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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Why we help: The hidden math behind cooperation

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

Previous research has shown that people often interpret new information in a way that supports their pre-existing beliefs, which is known as confirmation bias. A new study by researchers at the <a href="https://www.uke.de/english/index.html">University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf</a> (UKE) and <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> has demonstrated that a tendency toward confirmation bias prevails even when <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/people-decisions-intuition-logic/">decisions</a> are as trivial as choosing the direction of dots running across a screen. 

“Confirmation biases have previously only been established in the domains of higher cognition or subjective preferences,” said study co-author Tobias Donner. “It was rather striking for us to see that people displayed clear signs of confirmation bias when judging on sensory input that we expected to be subjectively neutral to them.”

The findings of the study suggest that confirmation bias is linked to selective attention, a process in which people react to certain pieces of information and not others when several are presented at the same time.

Although the phenomenon of confirmation bias is well-established, it has not been entirely determined what drives this tendency. One theory is that, after making a decision, people like to find ways to confirm they made the right choice. Another theory is that people become less sensitive to new information after making an important decision.

To investigate, the researchers instructed study participants to look at two videos that featured a cloud of small white dots on a white computer screen. The individuals were asked to report the direction of the moving dots, which was difficult because the dots were embedded in many more dots that moved sporadically.  

After the first video, the participants were asked to decide whether the motion of the dots pointed clockwise or counterclockwise from a reference line drawn next to the cloud. After the second video, the volunteers were asked to drag the mouse over the screen to represent their best estimate of the average direction that they had observed in both videos. 

The study revealed that after making an initial call based on the first video, the participants were more likely to use subsequent evidence that was consistent with this initial choice when making their final decision. This discovery indicates that the initial choice acts as a cue, selectively directing attention toward any incoming information that supports it.


“Contrary to a common phrase, first impression does not have to be the last impression,” said study first author Bharath Talluri. “Such impressions, or choices, lead us to evaluate information in their favor. By acknowledging the fact that we selectively prioritize information agreeing with our previous choices, we could attempt to actively suppress this bias, at least in cases of critical significance, like evaluating job candidates or making policies that impact a large section of the society.”


The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People interpret new information to back their existing beliefs

Previous research has shown that people often interpret new information...

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily helping humans for centuries. Today, donkeys fill many roles for humans from agricultural animals to beloved pets. But now, donkeys are increasingly filling an unexpected role as a medicinal good.

The market for donkey skins is driven by demand for ejiao, a medicine made from donkey skins that is used for a wide variety of purposes, from <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/anti-aging-hormone/">anti-aging</a> to increased libido and cancer treatment. Ejiao has been around for 2,500 years, but its popularity has recently grown as a result of marketing campaigns and new uses for the product. 

According to a<a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sites/uk/files/2017-11/under_the_skin_report.pdf"> 2017 report</a> by The Donkey Sanctuary, an estimated 1.8 million donkey skins are traded every year. Like many animal products used for traditional medicine, ejiao is seen as a luxury good.

Sadly, the lives of the donkeys used for their skins is often far from luxurious. Donkeys are either killed in illicit slaughterhouses or taken to legal operations to be slaughtered and skinned.

These donkey slaughterhouses are often marked by poor living conditions including lack of food and water, exposure to infectious diseases and inhumane slaughter techniques. Some donkeys are even skinned while they are still alive, likely enduring extreme pain and distress. After the donkeys are skinned, their carcasses are sometimes simply dumped in a pile or buried outside creating potential public health concerns.

The National Council of SPCAs notes one especially horrific case at a donkey slaughterhouse, “The Bloemfontein SPCA investigated an issue involving 70 sick, weak and emaciated donkeys on a plot outside the city. According to workers, the donkeys had been on the property for two weeks without food or water. Some had aborted and dead foetuses were found on the ground.”

 Now, certain regional donkey populations are dwindling as donkeys cannot keep up with demand. China, who is a large consumer of donkey skin products, experienced a decline in donkey populations from<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-22/ejiao-threatens-donkey-populations/9282138"> 11 million in 1990 to 3 million in 2017</a>. To help with this decline, donkeys are exported to China from developing countries where donkeys are common.

The sudden and overwhelming demand for donkeys adversely affects farmers who depend on donkeys for their livelihood. Since the donkey skin market has exploded, the price for donkeys has increased in countries such as Niger and Kenya.<a href="https://spana.org/"> SPANA</a>, the international working animal charity, states that the price of a donkey in some African countries has inflated up to four times its normal price. If farmers can still afford to buy donkeys, they risk having their donkeys stolen for the donkey skin trade. Almost 1,000 donkeys were stolen in Kenya from December 2016 to April 2017 alone.

Farmers in countries such as Tanzania and Kenya are now receiving help from non-profits groups such as <a href="https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/">The Donkey Sanctuary</a> and <a href="https://www.thebrooke.org/">The Brooke</a> in protecting their donkeys and preventing theft. 

In addition to community level actions, some African and Asian countries are fighting back and banning donkey skin exports from their countries. As illegal donkey slaughterhouses continue to proliferate, country-wide bans of donkey exports should be followed by increased enforcement efforts.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Increased demand for donkey skins has created a horrific market

Donkeys have been a prominent figure throughout our history, steadily...

Our eyesight is an integral part of the survival of our species, as it allows us to identify both food and predators – two of the most important things for a species’ survival. Identifying the presence and direction of a moving object helps animals find <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bats-echolocation-hunt-prey/">prey</a>, and also avoid being prey. 

Vertebrate retinas have four kinds of motion-sensitive cells to help with this task, with each being responsive to a motion that is up, down, right, or left. But in the nighttime, our retinas have a good deal of difficulty detecting motion. A new study in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a> reports findings on how the retina is able to reprogram itself for dealing with low light.

Retinal circuits were believed to be unchanging, programmed for specific tasks and unable to be reprogrammed. Cells programmed to respond to upward motion were thought to only deal with movement in the up direction, as were cells programmed for the other three directions. It’s known that when an object is moving exactly in one of those directions, that population of neurons fires strongly. If the motion is halfway between two directions – such as going up and to the right – both populations of cells will fire, just not quite as strongly.

These directional neurons make up roughly 4 percent of the cells that send signals from the retina to the brain in humans. In rodents, these neurons make up about 20 to 30 percent, as motion detection is even more important for an animal that is constantly being hunted. Because they are always at risk of being attacked by a predator, rodents tend to forage at night, most likely because it’s harder for predators to see. “But of course, nature is an arms race,” explains Greg Field, an assistant professor of neurobiology and biomedical engineering at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a>. 

“Owls and cats have developed highly specialized eyes to see at night. The prey have altered what they have to survive.”

One of these potential alterations was found by Xiaoyang Yao, a graduate student in Field’s lab who looked at mouse retinas under a microscope equipped with night vision in a very dark room. She found that the retinal cells programmed for upward movement actually change their behavior in low light. These “up” neurons will fire when they detect any kind of movement – not just upward motion. This was shown through placing a small sample of mouse retina on an electrode array that measures the individual firing of hundreds of neurons at once. The researchers then showed it movies, and assessed the firing of the neurons in daytime and nighttime conditions.

They found that only the “up” cells become reprogrammed for all motion in low light. Although the researchers don’t know the exact reasons for this, Fields believes it is because up is the most important direction for a prey animal to spot a predator, as it may loom upwards while it approaches prey. While they haven’t refined exactly why this adaptation occurred, the discovery that large populations of retinal neurons adapt their function for low light conditions is an important finding. Because it is driven by both the circuitry and chemical signals between cells, there may be many other adaptations like this one that can be found with further research.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How our eyes adapt and reprogram to see at night

Our eyesight is an integral part of the survival of...

Researchers have identified a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/amish-people-live-longer/">gene mutation</a> that triggered changes in humans more than two million years ago, and ultimately shaped the physical capacity of modern humans. According to the study, the loss of a single gene called CMAH may have contributed to the ability of humans to run long distances. 

Around the same time as the CMAH mutation, early humans were making the  transition from living in the forest to living primarily in the arid savannahs of Africa. Human bodies and their abilities were evolving dramatically, particularly changes in physiology that resulted in long legs, big feet, and powerful gluteal muscles. 

Study senior author Dr. Ajit Varki is the Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at <a href="http://som.ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego School of Medicine</a>.

“We discovered this first clear genetic difference between humans and our closest living evolutionary relatives, the chimpanzees, more than 20 years ago,” said Dr. Varki.


The team set out to investigate the loss of CMAH in mice to examine how the genetic difference may have contributed to physiological changes and the origin of Homo.

“Since the mice were also more prone to muscle dystrophy, I had a hunch that there was a connection to the increased long distance running and endurance of Homo, but I had no expertise on the issue and could not convince anyone in my lab to organize this long-shot experiment,” said Dr. Varki.


The challenge was ultimately taken on by graduate student Jon Okerblom, who built mouse running wheels and borrowed a mouse treadmill. 

“We evaluated the exercise capacity (of mice lacking the CMAH gene), and noted an increased performance during treadmill testing and after 15 days of voluntary wheel running,” said Okerblom.

The team found that the mice displayed greater resistance to fatigue, increased mitochondrial respiration and hind-limb muscle, and more capillaries to increase blood and oxygen supply.

Dr. Varki said that these findings suggest CMAH loss contributed to improved skeletal muscle capacity for oxygen utilization. “And if the findings translate to humans, they may have provided early hominids with a selective advantage in their move from trees to becoming permanent hunter-gatherers on the open range.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Gene mutation made humans capable of running long distances

Researchers have identified a gene mutation that triggered changes in...

Anyone who has ever <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/anxiety-logical-decisions/">gambled</a> knows that it can give you quite the rush, and requires a fair amount of analysis, whether you’re betting on poker, a sporting event, or how many slices of pizza you can eat in one sitting. Analysis of brain activity during betting can give insight into how we make decisions and assess the choices we’ve made. 

A new study from the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> has found that once a gambler places a bet, they immediately begin experiencing regret about past bets – both won and lost.

“Right after making a choice and right before finding out about the outcome, the brain is replaying and revisiting nearly every feature of what happened during the previous decision,” says senior author Ming Hsu, an associate professor in the Haas School of Business and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. “Instead of ‘I just gambled but maybe I shouldn’t have,’ it is, ‘Last round I gambled and that was a really good choice.’ Or, ‘I played it safe last time but should have gone for it.’”

For their study, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, the researchers focused on the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, which is involved in reward processing and social interactions. Past research has found that this area of the brain is involved in how people value their choice options, how much regret they feel, how valuable their choice is, and how much risk they are willing to take. These feelings have influence over future choices, and help an individual determine how good or bad an outcome may have been.

The researchers recorded fast human brain activity at a thousand measurements per second to reveal the complex array of activity underlying decisions being made by study participants. They used electrodes to record this activity, and did so while participants were presented with a betting opportunity and deciding whether or not to bet. They also recorded brain activity once the individual placed the bet and then learned the outcome. Their recording allowed the researchers to track the activity moving through the orbitofrontal cortex on a millisecond by millisecond basis.

&nbsp;

“It turns out that the most prevalent information encoded in the orbitofrontal cortex was the regret subjects experienced from their previous decision,” says first author Ignacio Saez, a former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow, now an assistant professor at UC Davis.

Brain activity showed that gamblers were second-guessing their earlier decision based off whether they won or lost, even before they discovered whether or not they had won their current bet.

“After the subject has made a decision, the brain, far from idly waiting to find out the outcome, was busy revisiting what occurred during the previous decision – everything from whether they gambled and how much was won or lost, to how much regret they felt from their earlier decision,” says Hsu. “From our subjects we get a better picture of the brain and what it is doing during decision-making, but it also gives some ground-truth for the type of signals we might look for in people with dysfunctions in decision-making,” Hsu said. “There is a lot more going on under the hood than is represented in our elegant but overly-simplified models and theories.”

The researchers see an opportunity to better understand both addictive and antisocial behavior, as well as compare regret in normal brains versus injured brains. Future findings may help improvement treatment for individuals with disorders or injuries related to the orbitofrontal cortex.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

When betting, gamblers mainly feel regret over past wagers

Anyone who has ever gambled knows that it can give...

A new study published by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> has revealed that more than one-third of college freshmen suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. The investigation involved first-year <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/college-students-thought-suicide/">university students</a> in eight industrialized countries worldwide. 

Dr. Randy P. Auerbach of <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> is the study's lead author.

“While effective care is important, the number of students who need treatment for these disorders far exceeds the resources of most counseling centers, resulting in a substantial unmet need for mental health treatment among college students,” said Dr. Auerbach. “Considering that students are a key population for determining the economic success of a country, colleges must take a greater urgency in addressing this issue.”

The research team analyzed data from the World Health Organization's World Mental Health International College Student Initiative, which involved nearly 14,000 students from 19 colleges in eight countries. The participants reported on symptoms associated with common mental disorders, including major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

Overall, 35 percent of the respondents suffered from symptoms that were consistent with at least one mental health disorder. The most common ailment was found to be major depressive disorder, followed by generalized anxiety disorder.

“The finding that one-third of students from multiple countries screened positive for at least one of six mental health disorders represents a key global mental health issue,” said Dr. Auerbach.

According to previous research, only 15 to 20 percent of students will address their issues with local psychologists or at their school counseling center. For those who will not seek out help in person, Dr. Auerbach recommends Internet resources, such as online cognitive behavioral therapy.

“University systems are currently working at capacity and counseling centers tend to be cyclical, with students ramping up service use toward the middle of the semester, which often creates a bottleneck,” said Dr. Auerbach. “Internet-based clinical tools may be helpful in providing treatment to students who are less inclined to pursue services on campus or are waiting to be seen.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/abn/">Journal of Abnormal Psychology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

One in three college freshmen suffer from mental health disorders

A new study published by the American Psychological Association has...

When researchers investigated a potential connection between personality traits and Christmas shopping habits, they found that people who are more emotionally stable spend more money during the holidays. People who are less stable, particularly those who have higher levels of neuroticism, were found to spend less money on Christmas shopping.

For retailers, holiday sales can represent 20 percent of revenue for the entire year, which means that understanding how consumers spend money during this time is of particular interest. The research team set out to find personality traits that may predict holiday spending.

“We've known for a while that personality is related to what we call ‘broad outcomes:’ how much money you make or how happy you are or how long you live, but we know less about why personality is related to those things,” explained co-lead author Sara Weston of <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a>.

The team, which also included co-lead author Joe Gladstone of the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> and colleagues, determined that personality traits are related to specific spending behaviors.

The study was focused on more than two million individual transactions from the bank accounts of over 2,000 participants. The researchers compared the relationship between the Big 5 personality traits and spending over the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/christmas-sex-september-births/">Christmas</a> season.

The study revealed that people who are more emotionally stable spend more during the holidays, while those high in neuroticism spend less. The experts also found that individuals with more artistic interests and more active imaginations spend less during the holiday season compared to people who are less artistic and imaginative. In addition, individuals who are highly conscientious spend more during the holidays.

This research provides a guide for examining how large scale information combined with personality traits can create an overview of consumer habits.

“By providing objective measures of both annual and holiday spending, the data allow for a truly ecological study of the relationship between personality traits and consumer behavior,” said Gladstone.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/home/spp">Social Psychological and Personality Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who are emotionally stable spend more during the holidays

When researchers investigated a potential connection between personality traits and...

According to recent estimates, as much as 70 percent of all the world's freshwater is used for crop irrigation. 

Global agricultural has placed a huge burden on water resources and there is growing concern that climate change and population increases will strain already precariously low watersheds too thin. 

The world’s population is projected to increase from <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/Key_Findings_WPP_2015.pdf">7.4 billion to 9.725 billion </a>by 2050, and the big question that arises is how will agriculture meet the food demands of a growing population?

Moreover, will there be enough water to meet the new agricultural demands? Assessing the world’s water consumption, particularly in terms of agriculture, is difficult because many areas do not report water consumption levels for agriculture. 

The <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/SMOS/How_much_water_is_used_for_irrigation">European Space Agency (ESA)</a> recently reported on a new study published in the journal International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation that discussed the possibility of using ESA <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/smap-satellite-will-measure-moisture-in-earths-soil/">satellites to measure soil moisture</a>. 

If researchers have a better idea of how much water is being used for crops than that information could inform water conservation and management in the future. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.cnr.it/en/institute/066/research-institute-for-geo-hydrological-protection-irpi">CNR Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection</a> in Italy proposed the satellite soil moisture measurement application. 

“As a first step to demonstrating how this type of satellite measurements could be used, we chose nine sites in all – sites in the US, Europe, Africa and Australia,” Luca Brocca, the study’s lead author, told the ESA. “We took four satellite missions that observe soil moisture and we were able to measure the amount of water applied for irrigation between two consecutive soil-moisture measurements from space.”

The researchers propose that satellite data from different missions like the ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission as well as <a href="https://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive mission</a>, could record accurate soil moisture measurements and help show how much water is used for crops around the world. 

“This really is a first step, but we can anticipate that higher resolution data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions offer further potential,” said Brocca. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Agricultural irrigation places massive burden on freshwater supply

According to recent estimates, as much as 70 percent of...

This summer saw a dramatic spike in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-setting-heat-waves/">temperatures across the world</a>. Record-breaking heat waves in the United Kingdom claimed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/03/deaths-rose-650-above-average-during-uk-heatwave-with-older-people-most-at-risk">700 more deaths than average</a> and extremely high temperatures in Quebec Province in Canada are estimated to have contributed to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/07/10/627687639/estimated-70-deaths-linked-to-canadas-heat-wave">70 deaths</a>. 

As climate change continues to increase temperatures, the number of deaths attributed to heat waves and weather extremes will only increase.

Now, a new study has found ensuring the goals of the Paris Accord are met is crucial to minimizing catastrophic death tolls due to high temperatures. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/">London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine </a>(LSHTM) conducted the study, the first of its kind, to examine the health impacts of rising temperatures under climate scenarios in line with goals of the Paris Accord. 

The aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius with some countries hoping to limit warming even more.

While many studies have focused on the Paris Accord and made predictions about global climate, sea level, weather extremes, and health impacts based on many different emission scenarios, this study specifically focuses on mortality due to heat extremes if the Paris Accord is not met. 

The results were published in the journal Climate Change. 

Historical data on temperature-related deaths were collected and analyzed from 451 locations in 23 countries around the world. 

Using this data, the researchers simulated scenarios that were inline with the Paris Accord or higher to get a sense of how rising temperature would impact heat-related deaths. 

The results showed that if global warming exceeded three or four-degree Celsius, there would be a dramatic increase in heat-related deaths. 

Even in the scenarios that used the goal temperatures of keeping warming below two degrees Celsius saw an increase in deaths in warmer regions of the globe, but not nearly as much as the higher warming scenarios. 

“Our projections suggest that large increases in temperature-related deaths could be limited in most regions if warming was kept below 2°C,” said Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, the first author of the study. “Under extreme changes in climate, large parts of the world could experience a dramatic increase in excess mortality due to heat. Efforts to limit the increase in global temperature to below 1.5°C could provide additional benefits in tropical or arid regions, including the most populous and often poorest countries.”

--

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>

Heat-related deaths set to skyrocket with warming temperatures

This summer saw a dramatic spike in temperatures across the...

Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica captured and kept animals for more than just food, according to a new study.

Domesticating and herding livestock played an important role in our early ancestors’ transition from hunting and gathering in nomadic groups to forming permanent settlements and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/goat-genome-domestication/">cultivating the land for food and resources. </a>

New research shows that on top of captive animals being used for important resources like food or clothes made from animal skins, some civilizations traded wild animals through a large network to serve a variety of purposes. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/">George Mason University</a> discovered evidence of wild animals like pumas and jaguars being traded in the Maya city of Copan in Honduras which dates back to 426 to 822 AD. 

The findings were published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202958">PLOS ONE. </a>

Mesoamerican cultures traded wild animals as a symbolic display of power, for rituals, and also to be used for important resources like venison or crafts. 

The capture and trade of wild animals in ancient Mesoamerica dates back to the Teotihuacan culture in what is central Mexico today. 

However, it was not well understood how large a role wild animal trade and management played at the time due to the scarce evidence of domesticated animals in archaeological excavations. 

For this study, the researchers analyzed animal samples that were found in five different ritual sites in Copan. 

Stable isotope analysis performed on the samples showed the diet and geographical region of the animals. The researchers found that many of the samples were likely used in rituals or made into goods and the animals were from far regions of the Copan Valley. 

“Encoded into the bones of jaguars and pumas at the Maya site of Copan was evidence of both captivity and of expansive trade networks trading ritualized carnivores across the dynamic Mesoamerican landscape,” said Nawa Sugiyama, the lead author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: N. Sugiyama

Wild animals were traded for rituals in ancient Mesoamerica

Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica captured and kept animals for more...

A new study has shed insight into how the brain processes and filters out certain sounds and stimuli, like how we can hear someone’s footsteps coming down the hall but ignore our own. 

The findings could help scientists better understand the neural pathways responsible for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/learning-instruments-languages-brain/">learning music</a> and speech. 

For the study, researchers from <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> and <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> examined how mice can easily pick out sounds around them (a key instinct for survival) but are unphased by their own footsteps. 

“The capacity to anticipate and discriminate these movement-related sounds from environmental sounds is critical to normal hearing,” said David Schneider, a lead author of the study which was published in the journal Nature. “But how the brain learns to anticipate the sounds resulting from our movements remains largely unknown.”

The research delved into the neural processes that allow people and mice to intuitively recognize and remember the sound of their own movements in relation to the sounds of a larger environment. 

“The ability to ignore one's own footsteps requires the brain to store and recall memories and to make some pretty stellar computations,” said Schneider. “These are the building blocks for other, more important sound-generating behaviors, like recognizing the sounds you make when learning how to speak or to play a musical instrument.”

For the study mice were placed on a treadmill that was designed as an “acoustic virtual reality system.” The researchers were able to control the sounds the mice made while walking on the treadmill and monitored neural activity in the mice while they moved around. 

The team discovered that mice develop a sensory filter that ignores certain sounds and heightens others. 

By monitoring the neural activity of the mice while they walked on the treadmill, the researchers were able to identify the neural circuitry that was responsible for suppressing an individual’s footsteps. 

The ability to filter out sounds is also an important adaptive measure for humans, but the researchers say that anticipating our own sounds is also key for learning to speak or play music. 

“When we learn to speak or to play music, we predict what sounds we're going to hear--such as when we prepare to strike keys on a piano--and we compare this to what we actually hear,” said Schneider. “We use mismatches between expectation and experience to change how we play--and we get better over time because our brain is trying to minimize these errors.”

Future studies on the neural processes responsible for making these predictions could help researchers understand certain spectrum disorders and diseases according to the researchers. 

“Overactive prediction circuits in the brain are thought to lead to the voice-like hallucinations associated with schizophrenia while an inability to learn the consequences of one's actions could lead to debilitating social paralysis, as in autism,” said Schneider. “By figuring out how the brain normally makes predictions about self-generated sounds, we open the opportunity for understanding a fascinating ability--predicting the future--and for deepening our understanding of how the brain breaks during disease.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why we can hear footsteps… but ignore our own

A new study has shed insight into how the brain...

Researchers have uncovered the earliest drawing ever created by a human, predating other artistic endeavors by 30,000 years or more. 

The discovery is remarkable for several reasons, as it shows how challenging analyzing early art and drawings can be, and that symbols were used by Homo sapiens much earlier than previously realized all over the world. 

If you were to come across a rock fragment with a few lines or scratches in it, you might think it means nothing or that the patterns aren’t man-made. An archaeologist may find an ancient drawing and misinterpret it as having much more meaning than it does.

These are just a few of the challenges that come with analyzing and studying symbols, paintings, and art produced by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-first-cave-art/">some of our earliest ancestors.</a>

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-bordeaux.com/">University of Bordeaux</a>, <a href="http://www.univ-tlse2.fr/home/welcome-to-ut2j-/welcome-to-the-university-toulouse-jean-jaures--257874.kjsp">the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès</a> and the <a href="http://www.culture.gouv.fr/">French Ministry of Culture</a> recently published a paper in the journal Nature outlining the discovery of the oldest known abstract drawing. 

The drawing was made on a piece of siliceous rock with colored clay pigment called ocher that was used as a pencil. The rock was unearthed during an excavation at the Blombos Cave in South Africa. Ocher was used to create a crosshatched pattern of lines on a surface of the rock. 

It was previously thought that early symbols were first drawn or painted by humans in Europe 40,000 years ago. However, this new discovery proves that drawings were being created much earlier. 

First, however, the researchers had to prove that the drawing was deliberately made. To do this, the researchers analyzed the chemical makeup of the pigments and reproduced the lines with various techniques. 

After several different analysis, the researchers were able to confirm that the lines were deliberate and made with ocher that had been formed into a point. 

The results point to the earliest known drawing created by humans and the researchers say that it’s very likely the drawing was meant to be used as some sort of symbol. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: D'Errico/Henshilwood/Nature

Researchers unearth the earliest human drawing

Researchers have uncovered the earliest drawing ever created by a...

<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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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

[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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[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

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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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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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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