Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy. This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns. Yellowstone, aspens, and elk In the 1920s, people eliminated wolves in Yellowstone. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right...

Energy consumption projections and decarbonization plans are nothing new. These types of projections are regularly created by governments, scientists, and even industry. In fact, oil companies have long created energy consumption scenarios to plan for the future. In recent years, oil companies have created projections that include decarbonization scenarios.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, these projections are sometimes hard to compare to other scenarios created by academics and government planners. This is because the underlying assumptions of these companies’ claims to meet Paris climate agreements are sometimes opaque. A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a> has taken a closer look at some of these plans.&nbsp;



Researchers at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> analyzed six projections published in 2020 and 2021. Among these scenarios, two were published by BP, one by Royal Dutch Shell, one by Equinor, and two were published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The analysis revealed that all of the projections fall short of the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 ̊C.&nbsp;



“Most of the scenarios we evaluated would be classified as inconsistent with the Paris Agreement as they fail to limit warming to ‘well below 2 ̊C, let alone 1.5 ̊C, and would exceed the 1.5 ̊C warming limit by a significant margin," said Dr. Robert Brecha, co-lead author of the study from <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/">Climate Analytics</a>.



In Equinor’s plan, the temperature increase peaks at 1.73 ̊C in 2060, BP’s "Rapid" at 1.73 ̊C in 2058, Shell’s at 1.81 ̊C in 2069 and BP’s "Net Zero" peaks at 1.65 ̊C. These plans may seem close to the Paris Agreement numbers but previous research has shown that even small changes can be critically important.&nbsp;



“Even temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C warming would lead to catastrophic impacts and severely weaken our ability to adapt to climate change," said Bill Hare, CEO and Senior Scientist at Climate Analytics.



Many of the plans from these oil companies still incorporate large uses of coal, which is problematic for other reasons beyond climate change. There is also a reliance on reforestation to offset emissions, which may not be realistic with a growing human population and worse growing conditions.&nbsp;



Overall, it’s good that oil companies are planning for decarbonization. However, they must continue to be held accountable to higher standards if we are to meet important climate goals.&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plans by oil companies fall short of climate goals

Energy consumption projections and decarbonization plans are nothing new. These...

In a special section of the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac021">BioScience</a>, a team of researchers led by the US National Science Foundation’s <a href="https://lternet.edu/">Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network</a> has synthesized 40 years of research on how ecosystems are responding to climate change, providing evidence that climate change is affecting our planet on every scale, from global shifts in weather patterns to changes in local ecosystems.&nbsp;



The large scale of this research allows for long-term spatial and temporal analyses of change and “enhances the impact of science on environmental policy relative to short-term studies.” The scientists argue that although various ecosystem have some common responses to climate change, most of their responses are in fact unique, and emerge from a combination of region-specific drivers, human activity, and interactions between a diversity of climate drivers.&nbsp;



In the lead article, researchers from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> and <a href="https://www.syracuse.edu/">Syracuse University</a> lay out the conceptual framework behind the processes driving ecosystem changes, together with the logistics of and varied results from the 28 LTER research sites which were used to collect the data.



A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac050">contribution</a> by Hugh Ducklow (<a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>) and his colleagues investigates the variety of ocean ecosystem responses to climate change, as well as broader marine physical system changes, including sea ice loss and modifications of the ocean surface layer, while a related <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab134">article</a> authored by Daniel C. Reed (<a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a>) and his team analyzes the natural capacity of coastal ecosystems to resist and adapt to climate change.



Back on land, Amy R. Hudson (<a href="https://www.usda.gov/">US Department of Agriculture</a>) and her colleagues provide a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab134">comparative analysis</a> of drylands’ responses to climate change, revealing consistent warming across sites but significant variability in droughts and their effect on primary production, while John L. Campbell (<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/">USDA Forest Service</a>) and colleagues discuss how forest and freshwater ecosystems are both directly and indirectly impacted by climate change.



Finally, in a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac065">viewpoint article</a>, Michael Paul Nelson (Oregon State University) reflects on environmental scientists’ duty to actively advocate for mobilization and change. “Our love and knowledge create a new kind of work for us in the face of the climate crisis. Beyond the work of revealing and explaining our ecosystems, we are called also to do the work of caretakers for those ecosystems,” he concludes.



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

Scientists synthesize four decades of climate change research

In a special section of the journal BioScience, a team...

This summer, an unprecedented <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-will-face-more-frequent-and-extreme-droughts/">drought</a> is afflicting most parts of Europe - as well as the typically rainy U.K - drying up rivers, killing aquatic species, shriveling crops, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions, and causing severe wildfires. Experts argue that climate change is the main driver of this historical drought (which is estimated to be the worst in 500 years), contributing to hotter temperatures that speed up evaporation, “thirstier” plants which take up more moisture, and reduced snowfall in the winter that significantly limits the freshwater supplies generally used for irrigation in the summer.



According to Jean-Philippe Couasné, a chief technician at the <a href="https://www.peche-landes.com/en/who-are-we/">Federation for Fishing and Protection of the Aquatic Environment</a> in France, fish are dying at an unprecedented rate in the Tille river. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “On average, about 8,000 liters (2,100 gallons) per second are flowing…And now, zero liters.” Without rain, the river “will continue to empty. And yes, all fish will die...They are trapped upstream and downstream, there’s no water coming in, so the oxygen level will keep decreasing as the (water) volume goes down. These are species that will gradually disappear.”



Other major rivers throughout Europe, including the Rhine, the Danube, or the Po, as well as lakes such as Garda in Italy or Velence in Hungary face similar conditions, which damage a wide range of ecosystems, and significantly restrict shipping activities. This massive drying up of water sources negatively impacts crop production. For instance, EU corn production is expected to be 12.5 million tons below that in 2021, and sunflower production is projected to be 1.6 million tons lower. Livestock dependent on feed crops are also suffering, with the quantity and quality of milk dropping at unprecedented rates in France and other countries.



Scientists argue that this dire situation Europe is currently facing results from long periods of dry weather caused by changes in world weather systems. Climate change has leveled temperatures across different regions, sapping the forces that drive the Atlantic jet stream, which usually brings rainy weather to Europe. Instead, this weaker and unstable jet stream is now bringing unusually hot air from North Africa to Europe, leading to prolonged heatwaves and subsequent droughts.&nbsp;



If actions to mitigate climate change are not urgently taken, such droughts will become increasingly frequent in the following years, leading to the destruction of a variety of ecosystems, and endangering humans all over the globe.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Europe is experiencing its worst drought in 500 years

This summer, an unprecedented drought is afflicting most parts of...

In learning to communicate, a good teacher is essential not only in the case of humans, but also for other animals. For instance, juvenile <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zebra-finches-use-both-calls-and-vision-to-coordinate-flight/">zebra finches</a> learn songs directly from a “tutor” – usually their father – through social interactions which keep them focused and motivated. The physical presence of the tutor seems to be essential – young birds that only hear the songs through a speaker don’t manage to learn so well. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.oist.jp/">Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology</a> (OIST) has now managed to identify for the first time the brain circuitry which controls such learning.&nbsp;



“This study is the first demonstration of the neural circuitry that is telling these animals what incoming information they need to pay attention to,” said study senior author Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama, an associate professor of Neuroscience at OIST. Since in the wild, zebra finches are surrounded by many sounds, including the songs of other birds, this specific neural circuit is activated to signal that the song coming from the tutor is important and has to be memorized.



Two decades ago, scientists discovered that human babies also need a personal tutor to teach them how to recognize phonemes in language by engaging the learner’s attention. “That is pretty logical – if we are attentive, we are learning better,” said study lead author Jelena Katic, a postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience at OIST. “We wanted to understand, is the same true for juvenile birds?”



Dr. Katic and her colleagues found that during the learning process, neurons from a brain area called locus coeruleus (LC) project to a higher order auditory region in the brain called the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), which is where the young birds’ memories of a tutor’s song are formed. Both of these brain regions responded more strongly when the tutor sang than when the youngsters heard a recording of the song, and the firing of the NCM neurons was time-locked to specific syllables of the tutor’s song, suggesting that they are registering the incoming auditory information.&nbsp;



However, since the LC neurons were active constantly while the tutor sang, they were likely responding to vocal communication itself rather than the specific notes that were emitted. Moreover, if the scientists deactivated the neurons projecting from the LC to the NCM while the tutor sang, the juveniles were unable to accurately copy the song.&nbsp;



“Imagine that the NCM neurons are receiving multiple inputs from different regions of the brain, including some from auditory areas that convey the notes and prosodic patterns of the song,” explained Dr. Katic. “But LC is conveying another type of information – the social context identifying that the song is important.”



Further research is needed to clarify what cues juveniles use to capture this social context, which chemicals in the brain structure the functioning of the LC-NCM circuitry, and what kinds of cues the juveniles emit that might encourage the tutor to teach them.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32207-1">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

What brain circuitry drives social learning in birds?

In learning to communicate, a good teacher is essential not...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> have found that with today's heat waves, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greater-temperature-changes-linked-to-worse-extinction-events/">temperature</a> is a lot more stressful to the human body than what is indicated by the heat index. The experts report that the heat index calculated by meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) may underestimate the perceived temperature by more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit on the hottest days of the year.



The heat index is a measure of humidity combined with the air temperature, which represents how it actually feels when you step outside. It indicates how humans can deal with heat when the humidity is high - when sweating is less effective at cooling the body down.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, a higher heat index means that the human body is more stressed during heat waves than what is accounted for by public health officials. A heat index above 103 is considered by the NWS to be dangerous, and above 125 to be extremely dangerous.



“Most of the time, the heat index that the National Weather Service is giving you is just the right value. It's only in these extreme cases where they're getting the wrong number,” said Professor David Romps. “Where it matters is when you start to map the heat index back onto physiological states and you realize, oh, these people are being stressed to a condition of very elevated skin blood flow where the body is coming close to running out of tricks for compensating for this kind of heat and humidity. So, we're closer to that edge than we thought we were before.”



The heat index was devised in 1979 by physicist Robert Steadman, who created simple equations to calculate the hot and humid conditions of summer. However, Steadman left the index undefined for many conditions that we are now experiencing much more frequently in a hotter climate. For example, with a relative humidity of 80 percent, the heat index is not defined for temperatures above 88 degrees Fahrenheit or for below 59 degrees Fahrenheit.



Professor Romps explained that meteorologists have extrapolated into these areas to get numbers that are correct most of the time, but not based on any understanding of human physiology. “There's no scientific basis for these numbers."



The researchers set out to expand upon Steadman’s work to make the heat index accurate at all temperatures and all humidities between zero and 100.



“The original table had a very short range of temperature and humidity and then a blank region where Steadman said the human model failed,” said graduate student Yi-Chuan Lu. “Steadman had the right physics. Our aim was to extend it to all temperatures so that we have a more accurate formula.”



Earlier this year, Professor Romps and Lu published their revised heat index equation. For the current study, they applied this index to the top 100 heat waves that occurred between 1984 and 2020. While they found mostly minor discrepancies from what was reported by the NWS, the team also discovered some instances where the NWS heat index was way off.



One of the most extreme examples occurred during a heat wave in Chicago in July of 1995, when at least 465 people were killed. The maximum heat index reported by the NWS was 135 degrees Fahrenheit - but it actually felt like 154 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the researchers.



“I'm no physiologist, but a lot of things happen to the body when it gets really hot,” said Professor Romps. “Diverting blood to the skin stresses the system because you're pulling blood that would otherwise be sent to internal organs and sending it to the skin to try to bring up the skin's temperature. The approximate calculation used by the NWS, and widely adopted, inadvertently downplays the health risks of severe heat waves.”



Even among the healthiest of individuals, the threshold of heat death is reached at a heat index of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. While Earth is not likely to reach this point in the next few decades, deadly heat conditions are still becoming much more common.&nbsp;



“A 200 F heat index is an upper bound of what is survivable,” said Professor Romps. “But now that we've got this model of human thermoregulation that works out at these conditions, what does it actually mean for the future habitability of the United States and the planet as a whole? There are some frightening things we are looking at.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>.



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

Heat index is greatly underestimated on the hottest days

Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that with today's heat...

Antarctica's ice shelves may be melting at an accelerated rate, which could contribute to more rapid sea level rise. These are the findings of a new model that simulates how rapidly flowing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/parts-of-asia-face-irreversible-declines-in-freshwater-storage/">freshwater</a> melted from the ice shelves can trap dense warm ocean water at the base of the ice, causing it to warm and melt even more.



The study was conducted in the laboratory of Andy Thompson, a professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">California Institute of Technology</a>.



Ice shelves are outcroppings of the Antarctic ice sheet, found where the ice juts out from land and floats on top of the ocean. The shelves are several hundred meters thick and act as a protective buffer keeping the whole ice sheet from flowing into the ocean, which would dramatically raise global sea levels.&nbsp;



Climate change, however, has warmed the atmosphere and oceans, increasing the speed at which these ice shelves are melting. This is threatening their ability to hold back the flow of the ice sheet into the ocean.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"If this mechanism that we've been studying is active in the real world, it may mean that ice shelf melt rates are 20 to 40 percent higher than the predictions in global climate models, which typically cannot simulate these strong currents near the Antarctic coast," said Thompson.



In this study, the researchers focused on the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). It is here that Antarctica sees the most dramatic changes due to climate change. The team's model takes into account the narrow Antarctic Coastal Current, which is not included in many climate models because it is so small.&nbsp;



"Large global climate models don't include this coastal current, because it's very narrow - only about 20 kilometers wide, while most climate models only capture currents that are 100 kilometers across or larger," explained senior researcher Mar Flexas. "So, there is a potential for those models to not represent future melt rates very accurately."



The model illustrates how melted ice turned freshwater is carried by the coastal current and transported around the continent. The less-dense freshwater moves along quickly near the surface of the ocean and traps relatively warm ocean saltwater against the underside of the ice shelves. This causes the ice shelves to melt from below.&nbsp;



Increased meltwater exacerbates climate warming via the Coastal Current, which in turn can escalate melting even at West Antarctic ice shelves thousands of kilometers away. This remote warming mechanism may be part of the reason that the loss of volume from West Antarctic ice shelves has accelerated in recent decades.



"There are aspects of the climate system that we are still discovering," said Thompson. "As we've made progress in our ability to model interactions between the ocean, ice shelves, and atmosphere, we're able to make more accurate predictions with better constraints on uncertainty. We may need to revisit some of the predictions of sea level rise in the next decades or century - that's work that we'll do going forward."



The study can be found in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antarctic ice shelves are likely melting faster than expected

Antarctica's ice shelves may be melting at an accelerated rate,...

Vitamin D supplements may alleviate depressive symptoms in adults, according to a meta-analysis conducted by an international team of researchers that includes studies from around the world.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healthier-diets-can-reduce-depression-in-young-men/">Depression</a> is a common illness worldwide, with symptoms that cause significant burdens to those who are affected. Unfortunately, antidepressants are not always sufficient, leaving researchers to look for other means of alleviating symptoms.



Vitamin D is believed to regulate central nervous system functions. When these functions are disturbed, this can result in depression. Some studies have observed an association between depressive symptoms and vitamin D deficiency. However, previous studies on the effects of vitamin D supplementation among patients with depression have been inconclusive.&nbsp;



The new meta-analysis is the largest of its kind published so far. It includes the results of 41 studies from around the world. The studies investigated the efficacy of vitamin D in alleviating depressive symptoms in adults through randomized placebo-controlled trials in different populations. The studies were carried out in patients with depression, the general population, and in people with various physical conditions.&nbsp;



The results show that vitamin D supplementation is more effective than a placebo in alleviating depressive symptoms. Throughout the study, vitamin D doses varied, but typically, the supplement was 50 -100 micrograms per day.



“Despite the broad scope of this meta-analysis, the certainty of evidence remains low due to the heterogeneity of the populations studied and the due to the risk of bias associated with a large number of studies,” said study lead author Tuomas Mikola from the <a href="https://www.uef.fi/en">University of Eastern Finland</a>.&nbsp;



The findings encourage new trials in patients to further understand the role of vitamin D in treatment of depression.



The meta-analysis was carried out in international collaboration between Finnish, Australian and US researchers. the research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/bfsn20/current">Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vitamin D supplements may help ease chronic depression

Vitamin D supplements may alleviate depressive symptoms in adults, according...

The Tibetan Plateau – known as the “water tower of Asia” – currently supplies freshwater for almost two billion people living downstream. A new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01443-0">Nature Climate Change</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-severely-impact-birds-by-2080/">climate change</a> may cause irreversible declines in freshwater storage in this region, leading to a total collapse of the water supply for central Asia and Afghanistan, and a near-total collapse for Northern India, Kashmir, and Pakistan by 2060.



“The prognosis is not good,” said study senior author Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science at the <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>. “In a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where we fail to meaningfully curtail fossil fuel burning in the decades ahead, we can expect a near collapse - that is, nearly 100 percent loss - of water availability to downstream regions of the Tibetan Plateau. I was surprised at just how large the predicted decrease is even under a scenario of modest climate policy.”&nbsp;



The researchers used both ‘top-down’ (satellite-based) and ‘bottom-up’ (ground-based) measurements of water mass in glaciers, lakes, and below-ground sources, combined with machine learning techniques, to provide a benchmark of observed terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes during the past two decades (2002-2020), and projections over the next four decades (2021-2060).&nbsp;



“Compared to previous studies, establishing consistency between top-down and bottom-up approaches is what gives us confidence in this study that we can accurately measure the declines in TWS&nbsp;that have already occurred in this critical region,” Professor Mann said.



The results revealed that, in recent decades, climate change has led to severe depletion in TWS (- 15.8 gigatons per year) in certain areas of the Tibetan Plateau, and significant increases in others (5.6 gigatons per year), most likely due to the competing effects of glacial retreat, lake expansion, and degradation of seasonally frozen grounds. Under a moderate carbon emissions scenario, the entire Tibetan Plateau could experience a loss of about 230 gigatons by 2060.&nbsp;



Excess water loss projections of the Amu Darya basin (which supplies water to Central Asia and Afghanistan), and the Indus basin (which supplies water to Northern India, Pakistan, and Kashmir) indicate a 119 percent and 79 percent decrease, respectively.&nbsp;



“Our study provides insights into hydrologic processes affecting high-mountain freshwater supplies that serve large downstream Asian populations,” said study co-author Di Long, an associate professor of Hydrologic Engineering at <a href="https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/">Tsinghua University</a>. “By examining the interactions between climate change and the TWS in the historical period and future by 2060, this study serves as a basis to guide future research and the management by governments and institutions of improved adaptation strategies.”



“Substantial reductions in carbon emissions over the next decade, as the U.S. is now on the verge of achieving thanks to the recent Inflation Reduction Act, can limit the additional warming and associated climate changes behind the predicted collapse of the Tibetan Plateau water towers. But even in a best-case scenario, further losses are likely unavoidable, which will require substantial adaptation to decreasing water resources in this vulnerable, highly populated region of the world,” concluded Professor Mann.



---



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

Parts of Asia face irreversible declines in freshwater storage

The Tibetan Plateau – known as the “water tower of...

Nuclear,War

A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> has calculated how much sun-blocking soot would enter the atmosphere from firestorms that would be ignited by the detonation of nuclear weapons in six nuclear war scenarios, ranging from a small India-Pakistan conflict to a massive U.S.- Russia war, based on each country’s nuclear arsenal. 



Using this data, the experts estimated productivity of major crops, such as maize, rice, soybean, or spring wheat on a country-by-country basis, as well as projected changes in livestock pastures and global marine fisheries. The analysis revealed that, following a full-scale nuclear war between U.S. and Russia, over five billion people would die of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/el-nino-drives-millions-of-children-into-hunger/">hunger</a>.



The scientists discovered that, under even the smallest nuclear scenario (a localized war between India and Pakistan), the global average caloric production would decrease by seven percent within five years of the conflict. In the largest war scenario tested (a massive U.S. – Russia nuclear conflict), this percentage would spike to 90 in just three or four years after the war. Crop declines would be most severe in mid-high latitude nations, triggering export restrictions and causing severe disruptions in import-dependent nations in the Middle East and Africa, ultimately leading to a catastrophic disruption of global food markets.



The scientists considered whether using crops generally fed to livestock as human food or reducing food waste would offset these devastating losses in a war’s immediate aftermath, but the savings remain minimal under the large injection scenarios.



“Future work will bring even more granularity to the crop models,” said study lead author Lili Xia, an assistant professor of Environmental Science at Rutgers University. “For instance, the ozone layer would be destroyed by the heating of the stratosphere, producing more ultraviolet radiation at the surface, and we need to understand that impact on food supplies.”



“If nuclear weapons exist, they can be used, and the world has come close to nuclear war several times,” added study senior author Alan Robock, a distinguished professor of Climate Science at the same university. “Banning nuclear weapons is the only long-term solution. The five-year-old UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has been ratified by 66 nations, but none of the nine nuclear states. Our work makes clear that it is time for those nine states to listen to science and the rest of the world and sign this treaty,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00573-0">Nature Food</a>.



---



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

Nuclear war would cause global famine and kill billions

A team of researchers led by Rutgers University has calculated...

At the start and close of each school day, students often have to run the gauntlet through the school drop-off and pick-up zones, dodging buses and cars, and coping with inattentive drivers. This can be dangerous for students and very stressful for parents concerned about their safety, <a href="https://mottpoll.org/reports/parent-traffic-hazardous-student-safety">according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health </a>from <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/">Michigan Medicine</a>.



In the nationally representative survey, conducted in April 2022 by Ipsos Public Affairs for the Hospital, 923 parents of at least one school-going child between the ages of 6 and 12 gave their responses on this issue. Over 50 percent of parents stated that their child traveled to and from school by car, while more than 30 percent used the school bus. Nearly half of the parents said their child had to walk through an area where cars were dropping off or picking up children in order to get to or from the school building. Similarly, a quarter of parents said their child walked through a bus drop-off or pick-up zone on the way to or from the school building.



“Many parents dread returning to the daily hassle of getting kids to school and one of the top concerns involves children safely walking through car and bus traffic,” said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H.



Although 81 percent of the parents surveyed acknowledged that there is supervision in these car and bus access zones, only around 60 percent of these respondents rated the supervision as good. As a result, nearly a third of the parents worry about their child’s safety to and from school, with more than a quarter believing it’s likely that a child will get hurt near the drop-off area.



Parents report several major problems that pose a risk to children’s safety before or after school, including drivers not paying attention (37 percent) or speeding (34 percent). Another major problem arises when parents park in no-parking areas or drop off their child in the wrong location. This can cause a snarl-up in traffic, especially when parents stop in the middle of the road. Other issues that arose in the survey were that children do not stay on the sidewalk and bus drivers do not pay enough attention.&nbsp;



"Most schools have a plan to manage traffic and minimize the need for children to walk in front of or between cars,” Clark said. “When parents don’t follow these rules, it disrupts the traffic flow and may mean other parents have to drop off or pick up their child in the middle of the road. This situation may be even more dangerous if parents are distracted by phones or in a hurry.”



Nearly all the parents surveyed (94 percent) felt that school officials should take action when parents do not follow traffic rules near the school. This action could involve warnings or infringement tickets from law enforcement officials, while 30 percent of parents felt those who failed to follow the traffic rules should be suspended or banned from using the school parking area. This approach would have to be undertaken with great caution, however, to prevent banned parents from dropping their children off in an even more dangerous location, such as along a busy road outside the school grounds.&nbsp;



Parents were in favor of having school officials on duty in the parking areas at the beginning and end of each school day, to make sure that drivers of cars and buses were following the safety rules. They also suggested that schools could put up cones, gates and other barriers to direct traffic flow more efficiently.&nbsp;



“Parents in our report overwhelmingly want school officials to be more proactive in addressing school traffic problems,” Clark said.



According to the survey report, one way for schools to decrease the traffic congestion near the school is to encourage more students to walk, or ride a bike or scooter to school. Of the 923 parents in the survey, only seven percent reported that their child walked to school, and only one percent rode a bicycle or scooter. These modes of traveling to and from school each day provide valuable exercise for children and can increase their self-confidence.&nbsp;



Schools could encourage more students to walk or ride to school by informing them and their parents of safe routes and by manning pedestrian crossways at intersections on busy access roads. In addition, schools may work with city officials or parent-teacher associations to set up bike lanes, which would help reassure parents about the safety of their child during travel to and from school. Parents may even accompany their child as he or she rides or walks to school, making sure that good safety habits are followed and that the child knows the traffic rules.



“Parents should first ensure they are consistently following the traffic rules themselves. They can also take steps to prepare their child to travel safely to and from school by making sure they always look both ways for traffic,” said Clark.



“School officials should also do their part to be aware of any safety concerns and strictly enforce rules. Ultimately, the responsibility for keeping kids safe lies with the adults in the school community, including parents, bus drivers, school officials, and law enforcement."



---



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

Parents worry about safety at snarled up school parking areas

At the start and close of each school day, students...

The Anthropocene is an unofficial unit of geological time defined as the most recent period in our planet’s history, starting in the 1950s, when human activities began to have a significant impact on the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. During this time, humans have increasingly modified natural landscapes and endangered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-loss-weakens-ecosystem-functioning/">biodiversity</a>.&nbsp;



According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>, small animal communities from the Anthropocene are less diverse and differently structured than those a few centuries ago, during the Holocene (approximately 500 years ago). Fortunately, the experts found that even small protected spaces can play a fundamental role in conserving native small mammal communities, highlighting their importance for urban conservation projects.&nbsp;



Small mammals such as rats or shrews are excellent indicators of ecosystem health. This is due to their abundant numbers, small individual geographic ranges, habitat specificity, and low extinction rates caused by their high fertility and growth rate.



The researchers surveyed small mammal communities along a geographical gradient of human modification – the Jasper Ridge Biological Reserve (least human modification), Stanford’s Student Observatory (average human modification), and the Stanford University campus (high human modification). The scientists found that, although they are fairly resistant to extinctions, small mammal communities are often altered by human activities and environmental changes in less obvious ways.



“We examined thousands of small mammal bones and teeth from modern (Anthropocene) raptor pellets and three (Holocene) archaeological sites along the gradient, representing different levels of human modification today,” said study lead author Maria Viteri, an expert in Conservation Science, Ecology, and Paleontology at Stanford.



The analysis led to three major findings. “First, small mammal diversity decreased with increasing human modification today. Second, the overall make-up of today's small mammal communities is fundamentally distinct from past communities, even 500 years ago,” Viteri reported.&nbsp;



Luckily, the third finding was much more optimistic: “Our results demonstrate that even a relatively small, protected space can at least partially protect native faunal communities.”&nbsp;



Although previous research has argued that larger protected areas do a better job of conserving biodiversity, this study shows the importance of smaller protected areas in urban environments, where large spaces for conservation are lacking.&nbsp;



“The study shows that the way that we manage lands matters, and that it is not too late to protect our lands in order to protect biodiversity.” However, “while biological preserves can buffer biodiversity change across spatiotemporal gradients of human impact, they cannot completely mitigate the overwhelming signal of the Anthropocene on today’s ecosystems,” Viteri concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.916239/full">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.



---



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

Small mammals of the Anthropocene are deeply altered

The Anthropocene is an unofficial unit of geological time defined...

Research aircrafts are flying through the heart of Arctic storms this summer to better understand how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-climate-change-affect-extreme-weather-events/">weather</a> systems are affecting polar sea ice.



Temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth. Climate change has altered sea ice dramatically, making it thinner, easier to break up and more susceptible to winds and storms.



During the summer, Arctic cyclones are hazardous weather events that affect the polar environment. They can impact sea ice movement and trigger rapid ice loss, which further influences the development of cyclones. These storms can measure thousands of kilometers in diameter and can persist for several days or weeks, often moving south outside the Arctic circle.



For the first time, two aircrafts will be flying 60 missions from the Norwegian Arctic to study summer cyclones. This will create a detailed picture of how the ice and ocean interact with the atmosphere above to better simulate climate prediction models.



As a result of global warming, sea ice is becoming thinner across large areas of the Arctic Ocean each and every summer. This means that winds can move the ice more easily, which in turn can influence weather systems. As a result, predicting changes to the Arctic environment has now become difficult in both the short and long term.



The dramatic changes in Arctic ice are expected to become increasingly important for global climate, which makes them an urgent research topic.



“Arctic cyclones are understood far less than those in temperate regions, making them even harder to predict," said Professor John Methven of the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a>.&nbsp;



“This project will examine Arctic summertime cyclones from above, below and right in their midst. It will shed light on the relationship between sea ice and the atmosphere above, which will provide invaluable data to improve understanding of how climate change is affecting this globally important region.”



Flights are taking place from July 27th to August 24th. During the first week, strong northerly winds temporarily slowed sea ice retreat due to recent heat waves in the region. This and a forecast for an Arctic cyclone to track across Svalbard over the weekend have provided ideal conditions for the first flights.



A team of UK scientists are flying in the British Antarctic (BAS) Survey Twin Otter plane based from Longyearbyen in Svalbard, the most northerly town on Earth. The team is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.



The flights will observe the ocean and sea ice, with a particular focus on where ice is breaking up. They will monitor turbulence, heat and moisture in the lower atmosphere and taking detailed measurements of physical properties of the sea ice such as surface height, roughness and temperature.



“Recent decades have seen a dramatic fall in Arctic sea ice area and cyclones appear to both slow down and speed up the ice decline, depending on the time of the year," said Professor Ian Renfrew of the University of East Anglia.



"The physical processes are unclear and one of our aims is to investigate the effect of the cyclones on the sea ice and the effect of the sea ice distribution on the cyclones."



Scientists from France and the USA are conducting additional flights in the SAFIRE ATR42 plane, equipped with radar and infrared sensors. The experts will take 3D measurements of the movement of clouds and the droplets within them from above during cyclone conditions.



The second team is funded by the Office of Naval Research (United States) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research and National Centre for space Studies (France).&nbsp;



---



By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Arctic storms will increasingly affect global climate

Research aircrafts are flying through the heart of Arctic storms...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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</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...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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"

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