Healthy eating often feels like a moving target. Advice flips, trends flare up, and people are left unsure about what actually supports the heart.



A careful look at spicy food offers a clear signal worth your attention. A new population analysis from Sichuan Province, China, tracked adults and linked frequent chili intake to lower rates of major heart and brain events.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spicy-food-and-heart-health">Spicy food and heart health</h2>



<a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/706473/bio" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marialaura Bonaccio</a> of <a href="https://www.reteneuroscienze.it/en/Istituto/irccs-istituto-neurologico-mediterraneo-neuromed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IRCCS</a> Neuromed has spent years studying chili peppers and heart outcomes in Europe, and her work helps frame this topic globally. 



Her perspective complements findings from China while reminding us to keep lifestyle and culture in the mix.



The Chinese team analyzed 54,859 adults and found that compared with people who rarely ate spicy food, those who ate it 6 to 7 days per week were less likely to develop ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases. 



They also saw a reduced risk of ischemic stroke, a blockage in brain blood flow, with the likelihood of these problems dropping further as spicy food consumption became more frequent.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spicy-foods-can-slow-down-eating-and-cut-calorie-intake/">Moderate spice</a> intensity tracked with a lower overall risk of cardio and cerebrovascular disease in the cohort. 



Starting regular spicy intake earlier in life also lined up with lower risk, although the effect did not extend to hemorrhagic stroke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-food-gets-spicy">How food gets spicy</h2>



The main bioactive in chilies is <a href="https://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/capgen.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">capsaicin</a>, which is responsible for the burning sensation people feel when eating spicy foods. 



Beyond taste, capsaicin works on a special sensor in the body, found in nerves and in the lining of blood vessels. 



When this sensor is stimulated regularly, research in animals shows that it can increase the natural production of nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and helps blood flow more smoothly. 



This process has also been linked to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trying-to-lower-your-blood-pressure-this-common-nutrient-can-help/">lower blood pressure</a>, especially in animals with hypertension, which is long term high blood pressure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-capsaicin-and-arteries">Capsaicin and arteries</h2>



These changes are important because they improve the overall health of the inner walls of arteries. 



Strong, flexible arteries are better able to expand and contract, which reduces the workload on the heart and lowers the chance of damage over time. 



Better vessel relaxation means the circulatory system can adjust more easily when the body needs more blood flow, such as during exercise or stress.



Capsaicin’s impact is not just about the immediate burning feeling on the tongue. Inside the body, it sets off chemical signals that affect how cells behave. 



Over time, researchers have measured changes in proteins connected to nitric oxide pathways, and these shifts line up with long term improvements in how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-blood-vessels-may-fuel-the-spread-of-cancer-cells/">blood vessels function</a>. 



This suggests that eating spicy foods regularly may provide benefits for cardiovascular health that go well beyond flavor or temporary sensation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-this-fits-with-past-evidence">How this fits with past evidence</h2>



Large-scale work in China from 2004 to 2013 linked frequent spicy eating to lower all cause mortality. 



In that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26242395/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study,</a> participants who ate spicy food 6 or 7 days per week had a 14 percent lower risk of death than those who ate it less than once a week, with inverse associations also seen for ischemic heart disease and respiratory diseases.



A separate Italian <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31856971/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cohort</a> found that people who ate chili peppers more than four times per week had lower total and cardiovascular mortality. The association persisted even when researchers accounted for adherence to the Mediterranean diet.



Findings from the Italian study showed that chili pepper consumption appeared to offer protection for the heart even when overall eating habits differed. 



The benefit was seen both in people who followed a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mediterranean-diet-boosts-brain-power-by-altering-the-gut/">Mediterranean diet</a> and in those whose diets were less healthy, suggesting that the positive effect of chili peppers was consistent across different dietary patterns. 



Marialaura Bonaccio, who also led this study, underscored this point when presenting the results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-spicy-food-means-in-real-life">What spicy food means in real life</h2>



None of these studies say <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mild-chili-peppers-may-be-the-anti-spice-weve-been-looking-for/">chili peppers</a> cure heart disease. They do say that in large groups of people, more frequent spicy intake is linked to fewer heart and brain problems across time.



This is observational research, so cause and effect remain open questions. Still, the consistency across settings argues that spicy eating patterns often travel with other helpful choices or may deliver direct biological benefits.



Spice strength matters too. The Chinese work reported signals at weak to moderate levels, which gels with the simple idea that daily habits beat extremes.



Whole chilies, simple sauces, and meals that use chili to season real food are sensible places to start. People with reflux, ulcers, or other conditions should adjust to tolerance and talk to a clinician if symptoms flare.



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



A much larger China Kadoorie Biobank incidence <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12273639/">paper</a> followed 486,335 adults for a median of 12.1 years. 



They found lower risks of vascular disease in people who ate spicy foods one to seven days per week, with trends that held for ischemic heart disease and major coronary events. 



The association was particularly clear in younger adults and those living in rural regions.



It is also possible that people who enjoy spicy foods eat differently in other ways, or live in places where chili use reflects cultural patterns that bring other benefits or risks. 



Careful sensitivity checks, such as excluding early events, help probe these points but do not close the book on causality.



Future studies could test how foods high in capsaicin or standardized chili products influence blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood vessel health over time. 



Researchers could also examine how chili affects nitric oxide activity in people by using amounts similar to those found in everyday cooking.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cutting-through-the-noise">Cutting through the noise</h2>



Nutrition debates can feel noisy, yet some messages are steady. Frequent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-chili-during-pregnancy-may-actually-be-a-good-idea/">chili</a> use, inside a balanced pattern of eating, shows a consistent association with better heart and brain outcomes across very different populations.



People do not need to chase extreme heat or complicated protocols. A modest, regular habit built around meals you enjoy is easier to keep, and the data suggest that rhythm matters more than bragging rights.



Taste and tolerance vary, so personal comfort should lead the way. If spicy foods agree with you, using chilies to season home cooked meals looks like a choice with upside and little downside for most healthy adults.



The study is published in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40677177/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi</a>.



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Eating spicy food protects heart and brain health, according to a new study

Healthy eating often feels like a moving target. Advice flips, trends flare up, and people are left unsure about what actually supports the heart. A careful look at spicy food offers a clear signal worth your attention. A new population analysis from Sichuan Province, China, tracked adults and linked frequent chili intake to lower rates of major heart and brain events. Spicy food and heart health Marialaura Bonaccio of IRCCS Neuromed has spent years studying chili peppers and heart outcomes in Europe, and her work helps frame...

An international team of researchers has found that online behavior mimics the natural rhythms of the real world. In particular, the experts discovered that online interest in plants and animals often changes with the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/infectious-diseases-seasonal/">seasons</a>. 

The study was focused on a massive dataset of 2.33 billion views on Wikipedia, which involved 31,715 species over the course of three years. The team identified seasonal trends in the page views of more than 25 percent of the plant and animal species. The timing and extent of this internet activity was found to be an accurate representation of when and where the species were present in the world.

The seasonal interest in Wikipedia pages was found to reflect seasonal patterns in the species themselves. For example, page views of flowering plants had stronger seasonal patterns than those for coniferous trees, which do not have an obvious flowering season. Insects and birds trended more by the season compared to most mammals.

The researchers also identified instances where seasonal patterns responded to cultural events. Wikipedia’s page for the wild turkey showed repeated annual spikes around Thanksgiving and during the dates of the spring hunting season.

“People are becoming increasingly detached from nature and as a result we didn't really expect their activity online to respond to patterns in the natural world,” said study lead author John Mittermeier, who is a PhD student at the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>. “To see that online activity often correlates strongly with natural phenomena suggests that people are paying attention to the world around them, and from a conservation perspective that is really exciting.”

Professor Richard Grenyer added, “Really widespread, accurate monitoring of all the world's species is still science fiction, unfortunately. But by using these big data approaches we can begin to shortcut some of the more difficult problems, and cut to the core questions in modern conservation: how is the world changing, for which species is it changing the most, and where are the people who care the most and can do the most to help.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/">PLOS Biology</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: Uri Roll

Public interest in plants and animals changes with the seasons

An international team of researchers has found that online behavior...

A new study led by British botanist Dr. Aaron Davis has revealed that dozens of species of wild coffee are at risk of vanishing as a result of climate change and deforestation. The team found that 60 percent of all wild coffee varieties on three continents are threatened. 

For the risk assessment, the researchers applied an index developed by the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN). The analysis revealed that the current rate of climate change may push wild arabica from an (IUCN) classification of “near threatened” to “extinct” by the year 2100.

According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>, Dr. Davis has spent 30 years investigating the state of the world's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/coffee-taste-buds/">coffee plants</a>. He has reported that the conditions in traditional coffee-producing regions, such as Ethiopia, will become unsuitable for coffee production as temperatures continue to rise. 

Dr. Davis has also mapped out regions that will become more suitable for growing coffee, which are basically cooler, interior regions. 

The wild species that the experts have analyzed for the current study are critical for the development of new coffee varieties that can survive global warming. 

Dr. Davis, who is a senior researcher at the <a href="https://www.kew.org/">Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew</a>, told the New York Times: “There are a broad range of traits, which have good potential for addressing specific issues in the future, whether its drought tolerance or disease resistance. As we lose those coffees, our options diminish.”

Wild coffees can be stored in seed banks or preserved in protected forests, but the team found that nearly half of all wild coffee species are not stored and a third do not grow in national forests.

The study is published in two separate papers in <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Many wild coffee species could disappear by the end of this century

A new study led by British botanist Dr. Aaron Davis...

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based. A genetically engineered microbe could be used to break down woody plant material and create a biodegradable alternative for plastic.

Finding environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic is a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protein-squid-alternative-plastics/">mission</a> taken on by a number of research teams, and the focus of these endeavors is typically the sugars and cellulose in plant cell walls. 

But while researchers have been able to break down plant materials and extract sugars, an abundant polymer called lignin is stripped away in the process. Lignin is so abundant and carries such little value that it’s typically just burned during manufacturing processes. 

If this lignin could be broken down and utilized efficiently, it could be used to make durable materials that could replace plastic. Unfortunately, the molecule is large, complex, and challenging to break down, and so it has been long overlooked until now. New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based plastic substitute 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Madison-Wisconsin</a> discovered that a microbe called Novosphingobium aromaticivorans efficiently digests the different components of lignin and produces smaller aromatic hydrocarbons in the process. 

A study detailing how the bacterium breaks down lignin and potential future implications for the microbe was published in the journal Green Chemistry. 

“Other microbes tried before may be able to digest a few types of aromatics found in lignin,” said Miguel Perez, the lead author of the study. “When we met this microbe, it was already good at degrading a wide range of compounds. That makes this microbe very promising.”

As Novosphingobium aromaticivorans digests lignin, it produces pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid,  also known as PDC. The researchers found that by removing three genes from the microbe, they could expedite the PDC process. 

Bioengineers are already using PDC in Japan as a plastic replacement, but the difficult extraction process has kept lignin from being used over a wide scale. 

Now, the researchers say that the microbe could make PDC production at the industrial level a real possibility. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based. A...

Declining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-bees-extinction/">bee populations</a> may not be the only reason plant pollination has been suffering in some regions. 

A new study has found that in New York, increased in agricultural activity has stunted the evolution of pollinators and as a result, millions of years of evolutionary history and diversity are in the process of being lost. 


Researchers from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> led a study examining phylogenetic diversity among bee communities that pollinated apple orchards in New York. 

Phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relationships, and phylogenetic diversity shows the evolution and diversification of different species. Studying phylogenetic diversity within a community of pollinators can also help illustrate different environmental stresses that prompted evolutionary changes. 

However, most conservation research uses biodiversity and species population numbers to gauge how well a species is doing in an ecosystem. 

The researchers analyzed a decade of data documenting bee activity, species richness, and biodiversity in 27 apple orchards as well as bee evolutionary history. The team found that declines in bee populations alone were not enough to explain the decreases in pollination services in the orchards. 

Instead, the researchers were able to link increases in agricultural activity in the orchards to losses in phylogenetic diversity which suggests millions of years of evolution has been lost for bee communities in the area. The study compares the losses in diversity to a “pruning” of the bee tree of life. 

Without phylogenetic diversity, bee species in the orchards were more closely related and this negatively impacted pollination. In turn, apple yields and quality suffered. 

The study, published in the journal Science, shows that phylogenetic diversity should also be used to help measure species’ adaptability and resilience going forward. 

Biodiversity alone cannot be counted on as an accurate measurement of a healthy ecosystem. Evolution also needs to factor into the mix to gain a better understanding of how a species reacts to environmental changes. 
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bee losses are not enough to explain pollination problems

Declining bee populations may not be the only reason plant...

When volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) react in sunlight and stagnant air, they produce a secondary pollutant known as ground-level <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-bubbles-bad-ozone-levels/">ozone</a> that damages trees, crops, and other vegetation. A new study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> (U of I) has investigated the impact that rising ozone levels may have on corn plants. 

After exposing a diverse group of corn plants to future ozone concentrations, the team discovered that some varieties have a higher risk of yield losses than others. The researchers said that pinpointing the genetic basis of these differences could help scientists develop ozone-resistant corn.

"Ozone enters plants the same way carbon dioxide does: It diffuses from the atmosphere into the leaf," said study co-author Lisa Ainsworth of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She explained that carbon dioxide is a nutrient for plants, but ozone damages biological tissues and limits carbon capture in plant leaves. 

According to Ainsworth, even background levels of ozone do some damage. "Our research suggests that current ozone levels decrease corn yields by as much as 10%. That's as much as drought or flooding or any single pest or disease, but this is a relatively unstudied component of yield loss in the U.S."

At the U of I's Free Air Concentration Enrichment (FACE) facility, the researchers tracked the real-world consequences of higher atmospheric ozone levels in an agricultural field. 

"The level that we're fumigating to in this study is a level that is commonly found today in China and India," said Ainsworth. "So, it's not excessively high, even though we're using a concentration that is 2 1/2 times the level of background ozone in central Illinois."

The investigation was focused on 45 hybrid corn plants, which represented all the major types of corn, and the variation in their responses to high ozone levels. The researchers identified specific hybrid plants that were more sensitive to ozone stress than others.

"We found two maize lines whose offspring were more sensitive to ozone pollution, regardless of which other types of corn we bred them with," said study co-author Professor Andrew Leakey. "Their genetic deficiencies manifested in different ways when exposed to the high ozone conditions."

Professor Leakey said that the genetics of commercial corn are a trade secret, so it is unknown which of these varieties may become susceptible to rising ozone levels. "Breeders would not know about these differences since they are not apparent under clean-air conditions."

He added that more genetic analysis and more experiments like those conducted at the FACE facility will be needed to determine how today's plants will respond to future conditions. 

"It's important to understand how plants are going to respond to climate change before the climate changes," said Professor Leakey. "That is the only way we can find the solutions that will be needed in the future."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</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: Shutterstock/Maks Narodenko

Rising ozone levels pose a serious threat to some corn plants

When volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) react...

A warming climate will limit the amount of CO2 that plants can absorb. Plants depend on carbon dioxide to grow, and the exchange of CO2 and oxygen that occurs during photosynthesis has given some reason to hope that plant growth may help counter the increases in global greenhouse gas emissions.

But a new study led by <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> and published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0848-x">Nature</a> shows that the environmental stress of climate change is actually causing plants and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-temperatures-soil-expelling-co2/">soil to absorb less CO2</a> than normal. 

“We have this image of the planet getting very, very green as we move into the future,” Pierre Gentine, a co-author of the study told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/climate/plants-co2-climate-change.html">New York Times</a> which reported on the findings. “But it may be the opposite.”

The world’s plant life and soils absorb around 25 percent of human-emitted greenhouse gasses, providing an important buffer against the snowball effect of climate change. 

As atmospheric greenhouse gas levels increase, as will temperatures and sea level, and extreme weather events will become more frequent. 

During long bouts of warm and dry weather, researchers have noticed that atmospheric emissions increase because plants and soil are unable to uptake as much CO2 during droughts. 

For this study, the researchers used data from four different Earth climate models as well as satellite data to project how climate change will impact future rates of plant and soil carbon storage during extreme droughts and unpredictable patterns of precipitation. 

The researchers found that future droughts will limit photosynthesis and reduce the amount of CO2 absorbed into the soils. While plants can catch up and take in more CO2 during wetter years, the amount will never balance out to what was lost during the dry years. 

“Our results emphasize that the capacity of continents to act as a future carbon sink critically depends on the nonlinear response of carbon fluxes to soil moisture and on land-atmosphere interactions,” the researchers wrote. “This suggests that the increasing trend in carbon uptake rate may not be sustained past the middle of the century and could result in accelerated atmospheric CO2 growth.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

A warming climate will limit the amount of CO2 that plants can absorb

A warming climate will limit the amount of CO2 that...

Wildlife losses due to illegal hunting have overlooked climate consequences. Wildlife losses due to illegal hunting have overlooked climate consequences. A new study led by <a href="https://lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a> has revealed that the loss of animals, often as a result of illegal hunting, negatively impacts the carbon storage capacity of forests. Despite these consequences, however, this association is hardly ever addressed in climate policy negotiations. 

Many animals play an important role in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/color-fruit-evolved-attract-animals/">seed dispersal</a> for tropical trees, particularly large-seeded tree species that tend to have a higher wood density. The loss of animals directly affects the survival of these tree species, with cascading effects on the overall carbon storage capacity of tropical forests.

The researchers investigated the extent to which the link between wildlife losses and carbon storage capacity was addressed in forest governance. The team focused on a particular mechanism referred to as Reducing<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grasslands-are-turning-into-a-source-of-harmful-emissions/"> Emissions</a> from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).

The study revealed that while higher-level policy documents acknowledge the importance of biodiversity, hunting as a driver of forest degradation is rarely acknowledged. Furthermore, the link between fauna and forest ecosystem function was not mentioned in any documents.

According to the researchers, this may not be a simple oversight, but could be the result of a deliberate political choice to avoid adding further complexity to REDD+ negotiations and implementation. 

“Although biodiversity has moved from a side issue to an inherent feature over the last decade, we show that the ecological functions of biodiversity are still only mentioned superficially,” said study co-author Torsten Krause. “At the sub-national level, fauna and hunting were much more likely to be mentioned in project documents, but we still found no explicit mentioning of a link between defaunation and carbon storage capacity.”

The study highlights the fact that wildlife loss is essentially overlooked in both climate negotiations and forest governance.

“The assumption that forest cover and habitat protection equal effective biodiversity conservation is misleading, and must be challenged,” said study co-author Martin Reinhardt Nielsen. “The fact that defaunation and particularly the loss of large seed dispersers through unsustainable hunting have lasting repercussions throughout the forest ecosystem, must be acknowledged and considered in forest governance broadly, or we risk losing the forest for the trees.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests">Forests</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Wildlife losses due to illegal hunting have overlooked climate

Wildlife losses due to illegal hunting have overlooked climate consequences....

According to preliminary research from the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a>, it is never too late to reduce your risk of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleeping-heart-disease-risk/">heart disease</a> by adding fruits and vegetables to your diet. The experts also report that high-quality plant-based foods can increase longevity.

Study lead author Dr. Megu Y. Baden is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a> in Boston.

“Not all plant-based diets are equal, but boosting the intake of high-quality plant-based foods over time lowers the risk of death even among people who started off with poor-quality diets,” said Dr. Baden.

While previous studies have shown that a healthy, plant-based diet can reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease, this study is the first to look at how changes in diet may influence the risk of mortality - no matter when the changes were made. 

Healthy plant-based foods include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Lower-quality plant-based foods are items such as fruit juices, refined grains, potatoes, and sweets. The researchers developed three diet scales to represent the overall consumption of these types of plant-based foods.

The study was focused on 47,983 women with an average age of 64, who were participating in the Nurses' Health Study. The investigation also involved data from 25,737 men with an average age of 64 participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. 

When they started the programs, the participants had no history of heart disease or cancer. The individuals self-reported any changes in their diet for 12 years prior to a 12-year follow-up period from 1998-2014.

Compared to individuals who had fairly stable diets, the researchers found that deaths from all causes were eight percent lower in those with the biggest increase in an overall plant-based diet and ten percent lower in those with the biggest increase in a healthy plant-based diet. 

On the other hand, for individuals with the biggest increase in an unhealthy plant-based diet, death from all causes was 11 percent higher.

The study also revealed that gaining an extra 10 points on the healthy plant-based diet scale was associated with a 10 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. A 10-point increase in score can be achieved, for example, by replacing one serving of refined grains with a serving of whole grains each day. 

Dr. Baden explained, “Over a period of time, consuming more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, while decreasing your intake of refined grains, sweets and desserts, and animal foods such as animal fat meat, and miscellaneous animal-based foods, may lower your risk of death from heart disease and other causes.”

The research was presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2019.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Healthy plant-based foods lower the risk of death from heart disease

According to preliminary research from the American Heart Association, it...

Changes in precipitation expected to impact vital crops worldwide. A new study has found that principal crops like wheat, maize, and rice will be impacted by future changes to rainfall patterns caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-shifting-climate-boundaries/">climate change</a> even if greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced.

Researchers from the <a href="https://ciat.cgiar.org/">International Center for Tropical Agriculture </a>and the <a href="http://www.uchile.cl/">Universidad de Chile </a>studied how permanent changes to regional precipitation across the globe will impact future crop production of wheat, maize, rice and soybean, four crops that represent 40 percent of the world’s total caloric intake. 

While some regions are already experiencing irregular precipitation patterns and climate change is expected to cause changes to rainfall and temperatures, many of the world’s key crop regions have yet to undergo any imminent precipitation changes. 

For this study, the researchers examined how changes to regional precipitation would impact crop production under four emissions scenarios to predict when an area can expect permanent precipitation changes, which the researchers call the time of emergence (TOE). 

Already, some areas have new climate norms compared to the generation before. 

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that 14 percent of land that produces key cereals will be drier and 31 percent will be wetter by 2040.

[caption id="attachment_1869475" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/drier.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869475" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/drier.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="502" /></a> Image Credit: Lucelly Anaconas / International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)[/caption]

Under a medium climate mitigation scenario, the researchers found that dry regions like Australia, Southern Africa, and Southwestern South America will only get even drier. 

27 percent of wheat cropland in Australia, 100 percent of cropland in Algeria, 79 percent of land in South Africa, and 74 percent of land in Mexico will face less precipitation under a medium emissions reduction scenario. Changes in precipitation expected to impact vital crops worldwide 

With a business-as-usual scenario, these numbers only increase. 

“These are definitely countries that will need to think rather quickly what they'd like to do with their wheat production,” said Maisa Rojas, the study's lead author. “What we're predicting are probably conservative years for time of emergence. Detectable precipitation changes are of course not only important for agriculture, but for water resource management more in general, so our results are relevant for other sectors as well.”

The researchers say countries like China and India will see an increase in precipitation no matter how much emissions are reduced, and the amount of rainfall could lead to increases in cropland and production.

[caption id="attachment_1869476" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wetter.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869476" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wetter.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="502" /></a> Image Credit: Lucelly Anaconas / International Center for Tropical Agriculture[/caption]

Wheat fields in the US, Canada, and Russia will also have higher levels of precipitation, but the researchers warn that the precipitation changes will also cause rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and increase the risk of floods. 

Regardless of region or when the expected time of emergence is, farmers worldwide will see a huge change in precipitation in the coming years. 

“Farmers growing crops in those areas are going to experience significantly different conditions than what they are used to,” said Julian Ramirez-Villegas, a co-author of the study. “They're going to be completely outside their normal historical environments and many farmers are already struggling with historic variability.”

The results call for swift action and adaptation on the part of farmers likely to be hit hardest by precipitation changes. 

While changes are expected under any emission scenario, if greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced under the Paris Agreement guidelines, it could buy farmers more time to adapt, and less land would be impacted. 

“The precise nature of the changes is impossible to predict,” said Andy Challinor, a co-author of the study. “What this study tells us is that adaptation needs to be agile. For the first time, we can tell what changes to be ready for - and when they are expected - in our major crop-growing regions. Prior to this study, the rainfall changes experienced by crops were thought to be so unpredictable that no real advice could be given.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT

Changes in precipitation expected to impact vital crops worldwide

Changes in precipitation expected to impact vital crops worldwide. A...

It doesn’t take a full-blown wine snob to know that older bottles tend to have higher price tags. But it’s not just the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/red-wines-taste-dry/">wine</a> itself that may tie back to the past, as scientists have discovered that a grape variety still used in wine production in France can be traced back 900 years to just one ancestral plant.

Researchers have long suspected that some grape varieties grown today have an exact genetic match with plants grown 2,000 years ago or more, but there was never a way to genetically test an uninterrupted genetic lineage of that age. However, using an extensive genetic database of modern grapevines, scientists were able to analyze and compare 28 archeological seeds from French sites dating back to the Iron Age, Roman era, and medieval period. 

In a study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/nplants/">Nature Plants</a>, the researchers used similar ancient DNA methods utilized in tracing human ancestors to draw genetic connections between seeds from different archaeological sites, along with links to modern-day grape varieties.

“From our sample of grape seeds we found 18 distinct genetic signatures, including one set of genetically identical seeds from two Roman sites separated by more than 600km, and dating back 2,000 years ago,” says Dr. Nathan Wales from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>. “These genetic links, which included a ‘sister’ relationship with varieties grown in the Alpine regions today, demonstrate winemakers’ proficiencies across history in managing their vineyards with modern techniques, such as asexual reproduction through taking plant cuttings.”

One of the grape seeds found at a medieval site in Orléans in central France was genetically identical to Savagnin Blanc (not to be confused with Sauvignon Blanc), which means the variety has grown for at least 900 years after beginning as cuttings from one ancestral plant. This grape is still grown in the Jura region of France and is used to make expensive bottles of Vin Jaune.

“We suspect the majority of these archaeological seeds come from domesticated berries that were potentially used for winemaking based on their strong genetic links to wine grapevines,” explains Dr. Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, a postdoctoral researcher from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>. “Berries from varieties used for wine are small, thick-skinned, full of seeds, and packed with sugar and other compounds such as acids, phenols, and aromas - great for making wine but not quite as good for eating straight from the vine.”

None of the Roman seeds excavated were found to have an identical genetic match with modern-day seeds, but the researchers did find two very close relationships with important grape families used in making high quality wine. Seeds were connected to the Syrah-Mondeuse Blanche family, with Syrah being one of the most planted grapes in the world today. Another connection was found with the Mondeuse Blanche, which is used to produce high quality AOC (protected regional product) wine in Savoy.

“It is rather unconventional to trace an uninterrupted genetic lineage for hundreds of years into the past,” says Dr. Wales. “Instead of exploring broad patterns in genetic ancestry, as in most ancient DNA projects, we had to think like forensics scientists and find a perfect match in the database.”

The researchers are now trying to find more archaeological evidence to further expand the history and knowledge of grape wine varieties. “Large databases of genetic data from modern crops and optimized palaeogenomic methods have vastly improved our ability to analyze the history of this and other important fruits,” Wales explains. “For the wine industry today, these results could shed new light on the value of some grape varieties; even if we don’t see them in popular use in wines today, they were once highly valued by past wine lovers and so are perhaps worth a closer look.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit S. Ivorra CNRS/ISEM

Ancient seeds trace wine grape variety back 900 years to one ancestral plant

It doesn’t take a full-blown wine snob to know that...

Diversity of land species has remained the same for 60 million years. The amount of biodiversity we have on land today has remained the same for at least 60 million years, soon after the dinosaurs were wiped out. An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> has found that the number of species has increased only occasionally throughout time, with sudden spikes in diversity being followed by plateaus lasting tens of millions of years.

Scientists have previously theorized that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-dictates-biodiversity-hotspots/">diversity</a> increased steadily throughout time, which would mean that biodiversity today is much greater than it was in prehistoric times. Modern computing techniques that are capable of analyzing hundreds of thousands of fossils are showing patterns of land diversity that challenge this theory. 

The current study was focused on fossil data collected by palaeontologists over the past 200 years at around 30,000 different fossil sites worldwide. The fossil data represented land vertebrates dating back to the first evidence of this group nearly 400 million years ago.

The study revealed that it has been tens of millions of years since there was a significant increase in the average number of species. The research suggests that competition for food and space among land vertebrates limits the number of species that can coexist.

“Scientists often think that species diversity has been increasing unchecked over millions of years, and that diversity is much greater today than it was in the distant past,” said study lead author Dr. Roger Close. “Our research shows that numbers of species within terrestrial communities are limited over long timescales, which contradicts the results of many experiments in modern ecological communities - now we need to understand why.”

[caption id="attachment_1867942" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Diversity-of-land-species-has-remained-the-same-for-60-million-years.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1867942" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Diversity-of-land-species-has-remained-the-same-for-60-million-years.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="337" /></a> Image Credit: Mark Ryan, Mary Parrish &amp; Jay Matternes[/caption]

“Contrary to what you might expect, the largest increase in diversity within land vertebrate communities came after the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period," Dr. Close added. "Within just a few million years, local diversity had increased to two or three times that of pre-extinction levels - driven primarily by the spectacular success of modern mammals.”

Study co-author Professor Richard Butler added, “Our work provides an example of the combined power of the fossil record and modern statistical approaches to answer major questions about the origins of modern biodiversity. By understanding how biodiversity has changed in the past, we may be able to better understand the likely long-term impact of the current biodiversity crisis.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Diversity of land species has remained the same for 60 million years

Diversity of land species has remained the same for 60...

Was Chicago named after a wild onion? Chicago is a fractious city, full of unresolved contradictions. A heap of concrete and metal, it looms over the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, by turns both elegant and brutal. Known for political corruption and crime, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/weekends-heatwaves-chicago-shootings/">Windy City</a> is also the beating heart of liberalism and culture in the midst of America’s more traditionally conservative midwest. 

Incorporated in 1833, Chicago has evolved from a small settlement to the third largest city in the United States, home to one of the world’s busiest airports and a hub of national politics. In the midst of its rich heritage rages a fascinating debate, full of opposing theories that rest on interpretations of its natural history, Native American linguistics, and French exploration, all delivered with the trademark bluster that puts the “wind” in its famous nickname.

For all of Chicago’s global significance, there is still a lack of certainty about the origins of the city’s name. 

What is certain is that the moniker derives from a Native American term that once described the region, probably from the Miami tribe that inhabited it when French explorers first arrived. A few notions have been largely disproven. It is considered unlikely by contemporary scholars that the original name translates to “playful waters,” “thunder,” or “big,” as some proposed in the past. The current popular theory that it instead refers to a species of wild onion once carpeting the region has more support, but even that idea has been contested. 

Those who have weighed in on the issue predicate their arguments largely upon analyses of records from early French explorers, notably those of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and his deputy, the naturalist Henri Joutel. La Salle is believed to have passed through the area several times and was certainly there in 1682. Joutel, who accompanied La Salle on his final journey in search of the mouth of the Mississippi from 1684-87, spent three weeks in what is now the greater Chicago area on his return journey to Canada following La Salle’s murder in present day Texas. His observations from that period, during which he investigated La Salle’s claims about the region’s name, are perhaps the most important in getting to the root of whether or not the city is named for a species of wild onion—or something else entirely. 

A series of articles in the Illinois State Historical Society’s journal hashed this out over the course of two decades. The three scholars responsible conducted detailed primary source analysis—and advanced a good deal of speculation. Their work—laden with detail and, in the case of the final author, a fair bit of snark—provides fascinating insight how history is written and rewritten.

For some time, three varieties of Allium—wild onions—were contenders. The possibilities were the nodding onion (Allium cernuum), a pink-flowered prairie denizen, the wild leek or ramp (Allium tricoccum), a white-flowered species with broad leaves found in forested areas, and wild or Canadian garlic (Allium canadense), a white-flowered species found in both prairies and woodlands. 

In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40192527?read-now=1&amp;refreqid=excelsior%3A826d9b955a875a7bacff284b5690cef2&amp;seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">1991</a>, former attorney and historian <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-01-08-0401080373-story.html">John F. Swenson</a> narrowed it to A. tricoccum on the basis of its earlier reference by La Salle to the plant as ail sauvage, French for wild garlic. This was the plant supposedly known by the Miami as “checagou.” La Salle is known to have mentioned it as early at 1680, though Swenson concentrates on a reference to all three species in a 1683 letter. Explorer Henri de Tonti, who accompanied La Salle on some of his travels, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=SFwOAAAAYAAJ&amp;pg=PA49&amp;dq=henri+de+tonti+wild+garlic&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj68rD5wcfgAhUEQq0KHUoaCowQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&amp;q=henri%20de%20tonti%20wild%20garlic&amp;f=false">recalled surviving on ail sauvage over a period of days</a> in 1680 after fleeing an attack by the Iroquois at Illinois’s Starved Rock, now a state park. Swenson assumes, reasonably, that Joutel was aware of the plants through his discussions with La Salle.

[caption id="attachment_1868296" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Allium-tricoccum.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868296" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Allium-tricoccum.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="356" /></a> Allium tricoccum, Image Credit: ɱ/Wiki Commons[/caption]

Joutel, during his 1687 sojourn along the Des Plaines River, inland from Lake Michigan, tried both A. tricoccum and A. canadense and remarked that the former tasted of garlic while the latter tasted like cultivated onions, despite its common name, which is likely due to its physical resemblance to a form of cultivated garlic rather than its flavor. (At the time, there were no permanent settlements on the site of the current city due to its exposure to the elements, so the area bearing this name was more expansive and general.) It was unlikely that he would have encountered A. cernuum in the wooded environs in which he found himself, though it is conceivable that it may have been growing nearer to the lakeshore, which was more open. Joutel spelled it “Chicagou.”

In 2003, <a href="https://indiana.academia.edu/MichaelMcCafferty">Michael McCafferty</a>, a linguist specializing in the Miami language, further refined Swenson’s conclusions. Notably, he pointed out that “checagou” was an inaccurate transliteration of šikaakwa, the Miami word for both the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and for A. tricoccum, which was so-named for its skunk-like odor when crushed. That appellation was given by the Miami to portions of what are now known as the south branch of the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River. The transliteration appears to have occurred due to the use by La Salle of a digraph, a character rendered as “8” at the end of checagou—so, checag8. The 8 represented several sounds, including -ou and -oua and may have been later mistranscribed by La Salle himself or by a Frenchman unaware of the second usage. McCafferty dispenses with the idea that the waterway may have been named for the skunk itself rather than the plant named after the skunk because the Miami were not known to name waterways after animals. 

A <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40193646?read-now=1&amp;refreqid=excelsior%3Aeb284506ea4ebed67f9816ef03ce8564&amp;seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">2004 response</a> by Carl J. Weber rather jeeringly notes that the form “Checagou” was used frequently in the decades after La Salle’s first mention and that Checagoua or Chicagoua never appeared on a map. He conjectures that Joutel was the butt of a joke by Native American guides, who, when asked about “checagou” referred Joutel to the skunky plant when in fact the area was named for a chief who had himself been named after the waterway known as “Checagou.” McCafferty issued a scathing <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-877580301/author-response-revisiting-chicago">rebuttal</a> the next year, reiterating and expounding upon his earlier claims. 

Whatever the case, various forms of the word remained in use. Father Jacques Gravier, a Jesuit missionary, used the Chicagoua spelling several times in letters dating from 1697-1701. Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, another French explorer who founded the settlement that would later become Detroit, noted in a 1696 letter that, “... Chicagou comes next. The word means Garlic River, because a very large quantity of garlic grows naturally there, without cultivation.”

The name was later given to the city that sprung up around settler Jean Baptiste Point du Sable’s trading post, established near Lake Michigan perhaps as early as 1779 but likely in the 1780s. Whether there were onions growing on the site, we will likely never know. But wild leeks, or ramps have certainly made a come back—in the spring, when they pop up in surrounding forest remnants, eager foragers harvest and sell them to the city’s many gourmet establishments, a practice that has put the plants at risk. So it is that we Chicagoans may be driving our very namesake to extinction. The animals for which those wild onions were named, however, are flourishing. On many a hot summer night, the pungent odor of an agitated skunk can be detected on the sultry breeze, an olfactory reminder of the wilderness that once was—and that which remains.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Was Chicago named after a wild onion?

Was Chicago named after a wild onion? Chicago is a...

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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.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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;



---



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

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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"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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