A massive new analysis suggests Americans don’t just differ in what they earn or how long they live - they also differ in how they experience wellness. 



Drawing on more than 325,000 survey responses collected over eight years, researchers found clear regional differences in wellness.



People in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions tend to score higher on “traditional” wellness, which includes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fitness-focused-medicine-physical-activity-reduces-chronic-disease-risk/">physical health,</a> finances, and social support.



Many Southern regions, by contrast, rank higher on “existential” wellness, such as purpose, meaning, and a strong sense of community identity. The pattern lines up with centuries-old settlement histories that still shape local norms today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-measuring-wellness-two-ways">Measuring wellness two ways</h2>



The team worked with data from the <a href="https://news.gallup.com/topic/well-being-index.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index</a> spanning 2009–2016 and grouped responses into two broader composites.



“Traditional” wellness bundles tangible aspects of life - physical and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-health-crisis-half-of-the-worlds-population-will-be-affected-by-age-75/">mental health</a>, financial security, and day-to-day social support. 



“Existential” wellness captures the less tangible side - purpose, personal growth, community belonging, and living in line with one’s values.



Separating the two helps explain why some places thrive on paper (jobs, hospitals, income) yet still report a thinner sense of meaning - or the reverse.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-old-map-explains-modern-feelings"><a></a>An old map explains modern feelings</h2>



To test whether regional culture matters in wellness, the researchers turned to the American Nations Model. 



This framework divides the U.S. into historical “nations” based on who settled there first. Think Yankeedom, the Deep South, Greater Appalachia, El Norte, and others.



Each region inherited durable folkways about trust, autonomy, community, and authority. Even after accounting for education and income, these cultural footprints predicted distinctive wellness profiles where people live.



The headline split was clear. Northeastern and Midwestern regions, including Yankeedom, leaned higher on traditional wellness. 



Several Southern and frontier-legacy regions - such as the Deep South, Greater Appalachia, El Norte, and parts of the Far West - leaned higher on existential wellness.



In other words, the balance of “health and money” versus “purpose and belonging” shifts in systematic ways across the cultural map.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wellness-differences-stand-out">Wellness differences stand out</h2>



Statistically, the contrasts weren’t subtle. In within-region comparisons, traditional wellness significantly exceeded existential wellness in Yankeedom.



Existential wellness was higher in the Deep South and especially Greater Appalachia - the largest reversal in the set.



Several other regions showed smaller or no gaps, demonstrating that not every place fits a single mold.



These effects held in mixed-effects models that controlled for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-education-matters-for-healthy-aging-and-longevity/">education</a> and income and accounted for clustering within metropolitan areas.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/existential-wellness_american-nations-settlements_PLOS-One_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/existential-wellness_american-nations-settlements_PLOS-One_1s.webp" alt="Wellbeing across the American Nations: First Settler Effects influence traditional and existential wellness. Credit: David R. Samson, Nathan Oesch, Colin Woodard" class="wp-image-1985865"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Wellbeing across the American Nations: First Settler Effects influence traditional and existential wellness. Click image to enlarge. Credit: David R. Samson, Nathan Oesch, Colin Woodard</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-culture-race-and-wellness">Culture, race, and wellness</h2>



The study also looked at Black and Hispanic residents across regions. Patterns generally echoed the broader map. 



Black and Hispanic respondents tended to show higher traditional wellness in Northeastern and Midwestern regions. They also reported higher existential wellness in Southern regions.



Notably, Black respondents showed consistently lower traditional wellness than white respondents across regions. In the Northeast and Midwest, they also fared worse on existential wellness. 



Together, these patterns suggest that material constraints and structural disparities remain powerful drivers.



At the same time, the relatively stronger existential scores in many Southern contexts may reflect the buffering role of community networks and cultural identity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cultural-roots-of-wellness">Cultural roots of wellness</h2>



Culture shapes where institutions flourish (hospitals, schools, civic groups), how people relate to one another (trust, norms of reciprocity), and what counts as a good life (autonomy vs. solidarity, achievement vs. belonging).



Those long-running preferences influence migration, policy choices, and investments that, over time, help set the table for different “flavors” of well-being.



The authors found the pattern persisted even after adjusting for education and income, and they reported model checks to reduce issues like multicollinearity among predictors.



That suggests the American Nations framework isn’t just a clever historical story - it adds real explanatory power to why wellness feels different in different parts of the country.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wellness-policy-must-fit-culture">Wellness policy must fit culture</h2>



If you want to boost <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/simply-looking-at-art-can-improve-your-well-being/">well-being</a>, focusing only on income or clinics may miss what makes people feel whole in a given place.



In regions that already score high on traditional metrics, investing in community identity, public spaces, and opportunities for contribution might move the needle on meaning and purpose.



In places rich in existential wellness but poorer on traditional metrics, policies that improve access to preventive care, stable work, and safety nets could pay outsized dividends.



Put simply, the study argues that wellness strategies work best when they respect the cultural ecologies where people live - strengthening what’s already strong while shoring up what’s thin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limits-and-a-next-step"><a></a>Limits - and a next step</h2>



This is an observational study using self-reported survey data; it can’t prove cause and effect. The American Nations borders blur in real life, people move, and city-level differences within regions can be large.



Still, with more than 325,000 respondents across 110 metro areas and eight years of data, the signal is hard to ignore. 



The authors call for digging into mechanisms: Which specific institutions or community practices best translate cultural inheritance into day-to-day well-being? 



And which levers - health infrastructure, schooling, neighborhood design, civic organizations - offer the highest return in each region?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-place-and-culture-shape-wellness">Place and culture shape wellness</h2>



Where you live doesn’t just shape your paycheck and your hospital bill. It also shapes how you experience a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/creativity-improves-life-satisfaction-and-overall-well-being/">good life</a> - whether that’s feeling financially secure and physically well, or feeling rooted in purpose and community.



The United States’ oldest settlement patterns still echo in those experiences today. 



They remind policymakers that the most effective pathways to human flourishing may look different from Boston to Birmingham to El Paso.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0327972" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLOS One</a>.



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Wellness in America depends on culture and where you live

A massive new analysis suggests Americans don’t just differ in what they earn or how long they live - they also differ in how they experience wellness. Drawing on more than 325,000 survey responses collected over eight years, researchers found clear regional differences in wellness. People in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions tend to score higher on “traditional” wellness, which includes physical health, finances, and social support. Many Southern regions, by contrast, rank higher on “existential” wellness, such as purpose, meaning, and a strong sense of community...

A new report from <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home">Ofcom</a> is warning that children are so obsessed with the internet that they are ditching their friends and hobbies. In addition, many parents admitted that they have lost control of their <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/unlimited-screen-time-depression/">children's online habits</a>. 

The researchers wrote: “Children were watching people on YouTube pursuing hobbies that they did not do themselves or had recently given up offline.”

The annual survey, which was based on more than 2,000 interviews, revealed that children under five years old spend more than four hours a day in front of a television, tablet, or computer screen. Children between the ages of 12 and 15 were found to spend an average of five hours a day glued to a screen.

The study authors referred to YouTube as “a near permanent feature” of many young people's lives. They also discovered that 70 percent of youths aged 12 to 15 are taking smartphones to bed.

“In the early years, children need interaction with other people, and play - it is key to their social skills,” said Sue Palmer of the group Toxic Childhood. “If that doesn’t happen when they are small, I don’t know where it leads. There is the screen time itself, and then there is what the screen time is displacing.”

The study revealed that 20 percent of preschoolers and 40 percent of children between 5 and 8 years old own a tablet. Meanwhile, 20 percent of children aged 8 to 12 have social media accounts.

The time children spend watching television is declining, while the time they spend online is skyrocketing. Many are turning to YouTube to spend hours watching tutorials and “unboxing” videos. The Ofcom report said that some kids are becoming so obsessed with YouTube celebrities that they idolize them as role models.

Many children were found to watch the lifestyle “vloggers” pursuing hobbies and interacting with friends instead of doing so themselves. Some of the young people interviewed by Ofcom had actually given up their own hobbies in order to watch YouTube videos.

Furthermore, children who go online to watch innocent videos are often stumbling upon disturbing material. Some of the parents who were interviewed were shocked to found out what their children had been watching.

The researchers found that children prefer YouTube to television because they “could easily access exactly what they wanted to watch and were being served with an endless stream of recommendations tailored exactly to their taste.”


Around 40 percent of parents with children between the ages of 5 and 15 believed that they were being pressured to spend money online. In addition, half of the parents worried about tech firms harvesting too much information about their children.

The full Ofcom report on media use by children can be found <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2018">here</a>.

--

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>

Many kids are ditching hobbies and becoming addicted to the internet

A new report from Ofcom is warning that children are...

A new study has revealed that predominantly Republican regions of the country, which are typically the most resistant to environmental policies, will ironically face the biggest economic losses resulting from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>.

According to researchers at the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/program/metropolitan-policy-program/">Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program</a>, the states, counties, and districts that voted Republican in the last two elections will experience greater damages from climate change compared to those that voted Democratic.

The study authors wrote: “Drill down on the political geography of climate damage and it becomes clear that in much of the country Republicans are voting for people who are opposed to climate policy even as they are most exposed to climate impacts.”

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a> reports that Republicans hold 35 of the 40 Senate seats from the 20 states that emit the most carbon, and President Trump won 26 of the 27 highest-emitting states in 2016. The study revealed that some of these states actually stand to benefit from global warming, increasing their resistance to environmental activism. 

The Brookings team based its investigation on a county-level model of the impacts of climate change developed by the Climate Impact Lab. The model accounts for factors such as potential economic losses from rising sea levels and the impact on agricultural yields to predict how specific counties may be affected by climate change through the end of the century. 

While there is some level of uncertainty regarding these projections, study co-author David G. Victor told CNN in an email that there are two reasons that he has confidence in them. 

“One is that these impacts are based on good physical understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms,” wrote Victor. “We know a lot about how strong wind and high tides affects coastal areas, about how heat stress affects workers, etc. Second, this is not a single analysis, but a meta-analysis. It is a compilation of the best science in the area. Putting both together give one a lot more confidence in the projections.”

The analysis showed that the Republican areas most opposed to environmental activism are also the most threatened by climate change. The researchers found that southern states, particularly those in the Gulf region from Florida to Texas, face the greatest risks including economic losses, coastal damage, and increased mortality rates. All of these states are controlled by Republicans. 

Overall, the researchers believe that Republican attitudes toward climate change may start to shift.

“Wave after wave of hurricanes coming into central Texas or the Gulf states may be destabilizing of the usual assumed ideological position of those places,” said study co-author Mark Muro. 

“The current gridlock might not be as permanent as it now seems because many of the jurisdictions that have selected political leaders opposed to climate policy are most exposed to the harms of climate change,” said the researchers.
--
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>

Ironically, Republican states will be hit hardest by climate change

A new study has revealed that predominantly Republican regions of...

New research from a team from Sweden’s <a href="https://liu.se/en">Linköping University</a> shows that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/san-diego-greenest-cities/">large cities</a> rely on their hinterlands to sustain urban growth. Therefore, the urban-rural divide regarding both economic prosperity and chance for personal opportunities is widened. This study, published in <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>, provides further insight into the growing levels of inequality between rural and urban areas in many countries.

“Our research shows that people who leave rural areas for cities are, on average, better educated and have higher cognitive abilities,” said lead author Dr. Marc Keuschnigg, from <a href="https://liu.se/en/organisation/liu/iei/ias">Linköping University's Institute for Analytical Sociology</a>. “This selective migration fuels the higher than expected outputs of big cities and, at the same time, adds to the cumulative decline of less populated regions.”

Selective migration of individuals from rural areas to big cities is a huge part of urban growth, which bucks a previous popular theory that urban growth is self-reinforcing due to the +15% phenomenon.

Urban scaling analyzes the benefits and detriments of city life and shows the link between a city’s wealth, innovation, crime, and disease spread, and population size. Urban scaling shows that population size is the most important factor in city growth. For example, when a city’s population is doubled, total city income, number of patents, romantic breakups, and residential moves increase by 115%, proving that individuals’ productivity and pace increase as the city grows.

The extra 15% is “superlinear scaling,” which urban researchers believe is a direct response to the influx of ideas being exchanged between people in a dense urban environment. They believe that the +15% phenomenon is self-reinforcing because urban growth benefits all aspects of society.

However, this recent study has found that the “self-reinforcing” +15% phenomenon explains only half of the increased social interconnectivity in cities. More so, the phenomenon is bolstered by the differences in population characteristics within metropolitan areas.

"Our results are of considerable policy relevance, because they identify the migration of talented people from smaller areas to larger cities as an important force behind observed agglomeration effects," Dr. Marc Keuschnigg concluded.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Urban-rural divide is escalated by big city reliance on hinterlands

New research from a team from Sweden’s Linköping University shows...

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are some of the most common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-birth-defects/">birth defects</a> in the United States, and around 40,000 babies are born with CHD each year in the US, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control</a>.

Climate change could pose a major risk for pregnant mothers, as a new study has found that maternal exposure to extreme heat waves increases the chances that an infant will be born with CHD.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.albany.edu/sph/">School of Public Health at the University of Albany</a> conducted the study and found that rising temperatures due to climate change could increase the number of infants born with CHD by 7,000 over an eleven-year period in the US. 

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. 

“Our findings underscore the alarming impact of climate change on human health and highlight the need for improved preparedness to deal the anticipated rise in a complex condition that often requires lifelong care and follow-up,” said Shao Lin, the senior author of the study. 

While animal studies have shown that exposure to extreme heat can disrupt fetal development, the connection between exposure to heat for pregnant women and heart defect risk for their infants had not been well understood. 

As climate change is expected to increase temperatures, droughts, and heat waves, understanding the links between heart defects and heat exposure is critical for healthy fetal development. 

CHD can be managed, but an increase in infants born with CHD will put a strain on the medical community required to care for them. 

The researchers estimated the number of projected births between 2025 and 2035 across different regions in the US and compared these numbers with climate change forecasts from the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a> (NASA) as well as the <a href="https://www.giss.nasa.gov/">Goddard Institute for Space Studies</a>. 

The researchers projected average maternal heat exposure for each region studied for both spring and summer and examined the impacts of different exposure indicators. 

A previous study conducted by Lin was then used to gauge the maternal heart exposure and infant CHD association between 2025 and 2035. 

Under the projected forecasts, the researchers found that the midwestern US will experience the largest increase in newborns with CHD. 

The results of the study indicate a definite link between extreme heat exposure due to climate change and increased risk of CHD for infants. 

“Although this study is preliminary, it would be prudent for women in the early weeks of pregnancy to avoid heat extremes similar to the advice given to persons with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease during heart spells,” said Lin. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

A warming climate may increase the risk of congenital heart defects

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are some of the most common...

Popular music is constantly changing because consumer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/like-songs-dislike-others/">preferences keep changing</a>. New technology also allows musicians to experiment with different sounds and beats which can impact the music scene, birth new genres, and put different music in the spotlight. 

Listen to any pop song on the radio today, and you’ll most likely be met with slower tempos, minimal orchestration, simple chord progressions, and loud, repetitive beats along with lyrics that seem angrier, sadder and lonelier compared earlier pop songs.

This is because the tone of pop music is shifting, according to a new data analysis of pop song songs conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.ltu.edu/">Lawrence Technological University</a> in Michigan. 

The researchers published in their findings in the Journal of Popular Music Studies. 

Lyrics expressing anger and sadness have gradually become more common in the Billboard Hot 100 since the 1950s. 

The researchers reviewed lyrics from over 6,000 <a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100">Billboard Hot 100</a> songs from the 1950s through 2016. The Billboard Hot 100 is a list of the most popular songs each year. 

To analyze the lyrics, the researchers used quantitative sentiment analysis which took the lyrics and categorized them by tone. The lyrics were associated with a set of tones which helped the researchers understand the emotions and sentiment conveyed in the songs. 

The researchers also averaged each year’s songs to find out the main emotions expressed in that year’s top music. 

The 1950s were filled with upbeat and happy tunes, and songs in the 1950s had the fewest lyrics expressing anger. 2015 had the highest number of angry songs, but angry lyrics did not follow a straight upward trajectory. 

Between 1982 and 1984, pop music matched the sentiments of the 50s, but the 90s saw a stark shift as music became much angrier. Songs about sadness, disgust, and fear also became more popular over time. 

The researchers note that music lyrics themselves are not becoming angrier but rather that consumer tastes are changing and music is shifting to meet those tastes. 

“The change in lyrics sentiments does not necessarily reflect what the musicians and songwriters wanted to express, but is more related to what music consumers wanted to listen to in each year,” said Lior Shamir, a member of the research team. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pop music lyrics have gotten sadder and angrier over time

Popular music is constantly changing because consumer preferences keep changing....

As the midwestern United States braces for record-breaking freezing temperatures and wind chill over the next few days, climate experts say that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unstable-polar-vortex-brutal-winter/">unstable polar vortexes</a> are becoming more and more common. 

First coined by meteorologists on social media in 2014, the term polar vortex was used to describe a severe cold snap that blanketed the city of Chicago in temperatures as low as minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit.

This new bout of frigid temperatures is predicted to be even worse than the cold snap five years ago.

While some people mistake severe cold bouts like those that come from a polar vortex as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/01/29/trump-always-dismisses-climate-change-when-its-cold-not-so-fast-experts-say/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.d2a79d9f25f8">proof positive that global warming isn't real</a>, it’s important to look at precisely what is happening with a polar vortex and why air temperatures drop the way they do.

A polar vortex is the result of a blast of warm air in the Arctic. It may seem counterintuitive, but as temperatures rise in the Arctic, sudden stratospheric warming airflow over the Arctic is disrupted and broken up. 

Pieces of the polar vortex then are free to wander, and as that air makes its way over North America, temperatures plummet.

The current polar vortex across the midwest was caused by displaced Moroccan heat, according to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>. Over the North Pole, temperatures rapidly rose by about 125 degrees.

Wednesday morning, one of the wandering pieces of the polar vortex will cover the US, and in parts of the Midwest, temperatures could drop to 21 degrees below zero and minus 65-degree windchill, according to the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a>.

What’s more, the wandering vortex isn’t going anywhere soon.

“The impacts from this split, we have a ways to go. It’s not the end of the movie yet,” Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert told the Associated Press. “I think at a minimum, we’re looking at mid-February, possibly through mid-March.”

The weakening of the polar vortex is also occurring more often in recent years than in previous decades. A weaker vortex means a higher likelihood of extreme bouts of cold weather.

Whether or not the current weakening vortex is related to climate change is a complicated question to answer, but one thing for sure is that that extreme weather events like icy cold snaps and severe heat waves have become more frequent as of late.

“This symptom of global warming is counterintuitive for those in the cross-hairs of these extreme cold spells,” Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the <a href="https://whrc.org/">Woods Hole Research Center</a> said in an email. “But these events provide an excellent opportunity to help the public understand some of the ‘interesting’ ways that climate change will unfold.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

The polar vortex isn’t going away soon and is becoming more common

As the midwestern United States braces for record-breaking freezing temperatures...

People behave differently in virtual reality situations, study shows. Researchers from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> have found that people respond psychologically differently in virtual reality (VR) compared to real life. Their study, which appeared January 22nd in <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>, focused on contagious yawning — the reflexive phenomenon that occurs when human and animals detect and nearby yawn — within VR.

“People expect VR experiences to mimic actual reality and thus induce similar forms of thought and behaviour," said senior author Professor Alan Kingstone, of UBC's department of psychology. "This study shows that there's a big separation between being in the real world, and being in a VR world.”

Previous research has shown that when there is “social presence,” and people believe they are being watched, contagious yawning is less likely to occur. This is probably due to the stigma that yawning in a social scenario is perceived as rude.

UBC researchers, along with Andrew Gallup from <a href="https://sunypoly.edu/">State University of New York Polytechnic Institute</a>, studied contagious yawning within VR. They had participants wear an immersive headset and had them watch videos of people yawning. Participants yawned while watching the videos 38% of the time, which fits within the real-life contagious yawning rate of 30-60%.

When researchers introduced social presence into the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/virtual-reality-environmental-education/">VR experience</a>, they found that it had little to no effect on the rate of participants’ yawning. So, although contagious yawning could be stimulated within VR, the VR social presence — that being another avatar or the presence of another webcam — did not suppress yawning as real-life social presence often does.

Researchers then made participants aware that someone else was in the room with them in real life. Although participants could not see or hear this person, simply knowing someone else was in the room suppressed their yawns, thus proving that social cues in reality dominate those in VR.

"Using VR to examine how people think and behave in real life may very well lead to conclusions that are fundamentally wrong,” Kingstone said. “This has profound implications for people who hope to use VR to make accurate projections regarding future behaviours. For example, predicting how pedestrians will behave when walking amongst driverless cars, or the decisions that pilots will make in an emergency situation. Experiences in VR may be a poor proxy for real life."

Yawning, although a minor reaction, points to the fact that scientists still have a long way to go to fully bridge the gap between reality and VR. Until the human experience within VR is better understood from a psychological viewpoint can we truly say VR is 100% true to life.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People behave differently in virtual reality situations, study shows

People behave differently in virtual reality situations, study shows. Researchers...

After conducting the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> have found that slim people have a genetic advantage when it comes to maintaining their weight.

Professor Sadaf Farooqi at the <a href="http://www.ims.cam.ac.uk/">Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science</a>, University of Cambridge, and a team of colleagues, established the <a href="https://www.stilts.org.uk/">Study Into Lean and Thin Subjects (STILTS)</a> to better understand why some people maintain a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-training-weight-loss/">healthy weight</a> without necessarily trying whereas others can’t. Similar previous studies have focused on those who are overweight, and such studies have found that multiple genes can increase a person’s chance of becoming obese. So, Farooqi and colleagues wanted to know if slim people house similar weight-related genes on the other side of the scale.

The team recruited 2,000 “thin” people (those with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18 kg/m2), who were healthy and had no history with eating disorders. DNA samples were taken and participants answered several questions pertaining to their health and lifestyle.

Farooqi’s team then compared their DNA samples to those of Dr Inês Barroso's team at the <a href="https://www.sanger.ac.uk/">Wellcome Sanger Institute</a>. Together, the researchers analyzed the DNA of 1,622 thin participants from the STILTS cohort, 1,985 severely obese participants, and another 10,433 normal weight controls.

Besides the already discovered genetic variants that cause obesity, the team found new genetic areas that also controlled obesity and others that determined thinness. They used these variants to calculate a “genetic risk score” for each individual.  

"As anticipated, we found that obese people had a higher genetic risk score than normal weight people, which contributes to their risk of being overweight,” Dr. Barroso said. “The genetic dice are loaded against them.”

Furthermore, the team found that thinner people had a lower genetic risk score, meaning they had less genetic variants that determined obesity.

“This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person's chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest," Professor Farooqi said. "It's easy to rush to judgement and criticise people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”

He continued, “We already know that people can be thin for different reasons. Some people are just not that interested in food whereas others can eat what they like, but never put on weight. If we can find the genes that prevent them from putting on weight, we may be able to target those genes to find new weight loss strategies and help people who do not have this advantage."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Genetics help slim people maintain their weight, research shows

After conducting the largest study of its kind to date,...

After the UK splits from the European Union (EU), the resulting price hike on imported produce could result in an increase in heart attacks and strokes as the public will be eating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fruit-and-veggie-prescriptions-found-to-improve-childrens-diets/">fewer servings of fresh fruits and vegetables</a>, according to a new study. 

The <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) advises that people eat roughly 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, but much of the UK’s vegetables and fruit is imported.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a> conducted the first study of its kind that examined Brexit’s impact on food imports and public health.

The study was published in the journal BMJ Open, and the researchers found that import tariffs will negatively impact diets, increase the risk of heart disease, and cause thousands of deaths due to heart attack by 2030.

“The UK's exit from the European Union has long been framed in terms of its political and social importance,” said Christopher Millet, a joint leader of the research. “But this study shows that the impact of Brexit will reach far beyond the economy and may affect people's risk of disease. The UK government must consider the public health implications of Brexit trade policy options, including changes to the price of key food groups.”

For the study, the researchers modeled different Brexit scenarios including a free-trading agreement with the EU and a no-deal Brexit. 

Data from the <a href="https://www.wto.org/">World Trade Organization</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs">HM Revenue and Customs</a>, nutrition information from a national diet and nutrition survey, and heart disease data from peer-reviewed studies were all used for the different models. 

For each trade scenario, the researchers assumed that tariffs would increase for imported goods from the EU, and all the scenarios showed an increase in deaths due to cardiovascular disease. 

The no-deal scenario resulted in the most deaths and had the biggest impact on imported produce. The researchers found that the cost of bananas would increase by 17 percent, and tomatoes would rise by 15 percent. 

A new trade agreement between the EU, the UK and third-party countries, the agreement with the least impact on imports, would contribute to 1,360 extra coronary heart disease deaths, and 2,740 strokes by 2030. 

A no-deal Brexit could result in nearly 12,400 additional deaths due to cardiovascular disease. 

There are limitations to the study, and the researchers did not model every scenario under consideration as part of the Brexit deal. But the study does show that no matter what, the costs of fresh fruit and vegetables will likely rise which will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

“The UK is highly dependent on imports, especially for fresh fruits and vegetables. These have a strong protective effect on health,” said Paraskevi Seferidi, the first author of the study. “Our paper illustrates, for the first time, the potential negative impacts of Brexit on fruit and veg prices, intake, heart disease, and stroke.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Brexit taxes pose a major threat to public health

After the UK splits from the European Union (EU), the...

A new study co-authored by <a href="http://www.mit.edu/">MIT</a> Professor David Rand shows that crowdsourced opinions on the quality of news sources may effectively limit <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/over-65-share-fake-news/">fake news</a> as well as other kinds of misinformation online.

“What we found is that, while there are real disagreements among Democrats and Republicans concerning mainstream news outlets, basically everybody - Democrats, Republicans, and professional fact-checkers - agree that the fake and hyperpartisan sites are not to be trusted,” said Professor Rand.

The researchers conducted two public-opinion surveys to evaluate 60 news outlets. They found that Democrats trusted mainstream media sources more than Republicans. There was one exception, however, with Republicans trusting Fox News far more than Democrats. 

In addition, Democrats and Republicans expressed a similar disregard for lesser-known sites providing false information, as well as hyperpartisan political websites. 


In recent years, false news stories have spread rapidly online, particularly on social media platforms. Although Facebook faced criticism for a January 2018 plan to let readers rate the quality of online news sources, the current study suggests this approach could work well. 

“If the goal is to remove really bad content, this actually seems quite promising,” said Professor Rand.

Since the survey respondents generally distrusted the more marginal websites, there was significant agreement among the general audience and the professional fact-checkers. This means that the crowdsourcing approach could work especially well in diminishing false news stories. For example, the audience’s opinions could be used to develop an algorithm ranking stories by quality. 

On the other hand,  crowdsourcing would likely be less effective if a social media site tried to collect feedback about the very best news sources and stories.

The approach proposed by the study authors differs from Facebook's 2018 plan because Facebook was only going to let readers who were familiar with a given news source give trust ratings. According to the researchers, however, this method would build bias into the system because people are more skeptical of news sources that they are less familiar with. Furthermore, most people are not familiar with sites that run fake or hyperpartisan news.

“The people who are familiar with fake news outlets are, by and large, the people who like fake news,” said Professor Rand. “Those are not the people that you want to be asking whether they trust it.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

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>

Why crowdsourcing may be the best way to limit fake news

A new study co-authored by MIT Professor David Rand shows...

Spending time in space takes a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/moon-dust-toxic-health/">toll on astronauts</a>, and living in microgravity can impact the way the body’s fluids move. 

A new study has found that in space, an astronaut’s brain floats higher in the skull due to the amount of fluid build up at the base of the cerebellum.

The research, conducted by researchers at the <a href="http://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a>, also produced brain scans of astronauts both before and after spaceflight that show changes in the brain’s white matter that corresponds with aging over the long term. 

Short spaceflights can cause as much damage to the brain as aging, and the researchers found changes in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sensory information and control.

However, the researchers also found that these changes were more severe during short missions, which indicates that astronauts may be able to adapt to the impacts of spaceflight during longer missions. 

The study was published in the journal JAMA Neurology and the researchers examined the brain scans of 15 astronauts before and after spending time in space. 

Brain scans taken post-spaceflight showed that fluid built up at the base of the cerebellum in space which pushed the brain higher up in the skull. The scans also showed white-matter deterioration during shorter missions that correlated with balance issues back on Earth. 

Although balance issues are typically only temporary for astronauts after spending time in space, the researchers hope to study brain scans of astronauts after six-month missions to see if the white matter changes last. 

As the world’s space agencies are laying the groundwork for manned missions to Mars, it’s crucial to understand how long-term spaceflight will impact astronauts. 

The researchers also say that the study has implications for people who lead sedentary lifestyles on Earth. 

“We have an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. It’s not the same as the effects on limbs in space, but if we’re laying around and not using our bodies, could the integrity of white matter pathways in the brain be affected?” Rachael Seidler, an author of the study, said in a University of Florida <a href="http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2019/01/spaceflight-changes-your-brain-pathways-.php">news release</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Time spent in space causes changes in the brain

Spending time in space takes a toll on astronauts, and...

A new study from <a href="https://www.nm.org/">Northwestern Medicine</a>, published January 28th in <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine">JAMA Internal Medicine</a>, has uncovered a massive difference in healthcare quality between patients who have a primary care doctor and those who don’t. This is the first study to examine the quality of outpatient care between adults with and without a primary care physician.

Those with a primary care <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/miss-doctor-appointments-risk-death/">doctor</a> often received higher-value healthcare such as getting recommendations for flu shots and cancer screenings. They also reported a better healthcare experience and better access to necessary healthcare options.

In the study, patients who stated they had primary care had a single doctor or physician outside of the emergency department “to whom they "usually go if [they] are sick or need advice about [their] health." These patients could also answer “yes” to the “four C’s” regarding their primary care: 
<ol>
 	<li> First Contact (new health problems) </li>
 	<li> Comprehensive (preventive health care, like general checkups, examinations and immunizations) </li>
 	<li> Continuous: (ongoing health problems) </li>
 	<li> Coordinated (referrals to other health professionals if and when needed)</li>
</ol>
"People who have primary care are fundamentally different from those who do not; they tend to be older, better insured, more white, etc.," said senior study author Dr. Jeffrey Linder, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics in <a href="https://www.medicine.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University’s Department of Medicine</a>. "Our advance was to look at healthcare for Americans who were otherwise as similar as possible — but did or did not have primary care." 

To do so, researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of the U.S. population and compared the patients with primary care to Americans with a similar demographic and health status, yet without a primary care doctor. Researchers then established a control for potential surprise factors, including socioeconomic status, physical health and mental health to make comparison between the two groups as unbiased and equivalent as possible.

The results showed that even though the two groups may have received similar care, those with a primary care doctor have higher-quality healthcare and better access to screening, preventative services, and testing. However, those with primary care are also slightly more likely to receive low-care in specific areas like prescriptions (being prescribed unnecessary antibiotics).

"We have further work to do to optimize the amount of high-value care and minimize the amount of low-value care we are delivering to patients," Linder said.

However, overall, primary care has been proven to be effective and beneficial to the public. Therefore, the researchers argue that policymakers should invest in primary care to increase the overall value of the country.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why having a primary care doctor makes a big difference

A new study from Northwestern Medicine, published January 28th in...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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-----

Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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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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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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