Hot summers have made bark beetles a familiar menace in northern Europe, but a new twist is now clear. When these insects kill spruce, they also change the air within the forest, raising daytime temperatures close to the ground by as much as 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).



That <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/future-forests-which-tree-species-can-survive-climate-change/">shift</a> matters because many organisms depend on steady conditions near the forest floor. It also affects how new trees take root after a disturbance, and how people feel when they walk these trails on a scorching day.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-increasing-bark-beetle-outbreaks">Increasing bark beetle outbreaks </h2>



The research was led by Caroline Greiser of Stockholm University and the <a href="https://www.su.se/bolin-centre-for-climate-research/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bolin Centre for Climate Research</a>. 



The team measured temperatures both beneath and above the trees at 31 spruce-dominated sites in southern Sweden between July and September 2021.



Sensors mounted at 6.5 feet recorded air in the understory, the shaded space below the canopy. A drone flight added a thermal map of treetops over one reserve to compare living crowns with dead ones.



The focus was the European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus. “We’ve known for a long time that hot, dry summers increase bark beetle <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-lagging-centuries-behind-in-climate-adaptation/">outbreaks</a>,” said Greiser.



The goal of the study was to see how attack severity plays out in the micro-scale temperatures that plants and animals actually experience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-temperatures-of-dead-trees">Temperatures of dead trees</h2>



Daytime maximums beneath attacked stands ran up to 2 degrees Celsius warmer along a gradient from healthy to heavily damaged. 



Nights did not drop below the temperatures seen in healthy stands, which suggests a surprising kind of thermal stability after mortality.



Dead trees were not neutral at the top of the forest either. On a sunny day their crowns averaged 2.6 degrees Celsius warmer than living crowns, and on an overcast day the gap shrank to 0.7 degrees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-deciduous-trees-matter">Why deciduous trees matter</h2>



Where birch and aspen were mixed in with spruce, the warming was smaller. Broad leaves restore shade, keep moisture cycling, and help hold down the daily highs under the trees after an outbreak.



“Our study adds a new reason to diversify forests,” said Greiser. Mixed stands also spread risk across species, so a single pest cannot topple everything at once. 



Restoring deciduous trees to conifer heavy stands has been a policy discussion in Scandinavia for years. These results add temperature control to the list of reasons to bring them back.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-temperature-effects-of-bark-beetles">Temperature effects of bark beetles</h2>



Forests tend to be cooler by day and warmer by night than open areas because of shading, wind reduction, and moisture fluxes. That buffering is documented in a global <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15569" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> that links canopy structure to steadier conditions below.



Living trees also move water from soils to air through <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evapotranspiration</a>, which absorbs heat on hot afternoons. When many trees die, that cooling pathway weakens, so the daytime highs under the canopy can tick upward.



Despite the warmer days, attacked stands did not show colder nights in this work. Crowns and stems, even when dead, still slow the loss of heat to the sky, and that can keep minimums steady.



Earlier field <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037811270100754X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> in shelterwood systems found higher night minimums under partial cover than in clear cuts. That helps explain why leaving some structure standing can still protect frost sensitive seedlings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-dead-trees-run-hotter">Why dead trees run hotter</h2>



The thermal drone maps showed dead crowns run warmer than living crowns, especially on clear days. That pattern lines up with reduced water flow from dead wood and the loss of evaporative cooling at the top of the stand.



Independent remote sensing work in Poland reported roughly a 2.5 degrees Celsius (about 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) difference between dead and healthy tree canopies on a hot day. Weather conditions and tree species can change the exact number, but the direction is consistent.



Clear skies strengthen these differences because sunlight drives heating while living leaves are busy cooling. Clouds narrow the gap by cutting incoming <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protecting-forests-helps-birds-and-humans-in-many-ways/">energy</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preparing-for-bark-beetles">Preparing for bark beetles</h2>



Once again, diversity proves valuable. Adding birch and aspen to spruce stands softens the heat surge that follows beetle die-offs and reduces the risk of a single insect wiping out the entire stand.



Decisions about salvage logging are not one size fits all. Where standing dead trees help hold night minimums steady and support insects and fungi that need dead wood, managers can leave structure to maintain that buffering.



Fire risk is often raised after beetle outbreaks, yet large scale <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1424037112" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analyses</a> show area burned in the western United States did not increase directly because of beetles, with fire weather playing a larger role. 



That does not remove local hazards, but it does suggest careful, site specific planning rather than blanket assumptions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-bark-beetle-outbreaks">Future bark beetle outbreaks </h2>



Better maps of fine scale temperature will help link microclimate to seedling survival and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-not-adapting-fast-enough-to-climate-change/">wildlife</a> activity. 



Repeated drone flights across seasons and weather types could sharpen guidance on when and where structure matters most.



Microclimate is part of the climate feedback too. As bark beetles change how heat moves through forests, they shape the very environment that affects future outbreaks and regeneration.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168192325004150" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Agricultural and Forest Meteorology</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

Bark beetle attacks increase daytime forest temperatures

Hot summers have made bark beetles a familiar menace in northern Europe, but a new twist is now clear. When these insects kill spruce, they also change the air within the forest, raising daytime temperatures close to the ground by as much as 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). That shift matters because many organisms depend on steady conditions near the forest floor. It also affects how new trees take root after a disturbance, and how people feel when they walk these trails on a scorching...

A new way to improve the flavor of store-bought tomatoes. A new study from the <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/">Agricultural Research Service</a> (ARS) may have pinpointed a way to give store-bought tomatoes more flavor. The researchers identified genes that are critical for crop breeding and improvement. 

Cultivated <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/tomatoes-insect-resistant-genes/">tomatoes</a> have a wide range of physical and metabolic variation, but domestication and breeding have left today's tomatoes with a narrow genetic base. Molecular biologist James Giovannoni teamed up with bioinformatics scientist Zhangjun Fei to construct the pan-genome for hundreds of different cultivated and closely-related wild tomatoes. 

The study revealed almost 5,000 previously undocumented genes that were absent from the original reference genome.

“One of the most important discoveries from constructing this pan-genome is a rare form of a gene labeled TomLoxC, which mostly differs in the version of its DNA gene promoter,” said Giovannoni. “The gene influences fruit flavor by catalyzing the biosynthesis of a number of lipid (fat)-involved volatiles - compounds that evaporate easily and contribute to aroma.”

In addition, the researchers found that TomLoxC supports the production of a group of apocarotenoids that work as signaling molecules, affecting a variety of responses in plants including environmental stress. The compounds have a variety of floral and fruity elements that influence how tomatoes taste. 

The rare version of TomLoxC was found in only two percent of older cultivated large tomato varieties, yet was present in 91 percent of currant-sized wild tomatoes.

“It appears that there may have been strong selection pressure against or at least no selection for the presence of this version of TomLoxC early in the domestication of tomatoes,” said Giovannoni. “The increase in prevalence of this form in modern tomatoes likely reflects breeders' renewed interest in improved flavor.”

The findings could inform breeders on how to quickly increase the flavor of store-bought tomatoes while preserving their most important traits.

“These novel genes discovered from the tomato pan-genome added substantial information to the tomato genome repertoire and provide additional opportunities for tomato improvement,” said Fei. “The presence and absence profiles of these genes in different tomato populations have shed important lights on how human selection of desired traits have reshaped the tomato genomes.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/">Nature Genetics</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: Agricultural Research Service-USDA

A new way to improve the flavor of store-bought tomatoes

A new way to improve the flavor of store-bought tomatoes....

Ancient forest in North Carolina holds the oldest trees in North America. Several bald cypress trees in North Carolina are the<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oldest-living-tree-europe/"> oldest trees</a> in eastern North America and the oldest known wetland tree species in the world, according to a new study. 

The recently documented trees were discovered in 2017 in a wetland preserve near Raleigh in North Carolina. The preserve stretches along the Black River, and the ancient ecosystem is home to trees that are over a thousand years old, with one tree dating back 2,624 years. 

David Stahle, a professor of geosciences at the <a href="https://www.uark.edu/">University of Arkansas</a>, dated the trees along with a team of colleagues using radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology, which is the study of tree rings. Ancient forest in North Carolina holds the oldest trees in North America 

Non-destructive core samples were collected from 110 trees in an area of the wetland forest that hadn’t been studied before.  

[caption id="attachment_1872550" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/bald-cypress.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872550" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/bald-cypress.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="910" /></a> Bald cypress. Image Credit: Dan Griffin[/caption]

Stahle published his findings in a new study in the journal Environmental Research Communications. 

The ancient trees can tell researchers a great deal about climate conditions long before recorded history and the oldest trees show what weather conditions were like 900 years before the earliest known paleoclimate records in the southeastern United States.

The tree rings show evidence of flooding and heat waves even during pre-colonial times

“It is exceedingly unusual to see an old-growth stand of trees along the whole length of a river like this,” said Stahle. “Bald cypress are valuable for timber, and they have been heavily logged. Way less than 1 percent of the original virgin bald cypress forests have survived.”

Thanks to Stahle’s long history of work and research in the area, the forest was designated as a preserve and is protected by the <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/">Nature Conservancy</a>. 

“The area of old growth bald cypress was 10 times larger than I realized,” said Stahle. “We think there are older trees out there still.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Ancient forest in North Carolina holds the oldest trees in North America

Ancient forest in North Carolina holds the oldest trees in...

The warming temperatures in the far northeastern region of China are helping larch trees grow – for now. But in the long run, it could mean disaster for the hardy forests.

Researchers from <a href="http://en.syau.edu.cn/">Shenyang Agricultural University</a> looked at growth rings from Dahurian larch trees that grow in the permafrost of northeastern China. The trees, which also grow in Siberia and Mongolia, are Earth’s northernmost tree species and need the permafrost to thrive.

The researchers found evidence that over 10 years, from 2005 to 2014, the trees grew more than in the 40 years before that. For trees older than 400 years, it was even more drastic – they grew more in during those 10 years than in the 300 years before that.

But the heat is having a negative effect on the permafrost below the forest canopy. It’s beginning to degrade, threatening the species’ continued survival.

"The disappearance of larch would be a disaster to the forest ecosystem in this region," lead author and ecologist Dr. Xianliang Zhang said in a press release.

To reach their conclusions, Zhang and his team studied the rings of more than 400 larch trees in China’s old growth forests. They found that warmer soil temperature during the winters is probably fueling the growth spurts.

In other areas of the world, come permafrost is melting and even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/thawing-permafrost-global-warming/">becoming wetlands</a> and swamps. Zhang and his colleagues worry that if that happens in northeastern China, it could damage the larch trees’ roots and cause them to decay.

As the permafrost warms, it could release more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-permafrost-warming/">carbon into the atmosphere</a>, feeding the trend of warming air temperatures. Melting permafrost has also <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/melting-permafrost-is-causing-landslides-across-the-arctic/">caused landslides</a> in some areas of the world.

"If the larch forests retreat in this region in the future, it is also not a good sign for the whole boreal forest," Zhang said.

The study has been published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004882">Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Larch trees in far north feeling effects of climate change

The warming temperatures in the far northeastern region of China...

Madagascar’s forests are beautiful but embattled.  Humans arrived on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rescue-madagascars-wildlife/">Madagascar</a>, the world’s fourth largest island, for the first time only about 2,000 years ago.  Since the arrival of humans the island, home to unique and strange wildlife, has changed radically. Giant flightless elephant birds went extinct, most likely due to hunting.

<a href="https://www.wildmadagascar.org/conservation/historic_deforestation.html">Wild Madagascar</a> reports that many wild animals that died off after human contact went extinct for a number of reasons, but many of them directly related to people.  Animals that are now extinct include 15 species of lemurs, giant tortoises and hippos. One of the contributing factors to the extinction of these animals is deforestation.  

Portrayals of the island in films like the cartoon <a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls020739443/">Madagascar</a> often grossly misrepresent it as little more than a paradisiacal, wild jungle.  Instead, the island is a complex landscape comprised of various habitats, all threatened by humans and our desire to extract as much as possible from forests.  Madagascar has lost <a href="https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/02/04/deforestation-in-madagascar-a-threat-to-its-biodiversity/">80%</a> of its original forest.  

If you drive south from Antananarivo, the extent of the destruction is obvious.  Only after most of two days of riding on public transportation do you see a break in the wall of humanity and a glimpse of the wild forest for which the island is known.  Slash and burn agriculture locally known as ‘tavy’ is common in Madagascar. In some places you can stand on a hill top and watch a piece of forest burning somewhere below almost every night.

Madagascar’s forests are also incredibly stunning.  Little fragments are protected by being located in close proximity of tombs, which imbue the surrounding woods with their sanctity by local customs.  Other fragments of forest are protected by law as parks. Shade grown coffee plantations give imperfect but useful habitat to some species. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/12/madagascar-tree-diversity-among-the-highest-worldwide/">Mongabay</a> reports that in the habitat that remains, there are at least 10,000 species of trees and shrubs, 90% of which are found nowhere else on earth besides Madagascar.

The trees and other plants that make up the forests of Madagascar also support impressive wildlife.  All of the world’s lemurs are native to Madagascar and more species of chameleon are found on the island than anywhere else.  It’s not surprising that some of the trees found in Madagascar, despite their place in the ecosystem, have a high value for lumber. 

Rosewood, a member of the Dalbergia family, is a slow growing tree found in Madagascar.  The wood is red and fragrant, used often to create high end furniture. The trees are also protected by international law from being collected in the wild in Madagascar where the harvest is unsustainable.  Unfortunately, like many parts of Madagascar, there is a shortage of jobs in many of the areas where rosewood grows. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (<a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/8480-the-fate-of-madagascar-s-endangered-rosewoods">OCCRP</a>) reports that a former rosewood logger made between $2 and $3 felling two trees a day.  This number seems pitifully low, but $5 a day is often considered a fair wage in Madagascar.  

Most loggers paid low wages never meet those financing their operations who can sell rosewood for as much as $20,000 to $25,000 per ton.  It’s estimated that in 2013, $250 million to $300 million in illegal lumber, mainly rosewood, was exported from Madagascar. Although logging and exporting rosewood is illegal, government corruption and involvement of officials in the trade keeps enforcement of such laws low.  And it isn’t only in Madagascar that the illegal trade gets a pass either. 

Much of the rosewood poached in Madagascar is exported to China or other friendly locations where it is made into furniture to be sold for high prices.

<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/singapore-intercepts-massive-illegal-shipment-of-madagascar-rosewood/">Mongabay</a> reported in 2014 that Singapore authorities captured 29,000 illegal rosewood logs equally about 3,000 tons.  The logs were imported from Madagascar by a business man Wong Wee Keong and his Singapore-based company, Kong Hoo.  The logs were part of a stockpile created by a surge in illegal logging that took advantage of a 2009 coup in Madagascar.  Some of the logs showed signs of being previously seized by the Malagasy government, suggesting the involvement of government officials from Madagascar.  This was the largest bust in rosewood and perhaps the largest intercepted illegal shipment of a protected species to date. 

Wong Wee Keong’s trial took many turns.  In 2015, the court found there was a lack of evidence and acquitted the business man.  After other court hearings, Wong Wee Kong was fined S$500,000 and sentenced to three months jail time.  The company, Kong Hoo, was fined an additional S$500,000 and the logs were considered forfeit property, <a href="https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/managing-director-jailed-fined-illegally-importing-rosewood">Today</a> reported.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end to the trial.  

A higher court issued a ruling on April 8 of this year, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/singapore-acquits-trader-in-worlds-biggest-rosewood-bust-worth-50m/">Mongabay</a> reports, that reversed the earlier verdict and sentencing.  Wong Wee Keong and his company have been acquitted of all crimes and the logs have been ordered returned as soon as practicable.  It may take some time for the logs to be returned as the Singapore government will have to pay a hefty fee for their storage. There is a chance that the logs won’t be returned yet due to ongoing legal proceedings, but it’s unlikely.

The government of Madagascar filed a civil suit in addition to the criminal trial but it seems to be moving to slowly to be of any practical use.  In fact, the government of Madagascar is a big reason that this case, which should have been simple to prosecute, failed to punish obvious illegal trade in a protected species.  

Madagascar failed to prove in court that it was illegal for the logs to be exported from Madagascar.  Initially, a fake document was verified as a permit for exporting the logs and by the time a correction was made, the Singapore court was ignoring documents from Madagascar.  Instead, the ruling was based on whether it was legal to import the logs into Singapore rather than illegal to export them from Madagascar. 

The case brings up questions as to whether international agreements to protect species have any real strength.  The logs must still be exported for a profit to be turned on them but it’s likely that in small shipments to China, the logs will slowly be turned into furniture and money.  Meanwhile Madagascar’s forest goes away one tree at a time.

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

International agreements fail to protect Madagascar’s rosewood trees

Madagascar’s forests are beautiful but embattled.  Humans arrived on Madagascar,...

Voters approve measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms in Denver. Denver, Colorado has now become the first city in the United States to pass a ballot measure that decriminalizes psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms. 

When Initiative 301 was put on the ballot, there was clear support for the campaign, but at the beginning of the three week voting period, it seemed like the referendum wouldn’t pass. 

That all changed on Tuesday, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/05/08/denver-voters-apparently-reject-decriminalization-magic-mushrooms/?utm_term=.f2fbb270922c">Washington Post</a> which reported on the landmark vote, and the measure passed with 50.6 percent of 176,000 Denver citizens voting yes, and 49.4 voting no. 

The <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/08/denver-psychedelic-magic-mushroom/">Denver Post</a> reports that the final votes were 89,320 in favor and 87,341 against. The vote will be certified on May 16th as the city is still accepting ballots from overseas and military personnel. 

The vote won’t make magic mushrooms available in dispensaries or legal in the city limits. Instead, the ballot is aimed at law enforcement officials directing police to make psilocybin possession the lowest priority when it comes to law enforcement. 

Psilocybin mushrooms will still be illegal in Denver, and Colorado and keep their Schedule 1 classification under Federal law. 

Part of Initiative 301 is the implementation of a review panel that will examine the impacts of decriminalization on public safety and health. 

“We’re sending a clear signal to the rest of the country that America is ready to talk about psilocybin,” Kevin Matthews, the leader of the Decriminalize Denver movement, told the Washington Post. “We have work to do, we’re ready for it and we couldn’t be happier.” Voters approve measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms in Denver

Psilocybin has been found to help treat <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/magic-mushrooms-vote-medicinal-benefits/">treatment-resistant depression</a> and a range of mental disorders. 

More and more research is being done on the potential treatment options that psilocybin and other psychedelics offer, and measures to decriminalize may help make research and studies more feasible in the future.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Voters approve measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms in Denver

Voters approve measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms in Denver. Denver,...

When houses, shopping malls, or parking lots are built, often the land must first be cleared of the vegetation living there.  This is most obvious in forested areas where trees must be cleared to make room for buildings, roads and other human structures.  

Less often do <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/desert-plants-extreme-heat/">deserts</a> come to mind when thinking of land clearing for development, but they offer a unique advantage. Often cacti and small bushes can be dug up and removed from the land alive to make way for development instead of killing them wholesale.  Obviously, even in arid environments, not all plants can be saved, and in forest environments it may be impossible to transplant adult trees but smaller plants might be rescued. 

Several organizations promote this type of rescue as a part of natural gardening or appreciation and conservation of native plants.  However, there are some limitations to the practice.

The <a href="http://nanps.org/plant-rescues/">North American Native Plant Society</a> (NANPS) sometimes schedules plant rescues, yet discourages people from thinking anything good comes from the development that such rescues are inevitably linked to. 

“Plant rescues are a last resort to salvage a few vestiges of what is about to be destroyed,” the organization says. “They are not a panacea for development. The inter-relationships between plant communities and wildlife are thousands of years in development and cannot be re-created in our backyards merely by transplanting a few species. A plant rescue is not a triumph…it is an admission of failure to protect these habitats.”

Because of this, NANPS encourages people to only engage in plant rescue after conservation efforts have failed.  

The first step is to talk to the developer.  

If the developer is uncooperative, it’s sometimes valuable to talk to your local government.  Some development agreements include provisions for native plants and this can allow you to rescue plants even if the developer is uncooperative.  

So after you’ve taken adequate care and dug up the plants, what are you to do with them?

It’s not wise to transplant the plants into undisturbed environments.  <a href="http://wildones.org">Wild Ones</a>, an organization promoting environmentally sound landscaping, suggests in their guidelines to native plant rescue, to use rescued plants in your own landscaping, 

“We… have the privilege of taking these wonderful plants home to add to the beauty of our own landscaping, to appreciate their earthly purpose and to shelter them for future generations…”

Wild Ones also suggest donating some of the plants to an organization dedicated to planting natives in the area.  Because of the cost of permits in Arizona for dealing with certain plants, the <a href="https://www.tucsoncactus.org/html/cactus_rescue.html">Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society</a> sells the cacti and other native plants they rescue to those who want to grow native plants on their own land.  The organization claims that since 1999, they’ve rescued 92,184 native plants in Arizona. Of course rescuing native plants is about more than just the plants themselves.

Native plants provide an important habitat for insects, birds and other small animals.  

Native plants may even help larger animals passing through urban environments.  Deer, moose and other large ungulates all move through neighborhoods depending on the region.  Coyotes, rabbits, frogs all are common urban and suburban animals. Native plants can help all of these animals and allow more migrations through developed areas more successful.  Saving plants and replanting them does recreate a flawed but still useful environment for some animals. 

Unfortunately, most landscaping in the United States involved non-native plants.

This is most evident from sprawling golf courses in the desert to European trees lining streets.  According to <a href="https://www.audubon.org/content/why-native-plants-matter">The Audubon Society</a>, lawns which are basically mono cultures lacking in much biodiversity cover more than 40 million acres of land in the US.  The Audubon Society also points out that native plants help combat climate change. 

For the arid west, another important factor is that native plants require less water.  

Xeriscaping is the practice of landscaping in a way that requires a minimum of water.  This can be done with native or non-native plants from similar dry environments. It’s very easy to do with native plants though because it takes a lot of the work out of it.  Native plants are adapted to the conditions of the local environment, normally the local precipitation is enough to keep native plants alive and you don’t have to wonder how your rain fall compares to that in Australia, for instance.  

According to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/xeriscaping/">National Geographic</a>, xeriscaping has become popular in the arid western US, with Denver Colorado being one of the first cities to encourage the practice.  The city of Novato, California offered residents incentives to take up xeriscaping and estimated that those who did saved an average of 120 gallons of water per day.  An added benefit to using native plants requiring no additional water is often less maintenance in general. 

Without adding water to a garden of cactus, agave, yucca or desert juniper, you can expect less weeds to pop up as well.  

Usually surrounding the plants with gravel or other nutrient lacking substrate is enough to stop most weeds from growing in hot and dry environments.  Along with no weeds is no mowing, no expanses of grass means you don’t need to constantly mow the lawn to keep things looking nice. The most important part of using native plants comes back to habitat.  

When native plants are cleared from land for development, they mostly die and are replaced with asphalt, concrete, buildings and grass.  Along with the native plants go the pollinators – bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats – that depend on them for food.  The caterpillars that ate from the plants before growing into butterflies go along with the destruction of plants. There aren’t seeds for birds and squirrels.  

By rescuing plants from development or buying native plants and putting them on your own land, you can create a small pocket of habitat for wildlife.  It’s even possible to have your tiny habitat certified as such. The <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Certify">National Wildlife Federation</a> offers certifications for wildlife habitat in parks, yards and other places.  The application fee for the certification goes to planting trees. We can’t always save an entire landscape from destruction, but perhaps we can start inviting more plants and animals into our own personal landscapes.               

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

How native plants can be rescued from human development projects

When houses, shopping malls, or parking lots are built, often...

Native Americans were using psychoactive plants 1,000 years ago. While there is well-documented evidence of cultures using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/psychedelic-microdosing-benefits-mental-health/">psychoactive plants</a> for spiritual and medicina. l use throughout human history, pinpointing the exact origin of ritualistic psychotropic plant use is tricky. 

But recent excavations of a human burial site in the dry Sora River valley in southwestern Bolivia have unearthed a ritual bundle of psychotropic plants providing clear evidence that Native Americans in the area used multiple plants, perhaps in different combinations, to induce hallucinations as early as 1,000 years ago. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> discovered the human burial site and ritual bundle while looking for evidence of ancient occupation of the region. 

“We already knew that psychotropics were important in the spiritual and religious activities of the societies of the south-central Andes, but we did not know that these people were using so many different compounds and possibly combining them together,” said Jose Capriles, an assistant professor of anthropology at Penn State. “This is the largest number of psychoactive substances ever found in a single archaeological assemblage from South America.”

The bundle contained two snuffing tablets, a snuffing tube, and a pouch made from fox snouts. The snuffing tablets would have been used to grind psychotropic plants into snuff which then would have been smoked with the snuffing tube. 

Radiocarbon dating revealed that the bundle is around 1,000 years old.

[caption id="attachment_1872268" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fox-snout-pouch.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872268" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fox-snout-pouch.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="488" /></a> Psychoactive compounds were found in an animal-skin pouch made of three fox snouts stitched together. Image Credit: Jose Capriles, Penn State[/caption]

The researchers carefully collected tiny scrapings from the fox-skin pouch and used liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to analyze its contents. 

“This method is highly sensitive and very effective for detecting the presence of minute amounts of specific compounds from very small samples,” said Melanie Miller, the researcher responsible for analyzed the samples. 

The pouch once contained multiple psychoactive plants as the analysis identified many different psychoactive compounds including cocaine, harmine, dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and possibly psilocin (the main hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms).

The presence of both DMT and harmine suggests that the owner of the pouch used the ingredients to make ayahuasca. 

“Some scholars believe that ayahuasca has relatively recent origins, while others argue that it may have been used for centuries, or even millennia,” said Capriles. “Given the presence of harmine and DMT together in the pouch we found, it is likely that this shaman ingested these simultaneously to achieve a hallucinogenic state. This finding suggests that ayahuasca may have been used up to 1,000 years ago.”

It is possible that the pouch and burial site where it was found belonged to a shaman, but the discovery only produces more questions than answers as many of the plant compounds discovered in the pouch were not native to the nearby region.

[caption id="attachment_1872269" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/snuffing-tablet.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872269" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/snuffing-tablet.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="892" /></a> Snuffing tablets used to pulverize psychotropic plants. Image Credit: Jose Capriles, Penn State[/caption]

“The presence of these compounds indicates the owner of this kit had access to at least three plants with psychoactive compounds, but potentially even four or five,” said Miller. “None of the psychoactive compounds we found come from plants that grow in this area of the Andes, indicating either the presence of elaborate exchange networks or the movement of this individual across diverse environments to procure these special plants.”

The recent findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Jose Capriles, Penn State

Native Americans were using psychoactive plants 1,000 years ago

Native Americans were using psychoactive plants 1,000 years ago. While...

The fungal disease Black Sigatoka has been ravaging banana groves around the world since it emerged from Fiji in the 1960s.

Also known as black leaf streak disease, the fungal infection soon spread to other areas in the tropics.

Now, researchers from the University of Exeter have compelling evidence that the spread of Black Sigatoka was boosted by climate change.

Changes in average temperature and moisture in Latin America and the Caribbean has boosted the risk of banana trees being infected by the fungus by as much as 44 percent, the scientists said in a press release.

"Black Sigatoka is caused by a fungus (Pseudocercospora fijiensis) whose lifecycle is strongly determined by weather and microclimate," said Dr. Daniel Bebber of the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. "This research shows that climate change has made temperatures better for spore germination and growth, and made crop canopies wetter, raising the risk of Black Sigatoka infection in many banana-growing areas of Latin America.”

The disease is believed to have first entered Latin America in Honduras, where it was first seen in 1972. It reached Brazil in 1998, and the Caribbean in the 2000s.

Pseudocercospora fijiensis spreads through aerial spores. It creates streaked lesions on leaves followed by cell death when the fungus is exposed to light.

The researchers studied data on the fungal infections, combining that with climate data from the past 60 years.

While Black Sigatoka is flourishing in areas where moisture levels have risen, that’s not universally the case, the team found.

"Despite the overall rise in the risk of Black Sigatoka in the areas we examined, drier conditions in some parts of Mexico and Central America have reduced infection risk," Bebber said.

However, the team noted that drying trends that reduced infection were also likely to leave banana trees thirsty.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0269">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/">UK Global Food Security programme</a> and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en">Horizon 2020</a>, a program of the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en">European Commission</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Banana disease Black Sigatoka boosted by climate change

The fungal disease Black Sigatoka has been ravaging banana groves...

A team of international researchers have successfully quantified the effect of climate extremes on global crop yield variations. They concluded that general extremes, like drought and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-2018-global-heat-wave/">heat waves</a>, that have occurred during the growing season of crops such as maize, rice, and soy, accounted for 20% to 49% of yield fluctuations. More specifically, extremes like hot and cold temperature shifts, and drought to heavy rainfall shifts, accounted for 18% to 43% of prior crop yield variations.

To collect their findings, published in <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>, the team used a global, spatial high-resolution agricultural database and datasets pertaining to climate extremes and near-global climate coverage. They then used a machine learning algorithm to estimate which climate scenarios influenced crops the most.

"Interestingly, we found that the most important climate factors for yield anomalies were related to temperature, not precipitation, as one could expect, with the average growing season temperature and temperature extremes playing a dominant role in predicting crop yields," said lead author Dr. Elisabeth Vogel from the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and <a href="http://climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/">Climate &amp; Energy College at the University of Melbourne</a>.

The team also identified global hotspots, which were areas that produced a large portion of global crops yet were most affected by climate extremes. 

"We found that most of these hotspots...appear to be in industrialised crop production regions, such as North America and Europe,” Dr. Vogel continued. 

North American soy and spring wheat production, European spring wheat production, and Asian rice and maize production were the top three hotspots the team identified. Furthermore, the regions located outside of main crop regions can be particularly devastated by climate extreme-caused crop variations.

"In our study, we found that maize yields in Africa showed one of the strongest relationships with growing season climate variability,” Dr. Vogel said. “In fact, it was the second highest explained variance for crop yields of any crop/continent combination, suggesting that it is highly dependent on climate conditions.”

She continued, "While Africa's share of global maize production may be small, the largest part of that production goes to human consumption — compared to just 3% in North America — making it critical for food security in the region."

Dr. Vogel notes that their research is vitally important to understand in order for farmers to adapt their food production process to take changing climate and extremes into account.

She concluded, "Increasing the resilience to climate extremes requires a concerted effort at local, regional and international levels to reduce negative impacts for farmers and communities depending on agriculture for their living."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Massive global crop yield variations explained by climate extremes

A team of international researchers have successfully quantified the effect...

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in crop domestication. A new study from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> has found that yams in West Africa originally descended from a forest species. The findings contradict the theory that domestication of sub-Saharan African plants mostly occurred in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/suppress-fires-backfire-savannas/">tropical savannahs</a>. 

The results of the study also shed new light on the domestication history of West African crops, pinpointing the region surrounding the Niger River as playing a more important role than what was previously realized. 

One of the best-known cradles of domestication in the world is the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. This is where wheat, barley, oat, lentil, and other crops first appeared in archaeological records.


Primarily due to the fact that archaeological studies are fragmented in sub-Saharan Africa, the history of crop domestication here is not as well understood. 

Some studies of domestication in Africa pinpointed a large area from Senegal to Somalia. More recent studies, however, have identified a much more limited domestication origin near the Niger River Basin. 

For the current investigation, a research team led by Nora Scarcelli set out to determine whether areas near the Niger Basin could be considered major hotspots of domestication. The study was focused on the domestication of the yam, a major staple crop that originated in Africa. 

The researchers used genome re-sequencing to analyze 167 wild and domesticated yam species from the country.

Ultimately, the experts discovered that cultivated yam was domesticated from a forest species, D. praehensilis, starting in the Niger River basin. The domestication process involved adaptations to the open field environment and human selection that increased tuber size and starch content in the cultivated yam. 

The research indicates that the contribution of the Niger River region to African agriculture is comparable to that of the Fertile Crescent in the Near East.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in crop domestication

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in...

A new study led by researchers at <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> has pinpointed specific genomic features that likely made it feasible for corn and soybeans to be domesticated. The research is shedding new light on how domestication affects the genetics of a species.

Using extensive data on the genomes of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/corn-domesticated-different-regions/">corn</a> and soybeans, the researchers compared specific sections of genetic material between wild and domestic varieties. They noted where the species had the largest discrepancies. 

“We sliced the genomes into specific sections and compared them,” said Professor Jianming Yu. “It's a fresh angle not many have looked at concerning genome evolution and domestication. We searched for 'macro-changes,' or major genome-wide patterns - and we found them.”


According to Professor Yu, human cultivation created a bottleneck in the genetic material associated with corn and soybeans. As humans selected for certain desirable traits, they limited the genetic variation available in the plant's genome. 

The researchers identified several areas in the genomes where species divergence appeared to be the most prevalent. For example, variation between wild and domesticated species was found to be more pronounced in the areas of the genomes that do not code for proteins. 

Greater variation was also more noticeable in pericentromeric regions, or in areas near the centromere of chromosomes, and in areas of high methylation. The process of methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing its sequence.

While analyzing the occurrence of mutations in the genomes, the team discovered important associations between UV radiation from the sun and genome evolution. Professor Yu explained that UV radiation is a natural mutagen, and it leaves a special footprint when it occurs.

“We now think it's likely that good candidates for domestication, such as corn and soybeans, occupy a middle ground in their willingness to mutate,” said study co-author Professor Xianran Li.

“If there's no mutation, then everything stays the same and we don't have evolution, added Professor Yu. “But too many mutations can wipe out a species.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/">Genome 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: Sherry Flint-Garcia (teosinte) and Scott Jackson (Glycine soja)

Genetic material makes some plants better candidates for domestication

A new study led by researchers at Iowa State University...

Wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-help-plants-survive-severe-drought/">tomato plants</a> produce a natural insect repellent that could be bred into garden varieties, creating insect-resistant tomatoes without the use of harmful pesticides.  

Researchers from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> discovered that a wild variety of tomato, the Solanum pennellii plant native to the Atacama Desert in Peru, produces a sticky compound in the tips of the trichomes (hairs) of the plant.

The sticky substance on the hairs repels insects and likely evolved as a defense mechanism to ensure future reproduction.

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/4/eaaw3754)">Science Advances</a>, the researchers analyzed this enzyme compound and the genes responsible for its production.

“We identified a gene that exists in this wild plant, but not in cultivated tomatoes,” said Rob Last, a member of the research team. “The invertase-like enzyme creates insecticidal compounds not found in the garden-variety tomato. This defensive trait could be bred into modern plants.”

The reason garden tomatoes lack this natural insecticide is because it was weeded out by breeders who, to make tomatoes better for consumers, removed undesirable traits like stickiness through the years. 

The researchers hope that by understanding how the repellent compound works, modern breeders could reintroduce the enzyme back into garden tomatoes and create natural insect-resistant plants.

“We want to make our current tomatoes adapt to stress like this wild tomato, but we can only do that by understanding the traits that make them resistant,” said Bryan Leong, a co-lead author of the study. “We are using evolution to teach us how to be better breeders and biologists. For example, how can we increase crop yield by creating a pest-resistant plant and eliminate the need to spray fields with insecticides?”

The researchers used CRISPR gene-editing to analyze the specific genes and pathways responsible for the compound. This lead to the discovery of an enzyme specifically located at the tips of the hairs which allows for the production of insect-repellant compounds.

“It is a race over evolutionary time between the consumed and the consumers,” said Leong. “Insects benefit by eating the plants. Yet, evolution favors plants that make more seeds and pass on their genes to another generation. We hope to take the defensive lessons plants already learned and apply them to existing crops.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tomatoes can be bred with insect-resistant genes instead of pesticides

Wild tomato plants produce a natural insect repellent that could...

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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



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



-----

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.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



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



-----

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>



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



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



-----

The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by <a href="https://www.earth.com/author/eralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



-----

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.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



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



-----

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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

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



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

News coming your way