’ brain cells that would make them glow when activated. Then they drilled a hole into the flies’ heads so they could watch their brains in action using magnification. They could observe the compass cells light up as the fruit flies attempted to navigate their light-based simulation.

“Insects have been navigating for many millions of years, so we think of this as a very ancient toolkit,” study first author Dr. Ysabel Giraldo said. “'Although relatively little is known about how fruit flies navigate and disperse, the availability of genetic tools for Drosophila makes them a powerful system to understand the mechanisms underlying behavior.”

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30901-1">Current Biology</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, Earth.com staff writer

Fruit flies can travel miles a day without getting lost

Fruit flies just may have some superpowers. The tiny insects...

Russia will soon announce official plans to open a 5.9 million dollar cloning facility in the Russian city of Yakutsk that may one day bring back the wooly mammoth and other extinct giants of the last ice age. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/woolly-mammoths-in-alaska-were-pushed-to-extinction-by-rising-sea-levels/">Woolly mammoths</a> went extinct 10,000 years ago due to climate and over-hunting by humans. 

Weighing as much as six metric tons, the woolly mammoth has long captured our attention and there has been talk of bringing the species back from extinction before. 

Some Russian scientists are working on a Jurassic Park-like attraction called <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/pleistocene-park/517779/">“Pleistocene Park”</a> in hopes of recreating an Ice Age ecosystem, complete with live mammoths in the Arctic as a means to combat climate change. 

This most recent research center will not only focus on the mammoth but also on other Pleistocene era animals like the woolly rhinoceros and some long extinct breeds of horses. according to <a href="https://siberiantimes.com/science/others/news/investment-sought-for-59-million-cloning-centre-to-bring-back-mammoths-and-other-extinct-species/">The Siberian Times</a>. 

The research center will likely include labs that are sunk deep into the Yakutsk permafrost which has been a rich source of preserved Pleistocene and Holocene animals. 

In fact, 80 percent of preserved soft tissue samples from Pleistocene and Holocene animals have come that area of Russia. 

The new research center will expand on current DNA and cloning work being done in collaboration between Russian and South Korean scientists. 

The key lies in the well-preserved DNA of the frozen remains found in the permafrost. The researchers plan to use this to clone woolly mammoths and other extinct species. 

Russian scientists are not the only ones hoping to clone the woolly mammoth as there is a group from <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> also <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-woolly-mammoths-extinction/">working to bring the species</a> back. 

If successful, the mammoths will be set free in the aforementioned Pleistocene Park. 

The Yakutsk center will also study early human settlers in North-Earth Russia in hopes that genetic analysis will help shed light on genetic diseases. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Russian research project plans to clone the woolly mammoth

Russia will soon announce official plans to open a 5.9...

A new study from biologists at <a href="https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a> in Sweden is reporting that Harris's hawks have the best color vision of any animal that has ever been tested. At times, the hawk’s color vision is even superior to that of humans, according to the research.

“It's fascinating,” said study co-author Almut Kelber. “I did not think that color vision would be of such significance, rather that birds of prey simply have better visual acuity than humans and that was the reason they detect objects so early and at a great distance. However, color is of considerable importance.”


<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/farming-practices-insect-eating-birds/">Birds</a> have a poor ability to distinguish between different objects based on their contrast. The researchers have demonstrated that if there is little difference between the color of an object and its background, it is much more difficult for a bird of prey to detect it. On the other hand, if there is a difference in the color of the object and the background, the Harris’s hawk can spot the object at least two times farther away than a person can. 


“It's exciting! The hawk weighs less than one kilo and has small eyes. Nonetheless, it can see many times better than us, even though it is so small and light,” said study co-author Simon Potier.

The research was focused on tame Harris's hawks in France. The hawks had the option of two perches within a bird enclosure. A uniform color was projected onto a large screen behind one of the perches, and a multicolored grid pattern was displayed behind the other perch. If the hawk chose the screen with a uniform color it received a reward.


After the hawks became accustomed to the system and understood what to do to obtain a reward, the researchers gradually changed the contrast of the grid pattern until there was no longer a difference between the two screen images. 

“The more fine-meshed patterns an animal can see, the sharper their visual acuity,” said Potier. “Once we understand how birds of prey perceive their world, we can help to improve efforts to conserve and protect them.”

The study is published in the <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

The secret weapon that helps hawks be such great hunters

A new study from biologists at Lund University in Sweden...

Researchers from <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">The University of Texas at Austin</a> have discovered the fossilized remains of a rat and its 38 offspring. The family, which dates back to the Jurassic Period, is a very rare find considering that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/marine-mammals-defenseless-pesticides/">mammals</a> now have much smaller litters.

Today, mammals have the largest brains of all animals but produce some of the smallest litters of offspring. The rat uncovered in the study was found to reproduce in a manner like reptiles, which is confirmed by the fact that such a large number of babies would have had to develop in eggs.

“These babies are from a really important point in the evolutionary tree,” said Eva Hoffman, who led the study as a graduate student. “They had a lot of features similar to modern mammals, features that are relevant in understanding mammalian evolution.”

Professor Timothy Rowe was Hoffman's graduate advisor and a co-author of the study. Professor Rowe had collected the fossil nearly two decades ago in Arizona as a single specimen - he no idea the babies were also contained in the rock. 


Graduate student Sebastian Egberts noticed the first sign of the babies years later in 2009 when a speck of tooth enamel caught his attention. 

“It didn’t look like a pointy fish tooth or a small tooth from a primitive reptile,” said Egberts. “It looked more like a molariform tooth (molar-like tooth) - and that got me very excited.”


The scientists identified a handful of bones inside the rock, but it took about seven years for CT-imaging technology to provide a visual of jaws, teeth, skulls,  and partial skeletons. 

Hoffman was able to determine that the babies were the same species as the adult. She also established that the babies were tiny replicas of the adult, with skulls that were proportionate to the parent. This is significant because the offspring of mammals have unproportionate skulls to accommodate big brains. 

According to the researchers, the findings of this study suggest that the evolution of mammals involved trading large litters for brain power. 

“Just a few million years later, in mammals, they unquestionably had big brains, and they unquestionably had a small litter size,” said Professor Rowe.

Kayentatherium wellesi, as the rat has been named, lived alongside the dinosaurs around 185 million years ago and belonged to an extinct species of plant-eaters.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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: Eva Hoffman

Mammals evolved to have more brain power instead of more babies

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have discovered...

When most people think of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/summer-eastern-mediterranean/">Mediterranean</a>, they probably imagine rolling hills covered in vineyards or olive orchards.  Beaches, ancient ruins and quaint villages with cobbled roads also come to mind or perhaps large cities such as Rome. Italy, Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean weren’t always so bucolic; once the area was as wild as anywhere and the ancient people who once lived there knew it.  The Mediterranean is much more than its stereotype. 

The Mediterranean Basin is at a hub joining Africa, Asia and Europe, making it a confluence of different influences, both culturally and biologically.  According to <a href="https://www.arkive.org/eco-regions/mediterranean-basin/">Arkive</a>, nearly 12,000 species are found only in the Mediterranean Basin including 52% of the basin’s plants.  

The Mediterranean Sea itself is the world’s largest inland sea.  Being in such a dynamic place in the world, there has been historically a fascinating human history of war, trade, art and philosophy.  There is also a rich natural history in this region of the world. The Mediterranean is home to Europe’s only monkey (and only non-human primate), the Barbary Macaque.  Ideas of wilderness, agriculture and gods of wine, farming, hunting all first became a part of western culture in the Mediterranean. 

Prehistoric Greece was a very different place than its modern counterpart or it’s famed ancient past.  Myths of the cyclops may have originated from the little known prehistory of the Mediterranean. Once, mammoths and other elephantids roamed through Italy and Greece; the ancients found the bones of these creatures and reconstructed them in an unlikely configuration.  

Elephant skulls (and their allies such as mammoths and mastodons) are dominated by large central holes where trunks attach.  It’s easy to see how a hole for a trunk might be interpreted as the socket of a giant eye. It was common for ancient fossils to be interpreted as the remains of some ancient hero in Greece (as well as throughout the world).  Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean, often studied for ancient people, also has a fascinating paleontological record. There was even a miniature species of mammoth that once lived in Crete. Aristotle was one of the few ancients that had a fairly modern interpretation of some fossils, Aristotle realized that sea shell fossils found far above sea level meant that the oceans were once much higher or land much lower.   

The wildness of Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean didn’t simply disappear with the mammoths when humans arrived on the scene.  For a long time, forests thrived in the area before succumbing to exploitation. Greek mythology holds little clues to the once wild Greece.  Nature gods, tree and water spirits, huntresses all harken back to a past before most of the Mediterranean region was tamed. Interesting, the oldest known story, a work stamped into tablets in Cuneiform has a story of deforestation in the Mediterranean region.  In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero kills a demon guarding the cedars of Lebanon so he could build a gate to his city of Ur.

In his book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mPKZftM7lCgC&amp;q=greecce#v=onepage&amp;q=Mediterranean&amp;f=false">The Practice of the Wild</a>, Gary Snyder discusses the destruction of the Mediterranean forests: 

“The Cautionary history of the Mediterranean forests is well known.  Much of this destruction has taken place in recent centuries, but it was already well underway, especially in the lowlands, during the classical period.  In Neolithic times the whole basin had perhaps 500 million acres of forest. The higher-elevation forests are all that survive, and even they occupy only 30 percent of the mountain zone – about 45 million acres.  Some 100 million acres of land once densely covered with pine, oak, ash, laurel, and myrtle now have only traces of vegetation.” 

Because of the long human habitation of the Mediterranean region, many of the forests have been displaced by scrublands.  In fact there is a relatively sophisticated vocabulary for different types of scrubland with terms for different assemblages of post-forest scrub.    

There are still odd pockets of wildness in even the most urbane nations of the Mediterranean region, such as Italy.  A few hours from Rome, there are brown bears, differing from the grizzlies of places like Wyoming and Alaska only by being a different subspecies.  The Marsican bear is isolated from the nearest brown bears in the Italian Alps. In 2011, the Marsican bear population was estimated to be around 49 individuals.  There is good habitat between this bear population and the one in the Alps though, it is theoretically possible that the two bear populations could colonize the gap between them and start repopulating the area.    

Bears aren’t the only dangerous large predator to once live in the Mediterranean region.  Lions also have a long history in the Mediterranean region. It’s probably not surprising to think of lions living in northern Africa, just south of the Mediterranean Sea, but they also lived in Europe and were more widespread in parts of Asia.  Greek myths have several references to lions including the Nemean Lion, a vicious monstrous cat that was eventually killed by Heracles/Hercules. 

The oldest lion remains in Europe are subfossils found in Basque country in the Spanish Pyrenees.  There are also many historical references to lions living in Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean.  Herodotus wrote that lions killed camels in Persian emperor Xerxes (of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/">300</a> fame) military caravan in Greece for instance.  Today there are no wild lions in Greece or Europe at all; there is a small population of lions in India though.  

The loss of megafauna like bears and lions in the Mediterranean goes hand in hand with the loss of forests and other wild habitats.  For some the loss of wild Greece, Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean is the cost of civilization. A rich landscape with fertile soils and wild images to grow in the imagination had to be important for the creation of ‘civilization’ though.  Much of the mythology I’ve mentioned is dependent on wild themes and it’s only a small sliver of the whole. 

It seems the expansion of Rome into an international empire was a key factor in the deforestation of large parts of the Mediterranean.  According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman_period">Wikipedia</a>, the Roman Empire once boasted a population of 56.8 million people, 1 million being in the capital of Rome itself.  The number of people building houses, building ships, clearing land for agriculture makes it easy to imagine a large impact on local forests.  Military conquests of Rome were also hard on the lands of the Mediterranean. 

At one time, there were sacred forests, living embodiments of classical mythology in Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean.  <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20723131?read-now=1&amp;refreqid=excelsior%3A88541ac7e8c46b3db899e7a189cb0d17&amp;seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents">Ovid wrote</a>, “Here stands a silent grove black with the shade of oaks; at the sight of it, anyone could say, ‘There is a God in here!’ ”.  Today the wild mystery of the ancient Mediterranean seems to have largely disappeared.

Three bears in Italy died of poisoning as late as 2007.  In 2013, more poisoned bait was found in the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (PNALM), heart of the bear’s remaining territory, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/">Mongabay</a> reported.  <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/mediterranean-forests-are-buring-issue">The IUCN</a> reported in 2008 that as much as 400,000 hectares of forest burn each year in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece.  Development and increased population, illegal logging all contribute to even more destruction of the Mediterranean’s remaining forests.  What’s left continues to be under threat. 

Most of the forest is gone.  The mammoths are just fossils.  Lions are extirpated and bears are quickly disappearing.  What we have left is largely the wild words of mythology, the wild images of art.  We have left the deep bones of western culture, first built when the world was young and full of a wild mystery.    

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How the once-sprawling Mediterranean forests were destroyed

When most people think of the Mediterranean, they probably imagine...

Lionfish are a major invasive species in the western Atlantic Ocean, negatively impacting ecosystems off the coastal US and Caribbean islands. This species originates from the South Pacific and Indian oceans, but has no natural predators in the areas it inhabits within the western Atlantic, creating competition problems with native species. Luckily, scientists may have come up with a solution – and it involves a killer robot.

A team of researchers at <a href="https://www.wpi.edu/">Worcester Polytechnic Institute</a> (WPI) have developed a spear-wielding submersible robot than can hunt lionfish autonomously. 

“There are economic and environmental benefits to this, and the fish are delicious,” says Brandon Kelly, an undergraduate student at WPI. “I’ve seen the massive devastation caused by these fish and it really made me want to work on this project. We felt like we could create some change in the world.”

Lionfish can decimate the juvenile fish populations of an area by as much as 90 percent in just five weeks – according to the Ocean Support Foundation. They are a threat to coral reefs in a region that is already struggling to survive. Although people are encouraged to harvest these <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-coastal-waters/">fish</a>, their sharp spines and deadly venom make this rather challenging. Luckily, robots are immune to lionfish venom.

The robot has eight spear tips mounted on a carousel, along with left and right cameras and air-filled buoyancy chambers that help equalize the robot after it releases a spear. The researchers developed a system – based on machine learning –  that allows the robot to tell lionfish apart from other species. Once it locks on to the correct target, it launches a spear and harvests the fish. The team states that the robot is able to recognize lionfish with over 95 percent accuracy.

“The goal is to be able to toss the robot over the side of a boat and have it go down to the reef, plot out a course, and begin its search,” says Craig Putnam, senior instructor in computer science and associate director of WPI’s Robotics Engineering Program. “It needs to set up a search pattern and fly along the reef, and not run into it, while looking for the lionfish. The idea is that the robots could be part of the environmental solution.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="https://www.wpi.edu/">Worcester Polytechnic Institute</a>

Autonomous robot built to destroy invasive lionfish population

Lionfish are a major invasive species in the western Atlantic...

A lone dolphin that has made his home around a buoy in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland may have found a way to talk to local harbor porpoises. Dolphins are not commonly found in the area, but Kylie, as the dolphin has been nicknamed by locals, has been living there for some time.

It’s suspected that Kylie <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-like-societies-cetaceans/">got lost from his group</a> and now new research shows that the dolphin may be altering its speech frequencies to match the local populations of harbor porpoises, according to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/08/28/lonely-dolphin-stranded-scottish-firth-alters-speech-fit-local/">The Telegraph</a>. 

Mel Cosentino, a Ph.D. research student from the <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/">University of Strathclyde</a>, is the one responsible for the new findings.

If Cosentino’s findings are verified, it would be the first example of a common dolphin imitating other species so as to communicate with them. 

“Several cetacean species, such as bottlenose dolphins, belugas, and killer whales, have the ability to change their acoustic repertoire as a result of interactions with other species,” Cosentino told The Telegraph. “This vocal learning ability has mainly been observed in captive individuals and few cases have been reported for wild cetaceans.”

Common dolphins have frequencies that peak at 100 kilohertz and harbor porpoises have a higher peak at 130 kilohertz. 

Cosentino analyzed audio recordings of Kylie when he was nearby harbor porpoises and discovered that the dolphin produced clicks that had higher frequencies to better match and possibly communicate with the porpoises. 

More research is needed in order to confirm that Kylie is imitating harbor porpoises, but it would be a novel discovery if proved true. 

“If further analysis shows this to be the case, it would be the first time a common dolphin, either in captivity or the wild, has demonstrated an ability for production learning, where it has learned to imitate another species,” Cosentino said. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Mel Cosentino

Lone dolphin may have adapted to communicate with local porpoises

A lone dolphin that has made his home around a...

Just because some species have been able to adapt to climate change in the past doesn't mean that they will do so well in the future. 

A new study, led by researchers from the <a href="https://macroecology.ku.dk/">Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate</a> at the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>, found that current rates of climate change may be too fast for species to adapt and evolve as they have in the past. 

The results show that our understanding of biodiversity and climate change’s impact on the evolution of species needs to better reflect future projected rates of climate change. 

During past periods of drastic environmental changes, animals either adapted, migrated to more hospitable habitats, or went extinct.

As climate change becomes more serious today, animals are responding. We see that flowers are blooming at different times to match seasonal changes, and animals like owls are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snowshoe-hares-camouflage-winter-coats/">changing their coloring</a> because of the warmer winters. 

The researchers reviewed studies and events that covered these past and present changes in species to better model the impacts of climate change on future biodiversity. 

The results were published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 

“We compiled an enormous amount of studies of events, which we know influenced biodiversity during the past million years,” said David Bravo-Nogues, the lead author of the study. “It turns out species have been able to survive new conditions in their habitat by changing either their behavior or body shape. However, the current magnitude and unseen speed of change in nature may push species beyond their ability to adapt.” 

The researchers found many species today come from lineages that were able to adapt to environmental changes. A species is considered adapted when whole population changes occur, such as animals changing their coloring. 

“From fossils and other biological ‘archives’ we have access to a nearly limitless number of case studies throughout Earth's history,” said Stephen Jackson, a co-author of the study. “This provides us with valuable knowledge of how climate changes of various rates, magnitudes, and types can affect biodiversity.” 

Previous species adaptation happened over a long period of time and it was a slow process, which suggests that given the fast pace of climate change today, many species may not be able to adapt quickly enough. 

Some species have already gone extinct because they were unable to keep up with the changes in their environment, and the researchers say that understanding how climate drives species’ adaptation or extinction is crucial for future conservation. 

“We know animals and plants have prevented extinction by adapt or migrate in the past. However, the models we use today to predict future climate change, foresee magnitudes and rates of change, which have been exceptionally rare in the last million years,” said Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez, a fellow co-author of the study. “Thus, we need to expand our knowledge and improve our prediction models.” 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Egle Kudirkiene

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Climate change may be moving too fast for some species to keep up

Just because some species have been able to adapt to...

It’s well understood that increasing temperatures due to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-arctic-seabird-populations/">climate change</a> will have a significant impact on crop growth around the world – mainly from drought-like conditions and desertification of arable land. But it may surprise you (and concern you) to know that rising temperatures could have additional effects on crops, this time related to insects.

A new study has found that crop losses for critical food grains will increase as the climate warms, due to rising temperatures increasing the metabolic rate and population growth of insect pests. Researchers estimate that just a 2-degree rise in global average temperature could lead to total crop losses of about 213 million tons of rice, wheat, and maize.

The study involved assessing how the insect pests that attack these three crops would respond to a variety of climate scenarios. The scenarios showed that rising global temperatures would cause increased crop loss due to insects – particularly in temperate regions. These losses were projected to rise by 10 to 25 percent per degree of warming.

Increased crop loss is projected as a result of increased insect metabolism and faster insect population growth rates. “When the temperature increases, the insects’ metabolism increases so they have to eat more,” says Scott Merrill, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a>, and co-author of the study. “That’s not good for crops.”

Insects have an optimal temperature that is ideal for population growth. If the temperature of their environment is too cold or too hot, the population does not grow as quickly. Hence, the researchers’ results showing that crop losses will be more severe in the temperate regions – as temperatures could be too hot for insect population growth in tropical regions.

“Temperate regions are not at that optimal temperature, so if the temperature increases there, populations will grow faster,” Merrill explains. “But insects in the tropics are already close to their optimal temperature, so the populations will actually grow slower. It’s just too hot for them.”

The study – published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> – also determined that of the three crops, wheat will face the biggest losses. This is because it is typically grown in cooler climates, where increases in temperature will have the most profound effect on insect populations. Unfortunately, this also means that the most significant yield declines are predicted to occur in some of the world’s most productive agriculture areas. “The overall picture is, if you’re growing a lot of food in a temperate region, you’re going to be hit hardest,” says Merrill.

Any reduced yield in these three crops is a major concern. Wheat, rice, and maize are global staple crops, and in total account for 42 percent of the direct calories consumed by humans around the world. Significant crop losses may result in increased food insecurity, and could lead to conflicts in areas where food is already scarce. In particular, poorer countries will likely be hit the hardest, as advanced farming strategies and products such as pesticides aren’t used nearly as frequently as in richer countries. 

<a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> professor and co-author of the study, Curtis Deutsch concludes, “I hope our results demonstrate the importance of collecting more data on how pests will impact crop losses in a warming world – because collectively, our choice now is not whether or not we will allow warming to occur, but how much warming we’re willing to tolerate.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Keith Ewing

As climate warms, more insects will result in major crop loss

It’s well understood that increasing temperatures due to climate change...

A <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/red-tide-kills-sea-life/">red tide algae bloom</a> along the coast of southwest Florida, which has persisted since November of last year, is not only having a devastating impact on marine life but is also killing tourism in the region. 

According to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a>, business owners in the most affected counties have reported collective losses of nearly $90 million and have laid off about 300 workers. The economy is also taking a hard hit from a separate freshwater algae bloom in Lake Okeechobee, the state’s largest lake.

<a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/florida-gulf-coast-red-tide-toxic-algae-bloom-killing-florida-wildlife">The Guardian</a> reported earlier this month that the toxic red algae, Karenia brevis, have killed more than 267 tons of marine life since July. This summer, dead fish that have washed up on Florida’s beaches include thousands of small fish, 72 Goliath groupers, and even a 21-foot whale shark.

However, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a> has revealed that the casualties of the red tide have exploded even more - to over 2,000 tons of fish this month. The news outlet <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/08/22/us/red-tide-fishkill-costs-trnd/index.html">reports</a> that workers in Lee County alone have picked up over 1,700 tons of dead fish since August 2nd, which does not include fishkill collected by the county's Department of Parks and Recreation.

Agricultural runoff and pollution are major contributors to toxic algal blooms, as they support the growth of algae and cyanobacteria. In addition, algae thrive in warmer waters that have high levels of CO2, which means that climate change is most likely another factor that is causing the deadly outbreak. 

“I am so sick of hearing it’s a natural occurring phenomenon that I’m ready to puke,” Andy Mele of <a href="https://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.com/">Suncoast Waterkeeper</a> told the Washington Post. “Yeah, it’s naturally occurring, but what happens to it is man-made. It responds to nutrients - period. Really the dynamite that lights the explosion is nutrient pollution.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for the five hardest-hit counties, as business owners brace themselves for the upcoming slow season.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Red tide is crushing the economy in southwest Florida communities

A red tide algae bloom along the coast of southwest...

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Conqueror Worm” is a lurid meditation on death, laden with references to the grim reaper’s retinue.
But see, amid the mimic rout, 
   A crawling shape intrude! 
A blood-red thing that writhes from out   
   The scenic solitude!
And what proper meditation on death would be complete without mention of the reaper’s housekeepers? Classic literature is wriggling with allusions to detritivores and decomposers such as maggots and worms, viscerally evoking images of death and decay. Though unlike maggots in that they do not require carrion, and in fact may prefer plant and fungal matter, earthworms do sometimes eat decaying animal matter. 

And they’re conquerors in both the sense intended by Poe—they’re happy to munch on anything from a rotting leaf to a rotting philosopher—and in the sense that they have slowly invaded the North American continent in the wake of European conquest.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, earthworms were absent from the fauna of the northern part of North America. They are thought to have been extirpated during the last glacial period, which began some 21,000 years ago. Living in the top part of the soil, they were likely scrubbed out by the powerful movement of ice sheets across the continent.

However, with the incursion of Europeans, species from across the Atlantic soon set up shop in the soils of the Americas. The first introductions likely occurred as the result of soil used as ship ballast being dumped on the virgin shores. Further introductions resulted from the transport of worms and their egg cocoons on the roots of plants.

Species from Asia soon joined the vermicultural melting pot. There are <a href="http://www.annelida.net/earthworm/American%20Earthworms.pdf">some 60 species</a> of introduced earthworm in North America. Most prominent are those in the European genus Lumbricus, which includes the well-known nightcrawlers, and those in the Asian genus Amynthas, known as snake or jumper worms. More recently, their use as fishing bait has introduced them to previously untouched forests; unused worms are dumped on the ground, which they then colonize.

Though earthworms have historically been perceived as inherently helpful to the environment, breaking down organic matter and aerating the soil, in environments to which they are not native, they have proven to be anything but. In fact, in some regions, they have been terribly destructive to sensitive plant and animal life. 

North American forests, particularly those north of Pennsylvania, have largely evolved without earthworms in the last 11,000 years, following the recession of the glaciers. (There are some 100 native species of earthworm in the northwest and south.) Because of this, forest floor ecology is much different than in the forests of Europe and Asia, which evolved with earthworms. 

North American hardwood <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-north-american-forests/">forests</a>, in particular, have evolved to produce a slowly decomposing, fungally dominated layer of duff, composed of shed leaves and small branches. This thick, fluffy layer of organic matter supports a unique ecosystem of nematodes, insects, and small animals such as salamanders and rodents. These animals in turn support larger creatures such as birds. Duff is also necessary for the germination of many types of seeds, including those of trees. Earthworms seem to prefer the rich substrate produced by hardwood forests to that produced by coniferous forests. And they prefer the duff produced by trees such as maples, basswoods, sweet gums, tulip poplars, and birch to that of more tannic oak forests. 

When non-native earthworms invade these forests, they have detrimental effects on the duff layer. In addition to eating <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2083338-invasive-earthworms-threaten-growth-of-new-north-american-trees/">small seeds</a> and impacting the regeneration of the plants that grow from them, they also completely change the dynamics of this soil. They decompose the layer much more quickly than native invertebrates and fungi. This has wide-ranging impacts. Natives who require this layer for sustenance, from plants to insects, are left without a home and a source of food. The layer shifts from being fungally dominated to bacterially dominated. Some plants require symbiotic fungi to germinate and grow and without them are unable to flourish. Because the layer of leaf matter is more quickly decomposed, soil compaction increases, making it even harder for natives to subsist. 

Ecosystems invaded by non-native earthworms may show visible effects in fewer than 5 years. Photographs show forest floors once rich in plant diversity almost devoid of herbaceous life after having been decimated by worms. This primes the habitat for invasions by non-native plant species, such as the pernicious buckthorn and Asian honeysuckle. The different nutrients made available by bioturbation, which brings more mineral soils to the surface, combined with the removal of native herbaceous plants, clears space for invaders. 

These invasive plants in turn reinforce the predominance of worms by producing easily digested foliage. <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.453.4052&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">One study</a> demonstrated that the removal of honeysuckle and buckthorn actually reduced worm numbers. And the invaders don’t just affect the understory. Trees themselves are affected by the removal of duff. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10530-017-1523-0">A 2017 study</a> demonstrated that sugar maples, whose root systems are shallow and rely on the duff layer, were damaged by the presence of earthworms.

The loss of duff also has serious implications for carbon retention. Because earthworms quickly digest and excrete leaf matter, carbon is more quickly released into the atmosphere. <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2015/nrs_2015_resner_001.pdf">A 2015 study</a> indicated that they reduce key soil nutrients, including potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium as well. Nitrogen cycling is also negatively affected, releasing more of it into the air and water. Non-native earthworms may also compete directly with some soil organisms. <a href="https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/54665">A 2017 study</a> suggested that they might actually eat the eggs of springtails, or collembolans, an important invertebrate in the soil food web. Because different species of worms inhabit different soil strata, their combined effects may be even more problematic. 

Scientists who study the phenomenon of invasive worms advise gardeners to be careful about moving soil and mulch, which can unintentionally introduce worms to new areas. Though they spread relatively slowly once introduced, repeated movement of substrate can accelerate the process. Those who visit natural areas should wash their boots and tires before entering and leaving to avoid transporting small worms or their eggs. And anglers should dispose of worms in the garbage rather than releasing them. We don’t need any more crawling intruders.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

A crawling shape intrudes: The earthworm invasion

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Conqueror Worm” is a lurid meditation...

<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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</div></figure>







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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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

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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

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