Environmental,Technology,Concept.,Sustainable,Development,Goals.,Sdgs.

Every year, humanity reaches&nbsp;Earth Overshoot Day, the point when the year’s planetary budget is spent. This marks how quickly we use resources compared to Earth’s ability to renew them. 



In 2025, Denmark’s <a href="https://www.overshootday.org/">Earth Overshoot Day</a> arrived on March 19, one of the earliest in the world. If everyone lived like the average Dane, more than four <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-2025-what-were-really-fighting-for/">Earths</a> would be required to sustain humanity.



This reality raises an urgent question: Which daily choices matter most? 



Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (<a href="https://www.dtu.dk/english" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DTU</a>) tackled this question by linking everyday activities with the Planetary Boundaries framework. 



Their findings help separate symbolic actions from those that truly bring us closer to a sustainable future.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-measuring-true-environmental-impact">Measuring true environmental impact</h2>



“One problem is that it’s hard for people to distinguish between what is better for the environment and what is good enough,” said Teddy Serrano, Ph.D. at DTU. 



“If you get a three out of 10, it's better than a two out of 10, but it's still a bad grade. So the question is: When can we say that the grade is good enough?”



To address this, the researchers created annual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-urgent-plea-sustainable-climate-solutions-save-earth-humanity/">environmental budgets</a> for individuals by downscaling global limits on an equal per capita basis. 



Six categories were used: climate change, functional biodiversity, land occupation, marine eutrophication, resource use, and water consumption.



Each lifestyle choice was compared to these budgets, showing how much of the yearly allowance it consumed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-choices-shape-planet">Food choices shape planet</h2>



Food emerged as the single largest driver of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mutual-relationships-with-nature-offer-hope-for-a-sustainable-future/">environmental pressure</a>. An omnivorous diet overshoots climate, biodiversity, and land budgets all by itself. By contrast, vegetarian and vegan diets dramatically cut these impacts.



A vegan diet uses only 22 percent of the climate allowance, while a vegetarian one consumes around 33 percent. 



Replacing cow’s milk with oat milk also shrinks biodiversity and land pressures from substantial portions of the allowance to near negligible values.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-commuting-and-climate-costs">Commuting and climate costs</h2>



Mobility choices carry similar weight. Driving a gasoline or diesel car for daily distances can use up the entire climate budget in a single year. 



Small electric cars reduce this to about half, but increase demand for mineral resources due to batteries.



Commuting by e-bike, however, lowers climate impacts to just 5 percent of the allowance. 



Air travel remains especially damaging, with a single round trip across the Atlantic consuming as much as three-quarters of a person’s yearly climate budget.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-homes-and-climate-strain">Homes and climate strain</h2>



Housing adds further strain. Building and living in a detached home overshoots the resource budget entirely. 



Heating with oil takes up more than 80 percent of the climate allowance, while switching to heat pumps reduces that figure dramatically.



Adding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-panels-are-1000-times-more-powerful-with-new-tech-breakthrough/">solar panels</a> improves results across categories, cutting climate impacts from double-digit percentages to much lower shares of the budget.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/environmental-budget-choices_infographic_TUDenmark_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/environmental-budget-choices_infographic_TUDenmark_1s.webp" alt="Share of the individual environmental budgets consumed by activities assessed in the publication. The colors indicate how much of the yearly budget each activity consumes, from 0 % (green) to above 100% (purple). The impact categories are listed with icons (from left to right): Functional biodiversity, climate change, marine eutrophication, land occupation, resource use, water consumption. Credit: Technical University of Denmark" class="wp-image-1983764"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Share of the individual environmental budgets consumed by activities assessed in the publication. The colors indicate how much of the yearly budget each activity consumes, from 0 % (green) to above 100% (purple). The impact categories are listed with icons (from left to right): Functional biodiversity, climate change, marine eutrophication, land occupation, resource use, water consumption. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Technical University of Denmark</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-misconceptions-about-small-actions">Misconceptions about small actions</h2>



Not all popular changes have meaningful effects. Using reusable grocery bags or washing clothes at lower temperatures only shifts results by a small fraction. 



While such actions may save money or offer convenience, they cannot bridge the vast gap between current lifestyles and sustainable living. 



The study highlights that attention must be placed on high-impact areas such as food, transport, housing, and aviation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-action-beyond-overshoot-day">Action beyond Overshoot Day</h2>



The researchers also stress that personal effort alone cannot fully align lifestyles with planetary limits. 



Systemic change is equally important, including cleaner energy systems, improved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/51-percent-of-the-world-relies-on-car-commutes-every-day/">public transportation</a>, and policies that support smaller, less resource-intensive homes.



“Our study draws attention to the fact that we need to make major shifts in our current lifestyles if we want to bring our impact on the environment down to sustainable levels,” Serrano notes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-framework-for-change">A framework for change</h2>



To make these priorities clear, the study points to four key lifestyle areas. Planes highlight the outsized impact of air travel, where even a single long-haul trip can consume most of a climate budget. 



Places highlight the importance of housing size, with smaller homes requiring fewer materials and less energy. 



Plates capture the significance of diet, with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-based-foods-promote-weight-loss-regardless-of-processing/">plant-based foods</a> offering huge reductions. Pedals remind us that choosing cycling first keeps transportation within a manageable footprint.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sustainable-path-on-overshoot-day">Sustainable path on Overshoot Day</h2>



The evidence shows that not all actions are equal. Minor lifestyle gestures cannot outweigh the large impacts of cars, planes, meat-heavy diets, and oversized housing. 



To live within planetary boundaries, individuals and societies alike must prioritize high-impact changes. 



By combining informed personal decisions with systemic support, humanity can move closer to a balance that one Earth can sustain.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550925000715" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sustainable Production and Consumption</a>.



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Earth Overshoot Day shows urgent need for sustainable living

Every year, humanity reaches&nbsp;Earth Overshoot Day, the point when the year’s planetary budget is spent. This marks how quickly we use resources compared to Earth’s ability to renew them. In 2025, Denmark’s Earth Overshoot Day arrived on March 19, one of the earliest in the world. If everyone lived like the average Dane, more than four Earths would be required to sustain humanity. This reality raises an urgent question: Which daily choices matter most? Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) tackled this question by linking everyday activities...

Ask yourself this: when was the last time you felt truly at peace, not just amused or entertained, but deeply rooted in who you are? A new study suggests that spending more time in nature may play a bigger role in that feeling than we assume.



That deeper layer has a name in psychology - <a href="https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_929" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eudaimonic well-being</a>. It is about purpose, self-acceptance, growth, and relationships. It sticks.



Does nature help with that? The short answer is a resounding "yes." Not only can nature boost your mood for an hour; it can also give you a clearer sense of self that lasts. 



This study examined that question and returned with an answer that feels both refreshing and practical.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nature-time-and-eudaimonic-well-being">Nature time and eudaimonic well-being</h2>



Researchers invited people in Turku, Finland, to share how the outdoors shows up in their real lives. 



First, 158 residents answered questions about time in nature and how their lives felt in terms of purpose, self-acceptance, growth, relationships, autonomy, and life management. 



Then, 20 people joined creative writing workshops to describe, in their own words, how the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-forest-bathing-fresh-breath-for-teen-mental-health/">natural world shapes them</a>. The team paired numbers with stories to capture both patterns and personal depth.



“We wanted to explore how nature supports people's self-acceptance, purpose of life, positive relationships, autonomy, personal growth and agency, as well as life management," explains Joha Järekari, Doctoral Researcher at the <a href="https://www.utu.fi/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Turku</a>.



"This is called eudaimonic well-being and it can be considered in contrast to <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hedonism/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hedonism</a>: whereas hedonism focuses on short-term pleasures, eudaimonia delves into longer and deeper well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nature-time-evokes-deep-feelings">Nature time evokes deep feelings</h2>



The study focused on two groups: ages 15 to 24 and adults over 60. Different life stages bring different needs. 



Yet a clear theme showed up in both: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/virtual-forest-bathing-can-reduce-stress-and-improve-mood/">nature felt nonjudgmental</a>. Trees do not judge. Water does not grade them. That sense of relief made room for honesty.



“Although there were some differences between the different age groups in how they spent time in nature and in what kinds of places, they also had many shared experiences," Järekari noted.



"What both age groups had in common was, among other things, a feeling that nature does not judge or criticize, which had a positive effect on the participants' self-acceptance."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-choices-and-belonging">Choices and belonging</h2>



Participants described two kinds of connection. One was inward. Time outside - on a trail, beside water, in a garden - made it easier to hear their own values and act on them. 



The other was outward. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natures-scents-linked-to-improved-health-and-well-being/">Being outdoors</a> helped people feel closer to friends and family, and also widened their sense of community to include birds, trees, and other living things. 



That broader bond pointed toward meaning, not just good moods.



“Spending time and being active in nature brought to the surface what was really important to the participants in their lives," Järekari describes.



"This increased people's agency and autonomy and had a positive impact on personal growth. The participants reported that it was easier to get in touch with oneself, with other people, and with other species."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-factoring-in-age-and-experience">Factoring in age and experience</h2>



Older adults often talked about shared moments with grandchildren and unhurried walks, the kind that leave room for quiet. 



Some mentioned <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/religious-leaders-tried-psilocybin-and-it-changed-their-lives/">moments of spirituality</a>, a quiet awareness of being part of something larger than themselves. 



Younger people leaned on the outdoors for healthy solitude. They could be alone without feeling lonely, or with friends without filling every second with conversation. Different routes, same endpoint: a more authentic self.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-worry-creeps-in">When worry creeps in</h2>



The picture was not perfect. Many participants, especially younger ones, felt the weight of environmental damage. 



Worry about climate change often chipped away at that comfort. Shame showed up too, a feeling of being part of the problem just by being human.



“However, this feeling grew stronger when participants noticed the visible effects of the ecological crisis on their surroundings," Järekari continued.



"Many young people also described a sense of shame about being part of the problem, so to speak, by being part of humanity, which challenged their self-acceptance."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nature-time-goes-deep">Nature time goes deep</h2>



Plenty of research shows that green space can lower stress and help attention bounce back. This work points to something deeper: <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329411" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">identity-level effects</a> that unfold over time. 



It suggests that nature is not just a reset button. It is a steady setting where people practice being who they want to be.



“Our research unlocks the impact of nature on people's well-being on a deeper level than stress relief or positive emotions," Järekari emphasizes.



"Connection to nature is important to us on an identity level and often shapes our lives in ways that aren’t immediately obvious, but become clearer over time."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eudaimonic-well-being-in-society">Eudaimonic well-being in society</h2>



Design choices of public spaces matter. If we judge parks only by how many joggers they attract, we miss a big part of their value. 



People need quiet corners, meandering paths, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-the-critical-role-of-nature-in-human-well-being/">benches under trees</a>. Those places support reflection, relationships, and responsibility - features, not extras.



“It is important to encourage a deeper public discussion about the meaning of nature in people’s lives," adds Salla Eilola, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Turku. 



"Consequently, these issues could also be taken into account in decision-making and, for example, in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn3028" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urban planning</a>, where nature still often unfortunately has to give way to built environment," 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-steps-lasting-benefits">Small steps, lasting benefits</h2>



You do not need a dramatic plan to make this real. Pick a nearby spot and go there on a regular day, not just on the best day. Let your mind settle and see what values bubble up. 



If you spend time with kids or elders, choose slow routes that welcome pauses. Put phones aside. Short, steady moments count.



None of this turns a park into a productivity tool. It simply gives you space to notice what matters and act on it. 



That's the heart of eudaimonic well-being, and nature offers a simple doorway - whether it is a patch of grass, a line of trees, or a stretch of water.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.70104" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">People and Nature</a>.



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Walking through a forest can reshape who you are and bring inner peace, according to science

Ask yourself this: when was the last time you felt...

A new mouse study tested what happens when food is prepared on plastic cutting boards and the resulting microplastics end up in the diet. The team chopped on polyethylene and polypropylene boards, mixed the released particles into feed, and watched how the gut responded over weeks.



These tiny particles, called microplastics, are fragments of plastic smaller than 0.2 inches that can carry additives and hitchhiking chemicals. The results did not look the same for each plastic, which matters for everyday kitchens.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inside-the-cutting-board-study">Inside the cutting board study</h2>



The team, led by Hai-Jun Gan from the School of Environment at <a href="https://hjxy.nju.edu.cn/English/HOME/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nanjing University</a>, used two common plastics, polypropylene and polyethylene - then prepared mouse diets on these boards for four and 12 weeks. 



Polypropylene particles averaged about 10 micrometers, while polyethylene pieces averaged about 27 micrometers, which means the polypropylene feed contained many more particles for the same mass.



By week 12, the diets prepared on plastic carried roughly a milligram of microplastics per gram of feed, and the number rose with repeated chopping cycles. 



Independent laboratory work reported that a single cut on a new polypropylene board can release on the order of 100 to 300 particles, which helps explain why older boards tend to shed more.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-plastics-different-effects">Different plastics, different effects</h2>



Polypropylene did not just ride through the gut. Mice eating polypropylene board <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dishwashers-release-nearly-a-million-plastic-particles-per-cycle/">particles</a> showed higher blood markers that track inflammation and gut barrier stress.



The markers included lipopolysaccharide and <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/c-reactive-protein-test/about/pac-20385228" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">C-reactive protein</a>, and lower expression of tight junction genes that help seal the intestinal wall.



Polyethylene told a different story. The mice did not show clear signs of inflammation, but their gut microbiota shifted after 12 weeks, with a lower share of Firmicutes and a higher share of Desulfobacterota in the cecum. 



That shift lined up with distinct changes in fecal and liver metabolites, especially bile-acid related compounds.



The contrast matters. It points to particle size, count, surface chemistry, and additives as separate levers of harm, instead of a single “plastic effect.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-polypropylene-boards-and-microplastics">Polypropylene boards and microplastics</h2>



Plastic cutting boards are not the only source of microplastics in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-packaging-is-leaking-harmful-chemicals-into-meals/">food</a>, but they are close to the action. 



An analysis estimating real-world chopping suggested that people could ingest 7.4 to 50.7 grams per year from polyethylene boards and about 49.5 grams from polypropylene boards, depending on use.



Those numbers track with the lab result that repeated chopping increases particle release as surfaces become scarred.



Microplastics are not limited to kitchens. They have been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glass-bottles-contain-more-microplastics-than-plastic-containers/">measured in human blood</a>, which tells us that particles are bioavailable and can circulate to different tissues.



Clinical researchers have also detected plastics in carotid artery plaques and linked their presence to higher rates of heart attack, stroke, or death over nearly three years in a 304 patient cohort.



Those findings do not prove that plastic cutting boards cause disease. They show that human exposure is real, widespread, and worth reducing where it is sensible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gut-response-to-different-plastics">Gut response to different plastics</h2>



The gut barrier is more than a wall. It is a dynamic system that includes mucus, tight junctions, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/daylight-boosts-the-immune-systems-ability-to-fight-infections/">immune</a> signals, and bacterial metabolites. 



Polypropylene particles in this experiment lined up with lower expression of genes that help seal that barrier and higher activity of myosin light chain kinase, a protein that can loosen junctions and permit lipopolysaccharide to enter the bloodstream.



Polyethylene pushed on metabolism and community structure instead. Bile acids, the detergents our livers make to manage fat and signal to the gut, dropped in the liver.



On top of that, specific microbially shaped bile acids in the gut also shifted. That pattern fits a gut liver axis response, not a classic inflammatory spike.



One plastic leaned toward barrier injury. The other leaned toward ecosystem drift. Neither path is good news.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wood-is-not-a-perfect-solution">Wood is not a perfect solution</h2>



People switch to wood to avoid plastic shedding. That can reduce <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-are-escaping-from-water-treatment-plants/">microplastic</a> ingestion, but any swap needs basic hygiene. 



Knife scars, moisture, and fat can trap microbes on any surface, and regulators have wrestled with these tradeoffs for years.



Food safety guidance has long noted that wooden boards behave differently from scarred plastics and can be harder or easier to sanitize depending on use and cleaning. 



The key is routine cleaning, separation of raw and ready-to-eat foods, and timely replacement of boards that are deeply grooved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-weigh-plastic-risks">How to weigh plastic risks</h2>



“Based on the limited evidence available, chemicals and biofilms associated with microplastics in drinking-water pose a low concern for human health,” according to the World Health Organization (<a href="https://www.who.int" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WHO</a>).



But that is drinking water, not food, and it reflects what we know today, not a permanent verdict.



This is where kitchen practice and common sense meet science. Replace old plastic boards more often. 



Avoid harsh scraping that chews up surfaces. Keep raw meat, seafood, and produce on separate boards, and clean thoroughly with hot water and detergent after each use.



There is also a bigger picture. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-from-plastic-bottles-linked-to-high-blood-pressure-and-heart-problems/">Plastics</a> differ by polymer and additives, and they age in different ways. Real exposure rarely involves clean, single-polymer spheres.



Results in people may hinge on mixtures, particle sizes, and how the gut is already primed by diet, stress, medications, and infections.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-directions-in-cutting-board-studies">Future directions in cutting board studies</h2>



The mouse study used realistic chopping, not pristine pellets, which is why it stands out. Next steps include human exposure tracking that can pair biomarkers with what people actually do in their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-kitchen-utensils-may-leach-toxic-chemicals-in-food/">kitchens</a>. 



Researchers also plan to compare particle counts and sizes from new, moderately used, and heavily scarred boards across brands. 



They are also working to standardize sampling and detection from tap water to tissue so estimates line up.



That will help translate animal data into sharper human guidance, without overstating confidence or downplaying potential trouble.



The study is published in <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP15472" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental Health Perspectives</a>.



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This everyday kitchen tool could be leaching toxins into your food

A new mouse study tested what happens when food is...

Sharks are built to catch moving prey with speed and precision. Their teeth do the heavy work, and new lab work suggests those teeth may not hold up as seawater becomes more acidic, according to a recent study.



Researchers tested naturally shed teeth from blacktip reef <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-detailed-map-ever-created-of-white-sharks-covers-6287-sightings/">sharks</a> under present day and projected future acidity. Teeth in more acidic water developed more surface damage after eight weeks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-shark-teeth-are-important">Why shark teeth are important</h2>



The project was led by Maximilian Baum at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (<a href="https://www.hhu.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HHU</a>). His team worked with discarded shark teeth collected from an aquarium in Germany to test how acidity affects their structure.



Sharks are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/elasmobranch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elasmobranch</a> fishes, a group that includes skates and rays, and they grow new teeth throughout life. Blacktip reef sharks even swim with mouths partially open to breathe, so their teeth are bathed in seawater all the time.



A shark tooth has a tough outer enameloid layer made of biological fluorapatite, with a softer dentin inside. This composition helps the crown stay sharp for cutting, while the root anchors the tooth to jaw tissue, and has porous osteodentin that is more exposed to chemical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-shark-rediscovered-after-50-years/">change</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shark-teeth-in-different-water-acidity">Shark teeth in different water acidity</h2>



The team set up two tanks at pH 8.1 and pH 7.3 and incubated teeth for eight weeks. The lower value mirrors a long-term scenario used by climate assessments for the year 2300, as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-awareness-day-protecting-the-balance-of-the-ocean/">ocean</a> absorbs more carbon dioxide and pH declines.



Sixteen intact teeth were analyzed for corrosion patterns and surface changes. A larger set was imaged to track changes in measured circumference caused by roughening of serrations, not actual growth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-impact-of-ocean-acidity">Impact of ocean acidity</h2>



Teeth at pH 7.3 showed more cracks and pits on the crown surface. They also showed more damage at the root where porous tissue is vulnerable.



Root corrosion covered about 8.2 percent of the root surface at pH 7.3, compared with 5.3 percent at pH 8.2, and those differences were statistically significant in the paper’s tests. 



Surface roughening increased the measured circumference more in the low pH group, a sign of irregular edges that could weaken <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-the-sharks-body-grows-with-geometric-precision/">teeth</a> under force.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-with-earlier-studies">Comparing with earlier studies</h2>



Previous research has found that certain sharks can keep tooth durability steady under moderate acidification. A 2022 study on Port Jackson sharks reported that teeth remained as durable under a pH drop of 0.3 units, linked to more fluoride in the tooth mineral.



The new test used a more extreme acidity and isolated, non living tissue, so it highlights chemistry alone. That design leaves out in body processes like remineralization or faster tooth replacement that living animals might use.



Physiology studies on young blacktip reef sharks show mixed effects when temperature and carbon dioxide rise together. One <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76966-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiment</a> found changes in blood measures and metabolism after short term exposure, with high individual variability that suggests energy costs could add up under stressful conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ocean-acidity-threatens-shark-teeth">Ocean acidity threatens shark teeth</h2>



Ocean acidification is driven by seawater uptake of carbon dioxide that forms carbonic acid and lowers pH. Foundational <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/425365a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> shows that continued emissions can push pH declines over the next centuries, far beyond the small changes since preindustrial times.



The 7.3 scenario used in the tooth test is a worst case end member, but it helps reveal sensitivity in highly mineralized tissues. 



If future acidity trends toward lower pH in coastal nurseries where young sharks live, cumulative exposure could matter over many tooth replacement cycles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-weaker-teeth-and-shark-hunting">Weaker teeth and shark hunting</h2>



Sharper serrations can increase cutting efficiency in the short term. Roughened edges, however, can also create stress points where cracks start and spread, making a tooth more likely to chip during prey handling.



More frequent tooth replacement is a possible buffer, but that costs energy that sharks also need for growth, swimming, and reproduction. If tooth integrity drops while energy demands rise, hunting success could slip in ways that are hard to see at first.



“I think there will be effects on the teeth of ocean predators in general when they are highly mineralized structures like we have in sharks,” said Baum.



That view lines up with the lab images of cracks and holes across the transition from root to crown. Even small flaws in that zone can weaken the whole tooth under bite forces.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



Live animal work can test whether sharks speed up tooth replacement or boost fluoride transport to harden new crowns under stress. 



Those tests should measure mechanics directly, including toughness and fracture resistance, not just surface texture.



Field studies in reefs with natural carbon dioxide seeps could reveal whether wild teeth show similar microscale wear patterns. Coupling chemistry, mechanics, and behavior would show if damaged teeth actually reduce capture rates on real prey.



"Investigating adaptation mechanisms such as enhanced fluoride transport or ion regulation may reveal whether species like&nbsp;C. melanopterus&nbsp;can compensate for acidification effects, as suggested for other elasmobranchs," wrote the researchers.



"Understanding these capacities is critical to assess future resilience and potential impacts on predator-prey dynamics and ecosystem stability."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1597592/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Marine Science</a>.



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Shark teeth may weaken as oceans become more acidic

Sharks are built to catch moving prey with speed and...

Water is on the move every day in the global food trade, as massive shipments cross international borders. Wheat from Kansas ends up in Cairo. Rice from Vietnam fills supermarket shelves in London. Most people only see the final product.



Behind every ton of traded grain is something invisible and critical - <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-is-the-water-impact-of-the-u-s-beef-industry/">water</a>. Where that water goes, or doesn’t go, is changing who has enough and who’s left behind.



There’s a name for this invisible movement: the virtual water trade. It refers to the water used to grow crops that are then shipped elsewhere. It may not be in a bottle, but that water is as real as any lake or reservoir - and its journey has serious consequences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-virtual-water-trade-works">How the virtual water trade works</h2>



Let’s break this down. When a country imports <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-food-systems-are-gaining-momentum/">food</a>, it’s saving water. That’s because the crops were grown somewhere else using someone else’s water. Wealthier countries can afford to do this a lot. By buying food, they ease pressure on their own <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-droughts-could-quadruple-by-2100-harming-water-supplies/">water supplies</a>.



On the flip side, countries that export food lose water. It’s baked into every ton of corn, soy, or sugar they send abroad. For many of these countries, water is already scarce. And when it’s gone, it’s not coming back.



It’s easy to think this system is win-win, but it’s not that simple. A new report from the UN Institute for Water, Environment and Health shows that while food trade can reduce water stress in many places, it can also make things worse for others - especially people living in poorer areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inequalities-in-the-virtual-water-trade">Inequalities in the virtual water trade</h2>



According to the report, virtual water transfers through food trades generally reduce water <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-drought-has-caused-crisis-levels-of-food-and-water-scarcity/">scarcity</a> for much of the global population, while at the same time deepening shortages for millions of others, particularly those in low-income communities.



That’s a sharp contrast. On one hand, 75% of people in high-income countries and 62% in low-income countries benefit from lower water scarcity due to food imports. But the same system increases water stress for 22% of the population in wealthy countries and a much larger 37% in poorer nations.



The biggest concern? Those who lose out often have the fewest resources to deal with it. Even within rich countries, low-income groups feel the pressure the most.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-s-gaining-who-s-losing">Who’s gaining, who’s losing</h2>



Some regions come out ahead. Northern China, parts of Europe, and Northern Africa see real gains in savings thanks to global trade. But places like India, Pakistan, eastern Australia, and the central U.S. aren’t so lucky. They’re either treading water or sinking deeper into scarcity.



“This form of 'virtual water trade' reflects a broader pattern of environmental injustice around the world, where the environmental costs and risks are increasingly shifted from those who can afford to absorb them to those who cannot,” said Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of <a href="https://unu.edu/inweh">UNU-INWEH</a> and co-author of the report.



The problem isn’t just about geography. It’s also about income. Wealthier countries can adjust, adapt, or buy their way out of trouble. Poorer ones often can’t.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-clear-winners-in-a-complex-system">No clear winners in a complex system</h2>



International food trade doesn’t create clear good or bad outcomes. Instead, it creates trade-offs. Some countries benefit, others suffer. Even within a single country, some communities get help while others face harm.



“International agricultural trade almost never produces outcomes that are purely positive or negative,” said Dr. Yue Qin, lead author of the report. 



“This reality calls for more targeted and equity-oriented water and trade policies that support vulnerable populations with limited adaptive capacity and promote fair and sustainable global water governance.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shaping-fairer-water-policies">Shaping fairer water policies</h2>



The report pushes for smarter, fairer policies. It urges countries to stop focusing only on national water totals and start looking at how different groups within those countries are affected.



National governments can step up by helping lower-income communities directly. That could mean subsidies, price caps, or better infrastructure for things like wells, pumps, and pipes. On farms, switching to drip <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-irrigation-could-feed-feed-1-4-billion-more-people/">irrigation</a> or growing less water-hungry crops can go a long way.



Trade policy matters too. Instead of relying on a few big export partners or crop types, countries can mix it up. China, for example, has shifted how it imports rice and wheat to balance demand better.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unequal-burdens-of-trade">Unequal burdens of trade</h2>



Agricultural trade has made the world more connected than ever, but that interdependence comes with responsibility.



“The existing global food trade system continues to make the world’s most vulnerable people and nations more vulnerable,” said Professor Madani.



It’s a tough reality. But ignoring it won’t make it go away. Only by facing the facts - and rethinking how we move both food and water - can we start to create a system that works for everyone.



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How the global food trade drains water from poor communities

Water is on the move every day in the global...

Lemurs didn’t spring from a single explosive radiation after reaching Madagascar. Instead, their extraordinary variety arose through multiple waves of speciation, some as recent as the middle to late Pleistocene about 500,000 years ago.&nbsp;



Interbreeding between species also played a creative role, feeding genetic novelty into lineages that later split again.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lemur-evolution-in-madagascar">Lemur evolution in Madagascar</h2>



An international team led by the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (<a href="https://www.dpz.eu/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DPZ</a>) reports these findings in new research on Madagascar’s primates. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-lemurs-millions-of-years-of-diversity-at-risk/">Lemurs</a> comprise more than 15 percent of today’s living primate species even though their island home covers less than one percent of Earth’s land. The study challenges a popular island narrative: that a single early radiation explains most living diversity.



Lemurs are strepsirrhines, an ancient primate branch that diverged from the haplorrhines - monkeys, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-apes-lived-in-a-constantly-changing-world-of-fire-and-ash/">apes</a>, and humans - over 70 million years ago.&nbsp;



Their ancestors likely rafted to Madagascar roughly 53 million years ago and then adapted to a striking range of habitats, from humid rainforests to dry spiny thickets, coastal scrub, and mountains.&nbsp;



Today, scientists recognize more than 100 species, with at least 16 more lost in just the past two millennia of human presence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multiple-bursts-not-one">Multiple bursts, not one</h2>



The team analyzed genomic data from 79 lemur species spanning the island’s main genera. Their phylogenetic reconstructions revealed a major uptick in speciation about five to six million years ago, long after the earliest lemur radiations.&nbsp;



The surge centered on three genera that dominate modern diversity: mouse lemurs (Microcebus), true lemurs (Eulemur), and sportive lemurs (Lepilemur). Rather than evidence of a single ancient “big bang,” the pattern points to repeated pulses of diversification layered across deep time.



The late burst surprised the researchers. In many groups, speciation rates peak early and then slow as ecological space fills. 



Mouse lemurs, true lemurs, and sportive lemurs bucked that expectation. They kept minting new species into the late Neogene and Pleistocene while also swapping genes across species boundaries within their genera.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hybridization-as-an-engine-of-novelty">Hybridization as an engine of novelty</h2>



The genomic signal of gene flow was clear. Species in the same genus sometimes interbred and produced hybrids, and those hybrids were not evolutionary dead ends. 



In several clades, hybrid-origin species were even more common than “classic” species formed solely by lineage splitting.



“Our analyses show that lemurs split into new species much more frequently than their closest relatives, the lorises in Africa and Asia," explained Dietmar Zinner, a primate researcher in the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory at DPZ.&nbsp;



"We were also able to show that genetic exchange, i.e. hybridization between species, was an important driver of this diversity."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-conditions-of-madagascar">Complex conditions of Madagascar</h2>



Zinner conducted the work with colleagues Peter Kappeler from the Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit and Christian Roos from the <a href="https://www.dpz.eu/en/primate-genetics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Primate Genetics Laboratory</a>.



On average, lemurs produced about 0.44 new species per million years across the tree, compared with only 0.15 per million years in lorises. In some groups, hybrid species outnumbered divergence-only species by a factor of four.&nbsp;



That contrast demonstrates how Madagascar’s complex landscapes and shifting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plants-actively-shaped-earths-climate-cycle-throughout-history/">climates</a> likely promoted both isolation and secondary contact, fueling cycles of split, mix, and split again.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-lemurs-outpaced-lorises">Why lemurs outpaced lorises</h2>



Lorises, spread across Africa and Asia, share ancient ancestry with lemurs yet evolved under different ecological rules.&nbsp;



Madagascar’s isolation, its mosaic of microclimates, and repeated environmental swings may have carved and rejoined populations in ways that favored diversification.&nbsp;



Small-bodied lineages such as mouse lemurs, with short generation times, could respond rapidly to new ecological opportunities or barriers. When range edges met again, occasional interbreeding would have injected novel combinations of genes that selection could act upon, speeding the emergence of distinct forms.



The study’s timeline reaches into the middle and late Pleistocene. That means the island’s living diversity is not just a relic of distant Eocene events but a product of more recent evolutionary churn.&nbsp;



Even relatively young climatic oscillations could have opened and closed corridors, fostering the repeated radiations now written into lemur genomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conservation-message-written-in-genes">Conservation message written in genes</h2>



The results carry immediate implications for conservation. Roughly 95 percent of lemur species are threatened as forests shrink and climate extremes intensify.&nbsp;



Hybridization can be a source of diversity, but it can also erode distinctive lineages if human-driven <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-species-are-shifting-their-habitats-due-to-climate-change/">habitat</a> change forces species into unnaturally high contact.



“In the future, conservation concepts must also take genetic diversity and the role of hybridization into account,” Zinner said.



That means protecting not just species names but the evolutionary processes that generated them. Safeguarding intact, connected habitats across environmental gradients will help maintain opportunities for natural diversification while limiting risky, human-triggered genetic swamping.&nbsp;



Moreover, genetic monitoring is also needed alongside field surveys to understand where boundaries are stable, porous, or shifting under pressure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-lemur-evolution">The future of lemur evolution </h2>



“Nevertheless, this is not a license to neglect species conservation,” Roos said. “Without protective measures, many of the lemur species will go extinct before they can make use of this potential.”



For researchers, the next steps are clear. More high-resolution genomic work is needed to pinpoint when and where hybridization shaped lineages, which environmental factors promoted it, and how often it produced adaptive breakthroughs. 



That knowledge can guide strategies that respect natural evolutionary dynamics while preventing unintended outcomes.



“The more we know about their evolutionary history and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-asexual-ants-maintain-genetic-diversity/">genetic diversity</a>, the better we can secure their future,” Roos concluded.



Madagascar’s lemurs are a testament to what isolated landscapes and restless climates can sculpt. Their genomes show that evolution doesn’t always proceed in a single burst; sometimes it occurs in waves.&nbsp;



Protecting those waves - and the forests that make them possible - will determine whether this extraordinary experiment continues.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62310-y">Nature Communications</a>.&nbsp;



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Lemur evolution happened in waves, not a single burst

Lemurs didn’t spring from a single explosive radiation after reaching...

Sweltering heat does more than make people miserable. Repeated exposure to hot spells appears to push the body toward older biology in ways we can measure.



Biological age is not a birthday. It is a reading of how well the body’s systems are functioning. When that reading runs ahead of our calendar age, scientists call it biological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-purpose-the-secret-ingredient-for-healthy-aging/">age</a> acceleration, and that gap tracks with higher risks of disease and earlier death.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heatwaves-make-us-age-faster">Heatwaves make us age faster</h2>



A team working with health data from 24,922 adults in Taiwan found that more heatwave days over time lined up with faster biological aging.



This new work was led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dbHYypkAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Siyi Chen</a> at The University of Hong Kong (<a href="https://www.hku.hk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HKU</a>). 



The first results focused on a two-year window of heatwave exposures before each participant's health checkup and the link to their biological age recorded at those visits. This cohort that stretched from 2008 to 2022.



“Research now shows that exposure to heatwaves affects the rate at which we age,” said <a href="https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/paul-beggs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul J. Beggs</a>, School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University (<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02395-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MU</a>).



Heat is not a niche problem. Many regions are already seeing longer, more frequent hot spells, and those patterns push health systems, workplaces, and vulnerable communities to their limits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-biological-age">Understanding biological age</h2>



Biological age estimates how “worn” your body is compared with the average person of your calendar (chronological) age. Two 40-year-olds can have very different biological ages because bodies don’t wear at the same rate. 



Scientists measure this “wear” with biomarkers - objective signs in your cells and blood. 



Common ones include <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/epigenetic-dna-clocks-predict-biological-age-more-accurately/">epigenetic clocks</a>, telomere length, fitness measures like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/vo2-max" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VO₂ max</a> and grip strength, and blood markers tied to inflammation, glucose control, and lipids. 



Your choices and environment push biological age up or down. Regular exercise, enough sleep, nutritious food, not smoking, and managing stress tend to slow aging signals; long-term stress, pollution, ultra-processed diets, and inactivity speed them up.



Some studies even show that improving lifestyle can make certain biomarkers “younger,” at least for a while. Put together, these data predict health risks better than birthdays do.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biological-wear-and-tear">Biological wear and tear</h2>



For this particular study, the researchers estimated biological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-method-reverses-aging-in-human-cells-without-modifying-dna/">age</a> using common clinical markers that reflect inflammation, blood pressure, and organ functions. This approach is well established in aging science and has been refined with large biobank <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05456-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>.



They calculated biological age acceleration as the difference between a person’s biological age and their birthday age. A higher number means a body that behaves older than the calendar suggests.



They then paired each person’s aging number with the heat they had faced. 



The team built measures of cumulative heatwave exposure in the two years before each screening, including the total number of heatwave days and the intensity of those events.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-hot-days-meant-faster-aging">More hot days meant faster aging</h2>



Each interquartile range increase in cumulative heatwave exposure was associated with a 0.023 to 0.031 year rise in biological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-some-people-age-better-hundreds-of-genes-identified/">age</a> acceleration. 



That is about 8 to 11 days of extra biological aging for the amount of heat that separates the middle half of exposures in the population.



The total number of heatwave days stood out as the most important driver. Intensity mattered too, but simple counts of hot days carried the strongest signal in this dataset.



The cohort showed some adaptation over the 15 year span, yet the aging effect remained. The pattern suggests communities can adjust, but heat still leaves a mark that adds up over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-heatwaves-speed-up-age">How heatwaves speed up age</h2>



Heat is a physiological stress that forces cells to respond. Heat shock <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11113869/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proteins</a> help keep other proteins from misfolding and assist in repair when temperatures climb.



Sustained heat can also raise oxidative stress and cause DNA damage. Those hits accumulate across tissues and nudge multiple systems toward older states.



Biological age acceleration captures this broad wear and tear. It rolls many signals into a single number that tracks future health risk more closely than birthdays do.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-us-studies-confirm-heatwaves-and-age-link">US studies confirm heatwaves and age link</h2>



The Taiwan findings match results in older American adults. A national US <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr0616" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> used blood based epigenetic clocks to test the link between outdoor heat and aging in 3,686 people.



Short and mid term windows of more heat days aligned with higher PhenoAge acceleration by about 1.07 years, while longer windows showed a 2.48 year rise for one clock and consistent increases across other clocks. 



“These findings provide insights into the biological underpinnings linking heat to aging-related morbidity and mortality risks,” wrote Eun Young Choi, <a href="https://www.usc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southern California</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smarter-ways-to-stay-cool">Smarter ways to stay cool</h2>



Access to air conditioning lowers immediate heat risks, but it also releases added heat outside. 



A seven city Japanese <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37951014/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> estimated that AC use can prevent a large share of heat related deaths while a small fraction of deaths may be attributable to the extra outdoor heat it creates.



That tradeoff points to better cooling strategies, not less protection. More shade, reflective roofs, better building ventilation, and efficient cooling lower indoor temperatures while cutting waste heat and power demand.



Policies should follow the data. Manual workers saw around three times the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/defying-time-three-ways-to-slow-biological-aging/">aging</a> impact for the same heat exposure, and rural residents with fewer air conditioners were also hit harder.



This research shows that protections must prioritize those groups with targeted cooling and work practice changes.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02407-w.epdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Climate Change</a>.



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Frequent heatwaves are pushing human bodies to age faster

Sweltering heat does more than make people miserable. Repeated exposure...

Everyone is aware that large volcanic eruptions have the power to cool the Earth. But here’s something you might not have anticipated: they can also affect floods - and not only locally, but globally.



New studies have discovered that when a volcano erupts and expels gas high into the air, it has the potential to alter global rainfall patterns in a way that soaks or dries out entire areas. And the location of the volcano - especially in relation to the equator - makes all the difference.



It's not <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fresh-lava-from-deep-earth-mantle-pulses-burst-onto-land-where-new-ocean-is-forming/">lava</a> flows or ash clouds covering the sky. It’s about what occurs miles in the air, in the upper atmosphere, where invisible gas molecules alter the way that Earth transmits heat and moisture.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-after-a-major-eruption">What happens after a major eruption</h2>



When a big volcano erupts, it tends to release tremendous quantities of sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere. There, the gas condenses into tiny particles that are referred to as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-small-aerosols-influence-cloud-formation/">aerosols</a>. 



The aerosols deflect sunlight and trap heat, cooling the Earth's surface and heating the upper atmosphere. That temperature difference alters air's circulation patterns around the globe.



The main player in all of this is something known as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ. It's a ring of thunderstorms and clouds that surrounds the Earth just north of the equator where trade winds from the north and the south come together. 



This zone is responsible for heavy tropical rains, and it drifts north or south based on the season.



Volcanic eruptions can nudge the weather band out of its normal position. When that happens, areas that usually get soaked might dry up - and places that are normally dry could suddenly flood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-volcano-effect-splits-at-the-equator">The volcano effect splits at the equator</h2>



To understand how this works, <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Princeton University</a> researchers looked at three major eruptions over the past century: Santa Maria in Guatemala (1902), Agung in Indonesia (1963), and Pinatubo in the Philippines (1991). 



Each one of these eruptions affected flooding in a different way. When Santa Maria erupted in the northern hemisphere, it caused a 25% increase in sites with peak <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coastal-flooding-is-happening-far-more-often-than-we-thought/">flooding</a> in the southern hemisphere’s tropics and a 35% increase in sites with decreased flows in the northern tropics. 



Agung, in the southern hemisphere, had almost the reverse effect: 50% of stream gauges in the southern tropics showed reduced flooding, while 40% in the northern tropics showed an increase.



Both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-are-volcanoes-in-indonesia-so-dangerous/">volcanoes</a> had one thing in common - their gas plumes stayed mostly in their own hemispheres. That caused the ITCZ to shift away from the eruption, pulling rainfall and flooding with it.



The effects didn’t last forever. "The effects of the increased rainfall are generally strongest in the year after the eruption and lessen after several years," said Gabriele Villarini, one of the study's lead researchers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-eruption-that-flips-the-script">An eruption that flips the script</h2>



Pinatubo was different. Its 1991 eruption sent aerosols into both hemispheres pretty evenly, which led to a different pattern.



Instead of shifting the ITCZ, the eruption cooled the planet more evenly and kicked off a different type of circulation shift. In this case, tropical regions in both hemispheres got less flooding - peak flows dropped at 20% of sites in the southern tropics and at 35% of sites in the northern tropics.



But in very dry places, things got wetter. About 35% of arid-region sites saw an increase in peak flows. This change was probably linked to what’s known as monsoon-desert coupling. 



"Air sinks over Asian monsoon regions and rises over nearby arid regions. The rising air pulls moisture upward, causing greater rainfall in the arid areas," said Hanbeen Kim, lead author of the research paper.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-just-a-climate-problem">Not just a climate problem</h2>



What’s important here isn’t just the science - it’s what it means for people. These shifts in rainfall can lead to flooding disasters in places where no one expected it. And that matters for planning, especially as some scientists consider using artificial ways to cool the Earth that mimic volcanic effects.



The authors of the study said their results indicate that climate shifts - whether natural or human-induced - can cause a broad array of impacts. And it’s not only warming and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/volcanic-eruptions-will-lose-their-cooling-effects-on-a-warmer-planet/">cooling</a>, but how water circulates across the Earth.



By connecting volcanic eruptions to flood patterns across the world, this study adds another piece in the puzzle of how we interpret Earth’s systems. It’s not just smoke and ash we need to watch out for - it’s how the invisible gases impact the skies above and the rivers below.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01782-5">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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Volcanic eruptions can affect flooding patterns worldwide

Everyone is aware that large volcanic eruptions have the power...

Wind turbines spark strong reactions, especially when people worry about how the swishing sound might affect their minds and bodies. 



A new peer reviewed article took that question into the lab and measured what changed in the brain and in performance when people listened to recorded turbine sound that matched real conditions.



The researchers ran a simple test. Volunteers heard either wind turbine sounds, road traffic, or silence while their brain activity and task performance were tracked. The listeners did not know which sound was which.



Lead author <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka-Rosciszewska" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Agnieszka Rosciszewska</a> of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (<a href="https://amu.edu.pl/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMU</a>), guided the work with colleagues in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and acoustics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-wind-turbines-and-humans">Studying wind turbines and humans</h2>



The team used a short laboratory exposure that mirrors everyday listening, at about 65 decibels sound pressure level, which is similar to normal conversation at about 3 feet (0.9 meters). 



The playback levels corresponded to what you would measure near a modern turbine sited roughly 1,640 feet (500 meters) away in steady wind.



They recorded electroencephalography to track changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-brain-map-shows-how-rhythms-instantly-reconfigure-your-mind-freq-ness/">brain</a> rhythms during a reading task and then ran two well known cognitive tests on attention and reasoning. Listeners also rated how stressful or annoying the sound felt compared with traffic or silence.



Across measures, short exposure to turbine sound did not dent attention or reasoning compared with the other conditions. Brain wave patterns that index focus and control did not shift in a way that would signal cognitive strain.



In addition, participants did not rate turbine sound as more stressful or bothersome than city traffic. Most listeners described the sound as steady broadband noise and showed low annoyance scores.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turbine-noise-is-not-the-problem">Turbine noise is not the problem</h2>



“Although these results cannot be generalized, they support the concept that the interlinkage between exposure to wind turbine noise and human cognitive functioning is not a cause-and-effect relationship,” wrote Rosciszewska.&nbsp;



If the sound itself is not doing the damage, what explains reports of headaches, fogginess, and unease near wind farms. An open access study reviews the evidence for an expectation driven pathway.



“Health complaints are more likely to be explained by the nocebo response,” wrote <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fiona-Crichton-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fiona Crichton</a> from the University of Auckland. 



The <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3167012/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nocebo effect</a> is the flip side of placebo, where learning to expect harm increases perception of symptoms and stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-beliefs-matter-more-than-decibels">Why beliefs matter more than decibels</h2>



Visibility and prior beliefs change how people judge the same sound. Surveys show that annoyance from wind turbine sound arises at lower sound levels than many other everyday sources, and that attitudes and context explain a lot of the spread in responses.&nbsp;



That pattern has been documented in exposure response modeling that compared wind turbines with aircraft, road, and rail noise, where turbine annoyance tended to be higher at the same level.



Those findings fit what this lab work saw when people did not know what they were hearing. Without labels or priming, the turbine sound was just another steady hum.



Large field studies help answer the health question outside the lab. A national Canadian <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27036283/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> of 1,238 adults living as close as a quarter mile to turbines found that sleep quality, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, and perceived stress were not related to calculated outdoor turbine sound up to 46 A-weighted decibels.



“Beyond annoyance, results do not support an association between exposure to WTN up to 46 dBA and the evaluated health related endpoints,” reported <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Michaud" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David S. Michaud</a>, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Health Canada</a>. That matches the pilot lab result in direction, even though the methods differ.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-labs-help-assess-turbine-impacts">Labs help assess turbine impacts</h2>



Blind listening removes expectation from the equation. When people cannot tell what the sound is or whether it matters, the brain and behavior readouts provide a baseline for the raw acoustic effect.



Here, that raw effect did not show up as reduced attention, slower reasoning, or a brain rhythm pattern that signals mental fatigue. Ratings of stress and annoyance also stayed low.



Noise policy weighs both evidence and public concern. The World Health Organization’s European guidelines include wind turbine noise among sources that planners should <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wind-turbines-are-displacing-bats-from-their-forest-habitats/">manage</a>, and they note the broader health burden of environmental sounds from traffic and other sources.



This study points to a practical lesson for communication. If belief and context amplify symptoms, then accurate, calm information and good project design can help reduce worry and reduce annoyance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limits-you-should-note">Limits you should note</h2>



A short listening session cannot stand in for months of living near turbines. The authors acknowledge that the work does not speak to very long exposure, and lab playback cannot capture every weather and terrain pattern outside.



The volunteer group here was small and young. Future studies should look at broader age ranges and people with different noise sensitivities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wind-turbine-noise-and-the-future">Wind turbine noise and the future</h2>



Expectation is testable. Experiments can induce belief in a safe way and compare it with blind listening to estimate how suggestion alters symptom reports and attention.



Longer sessions matter too. Researchers can repeat the same cognitive battery after hours of continuous sound to see whether attention wobbles when fatigue sets in.



Some claims focus on frequencies below what we hear. The best available evidence suggests that infrasound near turbines is usually at or below common environmental levels, and that expectation and visibility drive complaints more than sub-audible energy.



This lab work did not isolate infrasound, which calls for careful follow ups with controlled filtering and matched levels.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/physicists-confirm-the-fascinating-existence-of-second-sound/">sound</a> near a well-sited turbine can be noticeable. In blind, realistic listening with careful brain and behavior measures, it did not produce measurable mental harm.



Context, belief, and visibility appear to do more to shape the body’s response than the steady whoosh itself.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04645-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a>.



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Comprehensive study settles the debate about the impact of wind turbine noise on humans

Wind turbines spark strong reactions, especially when people worry about...

Roughly 390 million years ago, the ancient seas witnessed a dramatic change. Marine animals began moving into deeper waters that had long been uninhabitable. New research suggests this expansion was fueled by a lasting rise in deep-ocean oxygen. 



The source of that oxygen traces back to the spread of woody plants on land, the earliest forests on Earth. This environmental shift coincided with an explosion of new species, especially jawed fish. 



These fish became the ancestors of nearly all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-sharks-survive-for-centuries-in-icy-waters/">vertebrates</a> alive today. The link between oxygen levels and evolutionary diversification offers fresh insight into how life reshaped the oceans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-rise-shaped-evolution">Oxygen rise shaped evolution</h2>



“It’s known that oxygen is a necessary condition for animal evolution, but the extent to which it is the sufficient condition that can explain trends in animal diversification has been difficult to pin down,” said co-lead author Michael Kipp, assistant professor at <a href="https://duke.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Duke University</a>.



“This study gives a strong vote that oxygen dictated the timing of early animal evolution, at least for the appearance of jawed vertebrates in deep-ocean habitats.”



For decades, scientists believed deep-ocean oxygenation occurred only once, at the start of the Paleozoic Era about 540 million years ago. 



Later evidence pointed instead to multiple phases. First, shallower waters became livable for breathing organisms, and only later did oxygen reach deeper environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rocks-reveal-ocean-oxygen-history">Rocks reveal ocean oxygen history</h2>



Kipp and his colleagues focused on timing by studying sedimentary rocks once buried beneath ancient oceans. 



They measured levels of selenium, an element that records traces of oxygen in the environment. Selenium occurs in different isotopes, and their ratios reveal whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-levels-are-rising-as-predicted-with-bigger-risks-ahead/">oxygen</a> levels were high enough to support animal life.



The team collected 97 rock samples dating from 252 to 541 million years ago, gathered from five continents. 



At the time, these sites lay along outer continental shelves, the zones where land tapered into the ocean before plunging steeply downward. By analyzing isotope ratios in the samples, the researchers tracked oxygen’s reach through time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-deep-sea-oxygen-waves">Two deep-sea oxygen waves</h2>



Results showed two distinct deep-ocean oxygenation events. One brief episode occurred during the Cambrian period, about 540 million years ago. 



The second began during the Middle Devonian, around 393 to 382 million years ago, and continues today. Between these events, oxygen dropped to inhospitable levels for most animals.



“The selenium data tell us that the second oxygenation event was permanent. It began in the Middle Devonian and persisted in our younger rock samples,” said co-lead author Kunmanee “Mac” Bubphamanee, a Ph.D. candidate at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Washington</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vertebrates-thrived-with-more-oxygen">Vertebrates thrived with more oxygen</h2>



The Middle Devonian oxygen rise triggered what scientists call the “mid-Paleozoic marine revolution.” With oxygen now plentiful, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-fish-had-flexible-joints-like-humans/">jawed fish</a> and other animals expanded into deeper waters and diversified. 



Fossil evidence also shows that many species grew larger, likely supported by the richer oxygen supply. One example is shown in the featured image of this article - a prehistoric jawed fish from the Late Devonian called <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Dunkleosteus_prehistoric-fish_deep-ocean-oxygen_N-Tamura_1m.jpg">Dunkleosteus</a>.



This geological shift aligned with another event on land: the spread of woody plants. 



“Our thinking is that, as these woody plants increased in number, they released more oxygen into the air, which led to more oxygen in deeper ocean environments,” Kipp said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-first-oxygen-wave-faded-fast">First oxygen wave faded fast</h2>



The earlier <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambrian-explosion-fossils-push-back-the-rise-of-complex-life/">Cambrian</a> oxygen surge remains puzzling. Its decline likely prevented animals from permanently establishing themselves in deeper waters at that time.



“What seems clear is that the drop in oxygen after that initial pulse hindered the spread and diversification of marine animals into those deeper environments of the outer continental shelves,” Kipp noted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oxygen-history-warns-about-today-s-oceans">Oxygen history warns about today’s oceans</h2>



Although the study looks far into the past, its message carries urgency now. 



“Today, there’s abundant ocean oxygen in equilibrium with the atmosphere," said Kipp. "But in some locations, ocean oxygen can drop to undetectable levels."



"Some of these zones occur through natural processes. But in many cases, they’re driven by nutrients draining off continents from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildlife-may-be-the-answer-to-dwindling-fertilizer-ingredient/">fertilizers</a> and industrial activity that fuel plankton blooms that suck up oxygen when they decay.”



“This work shows very clearly the link between oxygen and animal life in the ocean. This was a balance struck about 400 million years ago, and it would be a shame to disrupt it today in a matter of decades.”



-----



Featured image: An artist’s rendering of a prehistoric jawed fish from the Late Devonian called Dunkleosteus. These sorts of large, active vertebrates evolved shortly after the deep ocean became well-oxygenated. Credit: 2008 N. Tamura/CC-BY-SA



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2501342122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Ancient forests pumped oxygen into the ocean and helped deep-sea fish thrive

Roughly 390 million years ago, the ancient seas witnessed a...

Wildfire headlines can feel all over the place. One summer brings walls of flames putting millions of people in danger. The next brings lots of fires, but very few near humans. This is called the "wildfire paradox." 



Here’s the twist: the planet has actually seen less land burned in recent years, yet more people are ending up in the path of flames.



From 2002 to 2021, the total area that burned worldwide went down by about a quarter. 



Over the same years, the number of people directly exposed to wildfires - meaning flames reached the places where they live - went up by roughly 40%. Those two facts sit side by side. They also change how we think about risk.



The "wildfire paradox" term fits. The land is burning less, but exposure is rising because more homes and towns now sit where fires naturally occur. That shift is not random. It grows out of how and where people build.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-africa-carries-the-weight">Africa carries the weight</h2>



Across that same period from 2002 to 2021, the authors estimate that about 440 million people experienced a wildfire reaching their community. 



Year to year, exposure climbed by several hundred thousand people annually on average, even as total burned acreage fell. Fewer acres does not automatically mean fewer people in danger.



Most news stories highlight wildfires in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dry-lightning-sparks-the-most-destructive-california-wildfires/">California</a>, Greece, or Australia. Yet wildfires in these places account for less than 2.5 percent of all exposures. Africa, often missing from headlines, saw 85 percent of them.



Just five countries - Congo, South Sudan, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola - accounted for about half of the global total. 



The United States, Europe, and Australia combined made up less than 2.5%. That contrast says more about population patterns and fire frequency than media attention.



“We are surprised by the disproportionate impacts of wildfires on humans in Africa," said Dr. Mojtaba Sadegh, Climate and Wildfire Analytics Lead at <a href="https://unu.edu/inweh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNU-INWEH</a>.



"We knew that around 65 percent of global burned area occurs there, but their 85 percent share of human exposure shows a pronounced impact that deserves more attention.”



Farming plays a big role. Fields break up grasslands and stop large fires from spreading. But they also bring villages and farms closer to the flames.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wildfire-paradox-and-climate-change">Wildfire paradox and climate change</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-making-wildfire-smoke-more-deadly/">Climate change</a> is amplifying fire danger. Since 1979, extreme fire weather jumped by more than 54 percent. Fire seasons now stretch longer. Nights, once safer, often stay hot and dry enough for fires to keep burning.



Still, the story changes depending on where you look. Africa shows smaller fires but far more people exposed. 



In North and South America, invasive plants help fires grow larger. Europe tries to suppress fires, yet expanding settlements keep raising the risks.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/human-wildlife-exposure_growing-globally_map_ScienceJ_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/human-wildlife-exposure_growing-globally_map_ScienceJ_1s.webp" alt="Human exposure to wildland fires from 2002 to 2021. (A and C) Cumulative human exposure to wildland fires (A) and cumulative burned area (C) from 2002 to 2021 at the country level. (B and D) Share of continents in wildland fire exposure (B) and burned areas (D). (E and F) Percentage of population exposed to wildland fire from 2002 to 2021 in each country (E) and continent (F). K, one thousand; M, one million. Credit: Science Advisor" class="wp-image-1983464"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Human exposure to wildland fires from 2002 to 2021. (A and C) Cumulative human exposure to wildland fires (A) and cumulative burned area (C) from 2002 to 2021 at the country level. (B and D) Share of continents in wildland fire exposure (B) and burned areas (D). (E and F) Percentage of population exposed to wildland fire from 2002 to 2021 in each country (E) and continent (F). K, one thousand; M, one million. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Science Advisor</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-actions-reshape-fire-risks">Human actions reshape fire risks</h2>



Study co-author Professor Amir AghaKouchak noted that while the human exposure to fires is rising, the team saw that burned land is shrinking by 26 percent.



“In Africa, farming has broken up large <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grasslands-are-racing-to-adapt-to-climate-shifts/">grasslands</a> into smaller fields, which stops fires from spreading as widely but also puts more villages and farms closer to fire-prone land."



"In the Americas, invasive plants have fueled bigger and more frequent wildfires, showing how human actions can change fire risks in very different ways.”



The numbers back this up. Nearly half of the world’s people now live in the wildland–urban interface, an area covering less than 5 percent of Earth’s surface.



The study shows that population growth and migration explain about a quarter of all exposures. Without these changes, exposure levels would have fallen alongside shrinking burned area.



Instead, exposure density nearly doubled. In plain terms, more people are living inside or right next to land that burns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-beyond-burned-land">Beyond burned land</h2>



Focusing only on how much land burns hides the real danger. Intense fires make up just 0.01 percent of all events, but they exposed 2.7 million people and burned 5 percent of the total land in the study. 



Regions like Western North America, Southern Europe, and Southern Australia faced far more human loss than their share of exposures suggested.



“Wildfires are no longer seasonal or regional anomalies; they have become a global crisis, intensified by rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-made-heatwaves-more-deadly/">heatwaves</a>, worsening droughts, and drastic land use changes,” said Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH.



“But instead of stepping up to confront this threat, some of the world’s biggest economies are rolling back protections, leaving vulnerable regions and communities to shoulder the heaviest burden."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-wildfire-paradox-needs-solutions">The wildfire paradox needs solutions</h2>



The study warns that measuring only burned land misses the true danger of wildfires. What matters most is how close people live to fire-prone areas. As populations expand into these zones, exposure to wildfires rises even if less land burns.



The authors stress the need for stronger<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fire-suppression-methods-increase-the-severity-of-wildfires/"> fire management</a> and strategies tailored to local conditions. Communities require infrastructure designed to withstand fire, along with better preparedness. 



At the same time, global climate action is essential to slow the worsening of extreme fire weather. Without these combined efforts, more lives will remain directly in the path of devastating wildfires.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6408" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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"Wildfire paradox" tries to explain why fires are raging across the entire planet

Wildfire headlines can feel all over the place. One summer...

The world already grows more food than we need. In 2020, global croplands produced enough calories to feed 15 billion people. Yet only half of those calories actually reached people’s plates. The rest vanished into animal feed, fuel tanks, or other uses.



The issue isn’t about having more land - it’s about how we use it. A new analysis finds that while total food production has risen quickly, the calories actually available for people have grown much more slowly.



Between 2010 and 2020, total calories from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vicious-cycle-food-systems-both-suffer-from-and-cause-emissions/">crops</a> rose nearly 24 percent. But calories people could actually eat rose only 16 percent.



The biggest culprit is meat, especially beef. It takes 33 calories of feed to make one calorie of beef. Chicken, eggs, and milk are far more efficient. 



Researchers estimate that if wealthier countries cut back on beef and ate more chicken instead, the calories saved could feed around 850 million people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-growing-fuel-cuts-into-food-supply">Growing fuel cuts into food supply</h2>



In 2020, more than five percent of the world’s cropland calories went into ethanol and biodiesel. Palm oil and maize dominated this shift. 



Biofuels help with energy goals, but they cut into the food supply. Land that could grow meals for families instead grows fuel for cars.



The problem is bigger than it looks. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-waste-is-a-growing-climate-threat-can-composting-help/">Crops</a> used for feed at least give some calories back through meat, milk, or eggs. Biofuels give nothing back. 



Once a crop becomes fuel, it’s gone from the food system completely. That means fewer calories on plates and more pressure on farmland.



With global hunger still widespread, using cropland to grow fuel creates a direct conflict between energy security and food security. 



It forces a tough question: should fertile land grow food for people’s stomachs or fuel for engines? The answer will shape how we balance climate goals with the urgent need to feed billions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-countries-use-food-differently">Countries use food differently</h2>



How calories are used looks very different depending on where you live. In the United States, only about 23 percent of cropland calories ended up as food. Brazil fared only slightly better, at 29 percent.



In India, nearly 80 percent went directly into diets, much of it through grains and dairy. India’s efficiency comes partly because milk has a higher feed-to-food return than beef.



Globally, croplands produce enough calories to feed 12 people per hectare. After losses, that number drops to six. The gap is striking: we are growing enough food, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-devastate-global-food-production/">choices</a> about meat, fuel, and trade decide who gets fed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-environmental-cost">The environmental cost</h2>



Calories lost to feed and fuel aren’t just a food problem, they’re an environmental one too. Growing food already drives deforestation, drains freshwater supplies, and produces nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gases.



Beef sits at the center of this issue. It wastes the most calories and creates the most carbon. In comparison, chicken, eggs, and dairy use fewer resources and return more calories to people. 



Even small dietary changes matter. Replacing some beef with other proteins could lower emissions and make more food available at the same time. That means fewer forests cleared, less water consumed, and fewer tons of carbon in the atmosphere.



It’s not about eliminating meat entirely but about shifting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-waste-has-a-surprising-impact-on-climate-change/">choices</a>. The data shows that changing what’s on our plates can directly reduce environmental damage while improving food security. What we eat shapes not only our health, but the planet’s future too.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-security-grows-from-choices">Food security grows from choices</h2>



“It is an important reminder that the problems we face in feeding 8 billion people today - and even in the future with a few billion more - are not about biophysical limits; it’s not that we can’t produce enough calories,” said Hannah Ritchie of the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oxford</a>. “It’s about distribution and human choices on what we do with them.”



Calories alone don’t tell the whole story. Nutrition depends on proteins and micronutrients too. But the numbers already reveal how much potential is lost in the way crops are used.



Global data from the <a href="https://www.fao.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Food and Agriculture Organization</a> of the United Nations continues to track these trends. And healthy diet frameworks like the EAT–Lancet Commission show how eating differently can feed more people and ease pressure on the planet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/9713/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthArXiv</a>.



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We already grow enough food, but much of it never reaches people

The world already grows more food than we need. In...

Choosing a more electrified vehicle lowers your greenhouse gas footprint no matter which county you call home.&nbsp;



A new analysis shows battery-electric vehicles deliver the lowest lifetime emissions in every part of the contiguous United States, with hybrids and plug-in hybrids also beating their gasoline counterparts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-benefits-of-electric-vehicles">The benefits of electric vehicles</h2>



Researchers at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> (U-M) mapped cradle-to-grave emissions for 35 combinations of electric vehicle class and powertrain, then compared results county by county. 



The team also released a free online calculator so drivers can see estimates tailored to what they drive, how they drive, and where they live.



Study senior author Greg Keoleian is a professor at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability. 



“Vehicle electrification is a key strategy for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-action-and-biodiversity-striking-the-right-balance/">climate action</a>. Transportation accounts for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions and we need to reduce those to limit future climate impacts such as flooding, wildfires and drought events, which are increasing in intensity and frequency,” said Keoleian.



“Our purpose here was to evaluate the cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas reduction from the electrification of vehicles compared with a baseline of gasoline-powered vehicles.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-emissions-from-electric-vehicles">Emissions from electric vehicles </h2>



The researchers tallied emissions from manufacturing, use, and end-of-life - then layered in real-world variables. They modeled four powertrains: conventional internal combustion (ICEV), hybrid (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and battery electric (BEV). 



Afterwards, the team ran three body classes - pickup, SUV, and sedan - using “generic” 2025 vehicles that reflect what new buyers will see on lots. They captured driving style, city versus highway mix, and, for PHEVs, how often owners actually run on battery versus gasoline.



Geography mattered in two ways. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-global-warming-hasnt-ended-extreme-winter-cold/">Cold</a> snaps reduce efficiency for all vehicles and trim electric range. 



In addition, the carbon intensity of electricity varies widely across counties, so the same EV charged on a cleaner grid emits less per mile than it would in a coal-heavy region. 



Even after accounting for those differences, battery electric vehicles still came out ahead everywhere.



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



The major finding is simple. BEVs produce lower lifetime greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/direct-evidence-electric-vehicles-measurably-reduce-carbon-emissions/">emissions</a> than any other powertrain in every county of the contiguous U.S.&nbsp;



On average, gasoline pickups were the biggest emitters at 486 grams of carbon-dioxide equivalent per mile. Moving to a hybrid pickup cut that by about 23 percent. A battery-electric pickup cut it by roughly 75 percent.



Payload didn’t erase the advantage. A BEV pickup carrying 2,500 pounds still emitted less than 30 percent of a gasoline pickup with an empty bed. 



On the other end of the spectrum, compact electric sedans were the cleanest choice at about 81 grams of CO₂-equivalent per mile - less than one-fifth the per-mile emissions of a gas pickup.



Range matters for manufacturing emissions. The lowest-emitting configuration in the study was a compact sedan BEV with a 200-mile range. 



Bigger batteries add manufacturing impact, so stretching range nudges lifetime totals up, even as EVs retain their use-phase advantage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-market-context">The market context</h2>



While federal incentives are in flux, automakers are still steering toward electrification. 



Ford recently touted a new, more affordable EV platform as a “Model T moment” for the company. Keoleian noted the policy-industry split but said the global trend is clear.&nbsp;



“The government is backing off incentives, like the electric vehicle tax credit, but the original equipment manufacturers are heavily invested and focused on the technology and affordability of EVs,” he explained.&nbsp;



“EVs are becoming the dominant powertrain in other parts of the world and manufacturers recognize that is the future for the U.S.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-location-and-behavior-still-matter">Why location and behavior still matter</h2>



Two nearby drivers can have different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-electric-vehicle-owners-have-high-carbon-footprints/">footprints</a> in the same model. Colder counties impose higher energy demand for heating and reduce EV range. Grid mix shifts by county and over time, altering the emissions tied to every kilowatt-hour.&nbsp;



Behavior matters too. Aggressive driving burns more fuel. PHEVs shine only when they are plugged in often and driven mostly on electricity. The calculator bakes those nuances into individualized estimates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-individuals-can-cut-emissions">How individuals can cut emissions</h2>



Electrification delivers the biggest drop. Choosing a smaller vehicle compounds the gain. 



For many commuters, a compact BEV does the most to cut emissions per mile. Tradespeople who need a truck will still make a large dent by going hybrid or electric. 



“The thing is really matching your vehicle with your needs,” Keoleian said. “Obviously, if you're in the trades, you may need a pickup truck. But you can get a battery electric pickup truck. If you're just commuting to work by yourself, I'd recommend a sedan BEV instead.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-your-carbon-footprint">Tracking your carbon footprint </h2>



The study’s <a href="https://vehicle-emissions-calculator.vercel.app/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online calculator</a> translates the science into practical guidance. Enter your vehicle type, driving pattern, and county, and it returns an estimate of lifetime and per-mile emissions across powertrains and classes. 



The bottom line holds across the map. Swapping to an electric or more electrified model lowers your lifetime driving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cement-of-the-future-cooling-cities-and-cutting-emissions/">emissions</a>. 



Where you live and how you drive fine-tune the totals, but the direction is consistent. If you want to drive down your climate impact, the cleanest option is on the lot already.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c05406">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.



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Driving change: Electric vehicles slash emissions across America

Choosing a more electrified vehicle lowers your greenhouse gas footprint...

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</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-natural-solution-to-disease-through-crop-modification">A natural solution to disease through crop modification.</h2>



The agricultural industry stands at a crossroads between productivity and environmental responsibility, and crop modification often carries a negative connotation. While chemical pesticides have long been the go-to solution for crop protection, their harmful effects on ecosystems and human health have prompted scientists to seek alternatives. The recent breakthrough by <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southampton</a> researchers offers a promising path forward through the precise manipulation of plant-associated microbial communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-science-behind-microbial-partnerships">The science behind microbial partnerships</h2>



Plants naturally harbor diverse ecosystems of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that function as biological allies. These microscopic partners contribute to disease resistance, nutrient absorption, and stress tolerance. However, until now, scientists lacked the tools to deliberately reshape these communities to enhance crop protection.



The Southampton team's approach centered on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/engineered-plant-microbiomes-the-future-of-crop-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modifying lignin biosynthesis genes in rice plants</a>. This strategic intervention altered the plant's metabolic output, creating conditions that favored beneficial bacterial populations while suppressing harmful ones. The result was a living defense system embedded within the plant itself.



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



The successful demonstration against Xanthomonas oryzae, the pathogen responsible for bacterial blight in rice, represents more than a laboratory achievement. Rice feeds nearly half the world's population, and bacterial blight causes devastating crop losses annually. Traditional control methods rely heavily on pesticides that contaminate soil and water systems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-beyond-disease-resistance">Looking Beyond Disease Resistance</h2>



While disease protection represents the immediate application, the research framework opens doors to broader agricultural improvements. Future developments could engineer microbiomes to enhance nutrient uptake, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. This dual benefit addresses both crop productivity and environmental sustainability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-path-forward">The path forward</h2>



As this technology advances from laboratory to field applications, it promises to reshape sustainable agriculture. The ability to program plants with their own biological defense systems could herald a new era where crops protect themselves naturally, reducing chemical inputs while maintaining yields necessary for global food security.



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44335-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDXqTGEmi4 Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease A natural...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes how Earth is unique in our solar system for its ability to sustain liquid water on its surface. But now, the water cycle is shifting as the climate warms, and scientists must find ways to predict how these changes will affect water availability.



Overall, 96 percent of Earth's water is saltwater, and nearly all of freshwater is found in ice and groundwater. These sources of water are linked as it passes through solid, liquid and gas phases.



In a warmer climate, the water cycle will be transformed. It will be easier for water to evaporate and form clouds, and storms will become more frequent and intense. Some regions will get too much water, while others will be left without enough water. In addition, soil moisture will be lost - which threatens food security.



Scientists are using satellite data from over the last 40 years to track changes that are happening in the water cycle. This will ultimately help us prepare for extreme events and better manage our water resources, according to ESA.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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Tracking changes in Earth's water cycle

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> features images of Saturn from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The photographs capture the start of the mysterious "spoke season" on Saturn - when unexplained features appear on its rings. 



According to NASA, both the cause of the spokes and their seasonal variability have yet to be fully explained by planetary scientists.



"Like Earth, Saturn is tilted on its axis and therefore has four seasons, though because of Saturn's much larger orbit, each season lasts approximately seven Earth years. Equinox occurs when the rings are tilted edge-on to the Sun," explains NASA.



"The spokes disappear when it is near summer or winter solstice on Saturn. (When the Sun appears to reach either its highest or lowest latitude in the northern or southern hemisphere of a planet.) As the autumnal equinox of Saturn's northern hemisphere on May 6, 2025, draws near, the spokes are expected to become increasingly prominent and observable."



Experts believe that the spokes may be a product of the planet's variable magnetic field. When magnetic fields interact with solar wind, an electrically charged environment is created. This phenomenon is visible on Earth as the northern lights.&nbsp;



"Scientists think that the smallest, dust-sized icy ring particles can become charged as well, which temporarily levitates those particles above the rest of the larger icy particles and boulders in the rings," says NASA.



The spokes were first observed in the early 1980s by NASA's Voyager mission. Depending on the angle of the rings, the spokes can appear dark or light.



"Thanks to Hubble's OPAL program, which is building an archive of data on the outer solar system planets, we will have longer dedicated time to study Saturn’s spokes this season than ever before," said NASA senior planetary scientist Amy Simon, head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program.



"Despite years of excellent observations by the Cassini mission, the precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Mysterious "spoke season" captured on Saturn

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Closeup,Of,Fresh,Green,The,Napier,Bush,Grass,As,Animal

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/">NTU Singapore</a> reveals that some plants can remove toxic heavy metals from soil.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed samples of various tropical plant species to test for levels of heavy metals and metalloids. The study showed that there are existing plants with high levels of these contaminants, which means that these species are great candidates for drawing pollutants out of the soil.&nbsp;



Among the plants examined in the study, 12 species had accumulated several types of heavy metals and metalloids. These plants are widely available, including species that are native to Singapore.



“In a small nation like Singapore, land may be repurposed to support new development plans, so it is important that we have a green and sustainable way to remediate land that is contaminated," said Professor Lam Yeng Ming.



"We set out to uncover how to better make use of tropical plants to do phytoremediation and through advanced characterization techniques, we showed how some of these tropical plant species can be an environmentally friendly and literally a 'green' way to remove contaminants in soil."&nbsp;



"Phytoremediation also has benefits of cost effectiveness, simplicity of management, aesthetic advantages, and long-term applicability and sustainability. The strategy prevents erosion and metal leaching by stabilizing or accumulating heavy metals, so that helps reduce the risk of contaminant spread.”



Video Credit: NTU Singapore



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



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

Plants help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes why herbicides are not as effective in killing weeds anymore. In the 20th century, chemical companies developed thousands of herbicides. The most commonly used herbicide was glyphosate, which was introduced in 1974.



Over the past few decades, dozens of species of weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Depending on the site of action, the part of the plant that an herbicide interacts with, weeds may even be resistant to herbicides that have not been developed yet.&nbsp;



With increasing resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides, weeds are - once again - becoming a major concern for farmers.&nbsp;



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Weeds are becoming increasingly resistant to herbicides

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> (JPL) describes a dust storm on Mars that was nearly twice the size of the United States. As the storm covered the southern hemisphere of the planet, some of NASA’s explorers had to delay their normal activities.



NASA’s Insight lander put itself in a "safe mode" for 11 days to conserve battery power because solar power was disrupted by the dust. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter postponed flights until conditions improved.



"A fleet of NASA orbiters monitor Martian dust storms like this one and serve as lifelines to Earth by relaying data from the rovers and lander on the ground back to the team. This includes the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, and Odyssey," reports JPL.



"Dust storms like this recent one start close to the ground and are spread by wind as they rise – warming the cold Martian atmosphere."



The images in the video were captured by NASA’s Curiosity as the dust rolled in. A fleet of orbiters monitored the dust storm from above, relaying data from Mars’ explorers back to scientists on Earth.



Video &amp; Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS



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



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

NASA monitors giant dust storms on Mars

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This strait provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.



Qeshm is separated from the Iranian coast by the Clarence Strait, also known as Khuran.&nbsp;The Hara Forest Protected Area is a network of shallow waterways and forest located between the island and the mainland. This protected region is home to sea turtles, snakes, and more than 150 species of migrating birds.



Qeshm is famous for its wide range of&nbsp;ecotourist&nbsp;attractions, such as the&nbsp;Hara marine forests. According to environmentalists, about 1.5 percent of the world birds and 25 percent of Iran's native <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-hummingbirds-avoid-sexual-harassment-by-looking-like-males/">birds</a> annually migrate to the forests, which are the first national geo park in Iran.



Tourists are also drawn to the island to see an age-old Portuguese&nbsp;fort, historic mosques, the&nbsp;Seyyed Mozaffar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bibi Maryam&nbsp;shrines, and the "Valley of Stars."



The average temperature on the island is 81 degress and the region is often hot and humid. From June to August, the island is described as being oppressively hot. The ideal time to visit is during the winter season. 



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique.&nbsp;



"Inhambane Bay is a deep inlet into which the small Mutamba River flows," says ESA. "On one side of the bay lies the historical city of Inhambane, capital of the Inhambane Province, while the sister city of Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane, sits across from it. The province is the second largest grower of cashews, after Nampula, and it also produces coconut and citrus fruits."



The beaches of Barra and Tofo are popular with tourists. There are also coral reefs along the long coastline of Inhambane, making it an ideal destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.



"Mozambique’s extensive coastline heightens the country’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones that develop in the Indian Ocean as well as storm surge flooding," says ESA.



"More than half of the population lives in low lying coastal areas, putting communities at risk. Inhambane Bay was dangerously close to where Cyclone Idai made landfall in 2019 causing widespread destruction to the country."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Inhambane Bay in southeast Mozambique

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