When the air turns hot, your body shifts into cooling mode: you sweat from heat, you lose water, and your brain looks for fast relief, usually in the form of sugar. 



Sweetness signals quick energy, and cold, sugary drinks or treats feel extra tempting because they promise two things at once - fluid to cool you down and sugar to perk you up. 



Heat also dulls appetite for heavy foods, so sipping something sweet feels easier than eating a full meal. 



Add bright ads and ice-cold displays by the checkout, and it’s no surprise that warm days nudge many people toward more sugar than they’d normally choose. But is this just observational bias, or is it a real thing? 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-sugar-consumption">Heat and sugar consumption</h2>



A new study looked at what millions of U.S. households actually bought in grocery stores from 2004 to 2019 and asked a simple question: when the temperature rises, do people end up taking in more added sugar? 



The short answer is yes, and the increase shows up most in communities with lower incomes or less formal education. 



The longer answer uncovers a demand-side ripple of climate change that most of us haven’t thought about: heat changes cravings and habits, and those shifts can widen health gaps unless we plan for them.



For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-use-sugar-in-ways-we-never-imagined/">warming</a>, added sugar rose by about 0.7 grams per person per day, with the sharpest climb from roughly 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. 



That may not sound like much in a day, but across a season and a population, it stacks up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-sugar-link">Heat and sugar link</h2>



The project was led by <a href="https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/hep3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pan He</a> of Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. 



She and colleagues paired long running scanner data from tens of thousands of households with local temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation to isolate the temperature effect.



The analysis focused on retail purchases rather than restaurant orders, so it likely undercounts some items consumed away from home. Even so, the signal was clear in warmer months across many regions.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-type-of-diabetes-type-5-is-now-officially-recognized-linked-to-nutritional-deficiencies/">temperature</a> response was not linear at every extreme. The increase was strongest in moderate to hot ranges, while the very hottest days showed a flattening.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-temperature-alters-food-choices">How temperature alters food choices</h2>



Beverages did most of the work. The extra sugar came mainly from sodas and fruit drinks, while frozen desserts added a smaller share.



Extreme heat can suppress appetite, which helps explain why the total increase slows on the most sweltering days. That kink does not erase the broader upward link between heat and added sugar.



Price movements did not drive the core pattern. When researchers accounted for food prices, the heat signal largely held.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-feels-the-heat-most">Who feels the heat most</h2>



The effect was largest in households with lower income or less education, a reminder that socioeconomic factors shape both exposure and choices. 



Higher income groups showed smaller changes, likely reflecting access to air conditioning, safer water, and steadier routines.



Patterns varied by background <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heat-is-making-crop-harvests-wildly-unpredictable/">climate</a> and work setting. People in cooler baseline regions and households with outdoor workers were more responsive to hotter conditions.



“What surprised us most was that the strongest increase in added sugar consumption occurred not during extreme heat, but within a relatively mild temperature range, between 12°C and 30°C," explained Pan He. 



This suggests that even moderate warming can significantly influence dietary behavior, leading to increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and frozen desserts."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-health">What this means for health</h2>



Excess added sugar is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/php/data-research/added-sugars.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">linked</a> to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, and average U.S. adults still take in about 17 teaspoons per day. 



That baseline makes a few extra grams per day under future warming more troubling for those already at risk.



The American Heart Association (<a href="https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/how-much-sugar-is-too-much" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AHA</a>) recommends capping added sugars at about 6 percent of daily calories. That comes to roughly 36 grams per day for men and 25 grams for women.



The study’s projection adds context. Under a high emissions pathway, the researchers estimate nearly 3 grams per person per day of additional added sugar by 2095, with the steepest seasonal rise in summer and fall.



Health burdens do not fall evenly. Communities with fewer resources already face higher rates of diet related disease, so a temperature linked nudge toward more sugar can widen gaps.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-can-be-done">What can be done</h2>



Public policy can help. City level beverage taxes have been followed by higher shelf prices for taxed drinks and lower purchases of sugary beverages, as shown in a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002283" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> from Berkeley back in 2017.&nbsp;



Clearer labeling and steady nutrition education can support better choices without adding cost. Water access matters too, especially in neighborhoods with unsafe pipes or limited fountains.



Climate adaptation plans should include diet. Cooling centers, safe drinking water, and employer protocols for hot days can lower the pull of sweet, chilled products when temperatures spike.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-research-on-sugar-intake-and-heat">More research on sugar intake and heat</h2>



Restaurant orders remain a blind spot, and future work can test whether the same pattern appears in quick service and delivery data. 



That matters for sweetened coffees, teas, and blended drinks that often carry substantial added sugar.



The team’s approach can extend to other countries and cultures. 



Regions with popular sweet teas, energy drinks, or bubble teas may show different temperature thresholds but similar upward shifts during warm periods.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02398-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Climate Change</a>.



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Direct link found between the weather and the amount of sugar humans eat

When the air turns hot, your body shifts into cooling mode: you sweat from heat, you lose water, and your brain looks for fast relief, usually in the form of sugar. Sweetness signals quick energy, and cold, sugary drinks or treats feel extra tempting because they promise two things at once - fluid to cool you down and sugar to perk you up. Heat also dulls appetite for heavy foods, so sipping something sweet feels easier than eating a full meal. Add bright ads and ice-cold displays...

Scientists at <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> have found compounds in beer that may help prevent diabetes, promote weight loss, and lower blood pressure. Xanthohumol (XN), a flavonoid found in hops, may be particularly beneficial for people with metabolic syndrome, according to the study.

Diets high in fat content can lead to metabolic syndrome. A person is diagnosed with metabolic syndrome when they have two or more metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, and high blood sugar.

Metabolic syndrome is considered to be very common in the United States, with over 3 million cases every year. According to a study from the University of California in San Francisco, more than one third of American adults suffer from this condition.

People with metabolic syndrome are at a much higher risk for heart disease and diabetes, but proper lifestyle changes such as a healthier diet and exercise can reverse the condition.

The research team conducted experiments on mice that had been exposed to high-fat foods. The study revealed that xanthohumol was able to combat some of the issues that lead to metabolic syndrome.

For example, one derivative of xanthohumol was exceptionally effective in reducing insulin resistance, which is the primary cause of type 2 diabetes. The flavonoid was also found to help mice to retain their learning ability despite the fact that high-fat diets can lead to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-stimulation-revive-memory/">memory impairment</a>.

Xanthohumol changes into an estrogenic metabolite in the body 8-prenylnaringenin (8-PN). In a previous study, the research team had found xanthohumol to be a potential treatment for metabolic syndrome, but they  were strongly criticized due to the fact that 8-PN is known to promote breast cancer.

But now, the team has had a breakthrough. They have discovered that they can prevent xanthohumol from transforming into 8-PN simply by adding water. Tests on mice showed the the derivatives of the hydrogenated xanthohumol were even more effective than the original compounds in treating metabolic disorders.

“Probably the bioavailability of the hydrogenated derivatives is better than for XN itself - that would explain why they work better,” explained lead author Fred Stevens.

“Now we have compounds that still have the original beneficial effects but not the side effects. There are no adverse estrogenic effects, and the liver toxicity induced by the high-fat diet is mitigated.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A key ingredient in beer may help with digestive health

Scientists at Oregon State University have found compounds in beer...

Sexual health is an important and under-discussed topic for much of the sexually active population, especially young adults. Studies have shown that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/teens-sleep-social-media/">young adults</a> are at the greatest risk for contracting STIs, and young women have the highest rates of unintended pregnancy. The discussions that need to take place in order for a couple to prevent these life-changing occurrences can sometimes be awkward and unnatural, but they are necessary for the continued health of the individuals involved.

New research from <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> has found that the dynamics of a couple’s relationship, including exclusivity of the partnership, level of commitment to the partnership, and participation in sexual decision-making, impact young adults’ decisions about contraceptive use.

The researchers analyzed data from a longitudinal study of 470 at-risk young adults, tracking their relationships for a year through interviews every four months. Participants answered questions about their sexual activity, contraceptive use, partners, and relationship factors such as duration of sexual relationship, frequency of sex, and perceived exclusivity with a partner. The researchers also measured relationship commitment levels and sexual-decision making. 

They found that young adults who reported greater exclusivity with a partner and great relationship commitment were less likely to use condoms, and more likely to use hormonal or long-acting methods of birth control, or less effective or no birth control. Participants who said they had played a strong role in sexual decision-making in their relationships were more likely to use condoms alone, or condoms along with a hormonal or long-acting birth control method.

Overall, these findings show that the qualities and dynamics of a relationship are significant predictors of contraceptive use. “Decisions regarding whether to use any contraceptive method, as well as the use of specific methods, are influenced by an individual's perceived risk of pregnancy and risk of acquiring a sexually-transmitted infection,” says S. Marie Harvey, associate dean and a professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>. “These perceptions likely differ depending on how individuals feel about a particular partner.”

An individual’s choice was influenced by their perceived vulnerability to pregnancy and STIs, along with the qualities and dynamics of their relationship. “It has to do with how much you trust your partner and how committed you feel in that relationship,” Harvey explains. “As relationships become more trusting and committed, individuals may be less likely to protect themselves from disease transmission and condom use will decline. As commitment develops between sexual partners, trust in one's partner may become a substitute for safer sex behavior for both disease and pregnancy prevention.”

The authors of this study believe that gaining a better understanding of how young adults make decisions about birth control can help health care providers structure more effective conversations about birth control with their patients. In this case, a provider may benefit from understanding their patient’s relationship status and their role in decision-making, as well as perceived levels of commitment with their partner. “If it is a committed relationship and the couple is sharing in decision-making about birth control, it may be wise to involve the partner in those discussions,” says Harvey. “If it’s not a committed relationship, then it’s really important to talk to the patient about being proactive in protecting themselves from unintended pregnancy or STIs.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Contraceptive use in young adults determined by relationship type

Sexual health is an important and under-discussed topic for much...

Having a positive attitude about old age could significantly reduce a person’s risk of getting dementia, according to new research. 

The <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs362/en/">World Health Organization</a> reports that nearly 50 million people worldwide have dementia, with almost 10 million new cases reported each year.

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://publichealth.yale.edu/">Yale School of Public Health</a> and the <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/">National Institute on Aging</a> found that culture-based age beliefs affect the risk of developing dementia, even in those who have a gene variant that increases the risk of getting the disease. 

In cultures with positive attitudes toward old age, with people carrying the variant ε4 of the APOE gene, there was a 50 percent less chance of developing dementia compared to people from cultures with negative beliefs about aging. 

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE and is the first of its kind to examine cultural influences on aging and dementia. 

For the study, the researchers had a participating group of 4,756 people with an average age of 72. The researchers surveyed the group and controlled for certain risk factors like age and health. Twenty-six percent of the studied group had the ε4 gene variant. 

The results showed that those with the high risk gene variation had a 2.7 percent risk of developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/sleep-apnea-dementia/">dementia</a> if they they had positive beliefs about aging, but those with negative beliefs about aging had a 6.1 percent risk. 

This study shows how influential cultural based attitudes on aging can be, and could have important implications in reducing the risk of dementia worldwide.

“We found that positive age beliefs can reduce the risk of one of the most established genetic risk factors of dementia,” said Becca Levy, the lead author. “This makes a case for implementing a public health campaign against ageism, which is a source of negative age beliefs.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Having a positive attitude about aging can reduce dementia risk

Having a positive attitude about old age could significantly reduce...

Research from the <a href="https://rio.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/organisations/ministry-cultural-heritage-and-activities-and-tourism-mibac">Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities</a> in Florence is giving scientists a new perspective on the cognitive ability and behavior of early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/raven-bone-neanderthals-cognitive/">Neanderthals</a>. Experts have discovered that hunter-gatherers in central Italy had a sophisticated method of making tools using wood and fire.

The analysis revealed that the early humans had the knowledge of which type of timber to select for wooden tool production using pyrotechnology as early as 171,000 years ago.

The study authors wrote: “Wood is a widely available and versatile material, which has admittedly played a fundamental role in all human history. Wood, however, is most vulnerable to decomposition. Hence, its use is very rarely documented during prehistory.”

In 2012, archaeologists came across 39 fragments of wooden tools while excavating a site in Tuscany called Poggetti Vecchi. The broken tools included rounded handles, pointed tips, and pieces of shafts.

A research team led by archaeologist Biancamaria Aranguren used radiometric dating to establish the age of the tools, along with some fossils which were also recovered from the site. Most of the fossils belonged to the straight-tusked elephant Paleoloxodon antiquus.

The experts determined that the remains originated in the late Middle Pleistocene, when Neanderthals were present in southern Tuscany. The study authors explained that the wooden instruments have the same features of tools known as ‘digging sticks,’ which were commonly used in hunter-gatherer societies.

The sticks, which measured about one meter in length, were made from boxwood with a pointed at end and a rounded end. According to the researchers, the tools had been “partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique so far not documented at the time.”

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>

Neanderthals made wooden tools using fire

Research from the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities in...

Memory loss, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blueberry-vinegar-battle-dementia/">dementia</a>, and Alzheimer’s disease are all interconnected cognitive problems that plague many people as they age. Traumatic brain injuries can also result in similar symptoms, which are largely irreversible. Now, a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a> highlights a promising new treatment for these conditions.

Research led by a team of neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania has found that precisely timed electrical stimulation to the left side of the brain can consistently and significantly enhance learning and memory performance by as much as 15 percent. This is the first time this connection has been made.

“Our study has two novel aspects,” says Youssef Ezzyat, a senior data scientist in Penn’s psychology department and lead author on the paper. “We developed a system to monitor brain activity and trigger stimulation responsively based on the subject’s brain activity. We also identified a novel target for applying stimulation, the left lateral temporal cortex.”

The study involved 25 neurosurgical patients across a number of clinical sites around the U.S., who were receiving treatment for epilepsy. All participants already had electrodes implanted in their brains as part of routine clinical treatment for epilepsy.

In this study, the researchers monitored patients’ brain activity in real time while they performed a task. The patient would watch and attempt to absorb a list of words while a computer tracking and recording brain signals would make predictions based on those signals, and then prompt an electrical pulse (at a level not able to be felt by the participants) when they were least likely to remember new information. After stimulation was turned off, the system would still listen to the patient’s brain activity, waiting for the next appropriate opportunity to generate the pulse.

“During each new word the patient viewed, the system would record and analyze brain activity to predict whether the patient had learned it effectively. When the system detected ineffective learning, that triggered stimulation, closing the loop,” Ezzyat explains.

The models used for the computer to make predictions based off brain activity were designed after each participant performed the free-recall memory task before the research team introduced any closed-loop stimulation. “By developing patient-specific, personalized, machine-learning models,” Kahana said, “we could program our stimulator to deliver pulses only when memory was predicted to fail, giving this technology the best chance of restoring memory function. This was important because we knew from earlier work that stimulating the brain during periods of good function was likely to make memory worse.”

These findings are a major advance toward the goal of Restoring Active Memory, a U.S. Department of Defense-sponsored project with the goal of developing next-generation technologies to improve memory function in veterans with memory loss. The researchers believe there is great potential for the therapeutic benefits of this stimulation, especially for people with traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Precisely timed brain stimulation can revive memory

Memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease are all interconnected cognitive...

In September 2017, Mexico experienced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/severe-earthquake-mexico-city/">two major earthquakes</a> about two weeks and several hundred miles apart. Now, new research has found that Mexico’s early earthquake warning system gave residents almost 2 minutes of advance warning.

On September 7th, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck with an epicenter near the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, with tremors that were felt as far as Mexico City. 

A little over a week later on September 20th, Mexico City experienced a 7.1 magnitude quake, and both earthquakes were the result of movement along the Cocos Plate. 

The strong earthquakes show how important early warning systems can be to saving lives.

Mexico’s early warning system, SASMEX, gave almost two minutes of warning before the September 7th quake tremors reached Mexico city, according to a report published in the journal Seismological Research Letters. 

However, the system only offered a few seconds of warning before the second quake.

The report details how SASMEX consists of a expensive connection of networks along with checks and balances that ensure that warnings can be broadcast, even if one communications system is affected by a quake. 

SASMEX also decreases the time needed to receive and broadcast alerts but the system, is by no means perfect. 

The early warning system focuses on the subduction zone off the southern coast of Mexico. 97 seismic monitoring stations constantly track the plate movement and send information to data collection centers where SASMEX alerts are received through an insured system of satellite links, internet links, and radio. 

According to Gerardo Suárez, the lead author of the Seismological Research Letters paper, researchers at the <a href="http://www.cires.org.mx/">Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico</a> are working on a new algorithm that could provide even more warning time by speeding up seismic data processing.

Suárez notes that the new algorithm could have warned Mexico City of the second quake eight to ten seconds earlier, which is still very little time for government agencies to respond, but earlier than the warning SASMEX did give. 

For Suárez, the new algorithm could be helpful for early earthquake warning and detection, but he says that caution should be exercised. 

“To me, this shows that we should not enamored of the technology and simply install seismic early warning systems without thinking of the social issue,” said Suárez. “Any early warning system should have a clearly thought-out strategy as to who will be warned. After more than 25 years, the Mexican seismic early warning system is still lacking these procedures that I believe should be a governmental responsibility."

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mexico’s earthquake warning system gave residents advance notice

In September 2017, Mexico experienced two major earthquakes about two...

Experts are reporting that environmental noise may damage the body on a cellular level, increasing the risk of common heart disease factors. This research supports a growing collection of evidence that links <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-reproduction-birds/">noise pollution</a> to heart disease. 

Many studies have established an association between traffic noise and a higher risk of heart disease factors such as coronary artery disease, arterial hypertension, stroke and heart failure. However, the specific underlying mechanisms which lead to noise-induced heart disease remain unidentified. 


The research team examined a collection of noise studies which focused on related topics such as which molecular mechanisms impair vascular function, the non-auditory effects of noise and how they can damage the cardiovascular system, and evidence of noise-induced cardiovascular disease.


Based on their collaboration, the researchers theorize that noise induces a physiological reaction which is characterized by activation of the sympathetic nervous system and increased hormone levels. They believe this stress response initiates abnormalities which ultimately cause cardiovascular damage. 

The results of this study substantiate the idea that traffic noise leads to the development of heart disease risk factors such as hypertension.

Due to the adverse effects of environmental noise on the health of both humans and animals, the experts also concentrated on mitigation strategies that are currently being used like traffic management and regulation. 

The team found that the development of low-noise tires and air traffic curfews could help reduce hazardous noise, but also determined that more strategies are needed.

Lead author Dr. Thomas Munzel said that “as the percentage of the population exposed to detrimental levels of transportation noise are rising, new developments and legislation to reduce noise are important for public health.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.onlinejacc.org/">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</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 links noise pollution to heart disease

Experts are reporting that environmental noise may damage the body...

Nearly 6 percent of married women in the United States ages 15 to 44  are unable to conceive after one year of attempting, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm">Centers for Disease Control</a>. In cases where couples are unable to conceive, 15 percent of the time doctors are unable to discover the cause of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/infertility-treatments-middle-ages/">infertility</a>. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California San Diego</a> discovered an important protein that may be affecting female infertility when there’s no other explanation for it. 

The study was published in the journal Developmental Cell and revolves around the protein  ZFP36L2, or L2 for short, which in mice was found necessary for eggs to develop normally and be fertilized. 

The researchers hypothesized that L2 could explain infertility in humans in some cases because humans also have the L2 protein. 

L2 activates mRNA decay in cells, which turns off gene expression where proteins are already encoded. 

In order to establish a link between L2 and fertility, the researchers conducted a lab experiment with two groups of male and female mice. 

In one group, ten fertile males were paired with ten perfectly healthy fertile female mice. In the other group, ten fertile males were paired with healthy females who had been engineered without L2 in their eggs. 

The mice were monitored for a period of six months. The fertile male and female control group gave birth to normal litter sizes almost every month for a total of 60 baby mice. 

The group with the female mice who were lacking L2 produced no offspring. This was because the eggs without L2 were not able to go through a vital process known as global transcriptional silencing, which happens at the final stages of egg growth. 

It’s a process all egg-bearing females go through, from worms to humans. The silencing keeps the eggs in a “quiet” state until fertilization can begin. Without L2, fertilization can’t be carried out as normal. 

“Many research groups are looking at how genes are regulated from the perspective of which genes need to be turned 'on' for a cell to advance to the next stage of development, but now we see that it's just as important to know which genes need to be turned 'off,’” said  Heidi Cook-Andersen, the senior author of the study. 

The results give a clear indication that L2 is an important protein in the fertilization process in mice and could pave the way for pinpointing unexplainable infertility in humans. 

The researchers plan to continue studying mice and L2’s importance in fertility and creating a “good egg.”  

“In my clinical practice, I work with couples struggling with infertility," said Cook-Andersen. “It's frustrating that for many of them, we have no idea why it's difficult for them to conceive. All of their tests come back normal, but there are many things important for fertility that we still haven't discovered. And we can't test what we don't know. That's why this study is so exciting to us. It's another clue.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Identifying the cause of unexplained infertility in women

Nearly 6 percent of married women in the United States...

When a team of researchers estimated the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cowspiracy-film-review/">sustainability</a> of resources in 151 countries, they found that no nation is capable of meeting the basic human needs of its population. 

The unprecedented analysis revealed that human needs are not being met when social and global requirements are both taken into consideration.

Dr. Daniel O'Neill from the Sustainability Research Institute at the <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> is the study's lead author.

“Almost everything we do, from having dinner to surfing the Internet, uses resources in some way, but the connections between resource use and human well-being are not always visible to us,” said Dr. O'Neill.

“We examined international relationships between the sustainability of resource use and the achievement of social goals, and found that basic needs, such as nutrition, sanitation, and the elimination of extreme poverty, could most likely be achieved in all countries without exceeding global environmental limits.”

Dr. O'Neill explained that other social goals, such as secondary education and life satisfaction, are not as clearly attainable. 

The current study expands upon previous research by the <a href="http://www.stockholmresilience.org/">Stockholm Resilience Centre</a>, which identified nine crucial environmental processes as being “planetary boundaries.” Crossing these limits, such as freshwater and land use, could lead to devastating climate change.

“Meeting these goals could require a level of resource use that is two to six times the sustainable level,” said Dr. O’Neill.

The research team developed an evaluation based on each country's resource use and well-being achievements.

“Our results suggest that some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as combating climate change and its impacts, could be undermined by the pursuit of other goals, particularly those focused on growth or high levels of human well-being,” said study co-author Dr. Andrew Fanning.

The researchers examined seven planetary boundaries as they related to each country's population, and then compared these limits to resource consumption while accounting for international trade.

The experts also rated countries on 11 social objectives that represented a “safe and just” level of development. Life expectancy and democratic quality were observed, among other objectives.

Ultimately, the researchers found that no country performed well under the conditions of both planetary boundaries and social indicators.

“In general, the more social thresholds a country achieves, the more planetary boundaries it exceeds, and vice versa,” said co-author Dr. William Lamb.

“Although wealthy nations like the US and UK satisfy the basic needs of their citizens, they do so at a level of resource use that is far beyond what is globally sustainable. In contrast, countries that are using resources at a sustainable level, such as Sri Lanka, fail to meet the basic needs of their people.”

The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain">Nature Sustainability</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

No country is meeting its sustainability needs, says new study

When a team of researchers estimated the sustainability of resources...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/couples-together-share-microbes/">Couples</a> who regularly send sexual images and suggestive texts via phone, also known as sexting, may have higher reports of sexual satisfaction than non-sexting couples. 

However, a new study found that frequent sexting could also be indicative of an insecure and unhealthy relationship. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/">University of Alberta Canada</a> whose aim was to examine sexting to see if it presented a strain on the relationship or strengthened intimacy.

Their results show that regular sexters are insecure, less likely to see a relationship as ongoing, and are more likely to cheat. 

For the study, the researchers surveyed 615 Canadian and American adults who were in committed heterosexual or same-sex relationships. 

The study participants were of different ages, ethnicities and education levels. According to the researchers, the group represents a much broader sample than those in other sexting studies, which typically focus on young adults or teenagers. 

The researchers then categorized the survey responses by splitting the participants into groups based on how frequently they sexted. 

Non-sexters made up 72 percent of the group and never sent suggestive text messages. Word-only sexters reported sending sexual messages but never pictures. Frequent sexters sent several sexts a week, and hyper-sexters participated in the activity at least once a day. 

Both frequent and hyper sexters reported more feelings of insecurity in their relationships, unhappiness in their relationships, and were more likely to cheat than non-sexters. 

“This does not seem to be something that's part of a normal, healthy adult relationship,” said  Michelle Drouin,  a psychology professor who oversaw the study. “They had low levels of commitment to their partner, more insecure attachment to the partner — maybe fearing the partner would leave, or not feeling very connected.”

The results show that hyper-sexters may be insecure in their relationships. Dr. Adam Galovan, lead author of the study, says it’s because those partners are focusing too much on one aspect of the relationship and letting others suffer. 

“My interpretation is that the sexters are focusing more on the sexual part of their relationship and may be neglecting other areas,” Dr. Galovan said. “They need to put the phone down and have a good old-fashioned conversation - spend some time together nurturing the relationship - instead of shortcutting with sexting to try to get a quality relationship.”

Dr. Galovan and his research team make a point to say that their results do not prove that sexting is unhealthy or leads to cheating in all relationships, and that in their research they found sexting was not as widespread or common as some media outlets make it out to be. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Couples who sext may actually be insecure about their relationship

Couples who regularly send sexual images and suggestive texts via...

Thanks to new laser technology, archaeologists are uncovering ancient Maya settlements and ruins hidden by jungles in northern Guatemala – and they’re extensive.

The technology, known as “light detection and ranging” or LiDAR, has also been used to explore the ruins of cities around Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 

The new project, led by the <a href="http://www.pacunam.org/">PACUNAM Foundation</a>, took it a step farther, exploring more than 800 square miles of jungle in the Petén region of Guatemala. What it found was a massive network of ruins – homes, palaces, elevated roadways and other structures that may have housed millions – that compares to ancient Greece or China, researchers told <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic</a>.

“We’ve had this western conceit that complex civilizations can’t flourish in the tropics, that the tropics are where civilizations go to die,” said Dr. Marcello Canuto of <a href="https://tulane.edu/">Tulane University</a>, an archaeologist who studies the Guatemalan site of La Corona. “But with the new LiDAR-based evidence from Central America and Angkor Wat, we now have to consider that complex societies may have formed in the tropics and made their way outward from there.”

LiDAR uses laser light to sample the Earth’s surface, creating a detailed topographical map that can reveal ruins just below the ground. Laser pulses are beamed down from a plane or helicopter, and the wavelengths are measured as they bounce back. Although it uses light instead of sound, LiDAR works similarly to bats’ sonar.

The studies found that, during the Maya classic period from 250 to 900 C.E., the center of the complex civilization covered an area double the size of medieval England, but with anywhere from 10 to 15 million people. In comparison, England’s population was around 1.5 million in 1086, according to estimates based on the <a href="http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/life.html#6">Domesday Book</a>.

The scans showed that Maya settlements in the lowlands included swampland archaeologists previously thought were uninhabitable.

The Maya built elevated roadways so they wouldn’t become impassable in rainy weather, and carefully managed their water with canals and reservoirs, the archaeologists discovered. Defensive walls, fortresses and other military structures point to the large-scale warfare that the Maya civilization engaged in.

Unfortunately, the scans also showed pits dug by pot hunters and other thieves.

“Many of these new sites are only new to us; they are not new to looters,” PACUNAM president Marianne Hernandez said.

A one-hour special highlighting the team’s LiDAR research will air on the <a href="http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic Channel</a> on February 6. 

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Laser technology reveals sprawling extent of Maya settlements

Thanks to new laser technology, archaeologists are uncovering ancient Maya...

In classrooms all over the world, students are learning about their local water resources, from the animals that make their homes in ponds and rivers to how land use affects the flow of storm water – with a little help <a href="https://www.projectwet.org/">Project WET</a>.

The educational nonprofit’s goal is to help students become the next generation of stewards for their local waterways. They do that by providing teachers with training and student activities to that can be incorporated into science, math, and even language arts and social studies classes.

“We want [students] to use that knowledge to be empowered to make changes in their own communities,” said Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter, Project WET’s communications manager.

In some classrooms, it’s already working. 

One third-grade class in Martinez took up an activity to learn about detecting leaks and calculating how much they cost, said Brian Brown, California’s Project WET coordinator. 

“It was math above their level. It was hard, but they learned it because they wanted to learn it,” he said.

They ended up taking their new knowledge home and helping their parents find leaks, the teacher told him. 

A Sacramento high school learned how to map storm water flow on their campus, Brown said. Other schools have used the activities in Project WET’s curriculum to plan school gardens, monitor water quality in local rivers, improve water hygiene and prevent the spread of waterborne pathogens.

Project WET now hosts workshops and coordinators all over the world, but it began as a trickle of an idea in North Dakota in 1984. Back then, it was focused on educating the public about the state’s water resources, but the focus quickly turned to students and their teachers.

“Our founder, Dennis Nelson … grew up in North Dakota on a farm, and his family always struggled with water,” Rosenleaf Ritter said. 

Although Nelson’s family lived near wetlands, they sunk well after well on their property. None of them lasted.

“So here he is, watching his family struggle with water all the time, and not understanding why farms down the street had water,” Rosenleaf Ritter said.

That curiosity led him to study hydrology in college, with a focus on watersheds – how and why storm water flows into rivers and lakes, she said. Back then, students really didn’t learn much about water in elementary or high school. Nelson, remembering his frustration over his family’s wells, began adapting the lessons he learned in college so they’d be easy to understand for everyone, no matter what their age or background.

“He didn’t want other kids to grow up without understanding where their water comes from, and why it acts the way it does,” Rosenleaf Ritter said.

Between 1989 and 2005, Project WET expanded into all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Working with Montana State University, the organization published its first curriculum and activity guide in 1995 and more than 50 water education guides. Before going independent in 2005, the organization had spread to 19 countries. 

Now based in Bozeman, Montana, Project WET has expanded all over the world and continues to publish curriculum and classroom activities. One of the goals is to make activities general enough they can be used anywhere in the world, but leave room for teachers to localize them so they are specific to their own communities.

“What works for us in Bozeman, Montana might not work [elsewhere],” Rosenleaf Ritter said. “We want these methods to work for teachers of all income levels, of all backgrounds. That’s really important to us.”
<h3>How it works</h3>
California offers a good example for how teachers can adapt Project WET’s curriculum in their classrooms. The program has been available in the state since 1996, and some of the teachers have been using the organization’s curriculum since the beginning. More join them all the time.

“We train about a thousand teachers a year,” Brown said. 

Project WET offers one-day workshops all over the state, aiming to enroll about 20 teachers per workshop. Because the state has unique water management situations – such as a drought that began in 2011 and lasted until 2016 – many school districts and teachers are happy to take advantage of the programs.

“We had people coming out of the woodwork for workshops during the later part of the drought,” Brown said.

The training lasts about six hours, and teachers get an overview of the activity guide. Not only that, they actually try several of the activities, such as turning a crumpled piece of paper into a watershed, playing a game of tag based on macroinvertebrates, or re-enacting spring snowmelt traveling down a river. 

“Then they’re more likely to do one of those activities with their students,” Brown said.

One goal of Common Core is to encourage teachers to focus on lessons that span disciplines, connecting science, math, language arts and other subjects together, Brown said. Many of Project WET’s activities live up to that standard. 

Thanks to grant funding, the California program has been able to survey teachers in the Central Valley about how they used the materials. More than 300 teachers responded to a survey covering 2015 to 2017; of those, 19 percent have been using Project WET materials for more than 10 years, Brown said.

The majority, 86 percent, used the materials to discuss conservation with their students – unsurprising, given California’s water challenges. Water management, critical thinking, the water cycle, and weather and climate are also high on the list of concepts teachers use Project WET materials to explore, according to the survey. 

The activity guide makes an excellent supplement for textbooks, fact sheets and other text-based resources, Brown said. It also matches up well with California’s <a href="http://www.californiaeei.org/">Education and the Environment Initiative</a>, he said.

“We’ve got the hands-on science that is often missing from other materials,” he said.

In addition, the Project WET curriculum frequently uses real-world scenarios. One activity, “Grave Mistake,” teaches students how to use arsenic levels to trace the source of arsenic leaching into a community’s water. It’s based on real cases in which Civil War-era grave sites <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/arsenic-and-old-graves-civil-war-era-cemeteries-may-be-leaking-toxins-180957115/">contaminated local water sources</a> in the U.S.

Best of all, students all over the state are using what they learn through Project WET in their own real-world scenarios. In Kern County, students used “Color Me a Watershed” to identify how changes in local land use are affecting stream flows, Brown said.

Last year, students at a Sacramento high school walked through their campus on rainy days, watching how the water flowed and trying to determine where it might get backed up and cause flooding. They unexpectedly had the chance to test their map when California saw heavy rains in early 2017.

“Lucky for them, it rained like heck last year,” he said.

They identified several drainage issues on the campus. Now, future classes will have the chance to work out solutions to those issues.

And a number of schools merge Project WET curriculum with agricultural education, an important element in the Central Valley, where some of the country’s top crop-producing counties are located.
<h3>How to get involved – and why</h3>
Project WET hosts regular workshops, but even if there isn’t one nearby in the coming months, teachers can still get involved. 

The organization has a collection of resources on its website. Educators can order publications full of lesson plans and information (with the exception of  Curriculum and Activity Guide 2.0, which is only available at training workshops), and activity booklets for students. There’s even a link to online training.

The organization seeks to make things easy for teachers as well as fun for students. 

“There’s a big emphasis on teachers in many states to teach science using the next generation science standards,” Rosenleaf Ritter said. So the activity guide includes information about how each activity correlates to the standards. 

But Project WET hopes teachers will jump on-board for reasons beyond just meeting new science education standards. In addition to introducing concepts in geography, science, mathematics, technology and critical reading, it also encourages students to think about their community’s water resources and the future. 

“Water is increasingly important around the world today.We don’t think about water till the well runs dry. That’s the old saying. There are places where the well is literally running dry,” Rosenleaf Ritter said. “It’s not that one child can solve that problem, but if children can understand the science behind that … then they’re going to be in a much better position to face these challenges going forward.”

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Project WET teaches students about water cycle, healthy ecosystems

In classrooms all over the world, students are learning about...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</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;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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