Life expectancy in the United States reveals a deeply fractured landscape. Yale School of Public Health researchers examined records of 179 million deaths between 1969 and 2020, and traced how generational health patterns diverged across regions.



The team chose an unconventional approach - analyzing life expectancy by birth cohort instead of by year - to uncover hidden <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unhealthy-habits-can-make-your-heart-age-faster/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">disparities</a> missed by standard mortality reports.



The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, tell a compelling story of a nation where regional policies, economic conditions, and public health initiatives shape life trajectories in dramatically different ways.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-expectancy-gains-in-some-states">Life expectancy gains in some states </h2>



California and New York surged ahead in terms of extending lifespans significantly. In contrast, many Southern states struggled to keep pace. This result indicates that the U.S. is a country where the place of birth remains a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/girls-diets-strongly-influence-when-they-begin-puberty/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potent predictor</a> of lifespan.



“For females born in some Southern states, life expectancy increased by less than three years from 1900 to 2000,” said Theodore R. Holford, lead author and professor emeritus at <a href="https://www.yale.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale</a>.



“That’s a staggering <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/medical-oddity-human-skin-heals-three-times-slower-than-our-primate-relatives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contrast</a> when you consider that in states like New York and California, life expectancy rose by more than 20 years over the same period.”



Washington, D.C., a region once synonymous with low life expectancy, now exemplifies transformative progress. Between 1900 and 2000, the life expectancy of women in the capital increased by almost 30 years, while the life expectancy of men leapt by 38 years. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-fueled-such-a-stark-contrast">What fueled such a stark contrast?</h2>



Public health policies, economic revitalization, and aggressive tobacco control campaigns reshaped the region. 



California, banned workplace smoking in 1995, slashed smoking rates among workers and teens, and lowered smoking-related deaths. Kentucky, by contrast, chose a different path by resisting tobacco control efforts and continuing to grapple with high <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rats-are-spreading-a-deadly-disease-across-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mortality</a> rates from smoking.



“These trends in mortality and life expectancy reflect not only each state’s policy environment but also their underlying demographics as well,” said Jamie Tam, assistant professor at Yale. 



“It’s not surprising that states with fewer improvements to life expectancy also have higher rates of poverty, for example.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-expectancy-trends-by-generation">Life expectancy trends by generation</h2>



The study’s approach of using an age-period-cohort model allowed the researchers to isolate the impact of generational experiences. 



Instead of year-by-year comparisons, the team followed birth cohorts from 1900 to 2000, revealing how early-life conditions like disease exposure, sanitation, and vaccine access shaped lifespans.



“Looking at mortality trends by cohort gives us a more accurate reflection of the lived experiences of populations,” noted Holford.



“It shows the long-term impact of policies and social conditions affecting the life course of populations, that might otherwise be invisible in year-by-year comparisons of mortality rates from different generations.”



A child born in Mississippi in 1900 faced vastly different health risks than one born in California in 1950. The study’s cohort analysis illuminated how those risks compounded over time, creating distinct health outcomes across states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aging-rapidly-or-aging-well">Aging rapidly or aging well</h2>



States varied not only in life expectancy gains but also in how quickly health declined after age 35. Oklahoma and Iowa showed rapid rises in mortality risk, with mortality doubling in less than eight years. 



New York and Florida, in contrast, experienced slower rates of increase, suggesting healthier <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/20-year-study-of-1000-adults-reveals-how-marijuana-alters-dna/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">aging</a> populations.



Among women, the slowest mortality increase occurred in New York, where it took 9.39 years for mortality risk to double. 



For men, Florida recorded the longest doubling time at 11.47 years. Oklahoma’s women faced the fastest decline, with mortality risk doubling in just 7.96 years - a rate that suggests rapid health deterioration.



“The disparities we see today are the result of decades of cumulative effects on smoking rates, health care access, environmental exposures, and public health investments,” Holford emphasized. “Without conscious policy changes, these gaps will likely persist or even widen.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reinvention-in-washington-d-c">Reinvention in Washington, D.C.</h2>



Washington, D.C., a region once plagued by poor health outcomes, now serves as a case study in urban transformation. 



At the dawn of the 20th century, women in the capital could expect to live just 63.9 years. By 2000, life expectancy had soared to 93 years - the highest gain recorded nationwide. Male life expectancy jumped from 48.7 years to 86.5 years over the same period.



What drove this metamorphosis? Improved healthcare infrastructure, urban policy changes, and robust public health initiatives fueled the gains. 



Yet, for rural Southern states, the story remained grim. In Kentucky and Alabama, policymakers resisted public health reforms, leaving residents trapped in cycles of poverty and poor health outcomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-poverty-s-impact-on-life-expectancy">Poverty's impact on life expectancy</h2>



While Washington, D.C., and California leveraged economic growth to implement effective health policies, states like Mississippi and Kentucky remained mired in economic hardship. 



Poverty compounded existing health risks, leaving residents more vulnerable to chronic diseases and less likely to access preventive care.



California’s tobacco control measures slashed smoking rates, particularly among younger cohorts. In Kentucky, however, the absence of similar policies allowed smoking rates to persist, resulting in higher smoking-related death rates. 



The data illustrate a stark divide: states with strong economies and progressive health policies saw life expectancy gains, while poorer states stagnated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interventions-to-bridge-the-gap">Interventions to bridge the gap</h2>



Targeted public health interventions offer a path forward. Researchers recommend that states with lower cohort life expectancy consider comprehensive tobacco regulations, expanded healthcare access, and environmental health initiatives.



“This research highlights the importance of viewing health through a generational lens,” Tam said. “The benefits of health interventions ripple across lifetimes.”



For Southern states, reversing the stagnation will require targeted investments in public health infrastructure, disease prevention, and health education. 



Without such efforts, the study warns, the gap between states with high and low life expectancy will only widen, locking future generations into predetermined health outcomes.



“Where you are born shouldn’t determine how long you live,” Holford concluded. “But in America, it still does.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2833159" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JAMA Network Open</a>.



-----



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Life expectancy in America depends on where you are born  

Life expectancy in the United States reveals a deeply fractured landscape. Yale School of Public Health researchers examined records of 179 million deaths between 1969 and 2020, and traced how generational health patterns diverged across regions. The team chose an unconventional approach - analyzing life expectancy by birth cohort instead of by year - to uncover hidden disparities missed by standard mortality reports. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, tell a compelling story of a nation where regional policies, economic conditions, and public health initiatives shape...

Residents of Ellicott City, Maryland, found themselves in a desperate situation on Sunday when over six inches of rain fell in just two hours and triggered catastrophic flash flooding. 

The town's historic Main Street was transformed into a powerful river that tossed around cars and debris. The brown water ripped through shops and restaurants, rising above the first floor of some buildings. 

People scrambled to reach higher ground in the flooded buildings, where many were forced to spend the night before being rescued Monday morning.

Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/atmospheric-rivers-heavier-future-flooding/">flooding</a> is not an unfamiliar sight in the small Howard County community, located about 12 miles west of Baltimore. The people and businesses of Ellicott City were still recovering from a devastating flood that also came out of nowhere in July of 2016.

Today's survey of the damage has revealed that the intensity of this year's flooding is worse compared to that of 2016, but there have been no confirmed casualties. There is a search underway, however, for missing National Guard member Eddison Hermond, who was reportedly swept away by the force of the water while helping to rescue others.

Nick Johnson owns a furniture store in downtown Ellicott City. He saw videos and photos of the destructive floodwaters on social media yesterday, and said that he was surprised to see people reposting images from 2016. He was soon shocked to realize that this was not footage from two years ago, but that the flooding was happening again.

“We don't know the extent of the damage except that it's far worse than it was two years ago,” Johnson told <a href="https://weather.com/">The Weather Channel</a>.

According to the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/">National Weather Service</a>, the nearby Patapsco River swelled up by 17.8 feet during the slow-moving storms. The river, which is a major waterway that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay, hit a record 24.1 feet on Sunday.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said that there are no words to describe the devastation.

Kittleman told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>: “There are a lot of people whose lives are going to be devastated again, and they've been working so hard to come back and we just need to be there for them and to tell them ... all of our resources are there to help them.” 

“I can't imagine what they're going through. I couldn't imagine what they went through two years ago, and now it's even worse.”

Experts say that this is the second time in two years that Ellicott City has experienced a 1000-year flood, which has only a 0.1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

Dangerous flash flooding remains a threat for regions of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas as Subtropical Storm Alberto moves in, and some areas could receive as much as a foot of rain.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo

Flash flood devastates historic Maryland community… again

Residents of Ellicott City, Maryland, found themselves in a desperate...

The unbalanced trade relations between the United States and China puts the U.S. economy at risk when climate change-induced regional flooding interrupts production and exports, according to a new study. 

The research, conducted at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research </a>and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows how regional floods prompted by global warming will impact the global economy and cause major losses. 

This is the first study to assess the effect of flooding due to climate change on a global scale and the results emphasize the interconnectivity of global trade and supply chains. 

Flooding is projected to increase in many parts of the world due to global warming, and in China flood damages could even increase by 80 percent within the next 20 years. Damages from flooding won’t just affect China, but also many countries that rely on exported goods from China, like the United States.

For the study, the researchers used a new economic computer simulation called an Acclimate-model which was specifically designed to show global impacts on the world’s economy. 

The researchers used projections of near future river floods on a regional scale based on current greenhouse gas emission levels in the atmosphere and simulated the global impacts from the future projected flood events with the Acclimate-model. 

“This work combines two very innovative lines of work: global risk assessment for natural hazards and network theory to understand how localized shocks propagate in time and space,” said Stéphane Hallegatte. The lead economist for The World Bank. “It contributes to scientific progress in multiple ways, but one of the most important policy messages for me is that the world is so interconnected that natural disasters are not local events anymore: everybody can be affected by a disaster occurring far away.”

China could suffer the biggest direct economic losses from floods, according to the model, totaling more than 380 billion US dollars over the next 20 years. The United States and European Union, countries with major trade relationships with China, would, in turn also incur severe indirect losses. 

In the US, the study estimates that indirect losses over the next 20 years could total up to 170 billion dollars because the country’s unbalanced trade relationship with China. 

The researchers say that the EU might be better equipped to adapt to climate-related trade impacts and could even profit by exporting more to China when it needs it. 

The US, on the other hand, imports far more from China than it exports, and with President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs, this will only further impact trade susceptible to climate change. 

“But Trump's tariff sanctions are likely to leave US economy even more vulnerable to climate change,” said Anders Levermann, the project leader. “As our study suggests, under climate change, the more reasonable strategy is a well-balanced economic connectivity, because it allows to compensate economic damages from unexpected weather events - of which we expect more in the future.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change in China to impact the U.S. economy

The unbalanced trade relations between the United States and China...

Putting,Coins,On,Donate,Glass,Bottle,For,Concept,Charity,And

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://ist.ac.at/">Institute Science and Technology Austria</a> has developed a theoretic model to interpret what motivates people to be modest and humble in their actions. For example, the experts wanted to explore the incentive behind making anonymous donations or not disclosing a particular level of experience or expertise to others.

The new model is the first to be based on the concept of hidden signals, which generate additional information about the sender once they are discovered. This concept is used by the researchers to identify the circumstances under which people have an incentive to conceal their positive attributes.

It is common for people to choose actions that may be costly at first, but lead to reputational benefits in the long run. However, if good reputations are important, the experts wanted to know why there are so many situations where people hide their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-heartbeat-generous/">generosity</a> or accomplishments.

The experts propose the idea that “burying” a signal, or hiding information, is a signal within itself that can have many interpretations. For instance, the sender may be uninterested in impressing others who would not notice understated messages. On the other hand, the sender might be confident that the people who matter to them will uncover the subtle messages.

The scientists took their ideas and inserted them in a new evolutionary game theory model they call the “signal-burying game.”

The game has different types of signal senders, which are classified as high, medium, and low, and different types of receivers, categorized as selective and unselective. The sender and the receiver do not know the other's type, but have the opportunity to convey their types by paying to send signals. 

The signals can be sent clearly or can be buried. When a signal is buried, it has a lower chance of being noticed by either type of receiver, and there is a risk that receivers will never learn that the sender has sent a signal at all. 

After the sender has generated a signal, receivers decide whether or not to engage in an economic interaction with the sender. Therefore, senders and receivers must develop strategies to maximize their payoff.

“We wanted to understand what strategies would evolve naturally and be stable,”  explained study co-first author Christian Hilbe. “In particular, is it possible to have a situation where high-level senders always choose to bury their signals, mid-level senders always send a clear signal, and low-level senders send no signal at all?”

This theory corresponds with real-life situations, and would allow for strategies that target specific receivers at the risk of losing others. The scientists found that players quickly adopted this exact plan of action.

Using their model, the team developed a new perspective on modest social behaviors and how humility achieves a specific goal in the end.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/">Nature Human Behaviour</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Experts reveal why humble, modest behavior is rewarding

A team of scientists led by the Institute Science and...

A recent study by <a href="https://www.brighamandwomens.org/">Brigham and Women's Hospital</a> has confirmed that sleep deprivation negatively impacts your work performance even when you do not feel tired.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/circadian-rhythm-light-melatonin/">Sleeping</a> for less than six hours was found to hinder the ability of study participants to perform simple tasks, regardless of whether or not they felt rested, due to a lack of focus.

Study senior author Dr. Elizabeth Klerman is an expert in the hospital’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders.

“If somebody is routinely awake for more than 18 hours daily, then they are also routinely sleeping for less than six hours daily,” explained Dr. Klerman.

“Therefore, it was unknown whether any decline in vigilance or other functions was due to the extended wakefulness or restricted sleep.”

“We found that chronic short sleep duration, even without extended wakefulness, resulted in vigilant performance impairments.”

The research was focused on nine healthy adults for 32 days. The individuals were restricted to 4.67 hours of sleep for each 20-hour time period, which is the equivalent to sleeping around 5.5 hours in a 24-hour day. 

A control group of eight healthy participants slept for the equivalent of 8 hours in a 24-hour day.

The study revealed that participants who were suffering from a lack of sleep had five times more attention lapses and their reaction time was doubled during tests. The performance of sleep-deprived individuals was no different among those who reported feeling alert and those who said they felt tired.

According to the researchers, this means that people who were impaired from chronic sleep restriction were unaware of any impairment.


Participants on the restricted sleep schedule also performed worse in memory tasks given over the 32 days, which indicates that people cannot adapt to chronic sleep deprivation.

“We have shown that sleep in itself is important,” said Dr. Klerman. “People cannot learn to live on insufficient sleep and they may not be aware of their reduced cognitive abilities.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sleep deprivation impacts performance even if you don’t feel it

A recent study by Brigham and Women's Hospital has confirmed...

The opioid crisis has reached every corner of the United States, from sea to shining sea. Now, it seems, opioid addiction worries have trickled into the ocean itself off the coast of Washington. Scientists studying mussels transplanted into Puget Sound have discovered trace amounts of oxycodone in the shellfish.

"We found antibiotics, we found antidepressants, chemotherapy drugs, heart medications and then also oxycodone in the mussels from these mostly urbanized areas," biologist Dr. Jennifer Lanksbury told Seattle’s <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/opioids-found-in-puget-sound-mussels/281-558028458">K5 News</a>. Lanksbury led the study for the <a href="https://wdfw.wa.gov/">Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife</a>.

Every two years, the Puget Sound Mussel Monitoring Program takes mussels from uncontaminated water on Whidbey Island and transplant them for three winter months in Puget Sound.

Since mussels are filter feeders – animals that eat by straining food particles and other matter from the water around them – contaminants from polluted water tend to build up in their tissues over time.

After three months, each group of mussels is brought back to the lab and tested to see which pollutants might be found in the Seattle inlet.

The good news is that the problem is not widespread – yet. Oxycodone was only found in three groups of mussels, out of 18 total sets, and only in small amounts. And medical contaminants, which likely came from treated wastewater, were found only in the urban test sites, not in commercial shellfish beds.

“The concentrations of oxycodone in the mussels were about a hundred to five hundred times less than you would get in a normal therapeutic dose for humans,” Lanksbury told K5 News. “So you would have to eat a hundred-fifty pounds of mussels from that contaminated area to even get a minimal dose.”

The findings do raise concerns for other marine wildlife, however. Unlike humans, animals like chinook salmon are affected by a much lower dose of opioids like oxycodone.

“Because we’re finding them in mussels, that means that these chemicals are present in the water and that means that they’re likely affecting the fish and other invertebrates,” Lanksbury said.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Opioid crisis trickles down into the waters of Puget Sound

The opioid crisis has reached every corner of the United...

A new study has found that music volume has a significant impact on people’s food choices, and when soft music is playing in the background of a restaurant, people prefer healthy options like salads. 

More and more marketing tactics are revolving around ambiance and studies have shown how big a role <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-anxiety-depression-dementia/">music</a> plays in a customer’s overall experience. 

Retail atmospherics, as it’s called, is gaining popularity and becoming an important strategic tool for businesses. 

Now, researchers from the <a href="http://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida </a>found that music volume directly impacts heart rate and influences food choices. 

The study was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 

Loud music drives customers to choose unhealthy options like burgers and fries because the volume raises heartbeat and stimulation. 

Quiet music, on the other hand, promotes relaxation and customers are more mindful of their food choices.

For the study, the researchers, led by University of South Florida marketing professor Dipayan Biswas, conducted two field experiments in a cafe in Stockholm. 

The cafe played music at two different decibels, either 55 or 70. Fifty-five decibels is similar to quiet background talking or the hum of a refrigerator. 

Menu items were categorized as healthy, non-healthy, and neutral, and the researchers recorded what customers ordered over several days to see how the difference in volume impacted orders. 

When the volume was turned up to 70 decibels, 20 percent more of the cafe patrons ordered something categorized an unhealthy. 

The study adds to the growing body of research on atmospherics which shows how restaurants and stores can influence customers choices and spending. 

“Restaurants and supermarkets can use ambient music strategically to influence consumer buying behavior,” Biswas said.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Restaurant music actually affects what you order, study finds

A new study has found that music volume has a...

Fit people have different physical responses to food, study finds. Obesity is at almost epidemic proportions in places like the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. It’s a health crisis that costs the global economy about US$2 trillion per year. In fact, the risk factors connected to a poor diet contribute to more disease than unsafe sex, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use combined.

A great deal of research has focused on how our food environment and neurobiology can result in overeating. It’s known that highly palatable foods such as pizza and chocolate cause signals in the brain that give a feeling of pleasure and reward. However, not much is known about whether or not these responses to food cues support weight-loss maintenance. Now, a new study from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> and the <a href="http://www.uva.nl/en/home">University of Amsterdam</a> has found that successful weight loss maintainers have different behavioral and physiological responses to food than people with obesity and those who consistently stay lean.

The findings of this study suggest that decreased sensitivity to rewarding and highly palatable foods as a result of a reduced physiological response could help explain why some people can lose weight and keep it off easier than others. 

The research team compared the responses of three groups: successful weight-loss maintainers who were previously obese, individuals who are currently obese, and individuals who have never been overweight. They looked at the saliva production and heart rate of individuals in each group following exposure to pizza. The results showed that individuals with obesity had increased salivation and a faster heart rate response after exposure, while salivation and heart rate of weight-loss maintainers decreased, and the lean participants were unresponsive.

Study participants also had to complete cognitive tasks to objectively measure their motivation to win and avoid losing food and money in a computerized task, where they had to determine the meaning of a symbol by trial and error. For each trial, they chose one of two figures. The figure either meant that they won food, lost food, won money, or lost money. As the trials went on, participants eventually learned what a specific symbol meant, and their ability to win or avoid different rewards was measured.

Results showed that the ability of weight-loss maintainers to determine the meaning of the symbol was less affected by food “wins” and more affected by food “losses.” The researchers believe this suggests that explicit food rewards hold less value for weight loss maintainers. 

“Our findings reveal a marked difference in physiological reactivity to food depending on weight-loss history,” the authors explain. “Further longitudinal research is needed to determine whether reduced physiological response to palatable (high calorie) food and sensitivity to food rewards may be predictive of individuals that can successfully restrict food intake.”

Although no definitive conclusions can be made from this observational study, this vein of research may lead to a better understand of the physiological systems that hinder people who are trying to lose weight. Ultimately, it may lead to better weight loss programs and more efficient dieting plans.

-

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fit people have different physical responses to food, study finds

Fit people have different physical responses to food, study finds....

Commercial paleontology can quickly drift into moral grey areas.  Many people question the practice of selling <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shell-fossils-reveal-earths-climate/">fossils</a> for profit at all.  I would counter this by saying that museums also sell and buy fossils, and targeting commercial dealers artificially divides industry from academia.  In fact, museums are often clients of commercial companies I’ve worked for. How the ivory trade impacts commercial paleontology also changes a lot.

Having worked in commercial paleontology for years, I have found that most in the field are able to distinguish scientific valuable finds from those less useful, and target academic organizations to acquire those fossils beneficial to science.  I’m also a bit hesitant to let government decide how people will deal with everything discovered on private land, as public land is completely out of the reach of law abiding commercial paleontology. Personally, I feel public land should remain public in all aspects.

Ivory plays an interesting role in the debate over commercial paleontology.  In a business showroom I recently visited, enormous tusks arch in simple metal stands.  Other tusks are intricately carved with leopards and mammoths. The tusks are mammoth tusks, but if they were from animals killed by humans, the killing happened before recorded history.

But how to distinguish mammoth ivory from elephant ivory?  Some states, including California, have banned the sale of fossil ivory such as mammoth ivory to completely avoid mistaking elephant ivory for mammoth ivory.  The law in California was challenged in court by the Ivory Education Institute in November 2016, but was ultimately was upheld by the Los Angeles Supreme Court.  

The non-profit <a href="http://www.ivoryeducationinstitute.org/">Ivory Education Institute</a> argues that elephant ivory trade is already blocked by international treaties and that the California law is ‘superfluous’. The Institute says that banning ivory trade of all kinds won’t stop poaching, and a list of historical bans that failed is cited.  Prohibition didn’t stop Americans from drinking, the war on drugs hasn’t stopped us from getting high, etc. The Ivory Education Institute argues that the only way to stop poaching for ivory is for demand to be met through normal, legalized trade. 

It seems there may be some truth to the idea, if a small one.  In states like Alaska, where fossil ivory is plentiful, you can buy pieces of jewelry featuring mammoth ivory for relatively cheap.  The Ivory Education Institute goes on to argue that making ivory illegal increases scarcity, which in turn makes the existing ivory more valuable, increasing the incentive to poachers.  Diamonds come to my mind, naturally rather plentiful, some companies hoard diamonds, creating artificial scarcity and inflating their value. 

Keeping in line with legalized trade, the Ivory Education Institute goes further; saying ivory is a natural resource.  Outsiders are painted in this light as those who impose their own values on how Africans would utilize their ‘resources’.  This is the most sickening part of the Ivory Education Institute’s argument. 

Elephants are living animals.  If someone was torturing an animal for sick pleasure, I would not pause to try my best to stop them.  Outsiders imposing bans on ivory in Africa is in some ways harkening back to imperialism. The international ban on ivory though, is more like the ban on human trafficking: a moral imperative.  Further, banning the trade of ivory in the US or in California specifically says nothing about what Africans do in Africa. The truth is that different African nations have taken different approaches, such as Zimbabwe’s attempt to create a sustainable ivory trade.  Of course, without the ability to export ivory, what is done in Zimbabwe or South Africa is of limited use for their own trade.

Others have argued quite forcefully that legal trade in ivory, or indeed, in anything, fosters a black market.  If any ivory is legal, it creates the problem of verifying the status of any ivory, opening the door again to poachers. How the ivory trade impacts commercial paleontology

The Ivory Education Institute has a point, though; few legal bans have created lasting change.  For lasting change, we may look at something else: how views change. At one point, birds were at the whim of the fashion industry.  During America’s Gilded Age, hats, pins and other fashion items featuring feathers or sometimes entire birds were the height of women’s fashion.  Plume hunters that killed wild birds for their feathers made quick cash for their trade, with little care for the negative aspects. At least one early wildlife ranger was murdered for trying to protect birds from gangs of plume hunters.  It’s estimated that in 15 million birds were killed for their feathers. 

Wildlife refuges, including those protected by rangers to the death, were partially established to give birds a chance to survive in the face of plume hunting.  Bird City, a private reserve in Louisiana by Edward Avery McIlhenny, Tabasco Sauce heir, was established partially in response to plume hunters nearly wiping out Snowy Egrets.  Some surviving Snowy Egrets were taken to Avery Island where the refuge was located and introduced first through an aviary and then set free so they could continue their migration. 

Acts by the government and private individuals such as Avery did something more important than give birds safe breeding grounds.  Slowly through, public acts of compassion toward wild birds through pamphlets blasting the trade in feathers and speeches, things changed.  What ended up saving birds like the Snowy Egret wasn’t so much a ban in the feather trade. Laws, such as the 1900 Lacey Act prohibiting transport of birds across state lines that were killed in violation of state laws, didn’t stop the feather trade.  What happened is that slowly American women had a collective change of heart. Culture changed. It’s not just feathers either, it’s the fur trade as well. Furs are still sold even if they’re often socially taboo. 

The stance of The Ivory Education Institute is repulsive, not so much because it doesn’t have a certain logic to it.  I find the argument that ivory is a natural resource disgusting but it isn’t surprising. Conservationists talk of trees, rocks, minerals, fossils even hunted animals as ‘resources’ all the time.  The problem is viewing elephants, trees and even the Earth as a thing. This is a problem that we must fix in the ‘hearts and minds’ of every person in the world. We must collectively learn empathy and compassion for others and for the earth itself.    

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How the ivory trade impacts commercial paleontology

Commercial paleontology can quickly drift into moral grey areas.  Many...

A new study from <a href="http://www.physoc.org/">The Physiological Society</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quitting-smoking-improves-lungs/">smoking</a> cigarettes causes muscle damage. The researchers found that components of cigarette smoke reduce the number of small blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to muscles in the legs.

The findings of the study suggest that smoking damages muscles in the body not only indirectly, but also directly. Prior to this study, smoking was believed to cause muscle weakness indirectly due to the fact that lung capacity becomes more limited, as does an individual’s ability to exercise.

But now, the researchers have demonstrated that cigarette smoke causes direct harm to muscles by reducing the number of blood vessels in leg muscles, which subsequently reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients that can be received.

This damage has an impact on both metabolism and activity levels, leading to an increased risk for many chronic diseases including diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


For the investigation, a team led by the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California, San Diego</a> exposed mice to cigarette smoke for eight weeks. Some of the mice inhaled the smoke, while others were injected with a solution containing tobacco smoke.


Study lead author Ellen Breen is an expert in Respiratory Medicine at UC San Diego.

“It is vitally important that we show people that the use of tobacco cigarettes has harmful consequences throughout the body, including large muscle groups needed for daily living, and develop strategies to stop the damage triggered by the detrimental components of cigarette smoke,” said Breen.

While the study did not identify which of the thousands of chemicals in cigarette smoke are responsible for direct muscle damage, this will be an important focus for further research. The experts also hope to get a better understanding of how these chemicals lead to fewer blood vessels.

The research is published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14697793">The Journal of Physiology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cigarette smoke even damages the muscles in your body

A new study from The Physiological Society has revealed that...

A recent investigation into language and social interaction has revealed that people around the world do not usually say 'thank you' when someone helps them out. The findings of the research indicate that there is a universal willingness to cooperate.

Study lead author Nick Enfield is a professor of Linguistics at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a>.

“Our findings indicate a widespread assumption that saying ‘thank you’ is not necessary in the everyday contexts of our lives,” said Professor Enfield.

“Some might interpret this as a crisis of rudeness, that we are polite in public but have no manners in our own homes. But that is the wrong interpretation. Instead, it demonstrates that humans have an unspoken understanding we will cooperate with each other.”

The team analyzed nearly 1,000 recordings of informal conversations among friends, families, and neighbors. The conversations were spoken in eight different languages, including Russian, Polish, and English. 

Cooperation was found to be very commonplace, but saying thanks was not. Across most of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/language-impact-perception-earth/">languages</a>, gratitude was only expressed vocally in one out of 50 situations.

The highest rates of spoken gratitude expression were found among English and Italian speakers. However, while ‘thank you’ and relative terms were used the most frequently in English, these phrases were still only uttered 14.5 percent of the time.

In Cha’palaa, a language spoken in Ecuador, the speakers never said 'thank you.’

“When people think of social norms around gratitude, they naturally think about our interactions in formal settings, where it seems standard to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’,” said Professor Enfield.

“But in in our homes and villages - where our interactions would seem to matter most - we find people dispense with these niceties almost entirely.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Royal Society Open Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Most people do not say thank you, study finds

A recent investigation into language and social interaction has revealed...

The Chinese giant salamander is one of the more prehistoric-looking animals that is still around today. These ancient creatures – dating back 170 million years – are amphibians that can grow up to six feet long and weigh 140 pounds. They’ve been depicted in Chinese culture for thousands of years, but have now become a highly coveted delicacy amongst the country’s wealthy. As a result, they have all but disappeared from their freshwater habitats.

In order to keep up with growing demand, these amphibians are routinely harvested from the wild in an effort to stock commercial breeding farms. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/economic-benefits-climate-china/">China</a> has officially banned the harvesting of wild giant salamanders, but supports widespread releases of farmed salamanders as a conservation effort. But this conservation measure may actually be harming wild populations by mixing genetic lineages and facilitating the spread of diseases. 

Recently, a research team from the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a> (ZSL) conducted a wide survey of river sites where the salamanders are known to live. These field surveys covered 97 sites in 23 Chinese provinces through a period of four years.

“We cannot confirm survival of wild Chinese giant salamander populations at any survey sites,” the authors say in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/authors">Current Biology</a>. “And consider the species to be extremely depleted or functionally extinct across the huge surveyed area.”

The researchers warn that these amphibians are in “catastrophic” decline, with only a handful potentially left in the wild. The species is already categorized as critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

“The over-exploitation of these incredible animals for human consumption has had a catastrophic effect on their numbers in the wild over an amazingly short time-span,” says Dr. Samuel Turvey, a member of the research team from the ZSL. “Unless coordinated conservation measures are put in place as a matter of urgency, the future of the world’s largest amphibian is in serious jeopardy.”

The salamander population has experienced a dramatic decline in the last few decades as a result of poaching and habitat destruction. But despite their status as an endangered species, this amphibian is still widely regarded as a delicacy. Luckily, recent legislation by the Chinese government has made it so anyone found to be eating this salamander could receive a jail sentence of up to ten years.

Co-author Dr. Fang Yan, from the <a href="http://english.kiz.cas.cn/">Kunming Institute of Zoology</a>, laments “It’s essential that suitable safeguards are put in place to protect the unique genetic lineage of these amazing animals, which dates back to the time of the dinosaurs.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Endangered delicacy: Earth’s biggest amphibian disappearing

The Chinese giant salamander is one of the more prehistoric-looking...

Nightmares can be so unsettling that they can disrupt a night’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/harder-stay-asleep-older/">sleep</a> and stay on your mind throughout the following day. While being jarred awake in the middle of the night from frightening dreams can actually cause health issues, experts also say that confronting nightmares can be beneficial. 

A new report published in <a href="http://time.com/5287932/are-nightmares-bad-for-you/">Time</a> examines the health problems associated with nightmares as well as the positive benefits of working through nightmare-related trauma.

The sleep loss associated with chronic nightmares, which is classified as having one nightmare per night, can increase the risk of heart disease and depression.

“When you have a lot of nightmares, that can lead to stress and insomnia,” Michael Nadorff, an assistant professor of psychology at <a href="https://www.msstate.edu/">Mississippi State University</a>, told Time. “For people who have significant nightmare problems, it’s also common is for these individuals to actively try to avoid sleep in order to avoid having nightmares. When they do have [a nightmare], they often don’t sleep for the rest of the night.”

However, nightmares aren’t always a bad thing, and dream therapy, or working through the scenarios in nightmares that cause distress, can actually be quite therapeutic. 

For example, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020118425588">one study found</a> that nightmares may actually be a coping mechanism and help with stress management.

Working through nightmares can also help with anxiety, as dreams often reflect concerns or emotional turmoil. 

Tore Nielsen, a professor of psychiatry at the <a href="http://www.umontreal.ca/en/">University of Montreal</a>, told Time that working with a therapist to analyze your dreams can help shed insight into personal fears. 

With the health problems associated with sleep deprivation and nightmares, it’s important to look into treatment rather than simply trying to avoid nightmares all together, which can aggravate issues and increase health risks. 

There are several treatment options, including taking blood pressure medication or talking through the nightmare with something called image rehearsal therapy. 

“We have the person talk through their nightmare and change it in a way that’s not threatening, and then they practice the new dream during the day using visual imagery,” Nadorff told Time. “This kind of daily rehearsal can help reshape the scary dream even while a person is sleeping.”

Nightmares can range in severity from being a mere nuisance to being seriously life-disrupting, but the underlying stresses, fears, and concerns presented in nightmares are often reflections of deep seeded issues that should be addressed. 

This is why nightmares, while scary, are not worth ignoring, especially when confronting nightmares could help with stress management, processing trauma, and reducing the health risks associated with nightmare-related sleep deprivation. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Confronting nightmares can be good for your health, experts say

Nightmares can be so unsettling that they can disrupt a...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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?

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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

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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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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