Why do we act selflessly, even when it costs us? This mystery has long intrigued scientists. New work from the University of Amsterdam now reframes one of biology’s most famous ideas: Hamilton’s Rule.



Published in the journal eLife, the study provides a mathematical update that reshapes how we think about altruism and cooperation.



First proposed in the 1960s, Hamilton’s Rule suggests that altruism <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-customer-courtesy-kindness-transforms-service-quality-and-job-satisfaction/">evolves</a> when the benefits to others, weighted by genetic relatedness, outweigh the cost to oneself. Simply put, helping relatives can improve the survival of shared genes.



But controversy has never left this idea. Some scientists have argued that Hamilton’s rule almost never holds, while others have placed it alongside natural selection as a universal principle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-many-rules-of-cooperation">Many rules of cooperation</h2>



The new analysis shows that Hamilton’s Rule is not a single law but part of a family of related rules. Each version applies in different situations, depending on how traits influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/childhood-kindness-linked-to-healthier-teen-choices/">survival</a> and reproduction.



"For years, the debate has been about whether Hamilton’s Rule is universal," said Matthijs van Veelen, the study’s author and professor at the <a href="https://www.uva.nl/en">University of Amsterdam</a>. 



"What I show is that it’s not a single rule, but is in fact many different versions that work in different situations. That means both sides of the debate were partly right."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cooperation-grounded-in-equations">Cooperation grounded in equations</h2>



This insight comes from the Generalized Price equation, an updated framework that reconnects evolutionary models with statistics. 



The framework shows that for every possible model of how traits influence fitness, there is a corresponding Price-like Equation. In turn, each equation yields a version of Hamilton’s Rule.



Earlier debates focused on whether Hamilton’s Rule “holds,” but the paper explains why that question is ill-posed. The real task is to ask which version of the rule fits a given case.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-cooperation-gets-complicated">When cooperation gets complicated</h2>



The study highlights that actual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-bacteria-influence-our-social-behavior-and-sense-of-fairness/">social behaviors</a> in nature are rarely as simple as early models suggested. Interactions among individuals often do not add up in straightforward ways.



Instead, they involve nonlinear effects, where the impact of one individual’s action depends heavily on what others around them are doing. For example, the benefit of helping might increase when many group members cooperate at the same time, but it could disappear or even reverse when only a few cooperate.



Because of this, Hamilton’s Rule cannot always be described with a neat equation of cost versus benefit. In situations with these nonlinear dynamics, researchers need to include higher-order terms in the formula.



These extra terms account for the fact that cooperation can change its effect depending on population size, structure, or frequency of the behavior. 



Without those additions, simple cost–benefit equations may look correct on paper but fail to capture the real biological meaning behind the interaction. In other words, they can be technically true but practically useless.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hamilton-s-rule-strengthened">Hamilton’s Rule strengthened</h2>



Earlier, biologist David Queller had already suggested adjustments to Hamilton’s rule by incorporating non-additive effects into the framework. His approach acknowledged that cooperation does not always scale linearly and that frequency dependence matters. 



However, the new work by Matthijs van Veelen strengthens this idea by giving it a rigorous mathematical foundation. His general version of Hamilton’s Rule ensures that these extensions are not just clever tweaks but part of a consistent, statistically sound framework.



This places the study of altruism on much firmer ground, showing how cooperation can be explained across a wide range of complex social systems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ending-the-altruism-debate">Ending the altruism debate</h2>



By clarifying these theoretical foundations, the study makes the decades-old question of universality obsolete. It shows that multiple Hamilton-like rules exist, all valid, but only meaningful when tied to the correct evolutionary model.



This reframing shifts research focus toward identifying which fitness model applies in each system, whether microbes in colonies, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-competition-how-warblers-share-trees-without-fighting/">birds</a> sharing food, or humans helping strangers.



The research also draws attention to how cooperation can emerge in very different ecological and genetic contexts, encouraging scientists to investigate population structures, environmental pressures, and frequency-dependent effects that shape altruistic behavior in unique ways across the living world.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-hamilton-s-rule-matters">Why Hamilton’s Rule matters</h2>



The contribution is not just theoretical. It guides empirical research, making studies of cooperation clearer and more precise. By focusing on the form of the fitness function, scientists can avoid misinterpretations and identify the exact evolutionary conditions under which altruism evolves.



This approach also forces researchers to consider population structure and frequency dependence more seriously. For example, in some cases cooperation becomes beneficial only when a trait reaches a certain frequency in the population.



This frequency dependence, ignored in Hamilton’s original additive model, plays a critical role in determining whether altruism spreads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-evolution-s-many-paths">Mapping evolution’s many paths</h2>



"This result doesn’t just close the debate," said van Veelen. "It gives us a more powerful framework to use in the future. Cooperation is everywhere in nature, and now we have a clearer picture of the many ways evolution can produce it."



The key message is that there is no single path to cooperation. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-can-be-predicted-pangenome-genetic-history/">Evolution</a> offers many, and with the new general framework, scientists now have the tools to map them with greater precision.



The study reminds us that science is not just about declaring universal rules but about understanding the diversity of conditions under which life evolves.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/105065v2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eLife</a>.



-----



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Why we help: The hidden math behind cooperation

Why do we act selflessly, even when it costs us? This mystery has long intrigued scientists. New work from the University of Amsterdam now reframes one of biology’s most famous ideas: Hamilton’s Rule. Published in the journal eLife, the study provides a mathematical update that reshapes how we think about altruism and cooperation. First proposed in the 1960s, Hamilton’s Rule suggests that altruism evolves when the benefits to others, weighted by genetic relatedness, outweigh the cost to oneself. Simply put, helping relatives can improve the survival of...

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>.

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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.”

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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/Sorbis

Fast fashion has an enormous carbon footprint

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

Close-up of a devastated young man holding his head in his hands

A new study has revealed how social network interventions can affect a range of health behaviors and outcomes on both the short and long term.

The team of researchers, led by Ruth Hunter of <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">Queen’s University Belfast</a>, conducted a review and meta-analysis of 37 social-network based studies, including 27 randomized controlled trials, conducted between1996 and 2018, each of which investigated the effectiveness of social network intervention for health behaviors and outcomes.

The studies took place in 11 countries total, and included 53,891 participants. And outcomes looked at included sexual health behaviors, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/quitting-alcohol-health-benefits/">substance abuse</a>, smoking cessation, diet, physical activity, weight loss, and vaccinations.

The team saw that significant effects of social network interventions on sexual health outcomes were supported by the most evidence. However, there were also significant effects for interventions on alcohol abuse, wellbeing, a shift in a diabetes marker, and smoking cessation, and effects were witnessed in both the short term (less than 6 months) and long term (more than 6 months).

22 of the 37 studies included had a high-risk bias, and many were based on self-reporting. Even so, the researchers saw high participation rates that have the potential to reach populations at-risk.

"We recommend that the scientific community should move beyond individual-level approaches, to design and test interventions that use the largely untapped potential of social networks to improve health behaviors and outcomes," Hunter and her colleagues said.

This study is published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/">PLOS Medicine</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Photographee.eu

Social network interventions can have a major impact on a range of behaviors

A new study has revealed how social network interventions can...

Recent research has revealed how people are unknowingly ingesting thousands of pieces of microplastics each year. 

One study found polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles in stool samples taken from participants across the globe.

Microplastics have entered the human food chain, and everything from seafood to bottled water could be a culprit.  

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/">Medical University of Vienna</a> and the <a href="https://www.umweltbundesamt.at/en/">Environment Agency Austria </a>monitored participants across the world from countries including Finland, Italy, Japan, and the UK. 

Participants were asked to keep a food diary for a week and provide a stool sample. Plastic particles were found in every single sample, and the researchers found around 20 pieces of microplastics per ten grams of stool. 

On average, we could be eating 73,000 plastic particles every year through disposable food containers, plastic water bottles, seafood, and other sources.  

The researchers tested the samples at the Environment Agency Austria looking for ten types of plastic using a new analyzing technique. The 2018 study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found as many as nine different plastics of various sizes in the samples. 

“This is the first study of its kind and confirms what we have long suspected, that plastics ultimately reach the human gut,” said Dr. Philipp Schwabl, the lead researcher for the study. “Now that we have first evidence for microplastics inside humans, we need further research to understand what this means for human health.”

There’s a chance that some microplastics could enter the bloodstream or damage our gastrointestinal tract. 

Each year more than 350 million tons of plastic are produced and the researchers say more studies must be done to understand how microplastics impact human health. 

The <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> has answered that call and compiled a comprehensive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-water-human-health/">review of microplastics</a> and the impacts of ingesting <a href="https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/microplastics-in-drinking-water/en/">plastic particles through drinking water</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/Pcess609

Microplastics have found their way into the human food chain

Recent research has revealed how people are unknowingly ingesting thousands...

Researchers have found that the consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/soda-taxes-are-controversial-but-do-they-work/">soft drinks</a> is linked to a higher incidence of all-cause mortality. The study associated artificially sweetened soft drinks with a greater risk of death from circulatory diseases, while sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with deaths from digestive diseases.

The research was focused on data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), an ongoing population-based study of nearly 452,000 men and women in 10 European countries.

The EPIC study collected soft drink consumption rates from participants through food questionnaires and interviews from 1992 to 2000. 

During a follow-up period of 16 years, more than 41,000 deaths were recorded. The researchers found that drinking two or more glasses of soft drinks per day was associated with a greater risk of mortality compared with one glass or less per month.

While no association was observed between soft drink consumption and overall cancer death, one or more glasses of sugar-sweetened soft drinks appeared to increase the chances of death from digestive diseases. Higher mortality risk from circulatory diseases was found for participants consuming two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks daily. 

"Only artificially sweetened, and not sugar-sweetened, soft drinks were associated with deaths from circulatory diseases, whereas for digestive disease deaths, only sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with higher risk," wrote the study authors. 

These results remained consistent among men and women, and were even observed in participants who had maintained a healthy weight. 

"We also found positive associations between consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks and all-cause mortality, a finding consistent with the results of the HPFS/NHS and Women’s Health Initiative studies," wrote the researchers. 

"In addition, we observed that a higher level of total soft drink consumption was associated with greater risk of Parkinson's disease mortality, with positive nonsignificant associations found for sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks. To our knowledge, this study is the first to link soft drink consumption with Parkinson disease, and additional studies are required to examine this association."

The findings support ongoing public health measures to reduce the consumption of soft drinks.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine">JAMA Internal Medicine</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/Vintage Tone

Soft drink consumption linked to a higher risk of death, study finds

Researchers have found that the consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially...

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets. Scientists at <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyoto University</a> have investigated the diverse diet of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fruit-fly-smell/">fruit fly</a>, Drosophila melanogaster. The team discovered that this diversity is tied to the fly's flexible response to carbohydrates, which provides new insight into how the human diet evolved.

Species such as humans and fruit flies are collectively known as "nutritional generalists" because we eat a wide variety of foods. Some genetic cousins of the fruit fly, however, are known as "nutritional specialists" because they require very specific plants for survival. The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets

The researchers set out to gain a better understanding of how organisms have such different feeding habits, even when they are genetically related.

"Uncovering the differences in the molecular mechanisms between nutritional generalists and specialists can help us understand how organisms adapt to variable nutritional environments," said the study authors. "In our investigation, we changed the nutrient balance in the food of different Drosophila species and compared their nutritional adaptability along with their transcriptional and metabolic responses."

The team evaluated whether larvae of generalists and specialists could adapt to three experimental diets that were high in protein, high in carbohydrates, or had a moderate mix of the two. The generalist flies, including the common fruit fly, were found to grow and thrive with all three diets. 

On the other hand, the larvae of specialists could not survive on a carbohydrate-rich diet. The researchers examined the nutritional composition of the fruits and flowers that are usually eaten by the specialists, and determined that they have low-carbohydrate profiles.  

The team theorized that the difference between the generalist and specialist flies resides in the genetic pathways that control their response to carbohydrates.

"A signaling pathway known as 'TGF-β/Activin signaling' regulates the body's response to carbohydrates. In the generalists, this pathway is quite flexible and maintains metabolic homeostasis under different diets. In fact, there are about 250 metabolic genes that are downregulated when their diet is carbohydrate-rich," explained the researchers. 

By contrast, the specialist flies expressed these genes at higher levels where they accumulated metabolites, which led to a lack of adaptation. When a gene in the TGF-β/Activin pathway named dawdle was disabled in the common fruit fly, the same lack of adaptation was observed. 

The findings suggest that generalists were constantly under pressure to retain carbohydrate-responsive systems throughout their evolution, while specialists must have been surrounded by low-carbohydrate environments.

"Considering that humans and flies share a number of genes and regulatory factors, we can begin to develop an interspecies comparative approach that provides an informative model system for addressing the genetic variability among humans in response to dietary intakes," concluded the researchers. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</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/Claudia Evans

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into human diets

The feeding habits of fruit flies provide more insight into...

<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.

<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://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</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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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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