A walk in the forest often brings peace, calm, and a deep sense of renewal. From ancient times to modern therapy practices, forests have stood as symbols of balance and healing. But not all forests heal equally. 



As cities grow and public health concerns rise, scientists are uncovering how the design and structure of forests matter. The health benefits we get from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cities-in-the-global-south-have-far-less-green-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">green spaces</a>, especially forests, depend not just on their presence, but on what they are made of.



A new study from the University of Surrey and the <a href="https://www.ugent.be/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Ghent</a> sheds light on this. Working with partners across Europe, the research team explored how specific features of forests influence human health. 



The findings mark a major step in understanding the complex links between ecological structure and wellbeing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-traits-and-human-health-benefits">Forest traits and human health benefits </h2>



The study, which is part of the larger Dr. Forest research project, included 164 forests across five European countries. The researchers focused on seven ecological characteristics and their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-green-spaces-are-urgently-needed-across-the-global-south/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">influence</a> on various health outcomes.



The forests were not selected at random. They varied in structure, species mix, and density, allowing researchers to draw comparisons. This wide range of forest types provided a rare opportunity to explore how real-world differences affect human experiences and health.



The goal was not to judge forests as good or bad, but to understand how their differences shaped people’s health responses. What emerged was a nuanced view. Forests benefit health, but their structure can amplify or limit those effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-power-of-tree-diversity">The power of tree diversity</h2>



One of the key traits studied was tree species diversity. The findings showed that more diverse forests offered modest but positive health <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-tree-layout-influences-human-health-and-mortality-rates/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outcomes</a>. These effects were not dramatic, but they were consistent enough to support the idea that diversity is beneficial.



Tree diversity does not just matter for human health. It also supports broader biodiversity, helping insects, birds, and mammals thrive. This makes it a safe, low-risk strategy for forest managers aiming to enhance public health while improving ecosystem resilience.



More tree species create different textures, shapes, and colors, making forests more visually stimulating and ecologically stable. These aspects can subtly influence how people feel and behave when they visit such areas. 



While the direct health impacts may be limited, the indirect ones, through enhanced engagement and ecosystem strength, are valuable.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-canopy-structure-a-major-influence">Canopy structure: A major influence</h2>



Among the ecological features studied, canopy structure had the strongest impact. Dense canopies reduce heat by offering shade and help regulate the forest's internal climate. They also provide larger leaf surfaces, which trap fine particulate matter and improve air quality.



These benefits are especially important in urban settings, where heatwaves and pollution are on the rise. In such contexts, a well-structured canopy becomes more than a luxury. It is a necessity. The cooling effect alone can reduce heat stress and the risk of heat-related illnesses.



Yet, there are trade-offs. Denser canopies create more humid conditions. While that is good for moisture-loving plants, it also creates ideal habitats for ticks, which carry Lyme disease. 



In addition, less sunlight reaches the forest floor. This limits the growth of medicinal plants, reducing some of the forest's potential healing properties.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-health-gains-beyond-structure">Mental health gains beyond structure</h2>



Perhaps the most consistent finding across the study was the benefit of simply being in a forest. Regardless of structure or biodiversity, spending time in a forest improved mental wellbeing. People reported lower anxiety and stress, along with more positive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprising-mental-health-benefits-of-living-near-green-spaces/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a>.



What enhanced these effects was how natural and biodiverse the forest felt to the visitor. Forests that looked wild, vibrant, and untamed tended to offer more psychological relief. This suggests that human perception plays a key role in shaping forest-based experiences.



“Our study shows that forests generally provide a mental health benefit, reducing anxiety and stress, regardless of their biodiversity or structure. As one in six people in England experience anxiety and depression each week, this research suggests that simply being in a forest can improve mental health,” noted Dr. Melissa Marselle, a lecturer in environmental psychology at the <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Surrey</a>.



“For the UK, this means preserving urban forests so people can easily access forests where they live, work and play for their mental wellbeing. Contact with forests could be prescribed by the NHS, as research shows that NHS nature prescriptions are effective at improving mental health.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-designing-healthier-cities-with-forests">Designing healthier cities with forests </h2>



The study points to a pressing need in urban planning. It is not enough to plant trees and call it a forest. The structure, layout, and biodiversity of these spaces must be considered. Urban forests should reduce heat, absorb pollution, and offer mental rest.



This involves difficult trade-offs. Canopy density must balance between cooling the environment and letting in enough light. Species choices should consider both ecological function and visual appeal. Forests must feel natural to the human eye while also being safe and accessible.



Planners and health professionals can now use this evidence to shape better public spaces. Health services could integrate forest access into mental health treatments. Parks could be designed not just for recreation but also for healing. In a time when stress-related disorders are rising, these changes could make a meaningful difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forests-are-essential-tools-for-public-health">Forests are essential tools for public health</h2>



This research redefines the role of forests. No longer just natural assets or scenic spots, they emerge as powerful contributors to public health. But their power lies in their details. Forests must be built, preserved, and managed with intention.



Tree diversity adds depth and life. Canopy structure shapes the microclimate and air. Visitor perceptions tie it all together. Forests that feel alive and balanced bring calm and strength to those who enter them.



Nature has always played a quiet role in healing. Now, with evidence in hand, we have the chance to shape that role more deliberately. Managed well, forests can support both ecosystems and the people who rely on them for peace and mental clarity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01547-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Sustainability</a>.



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Forests provide different health benefits based on their structure

A walk in the forest often brings peace, calm, and a deep sense of renewal. From ancient times to modern therapy practices, forests have stood as symbols of balance and healing. But not all forests heal equally. As cities grow and public health concerns rise, scientists are uncovering how the design and structure of forests matter. The health benefits we get from green spaces, especially forests, depend not just on their presence, but on what they are made of. A new study from the University of Surrey...

A team of social psychologists at the <a href="https://home.www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> set out to investigate whether the concept of moral character is universal by studying populations outside of the Western world. 

Research focused on the Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania revealed that these indigenous people agree on what qualities are characteristic of morality, yet hold different views of who has such virtue.

The team interviewed Hadza people, asking them to rank others on a number of qualities, including who has a good heart, is the most giving, and who is the most hard-working. Overall, the researchers had 94 judges rank their campmates on global character and relevant character traits for a total of 824 observations.

The study revealed that while Hadza could all agree on the importance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/people-generous-live-strangers/">generosity</a> and hard work for outstanding moral character, they had conflicting ideas of who among them best represented these traits.

"It's not that the Hadza do not have a concept of morality or don't care about it. They agreed on what traits contributed to moral character. But they cannot agree on who exemplifies it," explained study lead author Kristopher Smith.

The Hadza live in small nomadic tribes and shift from group to group, which means the social structure of each tribe is constantly changing. According to scientists, this nomadic way of life provides a unique opportunity to explore the origins of human cooperation.

Even though the Hadza are a modern society, the experts note that their way of life is more similar to how our human ancestors lived than to western societies. 

In a previous study, the team discovered that generosity depended on a group's dynamic. While a generous group led members to be more generous, a stingy group led to less sharing. 

Study co-author Professor Coren Apicella said that mobility and changing group dynamics may explain the current findings as well, noting that "the changing of groups and behavior may make it difficult for individuals to track and agree on moral reputations."

Smith said the study results suggest that there is little consistency in moral behavior across different circumstances for the Hadza, and that "reputation may have played a smaller role in the evolution of morality."

"Understanding how moral psychology differs across cultures and in different social systems may provide insight into ways to improve our interactions with one another, and maybe overcome moral disagreements in our society."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/spp">Social Psychological and Personality Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/franco lucato

Hunter-gathers agree on the importance of morality and generosity

A team of social psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania...

In a new study conducted by a team of economists in Canada, people who have visible <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/people-getting-tattoos-2000-years-ago/">tattoos</a> were found to be more impulsive and hasty in their decision-making compared to individuals who do not have tattoos. 

The team set out to understand why tattoos, which were once primarily reserved for motorcycle gang members and prison inmates, have become so increasingly popular and mainstream. The experts said that this rise in popularity "constitutes one of the most significant cultural trends in the West."

Study co-author Bradley Ruffle is a behavioral economist and a professor at <a href="https://www.mcmaster.ca/">McMaster University</a>.

"I'm an economist. From an economic perspective this decision to have a tattoo is puzzling," Professor Ruffle told <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/">The Times</a>. "Tattoos are about making some kind of statement. But why not just dye your hair or get a personalized T-shirt you can remove?"

In the United States, around 45 million adults have at least one tattoo. In 2014 alone, the American tattoo industry racked up a massive $3 billion in revenue. Young adults are particularly eager to get inked, with some studies estimating that nearly 40 percent of 18- to 29-years olds have a tattoo.

The McMaster study was designed to examine how individual thought processes may vary among people with and without tattoos. Of more than 1,000 participants, 781 had no tattoos and 255 had at least one tattoo, including 68 people who had tattoos that were visible when they were fully clothed. 

The participants were presented with a game used to assess long-term planning ability, including a monetary test which offered a greater payday for those individuals who waited longer to cash out. The individuals were given two options: one that would earn them $1.00 in 18 hours and one that would grant them a larger sum of $2.50 in three weeks.

The study revealed that the non-tattooed participants chose the more lucrative option, while the majority of the visibly tattooed participants did not take the time to think their decisions through and settled for less money. The researchers observed that tattooed participants also answered a simple logic question impulsively.

Professor Ruffle pointed out that these traits identified in people with tattoos are not always bad qualities to have. "Sometimes it’s good to make decisions fast," he explained. "If you’re a professional basketball player and you need to decide whether to shoot or pass, you don’t want someone who stands there and deliberates."

The research is published in the <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-economic-behavior-and-organization">Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Olena Yakobchuk

People with tattoos tend to be more impulsive, new study finds

In a new study conducted by a team of economists...

Those who have their homes damaged by extreme weather events like a hurricane or flood are at risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues, according to a new study. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a> and the <a href="http://natcen.ac.uk/">National Centre for Social Research</a> discovered that even when the damage is minor, living through an extreme weather event impacts mental health. 

The risks to mental health after having your home damaged are the same as the mental health risks linked to living in a disadvantaged area. 

For the study, the researchers reviewed and analyzed data from the <a href="http://natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey/">Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS)</a>, which is a large UK mental health survey. 

In 2014, fieldwork surveys for the APMS questioned participants about weather damage to their homes from December 2013 through March 2014, a period when UK residents experienced serious winter storms and flooding. 

Over 10,000 properties were flooded during those six months. 

After taking into account other influencing risk factors, the researchers found that people who had their homes flooded or dealt with other storm damage had a 50 percent increased risk of experiencing mental health issues. 

The study highlights that the high mental health risks associated with weather damage to homes, and the researchers suggest that mental health support be included in recovery efforts and emergency planning.

With climate change expected to increase temperature and precipitation, storms and flooding will <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-waters-increase-extreme-storms/">become more severe</a>. The number of UK properties that could be damaged in a major flood could increase by 41 percent if global temperatures rise below two degrees Celsius.  

“With extreme weather events on the rise due to climate change, environmental and health policies need to be brought much more closely together,” said Hilary Graham, the lead author of the study. “This means recognising that flood protection policies are also health protection policies and that better protecting communities from floods is also an investment in protecting their mental health.”

The study was published in the journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 

---

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/MDay Photography

Extreme weather events increase the risk of mental health issues

Those who have their homes damaged by extreme weather events...

Mothers talk more with their sons if they’re dissatisfied with their partners. A new study from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> suggests that mothers focus more on bonding with their infant sons when their romantic partner is letting them down. The researchers found that moms spend more time talking to the babies when they are dissatisfied with their male partners, but this was only observed when the infants were boys.

While it has been well-established that new babies can put a strain on the parents' relationship, the potential consequences for the child remain largely unknown. Furthermore, the effects of parent-infant talk can contribute greatly to a child's early learning and development, yet this topic has also been understudied. 

The Cambridge team set out to examine the connection between the quality of a couple's relationship and parent-infant talk by analyzing interactions among 93 heterosexual couples and their first-born infants. 

Parents were asked to report on the quality of their romantic relationship and to rate how satisfied they were. At the age of seven months, infants were equipped with a wearable "talk pedometer" that recorded parent-infant talk for a full day when both parents were at home.

The researchers used software that provided an automated analysis of the frequency of words spoken to the infant, as well as the rate of parent-infant "conversations."

The study revealed that the more a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/couples-arguments-live-longer/">couple</a> reported feeling dissatisfied, the more the mother interacted with her infant. Mothers who rated the quality of their relationship as being "low" used around 35 percent more words and initiated 20 percent more conversations compared with mothers who rated their relationship as being "average." 

Notably, however, the disgruntled moms only seemed to engage in extra parent-infant conversations when the babies were boys, and not when they were girls. The content of these conversations was not analyzed, so it is not clear whether the moms were complaining or speaking positively with the babies. 

"It's possible that the mum is trying to compensate for the poor relationship she has with her partner by putting more time and effort into her relationship with her other close male social partner, her son," said Dr. Elian Fink.

"What is particularly interesting is that mums only seem to compensate when they have infant sons, not daughters. It could be that mothers view their daughters as mini versions of themselves rather than of their partners."

Fathers were found to initiate significantly fewer conversations with the infants, regardless of gender. On the other hand, the amount of time they spent talking to the babies was not correlated with the quality of the relationship they had with their partners.

"Even when dads spend more time around their infants, this doesn't necessarily mean they are interacting with them more," said Dr. Fink. "One possible reason may be that there's still an imbalance in who responds to the basic care needs of their infant. So, for example, if it's the mother who still shoulders the burden of changing the nappy, this at least offers an opportune time to engage in direct communication with her infant."

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.apa.org/journals/fam">Journal of Family Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Falcona

Mothers talk more with their sons if they’re dissatisfied with their partners

Mothers talk more with their sons if they’re dissatisfied with...

The Trump administration has just introduced a plan that may undermine ongoing efforts to shift to energy-saving light bulbs. If approved, the legislation will weaken restrictions on billions of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/incandescent-light-bulbs/">light bulbs</a> - regulations that could potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tons.  

Over the past decade, LED light bulbs have begun to gradually replace the less energy-efficient incandescent bulbs, which were set to be completely phased out next year under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The filing by the Department of Energy (DOE), however, could prevent the new efficiency standards from going into effect on January 1st.

Noah Horowitz, the director of the Center for Energy Efficiency Standards at the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> (NRDC), indicated that the amendment will be met with opposition.

"We will explore all options, including litigation, to stop this completely misguided and unlawful action,” Horowitz said in a statement. "The Trump administration is illegally blocking the improved standards approved by a bipartisan Congress and supported by the lighting industry 12 years ago."

According to a report in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/">The New York Times</a>, LED bulbs are a great example of how small technological shifts can make a huge difference. The energy efficiency of LED light bulbs can save consumers an estimated $50 to $100 over their long lifespans of several years. 

"U.S. household energy consumption is down 6 percent since 2010, and this is due in part to the increase in the use of energy-efficient lighting," UC Berkeley Professor Lucas Davis told the New York Times. 

Horowitz's team estimated that bringing efficient bulbs to all six billion light sockets in the United States could save $14 billion in 2025. He explained that these savings are equivalent to the electricity generated by 25 large power plants.

"Energy-wasting incandescents and halogens still make up more than a third of new bulb sales," said Horowitz. "We need standards to ensure every new bulb sold is an efficient one.”

Jason Hartke, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, said that the DOE "flat out got it wrong" when striking the 2007 act.

"Instead of moving us forward, this rule will keep more energy-wasting bulbs on store shelves and saddle the average American household with about $100 in unnecessary energy costs every year," said Hartke. "Wasting energy with inefficient light bulbs isn't just costly for homes and businesses, it's terrible for our climate."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/BlurryMe

Trump admin aims to weaken light bulb energy efficiency standards

The Trump administration has just introduced a plan that may...

Vegetarians and vegans have a lowered risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) but may have a higher risk of stroke, according to a new study. 

There are many proposed health benefits to cutting down meat consumption and people are changing up their diets for environmental and sustainability reasons as well. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> examined the protective benefits of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-based-diets-nutrient/">plant-based diets</a> as well as the potential risks. 

The comprehensive study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l4897">BMJ</a>. 

The researchers reviewed and analyzed data on 48,188 people with an average age of 45 and no history of coronary heart disease or stroke who were part of the <a href="http://www.epic-oxford.org/">EPIC-Oxford</a> study.

Participants were recruited for the EPIC study between 1993 and 2001, and there were 24,428 meat-eaters, 7,506 pescetarians, and 16,254 vegetarians and vegans. 

Throughout the study period, there were 2,820 reported cases of coronary heart disease and 1,072 strokes. 

The researchers ruled out any influencing factors like smoking or physical fitness. 

Pescetarians and vegetarians had a lower risk of coronary heart disease. Per 1,000 people, there were ten fewer cases of CHD in vegetarians compared to meat-eaters over ten years. 

However, even though vegetarians had a 22 percent lower risk of CHD, vegetarians and vegans had a 20 percent higher risk of stroke compared to meat-eaters. 

The higher stroke risk could be linked to lower nutrient levels and circulating cholesterol, but more research is needed to confirm these findings and identify a cause. 

The study is also limited, not by its large sample size or long-term monitoring period, but because the participants were mainly white Europeans.

“Relevance to vegetarians worldwide must also be considered,” Mark Lawrence, a professor at Deakin University, said in an accompanying <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l5272">editorial</a>. “Participants were all from the UK where dietary patterns and other lifestyle behaviours are likely very different from those prevalent in low and middle-income countries where most of the world’s vegetarians live.”

Lawrence also notes that just because plant-based diets are gaining a lot of attention, it does not mean people have to cut out animal products or meat entirely. 

“Indeed, populations in some low and middle-income countries who consume very low amounts of animal source foods may benefit from being able to eat a little more of these foods to gain additional nutrients necessary to help combat all forms of malnutrition,” said Lawrence. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Alexandra Anschiz

Vegetarian diet lowers risk of coronary heart disease but may raise stroke risk

Vegetarians and vegans have a lowered risk of coronary heart...

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic growth. Scientists have created a new mathematical model that will provide support for environmental taxation without slowing economic growth. 

These environmental taxes are a result of the worldwide “green development” movement in which governments are proposing said taxes on climate-harming products like carbon emissions in order to promote environmentally friendly practices. 

Few studies have quantified the effects of environmental taxes on linked factors involved in green development. So researchers from <a href="http://eng.ujs.edu.cn/">Jiangsu University</a> developed a mathematical model that shows the relationships between environmental taxation, economic growth, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-epa/">pollution emissions</a>, and utilization of resources like water and fossil fuels. 

They applied their model to real-world data and analyzed the toll environmental taxes had on China.

The team found that environmental taxes can not only help stimulate economic growth, but also decrease emissions and improve resource utilization. Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic growth. 

Furthermore, they found that benefits of an environmental tax are heightened by advanced technology, increased consumer awareness, and strict government control.

The hope is that this mathematical model can be applied to other countries interested in exploring the effects of environmental taxation.

Their model and research is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221264">published in PLOS ONE</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/24Novembers

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax

Mathematical model shows that environmental tax will not slow economic...

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and precipitation. The urban heat island effect describes when city temperatures are much higher than in surrounding rural areas. Densely packed populations, asphalt roads, high-rise buildings, and traffic all contribute to the urban heat island effect. 

The size and intensity of a city’s urban heat island depend largely on precipitation levels, which is why there is no simple solution to mitigating urban heat island effect. 

In a new study, researchers from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en.html">ETH Zurich</a>, and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University </a>developed a framework that creates custom strategies to help reduce energy use and <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/mapping-temperatures-across-urban-heat-islands/">keep cities cooler. </a>

The researchers designed a simple model that uses population and precipitation data. Summer temperature data from more than 30,000 cities worldwide were included in the framework. 

“There are a few cities -- New York, London, Baltimore -- that are studied intensively, and we don’t know very much about a large range of other cities,” said Elie Bou-Zeid, an author of the study. “With a reduced model that only needs information on precipitation and population, we are hoping to provide a simple framework that can give guidance to any city.”

While high levels of rainfall are linked to rising city temperatures, this effect has its limits. For cities that get around 39 inches of rain each year, city temperatures do not increase much more than two degrees Fahrenheit. 

[caption id="attachment_1877389" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cities.png"><img class="wp-image-1877389" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cities.png" alt="" width="650" height="366" /></a> Cities are marked by colored dots that correspond to the intensity of their urban heat island effect, Image Credit:[/caption]

The team found that wetter cities require different approaches to tackling urban heat island effect compared to drier regions. It has been suggested that planting more vegetation and creating ample green space can keep temperatures down, but in wetter cities planting more trees won’t reduce temperatures. 

“In places that are already wet and vegetated, adding more vegetation is not going to help,” explained Bou-Zeid.

One the other hand, cities with drier climates like those in Arizona could benefit significantly from more vegetation.

The researchers will continue fine-tuning their model to include factors like how seasonal changes impact urban heat island. 

“Our results show that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reduce city-scale warming,” said Gabriele Manoli, the lead author of the study. “The efficiency of heat mitigation strategies varies across geographic regions, and any effort aimed at greening and cooling world cities should be put in the context of local hydro-climatic conditions.” 

The researchers published their findings in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1512-9">Nature.</a>

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/TWStock

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and precipitation

Strategies to keep major cities cool depend on location and...

While it may seem that a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/barn-owls-improve-navigational-devices/">white barn owl</a> would be at a competitive disadvantage when it is lit up by the moonlight, experts have discovered one way that these shiny feathers work to their advantage. The researchers have demonstrated that, under full-moon conditions, the white plumage causes the barn owl's preferred prey to freeze in place for longer. 

The team set out to determine how moonlight may affect the fitness of nocturnal species with distinctly different colors by studying the hunting success of red and white barn owls. The research was focused on data from long-term monitoring and high-resolution global positioning system tracking. 

Led by Alexandre Roulin at the <a href="https://www.unil.ch/central/en/home.html">University of Lausanne</a>, the team found that despite the fact that white owls were more conspicuous on moonlit nights, they still managed to catch more rodents than red owls. This is counterintuitive considering that the reddest owls are much more camouflaged under a bright moon. 

To investigate, the experts designed an experiment in which they flew taxidermied owls on a zip wire to observe the responses of voles, which are naturally startled by bright lights. As the moonlight reflected off of the white feathers, the voles froze in place longer, giving the owls a better opportunity to catch them.

According to the experts, this may explain why both types of barn owl colors persist. White barn owls may be favored under certain conditions, but the birds’ white plumage causes them to be easily detected by competitors like carrion crows when the moon is not shining brightly.

"Our study shows that the moon differently affects the hunting performance and reproductive success and timing of barn owls with contrasting plumage colorations," wrote the researchers. "This supports the longstanding, untested hypothesis that moonlight influences coloration of nocturnal animals, particularly by uncovering a link between fitness proxies, moonlight and coloration that was missing in previous studies."

"Moreover, our study raises the possibility that the unique white coloration of barn owls might be favored by moonlight owing to the effect that the light being reflected from white plumage has on the prey’s behavior."

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/FJAH

White barn owls have surprising hunting success under a bright moon

While it may seem that a white barn owl would...

Young adults with a childhood history of exposure to the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/employees-criminal-records-jobs/">criminal justice system</a> are nearly three times as likely to develop depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to their peers, according to a new study. These individuals are also twice as likely to suffer from anxiety as young adults. 

Study lead author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris is a pediatrician at <a href="https://www.luriechildrens.org/">Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago</a> and an instructor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"This is a particularly vulnerable and understudied population. Incarceration impacts families across generations, and youth who had a parent in jail or prison more often find themselves in the juvenile justice system," said Dr. Heard-Garris. "Young adults with histories of both juvenile incarceration and parental incarceration as children had a strong association with poor mental health outcomes in young adulthood."

In the United States, five million children have had a parent incarcerated. These kids are estimated to have triple the rate of involvement in the juvenile justice system compared to children with no history of parental incarceration.

The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to Adult Health to investigate the mental health outcomes of children exposed to both parental incarceration and the juvenile justice system. 

"Our analyses highlight that a history of both parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement occurs for 1 out of every 100 U.S. children overall and is disproportionately more common among youth of color," said Dr. Heard-Garris.

However, the researchers determined that children with dual incarceration exposure had an increased likelihood of developing mental health issues regardless of race, or any other relevant factors like age and family structure.

In addition, the poor mental health outcomes associated with a history of parental incarceration or juvenile justice involvement were found to occur independently of one another.

"Currently parental incarceration is considered an adverse childhood experience, but juvenile justice involvement is not," said Dr. Heard-Garris. "Given the increased risk for poor mental health outcomes we found in our study, perhaps we should also consider juvenile justice involvement an adverse childhood experience and start screening youth for any incarceration exposure during typical healthcare visits. This would allow us to further support vulnerable patients by connecting them with appropriate resources."

The study is published in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/RimDream

Childhood exposure to incarceration causes depression later in life

Young adults with a childhood history of exposure to the...

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to girls, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html">Centers for Disease Control</a>, but researchers have yet to understand why this disproportion exists.  

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers from the <a href="https://home.www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> and the <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/">Western University</a> have confidently ruled out any direct link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/autism-less-empathy/">characteristic of some spectrum disorders.</a> 

 The researchers conducted two randomized controlled studies exploring how testosterone impacts cognitive empathy, which allows people to interpret another’s emotions. 

 It’s been suggested by past research that testosterone can limit cognitive empathy, but studies on the subject were limited by small sample sizes and had inconclusive results. 

For this study, 643 men, all in good health, were given either testosterone or a placebo. Next, the participants were asked to complete questionnaires and behavioral tasks to measure cognitive empathy. 

In one experiment, the participants had to guess the emotional state and expression of an actor by looking at a picture of their eyes. 

The testosterone, applied as a gel, did raise hormone levels, but the researchers found no evidence of the gel impairing empathy or ability to answer the cognitive empathy test questions correctly.

“The results are plain,” said Nave. “However, it’s important to note that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. We found that there is no evidence to support this effect of testosterone, but that doesn’t rule out any possible effects. From what we know, though, it seems that if testosterone does have an influence, the effect is complex, not linear.” 

The researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Africa Studio

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of...

The very clothes you’re wearing may be one of the biggest contributors to your carbon footprint. With ‘fast fashion’ clothing companies quickly and consistently releasing new items for incredibly low prices, consumers are buying new clothes more frequently. 

The charity organization <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/en">Oxfam</a> recently published a report on the fast fashion environmental crisis. The report shows how brands and stores like Zara, Forever21, and Topshop produce tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. 

<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-day-2019-fashion-industrys-carbon-impact-is-bigger-than-airline-industrys/">CBS</a> reported that apparel and footwear companies have more of an impact on atmospheric emissions and the global climate than all international airline flights and shipping vessels combined.  

According to Oxfam, the fast fashion trend produces the same amount of carbon emissions every two minutes as would be produced by a car driving around the world six times. 

To calculate the impact of fast fashion emissions, Oxfam looked at how many emissions are produced by buying new clothing in the UK from manufacturer to consumer.

Everything from sourcing materials to producing collections to selling to washing and throwing away clothes produces emissions and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-fashion-rayon/">impacts the environment</a>. 

Many fast-fashion companies take advantage of cheap materials and fabrics which shed microplastics when washed and don’t have a long shelf-life. 

However, even buying a simple 100 percent cotton shirt can produce almost 24 pounds of greenhouse gases.  

“These staggering facts about fashion’s impact on the planet and the world’s poorest people should make us all think twice before buying something new to wear,” said 

Danny Sriskandarajah, the Chief Executive of Oxfam. “We are in a climate emergency - we can no longer turn a blind eye to the emissions produced by new clothes or turn our backs on garment workers paid a pittance who are unable to earn their way out of poverty no matter how many hours they work.” 

Consumers need to be aware of the impact their purchasing power has on the environment. As appealing as fast fashion clothing is, Oxfam recommends that people consider buying second-hand clothes and donating when it’s time to clean out the closet. 

The new report was released in time to promote the <a href="https://oxfamapps.org/secondhandseptember/">Second Hand September campaign</a> where participating consumers promise not to buy anything new for one month. 

“By taking part in Second Hand September, we are also sending a clear message to the clothing industry that we don’t want to buy clothes that harm our planet and the people in it,” said Sriskandarajah. “Together we can make a difference and help reduce fast fashion’s impact on people and the environment.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sorbis

Fast fashion has an enormous carbon footprint

The very clothes you’re wearing may be one of the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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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

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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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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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

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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

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video 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 history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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