Coffee is part of the morning routines for millions of people. But does drinking more coffee align with having more muscle? 



That’s the question behind a new analysis of Americans’ habits and body composition. This research doesn’t try to prove cause and effect. It asks whether higher coffee or caffeine intake corresponds to more limb muscle for a given body size.



The answer points in a positive direction for most adults, with an important exception. The details matter, because the way researchers measured muscle and tallied <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-may-help-you-live-longer-if-you-drink-it-this-way/">coffee intake</a> shapes how to read the results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-limb-muscle-matters">Why limb muscle matters</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/studies-learn-the-exact-amount-of-time-you-should-spend-training-to-build-muscle/">Muscle mass</a> isn’t just about strength. Lower muscle mass in arms and legs raises the risk of falls, fractures, and everyday struggles that chip away at independence. 



Scientists often track limb muscle adjusted for body size because it flags early losses that can sneak up with age.



A standard yardstick for that job is the appendicular skeletal muscle mass-to-BMI ratio, abbreviated as <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10401528/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ASMBMI</a>. In plain terms: “How much limb muscle do you have for your body size?” 



This measurement focuses on muscle quantity, not how quickly you rise from a chair or how steady you feel on stairs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-coffee-s-link-to-muscles">Studying coffee's link to muscles</h2>



Researchers pulled data from a large, ongoing U.S. health survey (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NHANES</a>) spanning 2011-2018. 



They started with adults, applied clear rules such as “only include people with full diet interviews and body scans,” and finished with 8,333 participants. Muscle was measured by DXA scans of the arms and legs and then expressed as ASMBMI.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-helps-bacteria-resist-antibiotics-in-your-gut/">Coffee intake</a> came from two 24-hour dietary recalls - structured interviews covering everything people ate and drank on two different days. The team looked at regular coffee, decaf coffee, and total caffeine from all sources. 



Their statistical models adjusted for age, sex, race, education, income, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, BMI, medical conditions, total calories, and protein, so they could compare people who were similar on many fronts except for coffee intake.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-results-say">What the results say</h2>



People who drank more coffee tended to have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-grapes-every-day-can-transform-your-muscles/">more limb muscle</a> relative to their body size. After full adjustments, the highest coffee group had about a 13% higher ASMBMI than the non-coffee group. 



The highest caffeinated coffee group showed roughly a 12% increase. The top caffeine group showed about an 11% increase. Decaf didn’t show a clear, statistically significant link. 



When researchers drew smoothed trend lines, the pattern appeared approximately linear: more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-coffee-may-help-women-stay-sharp-and-strong-as-they-age/">regular coffee</a> or caffeine corresponded to more muscle relative to body size.



There was one major exception. When participants were split by BMI, the positive link disappeared in the group with obesity (BMI ≥ 30). 



In that subset, drinking more coffee was not associated with higher ASMBMI. That doesn’t mean coffee lowers muscle there; it means the helpful pattern seen elsewhere wasn’t present.



A likely reason is biological factors tied to obesity, including chronic, low-grade inflammation that speeds muscle breakdown and may overshadow small benefits from caffeine or other coffee compounds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limitations-in-this-research">Limitations in this research</h2>



This was a cross-sectional snapshot. It can spot links, but it can’t prove that coffee changes muscle. People with more muscle may simply be more active or keep schedules where coffee fits better. 



The models adjusted for activity and many other variables, which strengthens confidence, but unmeasured factors can still nudge results.



Diet recalls lean on memory and honesty, and add-ins like sugar or cream can be easy to forget. 



ASMBMI captures muscle quantity, not strength or performance, so it can’t tell you how much weight you can move or how good your balance is during daily activities. 



Results also come from U.S. adults in specific survey years, so patterns could differ in other populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-coffee-is-linked-with-muscles">Why coffee is linked with muscles</h2>



Caffeine stimulates the nervous system and modulates how the body uses fuel during activity. Coffee also contains <a href="https://www.chhs.colostate.edu/krnc/monthly-blog/what-are-polyphenols-another-great-reason-to-eat-fruits-and-veggies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyphenols</a> with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. 



Lab and animal research suggests these compounds may support healthier muscle by encouraging autophagy - the cell’s cleanup crew for worn-out parts - and by dialing down chronic inflammation over time. 



This analysis didn’t test mechanisms, but these ideas fit with the pattern. Decaf’s “no clear link” signal hints that caffeine may be doing more of the heavy lifting in this dataset.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-did-we-learn-from-this">What did we learn from this?</h2>



In U.S. adults, higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mood-boost-how-coffee-makes-us-happier-in-the-morning/">regular coffee</a> and total caffeine intake tracked with more limb muscle relative to body size after accounting for many other factors. However, that association did not appear in participants with obesity. 



If coffee already fits your day, these results sit comfortably with a muscle-friendly routine. Keep portions sensible, mind the extras, and avoid late cups that cut into sleep because <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/irregular-sleep-may-cause-premature-muscle-aging/">poor sleep impairs recovery</a>.



If you’re in the obesity range, the study’s “no clear link” finding suggests coffee isn’t a muscle fix. 



The bigger levers are steady resistance training, enough protein spaced through the day, and better sleep, ideally alongside medical care that addresses weight, strength, and metabolic health together. 



Coffee can still be part of that plan if it agrees with you, but it’s not the star of the show.



It’s a pattern, not proof. Pair your coffee with protein, training, and sleep if your goal is to build or protect muscle.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1390309/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Nutrition</a>.



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Drinking this beverage every day helps protect your muscles from aging

Coffee is part of the morning routines for millions of people. But does drinking more coffee align with having more muscle? That’s the question behind a new analysis of Americans’ habits and body composition. This research doesn’t try to prove cause and effect. It asks whether higher coffee or caffeine intake corresponds to more limb muscle for a given body size. The answer points in a positive direction for most adults, with an important exception. The details matter, because the way researchers measured muscle and tallied coffee...

An international team of researchers based in Australia have struck upon a discovery that could revolutionize food production: how to boost photosynthesis in plants.

Led by Dr. Maria Ermakova of the <a href="https://photosynthesis.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis</a>, the team found that a specific protein controls the rate of electron flow in photosynthesis – the process that allows plants to use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into food. Increasing the amount of that protein in plants can speed up that process.

"We tested the effect of increasing the production of the Rieske FeS protein, and found it increases photosynthesis by 10 percent," Ermakova said.

The protein is part of a complex system that she described as similar to a hose. 

“By overexpressing this protein, we have discovered how to release the pressure of the hose, so more electrons can flow, accelerating the photosynthetic process," she said.

The discovery could have a massive impact on agriculture and food production, particularly among plants that use what scientists have dubbed C4 photosynthesis, such as maize and sorghum. These staple crops are already among the most productive in the world. If scientists can boost photosynthesis, that could mean higher crop yields.

The process has been tested on a plant called Setaria viridis, a C4 plant closely related to maize and sorghum. The tests showed that boosting production of the Rieske FeS protein led to faster photosynthesis.

“It is an important proof of concept that helps us enormously to understand more about how C4 photosynthesis works," said Dr. Susanne von Caemmerer, a co-author of the study and deputy director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis.

The team is now ready to test the process on sorghum, she said.

The researchers from all over the world have spent decades essentially “breaking” plants so that they could figure out potential ways to boost photosynthesis, according to Dr. Robert Furbank, the centre’s director. 

“However, this is the first example in which we have actually improved the plants," he said.

The researchers plan to study other parts of the complex that includes the Rieske FeS protein, to see whether they can boost the photosynthesis process even more.

The study adds to other new research on photosynthesis, including the discovery that the process can be altered so that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/altering-photosynthesis-crops-less-water/">plants need less water</a>.

It has been published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0561-9">Communications Biology</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Natalia Bateman, ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis

Researchers discover how to boost photosynthesis

An international team of researchers based in Australia have struck...

Colombia has declared a national emergency after a destructive fungus was found in the soil that could ultimately wipe out most large <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gene-editing-save-bananas-virus/">banana</a> farms, leading to major shortages.

The fungus is a strain of fusarium oxysporum called Tropical Race 4 (TR4) that was first discovered in Taiwan. Before making its way to Colombia, TR4 had already destroyed crops in Australia, Israel, India, and Lebanon over the last two decades. 

The soil-dwelling fungus causes a lethal disease called Panama disease that infects the roots of bananas and blocks the flow of water and nutrients. TR4 can lay dormant in the soil for years, so once an infection is spotted, it is difficult to know how widespread the damage will become.

There is currently no fungicide or method for combatting the destructive fungus. 

"As far as I know, ICA and the farms are doing a good job in terms of containment, but eradication is almost impossible,” Fernando García-Bastidas, a Colombian scientist, told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic</a>.

The fungus has been found across 180 hectares in the province of La Guajira, where farmers were ordered to destroy the crops and quarantine plantations. The appearance of TR4 in South America has the potential to completely wipe out the cultivated Cavendish banana, which is the most widely grown and consumed type of banana across the globe.

As National Geographic reports, there is not another banana that can replace the Cavendish. However, this banana has a lack of genetic diversity that makes it vulnerable to extinction.

For many years, the Cavendish was second in popularity to the Gros Michel in the United States and Europe. Around 100 years ago, the first known strain of Panama disease killed off the Gros Michel. The Cavendish, which was believed to be resistant to the disease, was chosen as a replacement. 

According to the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a>, the Cavendish accounts for nearly half of all bananas grown worldwide, and nearly all of the bananas imported by Europe, the UK, and the United States. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/pp1

The world’s most popular banana is now at risk of disappearing

Colombia has declared a national emergency after a destructive fungus...

A plant’s biological clock could set the time for crop spraying. Like humans, plants run on an internal clock that helps with growth and adapting to environmental changes. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> have found that taking advantage of a plant’s circadian rhythm could help reduce the amount of herbicide needed for spraying crops. 

The concept is similar to chronotherapy, which factors in a person’s internal clock to determine the optimal time for taking medication. In this study, the researchers say that crop spraying should be applied at certain times, and this schedule should line up with a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-biological-clocks-grow/">plant’s biological clock</a>.

The researchers found that the time of day that crops were treated with glyphosate impacted the death of plant tissue and the slow down in growth. 

Less herbicide was needed at different times of the day. 

“This proof of concept research suggests that, in future, we might be able to refine the use of some chemicals that are used in agriculture by taking advantage of the biological clock in plants,” said Dr. Antony Dodd. the senior author of the paper. “Approaches of this type, combining biotechnology with precision agriculture, can provide economic and environmental benefits.” 

Dodd’s work at the University Of Bristol focuses on the molecular biology of how plant biological clocks can be used to help improve plant growth and performance. 

Finding more sustainable ways to improve crop resistance and performance in a future where food availability is uncertain due to climate change and population growth is crucial. 

Using less herbicide would not only be cost-effective but could also reduce the environmental impacts of harmful pest and weed killers. 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Dr. Antony Dodd

A plant’s biological clock could set the time for crop spraying

A plant’s biological clock could set the time for crop...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a> have discovered that climate change is disrupting local plant diversity. Increasing numbers of plant species are emerging across regions where the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-europe-wetter/">climate</a> has experienced the most dramatic changes, particularly in colder areas.

In an era that is now officially known as The Anthropocene, human activities have driven substantial declines in biodiversity on a global scale. However, even though the total number of plant species worldwide is in a state of decline, local plant diversity appears to be increasing in some places. 

According to the researchers, rapid changes in rainfall and other climate factors may be allowing new species to thrive. 

"We used a large dataset of over 200 studies in which botanists had counted the number of plant species present in survey plots situated all around the world," explained study lead author Dr. Andrew Suggitt.

"We tested for the influence of climate change alongside other well-known drivers of diversity change, finding that the local differences in climate, and exposure to climate change, were responsible for a substantial part of the change in plant species numbers found in these surveys."

"Our models suggest that typical rates of climate change in cooler regions of the world are driving an increase in local species richness of 5% per decade."

Dr. Suggitt explained that this number is really quite significant if the phenomenon continues for 13 decades or more, especially considering that humans have already been changing the climate for over half a century. He also pointed out that climate change is expected to persist until the end of the century, and possibly beyond. 

"This does not mean that the botanical world gets a clean bill of health. We are living in 'The Anthropocene' epoch, and some plant species have become globally extinct. Many, many more are endangered," said study co-author Professor Chris Thomas.

"However, there is a disconnect between what is happening at that global level and the average change to plant diversity that can be observed in, say, a one meter square plot of ground."

"The effect of climate change may not be as dramatic as a meadow being turned into a car park, or a forest being cut down, but it's a pervasive effect that is already evident over vast areas of the Earth's land surface. For example, warmth-loving bee orchids have started arriving at a much wider variety of sites across the north of England, taking advantage of the changing climate."

"The data we have analyzed tells us that colonists are tending to arrive faster than incumbents disappear, giving rise to slight increases in plant diversity in places where the climate is changing the most."

"The recent global assessment report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services* highlighted worrying declines in plants and animals around the world," added Dr. Suggitt.

"But it also highlighted the sore need for greater clarity over how climate change is shuffling the deck of plant species found in particular locations - especially in under-sampled areas such as the tropics, Africa and Asia."

"We hope our study opens the door to a fuller understanding of how climate change is affecting plant communities, and what this means for the conservation of nature and its contribution to people."

The study 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

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Prof Chris Thomas, University of York

Local plant diversity has been disrupted by climate change, research shows

Researchers at the University of York have discovered that climate...

New research from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/bifor/index.aspx">Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) at the University of Birmingham</a> shows how large-scale tree death, mainly caused by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-wildfires-carbon-dioxide/">fires</a>, harvesting, windstorms, and insect outbreaks, has impacted the world’s carbon stocks. 

"Large patches of dead forest make a dramatic impact on the landscape, be they caused by fires, harvesting, windstorms or insect outbreaks,” said lead author, Dr. Thomas Pugh, of the BIFoR. “But despite having been able to observe these events from space for many years, the contribution that they make to tree mortality and impact on forest carbon storage across the world has been unknown."

To link tree deaths to dwindling carbon stocks, the research team studied satellite observations of forest loss between 2000 and 2014. They then assessed the normal time interval between large disturbance events, such as fires, storms, and insect plagues, across the world's forests. Using a model to calculate the impact of these events on tree death, the team found that about 12% of all tree deaths were caused by these types of disturbances.

What’s more is that they found that if even the smallest change in frequency of large-scale disturbances took hold, that change could have a significant impact on forest carbon stocks in about 44% of the world’s forests.

This research is published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0427-2">Nature Geoscience</a>.

"Now we can see much more clearly where large disturbances play major roles and where forest carbon stocks are sensitive to changes in disturbance frequency,” Dr. Pugh said. "This year's large fires across the Arctic may just be an anomaly, or they could be a sign that disturbances in that region are becoming more frequent relative to the historical norm.” 

“If that's the case, we can expect large amounts of carbon to be released from these forests over the coming century and perhaps wholesale changes in the mix of vegetation that make up the forests."

Next, the team will focus on what causes the other 88% of world tree death, and add those findings to this current research.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Large-scale tree death has major impact on carbon storage

New research from the Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) at...

As record heat waves and ice melt continue around the globe, dozens of ideas have been put forward to curb carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. But those suggesting more bioenergy projects are making a mistake, a new <a href="https://www.un.org/en/">United Nations</a> report says.

A large-scale expansion of the bioenergy industry could cause desertification, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-suffer-bioenergy-crops/">reduce biodiversity</a>, increase water scarcity – in short, it could further endanger the planet, the report from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/about/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> said. More bioenergy projects could also cause food prices to rise, for good measure.

It’s not the biofuels that are the problem, according to the report. It’s the amount of land needed to produce them.

“Land plays an important role in the climate system,” Dr. Jim Skea, co-chairman of IPCC Working Group III, said in a press release. “Agriculture, forestry and other types of land use account for 23% of human greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time natural land processes absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to almost a third of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry.”

Better management of the land already in use can help rein in climate change better than clearing more for bioenergy projects, the IPCC scientists said. 

Land has the potential to both add to greenhouse gas emissions and act as a sink for carbon, depending on how it’s used. Without major reductions in the use of fossil fuels, there’s no way to devote enough land to bioenergy projects to counterbalance emissions – at least, not without badly damaging the environment and limiting food production. 

The report reinforces what previous studies have discovered: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/changes-land-diet-emissions/">better land management</a> and shifting the diet of developed nations away from meat would be more effective ways to tackle climate change than drastically expanding the biofuel industry.

“Some dietary choices require more land and water, and cause more emissions of heat-trapping gases than others,” said Dr. Debra Roberts, co-chairwoman of IPCC Working Group II. “Balanced diets  featuring plant-based foods, such as coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and animal-sourced food produced sustainably in low greenhouse gas emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation to and limiting climate change.” 

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Paid for by Earth.com

UN: Bioenergy projects won't solve climate change

As record heat waves and ice melt continue around the...

The oldest fossil forest has been discovered in Asia. A team of researchers from China’s <a href="http://english.pku.edu.cn/">Peking University</a> and <a href="http://lyu.admissions.cn/">Linyi University</a> discovered a 250,000-square-meter stretch of fossilized forest dating to the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-insects-biofuel/">Devonian period</a>, which was 419 million to 359 million years ago. 

The forest, located near Xinhang in China's Anhui province, is the earliest example of a forest in Asia ever found.

The fossilized forest is made up of lycopsid trees, which resemble modern-day palms with bare trunk and leafy crowns. The researchers state that these trees were found in coastal regions that were prone to flood, and grew between 3.2 and 7.7 meters tall. Later, in the Carboniferous period, which directly followed the Devonian, these lycopsid trees grew to giant sizes, and their fossils are actually much of the coal we mine today.

"The large density as well as the small size of the trees could make Xinhang forest very similar to a sugarcane field, although the plants in Xinhang forest are distributed in patches," said co-first author Deming Wang, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University. "It might also be that the Xinhang lycopsid forest was much like the mangroves along the coast, since they occur in a similar environment and play comparable ecologic roles."

[caption id="attachment_1876295" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lycopsid.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1876295" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lycopsid.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="797" /></a> Reconstructions of juvenile and adult lycopsid trees plant. Image Credit: Zhenzhen Deng[/caption]

Wang and co-first author Min Qin of Linyi University first discovered the fossilized trees in 2016. Only two other Devonian fossils have ever been recovered thus far — one was found in the United States, and the other was located in Norway.

The newly-discovered fossilized trees are actually visible in the walls of the Jianchuan and Yongchuan clay quarries, both below and above a four-meter-thick sandstone bed. 

"Jianchuan quarry has been mined for several years and there were always some excavators working at the section. The excavations in quarries benefit our finding and research,” Wang said via the study’s paper, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>. “When the excavators stop or left, we come close to the highwalls and look for exposed erect lycopsid trunks.”

“The continuous finding of new in-situ tree fossils is fantastic,” Wang concluded. “As an old saying goes: the best one is always the next one."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The oldest fossil forest has been discovered in Asia

The oldest fossil forest has been discovered in Asia. A...

The extinction crisis looks apocalyptic — but there are solutions. This spring, a UN study put a startling number to the ongoing extinction crisis: 1 million species gone if current trends continue. The stunning prediction revealed how much humanity <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/1-million-species-gone-what-humanity-stands-to-lose/">stands to lose</a> in the so-called <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-hunted-6th-extinction/">6th mass extinction</a>. But the report offered hope, too: If we think and act big, humanity has the tools to avert catastrophe.

By reigning in overconsumption, enacting sustainable practices on farms and in the oceans, slowing population growth, seriously tackling climate change, and adopting other approaches, humanity can save millions of species — and ourselves.

"We have the power, we have the knowledge … we have the technology to do a better job," said Gerardo Ceballos, an ecologist at Mexico's <a href="https://www.unah.edu.hn/">Universidad Nacional Autónoma</a> and a visiting professor at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a>. And, he said, "paradoxically, by saving all these plants and animals, we are basically saving ourselves from a really apocalyptic future."

Such an act of species- and self-preservation, however, won't come easy. It will require "transformative change … a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors," said Robert Watson, chair of  the UN's <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/">Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services</a> (IPBES) committee, which authored the 1-million-species <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/1-million-species-extinction/">report</a>.

Here's what's needed:

Save habitat, save species

The biggest danger the planet's species face, said Michigan State University biologist Nick Haddad, is the threat of homelessness. 

"The greatest cause of species loss is habitat loss," he said. "So any efforts to protect habitat that remains or to promote regeneration of habitat is the No. 1 way that we can benefit species in general."

In this area, some progress has been made, with the expansion of protected areas — though much more is needed, said <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> biologist Stuart Pimm. 

"In the last 30 years, we've massively expanded the areas in the planet that we have protected … in national parks, for example," he said. 

However, the UN report <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yd8l2v0u4jqptp3/AACpraYjOYWpTxAFv5H-2vrKa/1%20Global%20Assessment%20Summary%20for%20Policymakers?dl=0&amp;preview=Summary+for+Policymakers+IPBES+Global+Assessment.pdf&amp;subfolder_nav_tracking=1">notes</a>, protected areas currently cover only 15% of the Earth's land and freshwater areas and 7% of oceans. Meanwhile, an oft-cited goal from biologist Edward O. Wilson calls for setting aside half of the Earth's habitat for wild species. More-targeted protection could be largely effective, though —and easier to enact, said Haddad. 

"The best way to get closer to half the Earth protected is to protect the places that people care about and get benefit from," Haddad said. The extinction crisis looks apocalyptic — but there are solutions

For instance, so-called landscape corridors connect habitats, giving wildlife avenues to move and expand their populations. But these routes also conserve forests and habitats along waterways, providing water-quality benefits that people greatly value, Haddad said.

Habitat-preservation efforts, Pimm said, should target those species that rely on small geographic areas and thus face the greatest risks of extinction.

"Worldwide, we're actually doing a pretty good job of protecting the species with the smallest ranges, by setting up, as it were, boutique national parks," he said. "If you put protected areas in the right place, you can really do a lot to slow the rate of extinction."

Sustainable farming, fishing and more

Protected areas can't do all the work of habitat preservation, though; humanity also has to address the massive conversion of wild habitat for cropland and livestock grazing. As the human population balloons to a <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html">projected</a> 9.8 billion by 2050, food needs will push agricultural activities further into tropical forests and other vital habitats, the UN report noted.

The study declared the need for widespread changes to farming, including the adoption of sustainable practices, like water conservation on farms. This could also mean reducing the broad <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-4500-1_2">use of pesticides</a>, which claim scores of pollinators in the ongoing "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html">insect apocalypse</a>." Similarly, sustainable management of fisheries, waterways and other resources will aid species preservation, the report said, by, for example, dampening runoff pollution.

With changes to farming practices, society can meet the food needs of the global population and preserve habitat — all without demanding sacrifices in living standards, said Stephen Polasky, a coordinating lead author on the UN report and a <a href="https://umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> ecologist.

"You can grow food, even to meet a larger population, on the current land," he said. "You don't have to expand agriculture into the Amazon." Doing so calls for more-efficient farming practices, including pairing crops with the sites most appropriate to them, Polasky said. The extinction crisis looks apocalyptic — but there are solutions

Consumption and population

The food system's extinction toll would drop, too, if people wasted less food, said Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford biologist. Forty percent of the U.S. food supply never gets eaten, among the highest rates anywhere, <a href="https://www.foodlogistics.com/sustainability/article/12338285/sustainability-in-the-food-supply-chain">Food Logistics</a> reported. And those uneaten meals make up just part of a bigger piece of the extinction problem: overconsumption, by more and more people, Ehrlich said. 

In fact, addressing consumption by all those folks, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn">Ehrlich told The Guardian</a>, is the most important part of the extinction question. 

"The basic problem is too many rich people consuming too much," he told <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a>. Taking on consumption levels could mean eating less meat and moving away from fossil fuels, he said. On the individual level, people need to realize that they don't need a new computer every year or 20 pairs of shoes, Ceballos said. 

As consumption levels also largely depend on the number of people consuming, Ehrlich and Ceballos both point to population reduction as a fundamental (if controversial) piece of the extinction solution. The first step in shrinking population, they said, is granting full rights and greater employment and education opportunities to women globally, which would lower fertility rates.

"You could have a long-term livable planet with about a billion people," Ehrlich said. The UN report calls for "low-to-moderate" population growth. 

Climate, the law and species loss

The extinction and climate crises are intertwined, with warming and greenhouse gases threatening species by shifting livable habitats, acidifying ocean habitats and more. Solving climate will require international cooperation and transformative agreements, with the Paris Agreement a useful first step, Ceballos said. So, the extinction solution must also involve climate approaches like global carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems, the UN report emphasized.

Similarly, extinction calls for legal and regulatory approaches to illegal timber and wildlife harvesting, along with quotas for overharvested fisheries, the report said. Regulations and conservation efforts should also aim to eliminate invasive species, the report added. 

The importance of laws and regulations in saving the planet's species underscores the need for people to get politically active, Ceballos said.

"We have to get more involved," he said. "We need to become actors. We need to look at this is the most important thing we can do for us and for our children."

--

By <a href="mailto:michael.dhar@gmail.com">Michael Dhar</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Sepp photography

The extinction crisis looks apocalyptic — but there are solutions

The extinction crisis looks apocalyptic — but there are solutions....

New research sheds light on early plant-fungal relationships. A new study from the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> may completely change how some parts of the fossil record are interpreted, particularly a group of early terrestrial plants. While investigating the environment that some fossil plants lived in, paleobotanist Az Klymiuk discovered that fungi have a harder time growing in cattail roots that are underwater. 

"I was studying fossil plants that are 48 million years old. In these fossils, we can see the plant cells and everything in them, including fungi. In describing these fossil fungi, I realized we actually don't know much about fungi that are living in wetland plants today," said Klymiuk. "There's been very little work done, next to nothing in terms of their ecology and distribution."

Plants must have <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/algae-fungi-first-terrestrial-plants/">fungi</a> living in their roots to create the energy they need to survive. On the other hand, plants also host a group of fungi that play mysterious roles called dark septate endophytes. New research sheds light on early plant-fungal relationships

Klymiuk set out to investigate the ecological purpose of these fungi, and was also interested in understanding why some fossil plants had an abundance of root fungi while others had very few. Because these fossil plants originated in swampy wetlands millions of years ago, the study was focused on cattails, which can be found in both ancient and modern wetland plants. 

Klymiuk collected cattail roots from several wetlands, collecting samples from the shoreline all the way to the deepest points they could be found. In the lab, the team examined the roots under a microscope and compared the fungi in cattail roots that had been growing at various depths underwater. 

The study revealed that, at least in these cattails, the fungi did not respond well to inundation. Whether they were growing in inches or feet of water, the cattails were found to contain very little fungi in their roots. On dry land, however, cattails had plenty of fungi living in their roots.

"It turns out that any degree of flooding whatsoever massively suppresses the amount of fungi in plant roots," said Klymiuk. "This gives us a new way to understand what we're seeing in the fossils."

"I have some roots where fungi are completely absent. I can look and look and look and there's nothing there. I have other roots that are just loaded, packed. To me, that indicates that we're dealing with different levels of inundation. I feel pretty confident saying that when we find a lot of fungus in a plant root, that root was probably not inundated during its life."

The discovery will provide scientists with a new tool for understanding prehistoric ecosystems. The findings also suggest that some of the fossil record of plant-fungal interactions may need to be reconsidered. 

"There's been this pervasive narrative, all across biology," said Klymiuk. "The basic idea is that plants needed fungi to get out of water, to get onto land. The oldest preserved community of land plants, the 407 million-year-old Rhynie Chert, is often cited as fossil evidence for this." 

"This community of land plants has mostly been interpreted as a wetland assemblage associated with hot spring overflow or outwash, and many of these early land plants hosted mutualistic fungi, just like most living plants do today. What my research suggests, is that these plants were probably victims of intermittent flooding, as opposed to living right in the water."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/umyc20/current">Mycologia</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New research sheds light on early plant-fungal relationships

New research sheds light on early plant-fungal relationships. A new...

Seaweed plays a bigger role in storing carbon than previously realized. A new study from the <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/">King Abdullah University of Science and Technology</a> (KAUST) suggests that the role of seaweed in climate change mitigation has been underestimated. The researchers found that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/seaweed-infestation-beaches/">seaweed</a> can travel far beyond coastal areas to help capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. 

Also known as macroalgae, seaweed is responsible for developing some of the largest and most productive coastal habitats. Seaweed can be found all over the globe and is known for its efficiency in capturing atmospheric CO2 and converting it into plant material. 

An international research team has discovered that diverse macroalgae species drift as far as 5,000 kilometers beyond coastal areas. Approximately 70 percent of this seaweed will sink to the depths of the ocean below 1,000 meters, taking the carbon that it has captured along with it. 

"This finding has huge implications for how the global carbon dioxide budget is calculated," said study first author and PhD student Alejandra Ortega. "It indicates that macroalgae are important for carbon sequestration and should be included in assessments of carbon accumulated in the ocean, known as blue carbon."

In current assessments of blue carbon, seaweed has been largely overlooked because it has no roots and moves around the ocean. Prior to the current study, very little was known about the fate of macroalgae once it has floated away from the coast. 

For this reason, the role of seaweed in carbon sequestration, particularly in the sediments of seagrass and mangrove, has been mostly unaccounted for. 

However, the KAUST team has now identified DNA sequences of macroalgae in hundreds of metagenomes generated by global ocean expeditions. Collectively, these missions surveyed the ocean to a depth of 4,000 meters and sequenced the particulate material collected in the water to create a worldwide DNA resource. 

Using Dragon Metagenomic Analysis Platform (DMAP), the experts searched for macroalgae in the massive dataset. The study produced the very first quantitative evidence of macroalgae presence beyond the shoreline. Seaweed plays a bigger role in storing carbon than previously realized

"Work is still needed to be able to translate a specific amount of DNA into a specific amount of organic carbon in a specific taxon, but finding macroalgal DNA is the first step," explained Ortega.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: © 2019 KAUST

Seaweed plays a bigger role in storing carbon than previously realized

Seaweed plays a bigger role in storing carbon than previously...

Plant fossils reveal temperatures in North America during the Cretaceous Period. A team of paleontologists led by <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a> uncovered fossil plants in eastern Canada that have produced the first quantifiable evidence of the region's climate during the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-millipede-species-cretaceous-period/">Cretaceous period</a>. 

Combined with specimens collected in previous expeditions, the newly discovered fossilized remains are giving experts unprecedented insight into a time when dinosaurs still dominated the planet.

The McGill team discovered the ancient plant samples last August in a remote area of Labrador. Some of the remains represent species that have never been found in this region before. Plant fossils reveal temperatures in North America during the Cretaceous Period

In the late 1950s, paleontologists theorized that the Cretaceous climate of Quebec and Labrador was far warmer than it is today based on fossilized leaves and insects. The current study has now confirmed this theory based on the <a href="http://clamp.ibcas.ac.cn/CLAMP_seminar.pdf">Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program</a> (CLAMP), which is used to predict a variety of climate statistics for a given fossil flora. CLAMP measures variables such as temperature and precipitation based on the shape and size of tree leaves. 

Under the supervision of Professor Hans Larsson, graduate student and study first author Alexandre Demers-Potvin analyzed the plant fossils and determined that eastern Canada had a warm, temperate, and humid climate during the middle of the Cretaceous period.

The experts found that the average annual temperature in this part of Canada was 59 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average summer temperature of over 68 degrees Fahrenheit. 

According to Demers-Potvin, the new work provides insight into how the climate of eastern Canada evolved over time, which will be useful information for studying climate change today. 

"The fossils from the Redmond mine show that an area that is now covered by boreal forest and tundra used to be covered in warm temperate forests in the middle of the Cretaceous, one of our planet's 'hothouse' episodes," said Demers-Potvin. "These are new pieces of evidence that can help improve projections of the global average temperature against global CO2 levels throughout the Earth's history."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14754983">Palaeontology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Alexandre Demers-Potvin

Plant fossils reveal temperatures in North America

Plant fossils reveal temperatures in North America during the Cretaceous...

Researchers discover multiple pollinators for the mysterious ghost orchid. Orchids are one of the most fascinating groups of plants. It’s no surprise, as orchids are beautiful with complex flowers that are a bit more exotic than well known European roses or daisies. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/endangered-orchid-species-eaten/">Orchids</a> are the realm of fanaticism for many as books like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Orchid-Thief-Obsession-Ballantine-Readers/dp/044900371X/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItMKXqPnX4wIVEP_jBx2wmg9NEAAYASAAEgJVzPD_BwE&amp;hvadid=241953254399&amp;hvdev=t&amp;hvlocphy=1026481&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvpos=1t1&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=3483040522726590480&amp;hvtargid=kwd-129447858&amp;hydadcr=24659_10400692&amp;keywords=the+orchid+thief&amp;qid=1564328387&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1">The Orchid Thief</a>. Charles Darwin even wrote a treatise on the pollination of orchids after his famous book On the Origin of Species. 

People collect orchids, and there are even orchid shows where people gather from all over the world to buy rare orchids or new hybrids. The <a href="https://www.orchidsociety.com/?p=192">Orchid Society</a> reports that the international market in orchids passed the billion dollar per year mark in 2010. With humanity’s well documented love affair with orchids, it’s easy to imagine that most details of orchid biology are already well known. But of course, this isn’t the case.

<a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/08/orchids-dazzling-diversity-explained">Science</a> reported in 2015 that there are more than 25,000 species of orchid, making it the largest group of plant, making up approximately 8% of vascular plants as a whole. The first orchids seemed to evolve about 112 million years ago, a long time ago in terms of flowering, vascular plants but relatively young in terms of life on Earth as a whole. 

In the amount of time orchids have been around, they’ve evolved numerous contrivances to trick insects and other animals into pollinating for them. Australian Tongue orchids of the genus Cryptostylis have structures on their flowers that mimic female wasps, to the point that male wasps will mate with them. After mating with a couple of the flower dummy wasps, the plant has been pollinated at the expense of confused male wasps. 

Other orchids mimic the smell of female wasps, which cause males to pollinate them on frustrating searches for a mate. In other cases, bees actively use specific orchid scents as a sort of cologne, <a href="https://blog.nature.org/science/2019/02/11/the-weird-sex-lives-of-orchids/">Cool Green Science</a> reports. Some orchid pollinations have remained mysterious for long periods of time, despite fascination with the group among both scientists and lay people.

The <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/hawk_moths.shtml">US Forest Service</a> reports that star orchids of the genus Angraecum in Madagascar were long held as a mystery. Charles Darwin knew that the flowers on the star orchids had nectar spurs over a foot long. Darwin was ridiculed in his day by scientists when he suggested that a large moth with a proboscis over a foot long pollinated the flower. But Darwin’s prediction was proven true after a moth with such a long proboscis was discovered after his death. 

Major discoveries about orchids often go unmade because of the challenging field conditions necessary to observe them in the wild. Orchid diversity is highest in the tropics and subtropics, from mountains in South America to the swamps of the American southeast, orchids often live in rugged environs and can be challenging to cultivate in a lab or greenhouse. 

The Everglades region of Florida is a place of high orchid diversity. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/orchids.htm">National Park Service</a> reports that the diversity of orchids in Everglades National Park is the highest of any national park unit in the continental US. Part of the key to the diversity of orchids in the Everglades is that the park supplies a diverse array of orchid habitats. 

Orchids grow on land of course, but they also live as epiphytes in trees, which only works in areas with high humidity like the Everglades; some orchids are simply wetland plants. The Everglades is also a transitional area, as some orchid species are at their northernmost limit in the Everglades, while other species are at their southernmost distribution. With the diversity of orchids in the Everglades and Florida as a whole, it’s long been a place to study this interesting group of plants, yet there is still much left to learn.

The ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) not only has a mysterious name, but has also been a very mysterious plant until recently when one of its secrets was revealed. Ghost orchids are native to Florida and Cuba, and often live deep within in swampland. About 25% of Florida’s ghost orchids live in <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/florida_panther/">Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge</a>, north of the more famous Everglades. 

One unusual trait is that the orchid has no leaves, so much of its photosynthesis occurs in the exposed roots. When not flowering, the ghost orchid is rather unimpressive but it’s also a challenge to grow. <a href="https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/ghost-orchid-facts/">University of Florida</a> reports that efforts to grow the rare orchid in greenhouses took four years of effort before success. The ghost orchid is now grown by researchers to bolster populations of the plant in the wild but to thrive outside the lab, orchids require pollinators in their native habitats as well.   

The giant sphinx moth (Cocytius antaeus) is a large insect with 5 to 7 inch wing span, living at the northern part of its range in Florida and occasionally other parts of the southern US. The moth lives through the American tropics into Brazil and Peru. The giant sphinx moth is one of the main pollinators of the ghost orchid. With a proboscis twice the length of the large moth’s body, the insect is a perfect match for flowers containing deep wells of nectar. Until recently, it was thought that the giant sphinx moth was actually the only pollinator of the ghost orchid.

But now, a team of researchers and photographers have proven that the giant sphinx moth is not alone in pollinating the ghost orchid, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/07/ghost-orchids-florida-surprising-pollinators-moths/">National Geographic</a> reports. Researchers set up cameras to watch the rare ghost orchid at night when moths visit the flowers. Four different moth species were captured visiting the ghost orchid, two moth species that visited, had ghost orchid pollen on their heads, proof positive that they were actively pollinating the endangered plant. 

The fact that it has taken so long for researchers to verify pollination of the ghost orchid by other moths only shows the hardships and logistical problems involved in researching the unique plant. The orchid is not only rare, and lives in swamps with alligators, bears, panthers and venomous snakes, but it also sometimes is located high in trees, requiring climbing to access. Accessibility doesn’t seem to be a problem for the moths pollinating the ghost orchid though, and the more pollinators visiting the endangered plant, the better.       

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Researchers discover multiple pollinators for the mysterious ghost orchid

Researchers discover multiple pollinators for the mysterious ghost orchid. Orchids...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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